Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Ben-To: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Food fight.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 17, 2015

Black Friday may have (sadly) given way to Black Thursday (otherwise known as Thanksgiving), but one thing has remained the same: there are almost inevitably skirmishes or even outright fights that break out as ridiculously desperate consumers battle for dominance to get that high tech shredder for $10 (or whatever the deal o’ the day might be). There can be a weird combination of humor and horror as one watches the breathless news stories documenting these patently absurd conflicts, though the horror typically ends up winning out when someone is injured or, even worse, killed. Rampant consumerism is supposedly the backbone of Capitalism (at least according to some), but it can have some unappealing side effects. Japan might seem to be at least a bit more reserved in this regard, but the totally bizarre anime Ben-To revolves around a sort of oddly specific “Black Friday” setup where newly discounted lunch goods at a local supermarket become the focus of an epic battleground where various combatants duke it out for possession of those little take out boxes known as bento. As far a basic setup goes, that is certainly one of the strangest in the almost always strange world of anime, and it’s enough to carry Ben-To through at least the first couple of its episodes. Depending on one’s tolerance for what amounts to an unending food fight, though, Ben- To may simply not have quite enough ingredients in its box to comprise a completely satisfying meal.

Perhaps because the general premise of Ben-To is frankly fairly minimalist, the anime takes a while to actually divulge what’s going on. Instead we’re introduced to affable if confused teenaged high school student Yō Satō who has a fractured memory, knowing that something bad happened to him yesterday at the local supermarket, but not quite being able to bring the event fully into his memory. He does remember an odd girl with silver-white hair who might be some kind of nemesis, but that’s about it. That girl warns Satō to never return to the supermarket, but like any dunderheaded high school male, he ignores her, returning to the scene of a perhaps forgotten crime.

Soon enough the reason for the girl’s warning to Satō becomes clear: this particular supermarket is infamous for posting half priced bento items, lunch goodies that are fought over in an organized brawl that sees various combatants, known as wolves, duke it out for various bento boxes, all according to a rather convoluted set of proscribed rules. Satō had unwittingly wandered into this establishment the previous day, getting caught up in the maelstrom and injured in the process. He may be a bit bruised, but Satō is also somehow intrigued by this patently weird subculture, and soon wants to join in, in a kind of comedic anime version of Fight Club. There is, however, no “first rule” of this particular fight club, and Satō is slowly schooled in the ins and outs of battling for a half priced lunch.

Satō’s mentor in this learning curve turns out to be that girl with the odd colored hair, a higher echelon “wolf” named Sen Yarizui. Sen may initially appear to be yet another tsundere character, since her initial interactions with Satō tend to be on the negative side, but it turns out she’s actually a fairly straightforward, if obsessively focused, girl. Also playing into the plot is another girl, Hana Oshiroi, a classmate of Satō’s who, like Satō himself, becomes fascinated by the bento brawls and joins the school’s Half-Priced Food Lover’s Club (as with so many other outré elements in anime, there is of course a school club associated with this odd behavior).

There are various strata of participants in the bento brawls, including so-called “boars” (players who don’t follow the rules) and “dogs” (newcomers who haven’t quite ascended to “wolf” level yet). A number of different strategies to claim a bento prize are employed, but sometimes mere sneakiness—one of Hana’s preferred methods—ends up working as well as using fists or feet to overcome the “enemy.” There are a few minimally detailed subplots that work out within a kind of shōnen framework where, for example, Satō discovers other classmates are involved (or have been involved) in the bento brawls.

However—and this might be a fairly large however, depending on your personal need for complexity—that’s about it in terms of what Ben-To has to offer and what ultimately it aims to provide. This is a solid enough midlevel entry that has a patently bizarre premise, one that is odd but which doesn’t really offer much in the way of story development or even, ultimately, much compelling interest. The characters learn valuable life lessons about loyalty, acting honestly, and the like, and it’s all within the context of these exceedingly weird bento brawls, but, again, that’s pretty much it.

There is some genial and occasionally downright goofy humor which helps to elevate the series. Some of this stems from Hana’s avocation of writing erotic novels. On the other hand, there are occasionally relatively dark elements which intrude on the story, with both Hana and Satō himself coming in for bullying, and on a couple of occasions, more than that. It’s a decidedly odd casserole made up of disparate elements, and anime fans will have to decide if this is the kind of “take out” they want to bring home, hopefully without a fight if that is their choice.

Ben-To: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ben-To: The Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This a bright, colorful anime that boasts some nicely sharp line detail and decently designed characters. The palette is quite appealing, though it does tend to exploit some "blander" hues in the beige, brown and ochre range. The image is intentionally distressed and/or crosshatched for some sequences (see screenshots 6 and 15). Other sequences employ a washed out technique (screenshot 2) or outright distortion (screenshot 13). Sharpness is sometimes variable throughout this presentation, though admittedly some of that is part of an intentional design aesthetic (see screenshot 8). There are some transitory issues with banding, but otherwise this is a problem free presentation.

Ben-To: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ben-To: The Complete Series features an English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese language track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. Both of these tracks offer their own pleasures, but the English track certainly delivers more impact in the fight scenes, as should be expected. Well placed sound effects dot the surrounds and the anime's enjoyable score is also often quite envelloping. Dialogue is presented very cleanly, and there are no problems of any kind to warrant concern.

Ben-To: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Episode 3 Commentary features Joel McDonald, ADR Director, emceeing Austin Tindle and Felecia Angelle, augmented by various supporting cast members, all involved in a kind of Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me quiz show approach.


• Episode 7 Commentary features Joel McDonald, doing much the same thing here as in the third episode commentary, this time with Trina Nishimura and Morgan Garrett, along with various supporting character voice actors.


• Bento Brawl with Justin Rojas and Joel McDonald (1080p; 3:09) is a goofy live action recreation of a bento brawl.


• Textless Opening Song - "Live for Life Ookamitachi no Yoru" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Opening Song - "Treasure!" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song - "Formula of Smiles (1080p; 1:32)


• U.S. Trailer (1080; 1:02)

Ben-To: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ben-To is yet another anime with a really bizarre and totally weirdly specific premise, something that tends to work both for and against the series as a whole. The entire "food fight" setup is interesting and unusual, but then the series just kind of lets it sit there, without a lot of development (not that there really could be that much development with something like this). The lead characters are all amusing enough, but whether or not you enjoy this show may boil down to how many empty calories you're willing to consume in any given day. Technical merits are strong for fans of the series, and it's to Funimation's credit that the typically raucous Funimation commentaries have been given a bit of playful focus this time.