Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers

Once upon a time, I was browsing through My Anime List, looking for a new anime to watch. That's when I found Mashiroiro Symphony. From the look of it, I guessed that it was based off of a visual novel. I've been a big fan of visual novels being turned into animes, I guess that's why I liked A Bridge to the Starry Skies, The Rose Madder Colored Hills, etc. So, I decided to try it. I didn't expect to find such a masterpiece.

So, story wise, nothing fancy. It's your typical harem anime that starts out with a boy coincidentally meeting what appears to be ... the main character of the story when looking for his sister. After that, he meets a bunch of other girls, and boom. He has his own personal harem. What I was thinking at the time was "This is almost a cliché harem anime". I mean, this is basically how all harem animes start. HOWEVER, as I started getting further into the show, my opinion changed. The thing about harem animes is that 99% of the time, the first girl he meets in the show is the girl he falls for in the end. 99% of the time, and that's a fact. With Mashiroiro Symphony, it pulled the carpet out from under me, and halfway within the series the main girl changed. I wasn't expecting that. That's when the story started getting good.

Artwork was excellent. Actually, the artwork was why I fell in love with this anime. When visual novels get turned into animes, there's just something in the artwork that tells you "I used to be a Visual Novel". That may just be me, but either way, stunning. Absolutely beautiful. I loved the character art and the scenery. Gorgeous.

Sound-wise, I feel like I've heard a lot of the voice actors play in other animes, and by other animes, I mean other animes that used to be visual novels, so I was fairly happy that I recognized some of the voices in the show. Despite my love for the voices, there was a single voice that irritated the crap out of me. Sure, I liked the character, but when all he says is "Pyu" over and over again, it will seriously bug the hell out of you. I know it's a cat/alien, but at least let it have other things to say then "Pyu".

Finally. I've spent years trying to find a harem anime where the main character isn't either:
A) A Pervert
or
B) Someone who get's flustered easily.
What I'm trying to say is that Uryuu is the one lead harem character that doesn't annoy the hell out of me. Not only is he cool, but his choices in friends is 5 Star material. That brings me to the second thing I've been searching for for years in harem animes: The male role's best friend isn't a pervert either! Along with Uryuu, we got a bunch of other characters that made me happy to see. Sure, we've got a couple tsunderes, but we've also got an animal lover, a cool younger sister, and a hyperactive maid. +1 for the character designing.

I can say that I enjoyed the show. I really liked it a lot. It took me a few episodes to really get into it, but I feel like I've found a treasure in the harem anime/visual novels that get turned into animes vault. Definitely worth watching.

When I first took a look into Mashiro-iro Symphony I never thought it would drag me in as much as it did. It took hold of my attention when I was watching, and didn't let go of me until I got though the whole anime; and yes I did marathon the anime for me it was that good.
I've always been a fan of romance animes, they're what I go to when I need an uplifting story or a sad one; this anime does it that bill of being one of ... the higher end romance animes that I've seen (and I've seen a lot of them). It may have had those slow moments, and those slightly inappropriate moments but over all I thought the storyline and character progression really overshadowed those moments making it a very good anime. Especially one that can throw around your feelings like it was nothing.

STORY 9/10
The story and how it progressed through each character is what I think make it worth watching. Each storyline per character had it's own story to tell, each one had their own part in the story that just made the anime, and it's characters click. It wouldn't have been a romance if it didn't have it's ups and downs right? The way those problems and resolves came in truly made this story very, very enjoyable for me.

ART 8/10
I thought the character was really good, the uniforms were well designed and well executed in color. Each character had their own unique part of their character that made them different from other character designs I've seen in the past. Also the character expressions were really on point. Though there were little design mishaps, I believe in my mind that it did not effect the anime at all.

SOUND 8/10
I thought the intro was amazing, I even downloaded it because I like it that much. The sounds in the anime were well place during certain parts which really added to the mood of the setting. The only problem for me was there were some parts where a song or two would have played well, but were just blank leaving for some awkward moments but other than that I thought it was really good.

CHARACTER 10/10
Each Character have their own story, which adds to the mood of the story. They all have their own backdrop that pulls you in quite a lot. To be fair, each character were individually good at playing their part in the story that it is without a doubt one of the harder times you can pick out your favourite (couple/person) because each one has their own good qualities.

Overall this anime will forever be one of my favourites!
Mashiro-iro Symphony = MUST SEE

This is quite possibly the best anime that I've ever seen that has harem listed as a genre.

I'm sure that you will all agree that the most annoying thing about any harem anime is the perverted characters who tries to hit on everyone/ gets hit on by everyone. Thus, I have more or less given up on the harem genre and steer well clear. However, this anime is like hope at the bottom of Pandora's box.

I really like how the protagonist is not just a decent person for once but he cares so much about everyone around him. All he is ever trying to do ... is help (leading to a number of misconceptions). The story line is not about him and every other girl falling in love symultaniously but rather, it focuses on the development of a single girl's feelings... before disregarding them for the next. He takes everyone's feelings and attitudes to heart, and is always trying to help.

I most certainly did not expect the ending of this.

Plot: (Warning Spoilers)
As I'm sure you've gathered from the synopsis, the series starts with our protagonist looking for his lost sister and when they find one another there is a girl, our other main character, from the presteious girls highschool with the sister. This makes you think, oh no - here we go again.

There is a merger plan between the girls highschool and the protagonist's co-ed school and our protagonist, his sister and his (not perverted) best friend are enrolled in the experiment.

