Fastest Finger First Episodes 2 + 3: An Academic’s Version of an Adrenaline Rush

Review Episode 2:

I mentioned this in my last post on this anime, but I really do love trivia and quizzes. So, no surprise my favourite part of watching this came from learning something new. Even if it was just that someone actually came up with a term to describe the space between the hem of a miniskirt and overknee socks. I cannot for the life of me think where that would be a useful bit of knowledge but I loved filing it away inside my head with all the other useless facts I’ve accumulated over the years.

Oh yeah, I should probably review the episode. Basically, classmate girl tricks wimpy protagonist into ‘watching’ a quiz on the weekend but it turns out they are entered into the competition. We get through round one with wimpy guy seriously riding high on stress and tension to the point of near collapse. If you like quizzes and watching quizzes, it’s a lot of fun. Otherwise, there’s not a lot else going on and no, I haven’t yet remembered either of the main characters’ names and yet I’m not seeing that as a deterrent from watching the rest of this.

Review Episode 3:

I think this show is going to be pretty good for me. It kind of perfectly captures the feelings of playing a game with others. The final monologue by the main character about the fun and frustration perfectly sums up  the turbulent feelings you can get from playing and just how much of a rush it can be. While from a strictly narrative point of view this isn’t doing all that much, the subject matter and the emotional resonance I’m getting from it, is kind of enough to keep me glued to the screen.

Still, I’m not sure how we’re going to go moving forward as we seem to be working hard to set up some sort of rivalry and we’ve also got childhood friends, as well as just plain social awkwardness all kind of cluttering up the quiz floor. Maybe these things will actually make it a better show in the long run or maybe they’ll just serve as a distraction. Also, I wonder if I’d have a better chance of picking up emphasis on words if I was watching this in English dub because I have enough issue just picking out even known Japanese words when they talk that fast that I certainly couldn’t have told you there was any emphasis given in the questions. Still, it was fun reading the subs and seeing if I could figure out where the questions were going and usually the answer was not with where the characters buzzed in.

This one is a keeper for the season. I’m not arguing it is brilliant but I’m having a lot of fun.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.