Gokukoku no Brynhildr

When I started watching this show I couldn´t help noticing how much similarities between this series and, the hugely popular, Elfen Lied existed. Both were a story about girls that were trapped in an investigation facility, that ended up escaping and then they find a really nice guy who ended up helping them, because, you know, he is THAT nice.
I really wasn´t much of a fan of Elfen Lied but I gave this show an opportunity anyway, and for the first couple of episodes it wasn´t that much of a disappointment. Of course, while I was watching the first episodes, which I thought were pretty ... decent, I forgot that both Elfen Lied and this series are by the same author, Lynn Okamoto, and it seems that he doesn´t have the ability to learn from her mistakes.

The show began pretty well in my opinion presenting us with a serious and dark story, and even if it is unoriginal, it is of my belief that an unoriginal story done the right way, can be a really enjoyable show to watch. We get presented to our main characters Murakami and Kuroha, and we also get presented to Kana afterwards in the second episode. I thought the mystery was nicely done and it kept me going back to this show week after week.

I thought Murakami was, at first, a really decent protagonist, he was pretty smart and could formulate some desperate but effective plans to get out of the dangerous situations he got into, but as series went on he ended up being only that REALLY nice guy, who is willing to sacrifice his life for saving others, and then end up being saved by some Deus ex-Machina, because, you know, he is the protagonist. But I will get back to the Deus ex- Machina later.
Kuroha was pretty much the typical childhood friend main love interest, she wasn´t really annoying but she wasn´t the greatest of the characters either, she didn´t have much personality either, apart from being the "I think I´m in love with the protagonist" character.
Kana was also a so-so character, her personality is pretty much like the typical tsundere, again not really annoying but not great either.

Then another character, Kazumi, got presented and there is when the show took downward spiral, because around episode four, when they were just in the end of a really serious scene, the scene afterwards, suddenly, out of nowhere, we got fanservice and comedy, and that really took a hit on the show. The sudden changes between serious and light-hearted with comedy and fanservice avoided me from having the ability to take this show seriously. How can I get invested in a dark and serious story if they are trying to get me horny at the same time?
The main problem here is Kazumi, which is probably the second worst character of the series, she is a pervert that is constantly firting with the main protagonist, Murakami, and is the cause of most of the fanservice scenes that can screw an episode on it´s entirety.
This got repeated almost every episode which really made me want to drop this show sometimes.

Then in the final episodes that´s where the REAL nosedive kicks in, as we get presented to other girls, I will focus only in the most important, as the others don´t really have that much screentime, and aren´t really interesting. This is where Kotori gets presented. Kotori is the most annoying character of the series following the "Big tits shy girl" archetype, and all she really does in the series is saving Murakami from lethal situation, because she has the most useful power, and the other thing she does is stutter, A LOT, it´s really annoying.
After that the show starts to use Deus ex-Machinas a lot of the time with the objective of saving Murakami, pretty much defying physics, logic and human anatomy in the process, it seems as if someone thought I´m stupid and I wouldn´t notice this things.

In the art department nothing much really stands out. The character designs are normal and the color palette is pretty generic. Is constant and it doesnt´t really take any nosedive, I will give them that, but this is studio ARMS we´re talking about, they have never been in the peak of digital animation, and with this show, they failed to prove that the can do something actually decent. Apart from that the artwork is just above average.

The soundtrack, apart from the first OP is pretty forgettable, with nothing much really standing out. I can´t really judge the voice acting since I don´t speak japanese, but if there´s one voice that really annoys me, is Kotori´s, her loud voice and constant stuttering almost drive me insane.
The first OP however is quite a piece, is an instrumental techno theme mixed with vocal choirs, and it was that glimmer of hope that made me thought that this show would redeem itself eventually, until it was replace by a death metal song by Fear, and loathing in Las Vegas, which not only didn´t fit the show, it was badly synchronised with the OP´s animation. Who had the brilliant idea to change the opening!? I will make sure he suffers when I kill him.

My enjoyment on the show was ruined by the aforementioned light-hearted comedy and fanservice that doomed this show, and if you add the aforementioned Deus ex-Machina, and what is easily one of the worst ending that I have ever seen, you will have me trying to destroy my head with a shotgun.

Final Judgement:
Gokukoku no Brynhildr started with a pretty decent note, and then it entered a downward spiral, teaching me a valuable lesson: "Never watch an ARMS anime adaptation of a Lynn Okamoto´s manga ever again.". Really, does Okamoto even learn from his mistakes? Or he has his head so full of "Elfen Lied is a masterpiece" that he just had to write the same thing with the same problems again, adding an alien twist to it?
It´s characters range from the forgettable to the utterly annoying, it´s story cannot be taken seriously due to the amount of stupid comedy and fanservice that it has, added to a shitty ending and Deus ex-Machinas. The art and sound departments are only above average.
A show that ended up being a complete disappointment and is not recommended for those looking something good this season.

This has been The Neko and I hope that you found this review helpful and that you have a pleasant day, night, or whatever.
This adorable kitty is leaving the scene.

From the writers of the famous anime, Elfen Lied, they present you "Gokukoku no Brynhildr", in my opinion, a failure of an anime for the ages. Have you ever seen an anime that tries to encompass romance, ecchi, psychological, horror, magic action, schi-fi, drama, mystery, and fantasy all in one and fails miserably? Well, look no further, Gokukoku no Brynhildr is certainly one of those anime. One of Gokukoku's many problems was that it couldn't decide which direction they wanted to go with the anime: was it going to be a mystery with love? Or an anime filled with psychological traumas/problems? Or an anime filled ... with magic action? Or just a pure ecchi series?

The plot revolves around a simple boy named Ryouta Murakami, who has a photographic memory. As a child, he was in love with his friend, Neko Kuroha who believed in aliens, and claimed to have met them. But Kuroha dies in an accident trying to save Murakami. Filled with guilty, Murakami promises himself not to fall in love with anyone other than his first love and also to find proof of the existence of aliens because of a promise he had made with Kuroneko prior to her death. Then fast forward to the present, and one day, a new transfer student comes to his class, who not only looks a lot like Kuroha Neko, but is named Kuroha Neko and to add onto that, she saves Murakami with magical powers. It turns out that Kuroha along with Kuroha's alliance witches are run-a-way witches who were created by a mysterious organization. These witches need strange pills (that only the organization has) in order to survive, or else their skin melts/spews out blood and they die. Oh, did I mention that the organization is sending other more powerful witches to hunt down the run-a-way witches? Therefore Murakami, who wants to protect Kuroha Neko (and also the other run-a-way witches) in order to find out of Kuroha Neko really is the Kuroha Neko he knew as a child, gets entangled into a witch hunt down death chase.

Although this type of anime not my favorite to begin with, Gokukoku no Brynhildr really made me cringe. First off, so many unanswered questions. Why did the organization create these witches? No idea. Why did the organization want to hunt them down then? No idea. Okay... Then what was the point of the anime? Um, there was none? I mean it's basically another story that has a few glimpses of terrible, boring magic battle scenes, that shows 2-3 witches swinging their arms around, creating huge explosions, with the addition of Murakami being hit on by all sorts of different girls (witches). I absolutely despise ecchi, and Gokukoku no Brynhildr, a supposedly horror, mysterious anime had tons of it. I don't even want to talk about the ending, because there was no climax, the ending made absolutely no sense, and most importantly, it was unsatisfying to say the least. Overall, the plot jumped around too much, without having a focus point leading to it's messy demise.

I didn't dislike the characters as much as the plot because there was 1 or 2 interesting side characters. But the anime sort of threw out random characters out of nowhere, and then got rid of them just as fast. There was no depth to any characters, except maybe Murakami and Kuroha (but not really). The characters were your average ecchi anime characters. There was the main male character who is an perverted boy that is kind towards other female characters, no matter who they are, therefore causing the other girls to fall in love with him. The main female character who is beautiful, yet reluctant to admit her feelings of the main character. The short, funny, flat-chested female character who messes around the main character (Kazumi, the one character I liked). And, obviously the big-boobed dumb, high pitched voice character that the main character is tempted to "touch". The villain and the mysterious organization were nothing really; there was no explanation of them. The entire anime gives us perhaps a 1 minute flashback of the antagonists past that explains absolutely nothing of his intentions or reasons. What happened to the organization in the end? No idea, they just suddenly were dropped at the end of the story, when they were the whole "mysterious" focus. And.. in conclusion, I really dislike anime where they make the characters all have different hair color to distinguish upon them; it usually shows the art team's lack of effort to drawing up diversely looking characters.

