Assassins Pride

‘Age is just a number… and remember kids, It’s not incest if you say no chromo’ – Albert Einstein 1969.

Although hard to decipher from the title, Assassin’s Pride conveys the affectionate student-teacher affair that takes place between primary protagonists Vampir Kufa and Melida Angel. Their relationship is truly heart-warming and could very well be considered ‘#relationshipgoals’ until you realize Kufa is a legitimate borderline pedophile, but that doesn’t matter because the feeling is mutual and true love has no boundaries.

Our primary male protagonist Kufa Vampir definitely possesses some unique and original characteristic traits. These traits range from being a Kirito lookin' mother fucker, grooming ... young underaged girls and having high levels of proficiency when it comes to the sex offender shuffle. From his name alone, no one could have expected him to be half-vampire. Vampir Kufa is a full-time fucking clown who works in a circus alongside the other clowns who are all mentally deluded into believing they are assassins. One day Kufa’s ringmaster (who is completely oblivious to the fact that Kufa is a fully-fledged pedophile) commands him to set up a tent in an all-girls middle school in order to provide ‘guidance’ to an underaged blonde Loli, who is (to absolutely nobody’s surprise) the female protagonist.

Our female protagonist Melita Angel is completely and utterly useless, her biological parents are nowhere to be found and it’s pretty easy to see why considering every character that is introduced in the story seems to know how fucking useless Melita is. Much to everyone’s dismay, Melita is actually a hidden OP in the school and is able to instantly receive a power-spike by simply stating that she is stronger than her opponent/s. After spending the first day to analyze Melita’s situation, Kufa (being the absolute paedophilic mastermind that he is) realizes the vulnerability of Melita and commits ‘Michael Jackson’ on her without a second thought before proceeding to inject his ‘mana’ into her body within 24 hrs of meeting.

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all, Kufa suddenly evolves from clowning around to utter degeneracy after agreeing to play ‘husband’ in order to aid Rosetti, a fellow co-worker with daddy issues. Kufa then breaks up with Rosetti smoothly with the one-liner ‘It’s ok we can still be brother and sister after this’ and continues to confide in his interest for children.

What is ‘Mana’ I hear you ask? No one really knows as the anime adaption chose to completely ignore the philosophy of mana and instead exposes the audience to ‘cutesy’, flirty and mildly suggestive dialog between the characters while at the same time failing to address the elephant in the room that is Kufa’s incestuous and paedophilic relationships.

In conclusion, Assassin’s Pride uncovers the most compelling and heart-warming love story you are ever going to find in anime. Witness the spectacle that is a 17-year-old Kufa utilizing the final year of his adolescence to manipulate and groom a 13-year-old Melida before his 18th birthday where he will be immediately convicted and shipped off to the nearest mental asylum.

UPDATED on 28/12/2019 (12/12 episodes completed)

FINAL UPDATE (28/12/2019) (3/10)

This anime is a great example of a show that had a lot of potential, but couldn't fulfill its expectations in the end. The story-telling is atrocious. I'm not sure whether the adaptation was just poorly executed, or the source material is actually that bad. The music, however, was very good. This show deserves a 3/10 for its shambolic character development and train-wreck of a plot. AVOID THIS ANIME. However, I strangely would like a season 2...

UPDATE 2 (13/12/2019) (4/10)

The story is slowly progressing, but the main aim of this show from the start doesn't link with ... the current arc/plotline. The story is in shambles, expressing poor story writing and overall weak presentation. Episode 9 is so edgy that it alone could be made into a hentai OVA. The show has no aim. It doesn't know the audience it is aimed at, most certainly, it doesn't know how to successfully push the plot forward in order to make all the pieces fit together. I hope the overall rating of this show drops below 6.

UPDATE (23/11/2019) (5/10)

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.

BEFORE UPDATE (31/10/2019) (8/10)

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.

Edit: I would say after episode 5 the anime started losing quality in all aspects, art, story, characters. The story is still alrightish, but the relationship of the 2 main chars went down the very generic way, the blue-haired girl is literally a waste of space, she's not doing anything at all, the mandatory tardy fan service scenes couldn't be kept away for long too. So anyway I am pretty disappointed with the show, in the beginning I thought it can be a good kind of generic show.


The original review for the first 4 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.

I must have read the title of this anime wrong. Because let’s face it, this show isn’t so much about the pride of an assassin but more of how secrets are waiting to be discovered and protected. Watching Assassins Pride feels more like an action fantasy than a stealthy story. And from start to finish, it's an anime filled with nothing but mediocrity.

Let’s just say, this type of anime is very conventional in a realm of creativity. There’s the premise about how humans struggle to survive in a world of uncertainty. Society consists of commoners and nobles. Then, there are gifted individuals with the power ... of “Mana”, capable of fighting against the monsters outside of the timeless nights. Assassins Pride doesn’t choose to be original enough and the first episodes made less than favorable impression. I mean, let’s face it, Angel Melida is an underdog who has yet to awaken her mana and is often bullied at school. It isn’t until she meets Kufa Vampir where her abilities begins to show and trying to prove herself worthy of heirless noble.

