Shikabane Hime: Kuro

I'm not sure why they decided to make Kuro into a second season, rather than just episodes 14-25 of Aka. Then again, who am I to doubt the genius of those who decided to make a story about sexy, gun-wielding, zombie chicks. For those who haven't watched Aka, go watch it. Those who have will find that not much has changed. There is a lot more ecchi/fanservice, because we obviously didn't get enough of our necrophilia fixation in season one. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate ecchi humour just as much as the next guy, but I can't help but feel they're sending the wrong ... kind of message to younger audiences.

Story: 6
I think my score is rather generous for a script I could have written in 7th grade. I mean I'm just at a loss because of how simple and illogical the story is. Certain characters gain sudden god-like powers that are often unexplained, and then defeat the villains. Oori and friends also discover a "shocking' conspiracy that puts even Area 51 to shame. I know its unfair to ask logic from a show based on the living dead, but we deserve better.

Art: 7
Was this show broadcasted in HD? Honestly, I couldn't tell. The animation was average at best, so those who have been spoiled by high-end animations will find it irritating. However, I thought the fights were fairly well drawn. It could be just my imagination, but I thought the animation was slightly improved from Aka.

Sound: 9
This is my favourite part of Kuro; the entire reason I decided to stick with this show. The OP and ED really gets you in the mood for watching undead babes open a jar of ass-kick on zombies (no sarcasm here). The sound of Makina's double uzis is just music to my ears, even during the 500th time they play it.

Character: 7
While its good to have dynamic characters and lots of conflict between them, its not so good when they act in such illogical ways that you can't help but give your screen the finger. It also makes little sense to give a huge amount of depth to certain supporting characters, but almost none to some of the more important ones. They wasted too much time in Aka in developing the characters, and its come back to bite em in the crotch this time around.

Enjoyment: 8
I'll try my best to keep my Yamagami Itsuki fantasies to myself, but I do feel the need to point out Makina's wardrobe malfunction. It is painfully obvious in the OP that she is not wearing any underwear, I mean how much more work would it take to draw in some clothing down there?
Despite its shortcomings I feel that many of you will enjoy Kuro, as I have. Temper your expectations and you will find this show a great way to waste 13 hours of your precious life.

Have you ever just sat back, or laid down, and started to marathon an entire series because it's either unique or interesting? This was my case with the Shikabane Hime series

Story 7.6

I was a little disappointed that the real "plot" and "story" started a bit late. However I love how the helped with the building up drama for the climax of season 1 and the start of the second season. Now what I found interesting and a little disappointing too is that they changed quite a lot of things from the original source. This was very noticeable from the beginning of the season 1 and ... the start of season 2 . If you've finished the manga (or what's available raw and translated) before you watched the anime, then you will be able to tell the differences immediately because it's "in your face" type changes. Season 2 was pretty much just a continuation of the events going on after Keisei's death. Now what I didn't like obviously, again, was the changes. In addition to that, the events right at the beginning of Keisei's death became very predictable and not just because I finished the manga but because I've seen a lot of similar titles, I knew what was going to happen naturally. Ouri, which didn't surprise me, made a contract with Makina to save her. The true villains appear with and form their evil and somewhat convoluted plot. New characters are finally introduced and everyone needs to get stronger and work together to save the day. So it was sort of like, after season 1 I just put two and two together which totally took away a lot of the joy for me. The good thing is, even though it was predictable I still had an amazing time watching it. Seeing the truth and backstories behind both Makina and Ouri really helped enhance my attitude. After seeing what happened to Makina in the past, I was like "Awww girl, you better whoop the seven stars asses and get your long deserved revenge." Ouri's story was pretty upsetting but also interesting because I think, as far as main characters go in Shikabane, his backstory wasn't really... "deep" Lastly, and the biggest thing which kept me from giving the story a full 8 was the ending... now I don't want to spoil it, I can't spoil it, but just these following words will help you understand, God damn it Gainax. Overall, story 7.6/10 really interesting title to look into.

