YES, finally after 5 years, we're seeing the light of Date A Live once again...thank you Tachibana-sensei (the author of the series)!
NO, to production woes, the J.C.Staff that could do no wrong, proceeded to trash this series! Where are you ENGI???
I'll admit, being a long-time DAL fan ever since its inception in 2013 has its benefits and drawbacks. For one, we get a fairly generic harem story and action that was somewhat interesting and intriguing for its time, its lineup of character Spirits and the MC harem "Master" that is Shido Itsuki, that left us wanting for more of them ever since Season 2's end
...
in 2014. But finally, and with a very long wait, the original LN writer Koushi Tachibana has green-lit Season 3 for long-time fans like us to once again, MILK on the success that is the past 2 seasons. AND...you all saw how that fared out in 3 months. And that's a massive disappointment.
*Spoilers be warned*
Let's start with the story, which continues the events from past DAL series into Volumes 8 to 12 of the Light Novel: The 7th and 8th Spirits Natsumi and the resurrected Tobiichi Origami in her Spirit form, along with the (rushed and story-squished) Itsuka Disaster arc. For the majority of the series, we go through the life and happenings of the transformation queen that is Natsumi, being able to shapeshift into people with almost perfect results. And this time, Shido is left with a very daunting task of finding out Natsumi's real intentions while covering her true chibi-kid form (which makes her embarrassed and is a real pain-in-the-butt), at the expense of using Tohka and Co. and exterminating them should Shido fail to solve her puzzle. Everything totally felt like how the main series was intended to be, and that's always very welcome.
Next, new revelations about the friend-cum-enemy Tobiichi Origami, whom for the longest time that we've been searching her long-awaited answers since the start of Season 1: The reasoning behind her hatred for Spirits. And this arc being animated is a true taste of the "how many questions" we all have at the end of both seasons, finally giving us the action-solutions and resolution to Origami's antagonistic purposes, with her history being rewritten at long last, for the better. Last but not least, the Itsuka Disaster arc, where in true DAL fashion, Shido does not become the initiator, but becomes the instigated for the girls to date him! Of course, trouble ensues but as always the girls will do anything to save his life *kisses*.
Once again, open hearts, open minds: The story is a love/hate relationship with those of us who grew up with this series, so whether you love or hate it, I respect all opinions.
The characters, or should I mention, the NEW ones brought forth to this season: Natsumi, Origami's new Spirit form and of course the mysterious Spirit that is Phantom. Natsumi, aside from her Halloween costume, she is a force to be reckoned with, with her shapeshifting disguises into people similar being the standout that really causes a whole lot of issues. Once she is brought down to her tsundere loli form, she is pretty much like Yoshino in terms of care and sensitivity. With Origami's position this time, she is finally vindicated of her past that has her holding back for very long, siding with DEM Industries all the while until this issue is resolved. Good for you Origami! And Phantom's presence which we didn't see a lot of, that is sadly left for another time to pursue more information about her (in the future...?). Of course, Tohka and Co. still acts like their usual selves.
The elephant in the room, you've guessed it, is the art and animation, which by all accounts, factoring in both Season 1 and 2, is the worst looking of them all. With the relevant production studio changes (AIC Plus+ for Season 1, the recently-bankrupt Production IMS for Season 2), it's no surprise that this is an (industry-wide) issue, but honestly I didn't find the average art-animation combi to be off-putting, at least not by a mile. With J.C.Staff however, even before the anime aired, the PV and posters were the red flags that long-time fans were trashing it, saying: "This isn't the DAL that I remember!" And...it doesn;t get any better than this. Character models have that superifical J.C.Staff generic model, instead of the ever-so-memorable DAL aesthetics. Art and animation is decent, but action scenes were rife with mediocrity all around, with many people were complaining that this series took a turn for the worse with overall animation, and my opinions are no different. Sure, ENGI came back to help out with the production woes that J.C.Staff faced (that's evident on the episodes he worked on if you checked the ED credits), but overall, it definitely left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Music-wise, I'm very glad and happy that the all-female group "sweet ARMS" is back once again to deliver another stellar song, titled "I Swear" (by the moon and the stars and the sky...oops sorry, wrong song!). Probably out of the 3 OP songs in the series, this may just be my favourite "sweet ARMS" song yet, with Season 1's "Date A Live" in 2nd place. Such a heartwarming and cute, small action-pumping song. New and upcoming female artist Eri Yamazaki shows her new song for the ED, and it's also quite good (as expected from Shichisei no Subaru's ED song). OST wise, it's largely the same assortment of tracks from previous series to stoke nostalgia, and it works for the better.
Production woes aside, as predictable and obvious as much as past seasons are, this is still a somewhat worthy (but worse) sequel entry to the series, with the story still holding up just as decent with many hiccups in the storytelling. But, apologies to long-time DAL fans both old and new, this isn't recommended unless it's for the story alone. Pass this up.
Now if only there was ever a chance of a Season 4 (which is highly unlikely), we the audience highly implore the future production staff: "Please get the series QC-checked first before showing it to us!"
