Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo

Mar 30, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Nyron (All reviews)

684 people found this review helpful

Cross Ange is a travesty. It's a horrible, stupid, illogical trainwreck of a show with shoddy production values that relies almost entirely on pandering to the lowest forms of human life and waving shallow moments of shock value all over the screen. The series has a narcissistic sense of self-awareness, and in each episode you can nearly hear a subtle narration by the director and other Sunrise execs laughing at how much of a moron you are for watching this garbage that they've put in front of you.

"Ha, I bet those glass-eyed imbeciles are getting bored, let's put in another lesbian threesome."

"No, not yet. Only after we show the loli whipping someone again."

That said, it's one of the best things I've seen out of this studio in years. With a big "Fuck you, Sunrise.", let's go into this.

Cross Ange is a lot of different things. Cross Ange is a magical princess show about knights and dragons. Cross Ange is a prison drama. Cross Ange is Mean Girls. Cross Ange is borderline yuri hentai. Cross Ange is Gundam Seed. Cross Ange is a catharsis for the type of person who has a Fetlife account. Cross Ange is what would happen if you made a Princess Peach anime starring Ronda Rousey. Cross Ange is proof that not only will Mizuki Nana play any role, but that she is also good at it. Cross Ange is anime madlibs where your only word choices are "lesbians", "dragons" and "kill".

The actual premise of the story is that a pampered princess named Angelise, a thoroughly awful person, is thrown out of her castle and put in an all-ladies jail when it's found out that she's a fraud. She's then forced to pilot a Gundam and fight dragons, because. And then she's bullied, molested or beaten up a lot, until she finally becomes "Ange", the greatest main character to ever appear in a Sunrise mecha show. Then the story becomes about rebellion, alternate timelines and dimensions, fighting god, virtual realities, and uhhhhh... Yeah. The story progresses through a flurry of ridiculous plot twists, comically evil villainous acts, and lesbian sex scenes. It's certainly not boring, but you will hate yourself for watching it. One of my favorite things about this series is what they do with the episode previews, where the characters break the 4th wall and banter about how ridiculous all this shit is.

My other favorite thing is that there are dragons in this show. But they're not dragons, they're DRAGONs, and they're called that because they're DRAGONs and not because they're dragons.

But really, the legitimate thing you're watching this for is Ange. Ange is amazing. She's logical, pessimistic, she cheats, she'll insult you and everything you stand for, disarm you and then shoot you through the face, twice. She's so out of the norm for an anime protagonist I can barely deal. She doesn't want harmony, she wants destruction. She wants to demolish everything that's wronged her. She's not a victim. The show is called "Cross Ange" because she's cross about 90% of the time. She is the one who knocks.

The rest of the cast is surprisingly good too. Cross Ange does a competent job at giving you multifaceted, developing characters to feel things about, even if those feelings are mostly hatred and/or pity. The other central females are almost all emotionally damaged in some way or another, and are in contrast to Ange, very fragile people. I thought this was very interesting, because not only is Ange a strong, domineering, unbreakable character on her own, but those qualities shine even more when you slowly see the deep-seated problems with everyone around her.

This series only has like two male characters. One of them is Kira Yamato from Gundam Seed, except that he's completely useless and a stooge 90% of the time. If you're ever worried about Ange being overshadowed or saved by her boyfriend, don't worry, he's the bottom in the relationship. This was also refreshing. Except for near the end where he actually starts doing things, that was lame and subverted a lot of the good things about his character and the show as a whole.

The other major male character is the central villain, Fetus-kun, who is also the most self-aware jab at otaku I've ever seen. The whole premise of his character is that he's his own OC, and is looking for the perfect waifu. It's insulting and hilarious at the same time, just like the rest of the series.

Animation-wise, Ange looks pretty okay at its best, and pretty bad at its worst. Gundam Unicorn this is not. The character and mech designs are also pretty bland, making the series not seem like anything relevant when looked at out-of-context.

The audio's good. Nothing to write home about. You get a bunch of Mizuki Nana and stuff. I can't recall much of the BGM at all even though I watch this series week by week. The recurring insert song sung by Ange is pretty memorable.

Cross Ange is a big damn spectacle with one of the best female leads in any anime. It's ridiculous and stupid, and even Sunrise probably hates you for watching it, so that means you should.

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Mar 30, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

clowred (All reviews)

