Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism

tl;dr: Not particularly strong in terms of plot or depth but has a good balance of cool and stylish moments as well as comedic and amusing moments with a likable cast of characters.

The anime is trying to do two things, be cool and be amusing. It's not trying to have a good plot or deep characters or anything like that. There's a good variety to how both of these are done though and there's a good balance of the two, so it works well in such a way there are a lot of fun and likable characters. For example, the various main characters have a ... cool edge to them in very different ways, and they also all have strange things about them that make them hilarious in different ways, the exception to the latter being Andou who is pretty much just pure bad ass, while the best example of both of those traits is Nomura, who is an incredibly unique protagonist and is pretty much just a steady stream of great one liners, both hilarious or cool, and crazy combat potential, which is also often accompanied by one liners. Some characters do get fleshed out somewhat with backgrounds and such, and there's even some decent character and relationship development, but its not really much in the focus and mostly just serves as a basis for Nomura to drop one liners and seem awesome. The exception to that is centered around the relationship between Nomura and Andou which has some more depth to it and serve as the finale for the season, though while it is probably the coolest of the anime's arcs the story is still only okay which shouldn't be surprising as story isn't really one of the anime's strengths.

A lot of why the anime is so cool is the action, which manages to be impressive in that its mostly grounded but has just a bit that goes beyond being realistic. This assertion may seem strange because all sorts of crazy stuff happens like fighting bears and because the entire setting is crazy with it being a normal school but people randomly carrying swords and getting into near death fights without getting in trouble, but with the tone and atmosphere that's what it ultimately felt like. There's also a steady stream of ability names appearing on screen with fancily stroked kanji which despite seeming dumb actually makes things feel more legitimate, though that's probably only because I don't know jack about actual swordsmanship or martial arts. So the action was cool and exciting. With that said, ultimately things did seem a bit simplistic in that each character only has one thing going for them, even Nomura who only really has one move.

The art style and animation was mostly decent in that designs and framing were good and there were some great scenes, but quality felt off at times. The anime also felt kind of cheap in that there were a lot of points that it felt that it was clearly padding for time which definitely hurt pacing, especially if you're marathoning it. The eye catches were well done. The OP was great both in terms of audio and visuals. The ED was decent enough in both. The soundtrack wasn't particularly memorable.

Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism in other term, THE SCHOOL OF FEMINISM.

This show is more like a empowerment for women against all guys.

This show is like a Hardcore feminism where women can actually hurt any man. But what I like about this show is that it contradicts the prejudice of every women. That not all men are enemies, and not all men are pervents. The story isn't that marvelous, but it gives justice to every man in the school. It's like winning their trust show, and you'll gonna like it. Unlike Prison School, if you're familiar with it, this show is more like showing the good ... side and clarifying the misunderstanding between men and women that they can co-exist to one another without any barrier. I like the development actually. If you are a man, you'll gonna root for the Main male character, but if you are a women, you'll be triggered because it's like they're protraying that despite how strong women are, women are fragile with their feelings, and they need the D afterall. If you know what I mean.

Huh? girls with weapons? ruling over boys? and tsundere characters? meh nothing uncommon right?
its an anime series with quite a lot of "pain" and some cute~ moments a pervert like myself can enjoy.
i firstly wrote my review for this anime the day when fourth episode was released, and there was nothing interesting going on by that time.
After watching the rest of the episodes i changed both my score and my opinion about it.

Having almost finished the series i can say that, it has a common "revenge" -ish story, which i believe will end in a really silly way.
The MC is not that typical useless, and ... scaredy cat pervert that we are used to having in these kind of anime series (THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE IS NOT A PERVERT)
but he is a gentleman most of the time.
There is a comedy going on almost every single episode, except the last 2-3 episodes, where things get pretty gloomy and "dangerous", the whole series might seem pretty dumb and without any goal at the beginning, but it unfolds slowly with some hints midways giving you a reason our MC is doing what he is doing.

I am pretty sure that you'll enjoy the series to the very end, if you're not too fast to criticize and drop.
its not a serious anime series like for example code geass or anything like that, but it has its own charm like every single anime series right?

Art: I have to say that i am interested in this kind of artwork depending the story and the whole concept always, its smooth and cute, having some really sweet details also having some female characters drawn really sexy while others might be cute and lolis, in other words i really like it.

Enjoyment: JUST HILARIOUS, there are some really "stupid" accidents that make you cry from laugher.

Remember this is just my personal though on this series.

