Battle Girl High School

It's amazing how little this show does right. At the heart of it, it's a super generic idea that has been done to death so much so that it's literally School Girl Strikers. When there's already another anime that happens to fit in the same exact area that aired only two seasons ago there is likely going to be a problem. Especially when the show borrows so many plots and ideas from it. But what's even worse is that this show doesn't even improve on School Girl Strikers, it's actually worse in every way but production. And considering how low my opinion of School Girl ... Strikers is that's saying something.

While School Girl Strikers clings to genericness like I cling to what's left of my sanity, Battle Girl High School decides that even being generic is too hard for it to be able to accomplish. How I wish this show could be just uninspired. But on top of that, it's a hot mess. What is even the plot? They explain nothing except for that some entries and monsters are attacking them. And there's a hope tree. Wait! Isn't that another show? Why is it here too? Because copypasta is fun, that's why.

And to add to the confusion Battle Girl High School decides that a cast of 20 members is a smart idea. While it is possible, but not advisable, to have a show with a cast of 20 characters, the way Battle Girl High School does it doesn't work. They throw all the characters at the audience at episode 1 and expect us to love and remember them all right away. Sorry, that's impossible. It's hard enough to remember a few characters early on, how are people supposed to handle 20. Usually, shows at least try to be slow and deliberate with character introductions but here they just ram them down the audience's throat. And to make it worse guess what the climax of episode 1 was? That's right! ANOTHER CHARACTER INTRODUCTION.

So take a bunch of characters that never actually get introduced and shove it together with a plot that never gets explored and is just moved through and what do you end up with? A terrible show!

And the sad part is there were some nice moments. Moments which could have shined if they took the time to actually introduce the characters well and get me to care about them. There were moments where I could have enjoyed the show more, but there were too many characters and they did too little to explain what was going on. It could have been better but the large cast and their terrible handling of it killed it. I know it may seem nice to have a bunch of characters but honestly, it's not worth it. The more characters there is the less focus each character gets, and when it gets to this point it gets to the point where it doesn't even matter anymore.

And really that's what matters at the end of it. While the art and sound weren't nearly as terrible, they don't get close to saving the bottom tier story and characters. In the end just don't watch it. It's really not worth it, unless you really like seeing cardboard cut-outs of high schoolers battling and sometimes SOLing.

Please Note This review assumes that you have finished watching Battle Girl High school and while care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers there will be slight spoilers within character analysis.

Battle girl high school treads a genre that is very commonly seen in animes which is that of a magical girl/ school/action anime that has elements of comedy in it. Based off a popular mobile action role playing game to which im also a fan off the series is set in the year 2045 in the aftermath of an invasion of the planet by an alien race called the Irousou ... that devastated large parts of the planet and forcing humanity to withdraw to the cities. However, while the situation is grave the appearance of a special tree that appeared on the planet proved to be their salvation as this granted the people the power to face these aliens. Standing against these beings are the Hoshimori girls who through the power of this mysterious sacred tree are able to wield impressive powers that allow them to wield impressive power against the invaders. As the Irous begin their renewed push on the city new allies and new enemies also start to appear complicating things for the girls.

The anime itself as its main setting is largely set within a fictional school that exists within the universe the Shinjugamine Girls academy that exist to train the Hoshimori girls. However rather than just be used to train them the school also functions as a normal school and educates other normal students as well. Rather than having the girls as something like a superhero team the Hoshimori girls are organised into one large class with each of them being present within the class and dividing into sub teams when called into combat. The bulk of the setting for the anime takes place in both the school and the city that surrounds it which features a number of interesting terrain types.

The overall story for Battle Girl High school influenced by its source material follows the activities of a number of the Hoshimori girls as they go about their school life while at the same time also defending the city and its people from the attacks of the alien race the Irous. Although the anime has a large cast of main characters I feel that these are all featured equally within the series. The character that can be considered to be the main focus character in this show is perhaps going to be Miki Hoshitsuki a young teenage girl that lives within the city and a high school freshman that has been granted by the power of the sacred tree to become a member of the elite Hoshimori girls that defend the city. While trying to learn everything that there is about how to become a good one Miki and the other Hoshimori girls suddenly notice a change in the Irous as they slowly begin to change their attack patterns as if working to some devious plans of theirs. As Miki and her teammates fight tirelessly to protect the city and its people they must fight even harder to defeat the new plans of the enemy as well as contend with the newer and more powerful irous that attack the city. In the midst of this Miki finds her fate and destiny drawn and connected with a mysterious new Hoshimori girl that suddenly appears in the midst of these attacks Misaki. As the Irous begin their final assault on the city Miki, Misaki and their fellow Hoshimori girls must marshal their combined strength and use the power of the sacred tree, their bonds of friendship and the combined wishes of everyone in the city to stand firm in the face of darkness and triumph for if they fail only darkness will remain.