159 people found this review helpful

The last episode came, many people watched it and at the end one thought was strongly resonating in their brain: "Why did we underestimate this anime so much?". The beginning of this anime may be the biggest hoax in the anime history. Not only it made no sense, but it was like in the middle of night while you were sleeping someone blew up your roof, killed your family and then told you that it was your fault and you should be punished. No sense right? Still, slowly but surely this anime showed that it was a lot more than that. Sometimes surprising by the deep philosophical understanding of the human nature, and sometimes using its main card, the fighting, the best way possible. Many could say the entire premise of this anime was to not judge a book by its cover. No mater how ugly it may be, what is inside could be worth thousands of time more than a book with a cover that shines like gold. Anyway, lets do it the normal way:
Story - 9, The story of this anime centers around a girl, Ange a royal princess, who at her coming of age ceremony is shown to be a Norma, a person not considered human in a society where everyone is using mana to control everything around them, thus making life easier. Everything falls into chaos, many sad things happen around her and after that she is sent to Arsenal, no, not the team, but a place where all Norma are disposed of, or so was believed. A lot of whining, hundreds of screams, enough to make you wish she was killed right on the spot. After a few episodes no one would wish the same thing. Not only because her character became a lot more interesting, but because the purpose of Arsenal is becoming clearer.The story becomes more and more complex as time passes so it should be impossible for someone to try to present the story in only a few words. There are betrayals, there is love, there is friendship, sadness,quite a lot of yuri, and we have an awesome antagonist who appears at the right moment. Still, its not like everything was perfect. There are a few blanks in the story, blanks that not only were not explained but it felt like a railway was missing some parts. For better or worse, we were made to forget about this and move on. I don't know if that part is to be explained in a movie, ova or maybe a second season, but it certainly needs one to explain a few missing parts without going back to the plot of the first season. Its the best ending for this anime and I really do not wish for everything to repeat in the same world as before.
Now, after the story comes the art.
Art - 9, Sometimes I wonder, how should we describe art? Some anime have such an ugly art that it would not be a surprise of everyone to hate that anime, but instead there are fans saying it receives a ten just because they feel like it fits. Sadly, I do not have the same opinion. Art is about beauty, about fluidity, about complexity, about impact. This anime excels at most, but some may say they could be even better just because .. . Anyway, every characters, robot, dragon looked awesome. Especially the dragons which didn't try to fit in the same criteria we were used to. Each battle was like a movie. They can make you forget to blink or breath. The only problem was its too fast pace. They moved to fast from one place to another and because of this it became tiresome to try to take in everything and instead were are left with the decision to only concentrate only on a few things forgetting about the rest.
Sound - 10, extremely enjoyable. The bgm is very important, but its true role is to make you feel attracted to the story, which this one did. If a bgm attracts to much attention, be it good or bad, then it failed in its purpose. Some forget about this and rate it poorly or better only based on this. The ost, op, ed and especially the seyuu's are the most important. And all of them are doing their job perfectly.
Characters - 10, Vivid, strong, beautifully. Each and everyone of them had what you could call charm. Their personalities, feelings, point of view were attractive mostly because there are so many that its impossible to not see at least one that shared your emotions and state of mind. I can say that in my opinion this anime strongest point were the characters.
Enjoyment - 9, there is not much to say about this. It was a gem found in the garbage. If you can watch it with an open mind you will not only not regret doing it but you are also going to remember it as one of the most surprising anime in the entire history.
Overall - 9, The story was not perfect, this is clear. A story that is short but also complex can hardly manage what Cross Ange did. Its divergent points were not only large in numbers, but also had its own characters which had to do their job in a way that wouldn't hinder the progress of the story. I'm going to re-watch it later this year for sure. Until then I can only recommend it to anyone who loves anime.

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Jan 19, 2015

11 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 2

Death-Counter (All reviews)

126 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

To be honest, this was one of the anime I've been looking forward to during the fall season. It looks and sounds interesting but its overall presentation is just so bad.
As I watched this I realized I saw a lot of plot holes by watching it once. Usually I would watch an anime three times to notice anything but every problem is just so provoking that it's noticeable.
I won't be talking about rape, fanservice, or morality problems as other reviews I've seen have, unless they're problematic in some other way. They're problems in their own right but I'm not one to judge an anime based off that.

Story: 2/10
On paper, the plot sounds very interesting, enough to drag me in. But the execution is god awful. The problem with Cross Ange is that it tries way too hard and ends up being edgy as hell. There's no coherency because anything it offers is so poorly implicated. The first few episodes were somewhat acceptable but it turns to a lot of illogical dialogue. A few episodes later it plays on a lot high school anime tropes and comedic plays that don't fit the anime's theme. Overall it just doesn't set the tone or setting that it should have. But I've stratched a long and tried to watch it. By the eleventh episodes, I dropped this because of how horribly written it is. At that point it just felt like the creator realized how bad his work and was about to be fired from his job if he didn't do anything good, but he resulted in a cheap product with no good foundation. It has a lot of very interesting concepts but the way it's presented is just so bad.
Now I know I said I wouldn't talk about the fanservice but this is something important. I would be fine if it were used for rape and a prison like environment, but it's used for comedy. It conflicts with the tone and is more annoying than fanservice should be. Only a few anime/manga have been able to be funny and keep a serious story, I.E. Fullmetal Alchemist, but this isn't one of them.

Art: 1/10
I am more critical of art and animation for various reasons, but let's not get into that. The animation is bad to the point where I actually notice the frames. The CG is very straightforward, it's either bad or not. This is bad. It's very out of place and obviously you can notice it. The CG ddoesn't mesh in too well with the background but that's ridiculous because the background when using CG is usually the blue sky.
The artwork is meh-ish. The designs and concepts arejust so bland and generic. "Yes let's have a blonde princess like every anime. Whatelse sshould we have?" "Oh, I have all these generically designed characters with me." Was pretty much what I thought the creator was thinking. The mech designs are pretty stupid. What's with that royal royce on Ange's mech. They try to look cool rather than practical which is something I prefer in mech designs.

Sound: 2/10
I overall hate it. Nothing stood out and I found nothing powerful enough because of how conflictingly unnoticeable it is. That's a fault on Cross Ange itself because of how it can't keep a good atmosphere.
The voice acting was average to below. The majority of voices sound so artificial that I can't help but be annoyed. Their voices sound like they're being faked. Like a character faking their voice in a cheesy television show I watched as a kid.

Characters: 1/10
Throughout, I have never hated characters so passionately. The characters I do like don't even get screen time. I can't believe how artificial the character development is. The reason is because of the plot contrivances and the lack of solid characterization so that we're given good ideology in the earlier episodes. Any event that provokes development is done so terribly, because there's no foreshadowing nor a natural flow. Everything is planned out like "IT SHOULD HAPPEN" rather than "IT WILL HAPPEN."

Enjoyment: 1/10
Generally, I couldn't come to love this because of how boring it is. I would usually watch something for gore regardless of how badly written it is but the gore just feels cheap and needless, because the presentation is just chauvinistically pretentious and overdramatic, and how the atmosphere is wrongly set through every little moment.

Overall: 2/10
At best I think this would be a six but I won't be here to see it get any bette or worse.

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Mar 30, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

JustMayonnaise (All reviews)

123 people found this review helpful

This is possibly one of the most underrated animes from the fall season.

You can read my overall + my final thoughts/notes at the very bottom of the review if you're feeling lazy and just want some quick feedback on the anime.