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Date A Live 3, Date A Live 3rd Season, DAL 3
Japanese: デート・ア・ライブⅢ
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jan 11, 2019 to Mar 29, 2019
Premiered:
Winter 2019
Broadcast:
Fridays at 21:30 (JST)
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
J.C.Staff
Source:
Light novel
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#34682
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#594
Members:
422,472
Favorites:
1,722
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 9 / 43
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Your Feelings Categories Mar 29, 2019
YES, finally after 5 years, we're seeing the light of Date A Live once again...thank you Tachibana-sensei (the author of the series)!
NO, to production woes, the J.C.Staff that could do no wrong, proceeded to trash this series! Where are you ENGI??? I'll admit, being a long-time DAL fan ever since its inception in 2013 has its benefits and drawbacks. For one, we get a fairly generic harem story and action that was somewhat interesting and intriguing for its time, its lineup of character Spirits and the MC harem "Master" that is Shido Itsuki, that left us wanting for more of them ever since Season 2's end ... Mar 29, 2019
I hope that by the time we get to volume...20 or so in the adaptation, we don't end up just going through every conceivable animation studio to make this thing.
Story: Find the spirit, date the girl, make her fall in love, seal the deal with a kiss. Like its predecessors, Date A Live III continues the story of Itsuka Shido and the crew of the Ratatoskr as this strange boy capable of sealing the mysterious spirits finds and helps the girls, both old and new, while starting to uncover the mystery of the spirits and their origin. Covering roughly volumes 8-12 of the light novel, DAL III ... Mar 29, 2019
[This review assumes you've watched all previous Date A Live seasons as well as Mayuri's Judgment and are familiar with the characters and concepts]
Date A Live was the anime that made me interested in watching anime. For some reason it had this weird appeal that made me curious to explore the medium. Much like many people's first anime it has stuck with me and I still enjoy it today despite how my views on anime have changed overtime. So, when I heard that Date A Live was ... Apr 22, 2019
TL;DR: A non-solid adaption on a potential story
There are three character arcs in total. Natsumi, Origami and Shido. The good news is there's not much fanservice in major character arc, but sadly the story is not delivered properly. The art and the animation is a joke, we will discuss these one by one. Natsumi arc I’ll cut this straight. The story focus too much on the guessing game, rather than the character itself. I have quite a bit of enjoyment with Natsumi. However, there are not much description on reasons behind this. The introduction is also pretty brief and rushed. It's quite briefly mentioned and requires more ... Dec 30, 2019
Date A Live is a series that probably should not have run as long as it has given its simple and very gimmicky premise, but here we are anyway. S1 of Date A Live was actually surprisingly good given what was going against it initially. Good visual presentation, a memorable character cast, and a pretty decent story. S2 follow up on that a year later to very lackluster results, thanks in no part to the much weaker plot lines and annoying additions to the character cast. There was a movie in-between the wait but S3 of the series finally got announced. And when the key
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Mar 28, 2023
Part 1 English
Part 2 Bahasa Indonesia -------------------------------------- Well, well, well. If it isn't Date A Live III, the anime that's trying so hard to be good but falls short in some areas. Let me break it down for you. The story is a bit convoluted, with a lot of unnecessary twists and turns that don't really add much to the overall plot. It's a shame because the concept of "saving the world by dating girls" could have been really interesting, but it's not executed as well as it could have been. As for the main characters, Shido, Tohka, and Origami are the ones that stand out the most. Shido ... Jun 1, 2022
Ive tackled season 1 and 2. After the experience of e watching this anime’s S3, again, I really think this will deserve a similar score to that. I will make this self explanatory because its pretty much the same explanation.
-New characters Introduced -Typical slice of life -Romance and Ecchi -Form activated because of kissing a guy That’s all i have to say for now, unless changes are made for the S4. Again four the love of God, this is based on opinions personally so pls dont get yourself offended. Otherwise, if you want to see this then its fine for me, because that doesn’t bother me anyways. That’s all for ... Jan 4, 2021
Date a Live franchise story is pretty much dumb but entertaining, Date A Live season 1 and 2 were well-rounded and enjoyable. Animation, artstyle, OST, everything was well thoughtout.
Until JC.STAFF took over, pretty much everything that JC.STAFF did in 2019 had significantly lower quality of animation and character drawings. One punch man season 2, clearly did not live up to the EPIC standards from Madhouse. So sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, whoever that made the decision that allowed JC.STAFF to utterly butcher all those anime that they did in 2019... FK YOU. I don't even blame the animation staff, they were definitely overworked to ... Jul 14, 2020
Date A Live season 3 is the third season of the hit romcom, mecha, scifi, harem anime based on the lightnovel by Kōshi Tachibana, its follows up immediately after season 2, Itsuka Shido is once again back saving new spirits, fighting DEM, and providing some much needed help to Origami, while also dealing with some inner turmoil within himself. Let me start by saying that season 3 felt more like another establishing point for the anime than a continuation, it felt more like season 1 than season 3 actually, I expected more gore, more epic fight scenes and an actual continuation to the story which
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