Introduction
Manabi Straight! follows the lives of a group of young high school girls living in the year 2035 while they attend the all-girl Seioh Private High School. Since the birth rate has dropped dramatically, schools are being closed down due to the sheer lack of students available to teach. Morale in schools has dropped dramatically, and Seioh is no exception.
The story begins when the main character, Manami Amamiya, transfers to Seioh. After some initial hijinks involving a futuristic scooter and a swim meet, followed by an inspirational school song performance, she is inducted as the student council president. The story that follows pertains to Manami working with Mika Inamori, the only other student council member, and three other classmates named Mutsuki Uehara, Mei Etoh, and Momoha Odori, in student council matters. After some remodeling of the student council room, Manami and her friends set forth to plan for the upcoming student festival.
(Source: Wikipedia, edited)
Audience reviews
13 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
SoloNecromancer
Tital : Forward We Go!
Gakuenn manabi utopia straight is a heartwarming slice of life series , where 5 cute girls meet in a school and endup becoming friends for life , they start to go through some events in a school where nobody could care abt it for decades and these 5 cuties start to change everything by surprising everyone
it's written excellently and has a characters deapth, where the plot doesn't unnecessarily waste your time with too much emotional pain or cause, it's crafted perfectly and it's episodic, you can enjoy every episode. it feels realistic no fantasy stuff or imaginary stuff!!.
the subject is very common in everyone's life where someone go through when they're in school especially in some groups and activities.
you will connect to it no matter what and feels like y…
Read at the sourceFranBunnyFFXII
One of the forerunners of the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things genre, unfortunately this series was completely overshadowed by the release of Lucky☆Star.
This series is an interesting glimpse into the anime culture that was developing before the massive influence of Lucky☆Star and K-on! dramatically changing the landscape for this kind of anime.
The series is mildly experimental relying more on light story than daily gags, and I plays with social commentary on Japan's declining population. One of the first if not the first anime to ever do so.
The story is charming, the artwork is insanely sweet, the characters are realistic yet fictionally adorable, and the soundtrack is actually really unique for the time. I can't think of a single anime that has ever used a percussion based OST for motiv…
Read at the sourceEvangelynn
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight, or just Manabi Straight, is a school life anime that has been mostly forgotten by time. The term “underrated” is a somewhat contentious way to describe a show, (because who is to actually decide if a show receives enough attention/phrase?) and risks sounding pretentious or overly-emphasizing a show’s quality. However, in my eyes, Manabi Straight is a truly underrated show. With less than 27,000 members registered on MAL and only a mere 100 favorites, I feel that its lack of lasting attention from most anime fans is disappointing. It bears some obvious narrative similarities to the likes of Lucky Star, K-on and Azumanga Daioh, yet unlike those shows, has not been beloved by time in the slightest. There are certainly reasons for this, and I do think Manabi Stra…
Read at the sourceDavidCardenas99
This anime takes place in a nearby future and it`s a group of cute girls living their high school experience kind of show. What differences this series of others of its kind is its focus in school (not in school`s events but in the school as an institution and how characters deal with it) and time set up which as mentioned previously is placed in a future where highschool is not mandatory and a much less popular option than now.
One of the things I found more interesting about this show is its view of the world in a slightly distopic way. Aestheticaly talking this shows in the color palette the series uses which is at least interesting and likely to catch your attention as it`s not what you expect of a distopic show. I personally liked it a lot.
One of the most appealing aspects of this ki…
Read at the sourceDennis_King
Another day another anime another review where i have to come up with interesting things to say about said anime.
But this is not just any other day,it's a rainy day and i'm dead tired.Only thing keeping me awake is my pure hatred which i'll try to transfer into this review as best as i can.
And where to start really?When an anime such as Manabi Straight is so devoid of..Anything to be honest.
Let's get the story part out of the way since there's no story to talk about..It's just another slice of life anime..Cause we needed one in 5 minutes,correct?Well no we didn't need another Moe-SOL anime in our lives but market says otherwise and the rest of us who were not hit in the head as children have to suffer for it...Basically all you need to know about this anime is that it's about a schoo…
Read at the sourceplaide
Fuck! That was so good. This anime does not waste time on useless scenes, every second and minute of it was perfectly crafted and tells a beautiful story.
The Art was exceptional and the sound shook my heart.
The characters were the crucial point of the anime which each and every one of the cast was unique. Blah blah blah.
