Best Student Council

Plot

The story follows Rino Rando, who has been on her own since the death of her mother, Chieri, as she transfers to Miyagami Private Academy with the recommendation of her mysterious pen pal, Mr. Poppit. Shortly after her arrival, Rino surprisingly becomes a member of elite group of girls called the Best Student Council. Rino learns that Kanade Jinguji founded Miyagami Private Academy as a place where students can live free from restrictions and that the Best Student Council was formed to ensure that freedom. Best Student Council Members receive free tuition, room and board.

The story takes place at Miyagami Private Academy, a mysterious all-girl high school, its student council, the Miyagami Academy Maximum Authority Wielding Best Student Council, also known as the Best Student Council (Gokujou Seitokai), having their own Assault, Covert, and vehicle divisions. This council has more authority power than any of the faculty and staff members. The Best Student Council is divided into the four main divisions: Executive, Assault and Covert plus the Vehicle Squad. Each member of the council has their own special ability, such as special fighting techniques, the gathering of information, or weaponry such as cards, a yo-yo, or, in Rino's case, her hand puppet, Pucchan. It is revealed in an early episode that no one really knows how many members are actually in the best Student Council except the President.

Characters

Executive members

Rino (Jinguuji) Rando (蘭堂りの, Randō (Jingūji) Rino)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese); Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

Rino is the main character of the series and, on her first day, is given the title of Secretary of Best Student Council. Among the Best Student Council, she is the one that does not have any good ability or specialty. Besides, not intelligent at all, she is very dense and slow, but she is an adorable, cheerful, friendly, and kind little girl. Kanade brings her into Best Student Council to keep Rino close with her so she can protect her. She is almost always seen with Pucchan, her hand puppet companion. Pucchan's fight ability and his power of "Burning" which he uses to fight is the reason the other member accept her to be in Best Student Council in the beginning of the series. She is also a member of Jinguuji family and has inherited the powers of the Jinguuji family but does not know about it. Her "power" is capable of sending her voice outwards to everyone in a large radius around her, when her "powers" awaken late in the series. Her mother Chieri was a member of the Jinguuji family and a former candidate of Jinguuji successor. She had the strongest "power" ever among the Jinguuji which was inherited by Rino. She ran away because she disliked the ways of the family but she kept this fact from Rino. Due to the fact she has powers as per family traditions, her true last name is probably Jinguuji but is never told this to protect her.

Near the end of the series, it is revealed that Pucchan's real identity is actually Tetsuya Rando (Randō Tetsuya). He is Rino's real older brother who died when he was a little kid. His spirit resides in that puppet ever since Rino's mother was still alive and probably can move because of the power she put in the doll. However, Rino is also not aware of this fact. He can only talk when somebody's hand is put inside his puppet body, that includes anybody even Rino.

Kanade Jinguuji (神宮司奏, Jingūji Kanade)

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese); Kelly Manison (English)

Kanade is the executive director and founder of Miyagami Private Academy, president of the Best Student Council, and the future successor of the Jinguuji conglomerate. She takes a special interest in Rino and takes care of her, later found to be at the request of Rino's mother, a relative of hers. She is able to telepathically communicate with other people. Also of note is that Kanade is later revealed to be Mr. Poppit, Rino's penpal at the beginning of the series. When Kanade was just a kid, she had a wish to go to school and so Miyagami Private Academy was built. Eventually, she found her place where she belongs to and gains close friends in this school among the Best Student Council members. All students like her and admire her, especially all Best student Council members who care a lot about her and are very loyal and dedicated to her.

Assault Squad

The Assault Squad (遊撃部, Yūgekibu) is in charge of the safety and well-being of the school by eliminating any potential threats. The assault squad gain their knowledge of threats from the covert squad.

Sayuri Hida (飛田小百合, Hida Sayuri)

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese); Nancy Novotny (English)

Sayuri fights with her wooden sword using the Hida Kasseiryuu and is also the number one member of the assault squad. She is an old friend of Rein. Before she was invited to Miyagami Private Academy, she was referred to as a genius swordsman who inherited the pure blood of Hida. An incident that caused her to leave a senior swordsman permanently injured caused her to feel deep guilt ever since, and she sends him flowers daily. When Sayuri's glasses are taken off, she has a hard time seeing, and ends up muttering "my glasses, my glasses" without ever being able to locate them. Sayuri is noted as having a particularly ample bust, something that her best friend Rein is often envious of.

Rein Tsunomoto (角元れいん, Tsunomoto Rein)

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (Japanese); Serena Varghese (English)

Rein uses playing cards as her weapon of choice and is a childhood friend of Sayuri. The Hida family took her in after her father disappeared (most likely due to his gambling debts). She enjoys playing card games and does not mind gambling. Rein also has a love of words, and many times she is heard speaking a sentence using one word and splitting it three ways though they all mean the same thing, such as when she called Sayuri "an idiot, a moron, and a complete dingdong". Rein has an extremely maternal side that is shown when a baby is abandoned at their dorms. This is said to be because her father abandoned her when she was very young, making her understand well how it feels to not be loved by anyone. Sometimes Pucchan refers her as little kid senpai due to her childish acts and nature. Rein also cheats quite a lot because she hates losing making her yearn for her father. Though she has expressed a dislike for her father, claiming she would beat him up if he ever showed up, but deep down she actually still loves him deep in her heart.

Covert Squad

The Covert Squad (隠密, Onmitsu) specializes in gathering intelligence and performs espionage and surveillance operations. For example, when a new student plans to transfer to Miyagami Private Academy a background check is conducted by the Covert Squad. In the opening title sequence Kuon Ginga and Seina Katsura are originally accompanied by two shadows representing secret members of the Covert Squad. Later these shadows are revealed to be Kotoha Kutsugi to the right (starting in episode 16), and Ayumu Oume to the left (starting in episode 21).

