Lycoris Recoil

The number of terrorist acts in Japan has never been lower, thanks to the efforts of a syndicate called Direct Attack (DA). The organization raises orphaned girls as killers to carry out assassinations under their "Lycoris" program. Takina Inoue is an exceptional Lycoris with a strong sense of purpose and a penchant for perfection. Unfortunately, a hostage situation tests her patience, and the resulting act of insubordination leads to her transfer out of DA. Not thrilled about losing the only place she belonged to, she reluctantly arrives at her new base of operations—LycoReco, a cafe in disguise.

Takina's new partner, however, turns out to be quite different from what she imagined. Despite being the famed Lycoris prodigy, Chisato Nishikigi appears almost unconcerned with her duties. She drags Takina along on all kinds of odd jobs under the simple explanation of helping people in need. Takina is even more puzzled when Chisato takes down a group of armed assailants without killing any of them. Feeling like a fish out of water, Takina itches to get reinstated into DA—but Chisato is determined to prove to her that there is more to a life than just taking them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nishikigi, Chisato Main

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Inoue, Takina Main

Wakayama, Shion Japanese

Kurumi Supporting

Kuno, Misaki Japanese

Majima Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Nakahara, Mizuki Supporting

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Mika Supporting

Sakaki, Kousuke Japanese

Otome, Sakura Supporting

Koichi, Makoto Japanese

Harukawa, Fuki Supporting

Kawase, Maki Japanese

Janome, Erika Supporting

Yagami, Yuka Japanese

Himegama Supporting

Ootani, Satomi Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Jinguuji, Manabu Producer

Yoshida, Yoshihiro Producer

Adachi, Shingo Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Series Composition

Reviews

Jul 23, 2024

Yuki0Kanna

Recommended

Other people have already given more detailed reviews, so really I'm just adding stuff I want to say, but I'll keep it spoiler free.

A lot of stories try to either be so unique that they end up feeling too unrealistic and out of touch, while some stories play into the common tropes so much to sell well they just feel like every other anime out there regurgitated into a big mess. And I get it really, it's hard to balance the right amount of familiar with the right amount of strange, but Lycoris Recoil does it perfectly.

The best way to explain this show ... without spoilers is to give an example. Have you watched any vtubers recently? Lately it feels like every concept under the sun has been already done, all the low hanging fruits like cat girl vtubers or bunny girls or demon boys or whatever,so how do newer gens adapt? they mix two concepts together that haven't been done together before, like a police officer hamster, or a genie mermaid. the key is not to do so many that you end up with a literal mess but not so few that it feels like you're just redoing whats been done already. After watching the whole show that's the impression I got, mixing in just enough concepts that on their own are not that unique but tuned together they create a harmonious but also fresh plot that surprises and delights the reader. The twists and turns and along the way also felt natural and well thought out, which I prefer over shocking twists that serve nothing for the story except to surprise the viewer.

Oh yeah and we got some mild but respectful LGBTQ+ representation so that's a plus too.

Anyways overall its a 10/10 for me, the story hits everything it needs to hit and excels in at least one department and that's perfect.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Feb 9, 2024

Nevermemory

Mixed Feelings

I think the show has some potential. Sadly, the story needs a bit of work. I like the main character, she has a cheerful outlook on life. Most supporting characters are just there to create some mess so that the main character can save the day. And near the end, some of the plot development isn't that sensible. At the very end, there is a poorly constructed tense moment that maybe was meant to make it look like someone didn't make it, but to the keen observer, you can see it a mile away. It was a bizarre moment for me ngl. I don't mind ... if the studio goes for another season. I think the main character and the major support character work but I hope they find a different writer for the storyboard because that's one thing that doesn't work for me.

TL;DR: If you're one of those people who get hung up on a good story then this is a skip. but if you don't care about any of that the animation, soundtrack, and the fight scene are pretty good. It's just the story that's a mess.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jul 22, 2024

ScarlettSkone

Not Recommended

I wanted to like Lycoris Recoil, but I found myself disappointed.

Lycoris is a comfort show masquerading as a more complex one. The dystopia is not meaningfully examined, and the problems with it are scape-goated onto a “return to monkey” anprim idiot. For the main two characters, I could ship it, but they are a little generic, as are all the characters. The existence of Kurumi’s character, in particular, makes me want to commit hate crimes.

It’s fine to write a silly show about cute girls doing cute things, but seeing Lycoris Recoil’s set up and promises of more exciting complexities while having characters dodge bullets on ... reaction time is infuriating. Watching it, I felt like I was watching something written but someone too scared to say anything for fear that it’d be polarizing. Lycoris Recoil’s cowardice leads to two big problems: 1) pro censorship and 2) it’s not gay enough.

1) The whole dystopia setting of Lycoris Recoil is used more so as an edgy backdrop than as the pretense for any real social commentary. This ends up as a big problem when the status quo of the world is one of censorship and main character Chisato explicitly defends the status quo against main antagonist Majima. It’s pro censorship, there isn’t any other way to read it than that. To me, it seems that Lycoris Recoil is too scared to say anything meaningful against the world it creates, trying to write girls that just want to live, it refuses to comment on the dystopia and ends up approving and accepting it.

2) Lycoris Recoil isn’t gay enough. I see this anime on all these gay lists, and everyone that I see accepts this anime as a fun little gay anime. Frankly, it isn’t gay enough. Yes, I do want these characters to scream from the rooftops that they are homosexuals attracted to each other. I’m somewhat exaggerating, that was a little hyperbolic, but my sentiment is sincere.
Stories exist in the context of the world around them, and in our current world, I could fully see a homophobic idiot watching Lycoris Recoil and then coming away feeling happy about how cute these “two best friends” are together. I don’t want to get into an argument about whether this anime is supposed to be gay or not, and dammit, my subjective desire and wants tell me this anime isn’t gay enough.


If you want to write a comfort anime about gay characters being gay, sure, but don’t try to use dystopia’s for their aesthetics, and it’d better be gay, damnit. BE MORE GAY!

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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