As a fantasy anime adaptation, a familiar formula applies to Assassins Pride to those of similar genre. We have the academy used to train students to fight, characters with unique abilities to fight against monsters, and of course, relationships that develops among its youth society. While Assassins Pride isn’t a romance story, there’s undeniable chemistry between Melida and Vampir. The two are often seen together but in the beginning, Melida had to prove herself. It’s easy to see her as an underdog rather than a prodigy. Vampir’s impression of her didn’t manifest until she shows her determination. Melida’s determination to prove worthy of her name is a major recurring element in the show. She wants to prove to herself and everyone who she wants to be. This type of character personality attracts Vampir, so much that he withdraws his assassination attempt and becomes her mentor. Vampir himself is a mysterious individual who often hides his true attentions behind a façade. As an assassin, he’s clever at hiding his emotions and training has given him a great deal of experience. In many of the early fights, it’s shown that his battles usually go in his favor. However, Melida’s appearance in his life sometimes causes Vampir to show a different side of him. And throughout the story, it’s shown that he genuinely grows to care about her. As a matter of fact, Vampir behaves differently towards Melida than with other characters. Their relationships is a core part of the show that connects the two together despite having very different personalities.

What about other personalities in the series? Surely, we have Elise and Rosetti to bring out a different side of the story, right? Well, not quite. Elise and Rosetti are two other main characters although they enter the anime as prodigies. Elise is Melida’s cousin with a sisterly like relationship. But in the beginning of the show, their relationship is cold and it isn’t until certain events that their relationship improves again. On the other hand, Rosetti is a class example of ‘hard work pays off’. Despite being a commoner, she gained a reputable status through her talent and hard work. Unlike Elise, Rosetti is much more cheery and easier to develop friends with others. As some may guess, she develops a school-like crush towards Vampir. It’s the type of generic romance trope you can easily identify with poor effort in writing and story development. There’s even an episode where she gets Vampir involved with a marriage subplot to throw off her engagement. It’s safe to say, this type of writing can easily be discarded as junk.

On the other hand, I don’t want to say Assassins Pride is unwatchable garbage as there are certain elements to keep the viewers entertained. For instance, there are other schools in the Flandore and certain episodes shows the talents of other characters beyond the core cast. Melida’s fighting spirit is also a source of inspiration that shows anyone can be who they want if they try. It can help keep us entertained enough to see how far she can evolve as a person. Likewise, Vampir and Melida’s relationship is forged by trust and sometimes, we may ask ourselves how much they can really trust each other. Will Vampir someday really kill Melida or how long he can protect Melida from the truth? Certainly, Assassins Pride isn’t a thriller but this anime has the perk of carrying a level of suspense. The balance of comedy also eases the mood on occasions while not being too distracting; that is, if you enjoy watching girls having slumber partied and gossiping about each other’s love lives. But at the end of the day, this show is how you chooses to watch it.

EMT Squared is by no means a high caliber studio from their creative projects in recent years. From forgettable shorts to medicore slice of life adaptations, you really shouldn’t come into the show expecting any more from them. Assassins Pride’s artistic elements mostly comes with how it decorates its aristocrat society. Most of the characters are fairly well dressed including Melida. The school they attend carries a high value reputation and looks like a place where nobles would attend. The character designs are also decorates with uniforms that show their status. However, I do find the overall look to be peculiar with the cat-like eyes from the female uniforms. Doesn’t anyone else feel that’s too damn distracting? Vampir might as well look like a Kirito 2.0 in terms of physical appearance. Character reactions ranges from cartoony expressions to more serious and emotional segments depending on the direction of the story. Finally, some of the battles segments are distinguishable by the way characters fight. Remember, humans have Mana powers and it physically manifests in the form of colored aura. Sure, it’s nothing to write home about but is unique enough to show credibility to the plot.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you to watch Assassins Pride or not. That’s up to you. There’s too many anime like this every year where we watch the show and easily forgets about it the next few months roll around. Assassins Pride is an example of a conventional show using its fantasy content to sell a mediocre story. And honestly, it’s starts off mediocre and remains all the way to the end. All the way.

Let me say it right here: No matter what anyone else thinks, I think Assassins Pride is worth watching.

The primary story is fairly basic growth story of the main protagonist Melida Angel, but how the story is told and everything that happens around the main story is what makes the story good.

The art style is beautiful, even though it is pretty basic artstyle for anime at the moment. The color balance of the art works and even if the style is not unique, it still works and looks good, no problems with that. Same with the sounds, they work even if they are not ... something unique, because things don't always have to be unique.

