There is nothing redeeming about this show aside from the technical merits of animation, and frankly, those should be a given at this point. This show is as creepy as Strike Witches from the "dread specter of moe" perspective (a term I am using from Daryl Surat of AWO and Otaku USA; credit where it is due), but without the interesting plot of the "what-if-ing" of WWII with an alien invasion. ...
There is nothing redeeming about this show aside from the technical merits of animation, and frankly, those should be a given at this point. This show is as creepy as Strike Witches from the "dread specter of moe" perspective (a term I am using from Daryl Surat of AWO and Otaku USA; credit where it is due), but without the interesting plot of the "what-if-ing" of WWII with an alien invasion.
Everything you need to know about the show is in the first scene: the sun rising between a girl's legs and the animators taking great pains to draw all of her curves, as detailed as possible, in tight shorts... and she's 14. I almost didn't make it past that scene. It was pretty bad.
Here's the big problem: there is nothing in this show that you haven't already seen before and none of it is done any better than it has been done in the past. You have the creepy moe nonsense of Strike Witches and Sky Girls, transformations scenes like Sailor Moon, and a cute mascot character who is actually a grizzled old man, not unlike the mascots in the Pretty Cure series, with the some military and political intrigue, over coming a fear in episode one, forming a team (which will probably take five episodes out of the 12 that they are making), and none of it is particularly good nor inventive.
The characters may be the worst part of the whole show. Every single one of them, in episode one, is a walking anime stereotype. You know, if you have watched enough anime, what each of them is going to say and do long before they say or do it. Good production values don't always translate into good writing, as if that even needed to be said.
Basically, this is a show that is designed to push otaku buttons without doing any work beyond that. If you are a creepy moe fanboy, then you already have all the promotional art work and you will watch every episode when it comes out, so why do you care what I think? If you are not a moe fanboy, then you can safely skip this and try to find something better to watch this season.
Two stars is generous, but this is not an actively bad show, creepiness of baiting fanboys with loli girls aside, it's well animated and well drawn, but it adds nothing to the many genres it is drawing on and should be watched by no one except for the creepy fanboys who are going to seethe at reading this review and click "not helpful." Go right ahead, we all know you didn't read the whole review, you saw a two-star rating for your new favorite show and you raged hoping to get me back by telling me my review isn't helpful. Nice try.
Regardless, this is sure to be a hit in Japan and here on CR. Popular sure doesn't mean good. You couldn't have picked up something better with the money you spent on this?
The tragedy is that there are so many good shows here on CR. How many of you reading this review have watched Cobra? Or Blackjack? Or Galaxy Express 999? Kids on the Slope? Watch those instead. Skip this and hope that the rest of Winter 2013 isn't middle-of-the-road, meh moe like this.
UPDATE: After much consideration, I am dropping it to one star. That's what this show is worth. The people who like it are creepy moe fanboys.
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