Our main girl instantly makes the boys feel unwelcome and from there on its tsundre. The character development is mainly centred around her rather than every girl. But then suddenly, about half way through the series the main girl switches. Completely unexpected. The new main girl is also tsundre but more heavily so (if you know what I mean). She loves the protagonist but he doesn't seem to love her back. Instead he is falling for her best friend (who is the only one whom he actually loves).

Mashiro Symphony: The Blandness of Half-Ass Ville

I've watched 2 episodes of the anime. That was all I could muster before I just couldn't watch anymore. This is a preliminary review, based on what I've seen so far, and experienced based conjecture as to where it's gonna go.

The best way to describe this is with one word: bland.

Bland, bland, bland.

Characters are extremely one dimensional. Any attempts to make them interesting or have the audience invest are cursory at best. This is especially true for the main character. He has no quirks, no eccentricities, no emotional palette. He has 3 emotions: smiling contentment, thoughtfully unsettled, ... mildly upset due to embarrassing situation. Even when he's supposed to be upset, it's amazingly uninteresting.

He's the embodiment of harem tropes, the quintessential "smiling nice guy with no particular talents or distinguishing characteristics who inexplicably has several embarrassing, sexually themed misunderstandings/encounters with one female protagonist who now views him with great disdain."

The female leads are slightly more interesting, but even they are just super stereotypes within the genre. The situations they get put in (guy walks in while girls changing, guy somehow falls forward into their breasts, guy somehow ends up at perfect angle to look at their crotch) and their reactions to them them (sudden shock, anger, and violence, accompanied with several "kyaaaa!"s) have been played out a thousand times before.

My big qualm is not that it's not original, though. Originality doesn't mean quality. But, if you're using something that's been done before, you better darn well do a good job at it, or there's no reason to watch it again. This series is all so soulless, like the writers, voice actors, and animators are just going through the motions and have nothing better to offer.

Now, I have a rule that as long as something is even remotely palatable, I have to watch at least four episodes of it, so I will. In fact, I'll probably watch the rest of the episodes two, one fast forward, just to say I've seen them. And it might turn it around; but I doubt it. There's no indication that this will recover at all and turn into something worth while.

There is a tiny potential for a decent story here. An insignificant seed, where they could have done something good. They could have gone the school life and friendship(not romance) in realistic comedy centered route that Seitokai Yakuindomo went, or done something like Kaichou wa Maid-sama and brilliantly fused the school life/politics comedy with a budding romance, or they could have done something very romance focused, like with Kanon, Clannad, even Myself; Yourself (which is greatly inferior to the former two mentioned, but still largely superior to this series). But they didn't. Instead there's just this lame, limp pile of gruel.

I have a deep seated hatred for series that waste my time by not putting any effort into doing something engaging. It's not a matter of pacing, lack of a standard story arc, or even mundane subject matter, as there are series that are amazingly engaging, even with slow pacing (House of Five Leaves), pure slice of life story lines (Kino no Tabi; Mushishi), and mundane subject matter (Azumanga Daioh) that are simply amazing, and make you feel like your life is now better for having seen them. It's a matter of the amount of effort and care put into the crafting of the story on the part of the artists that contribute to its creation.

This story is just super duper half-assed, and viewers owe it to themselves not to waste their time with this crap and instead go find something worth watching(see above mentioned series.

Judging by the cover of Mashiroiro Symphony: The Color of lovers, I thought this was just another typical cliche harem, you know, high school environment, different females for the male lead to choose. As I was progressing through the anime, I realized the plot was very "unique" and was driven by "unique" characters. Mashiroro Symphony does not follow the typical harem outline. Does that mean this anime was outstanding? exceptional?

NOPE

Personally, I don't mind if a harem is cliched or not, i was not expecting a unique plot, just your typical average harem. even if it was different I wouldn't mind it. So what went wrong?

STORY ... (5/10)

I found the plot of this anime to be very "special", and when I mean special, i mean retarded special. It is not centered on one plot, rather it follows different routes (personally I don't like this). This anime starts off like a very typical harem. You are introduced to your protagonist Shingo Uryuu along with his sister and another girl Airi Sena whom you can easily deduce will possibly be the main female lead. The first half focuses primarily on the relationship between Shingo and Airi. I enjoyed this half very much, as watching the two leads interact, I established a very fond connection for the couple wishing to see more in the later episodes. However after the first half, Airi whom is our female lead is no longer the center of attention, instead the anime focuses on two characters who are already introduced in the first half: Sana Inui & Miu Amaha and this is where the anime truly becomes "special". I found this to be very weird, the first half was good but why change routes? Even so, it was not subtle, I was totally not prepared for it, the next episode, they just threw the spotlight on Sana and gradually onto Miu. Personally I didn't mind this change as long as the story somehow developed a strong relationship between the characters but unfortunately this never happens and it was a disappointment. The ending was one of the most disappointing endings I've seen, it was not the original purpose of the anime and felt more of a filler episode. As I watched the end, despite being a very touching moment, I lost my sense of touch with the characters and I could no longer appreciate what I was watching. If i had to relate a color, it will be black, confused to what I was watching and seeing no light.