Q:Is it worth watching it???
A:YES!! and if you're also a pervert you'll like it even more ;) have fun!

Warning possible Spoilers

Reading the description of this anime it definitely reminded me of Prison School luckily though this wouldn't be that well known cringefest instead we got something that was actually very entertaining to watch.

The story centres on Fudou Nomura a delinquent who has been sent to The Private Aichi Symbiosis Academy to be controlled after getting into a fight, but he isn't a pushover and to gain leave from the school he must get a stamp from each of The Supreme Five Swords easier said than done.
Now honestly the story to begin with starts out very simple which is Nomura trying to get a ... stamp from each of the five girls who are part of the The Supreme Five Swords which always ends up with him fighting them and boy are these fights entertaining, overtime as he defeats each girl the next one always being a little stronger and those that get defeated do start to fall for him which makes you think it turns into you're usual cliched harem hell no this doesn't happen here as only two of the girls really fall for him while the others just either help him out or stay in the sidelines.
When the final battle happens though it does turn into a love-hate type of thing which didn't ruin the show for me, but it kinda seemed like a meh way to end it even though those final episodes were really intense to watch.
When you look at the genres and think hhhmmm somethings missing technically you're right since comedy is also a big factor in this show, but really it is mostly an action show which did surprise in some way because looking at the poster you'd think otherwise, but when I watched it every episode had a big fight which was surprisingly entertaining as not many anime's can be entertaining when it focuses mostly on action yet this one can.

Now aside from the good fights the characters are also what makes this show very good as some these characters really stand out.
Fudou Nomura is the male MC and he continues the trend of asshole characters that we have seen a few times lately, but just like those guys he's pretty damn cool and a badass hell he also has morals too as some of the girls do try to taunt him yet he manages to control himself which was a surprise to see and despite having to fight these girls he doesn't hate them afterwards sure he doesn't get along with them, but he does compliment them sometimes and is grateful whenever they help him out in a situation.
Rin Onigawara is the first girl Nomura encounters, Rin was one of my favourites of the show because even though she is one of those bossy types she does actually have a nice cute side which was always adorable to see especially in moments where you see her and Nomura connect a little more, sadly though she was paired up with a character that pretty much got on my nerves which sorta hurt Rin's reputation a little.
Mary Kikakujou is the second girl Nomura encounters and she is to me the worst character of the group, she has a french background so she prefers a rapier instead of a Katana and despite being the girl with the big oppai she is annoying as hell well not annoying to the extent that I hate, but she was annoying and honestly she didn't really offer much to the table either as everyone else pretty much overshadowed her.
Warabi Hanasaka is the third girl Nomura encountered, she only escapes worse because she actually became friends with Nomura and helped him out a few times, she does have an over eccentric personality often making herself feel like a queen along with having that annoying chuckle her type of characters have which did feel overused at somepoint though luckily she doesn't use it as often once Nomura defeated her plus you won't see her without Kyou-bou who is Warabi's pet bear and fighting buddy who also becomes more friendly with Nomura after fighting him.
Satori Tamaba is the fourth girl Nomura encountered, Satori definitely became another favourite because she is incredibly weird and really devious as she tries to put Nomura in a difficult position at some point, she always speaks in a slow fashion making her seem dimwitted which isn't the case and certainly has a lot less shame compared to the other girls when it comes to fighting.
Tsukuyo Inaba is the final member that Nomura encounters and she is actually blind so she relies heavily on her hearing to move around which makes her notice things much quicker compared to the other girls, she is pretty much a Kuudere since she is very quiet and doesn't show much emotion, but she is very powerful and shouldn't be underestimated.
Kirukiru Amou is the antagonist of the series and despite not appearing much until the final episodes she is a very cold, ruthless and dangerous person as she uses her own hands much like Nomura as weapons except she uses them like swords and if it weren't for the Academies headmistress she would probably have killed a few people although despite her badass appearance the whole reason why she goes out on a frenzy is because she had a crush on Nomura and she only wanted to be his friend which didn't really go well for her and that seems like a very stupid reason to go around hurting everyone.

Now the artstyle was really good as the choreography of the fights was done well and there didn't seem like any CGI was involved which made it even better, but there really wasn't much else as the characters seemed okay with they're designs, but isn't something I haven't seen before along with the school and other things although you can definitely tell between the differences of living standards for the female and male students.