The art is okay, but it didn't fit the mood of the anime. The anime was supposed to be a horror, mystery anime that maybe had a glimpse of romance between the 2 main characters, yet the art was so colorful, bright, and "romantic". I know that some people like the Gokukoku no Brynhildr openings, but I personally did not like the openings, because of it's VERY high pitched dub-step kind of music (1st opening was okay). There is no other worth mentioning soundtrack in the anime. The voicing cast did a decent job, hence giving sound a 5 rating, despite it's lack of any good music.

In a simple conclusion: I wouldn't recommend this anime to really anyone.

Second chances are not to be wasted, and this is no exception to the anime industry. VAP, Inc. and Arms Corporation took another shot at bringing one of Lynn Okamoto’s works to the big screen and blew its potential once again. Gokukoku no Brynhildr introduces an intriguing mystery and new concept of witches that have a promising start but resulted in something unforgivable with ridiculous plot devices. Because of the eerie OP and attractive plot, it is easy to expect a well-done mystery with proper supernatural aspects. Instead, there are incompetent characters, sorry excuses for villains, and poor pacing that leads to plotholes and a ... lack of character development.

Gokukoku’s initial mystery escalates into the supernatural, appearing as something to look forward to. The plot seems suspenseful with a unique concept for witches, who have different powers and live in fear of melting. Unforeseen circumstances brought interest. The characters had their own distinct personalities and unfortunate histories to give high hopes for the story. It was those elements that made me fall for Gokukoku in the beginning, but the show took a turn for the worst. The story became heavily predictable with the same pattern as expected from a harem that consists of a gullible and overly caring male protagonist (Murakami). A so-called powerful witch appears, and Murakami feels the need to persuade her to join the group 90% of the time. This eliminates the potential for suspense and becomes disinteresting.

The ending is so rushed and vague that it ruins the outcome of the mysteries. New info about the MCs is revealed near the end, leaving little time for the viewer to take it all in. A character is supposed to have indestructible powers, but the power is either never shown or is unimpressive with no terrifying element. New characters appear out of nowhere before the current characters have any time to develop. Despite the sudden and distressful situations, there’s no chance to feel sympathy for characters. The finale is extremely disappointing, especially for someone looking forward to a solved mystery. There are several questions left unanswered.

The pacing distracts itself with fanservice, resulting in making Murakami a typical love interest. A love triangle develops and creates a silly jealousy game. Virgin talk and awkward erotic moments make the show irresistibly a sight for sore eyes. This withdraws any hope for possible romance within the mystery between Murakami and Neko. The harem aspect is understandable considering the witches' sob stories and dreams of living life as normal human beings instead of experiments. Their interactions with each other and teamwork were enjoyable, especially during drastic moments. However, this progresses into awful characterization.

The cast made this sci-fi production a complete failure. Villains do not fit the description of someone evil. When they can easily defeat the MCs, they make illogical choices as an excuse to work out in the favor of the protagonist. The majority of the witches introduced as formidable turns out to be harmless. The other characters’ emotions are ridiculous for a serious plot. Either they’re trying too hard to react to a situation or they just don’t care. They sometimes act so calm, cool, and collected that the story doesn’t make sense anymore. They go as far as faking a death with the evidence right beside them. Also, Murakami apparently has such solid gold talents and abilities that he’s invincible to various attacks. One witch became nothing but a dues ex machina character, giving Murakami outside info to further the objective. At that point, the show appears silly and tiring to watch.

The art is decent but doesn't help in terms of the story. Character design is fine, and it's good for distinguishing the witches' special features. Some things don’t follow up in the artwork, including the witches standing out as the only students without uniforms. Thanks to a scene with characters using red paint as fake blood, there’s no differentiation between the color of blood and red paint. What’s worse for a series that tries to be all bloody and mysterious? Censorship. So if you want to see a witch melt to the fullest degree, just watch the Wizard of Oz. The animation and action scenes are good, but it becomes pointless to enjoy with the rushed pacing.

The OST and sound effects are good, but the poor story and characters cause it be plain. Apart from being misleading with the bloody scenes and action, the first OP song is good and a personal favorite. The background music occurred during fighting scenes that ended with characters making stupid moves, so it’s not so memorable. They changed the OP song into a rock song by the 10th episode with the same suspense and action as the first one. By that time, the show is predictable enough to lose any hope of improvement. Characters’ phony reactions disappoint long-awaited moments for mysteries. This is noticeable for scenes that should be highly emotional. Technically, there’s nothing else to say about the seiyuu. Since it becomes normal for wicked witches to develop into sensitive little girls, the changes in their tones fit the script.

Gokukoku no Brynhildr has countless problems that makes it forgettable. The characters don’t act realistically to situations. The villains make irresponsible decisions that lessens the suspense within the show. More time spent on fanservice than the mysteries results in quick pacing, lack of character development, and a horrible ending. It is a huge disappointment for an interesting mystery. Despite how much VAP and Arms ruined Gokukoku's potential, Lynn Okamoto created an excellent story. Therefore, I recommend reading the manga for better characterization and outcomes.

“Just shut up and show me your armpits”

Having that as an important and plot relevant quote during the first episode of a show should be more than enough to tell you what you're going to be dealing with for the next 13 episodes. Gokukoku no Brynhildr does not disappoint in that regard. You are treated to a full season worth of ridiculous shenanigans, colorful characters, and downright nonsensical plot devices. Watching this show with your brain turned off is highly suggested since trying to comprehend everything in a logical fashion may turn you into a pile of goo. People who come into this show expecting ... well thought out characters and a coherent plot are quite naive in my opinion. One just has to look at the original creator's previous works to understand where it all comes from.

Flashback to 2004...the economy is doing well, we have a strong Republican in the White House, and things seem to moving in the right direction. However, 2004 was also the year that a rather infamous anime aired. Elfen Lied was its name and it has been well known ever since for its excessive usage of nudity, gore, and over the top drama. Even today it is still discussed by edgy teens and casual anime viewers due to its ridiculousness. Surprisingly, the creator of that has gotten yet another anime adaption. However, unlike Elfen Lied, Gokukoku no Brynhildr lacks much of the over the top drama and suggestive themes. The lack of fetish pandering is another peculiar aspect of this show (provided you don't like armpits), it was highly prevalent in Elfen Lied and is a mainstay in Studio ARMS shows. However, Gokukoku no Brynhildr featured almost none of it. What was also shown was incredibly tame and certainly intended for the more modern TV regulations. In a sense, that would seem to be a huge benefit to the show, but in reality it drags it down to something a bit more plain and mediocre. Skipping out on excessive fanservice or gore in a show like this is a mistake in my opinion since it doesn't have anything else pulling the weight, the usage of cheap tricks such as exploding heads or gratuitous pantyshots are required. Regardless, the story of Gokukoku no Brynhildr shares many likenesses to that of the creator's previous work in the vein of it being young girls with supernatural powers and a shadowy organization behind it all. This is nothing new or groundbreaking so it should be overlooked since it quickly changes from being a backdrop to a main focus in the story throughout the show. Therefore, the story of the show is easily by far the weakest point. It ranges from ridiculous to downright terrible throughout each episode. As previously mentioned, turning your brain off is something that is highly suggested since you can actually enjoy the other parts of the show if you're not focusing on the gaping plot holes and terrible pacing.

In many cases, characters can make or break a show and in the case of Gokukoku no Brynhildr, they are the one thing holding the show together. The entire cast is likable in their own ways and the interactions between them are enjoyable to watch. However, this does not mean they are without flaws. The characters themselves are poorly thought out and their actions turn the majority of the show into an unintentional comedy. The viewer is often treated to situations where the characters act in downright idiotic ways which can be quite frustrating at times. Regardless, there is a strange sense of charm with the character interactions and it is largely enjoyable. However, as previously stated, the viewer should try to ignore the majority of the plot related character interactions and just focus on the ridiculous shenanigans if you want to enjoy yourself.

