Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

YuYuShiki is a charming and entertaining comedy anime with a unique spin on the classroom club genre. Created by Komata Mikami, YuYuShiki will appeal to fans of quirky anime series with an element of slice-of-life storytelling. Featuring animation produced by Kinema Citrus (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Made in Abyss), YuYuShiki comes from producers Fumiki Yamazaki (A Lull in the Sea, Mitsuboshi Colors), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (The Demon Girl Next Door, Castle Town Dandelion), Mitsutoshi Ogura (Waiting in the Summer, Black Lagoon) and provides fans of light anime comedies something fun.

Nerdy Yui Ichii (Minami Tsuda), hyper-kinetic Yukari Hinata (Risa Taneda), and airheaded Yuzuko Nonohara (Rumi Okubo) are the members of the data processing club. The club might not be that popular at the school but it does provide these nerdy data-happy girls with plenty of time to spend behind their computers and on their keyboards. The club is only for geeked out girls with a love of data.

While the school club is mostly just an excuse for the three girls to hang out and chat about non-tech things (at least most of the time), these girls still have fun with computers while surfing the web and debating the merits of the latest trends. It’s time for some debates: what food condiments are best? Despite some disagreements, the girls always have a lot of fun together – while waiting on software updates to finish.

The characters are essential to the series. The anime wouldn’t have been able to be as enjoyable without a fun cast of characters at the helm. YuYuShiki certainly benefits from the fun cast. The characters inhabit their roles in a charming and enjoyable way. With the school club function, the characters are able to showcase their quirky personalities and anime fans who enjoy these goofy elements will appreciate that the cast adds to the comedy.

The animation is well done and is one of the best components of YuYuShiki. Under the art direction of Hiroshi Katō (Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion), YuYuShiki has a worthwhile aesthetic. This is one of the best elements of the series. The series manages to showcase a distinct art style that feels energetic.

An animated production with a nice sense of creativity and energy, YuYuShiki might not write new rules for anime as a medium but it excels at doing something well and making the most of the comedy genre. A worthwhile effort with a lot of good art from the team of animators involved on the production. The character designs created by Hisayuki Tabata (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Qualidea Code) are effective and worthwhile as well.

The chief animation direction by Hisayuki Tabata (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Accel World) and Yukie Akiya (Celestial Method, Princess Principal) is certainly a key strength of the series animation. The animation is colorful, bright, and vivid. This is also partly the result of the excellent cinematography by Yū Wakabayashi (Princess Principal, Godzilla Singular Point). The efforts contributed by animation director Tabata and cinematographer Wakabayashi are excellent and are certainly notable.

The score composed by Asuka Sakai (My mental choices are completely interfering with my school romantic comedy, Nagareboshi Lens) is a highlight of the series. The music is fun and has a nice lighthearted breeze. The score is charming and enjoyable. This is a nice and laid-back score for the production.

Written by Natsuko Takahashi (Blue Thermal, Yo-kai Watch), YuYuShiki is a fun series and it has a great concept. The school club vibe with a technology slant adds a nice sense of quirkiness to the concept. Remembering to focus on the characters and their interactions first and foremost, YuYuShiki has a worthy canvas to work with and screenwriter Takahashi remembers to have fun with the concept (providing the tech club aspect a fun backdrop). While this might not be a plot-driven series in any sense, the character-driven and concept-driven writing is entertaining.

Directed by Kaori (Hoshikuzu Telepath, How to keep a mummy), YuYuShiki doesn’t break new ground but it is a well-made and directed series. YuYuShiki offers audiences plenty of comedic fun and there is a lot worth appreciating about that. Anime fans who enjoy silly antics and goofy comedy thrills will appreciate YuYuShiki and what it brings to the table. Kaori does a solid job as director. Fans of comedy series such as K-On! and Mitsuboshi Colors will appreciate this one and what it has to offer audiences.

Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, YuYuShiki is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is colorful and engaging. Colors certainly have an excellent amount of depth and the animation looks splendid with the encoding by Sentai Filmworks.

The series might have simplistic animation in some results (in that the animation doesn't have a ton of fast-paced action scenes and such) so the encoding doesn't have to work overtime to showcase the art as much but the efforts by Sentai are certainly worthwhile and audiences will appreciate the high-quality presentation. Detail and line art look impressive on the release.

Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The release does not provide an English dub option. The lack of an English dub option is the biggest presentation drawback on the release.

Fans of English dubs for anime series will be disappointed that the collection doesn't include one. This is something that may deter some potential buyers from picking up the set. However, audiences should consider picking up the release regardless of if they prefer English dubs or the original Japanese language audio.

The Japanese audio track sounds crisp and engaging on the release. The dynamics sound notable and the score is well represented on the release. Dialogue sounds clear and easy to understand. The English subtitles are worthwhile and are free from glaring spelling or grammatical errors. Purists tend to want to opt for the Japanese language audio regardless, so it is nice that the set includes this option. With strong lossless audio encoding, the audio presentation is satisfying.  

Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 18:30)

Nyanyashiki Shorts:

Short 1 (HD, 00:59)

Short 2 (HD, 2:33)

Short 3 (HD, 2:24)

Short 4 (HD, 2:19)

Short 5 (HD, 2:40)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Sentai Filmworks: Taisho Baseball Girls (HD, 1:32), Hidamari Sketch – Graduation Arc (HD, 1:33), NANA (HD, 1:27), and Kakegurui XX (HD, 1:33).

Yuyushiki: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

YuYuShiki is an entertaining comedy anime and one that will appeal to fans of the genre. The series has wonderful animation. The art style is one of the strengths of the series. The animation is ushered in by animation director Hisayuki Tabata (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works). With a quirky and fun concept involving the data processing club, fans of quirky and nerdy anime series with a technology slant will appreciate the genre offering.

The Blu-ray release from Sentai Filmworks includes a worthwhile presentation of the series. The release includes a nice looking 1080p high- definition presentation. The collection also includes a worthwhile Japanese audio presentation (with English subtitles). The one presentation drawback is the lack of an English dub option. Despite an English dub, the release has outstanding audio clarity and the subtitles are good. The release also includes a selection of bonus features including the Nyanyashiki Shorts. The shorts are certainly one of the key highlights of the release. Recommended.