(Edit 6/20/16: Here's the full version of this review with the show being over!)
Video Version if you feel like watching(copy and paste in a new tab):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kzjzrkx1bo
Don't mindlessly hate just because you disagree though. If you watch the video, explain your thought process in the comments! Thanks!~~~
The last time I made a “review” of this, it was more like a first impressions… but this time, I’m going to make a full, spoiler free review of the show!
This show is another one of those battle action harem shows that we see every season at this point. It’s been touted as an “Infinite Stratos” clone. I personally haven’t seen Infinite Stratos so I won’t hold that against this show. Let’s see what this show has to offer.
Story (3/10)
It’s hard to talk about the story of this show. Not because it’s a difficult story to wrap your head around, but because it takes a back seat to literally everything else in this show. Beach episode? More important! Idol performance? 3 times more important! We got 3 of them! Harem ecchi scenes? Again, more important.
Here’s what little plot there is. Hayato transfers to a new school where he apparently scored the highest score on the school’s entrance exam in the history of that school. Because he tries to prevent a couple of students from getting expelled, he gets stuck battling the student council president of this school.
She’s the most experienced fighter at this school there’s no way she can los- Oh she lost. The main character is that mc that is overpowered mc that we see in so many shows nowadays, but at least in this show, there are formidable foes and there seems to be a little tension. It just gets stuck so far behind the fanservice of this show that it loses its purpose.
Speaking of the fanservice, it’s bland and overused. There are only a couple things this show does differently in terms of fanservice, and even then it’s just kind of me. The only thing enjoyed with the fanservice was in episode 10. I’m not going to say what happened, but I will give this show the fact that it was a little creative.
Moving on from there, the show doesn’t have a clear antagonist. Every time there’s a conflict, it ends within one or 2 episodes. The only reason it takes more time is because of the slice of life fanservice. The main “conflict” is between the school’s fighters and Savages. Savages are these mechanized robots that came from who knows where and just cause havoc.
These high school students are the ones who fight these monsters instead of adults. This show makes me question a few things. How do they have the money to fight these savages? Where did savages come from? How are there more always coming? Who’s making these savages? Why are they allowing high schoolers to fight?
It doesn’t answer a lot of questions and that leads to wondering if they thought anything through. The show also presents a lot of ideas about its premise. Great! Possible themes that could be made for some semblance of a message to come out of this show. Too bad those ideas don’t really go anywhere. They just get thrown at you and then sit there and rot.
The ending actually DOESN'T leave me wanting more and left me feeling like this was ACTUALLY A COMPLETE STORY! This is something I can't say about many of the other shows like this. The one problem with the ending is that it ends a little TOO well with no consequences. That being said, it's better than a lot of other shows of the light novel genre.
The one way I can describe this show, from how I experienced it is that it’s so bad it’s good. It’s one of those sit back and turn your brain off kind of shows. If it tried to do more differently, I could go back and enjoy turning my brain off when watching this show, but I can’t. I laugh at this show’s attempts at being serious because it can’t keep a mood or tension.
It goes from serious to fanservice to comedic all within 2 minutes of an episode. It’s poorly executed and there’s nothing more to say about the story.
Characters (2/10)
The characters in this show are bland and forgettable. Most of them fall into archetypes and others just don’t have any purpose. The main character is the dense mc self-insert. The scientist is the loli of the series.
The only character to have any actual development is the student council president. This was actually surprising because she started off as the tsundere of the series, then turned into not a tsundere and a member of Hayato’s harem.
The character interactions range from forgettable to cringy. That’s because there’s so much bad writing in this series. Characters state the obvious, there are info dumps even though characters should know what’s going on, and the villains are one dimensional.
The show tries to show off the how the villains are the product of their environment, but it’s so poorly executed and only meant to redeem them that I just don’t care.
These characters are meant for this kind of series and this kind of series alone. You aren’t supposed to take them seriously and you’re just supposed to watch. This show clearly has a target audience, and I’m not part of it.
Music, Art, and Animation (1/10)
For an anime, I expect animation. For this anime, I got scenes of up to 3 minutes in an episode with just still frames and nothing more. How am I supposed to say this show has good animation when it uses an excess amount of still frames, establishing shots, and reuses animation? There are scenes from the show used in the OP and they don’t look impressive.
The art style is also generic and bland with nothing of note. The transformation segments are, just like any other show with transformation segments, reused. There’s little to movement a lot of the times and the lips don’t even get close to syncing up with the animation.
Production IMS must have saw the light novel, threw it in the animation room, and said “you have 2 months to make this even though it should take longer! Go!” This was the result.
Character designs are lazy and forgettable. They look so similar to characters from other shows that I can’t tell them apart at points. I sometimes wonder if this is a bad knockoff anime to some other anime. The amount of fanservice with the character designs alone is annoying.
The music also ranges from forgettable to annoying. Much of the OST gets on my nerves at times because it doesn’t fit the mood or it ruins the mood of the moment. One track of note is the OP, but there are still better OP’s from this season alone. I’m personally just a sucker for shows having 2 singers singing back and forth.
The audio design also doesn’t sound good as, sometimes, I heard the echo from the recording room that the voice actors were performing in. It doesn’t sound good and got on my nerves. One performance was hilarious and annoying at the same time, and once you see it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
There are 4 ED’s in this show and none of them really stand out. When they switch, I’m just like “Ok” and skip it. Some voices don’t fit the design of the character and others do. The action scenes don’t look very good, for the most part and I don’t get hyped up when one starts.
Final Verdict
This show is a mess. It really is. It’s a hodgepodge of every cliché story line ever and it doesn’t do anything new. There are ideas presented that don’t go anywhere and conflicts that don’t have buildup. It’s a show out there for people who like this kind of show and that’s it. That’s why I give this show a 2/10 on a critical level.
It does a couple things right, but it’s so shrouded under the bad that I had to really dig to get the positives out of this show. On an enjoyment level, I give this a 1/10 from the show itself and a 5/10 from how much fun I had making fun of it while watching. If you want a so bad it’s good show, this is your show.
If you want a better harem show, just watch Monster Musume!