ThatAnimeSnob

PROLOGUE
The God of Highschool is the second Korean adaptation after Tower of God that is unlike anything we’ve seen before, because it’s from Korea. It really stands out from all other anime that came out so far by being exactly like every other anime that came out so far... Seriously now, anyone who thought we entered a new era for anime, because manhwa will be the new fad after isekai, was an idiot. There is nothing that sets this anime apart from Baki the Grappler, or Kengan Ashura, or any other show that is just about teenagers fighting each other.

ARTWORK AND ANIMATION
It is well animated and if pretty colors are all you want, you will get them in spades. Just shut off your brain and watch stuff exploding on screen. You will like it that way. But in case you cannot do that, because you have a functional brain and you are not enjoying eating shit by forcefully losing your sense of smell and taste, then don’t bother.

CHARACTERS
The characters are one note, have very shallow motivations, and are apes in level of intelligence.
-They can wish for anything they like, and the best things they can think of are some money to save their dojo, or a reverse harem.
-They realize superpowers exist only when they see many contestants using them. It’s something they should have known since all previous tournaments were airing on television and were very popular. They weren’t hidden from the public, they were broadcasted worldwide, therefore they should have known about the superpowers.
-The protagonist says he doesn’t want to borrow powers from others and wants to instead get stronger on his own. And then proceeds to get a cheap power up by eating a devil fruit and never points out his hypocrisy.
-Most land devastations by superpowers are covered up by the media and are labeled as invasions from the north. And by north, they mean North Korea. Which means every time a mountain blows up it’s just North Korea nuking the country. And that is enough for nobody to panic. What a great cover up.
-Contestants are constantly injuring their opponents outside the tournament, and yet nobody reports them so they can be disqualified. Not even the victims. Which means the tournament is so just you can win without having to follow any rules or play fair. I mean, why would they say they got attacked when it’s just going to be covered up as an invasion from the North Korea? No reason to panic.

PLOT
The reason the characters are so mentally challenged is because there is no logic in the plot. There is an evil cult that wastes a whole episode on a marriage that came out of nowhere and was over in 10 minutes. Then imposters replace the real fighters and take their form just for fighting someone on the arena when they could fight her is the middle of the street whenever they wanted and avoid doing all this nonsense. Every single scene is as dumb as that and it constantly makes you eye roll.

PACING
Even if the plot was a masterpiece with no plot holes or conveniences, the show would still be bad, since the geniuses at the storyboard decided to adapt 10 chapters per episode. As a result there is close to no build up for most of what is going on, and nothing feels rewarding because it’s over before you know it.
-There is a grampa who is said to be undefeatable in battle, yet loses in the very first fight we see. So we feel nothing over his loss.
-One of the rivals has a haki-like aura that always causes his opponents to faint, yet fails in the very first fight we see it being used. So we feel nothing over its failure.
-The key of the gods is supposed to be powerful enough to destroy the world, yet it gets defeated in the very first fight it’s used. So we feel nothing over its failure.

ACTION
Even the action part, the highlight of the show, is far from the best thing ever.
-There is a power scouter of sorts that measures one’s endurance and battle power. Those numbers never play a role in the fights, because if they did there would be no point in the fighting. They would just declare the winner based on the bigger number. Thus the numbers are useless and every victory comes down to ‘because plot said so’.
-The way people obtain superpowers comes down to randomness. Some never get them no matter how much they train, and some get them without doing anything. Wonderful! It basically works however it suits the plot. Which is also why people get power ups in the middle of the fight without prior knowledge of what they gained.
-There is close to no teamwork in the battles, and even when there are numerous combatants it feels as though the strongest ones need no help because they can steamroll everything. The main character in specific is broken as shit. He’s constantly plot armored so that he is never punished for breaking the rules. He’s somehow durable enough to withstand super poisons and nuclear explosions. Gets stronger very fast. Can copy someone’s ability by just looking at it. Creates new special attacks with minimal training. Pulls out hidden powers that not even demigods stand a chance against. Manages to run faster than light and get to the tournament in a few seconds despite being tired and injured. There is literally nothing he can’t do and acts like a brat the whole time. He is annoying and ruins all the fun in the fights.
-Most battles don’t have meaningful tactics that would make them a bit more interesting through mind games. It’s just who fires the bigger energy blast or does the craziest shit. There is a scene where a guy turns nuclear missiles into a statue and teleports millions of people to safety in a few seconds. How did he do that?
-Most lesser fights are really short or are skipped entirely, which can be very annoying when they hype them up and then show nothing. And because of the brilliant idea of shoving 10 chapters in every episode, there are MANY fights per episode and they are all either short or skipped, therefore none of them is satisfactory.
-Injuries mean nothing since there is instant healing technology and wish-granting ladies. Basically, there are zero negative consequences when you lose a fight.
-There are constant interruptions that quickly become annoying. Many of them stop when someone jumps in the ring to interrupt the fighting before it gets brutal and ruins the fun. There is no tension, much less stakes.
-There is a lot of fake suspense regarding characters that seem like they can lose or die, but not really since they could do a lot of weird shit all along. For example, the family of the referee didn’t die because they created copies of them. What a great strategy. If only we had seen the fake family die, if only we had spend time with the real family for giving a shit, and if only the power to create copies had already been established earlier instead of coming out of nowhere.
-New special attacks come out of nowhere and you have to just accept that the characters were holding back the whole time. Even if there was no indication that they could do all that before using them for the first time.
-It can be very confusing to follow what is going on, since there is no narrator for explaining the superpowers. The viewer has to figure it out on his own. And even then, he won’t have a clue as to why did someone win in a fight. A guy for example summons a huge hammer out of nowhere, and as soon as it’s blocked he falls unconscious. What happened? From where did that hammer come from? How was it blocked? Why did he fall unconscious? Without explanations it’s just random bullshit.
-If the fighters are not jumping around with kicks and punches, they are standing still and summon Jojo stands that do all the work for them. What is the point of learning martial arts if they can stand still and let shit happen all around them?

EPILOGUE
So yeah, the show is a trainwreck. The only reason it got hyped up as part of the new era of anime was because many shills were paid to lie about it. You see, Crunchyroll wanted to sell subscriptions so it tricked a lot of casuals into consuming Korean products and being excited for more Korean products. Because, at the end of the day, isn’t that the meaning of life in this modern world we are living in?