The characters are very interesting with both their looks and their stories. Especially Kufa Vampir, who, even though in the main story he is shown mostly as a teacher/butler, has really interesting backstory and reasons to be exactly who he is. Melida is a great example of a female protagonist. Even if the anime is just 12 episodes long, you can really see Melida's growth and in general how strong willed she is, not giving up and doing her best. Melida is absolutely not your average empty shell of a female character.

I enjoyed this anime and I hope there will be a second season or at least an OVA or two, so overall, great job with this one.

Assassin's Pride was painful. I'm not even sure it is worse than 2015's The Asterisk War which was one of the worst things I have ever seen then again. I don't compare trash bags to each other. The whole point of the trash bag is to depose the trash bag from your house to the trash bin not to compare how smelly they are otherwise the house would be smelling of garbage.

This is easily the worst anime of the fall 19 season, beating out the worst isekai animes of that season.
Am not even sure that this show was done by human beings.

Before I talk about ... the show's plot, let's immediately dive into this show's technical aspects.

This show looks like shit. This is a show that came out in 2019 yet it feels like I am watching a 2005 anime production.
The only decent thing about the visuals is the character's designs which are okay when they are not using the powers that make them glow as it just looks very bad.
Everything else from the animation, background scenery and the fight scenes are a mess then again. This show was made by the same studio that made The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar the worst Isekai anime ever made.

I honestly forgot this show had a soundtrack. This is one of those shows that a sizeable, amount of tracks yet it plays a handful of tracks over and over again.

The opening and ending theme were competent but nothing special. They are both enjoyable songs on their own right but they don't really stand out compared to other OP/ED from the season.

The original Japanese audio is serviceable and gets the job done as you expect.

Being a dub fan I had to check out the dub for Assassin's Pride. I watched the first 6 episodes of the dub, turned off my PS4 and I regretted the day when I had to listen to it. This is got to be the worst dub from Sentai in a long time. The voice acting is over-dramatic and stiff. The audio quality was hot garbage and ADR direction was atrocious. I honestly felt bad for Brittney Karbowski as she had to voice a garbage character like Melida.

Since I am done talking about the show's technical aspects, let's finally talk about the show plot

The plot/characters.

This plot is more uninspired than Jump Force story mode. If you have seen The Asterisk War, Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor and The Irregular at Magic High School then you watch Assassins Pride. It's lazy, uninspired and soulless.

What makes this empty shell of a plot even worse is how the writer managed to screw it up to a point where the show becomes unbearable. One of the main issues with Assassin's Pride is its inconsistent tone. When I took a look at the poster for Assassin's Pride I thought the show would be this engaging dark sci-fi action show, however more often not the show is a 12A generic action flick.

Sure it does have some dark elements in it, but they don't show up that often in the anime and even then the dark elements were poorly executed thanks to the shitty. The writing is dreadful from top to bottom. It feels like I am watching a really bad fanfiction from fanfic.net thanks to the number of cliches that it has that heavy plague of the show.

The selling point of Assassin's Pride if you can call it that is the romance between Kufa and Angel but the problem is that they have little to no chemistry with each other.

The characters are as interesting as watching grass grow. They are not engaging in the slightest. Am still shocked that I remember the characters cast names after watching the final episode of this ambitionless garbage fire because they were just so forgetful and poorly written.

Assassin's Pride is centred around two characters Melida and Kufa but the problem is that they are both such horrendous characters. Outside of their non-existent romantic chemistry, they are both boring, bland and irritating to watch. The bottom dog of the two is Melida because her personality throughout the series is inconsistent. She's meant to be this weak girl that will eventually get stronger, however, in certain scenes, notably in episode 2, she's a total badass that is able to defeat her foes.

She had a cool moment despite the fight being poorly animated and it's such a shame she reverts back to a weakening in the following episode where she relies on Kirito I mean Kufa. This happens frequently in the anime and it really annoying. There are no redeeming qualities to this character whatsoever.
She's a total failure of a female lead if I ever think of one.

Kufa is generic light novel protagonist 7830. Everything about him from design, dialogue and potato personality screams, laziness. The only thing that separates him from the countless generic light novel protagonist is he's a vampire and he's edgy and even then it doesn't really matter because the writing is dogshit.

The rest of the characters just exist for plot reasons and nothing more.

Assassins Pride is an end product of arrested ambition. It is a shell of anime that has no passion and soul. How can I enjoy a show like this when the writers have no ambition whatsoever? The only good thing about Assassin's Pride is the opening of everything from the writing, visuals, characters, plot, soundtrack and pacing is a disaster. This is without a question the worst anime of the season as well as being one of the laziest anime I have ever seen in my life. 
There's absolutely no reason to watch this show this unless you hate yourself.

I originally never planned to even touch this anime but the catchy opening song made me watch it.(A few minor spoilers ahead)


STORY: 7

The story is pretty good and is the first time I've seen a story like this. Although when watching the anime I did feel some parts were a bit rushed, especially with some of the time skips. The time skips weren't that bad but I feel like they could have added at least something so it wasn't it didn't seem like a jump. Compared to the time skips in SAO this isn't that bad.

