Lycoris Recoil

“You’re gonna become sad just so you can meet someone else’s expectations? That’s boring.” - Chisato Nishikigi

Is there such thing as true peace in the world? Even if peace doesn’t exist though, should we be despondent and grow cynical of anything and everything?

Lycoris Recoil, while at the surface, is about cute girls with guns, fighting terrorism, its true identity is trying to tell us, the viewers, how to approach living in a world where things aren’t as uplifting as they seem. It’s about a whole lot of things, such as how to live your best life every day, and how to live for yourself, and ... not for others.

The main characters, Chisato and Takina, come from different walks of life, and have polar opposite personalities. Chisato is very positive and never lets anyone keep her from being as happy as possible, while Takina is very steely and keeps to herself. After these two meet each other and work together, you can see their personalities develop, and it makes for such brilliant chemistry that warms my heart.

I have to admit, I dismissed this show as a “cute girls doing cute things at a cafe” show and didn’t even watch it at first, but after seeing the response in the anime community to this show, I had to try it out. The striking balance between slice of life and dark elements really works well.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 19.3/25

The plot itself isn’t the strongest, as it can get quite ridiculous and nonsensical at times, but for this show, I think that’s fine. It’s more of the story about Chisato and Takina, rather than the overarching plot throughout the series.

However, to give you a little overview, the plot is set in modern (or possibly futuristic) Japan, where a false sense of peace is instilled among the citizens. In fact, crimes and terrorism have never been more prevalent, so, to counteract this issue, a syndicate called Direct Attack (DA), raised orphaned girls called Lycoris, to assassinate these criminals. Following a mistake in action that resulted in danger, Takina Inoue, a Lycoris with great skill in battle, gets her transferred out of DA and into LycoReco, a cafe with a twist. It is here that she meets Chisato Nishikigi, a happy go lucky, but prodigious Lycoris. While Takina wants to do whatever it takes to get back into DA, Chisato teaches her that life is more fruitful than just killing, and that life can be beautiful.

It’s the chemistry between characters that shines the brightest, and the plot is alright too, with its share of tense moments, combined with some cute slice of life elements. Some shows fail to execute these tonal shifts effectively, but Lycoris Recoil does these shifts in a very nice way. The slice of life elements get you invested in the characters, the comedy is fun, but the tense moments have you at the edge of your seat, wondering about each character’s fate in apprehension. The best thing is, this is an anime original, so no one knows what’s truly going to happen, and that’s the best part, the speculation, the potential deaths that may or may not happen…

ART: 9.1/10

A-1 Pictures have really been on their game recently, with Kaguya-sama last season, and 86 last year. The animation is pretty solid, with vibrant colours and darker colours for different atmospheres. The action sequences are also done well. No complaints here.

MUSIC: 8.9/10

The music compliments the show well, with slice of life music when it’s calm, and nice action or sentimental music when it’s serious. The opening from ClarIS is pretty good, and it gives a sense on how the show is going to go, and Sayuri’s ending was one of my favourites this season.

CHARACTERS: 19/20

I believe it is the characters that are most worthy of the utmost praise in this show. Chisato’s character is brilliant, plain and simple. In a way, she lives as positively as I aspire to. She doesn’t care about the opinions of others, she doesn’t worry about things she can’t control, and she’s an incredibly positive influence. She has an interesting trait, which is valuing people’s lives. She doesn’t shoot to kill, contrary to any other Lycoris. She sees the value of human beings, because of various reasons in her past. While some people might get frustrated over her “stubbornness” not to kill people, it’s really a good writing decision in my opinion, as it’s a distinct personality that makes for good plot points. Takina, on the other hand, is a realist that desires results. She isn’t the most talkative, isn’t the most happy go lucky, and certainly isn’t as carefree as Chisato. Through working with Chisato though, she undergoes some changes in her lifestyle. She slowly opened up to her, trusted more people, and even developed a love for people. It goes to show what a positive influence Chisato can have on people.

Aside from these two, the side characters and villains are alright as well. Kurumi and Mizuki have their comedic moments, and contribute a decent amount to the action. The villains are also quite memorable, because they have interesting intentions, and felt multi-layered.

ENJOYMENT: 14.3/15

Most episodes were very enjoyable, even the slice of life moments. Every moment added to the story and I loved the chemistry between the characters.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17.8/20

This show executes themes quite well, ranging from comedy, action, and emotional moments as well. The comedy works so well in this show, and for that, the voice actors are to be praised, as you can tell they’re passionate about their work here, and probably had quite the fun time recording their lines. The action is nicely done, and has tense moments. The emotional sequences, when they occur, are hard-hitting and feel significant. The one small flaw has to come from some of the more ridiculous bits of “plot-armour”, and no, I’m not talking about Chisato’s ability, it’s more the events that occur, such as the timing of certain events that were questionably executed. Overall, still quite thematically brillant. Great balance between the light moments and the dark moments, with tonal shifts that didn’t feel awkward.

