The new anime Ben-To follows the battles of student Yo Sato, who finds himself embroiled in all-out brawls over half-priced bento (lunch boxes) at the convenience store.
One night after school, our protagonist finds himself knocked unconscious when he reaches for a half-priced bento. When Yo gets up, he finds himself in the middle of full-on fight with Sen "Ice Witch" Yarizui, a girl from Yo's high school who fights effortlessly against numerous brawlers for the discounted food boxes.
Later Yo finds that Sen is the president of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club and becomes a member, fighting alongside her for bento against incredibly strong fighters from other clubs and schools.
The anime is based on a Japanese light novel series written by Asaura with illustrations by Kaito Shibano; more than 550,000 copies of the books have been sold so far in Japan.
The show is fun to watch; the battles are exciting, and the underlying story is interesting enough to keep viewers coming back for more. The artwork, though, is generic in most respects.
Keep your eye out for Ben-To when it makes its way onto local television some time soon.