To summarize, this is a SOL anime that does not go through the usual pains that average SOL presents. It is cute and adorably cute at that. The pains were logical and yet presented perfectly, Sometimes SOL anime creates a premise where it forcefully makes the character suffer simply because for the sake of it. This anime does not but it creates an endearing story that showed a particular universe where 5 different people come together and make things happen. This is its…
Read at the sourceNotshane
This was such a good anime; the past flashbacks and the piano made me tear up so much. It reminds me of simpler times when I used to see green meadows all of the time, had more parks around my area and more fun things to do.
Now, most of those areas are closed down for building reconstructions or the ones that I used to play in already have new buildings over them.
The official music of it really knows how to hit me deep in the heart and I love this anime for giving me something different.
Despite its short length, everyone whom is an anime lover needs to give this one a go; even lifts up your spirits if you are in your own student council and are feeling like your word is not getting to the people.
This anime is a reminder that true effort will be heard; though perhaps you will not ha…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight is a Manga series created by the animation Studio, Ufotable. They're probably best known for their work on 2x2=Shinobuden, the Tales of Symphonia OVA, and, most recently, Fate/Zero. It shouldn't be any surprise that an anime quickly followed. There's even a visual novel game for the Playstation 2 based on the series. However, in spite of being semi-successful in Japan Manabi Straight was never released elsewhere. Let's take a look at the anime and try to figure out why.
The setting is a future where Japan has a declining population and schools have less students partially due to the lower birth rate and partially due to a system of apprenticeships which leads a lot of youngsters to just skip school altogether. The setting is Seioh High School where an incredi…
Read at the sourceYukariki
Education is considered one of the most important tenets of civilization. In many ways, education has helped people understand each other; for example, reviewers write about what they like and dislike in a work and the masses can respond to them by either clicking those two buttons below all reviews, or directly thanking/criticizing them.Thank an English teacher every time you f-bomb a reviewer. Language is the greatest tool invented by humankind. Without language, we will not be civilized. We will not be able to watch anime or invent baconnaise.
Many parents and teachers claim that school is a forum for thinking. School is the place to learn how to collaborate. In the real world, most projects require more than just one person. If one cannot work together, one loses many opportunities. C…
Read at the sourceSplitter
I swore when I seriously started writing reviews that I would never give anything a perfect rating. No anime was flawless no matter how great I thought it was. However, Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight is the closest thing I've found to perfect.
Set in Japan in the near future, Manabi captures the outlook of its setting better than any other series that's tried to work out such a scenery. It is made clear with a national birth rate crisis reflecting the current steady drop in Japanese citizen births, as well as advanced but realistic technology such as streamlined buses, computers built into desks, and student organizers that are essentially limited-function Blackberries. These subtle points serve to add an extra glow to the already wonderful story presented.
Manabi's plot is so basic it ma…
Read at the sourceChag
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! is a classic example of looks over substance. While not totally devoid of any redeemable qualities, it's hard to recommend Manabi Straight to anyone, as it is simply outclassed by too many other choices.
The story revolves around the Seioh high school student council and its attempt at organizing the school fair. Underneath that lies a story of friendship between the five girls who takes part in student council activities. However, neither of these stories succeeds in gathering much interest for one important reason: the characters.
Simply put, after the initial impressions, the characters of Manabi Straight get stale very quickly. You have Manabi, the hyperactive student council president; Mikan, the mousy and insecure treasurer; Mei, your typical tsundere…
Read at the sourceKholdStare88
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! This anime features wonderful creativity and enjoyment to the maximum, while not being bogged down with heavy clichés. I will not hesitate to say that it is probably my favorite slice-of-life series and probably one of the most touching series I have ever watched.
5 words review: Deep, touching, fun, cute, epic.
Story: 10/10
The story is amazingly simplistic yet its plot is complex. In fact, this whole series is about the student council and the Seioh School Fair with absolutely no action or romance. There's not a lot of comedy, and it is basically a slice-of-life drama (weird, I know). Manabi Straight uses the school fair to explore the true meaning of friendship, endeavours, and dreams as Manabi, Mika, Mei, Mutsuki, and Momo go through trials of h…
Read at the sourcemaybelletea
What a wonderful series. I am so glad I decided to watch this anime. I wouldn’t hesitate to say it’s one of my favorite, maybe one of the greatest anime I’ve ever seen. Don’t be fooled by its childish loli-looking exterior, what lies in this anime is the bittersweet and heartwarming message of moving forward.
The story is set in the future, where schools’ populations continuously decrease, and is about girls brought together by something as simple as a student council. They develop such a strong bond throughout the series, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anime where friends were this close. Mainly it is about them preparing and then trying to revive the school fair, which turns out to be a long struggle. There is the lighthearted and funny moments…
Read at the source