Norn9: Norn+Nonet

Hmmm...Did you read that synopsis for Norn9 ? If you didn't, read it and come back.

...

Good? Ok. Now you can erase it from your mind because that synopsis is a lie. Did I ruin your hopes and dreams for this show yet? Edit 2021: This part was written when the synopsis only stated the story would be about Sorata which was a blatant lie. I see somebody on MAL now changed the synopsis so this joke doesn't work anymore, but I'm gonna keep it because I find myself funny! ;)

Story - 4

I am serious, what the synopsis says is not even a quarter of what's ... really going on. If it would have indeed focused on the story from Sorata's eyes from episode 1 to the end, maybe we could have gotten a decent sci-fi story, but nope. The kid arrives around episode 3 or 4 and gets ignored for most of the show in favor for the romance, till when he was needed in the ending for whatever reason he was brought from the future for, which seriously, felt more like a need for emotional impact rather than anything else. And yes, I am fully aware this is an otome game adaptation and as such it's only normal to focus on the "otoge" fanservice more, but do I ask for the impossible when I expect a nice story with it too? (Excepting those that really have only romance as main point. ex: basic highschool otoges) Even having a bunch of people coping up with their supernatural powers would have been great! I'm not even asking for much.

The worst is that Norn9 has all the cards set to make a solid base for a good FF Type-0*coughs* fantasy/time-travelling story, it just didn't know how to stuff it all up in 12 episodes (13, if we count the summary episode too, which I question even the existence of; was it too hard to give it one more story-episode instead of a summary ? It really felt like they needed to be SURE we REALLY understood the plot, which made me fairly suspicious. Was it trying to tell me that the story is actually worth it enough to understand? That makes me feel even more sorry for the wasted potential, instead of feeling enlightened. It makes me feel like it was supposed to be so much more.)

Was it the fault of the 12 episodes being way too short for such a story? Personally, I don't think so. A good chunk of the fault goes to whoever directed/wrote this. Their choice to focus more on Kakeru and Sakura-...wait, what? Her name is not Sakura? Well, I don't care, Fire- bender Pink Missy? (I must have insulted all Fire Benders of the Avatar realm, ImsosorryZuko!) - only turned the show duller rather than help it. Why them? Why her? Why not Cool-Ojousama or Miss Kuudere which were by far more interesting? No. Why focusing so much on one pairing at all? The story could have completed itself so much better if it was told from 3 perspectives instead, which sounds like too much, but believe me, it is not, seeing the complexity of the story that they wanted to present here. Yet it all felt so...distant...and done for the heck of it. Chaotic. All over the place.

Plus, there's that deus ex machina 100% convenient and 100% foreseeable ending (for the main couple). I would have been ready to raise my rating for it if it wouldn't have turned out in such a foreseeable manner.

Characters - 3

God have mercy on my soul. Okay, no, that was an exaggeration, but God have mercy on my soul when it comes to Kakeru and ...*checks for her name properly now* Koharu! RIGHT. If any of you watched Kamigami no Asobi just please put Kakeru next to Apollon and then tell me what you think. Comparison done? Great! They're awfully similar, aren't they? Just that, while I could ...kinda...understand Apollon's pain to a greater extent (and I put emphasis on "kinda"), Kakeru just managed to make me want to hit myself. I could never manage to put my finger on him and the overall chaotic storytelling didn't really help me care either. No, I'll go even further. I've seen so many Kakeru's that I can't help but go cold when I'm able to realize all his issues from the first glance. It's just that simple.

It all goes so slow, but then so fast. All these characters seem to not care all that much, only to care later on for no apparent reason. Koharu was another one of those dull heroines that's there to just make the guys look better, always in need of saving, always in need of reassuring and not able to do anything without her man; and to top all that, she's selfish, because her happiness with Kakeru is more important than the whole world, and I don't care otome games need a happy ending. I do not even remotely agree and it simply frustrated me more. Rant over.

Fortunately, the other two heroines were really fun and if they were given a better chance, the anime wouldn't have been such a pile of mess (but unfortunately, they weren't). Mikoto was the strong-willed, sometimes rough girl, trying to find a path that fit her ideals, then there's Shiranui (who really looks like Echo from Pandora Hearts to me) who couldn't forgive herself for a sin she made in the past. Yeah, Koharu fitted into the main story better than the other two, but seeing how she's almost a blank sheet of paper, I would have went around it somehow...