OVERALL: 88.4/100

Definitely one of my favourite shows from 2022 so far, and one of the best cast of characters I’ve seen this year. While it isn’t completely flawless, I still enjoyed it through and through. A-1 Pictures continues to deliver, and it’s great to see!

Alright, time to see if I can create that LycoReco signature parfait…

Welcome to the new age of Japan, where they train orphaned middle school girls to replace the country's military force. That is Lycoris, a secret syndicate with the purpose of uphelding public safety in Japan.

After ignoring the orders of her superiors, Takina Inoue has transferred to Cafe LycoReco, where she can learn from Chisato Nishikigi, one of the top-tier Lycoris. Takina is a realist who desires results, while Chisato is cheerful and brimming with life. Together the eccentric pair have teamed-up to do all sorts of mission, from serving in a cafe to bodyguard duties, etc. Takina hopes to return back to her designation, ... Chisato helps her produce results. If you love spy-action thriller shows with fun characters or just something chill to watch, then this is a treat for you.

As much as I love the idea of cute girls with guns doing badass stuff like dodging bullets with ultra instinct, shooting terrorists with an aim bot, and elite hacking. The show did a good job of executing it all out. The fluid movements of the characters, especially in the action scenes were captivating to watch. Huge applause to the choreographer. The animation is also visually appealing. A-1 Pictures sure did deliver a show with lots of potential.

The opening song is sung by ClariS, ending song is sung by Sayuri. Both artists I am familiar with and fond of during the old times.

Overall, one of the best shows this Summer 2022.

Girl’s holding gun,this type of anime can escalated into “I love riffle” type of anime or straight up a “gunslinger girls” v2,so what type does Lycoris recoil belongs to?.
Well a little bit of both,despite the light and cheerful atmosphere in the anime,Lycoris Recoil still deliver a few “brutal” scene that even sounds off-putting but actually blend pretty well.

It doesn’t afraid to show that the story isn’t always light and happy and can show that it can be heavy and dark.
The animation is definitely not the best among the action animes but it was a damn good animation,the movement is fluid and the gun fight actually ... exciting.Usually gun vs gun fight scene can be pretty boring but Lycoris Recoil even with a very “traditional” and “common” way of shooting guns can somehow make it fun.

The music is also top tier,once I know that ClariS gonna be the one performing the opening sound,I quickly guess that it’s gonna be a banger,and it actually does.Heard it for the first time and I instantly fall in love with it.
The characters also very very lovable,though the design of one of the heroine resemble some certain “curious girl” and the another also resemble some certain girl that also happen to like shooting guns,I definitely have no problem with that.
We have Chisato as the cheerful main character and we have Takina as the calm main character,all the supporting character also very liekable and well designed,it’s a cherry on top.

Overall,very recommended in almost every aspect,it’s an original anime so there’s might be chance of it end or developed very badly,but even if it does happen,with all this cool action and splendid animation,can’t give it lower than 8.

Chemistry is a wonder thing when it comes to an anime. Along with an action packed concept to boot, if both of those fit together, then you're in for a wonderful product. Which is where we find ourselves when it comes to Lycoris Recoil. Let me explain wy.

Story and characters: 9
The lifeblood of the whole show. Having characters with strong personalities, that really fend off each other, really makes this show tick from point A, to point Z. This anime can be very cute and sweet at times, but then go a full 180, and be filled with action, and treated with such seriousness ... and care. Along with being brutal at times. It's a good balance of a package, that's entertaining throughout each and every episode.

Nishikig is just a treat. She's a lovely character, from how she acts, from her positive influence, to how she carries herself through battle. Which really surprises someone like Inoue, whom she really is her foil. Episode 3 is a major highlight in their relationship, and it's sweet and awesome to see., While Inoue is more used to just blasting through things with endless bullets. For one thing, to see her trying to adapt to a new place is one thing, but for that place to be filled slowly through good development with Nishikia, is just great. But with great, and fun characters to boot, which really support the show in general, you know it's one worth watching for sure. A colourful cast goes a long way. I haven't even touched upon the story as of yet, that's the definition of good casting.

The story is really easy to understand and follow. If you're a fan of spy like, or mafia themed kind of shows, with a touch of slice of life thrown in there,then you're in for a treat for this one. The slice of life really brings more life out of the cast, and really makes you like them, and appreciate them. Making you look forward to whats next with it's story and content.

Art and sound: 8
The Art style really is good. It knows when to look bright and fun, but then be fitting for a more serious situation. Which is another highlight for me, they treat any theme, or situation with a good amount of seriousness, and it's even more reflected through it's art, animation, and sound quality. Real care was really put into this show, and it definitely shows and more so.

