Meganebu! (メガネブ！, lit. "Glasses Club!") is a 2013 anime television series produced by Studio Deen and directed by Soubi Yamamoto, which is based on a series of Drama CDs released by Deen in 2011-2012. The series follows the activities of five male students who belong to their school's Glasses Club and the antics resulting from their shared passion for eyewear. The series premiered on Tokyo MX on October 6 and ended on December 22, 2013.
Synopsis
The plot focuses on Akira Souma, a glasses fanatic at the rural Himaraya Third Technical School. Akira's great love for glasses causes him to form the "Glasses Club" at his school and he somewhat forces his classmates and glasses wearers Takuma Hachimine, Yukiya Minabe, Mitsuki Kamatani, and Hayato Kimata to join. The series follows the activities of the Glasses Club and the antics resulting from their shared passion for eyewear.
Akira is a second year student and president of the Glasses Club. He starts the club in hopes to successfully make X-ray glasses. He is very passionate about glasses and those who wear them, and hates anyone who doesn't wear glasses (whom he calls "No-Glassers"). He wears square-shaped glasses.
Hayato is another first year member. He is only a provisional member of the club because he wears fake glasses, and is made fun of for this. He wears oval square glasses.
William is the third year president of the Student Council. He is half Japanese and half British, he also suffers from chronic stomach pains. He wears round titanium framed glasses. He tends to speak his inner thoughts aloud.
Maximillian is a second-year member of the Student Council. He is half Japanese and half Italian. He loves the stage and tends to overreact to certain situations.
Toru is a second-year member of the Student Council and the only one who is fully Japanese. He is nicknamed #3 by his classmates and hates Akira for giving him that nickname. He wears cat-eye glasses. He originally wished to join the glasses club, however his disdain for Akira calling him 3rd made him change his mind.
Antonio is a first-year member of the Student Council. He is half-Japanese and half-Brazilian. He has a joyous personality, but he doesn't have good Japanese skills.
Cafeteria Lady. She possesses an ability to know each student's favourite food through her half-rimmed spectacles and years of accumulated experience, and strives to prepare balanced food portion for students.
Others
Hikaru Souma (相馬輝, Sōma Hikaru)
Voiced by: Atsushi Kousaka
Hikaru is Akira's younger brother. In the last episode, it is revealed that he is blind.
Ikuto is Hayato's younger brother. He wears the same fake glasses as Hayato, making him look like a smaller Hayato.
Production
The series is produced by Studio Deen and directed by Soubi Yamamoto, along with script and series composer Deko Akao and original character designer Atsuko Nakajima.[1][2] The twelve episode series premiered on Tokyo MX on October 6, 2013 and was later aired on BS11, SUN-TV, KBS and Fakui TV. The anime was picked up by Crunchyroll for streaming with English subtitles. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America for digital and home video release in 2014.[3]
The opening theme is "World's End" by MUCC and the ending theme is "Colorful World" by Tomohisa Sakou.[4]
"We don't use glasses merely as a vision correction tool or a fashion accessory (...) That is our Glasses Club." "megane o tada no shiryoku kyōsei aitemu, mata moteaitemu to shitede wanaku ( ... ) Shite iru waga megane-bu" (メガネをただの視力矯正アイテム、またモテアイテムとしてではなく(...) している我がメガネ部)
October 6, 2013 (2013-10-06)
The Glasses Club (composed of five boys: Akira, Mitsuki, Takuma, Yukiya and Hayato) are determined to successfully create a pair of X-ray glasses in time for the school's vision test, in order to see the female nurse giving out the test naked.
2
"Any Man Who Wears Glasses Cannot Be a Bad Man / The Current Strongest Frames" "megane o kakete iru otoko ni warui otoko wa inai / nau saikyō furēmu" (メガネをかけている漢に悪い漢はいない／なう最強フレーム)
October 13, 2013 (2013-10-13)
Part 1: While cleaning the old club room, Hayato finds the Glasses Club's photo albums and remembers when he saw the Glasses Club for the first time at the entrance ceremony.
Part 2: After testing out frame strength on glasses after school, Yukiya has some bad luck on his way to Akira's house.
3
"I Hope You Finish the X-ray Glasses" "sukesuke megane, kansei suru to ii ne" (スケスケメガネ、完成するといいね)
October 20, 2013 (2013-10-20)
The Glasses Club decide to switch all the clocks in the school with 55 minute clocks so classes can end sooner. When switching the clock in the broadcast room, Hayato finds a door behind the clock with a pair of old Ray-Bans sunglasses hidden there. Later in the club room, Yukiya finishes a new pair of X-Ray glasses; but instead of being able to see through objects, they are able to see the ghost of a student who resided in the sunglasses, Koichi Mochizuki.