Another thing that ... felt was a bit rushed was how Melida gained her ability to use mana. Melida's instructor shared her his mana although it wasn't made clear on how exactly he did it. Another one was the battle between Melida and her cousin, she lost in the first tournament and in the next episodes she was able to beat her??

They didn't show much of her training making it feel rushed. Other than that I guess the idea of the story is pretty good. If only they didn't rush things that much and actually decided to make the anime longer than 12 episodes. I haven't read the manga but probably the manga is less rushed and explains things better.

ART: 7

The art didn't hurt my eyes nor did it blow my mind, but in 2019 it's expected that most anime should have good art.

SOUND: 8

( For the sounds I will also count the Osts, the Ed, and the Op) The opening is really good an catchy and the more I listen to it the better it gets. Although the same animation was used twice in the Op, I guess that's because of it's budget.

The Ed was also really good and didn't make me skip it and go to the next episode like most Eds.

As for the Osts they weren't anything special or anything bad. They were quite average I'd say.

The voice acting was normal, the voice acting of Melida wasn't annoying or squeaky and the other characters sounded good. The voice acting for Kufa was also really good and I guess it kind of matched his character in a way?

OVERALL: 7

I'm not good at giving my opinion on things but so far this anime isn't bad. It doesn't deserve hate and it's quite decent. Although I feel like they rushed it because of the 12 episodes. Although if you were to look at the characters and story there is a lot of potential and this could be really good. If only it was given more episodes and it was less rushed. The anime is still airing and I have yet to see it play out. The story is a long story and would take many episodes to finish so I think there is a high chance of a season 2 but it hasn't finished airing yet so I can't tell yet.

The peaceful days of humankind have disappeared. War, murder, slaughter, poverty, hunger, and only strong people can survive. They are actually not against each other but the appearance of strange creatures that come from nowhere, "Lychantropes" is their name ... After the emergence of "Lychantropes" now mankind lives in the "chandelier" that's right, they live with seven regions each like "chandelier". Welcome to the town of "Flandore" that is the city of one of the seven parts. In each city has a layered wall that protects them from the attacks of "Lychantropes", and this life in the city below is ... still a mystery.

"Kufa Vampire" is a famous assassin in his organization. One day he got a "mission", he was required to oversee the daughter of a famous paladin. "Paladin" is a kind of class in terms of fighting, if "samurai" who are skilled with sword techniques, "archer" in terms of archery, while "paladin" is a class of fighters who rely on mana, "where" is a kind of strength that comes from oneself, usually "where" comes from the bloodline. If their lineage has an extraordinary "mana" then it is certain that their offspring will have the same "mana". "Kufa" was assigned to oversee the paladin's daughter "Melida Angel" who apparently did not have a "mana" even though her father was a famous paladin. "Kufa" is tasked with supervising "Melida" to ascertain whether "Melida Angel" is a child of "paladin" and not the result of "cheating", and if it is proven that "Melida Angel" is not a child of "paladin" then "Kufa" is required kill Melida Angel.

Their lives run normally, even at the beginning of the episode they behave like normal people in general. "Vampir Kufa" oversees "Melida Angel" by pretending to be Melida Angel "trainer". In the town of "Flandore" all noble girls are required to attend military school (I don't know what it's called, but let's assume it is "military school") ... A few days have passed, and finally it is finally for "Kufa" to carry out its mission as a " Assassins". After overseeing "Melida Angel" for a few days, "Kufa" did not notice any development of "Melida Angel" and he still could not use "mana". The moment when he wanted to carry out his task "Kufa" saw "Melida" was fighting "Lychantropes", he thought that why do people who don't have "mana" dare to fight such creatures. After seeing what happened, "Kufa" wanted to give "Melida" a chance to live. Kufa's condition for completing its mission is by reporting to the organization that "Melida" has "where".

"Kufa" plans to give away most of its "mana" and give it to "Melida" to fool the "organization". Even so "Kufa" knows that the class that belongs to "Melida" is not a "paladin" class, but the same class as him that is "samurai". That way they managed to fool the organization and "Kufa" wanted to make "Melida" a paladin like a dream he told "Kufa", with this the story of "Assassins Pride" has begin...

Will it discuss synopsis any longer?

Of course not, I think the storyline seems very strange, because some things I do not understand the development of the story from time to time. What is the "Melida Angel" training process in the story? I guess they forgot this, and suddenly after the conversation and the next day they had become strong. It is not shown how their process is striving to achieve that.

With no explanation of the process of how they can be strong, making this anime has a fast storyline. Just stepping on the initial episode we immediately invited to enjoy the fight. I don't think it's fun at all, it even makes me wonder how they got that power and what process and sacrifice they made to become like this. To be honest, in my opinion, you can say that the story line has been "chaotic" Ma, I didn't expect much from the story, because I'm not that kind of person. If I just enjoy a "story" I'd better read "Light Novel" than watching the anime.

