Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution

Ok I would first like to say that this anime is NOT for everyone. If you are the type to analyze the plot, logically find the character development and connect the pieces you will not enjoy this. Parts of the story and background dont make any sense, and have no explanation. On that note...

To start this anime is very slow paced. Nothing altogether plot related even happens until halfway through it, and there are constant flashes of background plot that are altogether confusing. This is the first 6 episodes in a nutshell.

The next portion is spent with actual development, things are explained and you ... finally begin to understand the scope of the story (if you are not still caught up in the confusion from before that is) it actually takes some piecing together before things finally start to make sense plot-wise, and several of the scenes are not explained until the last episode, which i had completely forgotten about by then, which made it more awesome.

This makes it seem bad so far, as its mostly confusing, but from here is where it picks up. Episode 9 exploded for me, I was so absolutely hooked i watched the rest at 6am when i had to work soon, no sleep. Everything finally made sense, all of the past episodes finally clicked as a buildup for the finale, and the character development comes crashing down.

By this point most everyone has negative views on this show, and lack the interest to actually follow through with the close. The ending is not logical, absolutely not at all. Its not the battle of massive powers fighting for dominance, which I feel left a lot of people disappointed because of the synopsis. Instead its an emotional conflict with the characters acceptance of themselves. In a quick comparison think Soul Eater's ending, but on a personal level with the characters.

The art was amazingly perfect for the series, but people are getting to used to CG now to enjoy the previous art style. If you like tradition its for you. The music was amazing, but it got kind of repetitive towards the end, just in time for it to match the tone of the climax. Characters started off boring, as it was mostly a non-comedic slice of life to introduce everyone, which they did very well, you are forced to watch them on their average lives so much that its sickening before it gets good. I fully enjoyed the ending, but again the first few episodes were slow. I find it totally worth the wait though.

Overall, a 9/10. They could have added a bit more flare to the beginning to get the viewer hyped up, but it fits with the overall flow of the story.

Aquarian Age is quite the mixed bag of an anime title where in spite of its high points in regards to the main character relationship, it suffers quite heavily with the supernatural elements of its plot. Based on a trading card game released during the time of the anime's run, the series is focused on childhood friends Kyouta and Yoriko getting caught up in the middle of a supernatural conflict between several factions competing for influence over humanity.

On the plus side, the anime offers a good deal of development on the characters of series leads Kyouta and Yoriko. Both undergo their own varying developments as ... Kyouta tries to get his start in the entertainment industry performing with his band while Yoriko finds herself at odds with her supernatural roots that come to light from her family as she gradually develops feelings for Kyouta. As the two become entangled in the conflict between factions, both find themselves facing their own varying conflicts as Yoriko is manipulated into becoming part of an enemy faction and Kyouta becomes doubtful of himself when he sees the sudden change in Yoriko's personality due to the manipulations she gets entangled in. The events lead their bond to be tested and it comes across as a legitimately convincing one to see develop and escalate throughout the series. The rock band aspect to Aquarian Age's storyline creates an engaging soundtrack that mixes rock ballads and dramatic musical pieces to compliment the show's developments.

On the negative side, the major shortcoming of Aquarian Age comes from the show's rather packed supernatural story elements. With several factions focused on throughout the series, there is little time to delve into their motives and the major characters that make up each faction due to the anime's rather limited 13-episode run time. Matter of fact, there is little revealed about what drives each faction beyond a passing narration provided from one character during a later episode in the series. Plus beyond our two lead characters, the remainder of the cast get little in the way of fleshing out and are mostly left as character archetypes that exist only to represent their faction or fulfill specific roles that advance major points in the anime's plot.

Overall, Aquarian Age is quite the mixed bag. While having a solid soundtrack with engaging developments involving its lead characters, the remainder of the cast lack the fleshing out afforded to our two leads and the supernatural aspect of the series is too crowded with the several factions that make up the so-called major conflict taking place. The series is worth a look for the developing storyline with Kyouta and Yoriko, though I would find it hard to recommend rewatching it often.

Boring, convoluted, cliche, uninspired are all words that immediately come to mind when thinking of this show. What even is this show a magical girl anime? a musical anime? a slice of life? I don't know and either did the writers apparently because it's all of the above while also being none of the above.

Do you like characters? well hopefully quantity over quality because this show just has characters out the butt for seemingly no reason because none of them get to develop past their one note flat nature. not going to waste time going one by one because there is no reason to i'd ... just be explaining archetypes you've seen 100 times before think of a cliche character it's in here somewhere.

The music i guess works but there is one sad theme that is incredibly close to "The Lonely Man" from the Hulk TV show. that's about most interesting thing i can say about the music, which is sad considering this show puts such an emphasis on music.

Art is fine nothing great nothing terrible.

the story makes no sense there are 6? factions of magical girls fighting each other for really no reason they really just say that and random people who can control them for no reason which makes me believe this is based on some garbage game of some sort. It tries to split it's attention between like 30 characters each seemingly living in their own world and plot that are only vaguely linked through the boring main character. i swear they had like 3 or 4 teams of writers making their own stories then tried to combine them all into a 13 ep series nothing was focused on long enough for you to care about it hence the boring nature of the show in general.

Overall just pass this up, when there are so many good shows out there this isn't even worth the few hours it takes to complete. the only reason i gave it a 3 is because it didn't physically make me upset/angry with it's incompetence like other series have. it's literally just boring garbage.