I can't lie the first 5 episodes was extremely hard to get through for many which lead to the anime being dropped early on, and also given a poor rating due to its evaluation being solely based off of these first 5 episodes. It is now one of the animes I look forward to watching every week, almost as much as "Your Lie in read more

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Mar 29, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 1

RLinksoul (All reviews)

81 people found this review helpful

Cross Ange is the very definition of exploitation. It exploits the viewers in virtually every way possible. It has an all-star voice cast, constantly bombards the viewers with the most pandering fanservice it can, all while failing to deliver any worthwhile material in its BD releases other than a Nana Mizuki concert ticket.

[ Story ]

The story is deceptively simple, a world where mankind has developed a magitech ability known as "Mana" that is used in their daily lives as if it were the most common thing in the world. However, there are a handful of people in the world who are incapable of using read more

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Mar 29, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

aerolyt (All reviews)

38 people found this review helpful

Cross Ange is a bizarre anime. On the surface, it seems to have all the tools it needs to be successful, compelling, and dare I say even thought-provoking.

Unfortunately, that's not what we end up with. Not even close. This realization came over me, not all at once, but very slowly as the series went on. By midseason, I was so utterly confused by what the show had become that I couldn't even begin to take it seriously as a creative work. Now that it's over I think it's time to really explore just what went wrong with Cross Ange.

Story: 3/10
It's difficult to pin down where read more

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Mar 31, 2015

22 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

Adesi (All reviews)

25 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

"Are you a fan of anime?
A fan of well-written and intricate plots which leave you completely speechless?
How about stories which are completely dark and riveting, while completely obscuring the moral boundaries which define human society?
Are you searching for a gem that will change how you view the world and force you to question the value a human life has?
Then look no further - as the masterpiece entitled 'Cross Ange' is the story you've been looking for!" - said no one ever (at least at the time of writing).

Then do you like Sunrise? (taken both ways, since you'll be seeing a lot of both)
If you answered read more

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Apr 14, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

agentwash6 (All reviews)

23 people found this review helpful

I can say with great confidence that Cross Ange is one of the trashiest, garbage series I have watched in quite a while. Its ridiculous amounts of over the top fan service and emphasis on shock and awe scenes are legitimate lunacy. However, after the travesty that is the first few episodes a compelling story begins to rise from the muck that is Cross Ange and give people a legitmate reason to keep watching besides the fanservice and some some good mecha action.

The story begins by introducing us to our main heroine Ange, who lives in a world where magic is a used daily, and those without magic are a persecuted group of people called the Norma. Ange is pretty unlikable for the first few episodes, as she clings to the fact that Normas are inferior, despite the fact that she is revealed to be a Norma herself, apparently not realizing that not using Mana once in your life is a tell tale symptom. From there she is shipped off to a Norma prison island and told that she has to fight DRAGONs to save humanity, why in all caps? Apparently Sunrise thought it looked cool. From there Ange is introduced to the other Norma, who are all young girls, and the fanservice begins, and it's literary ridiculous. There's some weird rapey scenes, lesbian three ways to keep the plot moving, and Ange is naked for about 60 percent of her on screen time, a trend continues as the series moves on. The first few episodes will test if you are ready for this series, from going for over the top shock affect on issues such as racism, lots of nudity, and little girls getting lopped in half by giant dragons. It is as ridiculous as it sounds, and it sometimes hilarious to watch the over the top nature, and the series seems pretty self aware of just how trashy and bad it is. The cast of side characters initially aren't very important to the plot or are given much attention, besides the leader Salia and the head lesbian Hilda. There is also a guy named Tusk who lives on an island and rescues Ange at some point, and all of their conversations consist of him accidentally bury his head in her crotch or something like that, than Ange shouts "baka" and beats the crap out of him. That is basically a summary of that episode. However Tusk shows some interesting characteristics as well as brings up some mysteries about the world of Mana.

The story starts to pick up near the end of the first half, when the narritive shifts from the island back to the mainland, where we are given a lot more depth into Hilda's character that makes her much more likable and understandable, and we once again see how ingrained the fear of the norma is in the people who use Mana. However a large battle breaks out on the Norma battle island, and during this battle we are introduced to the main villain Embryo, whose main attack as well as the other special mechas is powered by song. I wish I was making some of this up, but it seems like Sunrise started throwing crap at a wall until it stuck. The story starts to get more and more interesting after this point, and has some twists and shows us how exactly the earth has ended up in this state and the true nature of the DRAGONs, and some honestly genuine twist regarding the cast of characters and how they have been manipulated by the great Embryo, and seeing how he played off the weaknesses of each girl makes him a cool character to watch. They start throwing a lot of science jargon around during the end that feels like it could be replaced with a recording of Jesse Pinkman saying, "science bitch" over and over as it seems like they are just sputtering straight nonsense. Also there is a ridiculous deus ex machina near the end that left in tears as it tried to explain how a frying pain stopped a bullet and can also apparently save you from falling into a ravine and getting hit by an exploding car, its like they suddenly realized these characters are integral to the plot and has never heard of the no take back rule. But in all honesty, the second half is a vast improvement and has an interesting plot that can suck you in.

The characters are very diverse, with most falling in the categories of being Ange, wanting to bone Ange, or strongly disliking Ange because they want to be her. Ange falls in the being Ange category, and starts off pretty dislikable, but quickly turns into the chosen one who pilots the special mech with great skill and cares deeply for her comrades and friends. Tusk falls into the wanting to bone her category, and is a skilled fighter and nice guy who helps out the Norma and is considered to be Ange's knight, which as a side effect grants invulnerability. Salia is the leader and falls into the hate us because they ain't us category, and is initially a fairly competent leader who keeps a steady head, but is insecure due to the fact that she was not chosen and Ange was. Hilda wants to bone Ange and starts off unlikable, but as she learn more about her and she softens up she is a fairly likable character who goes through some nice development. Embryo wasnt to bone Ange, is the ridiculous Op bad guy with a justified God Complex, and is actually interesting to watch how he toys with others and manipulates them to accomplish his will. i was also impressed with the later development of some of the other side characters, as it really shows what's going through their heads and proves they are more than just boobs and ass.