CHARACTERS (6/10)
I will outline the characters:

Shingo Uuryu - Male Lead, a hardworking, caring diligent student (Main)

Airi Sena - Female Lead for the first half, a rude posh girl who seems to have a huge dislike towards the opposite gender, she does not want to show her weakness and is willing to do whatever to be seen strong among her peers. (Main)

Sana Inui - A tsundere girl who's always picking on Shingo. Even so, she will go out of her way to support Miu (Main)

Miu Amaha - Loves animals, is extremely hardworking in what she does and will do everything possible to protect injured animals. (Main)

Sakuno Uryuu - The younger sister of Shingo, unlike typical harem animes she does not have a brocon. Quite mature for her age, has a very good relationship with her brother and the other females. (Support)

Angie Sewell - The maid of the academy, she has a huge passion for being a maid and is happy to perform chores for her master. (Support)

The male lead: Shingo Uuryu is very different from your average Harem lead, instead of the lazy, negligent or pessimistic character, our lead is quite the opposite, hardworking, diligent and caring. The very same can be said to most of the female characters however this leads to one problem: lack of character development. Not to say that there were any development, I believed Airi was developed extremely well coming off being hot-headed and rude to someone who could open up and depend on others when needed. However this is the only strong development seen in the anime. For Shingo himself, the already hardworking diligent student, how can you develop him? The fact he was perfect already flustered me, there were no flaws about his character which really was annoying to me. Even more so, he is dense.

The story focusing on Miu and Sana was not developed well and thus has affected the way I perceive both characters. The first half of the story had left an impression on Airi and the immediate change of routes had caused me to become confused of the characters. The fact that there 6 episodes left and they were trying to develop 2 characters, it was not enough to help establish a connection with the characters, had the anime went 2 cour, this might not have been the case. Also looking at the character outline, it seemed difficult to create any STRONG development. There may have been development for Sana, but the story did not choose her to be the winning female thus her character was wasted. While there was development in the anime for those 2 character (Sana and Miu) it was extremely weak. The plot-structure of the anime also contributed to the weak development of these characters.

Likewise our 2 beloved supporting cast, Angie and Sakuno had no character development whatsoever.

EXECUTION (5.5/10)
For Mashiroiro, it was rushed, there was excellent character chemistry between Airi and Shingo mainly because together Shingo helped Airi overcome obstacles, it brought out both characters really well and at the same time made the anime enjoyable to watch. This is the only highlight of the anime as when the route switches over to Sana and Miu, we never see a glimpse of proper action, the fueling desire to help someone overcome obstacles. Sana and Miu's character while developed weakly never satisfied me while I was watching the anime. Their weak development also led to me not being able to connect with the character thus feeling no sorts of empathy during the touching moments of the show.

ART & SOUND (7/10)
Nothing wrong with the art, infact I liked the way how Shingo was designed, a very mature looking person, something that looks quite different from the tradiational "half-ass" look of typical anime characters. The female leads however do follow the cliche design, cute-looking, innocent and beautiful.
Not mucht to say about sound either, I love the ED personally, not so much the OP. The music during the anime was mediocre.

OVERALL (6.5/10)
If you want to watch an anime that breaks away from the cliche stereotypical harems that the industry have been shoving in our face for the past err im guessing 10 years or so then you might enjoy this anime. However, be aware of the sudden plot-change and lack of character development, it may leave you disappointed.

1st thing to say, do not judge a book by its cover. This is not your standard visual novel adaptation. I am surprised myself. I watched for now, up until episode 3 and was surprised by everything it offers me. In fact some says about the ecchi scenes things but it does not disturbs the story and believe me, you won't find any more of that scene starting from episode 2, maybe it's an element to attract 1st time watcher but I think the element does not disturb the storyline after the 1st episode.

2nd, about the storyline, well, maybe pretty generic at 1st, the protagonist ... and his friends are transferred to an all-girls school BUT, The developments of the storyline makes up for it. The protagonist is a good person who was once respected in his old school and he continues his deeds. He may looks like a weak character at 1st glance but he makes it up by improving himself, a lot, though. That is why I feels the story can be very good but, be wary that it may drops dramatically halfway though. But the basis storyline from episode 1 to 3 does not disappoint at all.

3rd, the art, ah, this is why I decided to continue watching it as the first episode was too generic in storyline and I have to thanks this element. From the Opening song till the end of ED, the art is so beautiful, well, we may found the character drawings a bit plain but, that is not why i kept watching this, I kept on watching because of the beautifully made environments which suits the character very well, I am surprised myself with the design of the extras though. In fact, the OP can be compared with White Album's OP, which is very beautiful itself.

4th, sound element, hm... well, i like how the music is played, which it suits the situations and the special effect sound is very well synchronized with the situations too. As to be expected from most 2010+ anime though.

5th, Character designs, plain, personality... hm..plain too... but the personality and character developments makes up for it, in fact this plays a lot of role this anime. I like how the characters developed. It is enough to make me feels like i should watch this till the end.

6th, the enjoyment of the series, in this matter, you will find some exciting parts of many characters in the series, especially when the male protagonist found out something exciting about the female protagonist in the third episode. I smiled when I saw that scene though. Be wary though, this is slice of life and romance genre anime, so you won't find something too much of a surprise though, but it is enough to make you enjoy the series.

In conclusion, the overall was excellent. I would give it 9/10 but it may drops though if the director messes up after this episode. But if it continues its pace, I would put it on the same level as Kanon, Clannad, AIR and Angel Beats from Key. If you loves heartwarming drama and love, you will surely enjoy this, believe me :)

I decided, based on what I thought was sound reasoning to check out Manglobe's latest release Mashiroriro Symphony: The Color of Lovers. I'm not the biggest fan of eroge interpretations but when I have liked them they were usually produced out by the higher tier studios. I dug the output from studios like Kyoto Animation (Clannad, Kanon, etc.), Shaft (Ef series), and P.A. Work (True Tears) because those studios were able to mask the usual problems with harem/game based series with great animation, direction or story writing.