Lycoris Recoil is for sure one of the top animes of this season for sure, and I'm sure, that it's going to be even more enjoyable as it goes along. So watch now!

Mother's Basement: "John Wick, But Make it Anime", where Geoff Thew embraces the "stupid awesome" John Wick-like vitality of the anime.

The Canipa Effect: "Lycoris Recoil is an Ideal Original Anime", where Callum May highlights the production team behind Lycoris Recoil to see what makes an ideal original anime.

Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear: "I stumbled upon Lycoris Recoil by accident, AND I LOVED IT." The show's title being accidentally discovered, that's reminiscent of the critically acclaimed 2021 film "Licorice Pizza" (“Licorice” and “Lycoris” are spelled identically in Japanese: リコリス in Katakana) while actually searching on Amazon Prime for the multiple Academy Award-winning film CODA. To ... only then read the synopsis about a girl working in a cafe with a license to kill, and thinking to himself if this is typical of Japanese anime standards, by which at that time, he already surpassed the 3-episode rule and was catching onto Episode 4 (where it was the now-iconic episode with the pair of boxers and the aquarium "date" with Takina's fish-posing "Sakana"), and made him remember when was the last time he went to an aquarium. In the end to finally close out, saying that he's definitely watching the rest of the show going forward. He's even now endorsing the anime's LN spin-off Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days (which has just recently released in Japan), commenting that: “I’ll Recoil my Lyco-like genes!“

These are just some YouTube videos and a Twitter tweet that have been making the scenes since Lycoris Recoil came out, and it's safe to say that in a sequel-heavy season that's full of long-awaited classics returning years after their original seasons first came out (only two are better but the rest are duds), this has been the anime, and I mean THE anime that has consistently charted as a top show of the season. Yes, that sequel gold medal belongs to the 2nd season of Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou a.k.a The Golden City of the Scorching Sun, but I'd argue to say that LycoReco (the show's title shortened for speakeasy) makes it on par being the show that's a no-brainer competition for Summer 2022's AOTS (and objectively AOTY masterpiece material).

The 1st secret to LycoReco's wild, immense popularity and success is a great story and premise. And to put it simply, there is just no equal against LycoReco's setting, thanks in part to Asaura, the mangaka of Ben-To, and to date, his only reputation work that got a decent anime adaptation courtesy of David Production more than a decade ago. And as one such reviewer put it: "Ben-To is philosophy. Ben-To is art. Ben-To is everything, but bad for your health." Ben-To (that's a moniker for the iconic Japanese Bento food box) features an all-out action about a male MC and girls fighting to do whatever it takes to buy unsold bento boxes at discounted prices, and friend or foe, this battle fighting for honor, pride and dinner, there's only winners and losers in this frantic battle and the learning point of what it truly means to fight for food. Now take a look at LycoReco, and it's just about the same, or dare I say it's even better featuring Hideo Kojima's reminiscent Metal Gear trademarks of stealth and anti-terrorism themes about a secret organization/agency ("DA", Direct Attack) that keeps its setting of Japan crime-free that's doing a better job than the typical municipal police corporation, with their agents being girls that are orphaned and trained to their standards, giving them the "Lycoris" badge trademark that certifies them, that like a fire that should be put out immediately, to carry out assassinations with none the wiser. All of this is naturally made like cover-ups so as to not spread fear to the public and keep Japan safe and sound, but it also begets those in full rebellion over this top-secret "spy" agency to by hook or by crook, expose DA for their "nonchalant" claims about a "safe" Japan that isn't much discussed about until being made publicly with their terrorism acts. It's definitely a neck-and-neck experience of asking yourself: "Which side should I side on: the people working behind the scenes that I do not see even if they are perfectly camouflaged within the everyday groups of civilians, or the people inflicting and causing damages just so they could give a spotlight to those that have been working for their own purposes?" And regardless of what you think about both sides, they are both legitimate to exercise their own duty to preserve both peace and conflict respectively, no matter what it takes to brandish a whole new Japan according to their rules. And this honestly, just throws Ben-To's source material out of the wall, and Asaura may have found his one and only prized possession instead, 11 years after Ben-To came out for everyone to spike LycoReco with over-the-top (and moon), notched-up greatness.

The 2nd secret to LycoReco's wild, immense popularity and success is endearing and beloved characters, with the designs provided by Imigimuru, the mangaka of one of my all-time favorite manga: Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! (KonoBi) a.k.a This Art Club Has a Problem! At the start of the show, we are presented with Takina Inoue: an accomplished DA agent, whom amidst her serious and confident spirit, only demands perfection with her immense skills, and will constantly step in to finish the missions as a lonewolf. But when something like an extermination of enemies that's all in a state to save her teammate goes awry, she indiscriminately put everyone's lives on stake, that ultimately resulted in her immediate dismissal for neglect of duty. Down but not out, DA's Commander Kusunoki sentenced her to work at LycoReco, which looking from the outside, does look like a typical-looking cafe. But inside it, is another working branch of DA that houses the following: the Afro-American manager Mika, the typical worker Mizuki Nakahara, the skilled hacker Kurumi (also known by her codename "Walnut") and the lovable GOAT that is Chisato Nishikigi.