Now the Action which is the main sauce of the show is really good, enjoyable to watch and last for a good while which is definitely a good thing because I don't want fights that are over in seconds and luckily these fights can drag on for almost an entire episode which shows that the show stays true to it's word.

There is also some other stuff that isn't in the genres like Comedy which was actually very funny, I liked the chemistry between Nomura and the girls as he usually jokes around with them when usually it's the other way around so it's nice to see a male protagonist getting the advantage over harsh female characters and there are a lot of jokes between the two sides that are really funny, there is also a fair amount of Ecchi/fanservice though not to the extent where it's distracting well except where Satori fights Nomura nude which is something that definitely surprised me, but the other moments like this are spread out very nicely and don't really go much further than that.

Overall this was an entertaining show that could have a season 2, but considering that Nomura achieved his goal I'm very unsure and the way the show ended seemed fine so I'm not sure if this needs a second season, putting that aside this'll definitely be a good show for those fans who are looking for a good action anime.

Armed Girls Machiavellianism is an anime that certainly improves as it goes along. Every season, there usually some shows that I change my ratings for throughout their air time, no matter if it's lowering the score or upping it. This anime anime was certainly one of the cases where I upped my score a little (at least in value, but not overall), but it wasn't until it was almost at the end (after episode 11). I really liked it despite the aspects that can seem generic, but it felt different. I'm not going to pretend I'm a critical person here because ... I'm not all that critical most times. This show felt different and it really drew me into what was happening on screen, but I want you to consider that this is not a review written by a critical person so do not try to star arguments over the review even though I know may people consider it generic; I just want to try to prevent trouble before it starts, even though the chance of it occurring is low, in my mind.

Now at the basic level, the story has nothing more than a trouble making teenager, name Fudo Nomura, who is enrolled at a co ed school, that is completely dominated by females to the point that guys are expected to weir ugly female face masks and that even a group with elite sword skills, the supreme five swords, pretty much run much of the school and are in charge of correcting the males, especially the ones who don't follow the rules. Surprisingly, it actually becomes a really good story that draws you into what is happening. It shifts more towards focusing on Fudo earning his stamps on his permission slip so he can leave the academy while following the rules. It starts off with him simply facing off against different girls in the five swords early on and becomes more entertaining and gripping later, and actually has some nice twists while still not being complicated. Even though it seems like a harem at times, it's not and it doesn't go overboard with the harem like scenes. It becomes really character focused and is quite comedic, and the ending is amazing, considering how the show is. I'll give the story an 8.

The art seems different too. It's not very colorful, but it certainly doesn't feel plain. Some of the character designs are a little weird, such as with Satori, Rin, and Chouka. They're not off putting, but the designs for Chouka and Satori do lower the art score a little for me. The back grounds and actual animation seemed pretty consistent with some occasional drops at the beginning of episodes and a few times in the middle of certain episodes, but it's not that noticeable. The character designs, backgrounds and animation quality were actually really good or even great as a whole. The creators did a great job at making sure stuff didn't seem out of place and the times that the quality did drop seemed to be conveying a more serious tone when everything shouldn't be extremely vibrant and overly colorful. I definitely feel like most of the main designs are really unique, despite some of them being creepy, like with Satori, and the animation quality drops didn't seem like it was just due to laziness. Since there were some obvious quality drops though and 2 really weird character designs, Satori and Chouka, this category doesn't feel like it has earned a 9 in my book, even though I like the majority of the other designs a lot as well as the majority of the art, but I don't think there are enough problem to totally drop my score that much, so an 8 it is.

The soundtrack has some great battle music and other scores that added to the intensity of scenes really nicely. Shocking Blue is actually a really good and maybe a great opening, but I'm thinking it's more towards the very good side. Decide is one of the best ending themes I've heard; it really shows one of the anime's main messages with it's lyrics, which I'd say is that the characters stick with each through thick and thin when they get one another and they're not going to simply someone leave their side without a good reason. That's my take on it anyway, and it's an unexpected one considering how the girls act towards Fudo early in the story, and how unlikely it is that a school dominated by females would have females that are willing to go through great lengths to keep a guy at their sides (not in the sexual way). I give the music an 8.

The character portion is difficult to describe and I'm only actually to describe Fudo Nomura. Before, I'm asked why I would cut out the rest of main cast from my review, I'll give a simple reason. Honestly, I find it hard to actually describe the girls in convincing words to people that probably have not watched the show yet, as I think my description would make them sound too generic and uninteresting. I feel that the female cast,especially, needs to be experienced for yourself to actually determine if you like the cast or not. I don't feel like my thoughts can be expressed clearly and concisely here and describing them wouldn't reflect my true thoughts.