Art & animation 7.0

Pretty decent animation and artwork for the shows time. I wasn't too keen on most of the "special effects" and the overall quality the animators used during Shikabane battles. They felt a bit bland and unexciting. In addition to that I felt like the battles were very "repetitive." For example, I really wanted to get super excited when I see Shikabane get REKT by Makina (or other Shikabane hime but for now I'll focus on Makina. ) However a majority of her fights were Makina getting rekt by a shikabane, using hacks to get unlimited ammo and shoot her ineffective bullets at the shikabane. Finally, the "I'm a main character I can't die" comes in to play and she kills the shikabane. So the art and the animation, I felt wasn't the best, especially considering the time of the shows release. Overall, I didn't care too much for it.


Sound 6.5

sound wasn't any thing special. The background music was pretty bland, I didn't have a favorite song other than the opening. I wasn't too impressed with the voice actors. After finishing the second season, I decided to check and see what other roles the characters voice actors played in and was surprised to find that for the most part, they are inexperienced. Shikabane Hime was either first big role. When I first heard Hasome doing the voice of Ouri I was like "man did they just find some random person out on the streets." Makina on the other hand, because she had a "serious" personality, Nana spoke in a monotone-ish voice for her and I actually didn't like it too much. Like she does have the potential to train her voice more and land even better roles however, for Shikabane, I just wasn't feeling it. Overall I wasn't too impressed with the soundtrack.

Characters 7.5

I didn't care too much for many of the characters both new and re-introduced for season 2. I think Ouri was too generic of a main character to impress me. Typical weak high school student who gets involved in something he shouldn't be involved in. Doesn't experience any real growth until like the middle of the series, he was just awful. I personally think that Makina would have been great solo. I think she's one of the best and severely underrated strong female main characters in anime. Then again, there are literally like hundred-thousands to millions, of strong female leads who go unrecognized. Moving on, a good majority the side characters are forgettable, like Ouri's high-school mates. I felt like they were around just so Ouri had some interactions, so he didn't seem like the lonely type. I mean, to contradict what I said just a little, even though they don't play such a big role, they do help both Makina & Ouri with character growth towards the final episodes. Overall I wasn't to impressed with the cast of bland characters. The backstories were nice but didn't make up for my overall feeling towards them. My overall feeling for the characters is that they were "okay." There were lots of interesting characters to be found in Shikabane and I think that's more than enough.

Enjoyment/Overall 7.0

Needless to say, the reoccurring sense of enjoyment I had watching was off and on. But for the most part it was on and stayed on until fights felt repetitive or something tragic would happen. Overall, I believe Shikabane is pretty good, it's not the best when it comes to characters but the story is without a doubt one of the best and most redeeming thing that delivers in the entire series. I enjoyed my time watching it. 8.1/10

Story
The concept behind the show is decent. The difference between an attachment to the world, which is what drives the Corpses, and the more fundamental concept of one's underlying Nature, was good. The constant reminder that the Shikabane Himes are not human beings was a good source of conflict in all the priests' relationships with the himes. Tthe plot never did much with these themes though. Other than one twist at the end, the story was predictable and pretty much a standard monster-fighting show.

Art
The main characters were well designed, the action was pretty good, and it managed to be creepy fairly often. Nothing ... amazing and I know I've heard plenty of complaints regarding the inconsistent quality, but it took nothing away from the show.

Sound
Great soundtrack. One of the best I've encountered in a while. A must have for anyone who like sad instrumental stuff.

Character
The only decent character was the Betrayer Priest, who was a terrific noble villain with the best backstory in the show. Oori was weak and whiny, even in his one climatic ordeal. The little strength he displays at the end had no build up. Makina was annoying; she was just a violent angry chick who did whatever the hell she wanted without consequences. Hokuto was an extremely 1 dimensional villain--powerful and insane. That's fine for a #2, but after 24 eps, the REAL villain really ought to be coherent.

Enjoyment
Shows like this are fun because you can watch the hero grow stronger and see how far he's come in the final showdown. Oori really never became anyone interesting though. The demonic cat and insinuations regarding his past gave me some high expectations, but it turned out to be a pretty big letdown.

Overall
The show, with its powerful themes, great soundtrack, and promising lead, gives you some big expectations that it doesn't deliver on AT ALL. If you're a guy who wants to watch cute zombie girls with big breasts jump around killing things go for it. But anyone with any kind of standards for plot and character will be disappointed.

