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DGFischer

  • Wisconsin
  • Joined Jun 14, 2019
  • 70 / M

After School Dice Club

Nov 17, 2019

Houkago Saikoro Club (A.S. Dice Club) has a message that all the gamers inside us must hear ... and the warning which is only fair if taken seriously.

And, it all centers on the theme which Linden-Funimation wants us to be better grounded and all the more wiser.  Board games.  Or, to some, bored games.

These are most likely the video-game marvels of our age, smashing their way through level upon level with digital prestidigitation beyond my humble comprehension.  Hey, hero, look away from your device and see the throngs cheering you on.  Not there, are they?

And the warning which is only fair if taken seriously.

Example:  I passed my college years with a group of a dozen guys who were into the board game called Risk.  You know, battle the enemy armies and conquer the world.  Great times with great guys, but I never won once.  Came in second when I hunkered down in Argentina and waited out the smashing and bashing of the powers-that-be.  When the dust settled and my proposal for a power-sharing plan rejected, I went down with the fight which lasted a few dice rolls.  Fast forward a few deca ... a few years, and Hasbro has developed Risk for the computer.  Played often, won several times.  Sometimes the computer can be such a chump.  But, in computer play (v-game play as well), when you win, you win alone.

Which is why Houkago Saikora Club is more about the comradery that is fostered around the board game.  Not the game itself.  Not so much the win, but the who you're with when you are just a little bit cagier, just a little more lucky.  And lose, and you have mates who will still console with the traditional 'good game!'

The three girls are pivotal in the development of the plot.  Miki is painfully shy, to the point of being frightened of any human contact.  We meet her in her private world, shut off  by her headphones, into her music.  Alone.  We learn she has been bullied in her past, getting through elementary school with no friends.  Let that sink in ... no friends.

Enter Aya, who literally runs across Miki avoiding hitting her with her out-of-control bike.  Miki and Aya's personalities are ... well, think of a lit match and a stick of dynamite.  Nothing wrong with a lit match.  Nothing wrong with a stick of dynamite.  Just leave these two apart.  Not so Aya, a carefree, adventuresome girl who first proposes to Miki that they wander around with the chance of getting lost.  Getting lost freaks Miki out, but, by making the effort to find oneself without setting out a destination, Miki discovers a beautiful world.  They stumble across their classmate Midori.

Midori is a headstrong, no nonsense class representative type who goes by the rules.  But she is out in a section of Kyoto girls from their school are not allowed on school nights.  Miki and Aya follow Midori to her job, working in a shop that features board games and a section where game-play is welcomed.  The girls find they have a common love for games, and with Midori's mentoring, they begin to cement firmer bonds of friendship which enriches Miki's life, much to the pleasure of her family.

The strengthening of friendships around the stimulating effects of gameplay is the main thing about ASDC.   As we learn of Midori's dream of becoming a game-author, as we wonder how MIki will break out of her smothering introversion, as we watch Aya mature to be a more level-headed ... hey, wait, that's not happening! ... I appreciate the thoughtful interplay of personalities warming up to each other.  ASDC might be just a 12-episode season and done, but it is a drama worth watching.

And please, I would love to see the theme songs for the series (beginning and ending) subbed.  I feel I'm missing something profound.

10/10 story
9/10 animation
9/10 sound
10/10 characters
9.8/10 overall

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