Now that I gave my reason, which is longer than I expected it to be, I'll describe Fudo Nomura. He doesn't come off as a guy who thinks he is superior in every way to the girls he is fighting. He doesn't seem to hold back in his fights and he doesn't fight to show off his skills. The final episode explains why he fights in a great, yet very simple way. He fights to show where he stands, and not just to win. I think that is actually a great way to fight and it could help prevent you from clouding your judgement with rage and eagerness to win; I'd rather win of course, myself, but I find it to be a great way to approach a fight still. He interacts well with all the girls too despite his attitude about sticking to his ground and not agreeing to submission, very easily, when it even happens. I find him to be a great mix between a capable main character and one that is viewed as weak. He's not the best fighter and doesn't easily win fights without putting in effort like some characters, but he's not helpless either, and he certainly is capable of holding his own in martial arts based fight, which the type of fights seen int he anime. I give the characters another 8. It's not the best cast, but it's still a really good cast with a great main character.

My enjoyment score is a 9 I always really enjoyed the anime, but I started to like it more and more gradually and the amazing ending for the way show is and everything else that happens throughout the last two episodes brought up my enjoyment score a bit drastically from the lower 8 range up to my current 9. It's a show that surprised me and surpassed my initial expectations.

I hope more people watch the show and like it. It doesn't feel generic like many people think.

This anime might seem same as any other harem anime, but the plot and the whole summary is actually pretty different. As we all know the main character is a transfer student and his new school has some weird rules where they force males to dress and act like a girl, but he refuses. Shojo part of the anime isn't bad either, character development as for the main character is pretty good but doesn't cover other supporting characters, well that's because anime itself is pretty short. Art is pretty solid and the sound isn't bad either. I gave it 10/10, yes it is a harem ... anime but it also has a unique plot and if nothing it's pretty funny. So if you're not a huge fan of harem anime, watch this one just to laugh a bit.

If I had to describe this anime in one short phrase it'd be "shallow entertainment of the highest caliber". I don't know that I've ever seen a more simplistic, straightforward, dare I even say cookie cutter harem/action/school/comedy anime, at least not one I enjoyed this greatly. Still though, this anime knows what kind of show it is and I had a blast binging it.

One thing that makes Armed Girl's Machiavellianism (that's the first and only time I'm typing out that long-ass word in this review) stand out among its peers of the generic harem/action genre is that fact that effort was clearly put into the ... action and fight sequences. Look, they ain't anywhere near KLK or TTGL level, but they're definitely above average and did enough to get me pretty hype at times. It's also worth noting that the animation quality does NOT drop after one episode like in some action anime. Likewise, the music, voice acting, and sound effects are also all-around very solid on a consistent basis, there wasn't any one thing I'd single out as truly exceptional but it was all very good.

I really liked the characters, even though the MC was very typical in a lot of ways and the girls were pretty much waifu-bait. One thing I will say about the MC is that he isn't a fucking wimp and even if everything else about him is pretty basic, that makes the anime a lot more enjoyable than if he were some pushover. I'm a sucker for waifu-bait, so I liked most of the girls. It's ridiculous how quickly and easily they fall for the MC though. First they try to correct his "delinquent" behavior by challenging him in a fight (they use swords and he has sword-proof gloves and a special "magic bullet" move). Once he beats them, they go almost instantly from trying to chop his nuts off to trying to liking him and trying to protect him from the next girl who will try to chop his nuts off. It's just hilarious to me how quickly this transition happens, it's so bad and stupid that it's funny.

When you get right down to it, with the girls falling quickly for the badass, charismatic MC and every other guy in the school being a submissive crossdresser (due to being "corrected" by the sword-wielding girls), this is pretty much the most obvious harem-wish-fullfillment type of deal you could possibly get. Just a word of warning, if you go in expecting any realistic male-female romantic interaction in this anime, you'll be taking it too damn seriously!