Shikabane Hime is kickass. The art is great, the animation is pretty awesome, and the story is well thought-out and structured.

The thing I love best, BEST, BEEEEEEEEST about this is:

Being a female, the fanservice can get extremely tiring in anime sometimes. Shikabane Hime is one of the few anime I've ever seen where the female characters kick so much ass and do it without all of the annoying fanservice. I haven't seen a single panty shot and the angled views that usually show the "goods" aren't excessive. Most of the angled shots are for the action scenes, and purely that. The only full-on fanservice ... I've seen in this anime has been the catgirl (whom I consider to be a joke) or entirely in the endings. (The closing theme song endings)

I love the characters. Makina especially. She has this... manly factor that radiates off of her which is rare in female anime characters. Her eyebrows are slightly thick and she's completely serious about her battles. She punches the shit out of things with a gruff voice, and isn't there to be sexy or feminine. She's there to do her job. That's what I love best about this.

Now, there is a factor that stops this from becoming one of my all-time favorites. A huge problem. The -biggest- problem, and the problem that destroys the entire second season (or the whole show) in its entirety.

Like Soul Eater, yup... that dreaded ending.

I've heard lots of things about the ending, from it being a DVD special (which actually goes back to the first season, Aka) and hopes of there possibly being another season.

If Kuro ended the way it did and there is a 3rd season, or maybe even a last episode, I will be completely fine and satisfied with it.

Otherwise? It ends completely abruptly, with many plot holes left open, so much that there -has- to be a third season to explain it all! My problem with this is, it's been over a year already and there has been no hints whatsoever of a third season.

I hear the manga is still going, and I have to check that out, but until then, my overall rating for this anime is a 9 -- disregarding the ending and pretending it had a real one, or a 2 with the ending finishing it off as a series.

The second season of Shikabane hime:kuro,the story occurred 6 month after the main event of Shikabane hime:Aka and after the dead of Makina contractor monk Keisei.As for Makina to full fill her contractor dying wish that to accept his younger brother as her temporary new contractor monk for prevent him to slowly to generate to become a Shikabane,at this second season it reveal the truth behind Shikabane as the legend said for the Shikabane's that manage to killed 108 corpse they will going to heaven however that legend was only a fake made by the monk organization for all the Shikabane HIme that answer has ... been reveal all here in this season two and also about Ouri kagami,a boy who is claim to be Keisei younger brother,the boy that always attractive to death will be told that whose's really Ouri are and the origin of Ouri that leaves alot of question at the Shikabane Hime:Aka,for Shikabane HIme:Kuro,the plot was a bit interesting the development of the story from the beginning episode till the end of episode are kinda abit slow,like at the beginning episode is only reveal some importance story about Ouri and the Shikabane Hime only at the middle of the whole episode it will introduces new Shikabane hime and his contractor monk and some fighting from the Shichisei and the organization monk,but still in the end of episode ended with a disappointed..
The Art,same as the season one Shikabane hime:Aka,they is no much changing about the environment,character design and back ground all still the same,even the colours are still using a gloomy type base colour which is mostly dark....but still the fighting scene onto this one was awesome,like the fighting scene from both side the organization monk and the Shichisei was good and some part about the corpse are well draw....
The sound,well,there's not much change about it,OP/ED still the same,catchy sound but still it was good to listen...
Overall,everything was perfect from episode 1,with all the story behind the Shikabane hime has been reveal,the secret of it,about Ouri birth,the fake legend that well made by it and the fighting from two organization all of it was really make me hype about this animation and i was hoping a perfect ending for both of them and then here come the worst part,the last episode my make it a cliffhanger again for that my exciting was flush away but still in overall this anime was awesome....

From the very beginning of the season, you can tell that they are tackling season 2 differently.

I would say that it was hard to adjust to the absence of Keisei and at times I felt that the characters of Umehara and Fresh (or Flesh) were a sad substitute.

By the end of the first episode, I was back in the game. The relationship between Makina and Ouri is fantastic and it always keep you guessing about what will happen next to those two.