In regards to art and sound, Gokukoku no Brynhildr does not stand out in any way. The art feels a bit dated and lacks in detail, most likely due to a mix of budgetary concerns and the source material itself. It is rather inoffensive though and it is on par with what one would expect from a Studio ARMS anime Curiously though, the fanservice that is prominent in ARMS shows is lacking in this show. As previously mentioned, the smut levels have been certainly turned down compared to Elfen Lied and that surprisingly detracts from the overall viewership experience. In addition, the art somehow feels less detailed and cheaper in this more modern show which in itself reinforces the mediocre aura that this anime has. In terms of sound, the seiyuu do a good job in their respective roles and the OST is on point. The sound is something that I will not complain about since it completely acceptable. However, there was a strange change in the opening song starting from episode 10. Some people may dislike hearing the Japanese equivalent of Attack Attack or The Devil Wears Prada, which is completely understandable since can hardly be considered music. For me, it reminded me of the wonderful mid 2000s where I hung around Hot Topic and had glow in the dark pants so I didn't mind it nearly as much.

Saying that you enjoyed something is a tricky situation. Despite all of its glaring flaws, I will admit that I enjoyed Gokukoku no Brynhildr (up until the last episode at least). I probably enjoyed it more than I should have since I actually looked forward to watching it each week. It is certainly a guilty pleasure type show and I would imagine that many other people have a similar opinion of it. I found it to be incredibly funny in parts and the characters were very entertaining. The show was nothing spectacular in any sense, but it was very entertaining even if it was for the wrong reasons. However, if someone asked me if I would recommend watching this show, I would grit my teeth and say no. In the end, memorable shows are either famous or infamous. Gokukoku no Brynhildr is neither of those, I am sure it will be forgotten rather quickly. It just doesn't have enough going for it, negative or positive, to make a mark on the viewer for better or for worse. If you are looking for a coherent sci-fi anime or one with gratuitous fanservice, there are much better options out there.

**SPOILER FREE REVEIW**

Gokukoku no Brynhildr, or "Bryhildr in the Darkness", is a Spring 2014 anime brought to us by Lynn Okamoto, the writer of Elfen Lied (which I'll be making a lot of comparisons to), but anyone who has seen Elfen Lied probably would have been able to guess that pretty easily. Why? Because while both of these shows have some great ideas, they are both equally inept when it comes to the concept of tone. They both think that they can show an upbeat fanservice scene centered around jiggling boobs and a brutal/disturbing bloodbath within 2 minutes of each other and act as if ... the transition was seemless. GnB has an interesting story concept and looked to be on the right track at first, but its complete lack of direction prevents it from becoming a good anime; it doesn't know if it wants to be dark and disturbing or happy and upbeat nor does it know what direction it wants to take its plot.

Synopsis: The story opens with a flashback centered around the protagonist, Murakami, and his infatuation with a girl named Kuroneko, who has an obsession with finding proof that aliens are real. A tragic accident occurs and Kuroneko dies while Murakami is left seriously wounded in the hospital. Years go by and Murakami dedicates himself to finding proof of the existence of aliens in honor of his dead friend. Then, one day, a new transfer student comes to his class, who not only looks a lot like Kuroneko, but is named Kurohaneko. Even though she insists on never having met Murakami before, the girl has superhuman strength and seems to even be able to predict the future; Murikami now has to figure out what the hell is going on.

One of the problems with this show is that I feel like I've already seen it; this is basically Elfen Lied with everything toned down. Less fanservice, less "WTF" moments, less blood, less action, less everything. They should rename this show Diet Elfen Lied. It maintains all of the same problems that the original had but doesn't have the same shock factor, and since shock factor was basically the only reason to watch Elfen Lied, that is a very bad thing. Additionally, The plot is completely unfocused; it starts with Murakami meeting two witches who are wandering around using their powers to save lives, then that subplot is completely forgotten and the focus switches to trying to keep the witches alive, and then the alien subplot makes a short and random return only to disappear again… There is simply no direction or consistency to be found in GnB; it comes across as incoherent.

Despite these obvious issues, it should be noted that I actually still liked this show after the first few episodes. It was undeniably flawed, but it was suspenseful and exciting. Now, however, it just feels like a horribly confused Slice of Life show. It has divulged into an extremely predictable hi-jinks-fest as Murakami forms a harem of witches. The plot simply becomes incapable of carrying the show; it transforms into generic fanservice with unbelievably cheesy plot-conveniences at this point (looking at you, episode 9) as Murakami and his harem dick around while creating contrived sexually-awkward situations for comedy.

That brings us to the characters, who are quite awful. Murakami is the least believable character I've seen in a long time; he has no flaws what so ever and cares about people he just met to an unreasonable extent. To top that off, he has very little personality. Kazumi is just unbelievably aggravating. Her only purpose is to spew sexual comments and create awkward situations because it's supposed to be funny; it isn't. Kurohaneko is probably the best character, but that's not saying much. She is the only one who manages to both have a personality and not be annoying, so take that for what its worth… Actually, I take that back; she becomes increasingly annoying because she instantly latches on to every witch she sees and acts like they have been best friends for life despite the fact that they just met and the fact the other witch is, more often then not, trying to kill her. It's not believable in any way and it further perpetuates the fact that the characters have poor chemistry with one another. So in other words, there isn't a single character that I would consider to be good, however there are many I would consider to be bad.

In conclusion, GnB tries to take on both serious/mature themes and happy/funny themes at the same time, but ends up with an absolute mess. We have seen shows take on both sides of the spectrum and still be successful before, such as FMA and Darker than Black, but GnB just doesn't seem to know what its doing. I'm often bored watching this show because it fails to illicit any kind of emotional response from the audience at any point; it's not shocking, it's not funny, it's not entertaining (with the exception of a few scenes), it's not anything. Sure, it had a few decently suspenseful moments early on, but there is simply no motivating factor to keep you watching. You could easily just watch Elfen Lied and get the same sort of experience, but multiplied by 5, so what's the point? I don't recommend this show to anyone.

Ah, the age old question: do aliens exist?

It’s a topic that has been debated for centuries. But for Ryouta Murakami, he’s not looking for aliens to be famous or for science. Rather, he’s looking for aliens because of a childhood past, one that changed his life forever. Gokukoku No Brynhildr (Brynhildr in the Darkness) tells the story of a world involving witches, beings with supernatural abilities that could change everything forever.

From the author of the notorious Elfen Lied, Lynn Okamoto puts his ideas to the test once again in this sci-fi and experimental series. The general premise involves the young boy Ryouta who meets ... Kuroneko, his childhood friend many years ago. For what’s worth, the mystery accelerator kicks in with an event that assumingly killed Kuroneko. In the present, he meets a girl going by the name “Neko Kuroha” with the exact same appearance as his childhood friend. At the same time, it’s known that pursuers from an “alien research lab” are going after her. It sets up the cat-and-mouse game where the loser won't get another chance.

Establishing the show this way easily accomplishes the idea of a cat-and-mouse game. And you’re not wrong if this is your assumption. Throughout the show, their pursuers work ruthlessly to capture Neko regardless of who gets in their way. This is accomplished in various ways either by direct confrontation or sending other witches after them. Either way, the end goal is to bring back witches to their laboratory. Luckily though, the duo gets some unlikely help along the way with other witches such as Kazumi, Kana, and Katori. (the trio K ladies) As witches, each of them possess invaluable abilities that have saved their lives throughout the show. But as a group, they are known as the ‘Astronomy Club’, founded by Ryouta with the purpose to discover aliens.

The overall concept of the show is halfhearted to say the least. Given the way the show is planned out, it’s no surprise that some people sees similarity to Elfen Lied. These include the childhood trope, experimentation, and special individuals with abilities. And while the show does have comedy, the dark reality constantly reminds us with the fact that they are being hunted. Initially, there is a prejudice against witches throughout the show. They are viewed as animals, treated like animals, and hunted down like animals. This is all for what they are just for the fact that they have special abilities. In raw form, the show depicts cruel experimentation on the witches behind the background with a twisted sense of horror. This shouldn’t be surprising though given Lynn’s writing. His concepts spawn from the very idea of experimentation with special individuals. What this show focuses on though is how to capture the other witches while Ryouta serves as their guardian. While this seems to be groundbreaking for its portrayal, the show suffers from balance. It’s a clear image the show will have a serious tone such as the OP song featuring bloodied spectrum of character montages. But for delivery, the show indulges itself with awkward comedy. While some of these actually has a purpose with foreshadowing, others are flat out cliché with edgy style. Not to mention, sexual innuendos are thrown all over the place with suggestive fan service and cheesy dialogue. In essence, the show makes fun of itself either unintentionally or go over dramatic when it comes to its humor. And this my friends, is not a good idea when adapting a dark story as it’s stupefying in its awkwardness.

