World Trigger

I'm going to have to disagree with the opinion a lot of people seem to get from first impressions of this anime. I love it, especially the universe, plot, and characters. Worth giving a chance and continuing to watch. I'm addicted!

Art:
The first thing people complain about is the art, but I think that has more to do with how almost every anime these days has very cookie-cutter animation, so when one comes out that has a different style people drop it for that sole reason-- preconceived notions abound. JoJo has extremely silly animation, but since it is rather famous already people get passed that, and start to actually enjoy it FOR the animation instead of disliking it because of it. I've started to do the same for World Trigger, I enjoy that it has a unique animation style, it reminds me of the same vein as Gash Bell, or Nanatsu no Taizai; both of which I really enjoy for their iconic nature.

The art is simple, but it works well for this sort of story, it doesn't need overly complex effects to get the point across, in fact that would be very out of character. If you are the type to drop something or judge based on art alone, I would recommend giving this one a chance and watching it through while trying to fix that way of thinking. I wouldn't consider the art bad at all, just simple. Other very famous anime have similar styles, so it shouldn't have that much sway. Keep going, give it a chance.

Story:
The story is something I really enjoy. Other dimensions are a common trope, but World Trigger is done in such a way to make it unique and really gives you a complete universe to believe in. At first it may seem just like another dimension/shounen battle plot, but once it starts to open up and reveal the underlying nuances, you start to understand that there is a whole other dimension (no pun intended) to the plot, where it parallels real life social issues and moral concepts. You want to stand behind the MC, and fight against the evils and injustices the bureaucracy has put in place (or Border HQ). The plot is shown in such a way where that you slowly learn new things about Neighbors, Border, Trion, and even Yuuma little by little in each episode. This builds up to some bigger fights and conclusions later on, and since there's so much information, this is definitely the best way to get it all out there so we really get what is going to happen later on.

Sound:
I really like the choice of Seiyuu, and feel each has their own fitting narrative. I have a pretty dry sense of humor, so the subtle dry humor they use is just perfect for me, I also love the social nuances, like pauses and sweet drops at just the right moments to make it hilarious. Older anime uses this technique a lot more often (Like in Gash Bell), whereas these days they tend to make more verbal jokes, which I don't really enjoy nearly as much most of the time.

Character:
And now for the character portion. Aside from plot I think this would be my favorite aspect of the show, I love the depth of character! At first you are thrown in without knowing anything but the basics of who these people are, but gradually you learn and more, especially about Yuuma, and it makes you feel a real connection to the characters and want to urge them on to get stronger and find ways to beat the odds. Yuuma has a much more complex past than you first suspect, and it just continues to get more interesting. Osamu is pretty average, but that's what also makes him relatable. He doesn't start out as much but his character is the type that grows more complex and matures as the series does- so you personally witness the changes in him as he grows and becomes stronger. I don't think we'll see any huge changes until he goes through his first big trial (probably one third through the series), but I think that works out perfectly. Yuuma draws you in, and Osamu keeps you wanting more. It's just these two for the first few episodes of the series, getting you acquainted, but once they start introducing the other characters is when things get fun. Dropping before everyone is on stage is a bad decision. Especially considering this is a 50 episode anime.

Enjoyment:
Every week when I watch this show I always flail when it's over because I want there to be more so badly! I get really into the personal battles the characters are involved in, and I really want to know more about their world! There's so much we don't know yet, and so much to explore. I want Osamu to grow and become strong so he can catch up to his team mates, and I want Yuuma to solve the mysteries around his father he's been searching for, and I want Chika to find her lost friends and family! Without going into much detail about all of these plot-lines, I want to say it really is worth continuing to watch this show, or at least coming back when more of it's 50 episodes will air. Think of how slow Hunter x Hunter was at first, or Fairy Tail. This is similar but with more sci-fi leanings. Like a more simple/iconic styled Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei (♥).


10/10!

Big things to keep in mind before watching:
• This show has 50 episodes, the plot will not all be apparent in the first handful of episodes. Give it at least 15 or so episodes, AT LEAST.
• Don't pre-judge the animation. Remember lots of other famous, good anime has unique styles of animation. (Fairy Tail, JoJo, Nanatsu no Taizai, Kingdom, Gash Bell etc) and all of those were worth getting over it.
• The credits and OP/ED format is a little different, the recap at first seems annoying now but it will be convenient later on because it will have 50 episodes and it would be hard to find where you're leaving off without it. Just try to get used to the OP happening after the initial beginning part. Like most TV drama shows that start off in the plot. It's not that big of a deal and doesn't influence how much show you see.
• Just be open to giving ti a chance! read more

**NOT A TRUE REVIEW; THIS IS MY IMPRESSION OF THE SERIES THROUGH 10 EPISODES. IT WILL EDITED OR DELETED WHEN APPROPRIATE**

What happens when an anime whose entire premise is based on an imaginative and creative world lacks any sort of imagination or creativity? Apparently, World Trigger happens. This cheap, lazy adaptation fails to offer anything that we haven’t seen a million times over. Super powers, monsters, cardboard cutout characters, zzzzzzzz… Oh, sorry, I dosed off there. I guess you can’t say that this anime is necessarily bad, but it’s so painfully uninteresting and unoriginal that it’s not worth watching. This is the kind of show that kids would watch simply because they are kids and they will watch anything; a cash grab with no effort or passion behind it what so ever. To me, World Trigger is the epitome of not putting any effort into a show and expecting money to come pouring in.