I don't play eroge myself so I am not too certain about how often the source ... material affects the quality of the anime but considering that certain studios like Kyoani tend to constantly make good products and certain other ones tend to put out the same crap every season, I'd wager the studio plays a big role in whether these types of series turn out to be successful. For example, I understand that both Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate were made by the same game creator and were both just as acclaimed as games. One studio did a fantastic job producing Steins;Gate and another put out an hot mess with Chaos;Head.

Although Manglobe looked like it was hurting a bit monetarily (as you can tell by cut and cover animation job in the penultimate episode of Deadman Wonderland), I had faith that they would try to be competitive with the top studios with Mashiroriro Symphony. They did a great job of animating The World God Only Knows and I even figured they would try to go all out with a moe show since programs in this genre have the potential to give a good return.

I was very wrong. So far, I've spent most of this “review” discussing why I decided to watch this show rather than discussing the actual show for a reason. There isn't much to say about the program other than it's generic garbage. The plot synopsis is a boy from a regular school now attends a formerly all girl's school due to a school merger... and a harem ensues. I'm not even the type of person who is turned off by that type of plot off the bat (why else would I watch otherwise?). However, my view is that you have to distinguish yourself in this genre, either through quality or innovation, in order stand out. Mashiroriro Symphony is poorly made and unoriginal.

All the anime does is throw a bunch of 'gap moe' characters into a typical situation and has the main character being nice to them. I know that's the general formula but if you don't add something to the general archetypes you aren't really producing anything worthwhile. While I would prefer that shows deviated from the general moe archetypes, if they are going to be used, they ought to be a skeleton or a starting point rather than having the archetype become the point where the character ends.

As the characters go, there's a little sister in there who is your run of the mill quiet girl character, and then there are four other girls who are 'in play'. The most offensive of them is the maid character with the green hair. I don't mind maid characters. In fact I think a lot of maid characters are moe like Maria in Hayate the Combat Butler or even that spinning girl in A Certain Magical Index. But, for anything to be successfully moe, you have to buy into the context. An otherwise regular school isn't going to have a maid character. The whole thing is preposterous and this isn't a gag comedy like Baka Test or something where you expect preposterous things. So, first, she shouldn't be there. Second, there is nothing about her character beyond the things that comprise of the prototypical maid character. Her only trait is that she is a clumsy maid, which we've already seen in a thousand other anime. When she is on screen the only possible reaction is to marvel at how spectacularly uninspired she is.

After the green haired maid, there are two tsundere characters, one with yellow hair and one with red hair. Again, there's nothing more to say about these two characters other than the fact of them being tsundere types. The only thing that separates the two is that the red haired one is a lot more emotionally embellished than the yellow one. You do learn some biographical facts about them but there isn't much interesting about their inner lives other than their interest in the main character and maybe the red haired girl's interest in the purple girl.

The final girl is the incredibly boring purple upperclassman. She has a whopping two traits: she is nice and she likes animals. A good deal of the show focuses on her involvement with an animal nursery high school club. I guess one different thing I can say about this show is this sort of character would get a lot less shine in other harems; unfortunately, that's probably because the creators of other harem works realize that it's a bad idea to give the most screen time to the shallowest character.

I get it though. A lot of these shows have the same character types without anything special added but a lot of them are actually watchable because of the production values. That makes sense because something you already know about can still catch your attention when it looks great. You will often see very cardboard characters in the Kyoani shows but they are so brilliantly animated that even if you are seeing something old, it's something old presented in a pretty way. When the production is bumped up or at least stylized, you're seeing characters you otherwise know in a new, more magnificent light. It's like seeing Final Fantasy IV remade in 3d and then in HD.

Manglobe did a lacklustre job possible with art direction. All the backgrounds, even ones that should look pretty, like waterfalls, seem like super-plain stock footage. The whole show plays out with one camera angle and there are almost no innovative shots. Even Pokemon has cool shots sometimes. I realize that Manglobe isn't a money studio at this point in time but there was clearly no attempt to be creative with the direction. The only notable thing I can think of is one shot where they close up from outside of a window on a rainy day and you still see the rain falling outside as if the camera was actually there. Even that shot didn't look as cool as it was supposed to.

This is my first review and I hate to hate on a show but I just can't think of anything redeeming to say. I actually did expect a lot from Manglobe before watching Mashiroriro Symphony and at the end of the day I didn't get anything. I didn't even get into the the various other problems I found but I think I've made my point

[contains some generalized spoilers, point of view from someone who didn't play the visual novel]

Mashiro-iro Symphony (TV) is one of the two visual novels adapted this fall season.

From what I know, the Visual Novel sold extremely well[#1 Oct 2009], but it was also extremely average[7.68@VNDB]. Unfortunately, it being “average” appears to carry on over to the anime. The characters are extremely generic and linear; there's very little character development [There's two tsunderes, the nice girl, the maid, and the sister]. In most romance series, relationships form, characters mature, they grow, they get more intimate with each other, it's gradual, but it's there. However, in Mashiro, ... it's mostly rushed development, and the development is more so for storyline, rather than for the individual characters. The characters are basically static from the pilot to the finale.

