"Hokago Saikoro Kurabu" (After School Dice Club) is a rare young adult TV anime that centers on board games. The program is broadcast on Tokyo MX and other TV channels.
The story is set in Kyoto revolving around three high school girls. Miki is the shy and lonely girl, Aya is the inquisitive one who just moved to Kyoto and Midori is the seemingly cool-headed class president who is actually quite intense on the inside.
The three first meet each other at a board game specialty shop called Saikoro Kurabu and become friends by playing board games from all over the world together.
The anime is based on a manga of the same title by Hiroo Nakamichi and is serialized in the monthly manga magazine Gessan, published by Shogakukan Inc. You may think board games are a niche subject, but they have been booming since about the 1990s in many countries, particularly in Germany. It is a well-known fact that the number of avid board game fans are increasing in Japan as well.
Those popular games -- often called German-style board games or Eurogames -- have a simple set of rules and require the players to develop a mental strategy. They can appeal to anyone regardless of his or her age, and are similar to manga and anime in that respect. So, in a nutshell, you could say this anime is a fusion of Japanese and German subcultures, which is a very interesting combination from a cultural standpoint.
"My first impression was that I never knew that a world like this existed," said the director, Kenichi Imaizumi, about board games, of which he had no previous playing experience, just like Miki and Aya who are also beginners when the story starts.
"The first thing that I thought was most important was to make sure that the people who play those games wouldn't feel like something wasn't right when they watch this anime," Imaizumi said.
Except for the games Midori creates, all the games that appear in this anime exist in the real world. Even the Saikoro Kurabu shop is modeled after Sugorokuya, a famous board game specialty shop in Koenji, Tokyo.
"When I stepped inside the shop for the first time to do research, I was overwhelmed by the flood of colors on the board game boxes I saw inside. They were so beautiful," said Imaizumi.
In order to faithfully recreate the view, he decided to paste the images of the board game packaging on to the surface of each box in scenes inside the Saikoro Kurabu shop.
As the theme of this anime is board games, each episode inevitably culminates with a game play scene.
"I've tried all the games that have been featured on the show," said Imaizumi. "When I played a card game called '6 Nimmt,' I happened to win after using a card I thought I would lose with. Then I realized those things are common when playing games. I hope this anime can accurately express those feelings to the viewers when they watch the show."
I was most impressed by the fifth episode, in which the characters played goita, a traditional game from Ishikawa Prefecture. Midori efficiently explained the game's rules, and the game play was well-coordinated with the story development. It was proof that you don't need flashy action scenes to produce an interesting anime.
Imaizumi is a seasoned veteran in the anime world and has been involved in the anime version of the "Ginga Eiyu Densetsu" (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) series since the 1980s.
"I've been fortunate that I could get involved in a project that both children and adults can enjoy," he said.
The beauty of board games is that you cannot play them alone, you need someone to play them with and they need you to play with them. In a country where solo entertainment is thriving, this anime may be a breath of fresh air for Japan.
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