Miki

Miki Hoshitsuki voiced by veteran seiyuu Aya Suzaki of Trinity seven fame is one of the main characters of the series and can be considered to be one of the main protagonist of the show. A newly elevated Hoshimori girl and a high school freshman in the Shinjugamine Girls academy Miki can be considered the best representation of what the ideal Hoshimori girl should be like to the people of the city in that she’s brave, dutiful and fights hard to protect its people from the attacks of the Irous. Personality wise Miki in the beginning was a relatively carefree girl that though new to the role of a member of the elite Hoshimori girls was shown to be very dutiful and dedicated to becoming one of their famed number. In the beginning Miki was shown to be actually quite clumsy but as the series went on this trait of hers eventually vanishes. Though new to the role of a member of the Hoshimori girls Miki has shown to take this role seriously and is very diligent and hard working in trying to improve not just herself but also her team as well. While Miki may appear to others to be a simple-minded girl Miki is shown to be able to think fast on her feet and react to new situations whether on the field or in school relatively well which really surprised me. While Miki may appear to be carefree when she becomes serious it is noted that Miki can be surprisingly intelligent and focused and when working with her teammates can come up with some effective tactics that can surprise even their seniors.

Miki’s most prominent trait is naturally her trademarked kindness and her view on what the Hoshimori girls represent to the people of the city. In the beginning of the series as a result of being new to the role it can be seen that Miki can get flustered rather easily but as the series goes on she becomes more self-confidant in herself largely as a result of seeing what her friends both her fellow Hoshimori girls and her normal friends think of her. A key part of this was due to her kindness as true to her personality Miki is kind to a fault and always willing to help others even when they try to push her away. The best example of this is in her interactions with the new character of Misaki. In fact, it can be seen that both Miki and Misaki despite having opposite personalities actually rub off each other as the series goes on with Miki finding strength from her. One aspect of Miki’s personality that I like is her determination to fight for the wishes of the people and finding the strength from that to fight against overwhelming odds even when their powers is spent. This is something that I feel that every hero should aspire to be fighting for. Overall I felt that the character of Miki was a character that was well designed and that her seiyuu Aya Suzaki really did a great job in voicing her.

Haruka

Haruka voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Sora Amamiya of Aldnoah Zero and Plastic memories fame is one of the main characters of the series and is a fellow Hoshimori girl of Miki’s. Along with Subaru and Miki they form the High school first year sub team within the Hoshimori girl’s unit. An elegant, calm and composed person Haruka is an integral part of both the Hoshimori girl’s unit and Miki’s team and acts as the team’s voice of caution and logic. Despite appearing to be both intelligent and mature for her age Haruka displays none of the ego and arrogance that such characters usually show and is actually quite the kind person and able to understand the feelings and opinions of other people relatively easily. She’s also shown to be very considerate towards others as well. Though not as dedicated towards the role of a Hoshimori as Miki is Haruka is someone that can be said to be always on the ball and always tries to rein Miki in when she either gets too excited or too rash with her actions. In battle Haruka’s analytical skills and her calm and composed personality as well as her good grasp of tactics means that she is able to direct her team mates effectively on the field while still keeping appraised of new developments. In battle Haruka is shown to be serious and completely focused in dealing with the enemies that lie in front of her. As can be expected of Haruka’s logical personality Haruka is someone that prefers to get things done sooner rather than later which clashes somewhat with Miki’s carefree nature a contrast that I found to be pretty amusing. Haruka I felt was an interesting character that acted as a good balance between the more carefree Miki and the rasher Subaru and proves that calmness and correct application of tactics combined with teamwork can surprise anyone. I felt that Sora Amamiya did a pretty good job in voicing the character of Haruka.

Subaru

Subaru voiced by veteran seiyuu Ayane Sakura of Charlotte and Trinity seven fame is one of the main characters of the series and is a fellow Hoshimori girl and teammate to Haruka and Miki. A somewhat free thinking and hot-blooded tomboy that serves as the heavy hitter of Miki’s sub team Subaru is someone that cares little about rules and procedure and is the type of person that will rush into a crossfire if it means that she can get into close combat with her enemies. Despite that Miki has shown to be very loyal to her friends and team mates and pays all due respect for her fellow hoshimori’s as well as her seniors in the class. Despite her rather serious personality Subaru surprisingly can be quite the joker at times which I felt was a nice contrast to her personality. As one of the close combat specialists of the team alongside Miki Subaru’s hot-blooded nature puts her in good stead as it allows her to close with the enemy without fear and smite them with her hammer though she does has a tendency of going overboard with her attacks something that I find quite amusing. A prominent trait of Subaru that I find quite funny is that she wants to be seen as looking cool rather than looking cute a trait that I think suits her personality rather well. As a result of her tomboy nature a surprising thing about Subaru is that she actually looks almost like a man when she’s dressed in outfits that are traditionally worn by men such as those worn by butlers as shown in the school festival that was featured in one of the episodes. Subaru, I felt was an interesting character that brought a lot of balance to the team and seeing her try so hard to break free of being called cute was pretty funny. Ayane Sakura I felt did a great job portraying the character of Subaru.