LycoReco's manager Mika is a former DA instructor who left the agency for his own reasons, and this is in effect thanks to the other entity that would come to be known as the Alan Institute, an institution that conducts experiments to eke out only the best and greatest people that are worthy of its name. So, think of this as something very similar to You-Zitsu a.k.a Classroom of the Elite's "White Room" of sorts. Together with the cafe's regular customer that is Shinji Yoshimatsu, both men and Chisato share a bond that would help the latter to grow into the fine assassin that she is now, though their initial promise is to make Chisato as a mass weapon of destruction that Mika backed out of due to his change of heart. The cafe's worker Mizuki, she's just your typical lazy bum, but it's not like she's the average character, NOPE. Not at all. Instead, Mizuki is a fun addition to LycoReco's crew being all that "extravagant" of wanting to live the life of a married woman and not a spinster, even going as far as to get a job at DA in the hopes of getting married. But in all honesty, Mizuki's unmarried gag punchline is just as wholesome as it is hilarious to watch being everyone's joker that at times, excel at what she does and helps with the crew as much as possible. Kurumi or "Walnut" on the other hand, she is a reliable lonewolf hacker whom was once responsible for hacking on DA's AI system Radiata (which is known as Lycoris radiata a.k.a (Red) Spider Lily, which its name is credited as the anime's original work), but due to competition, risks her life to request asylum to be transferred to LycoReco at the cusp of her killing, initiated by yet another rival hacker, the Alan Institute's robot-shaped headgear worn Robota. Both her and Robota are great hackers in their own right, but they operate on both extreme ends in the typical fight against good and evil.

That brings us all to the GGOAT/GWOAT (that stands for Greatest Girl/Woman of All Time) that is Chisato Nishikigi. Chisato is in all essence, why LycoReco works as a show; as a concept; as one that has consistently wowed us and putting a showstopper for all the world to see; and definitely one that has earned its immense praises globally. Starting off with her origins in DA, Chisato is known as the agency's most prized possession, the greatest agent in its history to date. Due to her upbringing thanks to both Mika and Yoshimatsu in the Alan Institute, Chisato is to the point of being a "superhuman", where her point-blank range bullet dodging is her most signature trademark, and instead of real firearms, she uses rubber bullets so as not to carelessly take a life and call it a day. There are more mysteries to Chisato, but one that must be spoken is her familiarity with LycoReco's antagonist character: Majima. Unlike Chisato siding on the terms of the good, Majima is just straight-out a villain that's akin to MHA's Tomura Shigaraki, one that's hell-bent on exposing DA to the ends of the earth, no matter the terrorist stunts, and certainly no matter the cartilage and damages done just to get his point across to seek for a "balance" in an otherwise artificial-looking peacekeeping world. And like "Walnut" Kurumi working for LycoReco, his backup helper is Robota, so both sides are equally matched when it comes to technical prowess.

But most importantly (and THIS is the CRUX of the show), you can't have LycoReco with Chisato alone being the front girl always at their service. That is where Takina comes in after Commander Kusunoki's dismissal command, and at first glance, the disparity between the playful and the serious creates an inner conflict that the former cannot get rid of due to her stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise. Overtime, Takina slowly grows used to LycoReco's business as both the alternate DA branch's forward and as a cafe itself, selling both Western and Japanese sweets to the unassuming public. This fresh take for Takina also provides immense character development to Chisato, that instead of being an ill-bred infectious rodent thanks to her teammates Fuki Harukawa and Sakura Otome (former team leader and replacement respectively), she subsequently gave in to Chisato's whims, and slowly and surely, Takina has become the "Yuri-like" character that's a perfect complement to Chisato, going from being hated to being just as lovable as the former. Honestly, say what you will about the Yuri-ness of Chisato and Takina's relationship, but they're like a dream team that was born out of a necessity. It's just a case of a flawless execution.

