Cheating Craft

Even with a short runtime (12 mins per ep) and a lack of promotion, for lovers of stupid senseless "switch off your brain" comedies, Cheating Craft is easily a barrel of laughs and jaw dropping goodness. Story: 10 China brings you a new generic shonen battle / gag series to add to the pile of generic shonen battle series we already have in Japan. WITH EXAMS!!! Cheating Craft takes place in a world where CHEATING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS!!! There are those who can learn and there are those who can cheat. Everything's fair in love, war and exams. From pen tranquiliser guns to X-ray glasses; from making origamiweapons to training an insect army, the otherworldly cheating kung fu skills elevate the premise to higher realms of fun campy silliness. JUST STUDY DAMMIT!!! There's no real storyline and the show follows the Gag of the Week format. My jaw dropped at least once or twice per episode at how the writers manage to pull off increasingly silly random fun stuff every week. As at the final episode: I still stand my ground that studying is still much easier than training these cheating techniques. Art: 7 Standard colourful shonen art. Nothing to complain about. Sounds: 10 Great work by Sakabe Go. They even have orchestral pieces to match the epicness of the show. It makes you want to buy the OST from episode 1. Characters: 10 Standard shonen battle characters. Hot blooded male MC- check. Rivals with colourful hair- check. Cute girls to trigger shipping wars - double check. Also nothing to complain about. What stands out about the characters is that their VAs really sound like they're having fun throughout the whole series. From the squealing of a fujoshi fangirl to flying sharks to the yelling out of shonen attacks in the middle of exams, it's a total ham fest for people who love ham. Enjoyment and Overall: 10 Cheating Craft is a show which surpasses the sum of its generic looking parts. In terms of pure enjoyment and fun, it's a perfect TEN in my books.

Ok, if I would describe this anime amongst the character's technique, I describe it as "Suck-katsu Technique" as it in this anime for all of what is expected "TOTALLY SUCKS!!!!!" as one reviewer's comment states, "It becomes a chore than an amusement." Man, just what the fuck was Haoliner Animation League', studio Blade thinking for making an anime out of a Chinese light novel titled Zuobi Yishu by Gemini Xin Luo? Tbh, I have nothing but regrets about allowing myself to subject to such chore of watching this.....thing, where it would have been much exciting to watch 'Prison School" than this, sooooooo: Storywise, It wasgood at first (ep 1) , but it's plot which was themed after the art of cheating was anything but just too overly exaggerated, that the entertainment side of it starts to wane down, I mean, such plot about cheating on an exam simply wasn't a good fit to use as a plot base, when combine with martial arts, super powers and harem ( since there is a subtle rivalry between Koui Ou and Haku Ryu for mumei's affection), the plot based on cheating really doesn't fit in with the genre, so yes the plot was really a poor 3. Art, ok so there isn't any panty shots that can be seen with any of them eye candies, but it does have one episode that features Ms. Ou in a hot swim suit and just this last episode , her in a sexy Qi Pao , and that is a fair enough 6. The rest where just too dorky in a fashion sense, like Mumei's pant's that were style to be a chino pants and him sporting white long arm band, Ms. Ou's teacher outfit and her Chung Li's hair style, Kou chan's glasses, Zhou's long hair, Jun's headset and Anri's outfit, where it can be consider as a serious crime of fashion. You if only studio Balde could have added a lot of fanservice around here, then maybe this dorky anime could have been saved. Sound, I'd probably say that it's a good 7, since the voice did matched the right character's , like Ms. Ou having a matured voice and Kou having a childish voice. CHaracter, I'd say it was really a Pathetic 1 , thing cu'z the character's themselves, aside from being annoying, really don't match this anime, like : Mumei Shokatsu, he'd probably should be in Akame ga Kill, cu'z of his Shokatsu Technique. Also, for him to rely on Kou to pass and being this master of martial arts, was really an oxymoron on his role, now he has the time and determination to learn the Shokatsu Technique and even level it up to a Nichirin Shoten, and yet he has a hard time of studying to become a L type and prefers to be a C type, well, if he's a C- type then that simply makes his character as a C as in crooked and cheap, one reason for him being pathetic. since he's very much a double standard. Koui Ou, is