There was an obvious change in artwork, looking drastically different from Aka. It was a bit distracting.

All in all, great stories, action sequences, and ... music!

The battle with one of the members of the Seven Stars ends tragically, and Makina and Ouri find themselves having to deal with the loss of a close friend. Makina is put under observation by her handlers, the Kougan Sect, while Ouri is forced to train into becoming a monk. While this is going on, the Seven Stars begin to reveal their plan to annihilate their enemies. -summary

Corpse Princess: Kuro features the last 12 episodes, and in addition to still focusing on action, the anime makes an attempt in telling more of a story. It follows the usual format by revealing more character background and ... introducing major plot twist. Even though it kind of felt like a "seen that before", the surprises and revelations really did come out of left field, and these elements set the anime on pace towards being better than what it should have been. Unfortunately, these ideas were wasted and Corpse Princess comes off as just another average anime title that really doesn't rank as a must see.

The action scenes are still entertaining though, and for action fans that's indeed a plus. There are plenty of shoot outs and good hand to hand exchanges that actually have a point, and aren't really tacked on when the motives are made clear. Visually, it's as good as the last chapter with some good action choreography on certain occasions. It's still cool to watch Makina in mid-flight action dodging scores of projectiles to move in closer on her enemies. The animation moves at a nice pace and there aren't many short cuts taken. The character designs are well done showing off some of the more endowed females. Although the production values are strong, it takes a small dip later on, but this can hardly be noticed and it doesn't hurt the show from where I see it. The only area on the style department I would say is still lacking would be in the overall music score. The opening and ending theme(especially) are pretty catchy, however, there's absolutely nothing in the BGM that stood out to me. It didn't exactly give off a bland feel for the action or drama-filled segments, but it didn't enhance them enough either.

The plot follows Makina along with the contracted monks and other Shikibane Hime confronting the Seven Stars, and trying to put an end to that small faction of very powerful Shikibane. Although many of the Seven Stars come off as stock bad guys initially, they are developed enough to understand their personal drives, and it's this diversity between some of them that makes the anime a little better than what it should have been. They actually felt more interesting than the heroes for me, especially since they were so serious and meant business. The characters receive quite a bit more attention in this second half, and the series manages to utilize its themes pretty well, which are love, obsession, and revenge, by showing the destructive path these emotions can lead to.

There are various plot twist that take place which builds up the story, along with certain questions pondered on the way, and these elements add a great deal to the suspense; but the series has issues in the writing with some of these questions either not being answered, or not answered to the point where one can be satisfied. I can imagine the action crowd not even caring much about that portion or just completely missing it. The same can't be said about those who prefer their stories to be wire tight, and if this isn't slightly damaging enough, the ending really brings things down and leaves major questions in the air. The series ends with a heavily unfinished feel, some folks may try to find some high artistic value in all this, but in the end it just comes off as lazy and nothing more. Corpse Princess is an action title completely at its core, and this is something that should have never been forgotten.

Corpse Princess is a decent title and nothing more. It's not something I would recommend as essential viewing at all. There are slight issues with tonal consistency for those who are bothered by it, fortunately, it appeared that the writers realized this would lead to disaster so it's calmed down rather quickly. Overall, it meshes action, drama, and comedy rather well with a heavy emphasis on the first two. It's not something I regret seeing, however, I know it's something I will never come back to.

Highs: Action, Plot twist, Production values

Lows: Bad ending, Most answers to questions aren't fulfilling

Shikabane Hime : Kuro is the continuation of the series Shikabane Hime : Aka. There's not really a difference in time, it just continues like if it were the same series. My review will contain spoilers - the first part of this review is basically full of my emotions, whereas the second part is a bit more objective - hope you enjoy.

This is one of the best watches I've had in a LONG time. Action (GOOD action), DEATHS (YES), Horror, Drama, this shit is straight up awesome and really, the "unfinished ending" does not really bother, since the anime has everything pretty much covered ... up, except for the victor of that last fight, which the author of this masterpiece deemed not important for the story to stay epic! Of course, had the ending been complete, I wouldn't mind saying it's clearly a 10 for masterpiece, but I still think it's a magical series.