The 3rd secret to LycoReco's wild, immense popularity and success is the amazing production that's featured in the show thanks to A-1 Pictures, really giving it their A-1 grade trademark. And this is a bit of a wild story, as when Asaura's former editor-in-charge had a meeting about SaeKano with Shinichiro Kashiwada (studio producer, that we would come to know of as the other A-1 Pictures original anime "Engage Kiss" also airing on Saturday), he talked about Asaura's works, "This guy is yabai (crazy)." He (former editor-in-charge) then introduced Asaura to Kashiwada, which the former later received an invitation of a new anime project, being that the latter had read his 2013 LN Death Need Round (the 2nd most popular after Ben-To) which is a "girls with guns" work. Asaura therefore decided to include guns in the new story, created the main characters and the world view, with some deliverables including the synopsis and a few short novels. But this is not all, for the replication to real-world scenes is also what makes LycoReco interesting, such as the case of some scenes taking place in Sumida, Tokyo and featuring Kinshicho Park, Sumida Aquarium, the water bus on Sumida River, aerial view of Ryōgoku, etc. It's this attention to detail that also makes the show stand out.

But in the midst of crunch time, it's the staff team that could only make all of this possible, and this is wired down from the hands of one Shingo Adachi, who is making his directional debut after working as both character designer and chief animation director of the Working!! series and his most recent work of SAO: Alicization and Ordinal Scale. And truthfully, Shingo Adachi got all the bang for his buck, and definitely even more for the outta-the-wazoo ridiculousness that is LycoReco, yet is also much subtle and provides the kick and depth of flavour that you can only wish to see in high-quality anime production. And beneath him, you also cannot discount the efforts from chief ADs Yukari Takeuchi, Go Suzuki and regular AD Tetsuya Takeuchi. It's just that amazing to finally watch an anime that feels like not a minute, or rather a single second that's bound to be wasted because of filler padding. Everything works for its purpose, and Shingo Adachi's production team really knocked it out of the park to the point of a Home Run.

The 4th and final secret to LycoReco's wild, immense popularity and success is the music, and I shouldn't really miss this out, the VA performance as well. Chika Anzai as Chisato (Hibike! Euphonium's Reina Kousaka or even Grand Blue's Best Girl Chisa Kotegawa) and Shion Wakayama as Takina (Takt Op. Destiny's Destiny), you couldn't have asked for a phenomenal job for these VAs' dedication to their craft. And this is especially for the latter: Shion Wakayama, despite being a rookie VA for 3 years at this point, other than her voice that sounds a lot like Ayana Taketatsu or even Ayane Sakura a.k.a AyaNeru, she gave it her all, and that reward is trickled down towards the audience for her spectacular vocals that both drives Takina's cutesy and overwhelmingly stern traits that are perfect contrasts to her double-sided character (the now-iconic Episode 4's "Sakanaaa" is one of them). While this is only the 2nd work for music composer Shuhei Mutsuki, it's sound director Kohei Yoshida (also on his 2nd work, the 1st of which did one of the modern anime greats that is my 2022 AOTY Odd Taxi) that does all the directing to sound like as Geoff Thew puts it: "John Wick, But Make it Anime".

Also, it's finally great to have ClariS and Sayuri come back for the OST, especially ClariS because much of their work has only been Hataraku Saibou! and the Madoka Magica spin-off that is Magia Record for the past 4 years. Together with Shadows House Season 2's ED, I'd think that their OP "Alive" is a great return to form as one of the great Anisong artists, and one of (if not) the best OP of the season, hands down. Same with Sayuri's ED, this is what I was expecting of this now famous Anisong artist. Also, if you haven't caught on yet, the cute kicking scene between Chisato and Takina in the OP is actually a reference to Rob Reiner's 1986 film Stand By Me, which is the adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 book novel The Body and Ben E. King's 1961 song of the same name. It's certainly NO coincidence as both the film and song are timeless classics, and one would assume that Asaura and the folks at A-1 Pictures were looking for 80's and 90's action movies to get ideas from, and probably have watched this classic to make this reference. Nevertheless, it's a small detail, but one that has come to be endeared (including myself) by the hearts of the many as being one of the many icons of LycoReco.

All of these that I've mentioned sounds like an endless exposition of Lycoris Recoil. But, you can't take away that absurd feeling knowing that newbies like Shingo Adachi (directorial debut), Imigimuru (character designer debut), Shion Wakayama (3 years of VA-ing), Shuhei Mitsuki and Kohei Yoshida (music composer/director), and everybody that deserves to be mentioned are now paving the way for new innovative and creative originals for all of the world to take note of and watch, because this is absolutely bonkers that such a team that's going out of their comfort zone to concoct such a work is just mind-baffling. And especially for originals where there 99% of the time is a one-and-done story with no sequel to boot, it's a huge risk. But Shingo Adachi had one thing going for him: trust. A trust that his team is able to pull off whatever the show has its semblances in from the all-out action to its symbolism of the Spider Lily. And it did deliver to the highest and rock-solid pedigree that is on par with Made in Abyss's 2nd season as its equal sequel counterpart.