Overall Cross Ange is a train wreck, but is one that you can;t turn away from. It's over the top scenes can make it hilarious, and it seems aware of this fact which is honestly pretty funny. the fan service is up to ridiculous levels, and I would advise if you choose to watch this series do it in a sealed room because if someone walks in on you during some of the more fanservicey scenes you are going to have some explaining to do. The plot really gets going as the show completes it's run, but you have to put up with the trash that is the first few episodes and be able to take a ready helping of fan service. Cross Ange is definitely an experience, and one i would recommend giving a try, even if you can hear cackling Sunrise execs counting their money as you watch the literal crap they put out that somehow turned out to be pretty good. Nest year we'll probably have a mecha series featuring fully naked girls fighting GRIFFINs in space while trying to bring down two gods in a separate dimension, with a healthy dose of lesbian three ways, but that goes without saying.

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Jan 4, 2018

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Vizic (All reviews)

8 people found this review helpful

I initially got into Cross Ange because of the fanservice and Yuri themes, episode one took me by surprise. It had me hating the main character and enjoying some of the negative things happening to her. However that feeling blew over and soon I started feeling bad for her and enjoying watching her grow, become stronger, and overtake the many obstacles she's had thrown at her. The show also started getting into some of the other main characters, letting a little focus off of Ange, this was also fantastic as the other characters (some you may find yourself hating at first) turn out to be read more

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Jul 6, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Kergen (All reviews)

22 people found this review helpful

Disclaimer: This review is my own opinion, take it for what its worth. I will be breaking this down into the stages MAL uses for rankings as there is a lot to cover with this one. As normal I will do my best not to spoil and keep it to the broad strokes. In addition I will worn you now. Watching this with friends is a no no. YES it is a bit risque, YES there are some very confronting things about this show, but that is not what I am talking about. There are a lot of girls in this one, to the point wear there are like 4 male characters. And this mas of girls is hot and I mean HOT. I am telling you this now because I will not be held responsible for starting waifu war 4. Why 4? Simple! Because we all know waifu war 3 started when HuniePop was released, get with the times people. Que theme music aaaaaand GO!

Cross Ange: Tenshi to so on and so forth is an action, sci-fie, ecchi... ish anime that dose a splendid job of just about everything. It was a masterfully crafted peace from start to finish with only a small handful of what one might call "glaring" flows to it, but I don't want to scare you off it so I will leave them until later, like right at the end. For now, I must gush like the fan boy I am.

This was without question one of the best things I have watched in at least a year. I was in love with this anime right from the first episode. It was fast paces but was not afraid to slow down the tiniest amount when it wanted you to feel things. It plays with the full gambit of emotions. Love, hate, sorrow and a hole bunch of others I cant seem to name coz well... I'm a guy, but trust me they are there and in spades. Not going to lie, there was a point in time this show jerked a tear out of my eye. Other times I was literally laughing out loud, right before being angry for the same reason. It was like a roller coaster of emotion, not a crazy one but from episode to episode it definitely gets you. Some of the time the feelings are not the sort you should have for animated girls but hey, that's never stopped us before am I right internet? The big kicker to it all though is that its all about the basics of human nature. The need to be in control or how we don't relay function alone. The fact that they tell the story with fuck off robots is just gravy. Ok that may have been a bit of spoils but if you haven't gotten that from the first two eps your likely watching this anime for the wrong reasons. 10 for 10 on enjoyment. Moving on...

This first thing that hit me about this anime was the outstanding use of colour. I am a devout follower of the high and mighty "Lord Vivid Colours" and I can say without a doubt this anime would pleas him. The pallet was vast, all the colours and not just a splash on a brown back drop modern day FSP style. What starts as a peaceful setting drenched in bright pinks, yellows, blues and whites gos down a darker path as the mood of the show changes. The are quickly replaced by blacks, grays and reds but stay with me I am not taking back what I said earlier. It takes an episode or two but the colours return in full force as the disposition of the characters improve and the reality of the world sets in. When the mood is good the colours are bright. When it is bad the pallet changes to reflect it. It is as much a part of the story as anything else and it helps immensely with the fast pacing of the show that there are visual ques like this to help keep the viewer on track. On a less ranty note the art over all was very well done with a lot of sharp lines and easily identifiable shapes, nothing just blended into the back ground. Each peace of furniture and the people on screen were easily recognizable but it very rarely felt cluttered. The distinct lack of copy and paste throughout the show was also very refreshing. 10/10 art team, well done.

Next down on the list of numbers is the characters. Good ol' characters. You know what? There are lots of them and they are good. Not what you might call amazing but considering the pace of the show (fast as hell), I think they have done really well. Almost everyone has at leas a minor bit of character development no matter how short there life span may be or how close to the main story they are. And on the off chance they don't get developed they are acknowledged strongly enough that you know they are real. No single character feels phoned in and aside from the occasional mob there is no mas melding of opinion, people are always butting heads over something. There are plenty of twists in the development of the main toon pile as well and most of the time it is a bit of a surprise. I say surprise and mean it but occasionally there are some ill timed or even impossible shifts in mood. This is another factor the dev team seemingly utilized in the telling of the story that mostly worked in there favor... mostly. As I mentioned before in my disclaimer there is a lot of girls in this one and it IS a touch ecchi so there was bound to be a good amount of.... let us say lesbianism going around. This is not entirely forced though. On many occasions it is in fact used to make a point about the world they are living in or to legitimately build character. Some times it works quite well as a point puter acrosser, but other times it falls short, and then there are times when it is just strait up fan service. It was unavoidable but it is also mostly good..... 8/10 characters let us move on.

SOUND! Not a lot to say on this one. I am not one to pay much attention to the sound in anime, or anything really. Due to my work I have a gift for hearing when something is wrong but that is about it. With that being said I didn't hear anything wrong as fare as the soundtrack went in this one. The action pacing of it did mean there was always some sort of music going so a lot the background was drowned out but the fight noises were responsive and seemed different enough that they didn't just meld into explosion. Normally this sort of thing would only warrant a 6 or 7 from me but in this case its a solid 8 from the theme music. It just fits. I don't know what the words are in English, I didn't have that sub file, but it sounded right. So 8/10.