However, Mashiro is a visual novel, and visual novels aren't exactly the easiest to adapt. They have multiple paths in visual novels; you choose one of the girls and you see her being developed constantly, along with your own thoughts as the main protagonist. While in anime, you view the entire story in third-person, and it's not just one character being developed, but multiple characters. Given this, anime adaptations more often then not take the harem route, which usually isn't bad,; as long as they stay true to the characters [I don't really have any experience with the visual novel itself, so I can't really say how well or how badly they portrayed the characters, but they appear to be fine]

Anyhow, to sum it up, Mashiro is extremely predictable, and it's riddled with bad dialogue, and silly plot developments. But that's to be expected, it's a generic harem. As a whole, Mashiro is a pretty decent way to kill some time, it's not irritating to watch, and it does have its plus sides. It manages to create a pretty calm and enjoyable mood, it's relaxing. It has a fitting OP and ED, and the characters are generic, but they're not the irritating type of generic [like those over-optimistic shounen leads].

On a side note, the last two episodes are actually pretty decent, they “redeem” some aspects of the show. It develops the characters slightly, but it's still rather linear. But, it did give a different perspective on things. In most harem romances, the guy usually dates the girl he picks, and the other girls basically fade away. However, in Mashiro, their thoughts are shown, and it's done pretty well. It shows how they cope with not being chosen. To sum it up, Mashiro is one of the better generic harems out there, it doesn't end with an irritating harem ending.

Objective Score: 4/10. It's “bad” when it comes to actually portraying human emotions, it's rushed and it's pretty damn linear. But it's the type of “bad” that isn't irritating to watch; it's “bad” because it's not the most original.

Subjective Score: 5/10 : Mashiro on its own really isn't the most unique anime. It's generic, it's predictable, it doesn't offer anything new or rare. It's still enjoyable, but there's just so much room for improvement. But the enjoyability is still there.

Ow, another harem any with pretty characters! Something I like to devour every now and then. It even started of with a decent plot and 3 very strong main characters.
When Uryuu, Airi and Sakuno were introduced in the first episode I was happy to find out none of them are your average harem characters. A pity this impression didn't last long.

Sakuno,who seems to have had issues in the past and who could be a very interesting character, is sadly pushed to the background after just one episode. Airi, a strong looking woman, gets 3 episodes of glory but afterwords turns into background decoration. ... At the beginning of the series she yells out that she hates boys (though, at the very first episode she is extremely kind to Uryuu...) but you never actually get to find out why she hates them so much...
Uryuu's alright for most of the series. He's not annoying and seems to be the only character who maintains his sanity. Until of course he falls in love, out of the blue, with one of the other main characters.
The only character with any development is Sana, but she's your everyday crybaby so that's not really interesting. We can't forget about Miu-sempai of course. She's the character who wasn't actually introduced at the beginning but turns out to be one of the main characters...
Is there anybody still following this?

So... really there isn't much good to say about Mashiro-iro's characters. Most of the time they're just really confusing.

Onto a more positive note: art. This is why I initially started Marshiro-iro. Airi is real eyecandy and so are all of the other girls. Unfortunately this too breaks down after episode 5 or so. Suddenly we get lousy lineart and even colouring isn't done properly. It gets better again at the end so overall it's rather ok.

Opening and Ending songs were fun to listen too and the soundtrack wasn't too bad either. Nothing you'll remember the day after finishing the series but it sets the mood alright.

There's no real story development. It starts of with a boy wanting to improve relationships between two merging schools, but after a while that theme is forgotten and the story starts focusing on the suddenly appearing friendships. When the scriptwriter is done talking about that, he develops a little bit of drama around the Nuko Club.

I couldn't really enjoy this anime because I was constantly reminded that neither the characters nor the story made any sense. It was quite a rollercoaster ride, the kind you regret getting into though.

Overall this is a very average, almost bad harem anime, nothing really worth your time unless you're a huge fan of this sort of anime. If you're looking for anything similar but way better I'd suggest Clannad or H20 ~ Footprints in the Sand.

Romance-Comedy. We all know what to expect. But this one has one element that many other animes of this genre lack, a solid ending. He's picks one of the female characters, with a couple episodes to spare. For as much as I love anime, it get irritating to see again and again an open ended ending. They are fine but almost all of them rely on this (Shuffle! is the only other exception that comes off the top of my head). Everything about this series is solid, though nothing groundbreaking, but the conclusive ending made me appreciate this series much more.

Mashiro-Iro Symphony

“White” -a pure and unstained color but could be dyed by any other color.

The title of this anime can be translated as “Pure White Symphony.” I agree with the author to go with this title. It’s a very suitable title for such a pure, innocent anime. The story is rather simple, our male protagonist usually encounters with our heroine and many other female companions.
However, it seem like this anime was written by two different scriptwriter.. This anime seem to be split into two where in the first part of the anime, the producers focused on one heroine and then on the second ... half they switch to a different heroine and complete shut out the first girl.
At first it seems very interesting, guy had an unusual yet friendly encounter with a girl and then the next day she completely changed her attitude. The first half was about how to mend their relationship into a steadier one which could lead to a happy ending. Until the girl secret was revealed and the female and male lead reaches a friendlier point in their relationship that was the end of that small arc. For a couple of episode we were introduced to the side character and then the second arc came. The first heroine was overlooked and was replaced in the second half. She took neutral role, the one who observed and gave advice. The second part we got to watch a different girl take the heroine role as she learn the emotions of having a crush and then supporting one’s love. However this isn’t where it ends because there is a third heroine which wraps things up nicely.