Asuha

Asuha Kusunoki voiced by veteran seiyuu Mutsumi Tamura of Anohana and Digimon tri fame is one of the main characters of the series and is a fellow Hoshimori of Miki. A third-year student and also the student council president of the school itself Asuha is a mature, honest and logical person that has the difficult job of reining in the fellow third years and her kohai’s. As expected of the school’s student council president Asuha is very responsible and by the book though in this she isn’t as inflexible as some student council presidents in other anime are. Outside of battle Asuha is often seen by the other girls as aloof and strict but in reality Asuha is someone that is readily accessible to any of the girls and is easily approachable. As both the student council president and also a third-year student Asuha tries very hard to impose discipline and order on to the student body but has a funny tendency to always get derailed by her fellow third year and team mate Renge. Despite her aloof nature Asuha is shown to care a great deal about her fellow teammates and will fight ever harder to protect them from all threats. In combat as a senior student and as student council president Asuha often acts as the battle leader of the teams that are engaged in battle and in this we can see the more serious side of her personality.

In combat Asuha is utterly focused on the battle situation and on the enemies, that lie in front of them trusting her allies and friends to do their utmost in fighting alongside her. Like Haruka Asuha is capable of calmly analyzing the enemy’s tactics and react accordingly but goes a step further by using her motivational skills to inspire her friends and allies a skill that is especially useful in the later stages of the series when the battles get harder. Despite Asuha’s self-confidence Asuha has shown to get flustered easily especially when confronted with situations that she is unused too such as when told to perform a comedy skit for the class. This aspect I felt was quite funny and actually made it more like a normal schoolgirl than anything. Asuha I felt was a well-designed character that did a great job of emphasizing the role that a student council president should fulfil in a school that has a combat team on a permanent war footing. While certainly strict and by the book Asuha’s discipline and self-confidence I felt allowed her to direct her fellow students in repelling the enemy in the most effective way possible. I felt that her seiyuu Mutsumi Tamura really did a great job portraying her.

Misaki

Misaki voiced by veteran seiyuu Rie Takahashi of Re Zero fame is one of the main characters of the series is one of the main characters of the series and a fellow Hoshimori of Miki. A new member of the team that came into the story under the mysterious sponsorship of the school’s president Botan Kamine Misaki like the rest of the team is a Hoshimori but is shown to have a much higher degree of skill than any of the girls within the team even the third years. Initially Misaki’s personality was rather hostile to the girls being rather blunt and direct with her words and not hiding the fact that she completely disapproves of both their individual abilities and teamwork. She also seemed to display a certain sense of disapproval at bonds and friendships that the girls displayed in her first personality. As a result of this in the beginning her relationship with not just the Hoshimori girls but also with the teachers that oversee and manage them was rather frosty. As the series goes on however Misaki’s personality noticeably begins to change as she fights alongside the girls more. it soon become obvious that Misaki’s tough girl attitude that she displayed towards the girls was an act that was meant to push the girls to learn how to fight more effectively as a team. Something that I thought was interesting to her character.

Misaki’s icy and unapproachable nature that she made use of in the beginning also started to crack as a result of fighting alongside the girls and getting to know them on a personal level. While still trying to maintain a distance with the rest of the girls Misaki gradually starts to warm up to the girls and I felt that it was nice in seeing her start to bond with the girls that she hated in the beginning. The many sweet moments that transpire between Misaki and the girls I felt were heartwarming to see. Misaki’s own personal quest as well as her own origin story was part of the overall quest and is tied in rather well with the development of her own character and I felt that this combination was done pretty well. Seeing each of the girls come to her defense when she needed it was nice as it showed that the bonds that they had forged was not easily forgotten and dismissed. As a character, I really liked the character of Misaki and I felt that she actually had some really good development of her character. Her reason and origin story I feel was also well done and seeing her being able to forge lasting friendships was something that I thought that the writers really did well in. Her seiyuu Rie Takahashi I felt really did a great job in portraying her.