Really though, I am maybe biased, but AMAZING soundtrack, exemplary loyalty to angela for the opening and endings - anime series that stay attached to the same artist for their songs really get to me, since when I download angela's songs, I immediately recall all of the powerful memories and emotions I got from this anime series-, good fight scenes, amazing original seiyuus (Makina, Itsuki, and even Ouri, they have that particular accent I really liked - changes from your usual anime voice actors) and it's not your typical "nobody dies even when confronted to apparently life-threatening situations" anime.

To be honest with you guys, my only disappointment in this series is that I would have loved seeing Touma, Kanechika Umehara's second (or first) Shikabane Hime (she's not even in the character section of the anime... and Umehara has no description).


Alright, so now I'll try being more precise in my review :


Story :
This anime starts off and until Kuro, the main character, Kagami Ouri, is pretty much only an observer. He is involved very early with Shikabane (Corpse(s)) and Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess(es)), due to his ability to subconsciously (or guided by the cat) sense Corpses. Shikabane Hime are supposedly required to slain 108 Corpses in order to ascend to Paradise, according to the Kongou organization, which consists of Contractor Priests and their Shikabane Hime, which they have contracted with. The Contracted Priests feed their Shikabane Hime their Run energy through a bond called En.

As for Kagami Ouri, despite being a bit useless in Aka, he starts becoming more important, after the death of his Brother, Tagami Keisei, and we learn that the Kongou is not necessarily a good organization. Something shady is going on, and many clues are given out to the audience through Akasha, the Betrayer Priest, who presumably killed his own Shikabane Hime, Hibiki. Also, Sadahiro and his Shikabane Hime, Akira Touka are acting separately from the Kongou and are even allowed to kill humans. In Kuro, the main goal is to fight off the Shichisei, the organization that forcefully turned Homura Makina into a Corpse Princess, and later on we discover the true identity of the Kongou organization.


Art :
The art is not necessarily the most impressive. However, I can't say that fight scenes are lacking; movements are fast, fluid, clear (not in darkness and barely visible), and we sense both emotion and messages the images are trying to send us. Although many people say this anime contains fan service, I'm obliged to say it's not the case. The most you'll have of fan service is one situation where Yamagami Itsuki is binded by her past high school friend that died and had become a Corpse and during the ending animations (yeah, those are intense and on purpose, but hey, what's wrong with that? C:). Aside from that, the parts of sideways butt flesh is especially present on Makina, but it's not like we consider naked panty-less butts to be fan service (as we often see on male anime characters), especially not from the angles presented in Shikabane Hime : Kuro or Aka (only from the sides, and mostly less than half of the butt - check the opening and that's pretty much the most you'll get). Instead, I did not really focus on those scenes, and I saw mostly Makina's intensely strong character.


Sound :
Hah, here it is. This anime has one of the most amazing hype type of opening and endings, angela is really a great motivation bringer to this series; heck, she doesn't even act in it and yet her presence is felt throughout it all - her voice is simply amazing, the emotions she gives off are perfectly in sync, hard to ask for more. The soundtrack is also very good, I've got nothing to add here.


Character :
All characters in this series become important, and all are very original and bring on their own colors. I only disliked Kagami Ouri's performance in Shikabane Hime : Aka, but in Kuro it's a whole different story, he mans up and gets it going for him again (with a bit of shounen traits), but I still found it was well orchestrated. As for Makina, how can one not like this kick-ass undead zombie-type of woman; she's strong, she's motivated, she's cute, she's coldblooded, she's athletic, her voice is AMAZING, and her resolution is unmatched. I think girls will like this character, because she's different from other female leads in anime, she isn't that old invulnerable shy girl that relies on the male lead, she's the one in charge and she won't let anyone get into her way.

As for the side characters, they're all pretty great, but I want to talk about the school characters. Nosume Kasuga was intense, she got me so attached to her, Hina, the little girl from the orphanage, Mizuki Inuhiko, the tomboy type of girl from the school; I really wasn't expecting such minor characters to have such a positive impact on the development of this story, and each and every character is very different from one another; it's a rare series that will make you actually remember otherwise unnecessary characters because of how original they are.