Another problem with the overall setup is the adaptation. With only 13 episodes, the show omits many details based on the manga of the same name. While it doesn’t completely annihilate satisfactory experience to get out of this show, it kills certain aspects of the story through omitting certain characters and story plot. Despite this though, it stays fairly consistent with adapting faithfully. The first episode chooses to deliver a somewhat concise setup with the two main characters introduced and letting the viewers know what they might expect. Hints such as the OP song, various flashbacks, and other dialogues/events gives an impression that the show has other mysteries than meets the eye. These could be related to the mechanics of the show, or more in specifically the machinations of the Witches. Terms such as ‘harnessed’ (pronounced like ‘her nest’) and research numbers designates the show as a sci-fi show with experimentation. The witches themselves are also referenced by Norse mythology with their names. But ultimately when it comes down to it, the witches are depicted as cliché characters by standards.

That standard is shown through the relationship that Ryouta forms with them. As a kind and compassionate young boy, he has attracted the attention of the witches he has helped. Even though physically weak, he has the mind of a genius when it comes to devising clever tactics to evade capture. The girls/witches appreciate his efforts and not only earned their respect, but their affections. While some show it innocently with genuine thankfulness, others go with the more aggressive route such as Kazumi. Her ways of trying to get Ryouta to “do it” is saturated with direct sexual dialogues. On the other hand, Ryouta mostly shows ignorance and passes them off. In most cases, he is focused on survival rather than a relationship. In all though, it’s easy to see who Ryouta is interested in from the beginning just based on the premise. In retrospect, the connection Ryouta builds off with the characters is devoid of characterization but rather with stereotypical characteristics. Even with earnest honesty, the show prides itself with more oddball humor than characterizing its development.

The show does pass the tests when it comes to action. In essence, the show details battles exclusively with focus on each witch and their potentials. Almost every witch shown in the series shows their ability with emphasis on their strength and weaknesses. The show also depicts them through categories of rankings to even give more consistency. For the action scenes itself, the show focuses on a bit of teamwork and risk. Ryouta is a gambler in the show and can keep viewers at the edge of their seat with his daring moves. In fact, some episodes are cliffhangers that can leave you anticipating what will happen next. Despite this though, some story plot devices are predictable and lacks interest when there’s heavy foreshadowing. Battles are also quick fashioned with a lack of moral sense most of the time except on a few occasions. Nothing to write home about though.

Visually to the eyes, the show is violent when it comes to execution by studio ARMs. Blood is a common sight in the show and as a way to deconstruct some of the innocence of the girls. Other interesting artwork relates to cruel experimentations and the evidence of its shocking factors with extraterrestrial vibes. For character designs, there’s a wide variety as each witch has her own characteristics. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t hide its fan service (besides the censor). Classic onsen episodes are present and jokes are made about boob sizes. To further escalate this concept, characters such as Kotori becomes an epitome of admiration for her ‘sizes’. We also can’t forget about the jokes that Ryouta has to deal with when it comes to character interactions. How does that tie with service? The witches of course in particular, Kazumi and her mischievousness.

Soundtrack has some influence on the show although it doesn’t entirely play a huge role. Technical wise, it’s well delivered and takes chances. By that, it means the show mixes comedic tones with darker and somber style for its OST. The result well mixed as the show itself pokes fun at itself. But when it comes to dark, the OP songs are a firm example to stand out on their own. The first OP song (played for the first 9 episodes) is unique with no lyrics but instead illustrate the dark undertone of the show. The second OP song has a similar style but with heavy metal lyrics to again to deliver its message – to show that the series should be taken seriously in respect. Otherwise, character voice mannerisms are decent. In particular, Kazumi’s kansai accent is noticeable while other times, the show make fun of itself with Kuroneko’s singing.

When it comes to adaptations, Gokukoku no Bryhildr is a horrid example for its unsatisfactory balance of comedy and dark fantasy. It’s not mindless entertainment since the show has a premise and follows through it exclusively. But when it comes to humor, the show tries to mutate it into a late night comedy with disastrous effects. On the other hand, the characters offer a diverse category of personalities besides their inadequate development. With an adaptation of only thirteen episodes though, it’s injustice to skip material that should have been there. Ultimately, this show was a bomb, a failure of an experiment.

Gokukoku no Brynhildr or Brynhildr in the darkness is the anime adaptation of a manga created by the same mangaka who did the famous Elfen Lied. The show talks about an "ordinary boy" who comes in contact with girls called witches. Witches have some kind of power, every witch has it's own. So basically this guy meets a witch that looks like his lost childhood friend tries to help her and gets a harem.

Storry: The story is basically just like elfen lied only the girls have different powers, there is not much originality and much things are not clearly explained. The guy who ... first looks like an ordinary boy turns out to have photographic memory and stuff. The pacing is off and the switches between "tragic" moments and harem/comedy moments were too random and ruined the mood (that was not great to begin with). Latter on the story just becomes inconsistent, things come out of fuc*** nowhere just for the "shock factor" but at that point the whole thing is already so stupid you don't care anymore.
1/10


Animation and sound : The only thing in the show I have no complains about. I mean it was not something great but it was not bad either. The sound was ok I guess, nothing memorable. The first OP was good the second one was pure trash, the OP was even used as part of the soundtrack. I forgot every single OST 30 min after completing the show, that shows how good it was.
6/10

Characters : Ordinary teenager with photographic memory which makes him immune to memory erasing? He suddenly comes up with amazing strategies that makes him look smart or some shit. He was the classic alpha male who gets bitches by acting as a hero. The girls were classic stereotypes , not much personality, the only thing I will remember of them is their naked bodies .
2/10

Enjoyment: Probably the worst anime I have ever seen and I have seen about 800 at the time am writing the review. This was worse then Mars Of Destruction and I am not kidding, this show is pure trash that should never be watched. 1/10

Overall : Really bad show with stupid asspulls annoying characters and a story that does not make sense 70% of the time( the other 30% is the fanservice/harem moments)

1/10 - Don't touch this piece of poo.

Overview:

Gokukoku was written by Lynn Okamoto, the same mangaka that wrote Elfen Lied and was animated by Studio Arms, which also produced Elfen Lied. Is Gokukoku no Brynhildr The second coming of Elfen Lied? In a word...no. If you loved Elfen Lied, you will hate Gokukoku. If you thought Elfen Lied was terrible, you will think this is worse. If you were impartial towards Elfen Lied, you will hate Gokukoku. This series fucking sucks!

Story: 3/10

The story begins with our young protagonist Murakami and his childhood friend Neko out watching the stars. Neko is an unusual little girl that believes in aliens and wishes to prove ... their existence to the skeptical and logical Murakami. While playing on the face of an old dam, Murakami falls and accidentally pulls down Neko with him. He wakes up in the hospital and is told that she died. Devastated by this news, he devotes his life to proving aliens exist in her honor. This is an odd vow for a supposedly logical and brilliant character to make, since he doesn't believe in aliens, but the story hasn't actually begun to get bad yet at this point! An evil government organization is creating super human magic users creatively called "witches". Each witch gains her power from a device in her neck called a harness, which contains an alien parasite. If the device is removed, the witch melts into goo as an homage to the wicked witch of the west. Witch after witch keep escaping the facility and finding Murakami, who takes them in to protect them. On the surface, this seems to be a rather similar plot to Elfen Lied, but if you look closer you will notice some differences. In Elfen Lied the director of the clandestine government group wishes to wipe out humans because he is actually a mutant and wishes to be the God of a new race that he views as superior. He is a mix of Magneto and Hitler. However, most of the other government members in Elfen Lied are unaware of this plot and truly believe that they are protecting mankind from the mutants, who often do lash out at humans. The mutants aren't evil, but are realistically what you would expect from psychologically damaged children with dangerous super powers. In Gokukoku the government group is simply evil and wishes to wipe out humans for no discernible reason. For the lulz I guess. There is no level of moral ambiguity or complexity. In Elfen Lied we had the moral struggle of Kurama, but here we just have a sick bastard named Director Ichijiku who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The witches have been tortured and experimented on their entire lives, but only a few lash out in anger and use their powers to get revenge. Most of the witches are extremely pure and un-corruptible, and give the government no reason to hunt them, other than the fact that the government is evil. Once again, there is no level of complexity, nothing remotely thought provoking, no questions on the nature of good and evil. The series simply goes on with more and more bland and forgettable chicks arriving at the observatory. The manga is still going, so the anime had to create its own ending. Elfen Lied chose to end with an open ending and leave several points up to viewer interpretation with only subtle hints to help. Gokokoku tries to wrap everything up in a couple episodes and becomes an incoherent mess of nonsense with one of the worst, most anti-climactic endings I have ever seen in the history of animation! The only competition would be from some of the old Soviet cartoons where the State Film Department would simply pull the budget at random and give the animators a few days and a few hundred bucks to make an ending. That's what this fucking looked like! Of course not quite as epic as the final battle in The Snow Queen (1957), which consists of a little girl shouting "Go Away!" Villain disappears with cheap dissolve effect, END. Gokokoku was made in 2013 with a substantial budget though, so I won't go easy on it by comparing it to a cartoon from the Stalin Era Soviet Union.