very much a character, where one would probably prefer that she be hostile to Mumei by keeping him off her test paper nd just let him get kicked out, rather than be his tool for passing, let's face it Mumei doesn't even acknowledge her feeling for him, and instead he goes for Haku Ryu, and yet there she still hopes to be romantically involve with Mumei, how stupid was she? If she is to be in the right anime, then she should be in Baka to test. Anri, we the audience, where left to wonder if she is a C or an L, for the entire episode from 1 to 12 we never see her cheat nor do we see her being smart. Also, letting us audience know her powers was lately introduced in to this anime, she could have been an awesome eye candy if not for her dorky fashion. Too bad she was just limited as another support just like Rinu Shu, if she is to be in the right anime , then she would fit in at Highschool DxD. Rinu Shu, I'd say he's gaaaaaaay and he should be in Gakuen Hansome. Bugman, JUN, should be in Shaman King. Teacher Miss . Ou, ok, at one point she is this 30 something single lady who hope to get marry, and then a 90 degree turn make him same kind of ET who is hired to give the ultimate test of insanity of destroying earth..............LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anime where she should be????????Anywhere as long as it's hentai. Haku Ryu, is just too sweet and nice to be here and she would be a better fit in "Orange." Enjoyment, a decent 4, since I just bear with it all along, so. Overall, it's just an anime of too many oxymoron of the character's, double standards of the roles of the character and with all that anachronisms, this thing is just toooooooo dreadful 2 the max, so no, no, no, I don't give a fuck as to what had happen to Mumei after we heard a BANG, no, no, no to a sequel of what kind. Whoahoho OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!BANG!

I'm honestly not sure how this show received a go for production but I'm guessing some cheating was involved. Apparently, there's a country in which success in life is solely based on an exam. Students attempt to pass this exam using various techniques, including cheating. The show follows cheating expert and inheritor of the paper/wind/fire-controlling Shokatsu technique, Mumei Shokatsu and his actually test-literate partner in crime, Koui Ou. This is one of the worst mockeries/parodies that I've seen in ages and it really was neither funny nor cohesive. Do yourself a favor and save yourself a few brain cells by watching something else. [b]Animation:[/b] The show hasa fairly good animation package overall. Expect a bright, colorful landscape with decent CGI backgrounds and a rather wild assortment of different settings for the tests. Yes, tests plural. The characters are distinct enough though the show decides to draw most of the unimportant characters as grey blobs in the background. Expect rather basic character expressions as this is a rather light show. There is a fair amount of action in the show, as the cheaters (known as C-type) basically treat tests like fights where they must "defeat" all the other test takers and then quickly copy answers before time expires. Battles are usually rather short and are usually resolved by an assortment of ultimate attacks, these are preceded by the protagonist calling his attack followed by each kanji character flashing across the screen. After the carnage is complete, some random announcer repetitively comments on how awesome the attack was and how only one who has mastered the style could use the attack blah blah. There are some brief fan-service moments thrown in including the obligatory bathing suit scene. Honestly though, neither the action nor the ecchi will satisfy viewers in their respective categories. [b]Sound:[/b] The show opens with a decently-paced melody that if anything is a bit generic. The ED is a short and playful tune that serves its purpose well. The BGM only consists of a few tunes, the positive of which is that certain tunes will become somewhat familiar by the end of the show. The VA cast is rather surprising as you get huge veterans in many of the roles. I haven't seen the likes of Rie Kugimiya in a main role in ages and likewise haven't heard from Kotono Mitsuishi in a while too. On top of that, we have prolific Youko Hisaka and rising talent Reina Ueda. Unfortunately, I feel the talent is somewhat wasted as the characters here are as cookie cutter as they come. [b]Story:[/b] Thank goodness these are half-length episodes as I found it difficult to even make it through that length. Each episode basically shows the class taking tests in various ridiculous settings, like on top of a waterfall or on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Each "stage" has a boss (i.e. test proctor) who likewise gives an incredulous feeling to the show; these include a drunken master and a shark with an augmented brain. After half a season's worth of random and seemingly pointless tests, the show decides to do some random parodies of other shows/concepts. In the last episode, it builds towards a climax of sorts, which is an unnecessarily artificial escalation. The best words I can think of to describe the story are contrived and idiotic. [b]Character:[/b] If you are looking for a prime example of what a cookie cutter character is, you've found it. The characters here have literally no depth nor exposition. They are given gimmicky frosting in the form of flashy poses and moves, but otherwise their personalities and behaviors are rigid and simplistic. No one is at all relatable and there are no real relationships in the show. They supposedly try to create a bit of a rivalry in the middle of the season but it feels both out of place and ill executed. [b]Value:[/b] Again, I have no idea how this show launched, but it is a disservice to anime as a whole. The characters are a mess and the story is poorly executed and in bad taste. I'm happy the wonderful VAs got a paycheck but it's a shame to have such a poor work associated with their names. Cheating Craft is neither comical nor enjoyable. It may take the simple concept of test taking and attempt to make it exciting, but in the end, it just makes a mockery of what should honestly be a pretty serious matter.

This was a wondrous trainwreck tbh - Overall, this ain't that bad a thing to watch if you're in a mood to criticize something; even for those who are rather lax while watching something. If you want an actual story or series, tho, then just dodge this like the plague. The saddest thing is that all of this show's problem is spoiler-free... due to there nothing available to spoil that'd stop people from giving this a go. And those that dodge even the barest spoiler (eg if it's worth the watch) wouldn't have bothered reading these things lol .:STORY:. (2/10) Okay, so the story is basicallya huge mocking of the insane level of criteria to "succeed" in life starting from one's childhood/teen years. First episode uses a mini story to help explain the severity of it plus the system in which it thrives albeit everything's so intense that it forces the viewer to not expect much realism or connection to the cast hence-forth. Personally, this is a wise decision. And by the second episode, we're pretty much fully familiar with the actual cast and apparently the story takes place in a middle school. For the translation they might as well have just called it high school given the Chinese secondary schooling works differently, but it really matters little to the story itself as there's so little school time portrayed other than exams and maybe lunch. Also keep in mind that starting with the second episode that there. is. nothing. story. related. More-or-less everything is "hyped" up in teen fashion and it's rather blatant (especially in hindsight) given how straight to the point the main duo is about their scenario and so by the time they ditch the daily exam routine halfway through, you can tell it's gotta be a family thing. The rest of the episodes from there on simply continue not really caring about practicality and just doing whatever until the end. In a way the writers gave it a "proper" season finale but as there's no actual story and this all takes place in their first semester, there's no reward for having it made. :.CHARACTER:. (5/10) The characters have very little point to being other than just used to make a nonsense story. Nothing's wrong or good about any of them, but at least we dodged pointless backstories. Not only does it save time but it truly saved effort in watching this. .:ART:. (9/10) It was simple at times, but mostly everything was rather pleasant to watch and it matched the tone of what was said/shown. The designs were rather nice as well and it's cute that the main duo show a cowlick/ahoge to represent their blood relation. .:SOUND:. (8/10) I don't normally pay heed to the music unless it's jarring or totally my style, but it was utilized very well and the vocal/sfx quality was high. VAs weren't bad either bar personal taste. .:ENJOYMENT:. (3/10) There are times when I am glad it's a short duration show, and there are times I'm so glad I can save time without having to skip ahead. Both was the case this time 'round. Most of my dissatisfaction was the lazy adaption/writing and knowing it would've easily been a 5/10 at the very least had it not tried to act like a show with a "deep" in the second-half. .:OVERALL:. (4/10) Did I mention it's a trainwreck?