Synopsis: A gate to another dimension has opened and unleashed gigantic creatures called “The Neighbors” that threaten all of humanity. A young boy who also claims to be a “neighbor” emerges to help Earth’s defense force, but he can’t reveal his true identity to them.

In case you couldn’t tell, this plot is very straightforward. Monsters appear. Fight the monsters. Beat the monsters. Repeat. That’s literally it; there are no real side-plots occurring and there are no interesting backstories behind any of this stuff. It’s just a barebones human vs. monster story. Now, that could still be salvageable if the monster fights were well done or nicely animated, but they aren’t! The animation is below average and lacks energy. For some ungodly reason, World Trigger instead tries to grab its audience’s attention by info-dumping the hell out of them and trying to explain the specifics behind the technology they use to fight the monsters. Too bad that nobody cares. I’m really not sure what they were thinking here; this is obviously not the kind of show that’ meant to be taken seriously, so is there any reason at all to act as if explanations are necessary in order for us to believe that these devices are possible in the real world? No. It’s not. Needless to say, the explanations they give are not only boring, but also bullshit upon further inspection. It pretends to be scientific but is actually just pulling stuff out of its ass. Even World Trigger’s info-dumping fails miserably. Put simply, this anime’s plot is the blandest of the bland.

Up to this point, there are only two characters who matter even slightly in the grand scheme of things. One of them is an unbearable “white night” stereotype. This is the kind of character who preaches morality and doing the right thing every other time he opens his mouth; he has no real interesting traits, no real flaws, and he is incredibly predictable due to his unreasonably idealistic nature. Horrible character, horrible writing. The second is the only thing about the show that even remotely stands out: The protagonist named Kuga. Kuga is secretly a neighbor; just like the monsters he is fighting. This means that he has no concept of social norms, which leads to a variety of comedic, mildly amusing scenarios. Although, Kuga is amusing and can be quite charming, he really can’t justifiably be called a strong character. For one, he appears to be pretty overpowered at this point. He has yet to be presented with a legitimate challenge. Not even his complete lack of an understanding of the culture he is immersed comes across as a legitimate problem; just a source for comedy. This sucks all the suspense out of the plot and makes it completely predictable. Additionally, Kuga has no inner conflict to compensate for the lack of a challenge he faces against the other neighbors. Essentially, this means that there’s no real conflict in the show! It might as well be monster of the week style, because the overarching plot is just complete garbage. Kuga could have made the show worth watching, but he’s just not all there, even for this kind of show.

In short, World Trigger is just too predictable and generic to warrant a watch. The animation is bland, the soundtrack is mediocre, the plot is a cardboard cutout and the character cast is both small and boring. All in all, this show was a decent sized disappointment, even though I wasn’t expecting that much in the first place. Steer clear from this one; there are dozens of better shounen you could be watching. read more

1st thing to say... PURELY UNDERRATED. 2nd, felt sorry for those who dropped this series from the start. 3rd, this show is AWESOME!

Way back when I started watching World Trigger, the first 10 episodes are a bit booring because there's a lot of dialogues. But wait, you'll realized these dialogues will help you understand what is World Trigger. It's educational dialogue for this show. And wait, don't expect that the rest of the episode is dialogue, the next cours will blow you with a lot of action pack. It's like you're watching a ONE PIECE like atmosphere since it is also produced by Toei Animation, but of course they don't have the same story or plot. They have their own originality and signature. One Piece has the atmosphere of old to modern, while World Trigger has Modern to Future. I'm really glad that I didn't drop this show because of it's current rating and even now, I always anticipate this in its weekly release. Some people dropped it because the animation sucks. I don't think so. The animation is just average and it didn't sucked at all. The story is great, give it a chance.

Let me just give you some advise, watch it 'til episode 12 because episode 13 and beyond will blow you away with a lot of action pack, especially the Invasion part where every episodes gaves a lot of tense, and unpredictable happenings.

Story takes place when Usamo met Kuga, a Black Trigger user who is also a Neighbor. Kuga came to earth to search for his Father's friend. Usamo help Kuga to find with him, but it turned out Kuga is also helping Usamu for being an Agent and put him in a lot of trouble for being a friend with a Black Trigger user. But their friendship became stronger as the story goes on.


The art is just average. It didn't sucked for your info. As the story moves, you'll forgot the art and you'll be focused on story.

Sound, seems above average, it's good but not too good. But it really fits.

