Sunday, October 7, 2012

Initial Thoughts: Lychee Light Club


Litchi De Hikari Club/ライチ DE 光クラブ: A short, comical anime adaptation of the psychological-horror manga, LitchiHikari Club. The story is about nine boys who are members of the Hikari Club and their self-made AI robot, Litchi. They are lead by their leader Zera, and keep a kidnapped girl named Kanon. (Source: MAL)
As someone who has read the original Lychee Light Club manga by Furuya Usamaru which this new anime is based on, a quick question to Kachidoki Studio: the hell is this? They've taken one of the most demented, psychologically screwed-up manga I've ever read and turned it into a gag-based farce on the same level as Nyanpire or Poyopoyo - but unlike those two series, this comical shortened format for Lychee Light Club does not work at all.
The first episode is rather forgettable, as it is just a vehicle in which to introduce the main cast. The only characters that stand up so far are the leader Zera, their robot Litchi, and the girl Kanon. I can barely remember the names of the other boys in the Light Club. None of them really made a solid impression on me, which isn't surprising given how little time each boy gets on screen.
The humor itself is flat, almost non-existent. This show is trying so hard to be funny, it's on the verge of straight telling the audience that a line of dialogue or goofy graphic is part of a joke and that they should be laughing. The so-called 'punchline' of the episode with Kanon's answer to Zera's question is just the last gasp of an over-extended bad joke gone sour. 
So far, there's nothing visually stunning or funny about Lychee Light Club - but the episodes are so short, I'll probably end up watching it for another couple of weeks before I decide to drop it or not. Perhaps it will get better sooner than later - or keep to its low-brow 'humor' and awkward art.

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