Character: 3/10

The main character is Murakami, who is one of the best students in Japan. He has a photographic memory and is devoted to xenobiology. He is a pure good guy with no real internal struggles and nothing that actually makes him interesting. He is simply very bland. The main heroine is Kuroha Neko, who at times goes into "tsundere mode" for a tired comedy gag that is repeated ad nauseum, but mostly is just boring. She knows she faces imminent death, but simply shrugs it off with an inexhaustible level of optimism that would baffle even Vanille from Final Fantasy 13. Vanille is a deep, compelling, and tortured character compared to Neko. We have Kana, who is quadriplegic, speaks with a voice simulator, and exists solely as a plot device that predicts future events and allows our heroes to escape trouble. We never hear about how her condition effects her attitude or learn about her struggles. She is simply given ZERO development! She would at least have gotten a few laughs if they had used the Stephen Hawking voice program for her character, but that would require Gokukoku actually doing something right. The worst character though is Kazumi, who exists only for fan service in a series that is afraid to show any nudity. To make matters worse, she is one of the most obnoxious characters in all of anime. Yuka in Elfen Lied was quite obnoxious at times, but at least she was following a childhood crush and actually realizes her own flaws. Yuka also acts as part of a love triangle and has a purpose within the framework of the shows plot. Kazumi on the other hand, simply has no reason to exist.

Art: 4/10

The character art is sort of decent, but many of the characters look the same. The animators just change the hair color and boob size. That's it. All vehicles are done with HORRENDOUS CGI that at least adds unintentional hilarity to this otherwise bland series. The animation is not very fluid and is quite lackluster. This came out in 2013 and looks FAR worse than Elfen Lied did in 2004. What the FUCK happened Studio Arms!!? You will also notice that any nudity and gore is edited out with a distracting bright, white light that burns your eyes and completely removes you from the show. If you are going to painfully edit in a style that would make 4kids blush, why bother having gore and nudity in the first place! The nude scenes don't add anything to the series and could easily be taken out, but they are mysteriously left in and completely fail to accomplish their purpose of erotica and fan service because they are so severely edited. This makes about 1 hour of a 5 hour series completely un-watchable, with vague silhouettes and a bright light borrowing into your eyeballs.

Sound: 3/10

There are no good openers or closing themes. The best thing I can say is that one opening is unintentionally funny by clashing death metal growls with the cutely animation of this series. It is clearly trying to be like the 2nd death note opening and failing at an EPIC level. The background music is so bland and forgettable that I have seen porn with a better soundtrack! Elfen Lied had Lillium, one of the best opening themes in all of anime. It had also had some chilling, disturbing tracks that sounded like Arnold Schoenberg composed them. Elfen Lied had an A+ soundtrack, Gokukoku has a D- at best.

Enjoyment: 2/10

The first few episodes look like this series might at least be mildly enjoyable. Afterwards this series is about as fun as repeatedly punching yourself in the throat.

Overall: 3/10

Gokukoku is absolutely wretched, but I have actually seen far worse. What makes this series painful is that I actually loved Elfen Lied and expected something a shit load better than this! The problem is that Lynn Okamoto by himself is actually a pretty bad writer. He has some good ideas, but without a good editor he can't execute them. With Elfen Lied he also stole characters and plot points from X-men, Crime and Punishment, and Phantom of the Opera. That was essentially what actually made Elfen Lied good in the first place. It felt like a modern variant of an 1800s psychological drama/gothic horror mixed with X-men. It was a delightful potpourri that actually worked thanks to the editing and vision of the brilliant series Director Mamoru Kanbe. In Gokukoku, Okamoto stole from himself and tried to reuse parts of his previous plot without adding any of the themes, struggles, or messages that made Elfen Lied work. Gokukoku actually had a highly esteemed director named Imaizumi that also directed Mushishi and Ano Hana, which are both extremely praised on this site. However, Mr. Imaizumi's style completely clashed with Okamoto's writing and Imaizumi was not able to take the salvageable parts and create his own vision like Kanbe did. Gokukoku is like the hollow shell of Elfen Lied that has lost its very soul. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you REALLY hate that person!

Brynhildr of THE DARKNESSS Review:

SYNOPSIS:
A top secret military base who are super evil, experiments on females to make Super Aliens to do a bunch of random errands. One of the girls trying to escape some how ends up in our generic protagonists astronomy club, then he hunts more of them. Soon enough, poof! Harem happens- obvious fact. Now whose ready for SHOCK FACTOR!

REVIEW:
Lets start of with what most people flip there Kenichi's about... the gore factor... AKA- SHOCK FACTOR:
At least in Elfen Lied they show fully uncensored gore and nudity, it was special back then because the gore mixed with the portrayal of nudity ... and emotions of the characters with there harsh situations allowed us to at least sympathize with what there forced to do. Violence in present, have become mainstream of the years which looses it effect. In Brynhildr, they censored it because it was aiming for that mainstream garbage! It shows no respect of the audience as the characters have some crazy super powers to be used as plot armour, in fact, there completely one liner or worded and 100% archetype designed personalities is sufficient evidence that the show puts over there cool super powers over personalities which doesn't make anyone care! It maybe cool at first, but hear me out:
Don't know what’s going to happen next? See into the future! About to die? Regeneration! About to get killed? use Mind Control! All of this makes everything feel very forced and lack maturity. It lacks the realism and grey morality compared towards its older sister, at least the Horn Girls in Elfen kill people for survival as they are all being mistreated by man kind, which is totally understandable, but in here! The girls don't attack anyone because being captured means they're being tortured and experimented in this unethical manner if they come back to secret HQ laboratories. So they insist to runaway! As there only option, which limits a lot of interesting possibilities to make the show, “Better”

Comparing towards the show's fan service terminology:
At least in Elfen we had the girls stripped to show an excuse that they are in physical or psychological torture, girl gets sexually abused by step Dad, girl gets horribly experimented on scientists through torture to advance technology etc. In Brynhildr's mind, we had to throw Boob Jokes, Forced Bath Scenes, and girl wants to sleep with guy naked but no hentai. Because, harem, as this show is trying to make us sympathize from the harsh lives of the characters? Or trying to turn us on? Oh, wait, its both. (doesn't mix well btw)

At least our Harem lead in Elfen (though very generic) seems to be an incredibly kind person, nor he is the brightest or the most cunning; he's just this vanilla guy that all chicks are forced to live. The Murakami dude is a douche! He apparently seems to appear very smart and has well thought out plans but turns out that he's entire thought process was completely retarded as almost every plan fails, it feels as if he's actually getting dum! He also makes boob jokes and trying to always tries to look smarter than everyone else for every chance he gets. He is at first, calm, sophisticated and intellectual, but turns out to be rather pretentious. The first opening was good, having some refreshing dubstep, but then I listen to ear rape like ten episodes in which was completely unnecessary for a 12 episode series! Aesthetically, its just some action and nothing special.

VERDICT:
In a nutshell its just plain stupid logic... Unlike its older sister which had a decent amount of depth and respect towards audience, Brynhildr is STUPID, all the way through.

SCORES:
6/10 Nothing special at all... It gets the job done in an above average manner.
5/10 Completely forgettable OST except for the 2 openings which saves me for giving it a minus point.
2/10 For super stupid characters!
2/10 By via forced storytelling.
1.5/10 With absolutely no redeeming factor except for the slightest deviants...

2/10 For the obvious reasons!

"Elfen Lied comparison complaint, grumble grumble, fanservice, grumble grumble, I'd pardon this if it was cool like Shingeki no Kyojin but it's not, grumble, I'm so much smarter than the Sci-Fi genre."