Is this only with "loli" capital? That question somehow crossed my mind. Many people say this is similar to "SAO" if in my opinion this is actually not similar at all to "SAO". If you liken it to "SAO", are you blind? On what basis do you pair this with "SAO? Is it because their main characters are strong and mysterious? Of course not. If" SAO "has big breasts like Asuna, Mizuha, and Quinella then" Assassins Pride "has what? Rosetti Pricket? Of course of course not, so there's no need to compare this with "SAO", they're clearly different.

What I like about this is the voice over, character design, graphic design, CG effects, opening theme, and closing theme. From what I mentioned earlier, maybe I like the opening theme called "Share the Light", it makes my enthusiasm to watch this anime increase, and I can't wait for the sequel even though I don't like the storyline, but it's not that bad to be hated . Watching anime doesn't need a reason, even though someone is watching it because of the soundtrack, storyline, cute character design, and so on. For this time I was the first type who likes to listen to the soundtrack, rather than having to choose the storyline.

Overall, this anime is already better than the whole. It's just that I don't really like the storyline, but this is an anime that deserves to be watched this season, moreover the storyline is not too heavy, I think this can be enjoyed by all ages.

The world the anime is placed in is beautifully created. You can see the depth of the world with the bits and pieces that get explained along the way. Loved the way things like classism and other prejudices were addressed while avoiding making this a political anime. Well written, well drawn, well voiced. I've already recommended it to my friends. I enjoyed the depth of characters that you only see if you keep watching. There is character growth for more than just main characters, side characters grow and change as well. Well written plot and villains, while some characters come across as cliche at first ... no character is flat. I also liked how much different characters' decisions affected other characters later on. This is definitely going on my re-watch list, and I hope that the creators make a second season.

It was quite unfortunate that there wasn't much love for this anime and as one guy said it " You will only stay with it for the train wreck" well, he's half right, cu'z this really has a lotta train wreck in it that I can't blame those who give this a low score for it's overall, so how do I rate this????:


Story-Good 7: It simply follow the relationship between the a girl whose often being an object of ridicule and mistreatment not only from her own family but also to her classmates as well and a lycanthropes/ half man half vampire, who was ... at first assign to check as to the girl's legitimacy of being a member of noble house of Angels but in the end he becomes the girl's mentor as he give her part of her mana that makes have the ability to fight back and claim her right to be a member of the house of angel and no longer be classified as a piece of shit. Ok, it may have some from of lackluster, but that's not the point , it was basically the straggle of the girl's right to be acknowledge that was the game her and her mentor that also has to deal with his own skeleton in his closet.

Art-Decent 4: Cu'z this was just a few anime that doesn't rely on the fan-service and that quintessential big boobs thing to sell.

Sound-Mediocre 5: Cu'z I got no fuzz as to which seiyuu did who.

Character- Good 7: Ok given that this was about Melida Angel's journey to be recognized as the deserving heir of the House of Angel, with her trusty mentor Kufa the lycanthrope who at first was assign to kill her but later turn to be her mentor it was good to a certain degree but sometime it can be annoying when Kufa himself was a bit wishy washy about his plan to kill Melinda, though Melinda can fight she basically lacks mana and it has to take her mentor Kufa to give her some, at first one would pity her for being bullied by Martillo, Nerva but thanks to Kufa;s tutelage, she was able to kick her ass, but still I find it rather annoying that Melinda wold be this compassionate towards those who wronged her like Nerva and Elise's evil nany. Now, Kufa , well I kinda hate the fact that his character was force one and he has to be this lolicon towards Melinda, the good thing about him was that he's typecast as an antihero, but he still plays as the quintessential protagonist that still has to come to Melinda's aide. Now what i hate around here was that Elise seemly having some lesbian thing for Melinda, that's not good IMAO, Now seeing Melinda getting mocked and ridicule can basically get one to pity her, but seeing her getting stronger and wiser was the thing that makes this anime's character category good.

Enjoyment- fair 6: My enjoyment level for this anime was simply a mixed of frustration that kufa was able to kill that clown, and sympathy for Melinda who often gets bullied by Nerva, and there was that Rosetti being Kufa sister in which it was just unfair that he has to reboot her memories about them being siblings

Overall- fair 6: Season 2 anybody?????? maybe not, given that both Kufa and Melinda were now in a serious relationship.

I would like to begin by saying that I have watched too many anime by now and I have reached a point where I have to either dig very deeply to find another gem or wait for new anime to come out. This anime was one of those that I began to watch only because I was out of anime and quite frankly I was bored, so I said why not.

I kind of regret giving it my time, in all honesty. I'll explain everything to you in a second. Until now, I have watched 9 episodes and I am not excited or whatsoever about what's ... to come next.