Seriously, we all thank you: Asaura, Imigimuru, Shingo Adachi, and all the others for creating this great show. To reinistate the whole point again: Lycoris Recoil is like what Geoff Thew calls it "John Wick-like stupid awesome"; Callum May praises it for being "an Ideal Original Anime"; and Hideo Kojima burning his money for something that he would not have picked up if it was just a mere coincidence, to being an immense, hardcore fan that's sharing all the love to other fans that's all the rage now in Japan.

And to me? This is THE Odd Taxi of 2022 (despite having some problems with it that keep it being being a masterpiece). Sure, you have Chainsaw Man coming next season, but right now, it's undoubtedly THE Anime of the Season and Year to beat. And originals going forward can't get much better than this (or is it?). This (like Odd Taxi) are definitely the Holy Grails of original anime, one that's creative enough to leave a mark, and we all now bear that Lycoris badge to signify our earnest loyalty to LycoReco.

Lycoris Recoil is what we aspire to see of original anime, it's a passion project that has effort put in that feels like it delivered, and then some. Really wonderful and beautiful, one hell of a job well done.

The art of the anime original has almost been lost these days. With production committes preferring to adapt popular visual novels or manga, it’s rare to see an anime original show with staying power. That’s exactly what Lycoreco is, the show that took the world by storm.

Admittedly I did not have very high expectations for Lycoreco coming into it. A-1 were coming off their 86 masterclass and I thought this was the time for correction, time for the law of averages to balance things out as it were. I could not have been more wrong. Not only did A-1 stay hot, they showed everyone that ... they can make a truly iconic anime original series.

What makes Lycoreco so special is its character interactions and cute intimate moments. I’ll be honest, the plot here is subpar at best. It started out with some promise, but fell apart in the final half with a rather week villain, subpar motivations and weak characterisation, the spotlight was clearly on the girls. Takina and Chisato have one of the most fun and organic relationships you’ll see in the medium. Takina going from a cold and distant person who doesn’t understand the world or how people really work, to an extremely empathetic/kind soul who’s willing to do anything for her friend was quite a treat to see. Every week we were able to really see that relationship slowly develop, whether it’s through mundane tasks like shopping for clothes or cooking at the shop, the seeds of growth were being laid slowly but surely.

Pacing is always a challenge with anime original content, but I think they got things perfect here. We were really able to take our time and get to know Takina and Chisato, but also the side characters. By the end of the series, we definitely knew what made everyone tick. If I had to change anything with the structure of the series, again it would be to flesh out the villain more. He had a lot of promise, but then just fell flat at the end and his motivations seemed pretty weak.

If you’ve been on the internet at all this season, you’ve likely seen art that ships Takina and Chisato or at the least hints at it. The show definitely plays to the Yuri bait strongly. They’re clearly aware of their audience and know that’s what people want to see. Unfortunately it never fully goes that way and is basically a massive tease. That said, even without the Yuri bait, they’re relationship is super cute to watch play out and you can’t help but wish them the best.

In typical A-1 fashion. The art, character designs and animation are all top notch here. Spider Lilly really did some amazing designs for the show and I’m looking forward to seeing more of their work in the future. The sakuga during the big fights is really impressive. We know by now that A-1 has a tremendous amount of talent, and it seems like it’s starting to come together more consistently now.

While Lycoreco has some amazing character dynamics, awesome designs and literal anime John Wick scenes, I can’t say that it was the best show this season or my favourite. Objectively, it’s one of those shows that you can certainly see why people like it so much and why it’s so popular, but it was not even the best A-1 original of the season for me. Chisato and Takina’s relationship may be iconic, but the plot certainly wasn’t. That said, I did really enjoy it and the memes from this show will live on for many years to come.

Lycoreco gets 9 out of 10.

Lycoris Recoil is the "ideal original anime" is what lots of people will say for years.

And if you asked me, they're absolutely right. Though when we talk about Lycoris Recoil being THE one original anime, I think we need to see a little beyond the quality of the anime itself (which, in advance I'll say: its pretty dang good!): we need to also see the passion of it's creators and their outstanding feedback to the community on the internet. It's something I won't forget, since it was it's own unique experience.

Director, writer, animators, ilustrators, voice actors, all of them, every week, after every little episode ... preview (these should be on the Blurays -they're too good) or by the end of the episodes, they share their own piece of gratitude and express their love in working in this anime. You truly can feel it, and the feedback they receive in answer is amazing and shows: Lycoris Recol exploded due to it's high quality as a anime, but also thanks to a great energy from the internet (especially on japanese side who can actually read everything haha). LR was trending high every week on twitter and more than ten thousand fanarts were made before the anime is even over (Pixiv).

THE ideal original anime for me is this: one which is made with lots of heart put into it; made in advance to not overwook the staff and for ideas to flourish; outstanding execution of a somewhat fresh premise; super lovable characters; amazing art and designs which inspire lots of creators out there; insane VA energy with liberties to add to their own characters; flawless marketing strategy (and in good part, I could even say honest); and a amazing community who payback the creators their love.