Character, by the way, there's a lot of character introductions since this show features a lot of group ranks and team ranks. But what's good about this anime since there's a lot of characters, but still they didn't lose the focus of the main characters.

The enjoyment, one of the most improtant to discuss. In my own personal opinion, this is really enjoyable. Be open minded, forgot about the animation, focus on the story and you'll be captured by this show's awesomeness.

Overall, I wish people will give this show a chance since I'm very sure things will come up. But I would begged to disagree on it's current rating below 7. Really? How could you rate other shows that are even bad but still above 7, but couldn't rate World Trigger above 7 just because you've watch until episode 10 then dropped? You aren't even on it's half, this show is 50 episodes. There's a lot of things to happen. What happened in episode 1-10 doesn't mean it will always be like that. Things will turn out especially in the middle part or in the invasion part where it became really good.

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REVIEW IS BASED ON RECENT EPISODE 27 OF THE ANIME (without reading the manga)
Also my first review on trying to being as detailed as possible without spoilers.

There are a lot of controversial discussions regarding 'World Trigger' out there but don't let them fool you. This is probably one of the most underrated shows out there that deserves a bit more recognition.
Personally, I enjoyed every aspect of this anime so far from the plot, characters and silly faces with a slight comedy there and then.

Story - 9
The plot starts by introducing a four year background story of the city of Mikudo being attacked and serverly destroyed by these creatures called 'Neighbors' who have burst from another universe through a dimensional gate. While the city is in catastrophe, a mysterious earth organisation called the 'Border' fends off these creatures using weapons called 'Triggers'.
The after event of this is where the actual anime begins, which leads to major consequences to how earth retaliate against it. (this is how far i'll go without introducing any more spoilers)

At first it is a lot to take in regards to who these creatures are? why did they attack? What causes the gate to open? and exactly what is Trigger?
However, the pace of the anime will slowly take you through every small little detail that happens in each episode at the end and each cliffhanger will leave you hooked!

Art - 8
The animation is produced by Toei, it is quite standard and the quality of it seems pretty average while not repeling ones eye.
The characters design overall are drawn pretty well IMO, though nothing that majorly special. They do look slightly bland with a few colour shadings and at times there are some slight out of proportions scenes you can see if you closely examine it, otherwise theres isn't much impact that ruins it. The creatures are somewhat not 'extraordinary' and not gruesome as you think they are, although it is understandable through the story.

They use a variety of 3D blueprints layout to show you the setting which is pretty useful at times to understand the perspective.
Besides, as you watch on the go, you adapt to it and will not notice it.
It seems that the quality of this improves as show goes on.

Sound - 9
Those who are familiar with Yuki Kaji seiyuu (Eren Jaeger, Haruyuki, Melodias) would immediately recognise him as one of the main protagnist. Though, the other protagnists do fit their character and the sound effects they use (such as 'Hmm') can be noticed as a signature element of their personality.

They use a variety of other casts which does fit the characters well but some of the familiar ones are only used as a supporting role. (Kana Hanazawa, Fukuyama Jun etc)
The opening used is pretty catchy and matches the theme of the anime but occasionally it randomly pops up during the mid episodes (around episode 10 onwards) which can cause it to mistakenly be the ending instead. Sadly, there is no ED theme due to the time restraint to show everything in the anime which isn't much of a problem as it provides more screen time for viewers.
There aren't any particular OST that grabs my attention, yet it does utilises it well during various scenes.

Character - 10
The main character (Mikumo, Osamu) is not your typical Goku, Natsu, Luffy or Naruto, he's the exact opposite and has his own way of dealing with battles. This keeps the characters fresh instead of knowing they'll obliterate everything that stands in their way (cough Kirito).
Without spoiling, the other protagnists develop slowly and does balance out everything.
There is A LOT of supporting characters which makes it hard to remember who their names are and sometimes you feel like they re-used him/her design and just changed their name. But dont fret, they will ALWAYS (as of EP27) show you their (NAME, RANK, SQUAD, TYPE) in every scene similar to those who watched Shirobako so you dont forget.

Enjoyment - 10
When I first started watching this, i thought the pacing was slow and didn't understand anything but now i appreciate it a lot more since it slowly gives you understanding on characters and weapons they use through the show. They dont skip out the details on things and make sure there isn't any unanswer aspects apart from the story. They will repeatedly show you the historical background of events of last week to remind you, which is useful.
The feeling I got from this was similiar to 'Bleach' the ranking system, how powerful the squads are and the different abilities they use.

Overall - 9/10

This score can change overtime depending on how the anime progresses.
Otherwise, so far it is worth watching, and for those who don't give it a try - well i'd say you're missing out.

+Good story
+Smooth Pace
+Catchy sounds
+Any questions regarding the EP will be answered every time at the end
+Good characters (=3=)

- Way too many characters to remember
- Random OP pop up during the episode
- Some slight bland design, which may not appeal to viewers.
- Animation can look lazy at times.

Give this a try, only you can decided whether you like it but will update this when it finishes!
TRIGGER ON! read more