Gokukoku no Brynhildr is exactly what you expected it was; An action-based thriller prematurely adapted from a manga by the same person who wrote Elfen Lied. So why are you so upset? The characters are static and flat, plot threads that should have been wrapped up quickly continue onto the last few episodes, and the art seems almost barbaric when comparing it to more visually stunning shows that aired simultaneously. It has the trope ... of harem where it doesn't necessarily need one, there's a significant amount of ecchi scenes that seem awkwardly jumbled into the rest of the series, and all the women are literally helpless without the main character. Yes, the show is sexist and strives to enthuse the male audience. The only person I have to blame for this one is you. This is exactly what you asked for.

Without all the sex and violence that sells Blu-Rays and DVDs, this anime wouldn't be a blip on any consumer's radar. There's nothing to separate Shingeki no Kyojin and this anime. The writing is about the same, leading the viewer on with very obvious plot threads only to confirm them true after 12 episodes of meandering. There's intense gore at the expense of our poorly-fleshed out cast, and the hyperviolence depicted in this series only continues to prove Elfen Lied's point that it so desperately tried to make ten years ago. People want to be shocked. They want to watch something that leaves them agape. This show lets people watch something dark and primal. It's the closest thing to sweet sweet revenge like Lucy got in response to her dog "prank" in Elfen Lied. And it's just winking enough to let the viewers be okay with it. The only thing Brynhildr is missing is the top notch visuals. If Brynhildr had the budget Shingeki no Kyojin did, it could be what SnK is right now - unquestioningly popular.

Gokukoku no Brynhildr is endlessly entertaining. It's edgy and brooding in all the comical senses of the words. People don't just die in Brynhildr, their bodies bleed to death, then melt to oblivion, and then an alien carcass crawls out of them only to be squashed like a pesky bug. It's absurd! The show borrows all sorts of Sci-Fi concepts for it's main heroines, from predicting the future, to body swaps, to cybernetic transformation and secret underground facility conspiracies, and never ever apologizes about it. That might be why I'm so partial to Brynhildr. It's swaggering and confident. It's never pretentious and always is self-aware. In fact, when explaining to the main character why the main female lead has superhuman strength she simply tells him, because of "surgery and drugs." That's all I really needed. The script is justifiably quip.

Brynhildr is the hyperviolent, misanthropic, edgy grimdark show you want to hate yet the writing works in such a way that you feel slightly optimistic for the cast, for the show, and for the world. Brynhildr isn't new, and as many critics have ingeniously surmised, it's incredibly close to Elfen Lied. Yet there's an X factor in Brynhildr, and that X factor is that small bit of hope, that at the end of the tunnel there's happiness for these characters that seem to repeatedly have the deck stacked up against them. You can tell this show is unforgiving walking into it and characters will suffer. You just want to know which ones. You hope and hope that something happens so that they're ALL spared, and can have a normal school life. Your favorite parts of the episode are probably when the ecchi things happen, giving you a moment of relief - an aside from all the death talk and inevitable decay of the cute girls on screen.

And that is what this show is about. It dangles it's serene and oversexed nymphs in front of you like a worm to a fish, and you're on the hook. It pulls the misanthropic bait away and you're left in the dark ocean again to witness the murder, the decaying flesh, the real teen angst of it all. And you're mad again. You hate the ecchi scenes! You hate the dark edginess! You hate the whole goddamn thing and there's nothing to like about this show at all! But there is and you keep coming back. You just hope that these misfits on screen achieve some sort of rational happiness. And whether they do or not doesn't matter in the end, I guess, but as long as you're watching think about that. Think about why you're appalled or entertained and how this show treads that thin line.

If you hated it all, good. You're a good person. If you liked it all, why? Are you a bad person?

And, ahem, did you like Shingeki no Kyojin?

Huge disappointment, possibly the biggest of the year.

I'd previously written a more positive review of this one as I was about 6 episodes in. Even then I'd seen troubling signs that it could turn out terrible, but I thought it could fix itself before the problems grew to become excruciating. It took a 100% dive.

The first episode leads off nicely, and the second one stirs up even more suspense and seems to get some character progression going.
From here it seems to really lose all direction.
There are some nice elements setting up for alot of possibilities but it's like the writer didn't know ... what to do with it or realized the plot wouldn't be able to fit in just 13 episodes.

It's actually not easy to point out exactly where we run off track with the story and the story just ends up following the characters' random ways of life. Characters which are stereotypes to the core, and the main character comes off as this pretentious image that the writer tries to glorify themself in. The only real character traits you can say he has, are that he's got photographic memory and he just wants to selflessly protect and save these girls. A forced white knight protagonist, devoid of any shade of identity. Oh, and important to mention, is that all his crying moments are so cringeworthy, your toe nails could dive into your skin and grow out in-between your teeth. These characters and especially the protagonist are so painfully pretentious and one-dimensional.

The girls... Besides that they're obvious stereotypes, the real offender is their interaction with eachother, and namely while the protagonist is in the room.
I'd tell you to pay attention to the way they talk, and notice how it feels like looking at otaku's in a small chat trying to establish themselves as these stereotypes IRL.
"I think I'm more like X character, 'cause in my mind, my daily life just like that. I'm totally like this character. That is until I watch another anime and think I'm like Y character in that one."
Basically everyone goes; "I can out-otaku you any day".

I do kinda still commend it for at two instances breaking an old and grating tease so often seen in anime... But then again, in hindsight, that might also just be to please the writer's ego.

It's a shame, 'cause it actually led off with an interesting start but it just became more like a bad fan fic.
Watching it, I so often feel like I'm actually just looking at the writer masturbate profusely while spouting their self-proclaimed excellence.
And what supports this, is the fact that this short anime has two openings, with the second one feeling very rushed and ill fitting. It's really crammed in with the last episodes.

The best thing about this anime is the first opening theme, which is quite interesting. It also feels like this was written, inspired by said theme. Especially with the soundtrack within the show seeming to rip it off.
And talk about ripping off... The first opening sequence really feels like it's taking alot from Mirai Nikki, and the main 'love interest' of the show, is really by design just a blue haired Makise from Steins;Gate, in an outfit that looks like it's borrow from Homura from Puella Magi. But it might just be me imagining things.

There's really not much good to point out in this one. You can safely skip it.

Before I continue this review, I'd like to point out the fact that I have, indeed, read the manga up to the point at which the story in the anime ended, and I will try my best not to compare the two, though it is near impossible, considering how much better it could have been with a true-to-the-manga following, instead of the anime original ending we have at hand.

First, let me go into some brief background. Gokukoku no Brynhildr, better known as Kiwaguro no Brynhildr, which is the name of the manga series that served as the source material the anime was based on, was ... written by the same author who wrote Elfen Lied. As a result, many people can see how similar the concepts that are used, as well as the character archetypes that are expressed in the two series's. Elfen Lied suffered from a terribly executed anime original ending, and whereas Gokukoku no Brynhildr should have learned from this original mishap, it suffers from a arguably worse anime original ending than Elfen Lied did, and coupled with the numerous other defects present in its almost jokingly terrible plotline and execution, it deserves a much lower score than its predecessor and accomplished much less.

Let's move onto the categories.

Story: 3
Let's begin with an analysis of the plotline. The main character, Murakami-kun, is a genius with photographic memory, and comes upon a "witch" that resembles his childhood friend, and he chooses to save this witch from persecution from the laboratory from which they escaped, along with multiple other witches. The backstory isn't bad, and is actually fairly interesting. It makes you question: What is the mystery of the lab that we are about to find out, and how is it related to why these witches are being persecuted?

However, with further delving into the events that happen during the plot, you find that Brynhildr only devolves into a pseudo slice of life with gore in it, during which the only interesting things that happen include listening to Kazumi's heavily accented voice and her proclamations of how horny she is and how much she wants to have Ryota's children.

The ending was another giant factor that becomes the downfall of this anime series - after dillydallying in the world of Kotori-chan's breasts and Kazumi's nonexistant ones for numerous episodes while providing minimal main plot development, the series tries to wrap itself up in the final 2 and a half episodes, cramming about 30 chapters of work into roughly an hour of showtime. As a result, the ending was inevitably rushed, and changed from the original manga arc's ending, cutting away important developments, like Ryota's presence right beside Kotori as she was ejected, or Kana's part in saving Neko and Ryota from Valkyria.