The other guys...Welp, must not lie, I didn't particularly like anybody. Sure, there was Natsuhiko, Senri, Itsuki, Shukuri and Sakuya who are types that I usually tend to like, but in this case, I didn't really have much of a reason to just fawn over them.(*coughs* besides when Shukuri got the wolf ears *coughs*). Sure, they're all pretty guys and those that I mentioned actually have some sort of backstory and some thoughts of their own, but they didn't hit me as characters; too little, too little time. Some of them can barely even categorize as characters. They're just...there. And there's Ron. I really, REALLY think that Ron is an underrated character and the way the anime treats him is only obvious. There was always that type of mystery around him, but we never found out anything about him, he was just there when it was convenient, then disappeared when he was no longer needed. And I find that a shame because I was really interested in him, no matter how much some people that played the otome game tend to dislike him. (or so I hear)

Is this enough? ....No, you say? Oh right, I forgot the villain. Welp, he's not an original one and not even remotely unique in any way. We've seen his type of characters many times and done way better. By the time he came in, I just wanted it all to end.

Animation & OST - 6.5

I was pretty happy with the animation for the most part as well for the character designs though some of them are clearly overused, but it's ok, it's nothing particularly fancy. There are very brilliant and vibrant colors throughout the entirety of the show and the animation got particularly better in the last 2-3 episodes and all through the climax. I also remember some scenes of the dream episode and the flashbacks which were really pretty. Must be honest that some other parts were more flashy than actually good, though.

As for the OST, decent. I really loved the opening and ending themes and Aion's song was really pretty. Nothing outstanding though.


Conclusion - 4

Welp, could have went way better. Just a note though, I did not play the Norn9 otome game so I don't know how they deal with it there; I also make no parallels to the game and if I disliked the execution of the anime, it doesn't mean that I also dislike the otome game or Norn9 in its entirety. I really don't. I'm just salty about the potential that it had. Edit 2021: I played the otome game. It's one of the best otome games I've ever played 100% recommend!

Do I recommend it? I guess I do, but only to the people that already played the game or to people that just want to stare at some handsome bishies. Want a good story? Look somewhere else.

What else is there to say about Norn9 other than I found it to be the most boring anime of the Winter 2016 season.

There is this grandiose plot that involves time and history, but it felt out there. I'm not sure if it was that I missed something, but the logic in this is just confusing and makes no sense. It also makes me wonder why everything is as it is. While I don't mind this concept, per se, what made it uninteresting (besides it's mind-boggling logic) is the rest of the story being mixed in. Whatever that wasn't about the overall plot is so ... boring to the point where I begin to doze off.

The characters are probably the worst thing about this show. These people are one of the blandest set of characters. It may look like they are showing chemistry, but it's horribly done. There is absolutely nothing about these people that make me care about them at all. Whatever would happen to them would not bother me one bit.

The animation was all right, having a mostly blue theme to it, but the plot and everything else is stopping me from being too positive about anything else.

This wasn't a case where I hoped the show would get better. I was hesitant to even watch this after doing research, yet I gave it the benefit of the doubt. In the end, there's no doubt I will never watch this again.

Hello there, ^^

I watched until episode 9 but then my patience drop to the ground. Adoptions from Visual Novels, especially Otome-Games are more or less the same. The female main-character is 'weak', teary and credulous. Koharu is exaggerated like this. The story is okay, but long-winded and foreseeable. The tension is often really short and not that special. Unfortunatly the story is facile, also the characters and whose past.

Short: Not a good anime. I like and watch other animes, which are adaptions from VN, but not one anime, was like that horrible including the main-character.

But -> Watch it, and build your own opinion! (:

I went back to this to understand why I gave it such a low rating when I first watched it, since I usually remember details about shows even when they're bad. But BOY was my past self right about this show. One might argue that it's only expected of something based on an otome, but I'd disagree. There are mediocre shows based on otomes, sure, but this goes beyond that: it's plain bad. A couple of episodes brought all the suppressed memories back, and after a while I had to skip parts of the show because I couldn't bear to watch them again. I can ... assure you, unless you're here for the bishies, you won't go far with this.