I also mentioned this earlier, but this is one of the key points I loved in this series; people DIE. Yes, people you might not expect to die actually do, even if it happens and you might have doubts they actually died, they most likely did. If you haven't caught up on who I'm talking about yet, I'm talking about Ruo Minai and her Contracted Priest. How epic. Had this been your regular shounen, Minai would have lived, being contracted by Kagami Ouri, but this was NOT the case. Making people die in anime series makes the series so much more realistic, powerful, emotional. It's sadistic to say it this way, but it's true. Cheers to authors that have the guts to erase characters with so much attachment potential.


Enjoyment :
Do I really need to write something here?


Anyways, I could add a lot more text, but I decided I'd stop here. Shikabane Hime is a truly colorful series, and I truly hope more of these come out in the future. For people wanting to watch a serie with similar, maybe even better hype for some, try Ga-Rei : Zero.

That is all, thank you for reading. Hope I changed your opinion on this anime!

[THIS REVIEW IS WITH REGARDS TO BOTH SEASONS.]

Story: 6/10

The story was nowhere near great. But overall, it had its own scale of potential. A killing lassie owning a dual uzi-machine guns set to find revenge on her death is such a cool starting idea. Shikabane Hime series definitely got the right mindset on how to start with a bang. But as the story gets more developed, it went blurry and hard to appreciate. For sure, the series had its own good moments but honestly, that prove to be fatal as Shikabane Hime only had a handful of them limiting the storytelling into a mediocre one.

Sound/Art: ... 6-7/10

The art was classy and crafted really well. With a good art fitting the dark premise of the story, it certainly earned good points for the series. The included animation also wasn't short of great and as far as the fights are concerned, it was nevertheless entertaining and interesting. Although, I cannot say it's the entirety since there are key fights that doesn't even make sense or just too short to appreciate.

The sound wasn't a hit to me. The series had insert songs that is just not alluring but gets in the way instead of just using a good bgm. Repetitive use of the theme songs as inserts prove not up to my liking therefore earning a lower score than the other aspects.

Characters: 5/10

There's nothing more annoying than using a spineless and helpless wuss as a main protagonist. Concerning the shounen tag, the main boy protagonist definitely lacks the spark from start to finish. For sure, he was more developed episode by episode but let's be directly honest, wasn't there a need to make him that un-cool for the entire 13 episodes? Helpless, weakling, easy-to-beat... he was just way too unappealing for the part of the main character. Directly opposite is his counterpart, the main heroine. Their contrast was way too messed up. Their feelings were also un-synchronized and were totally forced to blend in the final latter episodes. In short, their personalities was forcibly mixed resulting into a hard-to-appreciate combo.

As we go to discuss their anti-hero opposites and supporting characters, it was my biggest disappointment that apart from a good background, their dialogues or their actions prove to be not fitting to the time they build up their characters. There's an awful lot of bad decisions that made the series so much mediocre ruining the chance to shine instead.

Enjoyment/Overall: 5

I'll be darn straight. The series was a big killer of enthusiasm.

I had much expectations on this title before watching. 5 years ago, I was able to get a complete copy of this series but ended up scraping it on my oldest HDD and completely forgotten to see the show I'm itching to watch before. For a synopsis with so much potential, I was nothing short of shocked as to why it just ended with that anti-climatic formula. The dark story, the good potential, the unattractive characters plus their dialogues. All of it didn't piqued a good amount of my interest. The mixing of all the factors were really the downfall of the said series. In short, Shikabane Hime failed to capitalized on its good start and ended up as one of the biggest disappointments in my entire seen roster. My sentiments, if only they had made the main protagonist more upbeat and more independent, it would've turned for the better.

I really enjoyed watching an anime like this. Great story with my emotions involved and a must watch series. The only problem I found was the ending... if you have watched the entire series you will understand that the ending of episode 12 in Shikabane Hime: kuro/ episode 25 of the full storyline was just wrong. the to be continued sign made me so happy but to find out there was no more episodes broke me. aside from that it was a great show and I really enjoyed it.

Too be honest, I was expecting so much from this season as the previous season was not really interesting but I guess, I was expecting too much and I ended up disappointed!