Another blaring issue that the storyline had was the completely forced and manufactured plot. Rather than letting events unfold, and letting characters deal with problems as they normally would in an intelligent way, a tragedy happens, a character gets godlike status, and the problem is solved. This same formula is repeated numerous times throughout the episode, with deus ex machinas being pulled again and again and again from the writer's toolbox. I admit, this isn't just an issue with the anime adaptation, the manga suffered from it as well, whether it be Ryota's unerasable photographic memory, or Kotori's ability to stop all kinetic energy of the person she switches with when she switches places with someone using her teleportation ability. These scenes, however, show how stupid and contrived the plot actually is, which makes any plot progression feel forced and unrealistic, along with just plain uninteresting, because the audience can just assume that some character will exhibit some extreme new aspect of their power that will be able to easily solve any problem thrust in the main character's way, time and time again.

Art: 6
The art was decent. The version I saw incorporated censoring in the form of fog in all the gory scenes (like the melting scenes or cut up bodies), that was almost as terrible as the Funimation censoring used for Freezing, but most other elements were handled fairly well. Certain scenes did feel awkward, however, and the characters did appear bland and uninteresting at times when actual plot development happened, leading me to believe most of the budget was spent on the unnecessary fanservice present throughout the entire length of the series.

Sound: 5
The sound quality was decent, and the opening sequence for the first 10 or so episodes was actually quite catchy, as dubstep openings aren't as prevalent in the Japanese music industry in general. The second opening, with its more heavy metal air, was also fairly interesting, and the ending provided a sense of calm after the gory events that happened in the episode. There wasn't anything particularly special about the OST- it was basically what you would expect from any other science fiction anime title with explosions and laser beams. The voice acting, however, was fairly subpar - none of the emotions that the characters felt that should have been communicated to the audience got through, and at times when some screaming and emotion should have been prevalent, the screaming and name-calling just felt noisy, and might have been better off with just silence and streaming tears. As a direct reference to one of these scenes, when Murakami was sliced in two in episode 12, Kana's fervent typing (which translates to speech through her superintelligent text to speech converter device) didn't serve much purpose, and actually distracted (and annoyed) me from a supposedly shocking scene.

Character: 2
The worst portion of the anime. Unique and interesting characters drive the plot of the anime, and without these, the plot simply can't function to be anything intellectual or even seemingly interesting. Every single character written in the series only had one of two purposes. 1. To be part of Ryota's harem or 2. To be killed brutally and horribly. All those who were part of the harem cannot act, or think for themselves - they are merely piles of meat that idolize Ryota and dream of mating with him - as literally and clearly expressed by Kazumi multiple times throughout the series's length. All those who die, end up as terrible emotional triggers that are supposed to attract the gore fetishists, or pull at the heartstrings of the sensitive - neither of which is possible with the terrible censoring and insignificance of any individual character that appears to die in the show.

Enjoyment: 3
No doubt, my interest in the manga, and the failed expectations I had for the show before I entered it influenced my enjoyment levels, but nonetheless, if you don't enjoy random fan pandering and cardboard characters in your serious piece of science fiction with a dark plot and atmosphere, then you probably won't enjoy this show.

Overall: 3
This show suffers from the same problem that Elfen Lied did, except it doesn't solve this problem - it only makes it worse, in the worst way. All the calm and peaceful slice of life that happened in the show, much like the slice of life present in Elfen Lied, serves little to no purpose, and none of the characters are likable enough to feel emotion for when he or she happens to be caught up in tragedy. The show tried to juxtapose the gory and dark elements of the show's main plot, with the lighter elements of the show, but it was a doomed project from the beginning, and would have been much better off holding the male hormone tease and spending more time with the main storyline and illustrating all the mystery aspects it promises to address in the first episode, up till the last. At least with Elfen Lied, there was a sense of "oh, wow, that was an intense ending, left open for us to wonder at and reflect on our own what the show was supposed to represent." With Gokukoku no Brynhildr, the only thought I'm left with is "What the heck happened I don't even know what I'm supposed to be feeling Can somebody take me to the doctor please The manga was 1000% better even though I didn't even like the manga that much please Brynhildr what happened to Kazumi you didn't even tell me at the end Why did Neko have to lose her memories Why is Ryota so unkillable and such a badass and Why did I even choose to watch this adaptation."

God, this anime, THIS ANIME.

To put it bluntly, it doesn't know what it wants to be.

It tries to deliver a serious and interesting story while, and I have yet to understand why the people behind this did this, having your occassional fan service/sexual inuendo thrown in between scenes that are supposed to tell you that shit's serious and lives are on the line.

That's just unappropriate, it just doesn't fit, I can't get emotional attached to girls telling the main character that they're gonna die when they're all wearing bikinis and one's even constantly brabbling about how she wants to fuck the mc, just like... ... what....

I mean yeah, thanks for the boners and all that but, did you really have to do this?
I expected a mature, dark themed story...

What I got was, magic, tits, literally melting girls, breasts, "indirect kisses" boo hoo, love triangles and tits...

Did I mention the beach episode? She loses her bikini top, which is somewhat of a repeating pattern in this anime, you'll often see girls topless, accidental breast grabbing and all that. yeah.

I don't even want to mention the ending, it was like "Yes, finaly, she remembers!" and then "Well, who are you again?". DESTROYED, the only feel that was felt during the whole thing, DESTROYED

All in all 3/10, all my why's and what's.

The good:
Voice Acting, especially Ichimichi, Mao (Kazumi Schlierenzauber)
Sound was alright, the Character design and animation was ok.

The bad:
A sudden drop in quality plotwise. Starting with a good dose of suspense and mystery, a solid system and motivation. Then it felt like a sand castle, that suddenly is being targeted by the neighbors kid. Random destruction of all the elements that might have made this series special.

The ugly (plot holes):
I couldn't believe that the series went south until I hit the last episodes.
I mean I did have the manga up to around EP 6 and they kept close to it in the anime, but the ... last episodes, especial the final confrontation doesn't make sense and feels more then just rushed, it feels like some random and p***-poor decision.

Why build a solid "magic system", if everyone can bypass it's limitations? If the ability is in cooldown, you should not be able to use it, but you see more then one example where not only they keep using them, but even work miracles. No explanation either. What was the purpose of a cooldown if not preventing the user from overextending themselves which would cause serious harm? If one ability is a defense ability that is centered in oneself, why can you use it on others? That ability would be called something else and could not have been used in time for a certain incident.

You get a perfectly easy explanation about the beacon and the harness, how they are connected and what happens when it is forcefully removed, then a beacon got cut and simply falls off without any incident or damage to the harness? What about the 3 clamps and the fail-saves?

While there was some awesome voice acting (kansai+german? Made the character actually more human like - especially if you concider that said person knows that she only will live a few days longer) and some great foundation, the whole motive, the whole driving factor and the relationship model just went random. Without spoiling too much, Chisato is the perfect example. While clearly stating what his motivation is, he does confirm it in more then one instance, then acting against his very nature (and his motive why he even started with all this). Chisato would not act that way, if you are that driven by something, you would stick to it and not stating it, and five seconds later undo all of the work/ambition with an action that he calls foolish in the first place. Also why does he need to walk out of his own house when he could have used the same manner of transport as he used before?

Then there is Mako who holds a perfect reasonable grunge, but doesn't act on it even though she knew it all along that she was *spoiler*. Mako killed for less. She might make a little sense if they had worked a little on her character, but as they have done it, she doesn't act at all the way she should. She tries to protect someone, then turns on her even though that someone didn't even attack her?

Or the other party involved. You can't declare war for the worlds sake, then act like nothing matters. Especially on that event with their comrade. Why would that comrade act in that fashion if the goal was something else entirely?

And lets not forget the final fight. Everyone ever watched a little more physics orientated material will tell you that the effect would be the opposite of what was intended.

My last hope is, that the manga will have a different plot, because as it ended in the anime I would like to unsee everything and forget that it ever existed beyond the point of the church event.

Conclusion:
Not recommended, at least past EP6. A real pity, because I thought that for once they would bring some more serious plot with a good system and relationship model to balance out the usual fanservice.

Well this anime was just terrible, its exactly what the 1 says: pathetic. I actually thought it was going somewhere from the first episode but then it went way down into a hole and just stayed there, buried. i really only enjoyed 3 minutes of each episode, the openings and endings.