What is this show about? I'd like to know as well, because it completely lacks focus. It tries its best to be character driven, as expected of an otome, but it fails miserably as all the characters are generic and have essentially no depth. The writing is painfully poor. Some scenes dragged for way too long, yet towards the end they realized they managed time horribly, and rushed everything, inevitably resulting into a horrible mess. But even then, as the viewer, you probably won't care enough to try and understand what's going on, in fact if you have any self respect you'll probably skip through it or drop it altogether and go watch something actually good. The ending is predictable and overdone, just your usual happily ever after. Not much else to say.

The art is fine, but nothing outstanding. The character designs are generic as can be, much like their personalities, but I swear I have seen all of these characters in plenty of other anime, and chances are, you have too. As for the backgrounds, they're fine, but sometimes the colors are somewhat washed out, which shouldn't be the case in a fantasy/romance anime that *tries* to set the lovey-dovey mood it does. The only thing that saves it is that they will occasionally include a scene that's pleasant to the eye, and the opening fits into that.

The soundtrack is okay, in fact I quite like the opening, and to be honest they did do music right. You can find a few pieces here and there that are nice. They're not anything memorable, but you don't want to cut your ears off when they're playing, I'd actually argue that they're quite pleasant.

Now here comes the worst part: the characters. I couldn't care for a single one of them, because they're literally characters you'll find in every otome ever, done badly. There's the perfect dude with no flaws that gets to your nerves, the tragic siblings, the serious quiet guy, the cute one etc. The MC is generic so that "you can relate", but how can you relate to a character with no common sense that is unable to make any choice for herself, and whose only trait is being into that guy. The other two girls are walking stereotypes of anime girls, overdone as everything in this show. As for character development, don't even ask. It's not like that was unexpected though. They can't even do the basics in this, you can't expect character development. The saddest thing is, this was supposed to be chatacter focused. If they couldn't do the story right, they should at least have tried to make the characters stand out, have some depth, some development, something. But it seems we're asking for too much here.

As you can probably tell, I didn't enjoy this show the tiniest bit. Its only redeeming quality is its music, yet I can easily go listen to that without losing braincells over watching 12 episodes of this atrocity. I believe this show is objectively bad, because it did everything wrong in terms of its story and characters alike.

Would I recommend this to anyone? Maybe, MAYBE to those bishie loving fangirls with too much time on their hands, but even then you'll probably find it mediocre at best. There are many shows in the genre that are leagues above Norn9. Even though there is no shame in enjoying the things you do, Norn included, you have to agree that from a strictly objective standpoint, this anime is not even close to being the best one out there. If you truly have as much time in your hands as to watch this, go ahead, but otherwise maybe save your time and go watch something better.

Like the top review says, the summary is extremely misleading.
That being covered, below are my thoughts after painfully going through the entire series. Also, I have only watched the show and not played the game.


I was extremely confused by the ending since it made no logical sense and the storyline was basically crammed in the last few episodes. The girl stops the bad guy from being selfish....just to be equally selfish! It was mind-baffling since her selfishness wasn't for a greater cause.

I also hated the ending for multiple reasons:
1. The ending events occur because she falls in love with a person she ... has only known for a brief period of time >.> NO DEVELOPMENT = NO SYMPATHY from me

2. The girl is stupid (has like the IQ of a bird, though the birds in this show are smarter than her), has no substantial thoughts and doesn't think for herself or for the world, makes no logical decisions, only acts based on other's commands or suggestions, and mainly acts based on how she's "feeling" or "what her heart tells her."


Now for my rant - WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

I'm so confused as to why Resetting one last time was a bad idea. They should have just done it - like who cares, it just your useless life for mankind's survival. You're not that important!
Also, you don't want to Reset because you're afraid of a life without a guy you literally met at most a month ago?!
1. You're going to forget him so it's not like it matters.
2. You're used to being alone and I bet you killed your family with your power so it shouldn't be a big deal for you to start over with knowing no one or if you died.
3. If you never had substantial thoughts in your head before the Reset, keep it that way and don't think that your thoughts are important.

Stupid, stupid girl! How in the hell did you survive by yourself for all those years?! Ugh, the mc is so frustrating! Do you not understand everyone is going to die one day anyway?! Why does it matter when you die, if it's going to happen? So what if you die before your time? It's not like you have company in death - everyone is going to die by themselves.
This is why I hate people who think with their hearts only and think that they'll find their one true love aka the reason behind their reason to live. People like you are the reason why history repeats itself and humans don't progress philosophically.

