Baka and Test (バカとテストと召喚獣 Baka to Test to Shōkanjū?, lit. Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Beasts) also known as
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts is a Japanese
light novel
series created by Kenji Inoue and illustrations by Yui Haga. The first
novel in the series was released on January 29, 2007, and as of June 30,
2011, a total of thirteen volumes, including volume 3.5, volume 6.5,
volume 7.5, and volume 9.5, have been published by
Enterbrain under their
Famitsu Bunko publishing
imprint. A
manga adaptation by Mosuke Mattaku started serialization in the
manga magazine Shōnen Ace on April 25, 2009. Another manga adaptation by namo started serialization in the male oriented web comic magazine
Famitsu Comic Clear on October 30, 2009. An anime adaptation by
Media Factory was announced the same month. A promotional trailer was released for streaming in August 2009.
[1] An anime series adaption began airing on January 7, 2010.
Funimation has licensed the anime for release in the United States under the title
Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts.
[2] A board game/adventure game for
PlayStation Portable titled
Baka to Test to Shōkanjū Portable is set for release in December 13, 2012.
[3]
The story centers around a boy named Akihisa Yoshii, also known as
the idiot or "Baka" of the titled anime. He attends Fumizuki Academy, a
school where the staff rigidly divides the students based on the results
of their academic scores. At the start of the school, students are
academically sorted by entrance exam test grades. The higher the grades,
the higher the class, and the better the benefits. In this case, Class A
is filled with the highest-scoring students; therefore, their classroom
was filled with many prestigious items (air conditioners, fancy seats,
laptops, a free snack bar, etc.), while the state of Class F is the
complete opposite of that, representing the "bottom of the barrel"
amenities, such as mats and wooden tables.
This academy has something special, where all the students manage to
call forth Summoned Beings (Shōkanjū, or "Avatars" in the official
English translation
[2]).
These Beings are used for battles between classes with the goal of
capturing (or retaining) the best classroom facilities. Since Class A is
filled with prodigies, they all have strong Summoned Beings, while
Class F has drastically weak ones in comparison. A teacher must
authorize/supervise each battle, and the health and strength of each
summoned being is based on the student's last test score in that
teacher's subject (i.e. Math, History, etc.). The beings lose points
when struck by an opponent, and should the point count reach zero, the
being and student are disqualified, and must take
supplementary tuition
with strict remedial teacher Nishimura (nicknamed "Iron Man"). However,
if the student can leave the battle before reaching zero, these points
can be replenished by taking a supplemental exam. The student's being
may then return to the battle.
On the day of the placement test, an intelligent girl named Mizuki
Himeji suffers from a fever and is unable to complete her test, hence
her reining in a score of zero. As a result, she is pigeonholed into
Class F together with Akihisa. Akihisa, who dreams of the day when the
academy would no longer be divided by grades, pitches an idea to his
class to rule over the higher-level classes by doing a Summoned Being
War for both Mizuki's sake and to get more and more privileges. Aside
from Mizuki (who happens to be the second-ranked student in Year 2),
there is also the class representative Yūji Sakamoto, the
bishōnen Hideyoshi Kinoshita, the
perverted
Kouta Tsuchiya, and the tomboyish Minami Shimada (who, as Akihisa
claims, is his worst enemy, but actually has a crush on him, but is
reluctant to show it).
Media
Light novels
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 1 ISBN 978-4-7577-3329-9 (January 29, 2007)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 2 ISBN 978-4-7577-3505-7 (April 28, 2007)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 3 ISBN 978-4-7577-3682-5 (August 30, 2007)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 3.5 ISBN 978-4-7577-3979-6 (January 30, 2008)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 4 ISBN 978-4-7577-4236-9 (May 30, 2008)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 5 ISBN 978-4-7577-4518-6 (November 29, 2008)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 6 ISBN 978-4-7577-4827-9 (April 30, 2009)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 6.5 ISBN 978-4-7577-5040-1 (August 29, 2009)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 7 ISBN 978-4-04-726195-2 (December 26, 2009)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 7.5 ISBN 978-4-04-726313-0 (February 27, 2010)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 8 ISBN 978-4-04-726727-5 (August 30, 2010)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 9 ISBN 978-4-04-727031-2 (January 29, 2011)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 9.5 ISBN 978-4-04-727332-0 (June 30, 2011)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 10 ISBN 978-4-04-727647-5 (January 5, 2012)
- Baka to Test to Shōkanjū 10.5 ISBN 978-4-04-728351-0（September 29, 2012）
Anime
A 13-episode
anime adaptation produced by the animation studio Silver Link and directed by
Shin Ōnuma[4]
aired in Japan between January 7 and March 31, 2010. On March 4, 2010,
Funimation Entertainment announced that it had acquired the anime and
streamed simulcast subtitled episodes days after they aired in Japan
under the title
Baka and Test – Summon the Beasts. Two OVA episodes under the title
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Matsuri.
[5] were released in two
BD/DVD
volumes: the first on February 23, 2011 and the second on March 30,
2011. Both OVA come with 2–3 different ending sequences. A second anime
season under the title
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! began airing in Japan in July 2011. In November 29, 2011,
Animax Asia acquire the anime for its first season premiere. In May 6, 2012, Animax Asia re-aired the anime as part of Animax Asia's
Shounen Sunday. In July 12, 2012,
AXN Asia, the sister channel of
Animax Asia began to air its first season in the Philippines as its exclusive programming. As of July 25, 2012,
Animax Asia have anounnced that they will air Season 2 on August 16, 2012 under the title
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts 2 as well as the OVA that has announced will air on September 4 & 5, 2012.
The first anime season had three pieces of theme music: one opening
theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Perfect-area
Complete!" by
Natsuko Aso, composed by
Kenichi Maeyamada.
The first ending theme is "Baka Go Home" by Milktub and BakaTest All
Stars. The second ending theme is "Hare Tokidoki Egao" by
Hitomi Harada,
Kaori Mizuhashi,
Emiri Katou and Tomomi Isomura. The
Matsuri OVAs had one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Ren'ai Kōjō Committee"
(恋愛向上committee?) by Natsuko Aso, and the ending theme is "Getsuyō wa Kirai"
(月曜はキライ?)
by Milktub. The second anime season has one opening theme and one
ending theme. The opening theme is "Kimi+Nazo+Watashi de Jump!!"
(君+謎+私でJUMP!!?) by
Larval Stage Planning, made up of
I've Sound singers Airi Kirishima, Nami Maisaki, and Rin Asami. The ending theme is "Eureka Baby"
(エウレカベイビー?)
by Natsuko Aso. Funimation has also licensed the second season and the
Matsuri OVA's, as with the first, they will simulcast the second series,
followed by a
Blu-ray and DVD release this year.
[6]
The series made its American television debut on August 1, 2011 on the
Funimation Channel.
[7]
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