Nozomi

Nozomi Amano voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Nao Touyama of Asterisk wars and in the world god only knows fame is one of the main characters of the show and one of Miki’s main allies and a fellow Hoshimori. A second-year high school student and a member of Yuri’s team Nozomi is a cheerful, positive and go lucky girl that always has a smile on her face. However, beneath this cheerful exterior Nozomi in the beginning was a very fragile girl. While she understands the importance and duty of being a member of the Hoshimori and their role in stopping the Irous Nozomi secretly felt fear and was starting to feel the strain of responsibility that stems from the high hopes that everyone has in her. As the series progresses this starts creating a rift between she and her teammates Yuri and Kurumi. Though scared in the beginning Kurumi as a result of seeing how hard the others fight and how they shoulder the high hopes that the others have on them and use this as their source of strength gradually starts to change as she starts to realise that shouldering one’s burdens by yourself was the wrong way to go and talking to you friends about it was the correct method. Post crisis Nozomi I felt was a much better character as she was now much braver and dependable and her positive and cheerful attitude is no longer a mask that she wears to disguise her weakness and felt more heartwarming than anything else. A prominent trait of Nozomi is a joker like personality in that she loves to play jokes on people. However, this facet of her personality also reveals the fact that Nozomi is very perceptive and understanding of other people’s moods which have the effect of making her jokes that much more effective. I felt that Nozomi herself was a rather interesting character and I felt that Nao Touyama really did a great job portraying her.

Shiho and Kanon

Shiho Kunieda and Kanon Kougami who are voiced by veteran seiyuu’s Shino Shimoji and Kaede Hondo of Seiren and girlish number fame respectively are important support characters of the show and are Miki and co’s main allies in their battle against the Irous. Like the rest of the Hoshimori girls Shiho and Kanon are students of the school both of them being second year high school students but they differ with the rest of the Hoshimori in that they also have a professional career of their own where they work as idol singers that form the group Fortissimo a group that seems to be extremely popular within the universe. As can be expected Shiho and Kanon have a very deep bond and friendship with each other which also allows them to function pretty effectively in battle as well. Of the pair Shiho is the one that acts as rear-guard support that benefits from her personality of being calm, composed and logical. Indeed, Shiho most often acts as the calming presence for her more hot-headed friend and partner. Kanon on the other hand is the opposite of Shiho in that she can be more brash and aggressive than needed at times but this is balanced out by the fact that Kanon is more mature and professional for someone her age. As a result of their dual careers of being both popular idols and veteran hoshimori’s the pair are idolized by the rest of the girls a praise that I felt they deserve as they truly are multi talented.

Yuri

Yuri voiced by veteran seiyuu Sumire Uesaka of kancolle and Musaigen no phantom world fame is one of the main support characters of the series and is a fellow Hoshimori of Miki and co. A member of the second-year high school squad alongside Nozomi and Kurumi Yuri also has the role of being the head of the student council’s disciplinary committee a task and role that she enjoys greatly. Personality wise Yuri is a strict, self-confidant and fiery person that values teamwork and unity more than anything else. As a result of this her relationship with Misaki in the beginning was a bit on the strained side. As a result of her self-confidence Yuri has a lot of faith in her skills in combat which unfortunately can also make her somewhat of a loose cannon at times. Despite her rather strict personality Yuri is someone that acts somewhat like a sheltered girl that hides behind the mask of her job as head of the disciplinary committee as she when confronted with situations that she is not used to can get flustered quite easily. This aspect of her I think was quite cute which is interesting since as a character Yuri despises being called cute in the first place. I felt that her seiyuu Sumire Uesaka did a really good job in portraying the character of Yuri.

Arts and animation

The arts and animation for the series I felt was pretty good with the design of the various enemy types that the girls face being pretty varied which kept things interesting. The character designs for each of the girls I felt were pretty strong and was a very accurate portrayal of how they looked in the game that acted as the origin. The battles scenes were the series I felt were done pretty well though I feel that I enjoyed the battles against the new types of enemies more than I did for the more common enemy types.

Music

The music in the series I note were actually strong which surprised me. Both the opening and ending themes, which was Hoshi no Kizuna which was sung by the whole of the Hoshimori class and Melody ring which was sung by Kanon and Shiho’s idol unit through their respective seiyuu’s I felt were excellent. Of particular note with regards to the music was the fact that there were a number of insert songs that were sung by Kanon and Shiho which I felt was really good which is even more surprising when you consider the fact that neither Shiho’s seiyuu Shino Shimoji or Kanon’s seiyuu Kaede Hondo are professionally trained singers.

Voice acting

Voice acting for the series I felt was reasonably strong with Miki’s seiyuu Aya Suzaki and Misaki’s seiyuu Rie Takahashi deserving much praise for their portrayal of their respective characters.

Overall conclusion

In overall, I felt that Battle girl High school’s main strong points was its premise, story, characters and voice acting along with character designs of both the main and support characters and the designs of the monsters. The series also had some pretty good fight scenes with regards to the battles between the girls and the new types that were created by the main villain. While the premise for Battle girl high school was not something that was entirely new to the series the combination of putting high school girls and superpowers into an anime and pitting them against aliens was one that I felt was interesting as it allowed us to see how the girls balance their every day school life with the struggles that they face on the battlefield. Seeing their friendships and bonds of unity develop both inside and outside of battle was something that I particularly liked about this premise. The overall story I felt was interesting as in addition to countering the enemies plans the girls also had to contend with the introduction of a new girl in their ranks and get used to this new person. The overall story featured a number of interesting story arcs that were tied to the overall plot such as Misaki’s mysterious origins, Nozomi’s struggle to banish her fear and Sadone’s quest to be braver on the field and not be a hindrance to others. Each of these story arcs I felt were done pretty well and seeing each of the girls confront their fears and overcome them was something that I liked to see.