Plot (5):
This story had so much potential and I mean it. It had the possibility to have been developed well, with the ability to truly enchant the audience. Instead, it is lackluster because of how they decided to develop the storyline. From beginning to end, something has been missing and they have been either forcing their way through with information and help the viewer or leaving us completely confused. Personally, it felt like they are giving us chunks of information and simply mashing them together whilst trying to make it seem intentional. The MCs are truly disappointing for the fact that they are generic and their chemistry is as forced and weird as it could get. Their relationship with each other began weirdly and is progressing just like the start. Take into account that we were never given a solid reason as to why the MC decided to toss away his mission for the girl. We lack a convincing backstory that can truly justify those actions. This anime doesn't even push you to be connected with anyone, but I'll explain this in another section.

Art (7):
Not horrible, but the fight scenes need work. This anime is the perfect example of the anime that tries to push the sales of the manga. The last sentence is enough to make you understand what I mean,

Sound (5):
Nothing blew me away. Considering the masterpieces that other animes have given us, this show has not given us anything.

Characters (5):
As mentioned before, if a story is not well developed, then so will its characters because they won't have any foundation on where to stick to. Relationships are poorly explained or developed, making it seem as if everything happens just because. I know that most people watching this anime should be of the ages 12-15 because that seems to be the target audience from the relationship between 13 years old and a grown-ass man. If any of you find that enjoyable, you are either too young or you have questionable taste.

Enjoyment (6):
I answered this not from my own perspective because I would have said a 4. But I do see why people would find it enjoyable. It is a plot that never fails to be somewhat entertaining and the overpowered MC and just-discovered-strong-lead will forever be a great push for the interest of the viewer.

Overall (5):
Anyone who has been watching anime for a long time and wants another gem, this just ain't it. But if you are getting started, I do recommend this anime.

Out of everything anime has to offer, this really isnt a piece of art. However, even if it has a scenario that everyone can predict instantly, from the actions of the characters to who the bad guys actually are, or even what is going all overall, well, this is not that of a bad anime.

I will not involve myself in some long-ass explaination on why is point a or b graduated 5 or 8, as I do not have the time nor the motivation to do so. BUT, Ima depict what may, to me, truly be, or not, attractive in this anime, as I ... like to do in most analysis.

Even if you're a veteran when it comes to anime, you've caught yourself quite a few times watching things without being fascinated or impressed by it, but still watching it anywa because it feels good, haven't you?

Well, to me, this is this kind of anime; let me explain myself:

As it does definitely not come with an overly deep meaning or scenario, this anime is about pretty simple interactions between characters that are as they claim to be, when it comes to values at the very least. And as basic as it seems, the overall show is not that bad to me.
It has to be watched not for the plot, nor for the characters, neither than the animation. It has to be watched just because you're wanting to, and it surely can be watched easily, and you will have a good time, as long as you don't question yourself too much. Drop down those critics and just enjoy the simplicity of an anime that just makes you have a good time, even if you don't really know why!

"It's the Eromanga Sensei of power fantasy shows"

-Gigguk 2019

This is not anyhow my analysis, but I feel like it's well depicted by him in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UK_PdRWRYQ

Anyhow, have a great day tasting more and more of this godlike juice of discoveries that is anime.


PS: I feel like I haven't explained a single thing, and yet cannot help but wanting to share some positivity.

Please be gentle, it's my first.

tl;dr: If you're someone that likes overpowered main characters, I suggest you try this out! It's a magical anime that takes place in a fictional city and is a typical 12 episode long series so it's not too long. Watch a couple episodes and see if you like it.

On to my actual review now,

Assassins Pride is a story about a powerful soldier named Kufa who mentors a girl without magic from a well-known family. In this world, magic ability represents the higher class standing of society which this girl, named Melida, is from. Kufa, who normally slays monsters and deals with other matters around the ... higher class society, has a job of not only mentoring Melida but seeing if she has the capability for magic also.

I think the story was quite enjoyable. I've watched a lot of these overpowered main character shows but I don't believe I've watched one with these specific set of circumstances. Kufa has a chill, calm personality which contrasts with Melida's more erratic and emotional personality. They are a great duo together and compliment each other well.

I loved the art. The colours of Kufa's magic glow around him is such a pretty blue. The combat looks fluid to my eyes and all the character designs are easy to tell apart. Everyone is their own vivid colour. The backgrounds show a city that's eternally plagued at night because of the condition of the planet which causes what they call the darkness. So you get these beautifully lit stone streets and house designs commonly, and I just think they look so pretty.

The sound was fairly good. Every character's voice actor was great and made the show better. The music was forgettable. I can't remember a single piece from it as I write this. The action scenes had good sound effects to back them up.

Speaking on characters, I think Kufa and Melida are the best characters in the show. There are some characters that are real pains constantly to a point where it can be annoying. Though, they may be just acting as their character would but it's sometimes annoying to constantly have a character do the same annoying act multiple times.