Now the hard sell. Story. I say hard for what seems like a number of reasons, but relay its just one. I found it SUPER hard to pick up and follow over all. It seemed to take forever for the story to kick in and then it would piss off for an episode or two and come back. The hole thing was just so fast paced that each episode up until the last third felt like individual events that some how strung together. It was a simple mater to pick up on the "foreshadowing" for me but I cant say if that's because it was obvious or just my veteran status picking up the right bits. I know I have already told you how much I loved the different methods used to tell the story and I do stand by what I said. But telling a story well doesn't make it a good story. The problem being that this IS a good story. It is deep and full of emotion, conflict and real issues that face the human race, though it is a tad embellished (meh its anime). They just over paced it. It felt like they had something truly great in the works.... and then they gave it to Michael Bay. All being said there were no plot holes for me to dig out and the last 8 or so episodes saved it hard. I will be re watching this one down the line, probably after its dubbed, just to see if I can follow it a bit better. It dose have a somewhat "Blade Runner" feel to it in that I think I would understand more the second time around. So right now I am going with a soft 6. It was a good story when I could find it and it was told brilliantly and in interesting ways. But I can say it irked me how long it took to kick in and was defiantly not my favorite thing about this show.

So to cap it all off. Right from the start this show goes hard. Balls to the wall. It's speed setting goes from about 8 up to 11+. It throws things at you constantly in what I assume is an attempt to keep you from following the story 100% but keep you entertained enough to keep watching, and it dos it SO well. All is grand with this show and I would say to all seasoned anime watchers to get on it. On the flip side though, if you are new to the sport of anime watching I would let this one rest till you have a winter or two under your belts. I have been at this game for almost twenty years (that's right I started animes when I was 7), and it took me a bit to latch on to this. I mean, I may just be a dumb ass. Stranger things have been proven true. But as a rule of thumb I find I pick up on things in anime quit well. I stand by the Masterpiece ratting I have given and defy any who think otherwise, but that's what the Internets are for and as I said, personal opinion.

I have been Kergen and you have been reading this review. CONGRATS and go forth to bigger and better anime.

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Apr 2, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

-ShadowClaw- (All reviews)

21 people found this review helpful

Oh boy this is going to be quite the controversial review to make, The main reason because of how much the show has really made the people who watched it so divided by those who think its good and those who think its bad. Il try to go into detail as to explain what are the pros and cons of this show and maybe dwell why so many people either hate it or dislike it.

The series is either a hit or a miss…it is a hit because it focuses a lot of how society functions especially towards the discrimination of others which are different and how they threaten the stability and comfort they already have, as well as what it means to find your own since of individuality and since of moral towards around you, especially of the main heroine who developed from a spoiled, rotten and naive individual into a strong, intelligent, wise and caring leader.

But it can also be a miss cause of the highly controversial subjects and the extremities of certain scenes as well plot holes and plot armour some of the characters get.

I don’t know what happened at the studio that produced it but u can practically speculate there was a lot of confusion and divided opinion as to how this show was developed especially towards the beginning of the series.

As a matter of fact if u compare the first 5 or so episodes to the rest of the series, it is like watching two different shows altogether.

The Animation was fantastic at times, especially in the fight scenes but in others the animation looked sloppy and messed up, the soundtrack on the other hand was probably the best thing the show had and the singing of the actors was superb for the most part.

The characters were the second best thing that the series had, as their development throughout the show was something good to see, especially the main heroine as well as few of the side characters, but they are not perfect as there were a few character flaws that were really obvious or just to cliché that sometimes it makes u want to cringe and while the main characters and a few of the side characters did get proper development others were not so lucky in that some of them just simply hid in the background and never got much to say or do at all.

The Sec jokes and fan-service might appeal to those who like it and not so much for those who don’t especially since some of the fanservice and jokes were used were so overused and repetitive that it makes u sick to watch after a while.

thankfully these things dropped as the series went on and were not as much frequent as they were in the beginning.

At the end I would say this show is either a hit or a miss depending on what a person is actually expecting from this show. There is also that old saying that a show is so bad that it is good and this series would defiantly be a perfect example for that.

Bottom line: as an enjoyment I would rate it an 8,,, however as a whole series taken into account actually story writing, plot development, animation and characters, flaws and derps I would rate this a 6.75… as this show really could have been done better…what made it enjoyable despite this was mostly that by the middle of the series the series actually starts to thrive and use it flaws to make it more fun to watch.

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Mar 14, 2016

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 1

LoverofAngst (All reviews)

13 people found this review helpful

This show is so horrible I am visibly impressed. Every other reviewer will have commented on the synopsis (or you may have wondered here due to the debate surrounding this show), so I'll skip straight to judgement.

Sex, Nudity and the like.
Unlike most other reviewers who rated this show horribly, I do not have (many) problems with the portrayal of nudity, yuri elements and rape in this show. The first episode isn't the problem, it is the structure, backbone and texture of the show which got to me. Also, blatant nudity and/or rape scenes do NOT make a show edgy. Read Punpun if you want a realistic portrayal of the consequences of abuse. The show sits firmly in the harem/yuri/man-child fantasy genre, and while this does not excuse its portrayal of women, it is reality in anime.

Character Development.
Tl:dr for everything below: don't bother watching this anime for character development, unless you think Guilty Crown was deep. In which case, watch, and ignore this review. You would miss the point I am trying to make and then flame me anyway.