Overall as a series I would say that I would give Battle girl high school an 8/10 as I really enjoyed the story and I felt that the premise was really interesting. The characters with some exceptions were on the whole interesting and the voice cast really did a great job in portraying their characters. The battle scenes for the series I felt were a bit of a hit and miss with the latter stage battles being the more interesting ones especially the final battles with the brainwashed. The music for the series was as noted something that surprised me so much that I actually bought the CD’s for all of FF’s songs having enjoyed them so much. The ending of the show I felt was excellently done and im thankful that it managed to both address the last plot threads and end the show on a high note.

Well...at least it's better than Schoolgirl Strikers...barely.

So, LA doesn't need to tell you that these kind of mobile game adaptation with a huge roster of cute girls is somewhat hit or miss for LA, from Ange Vierge to Schoolgirl Strikers. Where does Battle Girl High School anime adaptation lie?...well before that...

LA has actually played the mobile game for a time HOWEVER LA will try not be bias with LA's experience in playing the game with this anime adaptation.

So Battle Girl High School's plot is the typical stuff we see in these kind of anime adaptations of mobile games especially when it has a huge roster ... of cute girls in the mix, as in monster killings and slice of life moment intertwined with typical cute girl doing cute things tropes. In terms of plot format, the early episodes of the anime was a good sign for LA, from emphasizing the battles of defeating the monsters called Irous as well as the teamwork many of the students of Hoshimori had while defeating them. The best addition to this would be Misaki voiced by Rie Takahashi causing a divide in the class of Hoshimori to her stoic and uncaring nature towards her new classmates. Later on however, the anime goes into slice of life filler territory before bringing the plot back up with Misaki as the emphasis. What LA thought about the quick change in plot will be a bit later...

However where LA thinks Battle Girl High School exceeds or at very the least tries is in the character department. With 19 characters including Misaki int this mix, you'd think that this would be impossible and yes it is, however Battle Girl High School at the very least tries to give these characters stable personalities with some characters getting more of the limelight than the others. From Nozomi Amano voiced by Nao Touyama being the fashionista of the class, Yuri Himukai voiced by Sumire Uesaka being a stickler for justice and her being the head of the student morals committee to Kokomi Asahina voiced by Hitomi Harada being the shrinking violet. But probably the characters who have the most screentime and bit more development to their personalities were Renge Serizawa voiced by Yoshino Nanjo being the perverse yuri fan and this comes up during one of the slice of life filler episodes, Sadone voiced by Aoi Yuuki who has an inferiority complex and thinks she's useless due to Misaki and the idol duo of Kanon Kougami voiced by Kaede Hondo and Shiho Kunieda voiced by Shino Shimoji having their own episode with a concert. But the major character who pretty much gets character development in this anime would easily go to Misaki the mysterious transfer student. Why?...because her personality changes while she's with the Hoshimori class from the being the stoic loner to caring about her classmates by the end of it and it's hinted multiple times in the anime that something is up with her which actually ties into the final arc of the anime, if anything LA thinks that MISAKI is the main character of this anime not Miki Hoshitsuki voiced by Aya Suzaki who's supposedly the default leader of the class. Besides Misaki being LA's favourite character due to plot and being the most developed member of Hoshimori, in terms of the Hoshimori students in general, LA playing the game LA actually liked Renge at first but the anime changed that by giving that title to Nozomi Amano voiced by Nao Touyama because Nao Touyama shut up and Urara Hasumi voiced by Maaya Uchida because of her ecstatic nature and love of idols in the anime.

So what did LA actually think about the quick change of pace the anime had taken from being a rather playful yet serious early episodes to being outright slice of life filler episodes?...well yeah they were slice of life filler episodes mainly comprising of concerts, Freaky Friday flips and summer holiday episodes but where LA still sees merit in these episodes are trying to bring out the personalities of the 18 students of Hoshimori while subtly giving hints to Misaki at the same time with the occasional Irous fights inbetween. It definitely gets better once Misaki gets into focus and the final arc that tackles the "final boss" of this anime and brings Misaki's development full circle.

In terms of animation done by Silver Link is ok at best, the animation dips at times this includes the fighting but LA can see at the very least they tried to animate it competently. Character designs are ok as well though it falls under the "same face" syndrome though to be fair the mobile game had this to. The only characters LA only remembered after finishing this anime were Renge, Urara, Misaki and Miki if that is anything to go by. The animation does dip into derpy territory at times and it does seep into the fight scenes as well but nonetheless the animation done by Silver Link is ok at best but nothing to rage or praise.