It seems like the scriptwriter wanted the effect of the various heroine but didn’t issue the right amount of screen time to the third heroine which could have produced a much better effect. Although this anime have the formula for a classic romantic comedy anime, it lacks the depth of the story. I get the sense that in the end, the writer is trying to say that change isn’t easy, it could be scary but people need to move forward toward the future. Also that anything is possible in the future because “the future is pure white, it could be dyed into any other color.”
Despite phrasing this in the beginning of the anime and at the end there wasn’t anything more about it in between which made this anime shallow. To summarize the structure of how the anime was laid out, I would say the first part was about gradually accepting other people’s support and the comfort of having people who you can trust and the second part is learning about the next deeper feeling of emotion and that is love.

The artwork is so pure. All the characters are drawn so adorable and in such a cute fashion. This is one of the classic harem anime that is very comfortable to watch. AS a classic harem anime, we have the at least one tsundere, tomboy, the caring upperclassman and the carefree, energetic girl and of course the reserved girl who speak slowly. Nevertheless all character was drawn pretty much with the same facial feature which lack variety. Yet despite this feature, no other changes were made to differentiate this anime to the other romantic anime. The only thing to tell the characters apart is the color of the different hairstyles and their eyes. They also have a outline around their eyes the same color as their pupil.
The music was very pleasing. The opening soon is very soothing and relaxing, the ending was very hyped up and energetic which suit the anime quite nicely.

Despite the fact that this anime could be improved in some aspect, overall this was a good anime. It doesn’t have a whole lot of fan service expect a little from the beginning but as a harem anime it did a nice job. It’s a very simple anime, no need to think very hard, debating whether to watch it or not. It’s very pleasing and sweet romantic anime to watch. I don’t see any reason why not give it a try so for all you harem anime fans out there….Enjoy!

~Later

Hi, um new to the reviewing table, but have watched my fair amount of anime.
Mashiroiro Symphony, was a decent anime, the main character was a likable character, not to dense, but also extremely dense. Honestly, if the anime had more drama and more episodes to deepen the plot then it would be one of the best anime. The story is basically a high school teenager male that is attending a former all-girls school as a test to see if it can go fully co-ed. He is kind and that apparently wins the hearts of several girls. What was hilarious though was that the plot went ... towards one route, then completely jumped to another with no transaction.

*Spoiler (some-what)*
He chooses a girl, like most harem anime, and then the rest have a pity party on the last episodes. There is no real drama though.

If u aren't perverted then when u want to watch this anime,you will wavering because of the ratings which said "mild nudity" but don't worry,there is no visible and obvious nudity like ones in pervy anime at all. It is a truth that there are some scenes which male MC is forced to take a bath in same tub with some of fem characters coz the fem characters get in on their own even though they know that male MC already in the tub. But trust me,their body isn't being exposed or anything. So,don't worry,you wont see any ecchi nor hentai scenes in it :)

well ... let's get on business now! (^^)/

first, Story

~as i said before,the story in this anime is cute and sort of realistic. The ending is also worth of applause. i'd like if this anime has a sequel,but well,even if there is no sequel for it,i think the ending is good enough coz there isn't much of thing left unanswered and i'm satisfied enough with it :)
and so i will give it 7/10

second,art and sound

this anime have an outstanding art and the sound also suits the mood that this anime makes very well,may it be background songs,sounds effects,opening and even endings songs,it all left a deep impression on me, a well-done job on art and sounds indeed
and so i will give'em both each 8/10

third,characters and enjoyments

how to say this..at earlier episodes i though the amle MC will definitely end up with one of fem MC since the anime gives a lot of focus on this girl and so i'm kind of lost 1/3 of my interests in this anime. But,later,the mood in series changes and the neko club turns the story and characters development into something far different from earlier episodes. at first,the characters are all in for one ending then it turns out to be a harem fantasia, then later it turns out to be love triangle which makes me curious abot what is this anime creator really thinking ? but that is the interesting part which makes me run a marathon for this anime
and so i will give'em both each 7/10

overall,i enjoy this anime and will recommend it to you if you lkes something that confused u in progress but ended in a wonderful endings. also,be patient to sit through out the first haf of series,it may seem like an obvious ending at first half but don't let it make u stop. Keep contiues on because that isn't the "real ending". The real ending is a lot more cuter than what you though what it was.

that is all.. Have a Good Time! :)

-Updated below-

There is no much revealing for the story from entire episode 1, but it's about how test students getting to study together with an all-girl-school for some times.

The story is opened by a brother who searching his lost sister on the way home, not a great starter but surely a nice approach. After her sister's cellphone battery died, she was lucky to find another lost girl and both of them able to reunite with the brother. Simple, yet nice event.

Art is ultimately the best part of this series, I could say I will watch entirely because of the art itself.

Character design, much like the ... arts are so adorable.

Overalls, I like this series mainly because of the art. Maybe the story as revealed in the opening sequence is just another harem like the others, hopefully I'm mistaken though. Still waiting for a good drama from this title to fully satisfy myself watching.

--
Updated after finishing

Just finish my first Fall season anime series, and I really like Mashiiro Symphony after episode 5 or 6 after Sana and Miu gives reaction differently than other harem anime series.

Jealously, admiration, pain of losing to love rival, all the factors are greatly described here and it finish at episode 10 after the confession, who will main character choose over. The next two episodes are good too.

And I really like the ending, separation and memories are really good. I'm quite sad to see this anime series comes to an end, just like the ending shows us. There will be a separation somedays, but only the precious memories remains.

