I have noticed, as of late, a trend in anime shows to have what I call the “Join a Club” movement. These are shows where the person in question is forced or compelled or enticed or blackmailed into joining a club or they will have to face some kind of dire wrath for their failure not to sign up (as you might end up in the Flower Arranging Club instead).

The “Good Job Club” tells the tale of Kyōya Shinomiya (that guy down there), who gets kidnapped by the club, as they are on the verge of losing their accreditation, owing to the problem that they do not have enough members. He makes it five and they can be saved. The sole purpose of the club is to do good deeds (or a ‘good job’) and help others, but it all seems to be observed more in the breach than in reality.

The other members of the club include:

Tamaki Kannazuki, green hair. She usually has a bag of chips with her and says she can eat anything and not get fat.
Megumi Amatsuka, with the tea pot. She is constantly making tea for everyone, but flips out if someone says she is gaining weight.
Shion Sumeragi, purple hair. She sits at a computer and plays chess all the time.
Mao Amatsuka, the happy brunette. Despite her appearance, the thought of kissing or seeing kissing or being kissed makes her knickery in the knees.
Kirara Bernstein, that neko up there. She is a bottomless pit, as she is always eating, usually that comic hunk of meat.

Yet, despite all these people, this turns out to be a nothing show, where they basically lurch from one event to another, things played for laughs. A typical set up will be Kirara on the couch, eating chicken leg after chicken leg. Shion is on the computer, playing internet chess. Megumi is in the kitchen, brewing up another pot of tea. Kyoya, Takami are reading manga at the kotatsu or the table (depending on the season) and Mao may be reading or taking a nap or whatever. Then, an idea comes up to embarrass the homogenized milk out of Kyoya and then it is employed. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. That’s it.

The only real ‘crisis’ happens when some of the members graduate. Oh, what will happen? How can the Club carry on with key members missing? Who is going to play chess or make tea or humiliate Kyoya? When will someone bring the giant fighting robot?

It’s just that you want more to happen. Is there a real friendship there? Not really certain. Do they do more than what is presented? Not really certain. Where does Kirara get all that meat she devours? Not really certain.

The Neighbor’s Club” fell into the same trap for its second season, in that they dithered about until something that looked like a story line showed up late in the run. I never felt a story line ever really showed up for “GJ”. If you want to opt out on this one, go ahead. You won’t be missed. I wonder if there is an opening in the Flower Arranging Club?

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (He is just way too sweaty)
Plot 4 (Thin to the point of being transparent)
Pacing 5 (Stop and more stop)
Effectiveness 5 (We go nowhere to end up nowhere)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but doesn’t really end)
Fan Service 3 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)

Overall 5 (Others have done it better)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Care for some tea?