In terms of voice acting, the voice cast is decent and LA didn't really have any annoyances besides Kokomi Asahina's voice actor Hitomi Harada (but that's just LA as LA just doesn't like shy extremely soft toned characters), but Misaki's voice actor Rie Takahashi probably got top billing for LA, right next to Renge's voice actor Yoshino Nanjo for her perverse vocals and Urara's voice actor Maaya Uchida for nearly sounding like Ranko Kanzaki, also LA knows this isn't credited but LA is soo sure that the major villain of this anime is voiced by Shizuka Ito, if so she really hams up her regal villain vocals for this role!.

So uhh remember the start of this review?...*ahem* "Well...at least it's better than Schoolgirl Strikers...barely." Yeah LA believes Battle Girl High School is marginally better than Schoolgirl Strikers and LA just wants to talk about how at the very least Battle Girl High School tries where Schoolgirl Strikers didn't. For one, characters in Battle Girl High School are developed better to the point of LA "remembering" some of these characters, not all, but some. In Schoolgirl Strikers, LA couldn't remember ANY of the characters in the anime not even the MAIN GROUP of characters. Where LA thinks why LA remembers some of the characters in Battle Girl High School more than Schoolgirl Strikers is that Battle Girl High School during it's slice of life filler episodes actually emphasized the personality of some of the characters and put them in "zany or weird situations", where in Schoolgirl Strikers the characters personalities is put in the background and the "zany or weird situations" in the foreground making their characters even more of a blank slate. Second is that Battle Girl High School's character roster is slightly smaller than Schoolgirl Strikers 20+ characters and even though LA said that Battle Girl High School suffers from "same face syndrome" at the very least the characters have enough diversity in their designs for LA to know that they are different characters, due to how Schoolgirl Strikers characters have soo many characters they blend in together at times (and some of the many characters also have similar personalities making differentiating them even more difficult). Third is that Battle Girl High School at the very least have the sense of urgency in their monster fights in order to protect their school as well as their comrades when they get in trouble by the Irous and brings emphasis to "invading monsters" where LA sees Schoolgirl Strikers urgency in defeating their monsters as something like have a 1 minute battle with monsters then let's have tea for the rest of the episode and even at that LA thought they gave up in the urgency of defeating monsters not even by the halfway point of their anime. Finally is that Battle Girl High School brings in a subtle mysterious plotline in the form of Misaki throughout the entire anime and her being the focus by the final arc was put in great emphasis developing her character in the process...something similar is done with Schoolgirl Strikers with Tsubame Miyama however her mysteriousness isn't brought up until the final 2 episodes of their anime and it's just as rushed and hardly develops her due to how quickly and rushed they put her in. Battle Girl High School still however makes some of the same mistakes Schoolgirl Strikers did (bulk of the anime being filler, the majority of cute girls not emphasized enough and the finale) but at the very least Battle Girl High School tried to do better than fluff around unlike Schoolgirl Strikers.

The final arc of Battle Girl High School brings in all the subtle hints to Misaki shown throughout the anime to conclude Misaki's development as a character and although the final battle of this anime pretty much results in "friendship power for the win", LA can actually gets behind this one sure it's an eleventh hour out of nowhere powerup but it does wring in the entire friendship scthick Miki had throughout the anime and again emphasized Misaki's growth as a character opening up to her friends to defeat the villain of the series.

Battle Girl High School isn't by any means a great or even good anime adaptation of a mobile game, LA likes Ange Vierge more for trying something different whereas Schoolgirl Strikers to LA didn't even try. However Battle Girl High School "tries" at the very least, it has similar trappings to the now tired mobile game anime adaptations with cute girls formula but if anything it tries especially with it's characters with Misaki essentially saving the anime BARELY.

Will LA ever go back to playing Battle Girl High School?, no, but even then this adaptation is still acceptable for LA to barely like it because it tried to make the entire mobile game anime adaptations with cute girls give a more sincere enhancement to it's genre with this kind of adaptation.

If I could describe this show in one word, it would probably be "alright". If you want to watch cute girls with giant weapons fight weird monster things, this is probably your cup of tea. But if it's not, there's really nothing else noteworthy about this show that you would be missing. The art is pretty but generic, the characters are tropey and one-sided, the music is par for the course, and the enemies are just kinda there for no reason. You seeing a trend here? Everything about this show just shouts "ok". Is that necessarily bad? Well, not really. But it's certainly not ... good either. It's a watchable show, but why would you when there's so many other good shows airing this season?

I have a method to enjoy this kind of anime. I watch them as if I'm watching Power Puff Girls (PPG is far better than this though). You know, not for the deep plot, well-developed story or gorgeous and animative battles, but simply because the cute girls are there, kyun-kyun moe-moe all over the place, unharmed.