Ange as a character is often praised for having mature and realistic plot development. Her character is viewed as a strong female protagonist, and therein lies the problem. Firstly, I find issue with her character growth. Ange changes from a bigoted, ignorant princess to a tough, independent warrior in the space of six episodes. Throughout the rest of the series, she remains said tough, independent warrior. How in the world is this mature character development? Realistic character development occurs when a character changes so slowly you do not realize the character changed at all. Realistic development is when (spoiler alert for HxH) Gon snaps, and you suddenly realize that Gon's fearlessness and conviction is horrible, not heroic. You will then scroll back to the first episodes of Hunter X Hunter, wondering how this cheerful boy snapped, and you see that the author has been building up Gon's view of the world as black and white since the first episodes. You see the ways Gon ignores advice and is constantly convinced he's right. He's so charismatic that you (and Killua) forgets that Gon is a naive 10 year old boy who will be wrong at some point. Then the understanding dawns on you that Gon (and you) have been taught a lesson in how to behave in the world. (End spoiler for HxH). This does not happen in Cross Ange. How has Ange's character deepened throughout the series? She learns humility. She learns that the world is a horrible place. She learns to make decisions for herself. These messages are explicitly thrown at us, with characters saying them outright, repeating themselves over and over. Ange is shallow enough of a character that you can't portray depth in her, hence the need for the show hammering "Look! Ange is now developing (insert moral strength here)!" repeatedly into our brains. So Ange learns humility. Now what? What does she do with it? How is this newly found humility reconciled with her previous arrogance? ( hint: she's still arrogant, only now her arrogance is directed toward the 'evil royal sibling', so it is all okay). So she realizes that the world she knew and had control over is an illusion, easily shattered by a few words and a mana shield cast the the right time. How did she address her helplessness? She became a cold badass warrior (whines in pain as golden opportunity for complex development vanishes). Does she admit that the world is ultimately out of her control? No. Is the world out of her control? No, because she is the protagonist and has the power to change the 'system'. It's certainly a fun trope to watch (remember Lelouch from Code Geass?), but it is hardly realistic.

Secondly, the claim that she is a strong female protagonist irritates me. Why must a strong female protagonist be a gun-toting, independent sexy female? Why does her fighting her own battles makes her a stronger female character? This is coming from a feminist, so it will be hard to swallow. Skip on to the next paragraph for non-feminist criticism if you don't want to read this. Female protagonists are complicated. Make them into male protagonists with a female body and you have Ange. Make them too weak, and you have a non-existent character. Ange goes too far on the macho route. She is physically superior to most other characters in the show, despite being raised a princess. She is a textbook-tsundere, insulting people while (deep deep deep deep inside) sometimes caring for them. Remember Asuka from Neon Genesis? Ange is Asuka. But with more piloting skill and without the beautiful disintegration of the character near the end. She is the kind of female protagonist that makes me cringe whenever people name her as an example of a strong female character. As much as I wish female characters can be badass and invincible, having a strong female protagonist is more than toughness. It is understanding female limitations. It is realizing that we are fundamentally different from men, and embracing those differences. It is about portraying us as people, rather than as a sexualized, 'I will never cry' masculine female. We see none of this in Ange.

So Bad It's Good:
I honestly think the author is making a parody with this. The humor and self depreciation that runs through the show makes it better than shows like Guilty Crown, which are inherently horrible AND take themselves altogether too seriously. The author frequently injects moments that keeps me watching until the end because I am half convinced that he/she is making fun of the audience. Take the last episode, for example. (spoiler alert) What self respecting show will have the female lead shout " I won't let you have me, you lecherous man!" while slicing apart the main villain? Also, the villain's main goal being 'I want beautiful independent women' is so ridiculous I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout the second arc of the show. How about the younger sister going around with a whip? What the hell is happening? (End spoilers). If the anime had wanted edgy, they would have gone the Elfen Lied route, also known as 'killing puppies' induced feels. It feels like the writers started writing this god awful script, and some drunk guy at a party decided to challenge the writers to put the most ridiculous things they could get away with into the script without alerting the audience to the game. Honestly, it is entertaining. But so are many many other anime without the horrible eechi and yuri elements.

Complex Themes ( 1/10 i.e.: What themes? There were themes?!)
Rather than rant about the complete lack of "complex themes" within this anime, I'll provide examples of other anime where they were executed properly, and you can judge for yourself how well this anime deals with themes.

Rape to break the character's will: I'll give this one to Cross Ange, although honestly, the shock value trumps the emotional reward its resolution brings. I've already elaborated on how horribly Ange grows as a character, and this scene is mainly so we feel sorry for the main character. Also you cannot bring in "realism" and then have crazy things happening. It does not work that way. The prefect way to communicate dread and agony through abuse is perfectly done in Punpun, not in this anime.

Manipulation by powers that be/Discrimination: Watch Shinsekai Yori. That show does not need to use a well loved princess to prove that a certain race can be bred to hate another. You will viscerally feel the hate, I promise. Bonus: yuri scenes in Shinsekai, yay! Psycho pass can be another, though Shinsekai pulls it off better.

Clear communication/need for understanding: This. Good lord. Neon Genesis Evangelion dedicates about 99% of the show to demonstrate that clear communication between actual human beings is impossible. Clear communication is impossible. That is a fact we have to work around, not emphasize that ' if we could all just talk to one another properly, it will be fine!'. That is why relationships are messy and friends end up killing one another. Talking to one another will not solve the problem. Talking to one another while wielding giant robots definitely will not solve the problem. Stop telling me it would, baka anime!

Conclusion:
Warning, do not watch. You will waste about 13 hours of your life watching while clutching your head, and a further four hours typing up a review so you can forever expel the anime from your head.

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Dec 12, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Ruggarell (All reviews)

14 people found this review helpful

Simply put, Cross Ange is a masterpiece in my eyes. Many will say "But Ruggarell, just HOW? CROSS ANGE? MASTERPIECE? WHAT?". Let me explain.

Before Cross Ange aired last year, I saw it on the upcoming list of Anime that was coming out in the fall and being a fan of Ecchi it seemed like it would have a decent amount, so I gave it a go. I thought that I would have most likely would have dropped it anyway if the Ecchi segments weren't strong, but boy I got something entirely different. From the first 15 minutes of the Anime, it was blowing my mind. The world that Cross Ange was set in was not indeed an equal or fair one.