With that said though, I enjoyed this anime thoroughly. It's not anything ground breaking and it's not anything to go crazy for, but it's enjoyable. It's fun just to watch. I like watching Kufa and Melida interact, I like watching Kufa fight, I like watching Melida grow stronger. That's what keeps me watching and what keeps me entertained. Again, if you like the overpowered main character trope then I think you will enjoy this.

Not that I hate this anime, but I gotta say it got me hooked for some reason.

(Sorry for my bad English it's not my main language)

Characters: 6/10
The design is great, other than the sensei looking like low budget Kirito (everybody says this so I don't think I need to explain further)

Animation: 4/10
It was good at the start, then gets janky on the very few last episodes (specially the goofy fighting in EP 12)

... Story: 8/10
Now this actually made me stay and not drop this anime, the story is somehow interesting and little ol me wanting more will automatically click the next episode button.

Not a long review because I don't really review anime that much lol. Over all, if you want to watch the anime, go ahead. But for me it's a meh. Not really good enough to satisfy me and found my self sleeping through some episodes.

Despite lacklustre animation, I truly enjoyed Assassins Pride. I enjoyed the world, the characters, the premise, the art, etc. Which is why I still gave it an 8. Where the anime really fell short however is with its storytelling.
It's painfully obvious that the anime skips out on a lot of details which would have made the story flow a lot better and transition from one stage to the next. Without that, it feels very clunky and at many points I found myself asking "What the fuck is going on?" because of how confusing everything was.

The animation was also not the best throughout, fight scenes at ... points looked like they were legit powerpoints. Not quite Nanatsu no Taizai bad, but they were bad. I get that's not the focus of the series, so I don't hold too much against it.

Lastly, for a seinen, I never really got the vibe this was a seinen. It never felt seinen at all, the type of things I'd look for in a seinen anime were not there, other than just dark settings.. From what I've seen the LN and Manga do much better jobs of this than the anime so I do recommend giving them a read if you get the chance.

Overall, really enjoyed AP, it has one of the best OPs of the season and it gets an 8 from me despite the hate it got throughout the year and hopefully we get an OVA or something to continue the story.

*Reposted due to MAL's rules on preliminary reviews*

I am absolutely flabbergasted by the number of positive reviews written for this show (as of December 8, 2019). This show has to be one of the most uninspired, generic pieces of work that has come out in recent memory. I'm quite perplexed by how anyone can find this sorry excuse for an anime intriguing, and how this show was even green-lit in the first place. Not only do I think this show is absolutely horrendous, but it outright disrespects the viewer's intelligence and its a tragedy that anyone is allowed to even go near this filth.

I won't ... write a long winded review of me completely trashing this show and going through everything that is wrong with it, so I'll give you the gist of everything this show embodies:

Laziness.

This show is lazy. From the story, to the characters, to the character designs, to the art, and so on. Every single trope found within the medium of anime is shoved into this shit show, and it's difficult to tell if this abomination was supposed to be a satire on the medium as a whole given the amount of generic plot points and characters. Actually, scratch that because satire implies that humor is found within this show, which it isn't. The only people who can actually find this show entertaining are those who either haven't seen any other anime, or those who are looking for an easy self-insert type of show.

"oh no, sensei isn't paying attention to me :c guess i'll keep pouting until he headpats me :3"

"man i'm so untalented, i can't do anything by myself :'c. guess i'll wait for sensei to do it for me :> (or wait for the 'plot' to give me the power to progress through the current situation)"

"sensei talks to another girl?!?11?! <pout face> that makes me sad because he isn't talking to me :c :c :c"

The show goes out of its way to try and force this "romance" between the main two characters but it is the most awkward attempt at romance that I've seen in a long time. I can't explain the amount of times my jaw dropped at the absurdity that was on my computer screen, and the amount of times I wanted to just stop watching this show. The plot is completely uninteresting, and to dare call it 'mature' or 'dark' is straight up foolish. If simply showing blood or having a darker color gradients for the animation is considered 'mature' or 'dark' in the context of anime, then I don't want to watch anime anymore.

You may be asking, "iF yOu dIdn'T lIkE iT, wHy dId yOuu keEp wAtChinG??", or saying, "jUsT leT peoPLe enJoY thIngS mAN...".

Well I'll tell you why. I persevered through this abhorrent, dark stain of the anime industry so that I can remind myself of what a good show shouldn't be. If one only watches 'good' shows, how can one really know if they are good? You need something to compare to, and this show ladies and gentleman will be the example of what not to do.

But most importantly, I willed myself to finish this show to let whoever is reading this know to avoid this show like the plague and don't be fooled the the positive things people say about this train wreck. This show is, without a doubt, the worst show to have aired in 2019 and I am fully okay being the fool to finish this show to let you know that.

At least the OP is a banger.