PLUS:
- Many lovely unique girls playing around to please the weeb inside of you.
- Amazing cast. If you're into anime for a year or two now you'll regconize many familiar voices. Most characters are played by well-known and talented seiyuu.

MINUS:
- Well, shallow and boring most of the ... time.
- Mediocre artworks, mediocre designs, mediocre soundtracks, mediocre pretty much everything.

This is okay, or maybe even slightly good to watch, if you don't expect too much and just want to peacefully pass the free time you don't know how to spend.

How To Get The Most Out of Battle Girl High School:

1. Learn Japanese. About JLPT3-4 should be enough. All that matters is your listening ability.
2. Recognize voice actors. Hopefully you'll see a few popular ones in the cast (Sakura Ayane, Hayami Saori, Toyama Nao, Sugita Tomokazu) as well as liking a few of them (for me, Uchida Maaya and Itou Shizuka).
3. Play the anime during a time when you're not devoting 100% of your attention to it. You could be studying, working, doing research, or playing a game.

If you can do the above, you'll find that your enjoyment of the anime will actually be quite ... decent. Instead of playing the impossible game of getting to know the characters (you don't even see their faces!) you instead play the much more fun game of listening to your favorite famous seiyuus voicing all kinds of different scenarios: slice of life, comedy, fight scenes, (bad) drama, you name it. Seriously, that seiyuu lineup is stacked. Instead of being extremely bored of the story, you'll be trying to piece together the story from dialogue - which is a fun task, kinda like listening to an audio book.

In the end, you'll walk away from the show rather pleased that you got to listen to your favorite voice actor/actresses make nice sounds without having to pay much attention to a story that amounts to nothing.

I would never watch this show in my free time.

Battle Girl High School is as generic as it can get with girls fighting for humanity but is a good chill watch.

The story of the series is fine as its been seen many times but that just makes it slightly disappointing when it doesn't really do anything different with the setting apart from one factor later on in the story but they never develop it further. The series mainly focuses on character development through slice of life segments between the cast. Its more of a cute girls do cute things like Love Live than a battle action such as Madoka Magica.

I personally think a ... great example to compare this anime to is Yuki Yuna is a Hero as both are set in similar premises around protecting a town with a tree in it. If you watch both series you can also see what's holding Battle Girl High School back.

The BIGGEST glaring flaw with this series that really held it back for me was there's just WAAAAY too many characters. Seriously there's 19 main characters in total. My personal favourite was Miki and being the main character I hoped to see a lot of her. Sadly I was denied. The fact that there's so many characters they have to have screen time for all of them which makes 2/3 of the series just an episode that focuses on a particular three meaning your favourite character, if not one of the major ones will most likely only get one episode of actual importance. I personally think Love Live is a good example of the max amount of main characters a series can hold without being a big cluster. Also since there's so many characters reaction scenes are a pain since they need to show everyone's reaction to something and it takes a while and is ultimately pointless. Well the cast is basically a huge collection of types we always see in anime so you'll guaranteed to at least find one you like.

Another major disappointment for me and the reason I watched the series to begin with was character interactions and relationships. I'm a huge fan of female best friends being the main focus like in Yuki Yuna is a Hero with Yuna and Togo and Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight with Karen and Hikari so I went into the series expecting a good amount of screen time to focus on the relationship between Miki and Misaki as it was hinted at the beginning of the series. They do have some time to have them together but again it comes back to the problem of too many characters in one series that's only 12 episodes.

However don't get me wrong it is a good series if you're not wanting a major story or character development and just want a relaxing anime to sit down to.

The character designs are nice especially some of the later costumes and there are many well known voice actors present that at least help try and distinguish characters apart. My personal favourite voice actor Yuki Aoi also being In it along with Hayami Saori.

The main enemy of the Hoshino class the Irousu are also very generic alien enemies you see in many series like Darling in the FranXX. They're never really explored which makes sense since they need so much screen time to develop their humongous cast. There is a plot twist later on with the villain but is very predictable from the start of the series so don't expect great villain either.

The power of friendship is also very prevalent throughout the series so if you're not a fan of that then this series isn't for you.

This review ended a bit on the negative side but overall Battle Girl High School is a good generic magical girl anime that's a good watch as long as you're not expecting much from it. If the series had less characters I really think it would have been much better as it doesn't give room for much to happen.

7/10 would only recommend if you're looking for a chill anime to not think too much about.

Let me preface this by saying that I am a fan of Battle Girl High School. I loved the game that it was based on. This anime was quite literally made for me, for pre-existing fans of the series. And yet I hated this anime. So much so that I dropped it after just four episodes and have absolutely no interest in ever completing it.