The middle part of the anime was probably the best for me, the show has a pretty average climax, final fight, and ending (not one I would say is disappointing but didn't exceed expectations quite as well as the rest of the show). The beginning of the show introduces the characters pretty quickly and gives us a good fight right in episode one. The reason I say the show was the best towards the middle was because that was where the situations the fights took place in started really getting fun and ridiculous (sumo-wrestling a bear or fighting in a bath and using lewdness to distract and throw off your opponent for instance). It was a really fun ride and left me wanting more. Perhaps if this show were 24 episodes or so and there was more time for more of those fun, ridiculous fights to happen, I'd have given this show an elite-tier rating of 8, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Well, that about wraps up the bulk of this review. Chances are, if you read all that crap, you're either thinking "damn, I gotta watch this show, sounds fun" or "yeah, no way I'd enjoy this, I like a good story and/or dislike waifu-harem wish fulfillment". Well, I don't actually know what you're thinking but I've done my best to paint a pretty clear picture of what type of show this is, now it's your call if you wanna watch it or not. Personally, I really enjoyed this anime and I LOVED Satori, she's best girl for sure and is the latest victim in my ever-growing list of "lesser known top-tier waifus who don't have nearly enough merch and fanart."

Overall score - 7.5/10 (Great)

I've been here on MAL since 2012 I think and this is the first time im writing a review
because this anime deserves it, if trough a review I can get at least one person to watch this underrated masterpiece then Im happy.
Ok, lets go
The story begins at an all girls school that just become CO-ED mostly girls are feminists , the boys who entered the school out of fear were forced to dress and act like girls, except for our MC who fought back, and instead of just plainly defeating them (which would be boring) he made friends whith them , he earned their trust ... , and his prupose is to get their seals so he can leave school grounds (they are not permitted to leave until graduation) . Also theres one major antagonist who seems to have a past with the MC and she will likely be the last boss of the series.
What was supposed to be a harem / ecchi filled boring shounem anime because of its cute and well developed charaters , the fierce battles , the intense dialogue and the good animation quality and ost becomes maybe the AOTS.. altough the show is not over yet i get the feeling that the conclusion will live to expectations. I started this show out of the blue.. simply to kill my free time when I get home from work. And now its the show im most looking foward to watch.
Also, the explanations during the battles, the author created very coherent techniques , fighting styles and made it in a way easy to understand .. they just dont pull out random shit like in Mahouka for example and because of this when someone wins or loses a battle you agree with everything that happened , you're left with ways of imagining the upcoming course of the show because its logic are solid and coherent. Give Busou Shoujo a try. You wont regret it.

Going to go against the prevailing reviews, and give it a review score of 7 (its really about a 7.5 but can't give it that) and My Anime list has its screwy system where scores below 7 mean bad and above 8 mean ridiculously good.

The problem with most of the negative reviews is they can't absorb the fact this is a comedy. I really can't fault the reviewers here, with the way things are in the world today, anyone under forty can't even comprehend common sense in relationships between men and women. Unfortunately that's going to make it impossible for them to enjoy this. ... Maybe they should take a few minutes and watch "The Taming of the Shrew" to get their heads screwed on right.

If you are going to enjoy this you need to treat it like the screwball comedy it is. Think of the front page, or Mr Blandings builds his dream house, it's not meant to resemble reality and it operates on not on logic but comedy logic. The school is a stupid idea, so was Classroom of the Elite, Kakeguri, etc, etc. On it's own it's a maybe a 5 on the funny meter, and it's got about an 8 or a 9 on the interesting meter. You have to be willing to accept the idea and laugh with it.

Once you get past the concept there's lots of good gags in here, unfortunately they're all at the chuckle or a little better level. The biggest problem is they overwhelmingly involve attacks with deadly weapons that also have wounds being inflicted. When a boulder falls on the coyote it's funny because he never gets hurt. If he got turned into bloody paste it's not only not funny it's really mood breaking. Think of the life of Brian, where they take one of the least funny events in human history, the crucifixion and manage to turn it into a laugh riot. They just don't manage it here. Like I said they get chuckles but no belly laughs, which is a shame because it could have been better.

There's also the problem of using the same gag too, toooo, toooo often. Real proof that once it's funny, 50 times it's a migraine.

The characters are a little too nasty to be truly funny and I certainly didn't feel for them. The girls just didn't do it for me. You can have comic psychopaths, but it has to be handled as comedy. I don't know what's up with the Japan there's some things that just aren't funny. Imagine bewitched exploring Samantha being tortured by the inquisition, in serious fashion. It would ruin the show. Nomura is OK but he never goes far enough and lets himself gets walked over too much. That would have been fine if he was a doormat character but he isn't. They could of done themselves a favor by borrowing from William Shatner in the Trek episode Elaan of Troyius. It's a good watch for this and really shows fun ways to deal with yanderes. Taming of the shrew would have also been a good read for the writers.


