Assassins Pride

Was expecting a 3 from trailer and synopsis.
Turns out its pretty good. Probably has the best editing and soundtrack implementation of the season so far.
Editing is very unique with a wide variety of camera angles and shot compositions.
Soundtrack has a massive epic orchestral feel to it with a good amount of emotional variety for different moments.
The show does not overburden you with world building monologues which I was initially afraid of.
The characters are built up decently well but so far are relatively basic and a bit stereotypical.
We will see how it plays out in later episodes.

"Oh look, a magic high school anime, how original... How could it be any more generic? Kirito laser sabering bullets in the very first moments, we are having the typical troubled blondie as the main girl and the shy blue-haired girl for the side as well. Let me just do a favor for myself and not waste my time." - As I believe for many others, this was my first reaction to the anime.
... But something was different. No braindead fanservice, the harem is missing several members AND where are the balloon animals?? ... so anyway something was off.

Sure the whole setup is as generic as it ever gets, but it just is executed so well.
First of all, let me just talk about the OP. It cured my OCD by itself. It is just so well produced: The music pick was quite surprising, I haven't seen much OP-s, with this style of music. Then the video isn't just the typical slideshow, it is in perfect sync with the music, it is just a joy to watch.

The anime takes this very generic set-up, but then with good directing and high production value, it turns it into something great. The art is top-notch, there aren't jarring animations, fight scenes are fluid and well-directed. The music is good too, always fits the situation.

Back to the generic characters:
Sure the show's Kirito named Kufa is quite overpowered, but instead of him beating anything and everything, they move him into a support-like role. The true MC is Melida, who is certainly not anywhere near overpowered. She fights in the majority of the action scenes, she actually has to perform her very best every time. This way the anime doesn't get dull super quick, it isn't just Kufa slapping the shit out of everybody with no effort.
The main characters while looking very generic at first, they have depth to them. Melida even though being from a noble family, is seriously struggling every day and still doesn't give up. Because of this Kufa decides to get her out of her misery. Anyway Kufa is as much of a gentleman as it is possible.
Some side characters are quite unique, like Pricket fighting with two circle-like things, or in episode 4 the girl who is communicating by lighting cards on fire then the flames are spelling out the words. So even though the starting situation is generic, there are plenty of new unique ideas in the show.

The story isn't too complex, given the theme so far mostly there have been tournaments and Kufa training Melida for them, but other things too I won't spoil. Things are usually happening behind the curtains too, some we cannot make much sense just yet.

I can really appreciate shows like this. Starting from a generic set-up, but turning then turning it into something great. Sure it is no masterpiece, but it is really nice to see that with good writing/directing everything can be made into a good show.

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UPDATED on 23/11/2019 (8/12 episodes completed)

BEFORE UPDATE (31/10/2019)

I think this is one of the most underrated anime of this season. This anime does not deserve the hate. I know the main characters sort of look like SAO characters, but surely this doesn't mean the anime is bad. The OP and ED are out of this world, definitely the best of this season, maybe even year? The story is unraveling quite slowly, and this may make people look away from this anime. However, the animation is pretty fricking good and the story, somewhat misunderstood by many, is quite simple. An assassin called Vampir is set on a mission to see if Melida Angel is from the Angel bloodline. This is shown by whether she is able to gain the class of Paladin, but most importantly whether she can unleash her mana (power). I don't want to spoil anything but basically, Vampir starts to love (as a daughter, for now, lol) Melida and abandons his mission, as he realizes his new mission is to protect someone he has truly begun to love (as a daughter remember!!).

The synopsis is basically this. Vampir is told to kill Melida if she is illegitimate. There is suspicion she is, so he tries to kill her. Beforehand, he sees her determination and begins to love her like a daughter. He abandons his mission. He has one mission only now: protect Melida from public opinion and truly change her social opinion but making Melida become someone that knowone expects.

Please try this anime out. Also, there has been some negativity in the community due to the rough and 'poor' animation in episode 1. Then apparently in episode 2, 'they found the animation budget'. Like stfu, the rough flow of the animation was mainly to express the phsycological state Melida was in whilst she was bullied in the scene (she was so traumaticed the world in her head slowly begins to move rigidly and unevenly, as any victim of bullying would experiance). I think a lot of people misunderstand this anime, and you shouldn't too. I think this anime i definitly 8+/10, and a mean score under 7 is shocking to say the very least.