We don't know the color of the future, but let it be determined later. The color of white (Mashi iro...)

characters: I think I'll start my review with the best part of this series, the characters. All of the characters in MS were amazing, they all had their own personalities and you learn a lot about each of them throughout the series. One thing I really liked was how they portrayed the main character shingo, instead of being some idiot with a short temper or a pervert they made him a helpful and very kind person who was genuinely concerned about others. All the other characters had depth to them and were very unique in my opinion, even if their personalities were built off of ... a commonly used quality such as a tsundere.

art: the art in this show was simply amazing, the characters all had great designs, and were beautifly done. For those of you who really care a lot about the art in an anime you should definitely check this one out.

story: I thought the story started out great, an all girls school merging with a co-ed school so some students from the co-ed school go to the all girls school as a test. Then halfway through the plot seemed to dissolve and it became more about the nuko club and the group of characters feelings for each other which was actually enjoyable to watch and the change in the plot was actually done in a way so it transitioned nicely. I have to say the story actually really suprised me in the end and took some wierd twists, in my mind the best episodes are definetely 10 and 11.

Enjoyment: I really enjoyed watching this anime even with all the sudden changes and twists, the romance was actually the best part since you really couldn't tell were it was going until it was actually happening. I must admit I was on the verge of crying towards the end of this.

music: while it wasn't the best part of the series they do a good job with the music, appropriate music for every mood.

my opinion (WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS)
I honestly felt bad for 1 person in this whole series and that was shingo, my reason is that yes while the others are hurt because he doesn't love them he's got to be the one who decides who gets hurt and who doesn't, he could either string them along trying not to hurt anyone and eventually hurt everyone, pick one and hurt the others, or pick no one and hurt everyone, either way he has to hurt someone. I feel a little peeved that they spent 5 episodes on airi just to toss her to the side and have him fall in love with miu, while I loved those two ending up together I just felt angry that they'd spend half the series completely on one character and then just have her give up and comfort sana, but then again thats also what makes the romance in this so hard to figure out. Episodes 10 and 11 are what really made this show great, while the rest were good those were the only two with any real romance, episode 10 suprised the cr@p out of me when shingo just snaps and confesses to miu. I had mixed feelings towards sana becuase while she did like shingo it was her own fault for constantly telling him she hates him. Shingo and Miu ending up together was great in my opinion, i could sort of see it comming but after the whole airi incident i was a little confused, i loved them describing each other as the same person when sana asked what they thought of each other. This was a great anime, I wish there could've been more but there's not much room left to add anything else, it's one of those animes that make you reluctant to watch any others so soon because it just won't be as good.

If you made it this far thanks for reading :D

Mashiroiro Symphony is an adaptation of the eroge. I've never played the eroge, so it's kind of hard to really understand how the story was supposed to play out.

The story was kind of everywhere. It jumped from one girl to another and it was pretty obvious too. After Sena and he had gotten into a bath together, they never really talked to each other after that. It was really confusing because I thought they had become close or something after doing something like that. Anyway, I guess the story tried to get some story about all characters to fit into the 12 episode limit that ... they have been given which ended up messing the show up quite a bit because each girl pretty much gets pushed to the background after they have been in a few episodes.

Art: 5
Nothing really needs to be said about art rather than average. Standard modern artwork.

Sound: 6
I happened to like the OP, but everything else was pretty normal.

Character: 3
The characters weren't really developed that much. They're just characters with pretty faces. Sana is like the only character with development, but she is just a crybaby which is boring.
Shingo is the typical male harem character:
-Just transferred in
-Well-mannered
-Nice
-Good boy

Enjoyment: 4
This show is not really interesting, but I finished it just for the sake of completing it.

Overall 4:
This show is really nothing more than another show with pretty faces and it was kind of confusing since it kept jumping from one thing to another. This show is pretty much another average harem and somewhat bad.

Alright this is my first review so I'll try to keep it a little shorter.

When I first started watching Mashiroiro Symphony I thought it was going to be another quick rom/com harem that was a light watch with no conclusion. Man was I wrong..... This show left me conflicted on who to feel happy or sad for. With only 12 episodes to work with Mashiroiro Symphony developed it's characters nicely, in particular **(Minor spoiler)** having the MC actually choose a heroine and openly be the one to confess to the girl as apposed to having each girl confess to the MC fist then a ... choice is made. Won't go into who is chosen or anything because spoilers are no fun.

Tons of laughs, tons of feels, overall a very enjoyable watch. Wish more romance/harem anime could learn from this example.

-Story- 8/10
So in my opinion the core story by itself is nothing exceptional. MC is introduced to an all girl school who is doing a temporary merger. Sound familiar? However there are a subtle aspects about the merger that you usually don't see. First off the MC isn't the only boy to be introduced into the school, and females from the previous school are brought along as well. So instead of a more typical boy introduced into an all girl world, you get a nice mix of both schools being brought together as a whole. After that the MC meets the cast of heroines and goes through a list of misunderstandings and other entertaining events before the show takes a more serious tone with the last few episodes.

-Art- 8/10
I didn't have any gripes with the art style, in fact I really enjoyed it. Color schemes felt complimentary and I felt the animation was very smooth. However while I liked the art style it was nothing groundbreaking or flashy either.

-Sound- 8/10
Alright so I'm a little more conflicted on the sound here. The music during the show was constantly fitting and and in my opinion very well executed. However with the OP and ED I neither loved nor did I hate them. Although they did set up a fitting atmosphere for the show, thus the positive score.