It get's a 10 out of 10 score from me. It can change the industry I believe. Other studios will not only try to grab it's amazing VA cast or to hire their staff, or even to create animes with similar premises, they'll see how Lycoris Recoil performed in the internet, on twitter or other social medias, they'll look how Lycoris Recoil handled liberties with their staff, their VA cast (ad-libs,etc) or even try to copy the brilhant marketing that was executed around the tittle.

As for me, I will remember this whole experience, to watch Lycorus Recoil weekly with everyone and to feel this energy, for years.

Well, this anime goes from 0 to 100 very quickly. Here, you'll find cute girls with weapons killing everyone, but the anime isn't heavy. In fact, it's not that amazing because the anime "normalizes" it, even though it's not normal at all. The true charm of this anime lies in the duo of Chisato and Takina. On one hand, there's Chisato, who lives life as if each day were her last, always happy and trying to make others happy. On the other side, there's Takina, who didn't know what it was like to live until she found her partner. She only thought about work and ... her duties. The contrast between them gives rise to incredibly emotional and even funny scenes. As the anime progresses, you can see their relationship evolving, and you think, "Wow, what an incredible friendship."

I believe the most important lesson I learned from this anime is: Don't change who or what you are for anyone, and don't let anyone change you. If you think you're amazing and happy being yourself, then continue being yourself.

You can watch it in one day, and if you have nothing to do, I recommend watching it. Anyway, see you guys in Hawaii :)

The characters are lovely. Even if the actual plot makes no sense, the shooting makes no sense and the concept is a little weak the slice-of-life style and knowing the writers didin't take themselves too seriously writting it makes it valuable imo. The problem with most recent anime is they are overly confident in their plot and think that if they make things pretty enough there will be no consequences. This one, whowever, seems to just try to make something cute and enjoyable.
It is not a WOW THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER WATCHED but seeing pretty people do absurd super human things is ... something anyone can enjoy once in a while, you know? Their interactions are sweet and they speak kindly to each other. The adventures and freedom of the anime are really pleasant to see and, even if it gets a little tiring watching cute stuff without consistency, I think it carries a simple yet sweet message.
If you want to watch something enjoyable to turn your brain off, it is a great recommendation but if you're looking for plot and crytical thinking, this is not for you!

No Spoiler Review because I still didnt know the plot so i put 5/10 for Story


Story : No existent yet, cant judge about it, so far i give some clue, 1 girl disobey order, 1 girl with ultra instinct (no background story), 1 sensei/boss (also no background story), 1 woman (also again, u know it), and 1 smol girl (former hacker, just that). So far story advance when 1 girl want to back to her team again after get kick from old team

Character : Chisato is really funny lady, she is cheerful and so how its fun to watch her do lot of crazy thing, ... Takina is mature lady, think about mission even it cost something, sensei no idea, woman no idea also, and kurumi is cute

Art : Its one of the best, animation also one of the best, probably one of anime that totally nail the reload animation and shoot animation. Its beyond godlike

Sound : Chisato VA need to be VA of this season because damn she acting really well, damn any other anime i watch this season, they also nail weapon sfx and everything

Enjoyment : 100% enjoy watch this anime, Totally recommended

Overall : Subject can be changed any time, 10/10 1 of best original anime this season, u should watch it especially u like John Wick etc style story and fight

Thats should be all, Sayonara!

Lycoris Recoil is one of those shows where one is unsure if it falls into the form-over-substance category because it was a deliberate choice or failed to dig down into the themes it suggests. There are actually some interesting ideas beneath the veneer of an inherently absurd but visually polished spectacle about schoolgirl government assassins. Usually, most shows make it more or less evident whether they intend to explore the ideas driving their plot and shaping its world or simply just gloss over them for entertainment. But Lycoris Recoil is harder to place since it leaves many conclusions about its themes and message as implicit ... questions. Usually, a show does this as a demonstration of confidence or even sophistication that not everything needs to be blatantly spelt out for a viewer or that in the absence of a simple answer, showing instead of telling would be more appropriate. Then we have the genre and trappings of Lycoris Recoil and the fact that this would not be the first time A-1 Pictures and Aniplex have chosen to produce a vapid show that poorly masquerades at intellectual self-importance (case in point, GATE).