4
"This is What it Means to Wear Real Glasses! / Glasses Reflect the Soul and Who You Truly Are" "kore ga honmono no megane nanda yo! / megane wa kokoro de ari onore jishin" (これが本物のメガネなんだよ！／メガネは心であり己自身)
October 27, 2013 (2013-10-27)
Part 1: Mitsuki discovers the perfect smile to glasses ratio, remembers first seeing Akira at the entrance ceremony, and tries to prevent Akira from breaking the Glasses Club laws.
Part 2: Takuma has trouble taking care of his glasses, causing them to break.
5
"Even if He is, He Wouldn't Tell Some Jerk in Fake Glasses / It's an ultrasonic cleaner for glasses with lenses" "atte mo datemegane nanka ni iu wake nai / lenzu atte no chōonpasenjōki" (あってもダテメガネなんかに言うわけない／レンズあっての超音波洗浄機)
November 3, 2013 (2013-11-03)
Part 1: Akira's fear of bugs keeps him from running an errand for Mr. Shirogane and going to the club on time.
Part 2: The club tests their newest X-ray glasses model by powering it with a five person bike. When it fails, they go on a bike ride, and eventually get caught in the rain.
6
"MR"
November 10, 2013 (2013-11-10)
Akira conducts an MR (megeane lens) Snap Inspection to test the quality of the club member's lenses. Afterwards, they find a flyer advertising Glasses Celeb, a new type of glasses wipe. The club goes all over town trying to buy some, but it's sold out in every drug store they visit. Little do they know, that this is a scheme by the Himaraya Student Council.
7
"Come, Glasses Wearers! Your Glasses Will Change the World!" "Kitare! Megane mono! Omae no megane ga sekai o kaeru" (来たれ！メガネ者！お前のメガネが世界を変える)
November 17, 2013 (2013-11-17)
The Student Council threatens to disband the Glasses Club if they don't find a fifth member by the end of the day.
8
"As Long As My Glasses Sparkle, You Won't Get Away With It!" "megane ga pikkapikana uchi wa sō wa ikimasen" (メガネがぴっかぴかなうちはそうはいきません)
November 24, 2013 (2013-11-24)
The Glasses Club members have some bad luck during lunch time. Mitsuki believes it was all a set up and tries to find the culprit behind it.
9
"A Revolution for Glasses Wearers" "megane mono-tachi ni totte no kakumei" (メガネ者達にとっての革命)
December 1, 2013 (2013-12-01)
Akira, Takuma, and Yukiya go on a field trip to Okinawa and end up stranded on a deserted island. Meanwhile, Mitsuki really misses Akira.
10
"The Rules Say You're Safe, But Glasses Say You're Out/When I Look at the Glasses Club, It Makes Me Think of Us Back Then" "rūru-teki ni wa sēfudaga, megane-teki ni wa auto/megane-bu no yatsura o mi teru to, tōji no oretachi o omoidasu" (ルール的にはセーフだが、メガネ的にはアウト／メガネ部の奴らを見てると、当時の俺達を思い出す)
December 8, 2013 (2013-12-08)
Part 1: The Glasses Club find a cursed Glasses Sugoroku game, which puts them in a life or death situation.
Part 2: Shirogane reminisces about when he was a Hima High student.
11
"It's Only Natural That Glasses Wearers Love Glasses" "Megane mono nara megane o aishite atarimaeda" (メガネ者ならメガネを愛して当たり前だ)
December 15, 2013 (2013-12-15)
Hima High is preparing for the upcoming culture festival. The Student Council plans to build a tower, titled the "Grand Cross Blizzard Eternal SS Tower", as the main attraction, but no one else in the school helps out. The Glasses Club decides to help out after Akira overhears President William talk about how he wanted to build the tower to make Hima High more popular.
12
"Glasses Club!" "メガネブ！" (meganebu!)
December 22, 2013 (2013-12-22)
It's the day of the Hima High culture festival. The Glasses Club's display, the "Come Glasses Wearers! Treasure Hunt Game", becomes very popular with the other students and gets them all to wear glasses, but in all the excitement the X-ray Glasses Mk. 42 go missing. Later, the Grand Cross Blizzard Eternal SS Tower is unveiled.