-Characters- 10/10
Loved the characters in this show, simply loved them. Each one felt like they actually had their own personality, and better yet each one was actually given a bit of development/depth. Of course you'll see the popular character archetypes but if this show was given the chance to be 24 episodes I think they could have done something special as far as character development in a harem. Also, MC isn't totally dense for once. Crazy I know. I mean there are still the misunderstandings and a touch of naive here and there but the guy showed more promise than most. Anyway as others have stated each girl is given some time in the spotlight as Mashiroiro Symphony keeps you on your toes as to who the main heroine really is.

-Enjoyment / Overall- 10 / 9
I said I would keep this review short but I guess that was a lie. Overall I enjoyed this show very much and I'll admit that I did marathon it. It has a wonderful balance of laughs and feels with a story that wasn't needlessly complicated and was given a very sound conclusion. The sound conclusion part is something a lot of series lack so it was refreshing. All in all a must watch in my opinion for those who are a fan of the genre.

First of the anime is great and the very first episode hooks you on pretty good. I've liked the story so far and have been very intriguing. It has a very good first episode & things turn out to get be better and better. It does have some humorous parts where the main character goes into the girl changing room by accident, so there is a little bit of ecchi present for all those ecchi fans out there. If your looking for a fan service anime those anime does not have much of fan service close to none. If you are looking for a good ... harem anime with lots of beautiful girls with different personalities then this anime is for you.
Why its so Good:
-First & foremost the story starts out strong and is quite easy to follow
-The story is quite interesting in many ways it has large twists & turns which you probably never expected (Episode 4)
-The characters all have a different personalty. There not your typical boring old harem characters
-The story is made in quite a unique way with lots of girls & a caring brother and how he overcomes the feat of improving the atmosphere around him as a test student
-If you like anime with very little ecchi & some humor this anime is definitively for you and you should check out the first episode

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

Okay in my reviews i am going to tell my opinion on three things: plot, characters and overall. I may write some additional note if something was particularly good or not (like art or the characters voice).
I am going to try to be impartial, even if i like the anime a lot or i dislike it like the kechtup on the pasta and put things in the right context (i can't expect a complex plot for an harem)

REVIEW

Plot - 7
Yeah it's not bad at all; it's always an harem so for an harem the plot is totally nice. It is not simple and ... after every episode the plot become more interesting.

Characters - 5
About the girls they are cute and funny and deserve a 7 for how they looks but they totally lack of "soul"; it's like see the usual harem girls, no one of them really was worth of note.
The protagonist IS the harem clichè: cool, kind, good at everything but he got a weakness as he stated "i can't stand when the mood is down"; oh my! That's really a huge weakness in an harem anime.
So because the usual girls and the stereotype protagonist i give a 5: not too bad but totally not good.

Overall - 6
Here is the boy. Here is the girls. If we are searching for a standard harem look no further, it's fair. If you are searching for something more "elite" and with characters well designed you should look elsewhere.

Personal tastes: I totally hate the protagonist, too perfect; he made me sick.

Mashiro iro Symphony or Mashifony is a beautiful anime that tell a story of Shingo that meet various girls in girl's school which combine with his school. At first, the girls are opposed to this situation because due to the principal's daughter and also a student of this school, opposed it. The story flow beautifully and very enjoyable because shingo is a gentle, kind and caring person, he tries to solve this problem with a smile and thoughtful of other feeling. But that's why the girls are slowly but sure attracted because of the personality that shingo has.

Art (9/10)

The art of this anime is beautiful ... and colorful ! look at the girls, background, and look at airi and other main girl ! so cute ! That's the main thing why my attention was at full mode when i watch this anime. Although in the half part till near the end of this anime, the art is somewhat decrease at quality. But when near the end of the series, the art is rise again.

Sound (9/10)

Yeah i love the sound of this anime too ! The OP and Ed are good.

Character (8/10)

Character? Well this a good thing too. This anime is filled with character development (Airi, Sana and Miu) although the MC is not influenced by Character Development. But i just think the maid (Angelina Nanatsu) and little sister of MC just like a decoration despite that they are main girls. In the series, not a single scene that can make you sympathize with those two. But overall, you will like a lot character from Mashifony.

Story (6/10)

Well i give it 6 because there's something that have been bothering me when i watch this anime. Yeah, i was sure that this anime is good because of this beautiful story, but in the end, this anime fail to interest me. You know why? In the first episode, the MC shingo meet with one of the five main girl (not his little sister) and from that scene, the first appearance of this girl was very charming and you will think that 'this girl is the main girl'. Yeah right, that girl is the main girl. But just until episode 4. Starting on episode 5, this main girl is just like a doll that decorating the shows. This girl just appear to be a confusing girl because of her feeling. And then the other main girl appeared. And the worst is this 'new' main girl just overshadowing the first main girl till the end of this anime. Well that's annoying to me. Seriously. Not that i dislike the 'new' main girl, but the plot that transferring this 'main girl thing' is just doesn't quite right. The anime didn't have some good plot to counter that. For example Akane iro ni Somaru Saka, they have a scene (in episode 11) that counter the bad effect of this 'transferring main girl thing'. So that the viewers relaxed when they are watching the last episode and didn't feel cheated.

If that 'new main girl' is gonna be the main girl in the end, why the anime show us a charming introduction of the first main girl and make us hope that she will be the main girl till the end? Well, i guess we cant say that this anime is not good because of that alone. As i enjoyed every episode of this anime a lot. But .... -_-

Overall (7/10)

Good Music, Beautiful art, lovable character, fine story. If you like anime that shows a lot of cute girls and the pureness of love from the lovers of that anime, you should watch this. Of course if youre fine with that annoying 'transferring main girl thing'.