The 1st episode of Cross Ange made or broke the entire show for a lot of people but I was one of the few ones who kept going because of how exciting it was. Ange, the Main character, was the daughter of a very wealthy family and pretty much lived a comfortable lifestyle you see. Most of the world used magic as an everyday thing. Those who couldn't were seen as outsiders and thus rejected from society in very unpleasant ways that you will have to watch to find out. Ange, the MC was accused of being an outsider for not being able to use magic(Called normas), and thus sent to a prison.

The 1st episode of Cross Ange was so well executed and so well made that I never missed a single week of the Anime. Each week had me on the edge of my seat waiting for something insane to happen and oh boy it did each and every week. You will have to watch for yourself. The character personalities are just so good and diverse that you will end up loving(or hating) many characters. The story is just so well paced that I couldn't possibly find anything wrong at all.

If I were to write a list of every Anime that aired in 2014-2015 and someone asked me which one I loved the most, it would be Cross Ange. It's an Anime I will love forever because of how each episode was so well made. The story never let up at all. The director and writers always wanted you to be scared of what will happen next. It also had some dark humor in between as well that reminded you of the world that Ange lived in. Along the way she meets very crazy characters as well.

I honestly wish that I could watch Cross Ange all over again for the first time because of how insane it is. You might possibly cry and become depressed because there aren't anymore episodes to enjoy. I know I did. I loved the characters that much.

Thank you Sunrise thank you so so much for yet another masterpiece. Here is hoping for a Cross Ange 2.

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Aug 21, 2018

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Ingrid (All reviews)

5 people found this review helpful

Thirteen years ago, Fukuda Mitsuo was a name that became taboo across the lips of Gundam lovers far and wide for his hand in the creation of Gundam Seed Destiny and the much-maligned character of Shinn Asuka. Ten years on, he creates Cross Ange, a work with many underlying similarities to Destiny, however, infinitely superior due to certain tweaks and adjustments. Cross Ange centres around Ange, a royal princess who at her coming of age ceremony is uncovered to be a Norma, a term for those who cannot use magic and are treated as monsters by society. At its fundamental core, it explores the idea of a character redefining their perception of humanity as well as following a girl whom has lost everything that she once had and has to rediscover her identity and purpose in the world.

As an audience diving into the first episode of Cross Ange I can say I remained hopeful but unimpressed. The pacing was rushed, the animation quality inconsistent and the characters felt like a cheap ripoff from Code Geass with an unnecessary sprinkling of fanservice. So many fundamental principles of storytelling were broken in that first episode and the show looked destined to be a trainwreck. Glimpses of rough-cut quality were buried underneath a shockingly paced series of events and an obnoxious protagonist whom reflected the deep-cut nature of racism and bigotry within this dystopian society. However buoyed by the positive things I had heard about Cross Ange, I plowed on. The story writing did not improve. Ridiculous plot twists were tossed around and used at ten times the frequency of a typical Sunrise anime. Whenever there was downtime in the fighting, yuri action littered the story as if to forcefully entertain its audience. The plot went through all sorts of nonsensical ridiculousness from dragons to alternate dimeonsions and fighting an immortal god. In writing it is not possible to make the plot of Cross Ange sound palatable. However, this is an extremely rare example where the sum of the parts far exceeded my expectations.

Firstly, I have to digress that not everything about the writing is a travesty. The willingness that Cross Ange expresses in killing of characters is extremely refreshing and provides a genuine sense of urgency and risk to every single scene. Contrasting this to the last mecha show I watched, Darling in the Franxx, is night and day since that anime collapsed under the weight of a lengthy cast that received neither sufficient character development to make a difference, nor suffered any casualties to fish for some cheap feels.

In my opinion, a huge part of the reason why this anime succeeds is because of its self-awareness. The fourth wall is broken on a frequent basis and as the show continues, it becomes clear that the writers understand that the writing is atrocious to say the least. The show degenerates into self-mockery to the point where as a viewer, it is not possible to treat the story seriously any more. And once that point is understood, Cross Ange truly blooms into a marvellous form of entertainment.

Whilst the writing of Cross Ange never truly improved, there is one thing that Cross Ange did better than any other anime I have ever watched. And that is the manner it was able to believably transform an arrogant pampered princess with a thoroughly condescending attitude into the greatest protagonist in animated history. People often say “no pain, no gain”. Ange is an amazing character like none other and the enormous amount of character development that she undergoes through the course of the entire show is what makes it so sweet. Her surrounding cast is similarly developed far beyond the simple cliched shells that they wore at the beginning of the show into multifaceted characters who evoke powerful emotions in the audience by themselves. On the other hand, the final villain feels like the director’s self-insert as an otaku fan and has truly laughably questionable motivations for wishing to destroy the world. However, the show understands its own farcical nature and makes plenty of self-aware jokes at the antagonist’s expense.

At the end of the day, what truly makes Cross Ange great, is the manner in which the fundamental principles which underline the show are developed and expressed. Despite the mortifying storytelling and writing, Cross Ange expresses masterful control over the themes of racism and information control, prompting all of us to ask ourselves the age-old question of “what is human?”.

Cross Ange is about accompanying Ange every step of the way as she seeks to answer this question herself in a brutal world filled with the most nonsensical of plot devices, and fighting against her own destiny. Ten years on from the completion of Gundam Seed Destiny, Fukuda has truly redeemed himself to the mecha genre with a protagonist as good as any in the business, resulting in the best show Sunrise has made since the turn of the decade.

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Mar 31, 2015

22 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

Idunnolol (All reviews)

16 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

"What a boring plot." - Embryo, 2015.

And I couldnt agree more.

I really looked forward to this anime, and when I saw all the good reviews, I was certain it was going to be good, but boy was I wrong! I will go through why I gave this anime as low as a 3, which I very rarely do.