Let me first tell you that I absolutely love the visual novel game Norn9 (despite its flaws it’s one of my favorite games, specifically for the atmosphere and music). So my rating is entirely based on how well it is adapted into an anime (Spoiler alert: it isn’t!).

Story 2/10
It’s been a while since I watched this so I don’t remember all the details but since I know the story well let me start with the aspect I actually enjoyed… which was seeing the Norn and the beautiful setting in animated/in action. That’s basically everything to like about it. And while I see people ... criticizing even the game’s writing because of some flaws, it never bothered me because personally I like the world-building (and I know it’s further explained in the fandisk). But since we are talking about the anime… The writing is completely all over the place. If I would have watched this without knowledge about the lore I’d have drop it after the first half. What bothers me the most, however, is how dirty they did some of the characters (or rather their storyline – like for real?!).

Characters 4/10
(Note: for once I’m not rating the characters themselves but rather their representation in this anime. Except for Kakeru. He’ll always be a 0/10 for me).
I’m a huge fan of Natsuhiko’s character (in the game). In fact, after the first episode of this anime (which was promising to be honest) I low-key put this anime on-hold until after I finished playing and bought the game just BECAUSE OF HIM (yes, I admit the anime adaptation is the reason I played the game) – and I still ended up liking him but somehow Sakuya’s character won me over. That’s why I feel personally attacked how much they screwed up both with their half-baked writing. While the other MCs got their hand-picked LIs, the writers decided it would be a good idea to mix them. Starting with Sakuya’s route just for Mikoto to end up falling in love with Natsuhiko. Are you kidding me? I’d have been the last person to mind if they would have picked Natsuhiko as her love interest right from the start and making it clear to Mikoto Sakuya is just her childhood friend. Because like I said, I still love Natsuhiko. But the fact they had to mess with my boy Sakuya just makes me feel insanely mad and frustrated. He didn’t deserve this! Not to mention how they took one specific scene of Sakuya’s route and didn’t manage to explain it which made his character seem unlikable to some extent. What’s wrong with the writers here? Among the MCs Mikoto is my favorite. Unfortunately, the way it was written in the anime it just seems like she was developing feelings for Sakuya until she suddenly loved Natsuhiko. Great. That’s the problem with most otome game adaptations because most of the time the writers want to include multiple romances at once but that’s the result. I’d rather have them focusing on one of the characters as romantic interest (even if it’s not my personal favorite). 8And yes, the opening made it pretty clear but it was still a horrible writing decision).

They choose just one LI each for both of the other MCs and I was pretty happy they choose Nanami and Akito to pair up together. Which might have been the best aspect when it comes to characters and relationships. However, that they had to put Koharu as MC in focus was a decision I wasn’t fond of either. I don’t dislike her character but to me she’s the most stereotype MC among the three. So I would have preferred one of the other two. I would have been happy if they would have ended up using Nanami as MC because we don’t get many MCs like her in animes. But nope, they decided for the most dreadful pairing and if I say “dreadful” it’s an understatement because Kakeru is very high on my list of most disliked characters of all time (even in the game). I just can’t stand him so the fact they had most screentime almost made it insufferable to watch.

Animation 4/10
The setting looked very neat but the character design was rather bad (says the person who bought the game after seeing Natsuhiko’s character design). Let’s just say some of the characters were better than others.

Music 8/10
That’s the one thing they did pretty good. And you can’t do anything wrong with Nagi Yanagi for the opening and even as Aion’s voice. Also the OST is amazing (I already loved the OST from the game and it might be my favorite). But the reason the music isn’t a 10/10 is simply because I couldn’t enjoy it as much when there were so many other things bothering me about this anime.

Overall 3/10
Unfortunately it’s among the worst visual novel game adaptations I’ve ever watched and I wish it would have been different because I have so much love and nostalgia for this game. Especially since I think they have the tsundere MC but done right (plus childhood friend trope done perfectly right). If this anime did one thing I’d need to be grateful for, it’s for the fact it made me play the game. But other than this it’s an awful adaptation, not even coming close to its source material. And while in the game there are aspects I don’t like either, it’s overall much, much better. Regardless of whether someone played the game or not it’s an anime I wouldn’t recommend. Rather I’d encourage you to play the games because it’s really worth it in my opinion.