UPDATE (23/11/2019)

Yup, I think I was wrong. The story has barely even moved, most episodes are very forgettable and the characters are actually undeveloped af. This is becoming a very average show. It's fine for now I guess, but after watching episode 7, I'm not sure if there is any reason to keep watching this. However, I will finish this anime anyway as there is no point of dropping it now. Plus, the OP and ED are a heaven to my ears. After episode 7, I'm giving this a 5/10. Now I understand why this is a 6.5/10 on MAL, and the score is probably going to drop over time.

I am ashamed of myself for trying to defend this anime at first. I guess everyone makes mistakes.

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SLIGHT SPOILER WARNINGS

The anime adaptation of Assassin's Pride has major contextual and pacing issues. Despite this, I can't bring myself to give this series a bad rating as it feels like the 'meta' of anime is pressuring studios to act this way.

What do I mean by this? The 3 episode rule. The studio is trying to emotionally charge the 1st 3 episodes enough to have watchers excited and interested and tell their friends about it to see and watch this new series that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

The result? A lot of cut content. Lots and lots of missing context.
Episodes are reaching the maximum run time possible to fit as much information as possible, yet still leaving out nuanced and specific details of events, perspectives, and characterization critical to telling an effective multifaceted romance.

I think that this time, believe it or not, the quality of this anime suffered not because of the studio entirely, but because of the pressure we as consumers of anime exude on studios like this.

With that out of the way, we can now go onto the Plot

Assassin's Pride is about the fate of a noble 13 year old girl named Melida Angel who seemingly fails to manifest her 'mana' (this world's Nen [HunterXHunter] equivalent). She is from a distinguished bloodline that is known for giving birth to heirs of the 'Paladin' class which is an esteemed and powerful class that sits leagues above the rest. As a result, she is being suspected of being an illegitimate child of the Duke of the house Angel because she does not inherit his dominant hereditary blood so to speak.

That's where MC comes in. Our MC, under the alias Kufa Vampir, operates as an agent of an elite dark guild that does dirty work such as assassination, cover-ups, etc. He is 'supposedly' a coldblooded killer sent to off Melida Angel if he is convinced that she is not a legitimate heir to the Paladin bloodline. Within a day, he quickly discerns that she is not. Then comes the time he is to kill her to complete his mission. Instead of killing her, like the cold blooded killer he is supposedly written to be, he is moved by her resolve (coldblooded killer btw) and decides to gamble his life and plant his mana into her instead of killing her (again, coldblooded killer assassin edgelord btw).

This is where most of the conflict of the story will arise from. MC has gone against his orders to 'save' Melida who he was sent to kill, and instead acted in self interest to even plant his own mana into her. He is now playing a dangerous game of assassin trying to protect his target.


REVIEW
Story: 7
The world building is ok. It's not fleshed out in the slightest in neither the manga or LN, but the power system is ok thus far. From the looks of it, it's going to be a shoujo style story mainly targeted at young females interested in romance. The MC, based on his occupation, is inconsistently written in the LN and manga, being extremely lighthearted and doing comedic things quite often. In the Anime he is much more stoic and reserved, hiding away most of his true intentions and ulterior thoughts. The premise is alright and passable but the pacing of the anime hurts it a lot.

Art/Animation: 8
The series looks quite good for the studio behind it. It's nowhere near that of studios like A-1, Trigger, or MadHouse, but it's quite decent. Art style is consistent with very slim arms and legs being the only style choice I disagree with. Character designs are ok, nothing out of this world.

Sound: 7
Not enough music to really know for sure, but it's passable and fair 2 episodes in.

Character: 8
For a romance style story, its characters should be its strong point but as of now, the characters aren't that endearing yet. Melida is alright, written with the moral compass of a shounen protagonist but the heart of a shoujo protagonist (obviously because she's a girl). MC in the anime, I would argue, is depicted better in the anime [ignoring pacing issues] as he's an assassin acting as a gentleman and instructor.

Enjoyment: 8
If 7 is my average, then my enjoyment of this story is above average by a decent margin. The anime has a lot of cut content so I honestly believe that everyone watching should supplement their viewing experience with reading the manga. As I said before, the anime suffers from trying to nail down on the 3 episode rule.

Overall 8:
It's not a bad series. I immediately began reading the manga after watching episode 2 to gain some clarity as to what the **** was happening as context was clearly missing from several parts of the story. All I can blame is cut content to fit the 24minute air time limit. If we as an anime community could expand our 3 episode rule to perhaps 5 to 7 episodes (unlikely but one can hope), it'd probably benefit anime studios immensely.

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