Alternate titles: Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu, C3 Club, C3-Bu, K-On! With Guns
Manga Adaptation by Gainax
Simulcast on Crunchyroll

Premise: Yura Yamato (Yui Makino), a shy girl who has trouble meeting new people, enrolls in the Stella Women’s Academy, where she gets conscripted into the academy’s airsoft club.

Gee’s Verdict: On Target, You are Free to Proceed with Mission

I’m not kidding, this is K-On! with guns. It’s also surprisingly entertaining to watch. As a former airsoft enthusiast and current firearm enthusiast, I found myself being pleasantly entertained by the first episode. While most people can agree that Gainax is currently either stagnating or in a decline, C3 Club still retains some of the ol’ Gainax spark to it, the debut episode being legitimately funny, distinctly self-aware, and pretty charming despite my reservations. It’s not perfect, and while I love some of the characters, like the hot-blooded Karila and the operator-tier Sonora (who only got 2 lines this episode, lame!), Yura herself is basically your shy viewer-insert. Still, I didn’t go into this show with high expectations so if it manages to continue being a light and fun show about girls playing airsoft, then it’s already doing everything it needs to. I loved Upotte for its accurate firearms trivia and humor, so I’m hoping C3 Club manages to do something similar with the sport of airsoft. We’ll just have to see if that alone can keep my interest.

Side note: Sonora uses an IMI Desert Eagle. A real one. As in one that uses the 50 AE caliber. That’s fucking ridiculous/awesome. Based on the OP, Yura seems to be stuck with a Scorion Vz/61. For anyone who’s played Goldeneye 64, that should be fucking hilarious.

Aqua’s Verdict: At Ease, Private

Unlike Gee, I can barely tell a shotgun from a sniper rifle, and I mostly came into this show expecting that its inherently silly premise would unlock some of that lingering awesomeness that must still be hidden somewhere in the Gainax headquarters. Initially, C3 Club managed to reel me in with its inherent and self-aware silliness, but in the end I was left with the dawdling feeling it could all have been so much better had the Gainax of a few years ago been in charge. That is, the Trigger of today.

This became increasingly obvious in the confusing mess that was the ending battle, which mostly consisted of some random footage of the girls doing cool combat manoeuvres without any grasp on what was actually going on. It felt surprisingly soulless and by-the-numbers for a show that introduced us to the majority of its cast by showing them contemplating a guerillia attack on the other clubs and quipping about how big of a bunch of freaks they are. C3 Club‘s best moments rear their heads when it explicitly juxtaposes its peppy pinky princess setting — and the inevitable cake-consuming antics we have come to expect from such environs — with the inherently badass and geeky nature of airsoft battles. For an entire episode, C3 Club feels like a half-pint cartoon bomb skipping around you and giggling, waiting to explode into an orgy of loud guitars, hot-blooded chaos and frenetic action.

Yet once the girls actually pull out their plastic firearms, the explosion never comes. It is as if the nature of C3 Club‘s genre suddenly catches up, grabs its collar and drags it all the way back to the corner of sparkles and cake. Maybe it is the legacy of the “old” Gainax coming back to bite C3 Club in its bubbly butt, but when “Is this it?” is the reaction a show about peppy school girls shooting each other’s uniforms off with airsoft guns like it is the most serious business in the world leaves its audience with once the credits start rolling, you know something is amiss. When the only thing you remember a show by is not its funny jokes or memorable characters, but the feeling that it looked so much better in your mind, it is time to start questioning if it is really that worth it. Yes, C3 Club, you are  silly. I appreciate that. Just too bad that for being that silly, you can thrive on silliness alone, you simply are far from silly enough.

Lifesong‘s Verdict: Gainax Still Have It!

This first episode was incredibly fun. With all the talk of Gainax’s decline, I was a little worried that this might be just another “girls with guns” show, but C3 Club wastes no time setting itself apart. Sure, the shy girl who wants to fit into her new school is an old trope, but how often has that girl been pulled into a “Rambo” game on her first day? This is one show that everything should give at least one episode this season.

Jel’s Verdict: Direct Hit

I know the “K-ON! with …” comparison is way overdone but I cannot ignore the fact they used cake and sweets to lure in new club members. Fortunately the club antics are just relegated to introductions and any concerns about the amount of actual combat I had went out the window by the end of the episode. Instead, it’s more like Upotte! without the bizarre skeeviness. The girls’ little in-club survival game was incredibly fun to watch, playing out with surprising realism and just a dash of imagination at the right moment. So long as they can keep a high combat to club comedy ratio, I think this is going to be a really fun show to watch.

Zigg‘s Verdict: Lowest Common Denominator

Otaku like cute schoolgirls. Otaku like nerding about about guns. I’ve just recreated the entire brainstorming session that came up with this show. It’s like somebody dug into a big box with ‘anime cliches’ on the side and dug out a bunch of bits they fitted together like Lego. Anxiety issues girl! Giant fancy school! Club full of quirky members which is on a recruitment drive! Silly name mispronunciation! There’s not an original bone in the body of this thing and watching it is incredibly wearisome as result. The thing which makes it tolerable is superior production value, as it looks nice, has a decent soundtrack and some good voice work. Otherwise, this is pure fodder for merchandise selling and questionable doujinshi.