Story - Magical witches that have a harnest on there neck and have superpowers and need pills to survive. and also have aliens inside of them that people were trying to revive to take over the world. wow sounds great, not. about 6 episodes was kazumi making a sexual joke about murakami and her wanting ... to not be virgin the rest her left and wanting to do it with murakami. And the other few episodes were murakami saying ill protect you guys over and over, and we here the girls say "murakami! murakami!" which got rather annoying. the story was a complete joke, also the ending was one of the worst ever i thought. hey there is fanservice though.

Characters - The characters were all pointless, no development from any characters except for murakami which still didnt have that much, none really interested me, is was basically a harem after the girls met murakami and instantly fell in love with him, except for a few of the girls. the characters and their development can relate to the level of infinite stratos's level of character development, unless if you thought infinite stratos had good character development.

Sound - now this was something i loved of the anime, the op's were awesome, fit the series nice, and ed was nice and relaxing and liked it, ost was pretty cool throughout the anime. this is probably the only reason i kept watching this anime

Animation - was alright.

Overall - dont waste your time with this show, youll think its getting better and the story is moving on but it never does, its just one more girl to the harem, and murakami saying he'll protect the girls every 5 minutes, only watch the op's and ed if you really want to. honestly they could of done a much better job with this anime, but i just couldnt take it seriously, sorry if i bashed on this anime too much.

I am a bit conflicted about this anime.

This anime was brought to us by Arms and directed by the guy who directed Elfen Lied.

STORY (3):

I honestly don't know how to begin. The story is about Ryouta Murakami who has a childhood friend called Kuroha Neko, who was killed in an accident. 10 years later, Ryouta Murakami forms the astronomy club that is basically a club that deals with science and astronomy.

Honestly, it took a while for me to try to understand the plot. However, the plot is about Ryouta Murakami forming a relationship with the magicians who are girls. If you are wondering why ... I didn't do review of the remaining spring anime is because I have nothing interesting to say about them. Like for example Black Bullet & Isshukan friends.

There is no mystery which will make me figure out how and why it happened. That is sad.

Normally, I always see anime build tension in the later episodes, just like revealing the main villain in the later episodes. Even Noragami, also did the same thing.

At least Elfen Lied showed torment in character. However, this anime failed to show any of these qualities.

ART (5):

The animation is all right.

SOUND (5):

The opening and ending song is ok.

At least the voice acting is good. Risa Taneda portrayed a good voice as Kuroha Neko.

CHARACTER (4):

At least the characters never show me any annoying traits. However, the problem is the characters aren't properly flashed out. Some characters have 1 episode backstory and that's it.

I did like their Ryouta's relationship with the girls however, it wasn't enough.

Ryouta Murakami is bland and forgettable especially the rest of the girls.

I think that's all I have to say.

CONCLUSION (4):

You know, I really hate it when anime always ends with "Go read the manga" ending. This is one prime example. The end fight was very anti-climactic, the fight was very quick. I don't think I want to go into more detail.

I've got nothing more to say. Overall, this anime had potential but due to its rushed pacing and ending, especially characters that are bland. It comes off as forgettable. So I give this anime a 4 out of 10.

****SPOILER WARNING****

This show was a tease, in every sense of the word. The premise, and the first episode or two, really piqued my interest- a show about a bookish guy trying to search for aliens in memory of his presumably dead childhood friend. Then enters the childhood friend, or at least a doppleganger thereof, and we get another plot element. Add magic, and we're set for a great-sounding show! However, this gets thrown out the window by episode four at latest, when our male protagonist becomes a walking, talking plot contrivance, with a new non-magical skill popping up basically as the ... plot demands it. This problem is compounded by piss-poor character development, opting instead for a new female character showing up practically every episode, and either joining Murakami's harem, or getting killed in 'combat' with this ever-growing harem.

Now, I have very low tolerance for harem as a genre, but I do understand its basic appeal, if on nothing but an intellectual level- we're supposed to identify with Murakami, and enjoy having a practical army of cute girls fawning over him in the most fanservicey ways possible. Brynhildr manages to fail even on this basic level by over-censoring the erotic elements, and detracting from the supposed budding romance between former childhood friends Murakami and Kuroha.

After each character makes their initial appearance, they start to fade into obscurity, rather than actually develop personalities beyond the superficial. In fact, I can even perfectly identify each character by nothing but trite anime cliches: Kuroha the shy childhood friend, Kana the tsundere, Kazumi the sexually aggressive pettanko, Kotori the easily embarrassed, busty one. The worst part is that they did introduce a few characters near the end that weren't total stereotypes, but they each only lasted an episode or two before they were axed from the plot.

All and all, this show is a meandering mess that even harem-lovers would dislike. I'd give it a skip, if I were you.

Brynhildr in the Darkness (holy hell is that name hard to type properly) is an anime that plays itself off as a dark, horror themed show... though it doesn't quite hit the mark.

Like Elfen Lied, Brynhildr is a dramatic gore fest and both shows are written by the same author, going as far as sharing the same general circumstances - girl(s) with superpowers escape bad research facility, the first girl that the MC meets is related to some accident from his past, yada yada yada have to secure a safe haven for the girls yada yada yada you get the idea.

So, let's begin this review.

1. ... Story

Brynhildr's story is almost similar to Elfen Lied, as I have mentioned in the text above and I must say that it started off strong with a fairly interesting premise to keep me watching.

While I find the wrapped idea of magic and witches very interesting, it is very hard for me to ignore the less than stellar decisions the characters make to advance the plot, putting aside the ridiculous amount of deus ex machinas as the story goes along (Kotori being the biggest culprit).

2) Characters

The fact Murakami devolves from "fairly okay guy that doesn't come off as an edgy self-insert protagonist" to "nice guy that is willing to risk his life for every girl he sees" is just mind boggling.

He didn't grow as a character, he didn't grow a justifiable motivation for his actions at all and that makes it hard to understand why he bothers (excluding the shounen-esque "I want to save my friends!" reasoning because no, that's not a realistic reason).

As for the members of his harem (come on, you know it), they are rated from "okay" to "why the hell does she exist at all" in ascending order, starting from Kuroha and ending with Kotori. I get it, you want a shy big tits character that stumbles a lot, but honestly that is way too comical to be useful in any show that's trying to take itself seriously. So for the girls, they just sorta exist to be helpless without Murakami swooping in to help come up with some coherent plan.

There are also some gripes with the backgrounds of some of the major characters, like why Murakami lives alone and all the other convenient plot devices, but we'll leave it at that.

3) Art

I'm not well-versed with aesthetics and the particular styles of studios, but I can say that Brynhildr sports a rather generic color palette as well as decently done animations that look rather dated.

4) Sound

Now the sound department has quite a few shortcomings, what with the sudden decision to replace the honestly well-done first OP with a metal song by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas.

As for the voice acting, I say that the actors did their job quite well. Kazumi's VA however, has this strange lisp that just irks me to no end. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

5) Enjoyment

With the rushed ending, the hastily introduced plot elements later on in the story as well as the rather botched attempt at recycling Elfen Lied's plot, this anime served to be a good time killer and honestly a good one at that, I have to admit.

Overall

It has its numerous flaws and it did fail to live up to the hype, but I think this is a solid mediocre anime to watch when you have nothing else to do with your time. If you don't look too hard, you'll find yourself having a pretty decent time with it.

But who am I to tell you what to watch? Take this review seriously or with a pinch of salt, I don't really care. Cheers.

Cry porn, you go in expecting trash, and it's cry porn trash. None of the characters are more than 2 mm deep and the show expects you to care about them. The big reveal at the end is disappointing and pointless. This show won't leave you wanting more, but you will want to finish it just for the sake of the overarching mystery. No spoiler, but the mystery is trash and it delivers no satisfactory conclusion. The only thing you'll have to say at the end is boo fricken' hoo.
Is it sad? Yes.
Is it good? No, not at all.
Why'd I finish it? The mystery ... element, which delivered nothing.
I cry super easily at good sad cartoons from Japan. This one just isn't good.

It's pretty average all the way through, until the final episode(s), where it goes from average to appalling. I've never seen a final episode that was so absolutely terrible - it legitimately ruined the whole experience, leaving me with a very sour feeling.

The ending aside, the rest of the show is pretty average and generic. It has some interesting elements; in fact I think the overall concept could've been used for a fairly entertaining show - ecchi pandering, shallow characters and poor story development ensured that never happened however.

Even if you're contemplating watching it for the overt sexual themes and ecchi tropes, I'd caution against ... it. That's how terrible I feel the overall experience of this anime is.