Some people take their games more seriously than others, be they boardgames, video games, or old-fashioned role-playing. The girls in this particular Game Development Club take it a step further – they live their games, and not just in a LARPing sense. All of them believe that they have what they call elemental affinities – special powers linked to various natural elements. For example, Sakura says she has a “water affinity,” so she splashes people with water, while Chitose uses her “earth affinity” by getting her hands dirty before punching someone. Do these things actually help them in a fight? Maybe, maybe not, but you'll never convince the girls that they don't.

Into this hotbed of weirdness wanders aspiring thug Kenji Kazama. He helps out Roka, the leader of the club, and suddenly finds himself roped into joining. This sets him up as pretty much the only remotely normal character in the entire series, apart from his bizarrely spiky hair. Despite his thuggish dreams, Kenji's a really nice guy, and while he does spend 95% of the show's twelve episodes screaming, he keeps getting roped into the club's activities because he's too kind to say no. While a second straight man character is introduced about halfway through – ideal girl Funabori – she never really becomes central to the story, which leaves Kenji as the often-strangled voice of sanity, a dynamic which generally works very well.

As a comedy, D-Frag! does at times work better for English-speaking audiences in the English dub, simply because it is easier for us to understand the humor. This does, however, come with its pitfalls, notably in the first episode. Roka's (initial) power is said to be over fire, and the Japanese verb “to burn” is “moeru.” There's a word play there in that she also uses her short stature and cuteness to utilize the power of “moe;” a joke that is not present in the English version. Likewise the joke that one of Kenji's thug friends, Nagayama, has the badass nickname of “Long Mountain...” which is just the English translation of his name (according to the manga). The only other issue is that no one in the dub seems to pronounce Takao's name a) correctly or b) the same way anyone else does. Aside from that, both vocal casts are quite good, so with the exception of the aforementioned jokes, your personal preference should get you the most out of this show.

On the subject of Takao, she's actually an interesting character. Part of the spectacularly unaware Kenji's harem, she's drawn to be the boobs of the show, with more than a few gags at the expense of her chest. (Seriously, I have never heard so many euphemisms for breasts in a single show.) While your tolerance for such humor may vary, what's nice about the character is that she really doesn't care. Her breasts may be a subject of fascination/envy/jokes to the rest of the cast, but Takao doesn't define herself by them. To her, they're just there and kind of annoying, but they have no bearing on who she is. It's definitely a nice change of pace.

D-Frag! may not consistently be laugh-out-loud funny (though it is in a few places), but it is always entertaining and not above mixing up its humor style. There's physical humor, gross-out humor (such as Ataru trying to catch spit with his tongue), meta-moments (all flashbacks are acknowledged by the cast before they happen), and just good old-fashioned absurdity. There's also an impressive variety of character designs so that very rarely do two unrelated people look alike, and the running joke about Roka's boardgame – The Scramble for Porn Mags in Space – makes it look like fun, despite Kenji's horror that it exists. The anime covers all four of the manga volumes available in English as of this writing, including many of author Tomoya Haruno's gag strips and panels. Funimation's Limited Edition comes with both Blu-Ray and DVD copies in the usual chipboard box, and while the colors are not nearly as bright on the DVD, there are otherwise no major issues between the two. Extras are a lot of Japanese commercials and series promotional videos as well as two English commentary tracks, the first of which, with the guys of the Kazama gang, reminds me of the time a group of high school boys didn't know I was listening to them and talks more about J. Michael Tatum getting hit by lightening and animal poop than the show.

While not the funniest comedy out there, D-Frag! is still a lot of fun. With good vocal casts in both languages, a variety of humor, and an entertaining premise, this is a nice way to just turn off your brain and have a laugh. Now if only someone would make a physical version of Roka's game to accompany it...