I strongly believed that the story was made so out of proportion. Too much tragedy and too much drama which was not justify until it finishes. Most of the time I was irritated by lots of things like the story, characters, dialogues, and most importantly the ending which is very important whether a story is good or bad. Every scene had too much tragedy and drama almost like Elfren Lied. It was no longer ... healthy for the subconscious mind. Most of the characters did stupid things almost all time that’s why they always end up killed or beaten up. To add it up, they would always say such too cheesy or too mushy lines. It looked like they were trying so hard to be cool or heroic which didn’t work for them. And as if it wasn’t enough! The ending wasn’t justifiable at all. It doesn’t give you a closure at all. The villains revealed something and it turned out he was really the victim. That was too much of a CLICHÉ. Just because it turned out that the villains were just mere victims, that didn’t justify their actions. It even ended with the lead female and main antagonist just clashing their fists while the female lead says over dramatic lines.

I only finished this for the sole reason of finishing something that I started but not that I was anticipating the ending at all.

"You're my enemy that's why you can't win"
---Hokuto


Yeah if that makes any sense to you, maybe this series is for you. To me it was nonsensical Asian philosophy that really wasn't of much interest a plot that went from no place to nowhere, and characters that I really didn't like, whose motivations were insane and self contradictory.

The story is just damn annoying. You don't start getting any of the real plot revealed until about the 3rd episode. You got that. You needed 15 episodes to actually get going with the anime!!! man that's a slow burn

What's worse the second season pretty much ... destroys all the premises the first season set up about shikabane work, about how everything works. It's more or less "Everything you know is wrong". What's worse when it tells you how things are now working, it's pulling yet another "Everything you know is wrong".

I will say this I never rooted for the "Bad guys" they way I did for the Seven Stars.

The characters are simply awful.

Ouri: The guy who voices him in the English dub, sounds clinically depressed and given the way he is written this is a pretty good interpretation. He is completely useless for 90 percent of the show and when he does show any assertiveness he is still useless.

Makina: Man permanent clueless b***h mode Just useless and in her own way .

The other Shikabane Hime: All damn well awful. They go from killing their friends for no damn reason, to being powered by the power of friendship. At least Fresh and the little girl get some comedy off between them. Trouble it's drowned in garbage that makes your skin crawl. They are all so badly done they don't rate being treated as individual characters.

Shisoudo: The real hero of the series. When his motivations are laid bare not only do you want to see him win, you want to help him.

Presentation: The music, animation, voice acting are all pretty good. The fan service is cranked up a bit in the second season and to be honest I don't mind that one bit at all.

TL DR: If you want to watch it, see if you can find the soundtrack music play it in the background while you watch the animation.

Story:
direct continuation of first season

Art:
Generic late 2000's art style with a more muted color pallet

Sound:
Background music is bland and the VA's out just do there jobs while not being very good at displaying emotion(or over doing it)

Characters:
... Terrible

Enjoyment:
none.

Overall - this anime series is bad, really bad. all the bad stuff that has happened is becasue the good guys refused to kill the bad guy. Because they dont kill him even though they have had many many chances he always escapes and is the free to go off and kill more people since the good guys and chicken shits.

I couldnt keep watching past ep 3 the MC is so stupid so weak and so light hearted.

The MC has no power no nothing but right when his friend who does have powers gets hit. he runs up to the enemy leader cries out stop it. and then the enemy leader gives him a love tap and hes down cuz hes just that dumb. He achieves nothing but getting himself hurt.

I think my favorite thing about this season is seeing how everybody dealt with the aftermath of season one, which, of course, determines the plot direction of season two.

I absolutely adored the direction that Makina and Ouri's characters took, both together and separately. They sort of broke together and fixed themselves together. It was very beautiful to watch unfold, and I'm glad that the ending of the first season didn't adversely affect the second. I was worried that the series would be lacking from that point on, but it was much the opposite.

I do wish we'd gotten to see our lead characters fighting the ... good fight more, but I appreciate that the story wasn't beaten to death.

All in all, this series concluded beautifully, and I'm so glad I was a part of it.