Story: 2.
The story sounded very interesting on paper, but when you actually watch it, you notice that its filled with plotholes, and a massive amount of stupid fanservice. If you're into hentai, go watch that shit and not regular anime.

Art: 5.
Its not good, but its not bad either. read more

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Apr 11, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

CatPrince (All reviews)

15 people found this review helpful

Right well let's get to it, Cross Ange was a trainwreck from a start, it starts off happy like "Oh yay i'm the next heir to the throne of a massive futuristic city!" To "Holy shit I am the most hated human being in the entire city." in just one mere episode. I only decided to watch it because the the site I watch said anime on had tagged it with comedy.

The first few episodes were a little weird, some being filler and some having blatant lesbians fucking but I honestly can't say it's bad the art is pretty decent, the soundtrack is pretty amazing read more

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Aug 29, 2016

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Phantasmafloria (All reviews)

8 people found this review helpful

Before i even begin reviewing this, let's get one thing out of the way -

This anime at best looks something Clamp would draw on a bad day and at worst, looks like the Gundam animators were trying to draw with toothpicks.

Sunrise really gutted this one in terms of production values; But what you sacrifice in budget, you gain in artistic integrity and auteur-ship.

There's no other anime that's been as daring with it's plot, it's characters and it's sound design as this. The entire anime is almost composed by Akiko Shikata, who honestly should have equal credit with the director considering how much of this anime read more

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Jul 3, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 1

Ahmed43 (All reviews)

13 people found this review helpful

Cross Ange is garbage. Simple and short - garbage.

It panders to otakus, giving your loads of fanservice, girl-on-girl, but lets the bland self-insert OC win in the end, just what teenage shut-in boys want.

The animation and sound are its strongest sides and even those are garbage.

Plot is trash and doesn't even try to take itself seriously. Anyone who does take this series seriously and loves it for its plot or characters... please go and check your brain.

Don't watch it. Unless you want to waste your time and brain cells.

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Nov 8, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

dpanglas (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

Came to watch thinking it'd be like infinite stratos, stayed because of the story.

Let's cut to the chase. ignore the ecchi, ignore the asspulls, ignore the budget on the animation, and you have an amazing anime. The plot was well thought out and good job to the writers. Never have I watched an anime where the characters seem to have more than one dimensional thinking and actually developed like decent human beings.

Story? 10/10
Loved the unique storyline. It put a real twist on mecha series.

Art? 9/10
I thought the art was amazing at times. Animation was also great with fluid motions. Only downfall was some budgeted read more

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Mar 31, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Joel-Baxter (All reviews)

12 people found this review helpful

*May contain minor spoilers
Cross Ange is one really good anime that alot of people dropped cuz of the first 4 episodes and i think its not fair to dislike it because of that i hated it as well even though opinions swayed me into thinking that i got around to watching it and i was really interested....it def isn't for everyone its kind of all over the place though.

Story- very good to say the least once it hits episodes 5 and onwards it really depends on your preference the early part will make you dislike the main character like to the point where you wanna see her die but she grows on you overtime and you eventually take a liking to her well i did at least. You can read the synopsis on it for the plot of the story, but without spoiling i will say its a journey to say the least. Mecha is a big part in this anime along with the sci-fi aspect alot of fanservice and gruesome scenes, singing is also a big part of the anime its not like its everywhere but its because it has to do story and fits in but it seems kinda dumb to be really honest but that aside a very good story.

Art- it's good but theres times when you can see that the animations seem kinda laggy like it had frame issues but its really rare the first episode has an audio issue idk if its where im watching from but other sites had the same issue with cross anges first episode. Another thing i didnt like about the art style was the delayed speaking animations what i mean is i mentioned singing is a big part already but some of the scenes while there singing the character's mouth isnt moving at the proper time so it looks off but it sounds great. Other than that No complaints. Mecha looks very well done as well. Other then few inconsistencies i thought the art and animation looked good

Sound- Great i liked the first half of the series op and ending not so much the second half but the battle themes are great sometimes. There are moments when a random song doesnt fit into the fight scene like imagine a crazy battle mecha style and then hearing i sad song in the heat of the fight when nothing bad has happend thats what some scenes felt like in cross ange and i wish they removed it while editing the show if they did. Character songs are good some sound angelic honestly why i was so attracted to alot of the scenes and had to rewind if i just wanted to hear it again its that good.

Character- Variety of characters although many dont get through by the end of the series they are likeable for what they are as you get deeper into the anime theres a few characters that will grow on you the main character grew on me and a few side characters and 2 other main characters. But im here to tell you cross ange is one of the best ive seen in its 2014-2015 run to me and anime when it comes to main character development i mean it was like you really noticed it and thats what i really loved a minor spoiler ima throw your way not really about the characters themselves but the main character has about 3 character changes in personality and attitude from beginning to end and a few other characters also had more than 1 character change. Although not all the characters are all that loveable the development you get is an easy 9/10 it was really well done even with the anime cliches with hero and villains.

Enjoyment- 10/10 i dont really watch all that mecha anime to be brutally honest ive seen about 5 and aside from code geass. Cross ange slips into my number two and onto my all time favourite anime list when i look back. Character development is top notch, Good story although the fanservice was overkill sometimes im an ecchi lover so it didnt bother me but its not in the ecchi genre yet it had a ton of fanservice moments, visually looked good not great, Great battle songs & character songs as well as the op and end from the 1-12 ep mark and i really just liked it. It goes 24 episodes nothing really seems rushed besides the last episode i guess.....other than that the pacing is well done it was really great i wish more people would give it a chance.

Overall- 9/10 id say more so an 8.5 but lets not muddy things up here.

Likes/Dislikes- Likes: Music, Art, Story, some of the fanservice, main character and few side characters,

Dislikes- Short pure fight scene, Too much fanservice, Random events, delayed animations (barely any), Petty highschool girl bullying stuff, Disturbing yuri/ecchi fanservice scenes and disturbing sexual fanservice scenes.

Thank you for reading a reuploaded final copy review of my thoughts on the series.

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Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo

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