Seina Katsura (桂聖奈, Katsura Seina)

Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Japanese); Sasha Paysinger (English)

Seina is the captain of the Covert Squad and Minamo's elder sister. Constantly seen smiling, she can also be very serious when necessary. Seina is first known simply as an old friend of Kanade, but is revealed later in the series to be a relative of hers. While Seina is of Jinguuji blood, she did not inherit the Jinguuji powers, and as a result, had to have her last name changed. Near the end of the series, she is revealed to be the new chairman of V, a group that oversees the workings of the Jinguuji family and controls even the family's leader (which was the main reason that Kanade had trouble rebelling against the family). This position was taken by Seina in an effort to help Kanade. Kuon states at the end of the series that Seina might be the real mysterious one among Best Student Council members. There is no measurement what she is capable of doing and has infinite ways to reach her goals.

Kotoha Kutsugi (矩継琴葉, Kutsugi Kotoha)

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese); Jessica Boone (English)

Kotoha is the best member of the Covert Squad and uses shurikens as her weapon of choice. She views Kuon with great suspicion and as a threat when her true identity is revealed. Later she comes to accept her as the leader of the covert squad once seeing all the hard choices Kuon has had to make throughout her life. She is said to never smile, but towards the end of episode sixteen she finally smiles at Kuon. Kotoha is also a master of unarmed combat and disguise, posing as the caretaker of Gotojoju-ryou in episode 11 during a futsal match between the Best Student Council and the Kenran student council. The game was later won almost single-handedly by her, despite the other team possessing a huge lead in the first half of the match.

Vehicle Squad

Cyndi Manabe (シンディ真鍋, Shindi Manabe)

Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (Japanese); Ann McPeters (English)

Cyndi is the only shown member of the Vehicle Squad and speaks in a combination of English and Japanese, though her lines have usually been short, such as "me too" and "roger". She addresses Kanade as "Boss". She is in love with Pucchan, and later confesses this to him (Pucchan never turned her down). Everyone else, however, does point out that "He's a puppet!" Cyndi is later found to be, in fact, quite adept and aware of the situation around her. In episode 25, Cyndi can speak Japanese (English in the dubbed version) fluently but it is later revealed that she never spoke it properly because her mother (who speaks in a highly rude manner much like gangsters picking a fight) told her she was not speaking it right.

Production

The anime television series featured three pieces of theme music. The opening theme is "Koi se yo Onna no ko" (恋せよ女の子) performed by Yukari Tamura. The first ending theme for the first thirteen episodes is "Guuzen Tenshi" (偶然天使) performed by Gokujou Seitokai Shikkoubu. The second ending theme is "Koi suru miracle" (恋する奇跡) performed by Gokujou Seitokai Yuugeki and Sharyoubu for the last thirteen episodes.

Soundtracks

Gokujo Drama & Gokujo Soundtrack Vol. 1

Avant Title

Koi se yo Onna no Ko (TV size)

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Shuugakuryokou' Prologue ~Kaigi nite~

Haikei, Mister Puppet

Tsutaetai Koto

Aru asa no Hitokoma

Namida mo Kanashimi mo

Sono Yasashisa wo Mune ni

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Shuugakuryokou' Episode 1 ~Mottomo Kouka na Survival~

Chotto Matte!

Trouble Holiday

Shinkoku na Jitai

Rino to Pucchan

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Shuugakuryokou' Episode 2 ~Itsuka Bijou to Yajuu to Ouji-sama ga~

Kyokudai Kengen Hoyuu Saijoukyuu Seitokai

Guuzen to Hitsuzen

Mission -Activation-

Mission -Strain tail-

Chase and Fight!

Moshimo Anata ni Aeta nara

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Shuugakuryokou' Episode 3 ~Shika Senbei ni Ki wo Tsukero!~

Guuzen Tenshi (TV size)

Gokujo Drama & Gokujo Soundtrack Vol. 2

Avant Title

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Arbeit' Prologue ~Kinkyuujidai~

Shutsudou! -Gokujo Seitokai no Theme-

Kokage no Shita de

Uwasa Hanashi wa O-suki?

Sono Mune no Oku no Jijitsu

Nodoka na Hirusagari

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Arbeit' Episode 1 ~Sousama no Restaurant~

Oshaberi no Yukue

Ano Oka made Ikou

Todokanai Tooi Yume

Sorya nain janai!?

Itoshisa mo Yasashisa

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Arbeit' Episode 2 ~Wakana to Shitagi to Yasashii Yatsura~

Secret Maneuvers

A Tense Atmosphere

Be Active

Crisis!!

Sore wa Suteki na Ketsumatsu

Komorebi no Mukou ni

Happy, Love, and Delicious!!

Gokujo Drama 'Gokujo Arbeit' Episode 3 ~Rino yori, Ai wo Komete~

Koi Suru Miracle (TV Size)

Reception

Theron Martin of Anime News Network said the series recycles "bad clichés" but has its "clever moments". He adds that the series has some other "good gags" and calls the artistry "bright, cheery, and appealing" while calling the background art "uneven", and says the musical score is a nice complement to the series. He ends by saying that Negima is better than this series and calls the series with recycled humor, but "funny and entertaining moments" to carry the anime as a whole.

Erica Friedman reviewed the anime on two occasions. In her first review she called the anime a "lot of fun" and it has at least "a little meat for the yuri fan to chew on", and said that Izumi Kaori is the only "real" lesbian in the group of characters, with undertones among everyone else. In her second review, she called it the series the "perfect way to unwind" and called the series "entertaining, not taxing, with surprising moments of hysterical".