The voice acting is good. and the music is good but doesn't really maximize the comedy. I don't usually bother to score the opening and ending music because after the first time, but if you're interested it's some sort of bubble gum rock in Japanese.

Final verdict, it's very watchable and enjoyable, but could have been a lot better.

Machiavellianism is an anime that everyone saw like billion times in their lifetime, or is it?

When I first saw the title and the concept art, I cannot help but feel repelled, as many mediocre shows immediately got in my mind, and I thought I had better things to do (like preparing my exams). But then recently, a guy called LexBurner made a video on this anime and portrayed it as more of an interesting attempt of following Kill la Kill (which I haven't watched, but will eventually after my exams). This pepped my interest, and with Lex's description, I've decided to give it a ... go.

Holy **** this is enjoyable.

First of all, aside from the mc, everyone is in some way as generic as it gets. You can tell by their designs which type of characters they are. The fun thing is that, at least in my opinion, the fact that they don't even hide it and use that trait exclusively makes it so much more fun to watch than those anime who try to pretend that their characters aren't generic. The mc, on the other hand, although not the most interesting character ever (I would attribute that to Okabe Rintarou), is entertaining to watch.

Overall for the character, a solid 7

Regarding the story, nothing happened aside from setting the scenes and characters in the first season through individual arcs. What I would say is that they are sometimes hilarious and in most cases not offensively stupid (not that it does not happen, don't get me wrong)

Mediocre 5.5 (rounded up to 6, I'm not that picky)

Art and music:

Subjective feelings, don't have anything to comment on

For the enjoyment, WTF is this enjoyable. The most obvious element to this high score is our MC, his reactions to stuff happening around are genuinely interesting, which could be best shown through how he held back not touching the boobs even though his face shows that he obviously wants to. Another aspect is how the show will throw you off guard by going out of their way to do some stupidly hilarious yet not offensive stuff.

For those who want serious plots, characters and themes like Steins;Gate, you're at the wrong place. For those who want to have a laugh to relieve stress, this might be what you want (as comedy is subjective)

Overall a strong 7/10

ngl, I forgot what this show was about lol. What I do remember is the plot is pretty unimportant to the enjoyment of the show. If you're on the hunt for another harem show, with the typical "doesn't take shit from anyone" MC (if I remember correctly) and typical tropes for the female characters, then you've found the right show. Look, you and me both know, you didn't just randomly stumble upon this show. You probably searched up "good harem shows to watch". If that's the case, this show will most likely satisfy any of those "harem cravings" you get after watching bigger harem shows ... like Nisekoi, Date a Live, High School DxD, The QQ, etc... Honestly, the show itself was really unmemorable - it wasn't anything special - but it's watchable. There's really nothing that I remember that will turn you away from this show except for it being a little boring/slow at times.

I'm not gonna lie, seeing all these old ass reviews going all critic on the show. like it's supposed to be some massive hit film or something, sure the story is mediocre at best and the characters are pretty cookie cutter (aside from a couple) I still enjoyed it. Ending was pretty decent main climax was mediocre but overall I still liked watching. Don't know why people rate it so low though. From a specific angle, and in the right light, I get it kinda but it's just sad to see so many people disliking it. Not to say it's gold, there are plenty of ... shows better than this, but it's still not as bad as you might presume. For a harem anime anyways.

In short note:
Battle Comedy Harem School. You know, the usual shit.

Story: 6
Usual school setting, with MC being surrounded by girls and "girls". MC starts as a transfer student, and works up his position as he conquers one girl after another. Episodic pacing with a new foe appearing on every episode, which ends with one goal, defeating the final boss. At least it has commentaries on martial art and sword-style on every battle scene.

Art: 7
Heroines design was fine, but MC design a bit derpy, and the "girls" too, I suppose it was intentional so the Heroines will look much better. The battle scene and the blade ... movement were fluid, so this one may pass as a battle show. The only downer is that MC finishing move animation that keep getting used every single episode. I guess it can't be avoided, with this episodic structure something will get used again for several times.

Sound: 6
Standard bgm during fights and daily live scenes, Op-Ed was ok. Overall, not that noteworthy.

Character: 9
This is a very common genre, with a lot of characters appear on a single show. Many characters appear in them are so bland and forgetful like overused templates. But in this show at least, they are not. Since it has episodic structure, every heroine only have 1 episode focusing on them save the last boss. But even so, the uniqueness of the character stick to the very end of the show. Something that somehow rare in shows with this kind of genre. And the MC is not that wimpy either. Again, something that somewhat rare.