This anime is based off of a mobile game by the same name: a combo-based tap fighting game called Battle Girl High School. You play as teacher (called "Sensei" by the characters) in an all girls school and are tasked with ... helping your students grow and guide them in battle against creatures called Irousu. Sensei as a character is placed on the backburner (which is a good thing) and the game and story overall focuses on the girls.

The anime is more of that, but... bad? It was so bad that I, a fan who had been playing the game since launch, couldn't stomach it and dropped it early on. I can only attribute this to be because the anime was created in an era that I call "post-Episode 2 BGHS".

The games main story is separated into episodes, with many quests taking place in a linear format within each episode. Each episode tells a different story, with Episode 2 being regarded as the peak of the story. And then Episode 3 came out and if I remember correctly, the game shut down not too long after. The quality in the story dropped tremendously and it shifted focus into crass fanservice that the current fans of the game couldn't enjoy. The anime was created during this era of BGHS.

The characters in this series deserve so much better than what they got. They were all likeable and you couldn't help getting attached to them, even the ones who you like the least. This anime was the nail in the coffin for BGHS, and I'm sorta glad it was.

The only good thing that came out of Battle Girl High School the anime, I think, was changing Sensei's role and personality. He was no longer a disgusting pig of a man who preyed on his young students. Instead, he was an exasperated, father-like figure to the girls. I like this change.

This turned into more of a review of the series than a review of the anime, but the reason why the anime was so bad goes hand in hand with the quality that the game sunk into. Pure fanservice and no substance. Scrubbing away what made the series unique and enjoyable and turning it into a generic anime girl gacha game and an even more generic anime.

BGHS: Battle Girl Project was okay, but the fact that it's mostly filler that relies on you knowing its source material makes it not suited for anyone who wanted to get into the series by starting with the anime.

[note: there are very mild spoilers for the anime in this review ok pls]

The basics: Miki Hoshitsuki is a girl attending Shinjugamine Girls' School, and she's part of the Hoshimori class. She and her fellow classmates stand as the Earth's only hope against the mysterious Irous invaders, donning their celestial suits via the power of the Holy Tree. One day, as they're all training, a new member ... joins the class- a strange girl known only as Misaki.


The pacing of the anime's overarching story is odd, since most of the episodes are filler. Other than learning about Misaki's character, seeing the members of the Hoshimori class get used to her, and seeing some strange unnamed woman who seems to control the Irous (if it was in the game I missed it), episodes 1-7 (and part of episode 8) are filler. What story there is, though, gets confusing really fast. Not going to give too much away, but the anime dabbles in the idea of alternate timelines and interdimensional travel. It's ambitious, but overall ends up being a confusing mess until the conclusion where some loose ends are tied up and it's more understandable. I actually had to figure out one of the more important parts of Misaki's character on my own via YouTube because of how poorly explained it was.

The art is in the same style as the mobile game, as expected. At first, it's actually really good. But over time it kinda becomes... broken, I noticed. There really isn't much else to say, by the end there are a lot of issues but it's not unwatchable.

The sound design is varied. f*f (the obligatory idol group)'s music is really well made, but some of the BGM in the anime is fairly generic. What was I expecting, though, based on the BGM in the game? Whatever. If you like idol music (which I do), you'll like f*f's episode, the OP/ED, and their music (there's actually quite a bit). Other than that, other than maybe one track which I remember, it's forgettably passable at best.

I'm gonna admit, I can't name all of the characters by name. They're all distinct, sure, but since there are so many (20?) it's hard as hell to keep track. My favorite was Sadone, based on the game mostly, and I don't really have a least favorite since I couldn't get names down.

If you like the idea of cute girls running around in cute outfits fighting monsters, cute idol girls, girls interacting and becoming friends, or the mobile game, you will probably like this anime. If you fully understand the story of the game and/or wanted to see it animated, you will be very disappointed by this anime. If you don't like any of the things I've mentioned in this paragraph, this'll probably be your least favorite anime of the Summer 2017 season.

well this was generic and worth less you should ignore the description as it does not explain what more of the show is about and really gives the wrong idea about the show

story 4
well if by story you mean only 4 episodes will have anything much to do with the description then i would say there is not much of one at all the those four episodes were much more interesting then the other 8 episodes which had maybe 5 minutes of action if im being kind the rest of that time was basically cute girls do things

art 6
really there isn't ... anything worth mentioning about the art it is about average for what you see in modern anime

sound 6
the sound is a bit more note worthy then the art there is music outside of the ending and beginning themes but other then that nothing else really worth noting

characters 2
every single character are completely bland and really none a single one has anything really all that interesting really this is were the show really suffers as it really just feels like the studio did not care at all and were only doing this for a pay check and i feel the characters reflect that perfectly as they are just generic cute girls

overall 4
really unless you feel you get something from even watching lazy anime that feels it was made purely because the studio wanted a paycheck i would say this anime offers very little of worth specially considering so little of it is anyway close to the description