Strive To Be An Idiotic Genius

Two halves make a whole, so don't neglect either side

❰ZZ Links❱

♪ Music ♪
0:10 - Baka & Test - Kok, Test in de masu
0:32 - Baka & Test - Yukina F Class
0:55 - Baka & Test - Kakusa Shakai
1:14 - Baka & Test - Shimada Minami
3:21 - Baka & Test - Kirishima Shouko
4:46 - Baka & Test - Kaisou Narration
6:39 - Baka & Test - Otome Tachi no Inori

Note:
If anyone could help out with the English translation for the track at 4:46, then it would be much appreciated.

[atacoamongburritos]

This was really well put together man!

[joker_n_harleyq]

I found this video from Reddit, I didn't expect it to actually give me a little bit of hope in life again, thank you

[MidniteZer]

Ooohhh this was really good! Thoroughly enjoyed this video, and it really resonated with me, as I had enjoyed Baka to Test partially because of its large social commentary on intelligence. One thing I'm really curious about and would largely affect how I respond to the video though is the answer to the following: does this video reflect your own thought? As it stands, the video seems to analyze, condense, and convey a large theme/message of Baka, specifically Yuuji's character, but it's difficult to respond without knowing whether or not you 100% agree with this message, as it's very possible to deeply understand and relay another perspective without agreeing with it yourself. I think clarifying that might be helpful, and if it's not 100% your perspective, maybe introducing why you think differently, to whatever degree that may be.

Regardless, I think there are a couple interesting aspects of this discussion of the challenges of intelligence that weren't quite touched on (and I can't blame you, it's an 8 minute video but an hours long topic). The first I would say is self-stratification based on intelligence. Not only does society stratify people based on their intelligence, but intelligent people themselves do so via means largely available in schools, magnet programs, etc. Of course, it takes some time to reach those resources and varies largely with some factors like location, home life, income, etc. The other thing I wanted to mention was the lack of challenge for people with intelligence. I think, intelligence aside, there are vastly different personalities that can accompany that intelligence and largely determine the difficulties that accompany that intelligence. For example, it's possible to be incredibly intelligent and have difficulty finding challenges for yourself, and in response, the intelligent person commits to challenging themselves. This type of person continually is harsh on themselves, often times to a fault. On the other hand, a person could be incredibly intelligent but not want to seek challenge and instead live comfortably with the natural advantages that come with intelligence, even if even greater heights could be reached with more hard work.

This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about myself, so if you ever wanna talk about it more, you know where to find me haha :D

Again, excellent video, and at the end of the day, I think it'll do a great job of at least starting a thoughtful, meaningful conversation about intelligence and its challenges.

Side note: from a technical perspective, the editing was very well done too~

Another Side Note: A good translation for that song title would be "Reflective Narration" imo. 回想 (kaisou) means reflection, retrospection, or quite literally "to think about again, over and over, or to go back to (in a loop-like manner)" and ナレーション means "narration"

[AtomizerBaT]

As a huge Baka to Test fan, I love this video!

[madub_]

hi there, just wanted to say thank you.
i seriously put in hours, literal hours trying to find this video again. its worth it, worth every single second. honestly..i cant put all the emotions i feel in this comment, thank you. seriously.

[estebanf]

Wow, this is good. I will totally check out your channel.

[shotakonkin]

Basically the balance within oneself, gain the intuition to know when to be an idiot while also the intuition to be a genius.

[suppeeps]

This video spoke to me on another level and while talking about a great anime! Thanks!

[Alicorn_Fox]

Growing up, I felt like Yuuji.
All the pressure of being a better child than my brother. Succeeded where he messed up. Trying to be the better child. Praised for intelligence, distant from everyone, even my own family. Even now in life, I'm getting help for what was a tough upbringing, but... Thank you, I think I needed to watch this.
I have seen Baka and Test, loved every episode. Especially when they were on the train--lol.

[haruhirogrimgar]

tl;dr this video seemed unrelated to Baka and Test until I remembered the quote "Trying is a means to an end." Then I understood the concept of "The Genius" vs "The Idiot" so much better. Thanks for the video.

Full:
The longer the video went on the more I felt like you were planting your personal thoughts and feelings into the show rather than analyzing the show. The idea of the idiot vs the genius is a personal struggle that you cast onto Yuuji because he vaguely resembled it. But then it clicked for me in the last 20 maybe 30 seconds. My favourite line to quote from the show popped into my head:

"Trying is a means to an end."

If you try at something and fail you have accomplished nothing and taking pride in the effort itself is foolish. I extended it to if you know you will fail at a task if there is no reason to try and improve, why bother doing it at all?

I can't explain it well but this line resonated with your description of The Genius so well it just made the video click for me. I watched this show literally hundreds of times (it kept me going through the darkest years of my life) and I never resonated with "The Idiot." I never pulled that theme out, I saw it as Yuuji overcoming his ego and trying to undo a stigma that almost got him and Shouko hurt. Not The Idiot allowing us to do things without the fear of failure.

Thanks for the video and giving me the motivation to rewatch this show again. I can literally just close my eyes and watch the whole thing from memory but I think I will go through Funimation this time. This show definitely doesn't get the recognition it deserves, even if this video is 2 years old thanks for putting it out there. And sorry for the long mostly personal post. But if you ever wanted to do a follow-up analysis that quote I listed is a perfect example of the Genius mentality going to a place of stopping people from even trying. Even without realizing it, I use that philosophy constantly to excuse not trying many new things (I will never pick up another Smash Bros game for example because I know I will be bad and can never truly improve.) If I do something and fail at it, I don't take any pride merely attempting it, I failed, therefore, it was a pointless exercise and waste of time/effort (if I was trying to improve that is a bit different though.) Well, that and what I picked up from Oregairu which I watched in early high school, still shortly off the heels of Baka and Test.

[CacoPholey]

Me coming here after the NGNL video: Well, I should probably watch this for context
Me after watching this: Why... why does this encapsulate my life... PERFECTLY?!

[princeoftrash]

Ah accidentally found this I thought this anime was obscure glad to see others love it well back to watching June zoom

[we]

Baka and test is my favorite and first anime

[ztw]

Possible to do other stories around the show?

[ayoomike]

cried because i forgot a lot about of my old ambitions, because I was so focused on my current ambitions. The new me hates the old me, but the old me loves the new me. It's like hating your wife, when all they've ever done is wanted the best for you. I need to accept my oldself, because my oldself accepts me. sorry, dude, but i couldn't pay much attention to this. I got caught up in my own head. I'll come back some other time.

[notme_]

This really made me think about myself and my childhood thanks man

[ztw]

Why do you have to use the Minami Shimada theme during this? It makes me so sad :( The feel train got me teary.

[Yuti]

Thanks for introducing me to a great Anime

[michaelymuffins]

My goodness dude, you deserve way more views

[swiggityswo]

Jesus. I thought this was a comedy but u took an anime and turned it into a life lesson. I still need to learn like ryuji