Enjoyment: 7
The battle scene alone is something to look forward for every episode. And the character uniqueness won't make you get bored with daily life scene.

Overall: 7
The usual shit genre with some unique Characters and decent fight scenes. Worthy to be watched once at least.

TL;DR Section at the end of the review. This review may or may not contain minor spoilers.

Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism (referred to as BSM from here on out) is surprisingly enough not a show about Machiavelli, but of a student named Nomura. Nomura has transferred into a formerly all girls school, but is now what is essentially a correctional facility. Either you be corrected into being a drag queen, or you get stabbed by some girls. Interesting story, right?

While BSM is at the end of the day just another one of your action/harem shows, it's enjoyable enough. Nomura's "I give zero fucks" attitude is refreshing compared ... to the "I'm dumb as hell and can't figure out 6 girls like me" harem MC. From day one at school, he's already getting attacked in the form of being corrected by Rin, the first of six harem girls. Of course, Nomura ends up showing his badass-ness and wins the battle... and ends up kissing her due to a sidekick hitting him which forced the kiss situation. *sigh*

On the other hand, you have a pure french girl who secretly wants to be dominated, an emotionless but insanely cute girl who while is okay with being nude herself whilst fighting, can't focus if the male MC is at the same time. Following up is a girl who owns bears for a living (bonus point for being the "Kyohohohoho" of the season), an insanely dangerous loli, and the main antagonist Amou. Amou was made to be this untouchable godlike fighter, but of course falls to Nomura's badass tactics in what started as a somewhat interesting fight that inevitably degraded into a match of fisticuffs. Excellent. Did I mention that Amou secretly wanted Nomura['s dick] super badly?

Hardly worth mentioning, but Silver Link. gave us some nice animation and art, along with some rather okay music. The OP is insanely fun to listen to for the first 15 seconds.

TL;DR: BSM is another action/harem show but is surprisingly enjoyable due to the MC's "not giving a fuck" attitude. The nonsensical way the fights play out are fun to watch, as well as playing "best girl of the show" simulator (it's Satori, by the way). Overall, a fun watch even if it does get boring from time to time.

In many respects this show is nothing we haven't seen before. Even the "first boy to enter a previously 'all girls' school" gimmick has been tried and I have to be honest, although i've watched my fair share of harem as something of a guilty pleasure i still consider it to be the lowest common denominator out of all of the genres short of maybe "magical girls".

But all that said and out of the way, this show is not as it would appear by its cover alone. Ironically, despite the above being major pet peeves of mine, another is what i have come to dub ... the "Satsuki Kiryuin" (Antagonist from Kill la Kill) Syndrome of high school plots. That in which the school president is always a female and controls more power than most mafioso bosses would care to brag about in public. Under which of course, all the boys are powerless to defend themselves or their dignity. I'm all for strong female characters, but this trope is so exhausted at this point it completely lacks any mental flavour. Fortunately, we're given hints to the humanity Satsuki Kiryuin of Busou Shoujo' a lot sooner than is typical of this character archetype, making her feel much more like a person.

Thankfully, this show's main character comes from the Kazi no Stigma school of thought; where not only is he also a competent badass himself, but is also not afraid to duke it out with the ladies. A welcome tangent from the tired cliché's of contemporary chivalry we're saturated with these days. That's not to say he isn't a gentlemen when he feels like it, but the mix of minor narcissism and ego is a welcome ingredient we don't get enough of from our average MC's.

Unfortunately, beyond the primary protagonist and antagonist the show unashamedly falls into some expected tropes, you could literally cut and paste the supporting characters from "Hundred" and been none the wiser. It is sad when a character exists purely on the merit of their cuteness, but this is part and parcel of a harem plot i suppose and i can only say it doesn't exactly fail in its intentions so i can't mark it down too much.

There's really not too much to be said about the story itself, it's a fair foundation for the concept, i suppose "if it aint broke, don't fix it" applies here. Starting fresh in a new school environment is a common fantasy of many of us, even if it isn't original it is universally relatable; as is, for guys, getting into lewd situations with the ladies.

One certainly can't really complain about the art either, it is more than sufficient with a pleasant attention to detail. In a way that is a skill in and of itself for the artist. Knowing where to invest your time and talents, the detail is exactly where it's needed, when it's needed and i can really appreciate that as a viewer.