While the art is pretty good it was genuinely the hardest watch I've had in a long time because random things kept happening and I was supposed to take them seriously. The ages are weird and the story couldn't completely focus on one thing that made sense. I can usually handle unoriginal anime but this was on another level. This is one of the few anime that might actually be a waste of time. It's not even funny bad it's just bad and that's coming from someone that can give the benefit of doubt. I only gave it a 2 because I watched it for ... the opening and art. If you make it halfway through this I promise it does not get any better.

Tldr: It's bad and the opening song + art got it a 2

The only show where I do the absolute opposite:
Skip half of the actual content and sat through all the OPs and EDs.

Short & Sweet Spoilers Free (9 episodes in):
This is probably as trashy as a cliche generic fantasy harem show could get, and it really is just that. To my surprise it's pretty enjoyable, for perhaps the wrong reasons. But as long as you don't mind shutting down your frontal lobe a bit, it's a solid time pastime. The show is "special", and any meaning of the word "special" you can think of can simultaneously apply here.

I can definitely see polarized opinions on this show, ... for it excels (in a good way) but for the worst things. It has no shame displaying the silly parts, and instead reinforces them to a point where you don't feel weirded out anymore. Despite being able to spot the flaws, I couldn't deny that I liked it. Just for that alone I think it's fair to compare it with SAO, or The Irregular at Magic Highschool, my personal favorite guilty pleasure. You hate to love it.

On a side note, I really enjoyed the catchy OP and the memorable ED, some of my favorites this season. The animation on the OP and some of the post-budget-apocalypse action/dramatic scenes were done very well.

In the end, Assassin's Pride gives you plenty reasons to watch it, be it ironically or genuinely. Rated a 6 for "ehhhhh could be worse".

This show was basically just how you would expect it to be like from the trailer.

Just another pretty generic show. Everything about this show is painfully average and mediocre. It doesn’t really do anything special when it comes to its art direction. Just the generic fantasy/isekai look.

Character design is also very bland, going for costumes that would appeal to the eye more than if they actually make sense in terms of the world. For example middle school girls with very, uh, lets say uniforms that would be unusual in real life, but be pretty normal in these fantasy anime schools.

I love this show though, ... I love it more than any show this season. I don’t know why, but it’s so generic that it manages to check every box about an anime that I like. In terms of actual merit, this show isn’t good, but it isn’t bad either, just mediocre.

Yet just like some people like generic industrialised pop music, some people like these types of anime too (namely me). If you liked Akashic records, you’ll probably like this.

Assassins Pride (2019)

It is a typical style story of a weak girl that gains a strong helper. (Instructor in this case who is an Assassin). He is sent to help her and if she doesn't cut it is then to kill her. He however almost immediately falls in love with her. They are actually only a few years different in age despite what you may think initially. He then helps her more than he should and they begin their journey secretly connected.

The world is plagued by monsters that has left much of the world uninhabitable. Unlike a show like Chrome Shelled Regios where you ... get a good amount of the normal life versus the monsters trying to kill everyone you barely see it here. You get a few monsters and hybrids but ultimately the conflict of the world is barely touched. This is a it disappointing and although I would expect further seasons to cover this though I doubt the show is heading that way very soon.

The art style is nice to look at. It is referenced by others to be similar to SAO which is true. It, however, doesn't mean that is bad since SAO uses great animation.

The OP and ED are very catchy. Going in we have a suspenseful theme. Going out we get a moment of solace style. Fighting sounds are nicely done and so are the abilities which help build up tension.

Melida Angel the main female lead is initially weak and bullied. She is helped by her new instructor and becomes ever stronger and is accepted by everyone. Past grievances resolve themselves quickly. Many higher nobles and affiliates do however still remain suspicious of her.

Kufa Vampir the instructor is a strict teacher but also head over heels for Melida. He almost immediately is willing to lay his life on the line for her. He is a good character and very powerful.

Elise Angel the little sister type (in her mind) is a very powerful relation of Melida. She, however, prefers to be treated like a little sister. Suspected due to how she has been raised.

Rosetti Prickett is the instructor of Elise. I feel she should have much more emphasis on her character considering her past as you will learn. You also realise how very important she is in the whole show. The reason that makes her like she is now is a bit confusing as she is grown up now. She is my favourite character.

Other characters are all good in their own ways. Many filling various tropes as you would expect. Black Madia a coworker of Kufa is insanely powerful yet her character scenes are up there one minute and gone the next. It is odd how they treated her but she is easily someone who should be shown much more.

The show is very good. It is suspenseful and enjoyable. It is not a masterpiece and therefore it isn't amazing in every aspect. It could have done with more action against the actual monsters. And towards the end, people who show evil intent to threaten our main female lead are just let off from what they did which feels a bit bad tasting.

Overall, it is very good despite what many people say with limited views. The show would benefit a second cour to fulfil the show to a place the other media can pick up from.