There is a certain element of parody/irony involved as far as the humour is concerned which i can also fondly appreciate. It's not really a part of the story per se and frankly speaking the story could be a lot better if it really wanted to to make the show a real piece of art, but it's doing an adequite job of supporting the characters to get the basics in and the humour is just a bonus for enjoyment.

Prevailing any plots can be skeptical but that's not the point,

Even The story are involves where every girls can depend themselves through trouble by going all around devastating the not so routine gimmick to serious targeting the prey within glory.

If you can tell the the whole pointless of the story? because it's plain and generic (Heck I'm also agree in my statement) well it's not
Pointing out The scenarios are clear, setbacks can interior every spaces,
and a co-ed school filled with dangerous group council.

Huge Point :

... Awaiting the last standing of a rival you dare to defeat, through ages
Any flashbacks are within possible good even though it's quite episodic if you compare every episodes.

Misconcepts :

(All "Unrelated fight scenes to Goofing off session about girl related stuff )
-That's the whole point-

Don't be bother about any scenarios which irrelevant, as long as the story began to serious in the meantime.

Totally a worth watch

This anime is decent anime you can watch especially if you like school based anime with fighting and cute girls. The story does not get too deep as it is purely focused around the fighting and the struggle of the main character. In my opinion it is a nice anime to watch and the only reason someone would say that it is crap is because they hate themselves inside and want to ruin the lives of everyone around them. The characters are nice and while you do not learn a lot about them it is fine since that is not the point of this ... anime. This anime is meant to be a simple story without too much depth and i find animes like this nice to watch every once in a while.

So many pedantic box-ticking judgements just ring hollow.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, warts and all - which is to say, the critical can bite me.

This was great fun, and quite unique in fact. Loved this title. Funny and even touching when it wanted.

Anyone hating this hasn't got a soul.

This "make an uber long review" stuff is one of the reasons that MAL has such a terrible reputation these days - that and the completely self-indulgent, holier-than-all purveyors of Anime value and quality are why the general consensus is that MAL is a twisted piece of garbage. I wonder if those elitist dbags understand ... that. Casting their vicious hate far from the genres which they personally hold on high - trying to put down the individual tastes of any who do not kaotao and conform to their bias. Waging campaigns with mega manipulative voting as evangelists of "good taste" in Anime. These vitriolic, poisonous individuals are the reason MAL is a false measure of any Anime, no matter the genre.

How grand if those poseurs went out and got a life. Well - Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism got my 10 because I thoroughly loved it. And - I don't revenge-vote their favorites down, even when they seem so completely overrated IMO. I will leave such pettiness to them - they can have it.

MAL is doomed already, it's rep permanently soiled.

Many reviewers have said this is just your typical boring harem comedy action anime. As such, with being categorized as a harem type, I was very reluctant to even watch it. IMO, harems are too arrogant, presumptuous, fantasy since they involve several females interested in the one MC.

Anyways, I gave it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. There were 5+1 main females so you know the story will somehow progress thru one of them at a time. There personalities and backstories though were quite interesting. As well, it was refreshing, to me, that not all but only 2+1 of them had a romantic angle with ... the male MC. Also, I liked the fact that the male MC had a clear preference for one girl (not a bad choice) ..... not the common theme where he likes all of them "equally". Finally, it surely has been done before, but the one intense/weird love that the "+1" female had for the male MC was also quite an attractive/hot relationship explored in this story.

Surprisingly better than I thought it would be. I mainly picked up this show because I saw clips of the English dub's handling of the various gap moe laughs present. It looked awful, so naturally I added it to my list right away.

The setup is your typical all-girls school letting boys in because of declining birth-rates or whatever, and the lengths the girls side will go to keep the status quo and keep the boys from "ruining" their school. Turns out the most effective way to do that is to turn them all gay through BDSM torture. Pretty sure I've seen at least one eroge ... with that exact plot.

Aside from the unintentional kind, there wasn't a whole lot of humor that landed. It's the kind of show that's really only funny when you're watching it with friends and riffing on it the whole time. The 5 swords girls started out as an interesting idea but by the end they had all basically become the same character, a trashy tsundere lusting after protagonist-kun's every whim, but it's not like that or anything b- baka. The oujo girl who laughs like goofy and fights by controlling a bear using her sword like a conductor's wand is the sort of bonkers thing you're signing up for if you decide to watch this, but trust me, that makes it sound way funnier than it is.

Anyway I'm feeling a weak to strong 7 on this one, since it has a little something for everyone.