The stigma against what A-1 Pictures has done in the past aside, Lycoris Recoil's main strengths lie in its presentation and characters. The most obvious thing, from the character designs to the illustrations at the cuts in each episode, is the show exudes style. Combined with the excellent fluid animations for its combat scenes, it produces an extremely eye-catching show that does merit watching it primarily on this basis. The mass appeal of Lycoris Recoil is further enhanced by the strong performances from Anzai Chika and Wakayama Shion as the leads. While Chisato and Takina fall into fairly standard archetypes within both anime and the buddy-cop genre, they are done with an exceptional amount of polish. There are just enough quirks and unique mannerisms to avoid our leads feeling like a flat copy and paste of character stereotypes in so many other anime these days. This draws the audience in since they are familiar with the archetypes the characters fit into, which ultimately has a "fill in the blanks" effect, making them seem unique and accelerating the attachment to them. While the cast in Lycoris Recoil does not break any new ground or do anything particularly deep with their characters, they still ooze charisma. These two elements are probably sufficient to draw in most viewers since it utilises the two most broadly appealing things about entertainment: action spectacle and charismatic character performances.

However, a show must have some plot or, if not at least, premise for its characters to interact within and show off their animation chops. This is doubly true for shows with action or combat as a significant part of their genre or setting. There must be a reason why the characters need to resort to violence when that is a rarity in any typical environment. A drama or comedy in the mundane world does not need to justify its setting since the audience can take it as a given. On the other hand, Lycoris Recoil does need to at least pay lip service to the question of why their version of the contemporary world exists in the first place. While quite a few viewers can probably overlook this entirely since they are sold on the spectacle alone, the show still needs to earn its increased suspension of disbelief from the wider audience. Without the question of why something so obviously cartoonish like an assassin organisation solely made out of high school girls existing being answered, Lycoris Recoil and other shows like it risks devolving into just mindless action with no sense of what drives it. While that may be passable as spectacle entertainment, it is significantly less compelling. When the premise is lacking, it is hard to be captivated by a character or invested in a plot. The author or director's hand becomes more apparent, the characters begin to feel like artificial constructs, the story becomes a means to an end to get to the next spectacle, and the action becomes nothing but cheap violence.

The plot itself is somewhat trite yet also somewhat contrived at the same time. Despite this, it fully serves the purpose of the show as being a coherent vehicle to move between action pieces and further flesh out the characters and ideas. There are some instances where things border on plot contrivances. Still, these are excusable since the show was not established as an intricate mystery or psychological battle between characters. It is mildly jarring when Takina pieces together the motivations and connections of all parties at the show's climax. While the viewer is presented with all this information and can make these conclusions relatively easily, it's a bit of a leap for any of the characters to do so since we are privy to scenes they are not present at or know about. Everything was still appropriately set up, though some of it was a little too transparent to be praiseworthy. Still, it is better to be mildly obvious and achieve clarity than attempt to be complicated and end up as a contrived mess. Some chance events in combat that are necessary for the plot still feel like they show too much of the author/director's hand. But these are partly due to how much attention is placed on them by the shots for the sake of clarity than due to it being beyond the suspension of disbelief.

Lycoris Recoil does make some attempts to answer why the premise for its show exist in the first place. Some of the answers are more obvious hand waves which are largely acceptable. Frankly, why a secret organisation would have a flashy uniform has no reasonable explanation. Neither is why they are all teenage girls. So the stereotypical one-off mentions of solutions are acceptable. The uniform is a form of "urban camouflage" to blend in with real school girls in public. While this is paper thin, at least there is a kind of logic to it, and the show does not do itself a disservice by trying to justify it further. And why they select orphaned girls is for the presumably stereotypical reasons that it would be easier to train and condition them from young and that they would not be seen as inherently threatening, allowing them to blend in.

On the other hand, it does attempt to answer some of the broader questions as to why this Japan needs a secret assassin organisation. And this is where it becomes incredibly messy in its answers. Ostensibly, the Lycoris program is meant to combat a rampant terrorist threat in Japan. Why this comes about is never reasonably explained. While this can be taken at face value, it does make a more skeptical watcher's eye twitch at the potential implications of this show's ideological position. The entire Lycoris program, in short, is essentially a government-sanctioned assassination group that removes "threats" to public order through killing without any due process. These threats are all accessed and selected by a highly advanced AI with seemingly no human input, checks or safeguards. And to top it all off, this is all kept secret to not alarm the public and shatter their idea of peace. Where Lycoris Recoil stands on all its themes is remarkably unclear for a set-up that seems designed for the classic story of a rebel cop saving the day and unearthing the weaknesses in their unethical organisation.

On one level, Chisato and Takina take a stand against the Lycoris program. For Chisato, it is evident since she refuses to kill despite the other Lycoris agents being almost flippant about it. Although describing her as a pacifist would grossly stretch the word's definition. While how her non-lethal ammunition can punch through car doors but not penetrate a person's body is absurd, at the very least, it is still meant to cause some measure of harm to incapacitate a person. And for Takina, her character arc is about learning to follow her own judgement instead of rigid orders, even if there is a price to pay. And it includes the more human element of learning to value her personal connections and loyalty to them over her attachment to abstract ideas and organisations like DA.

By extension, the Lycoris program itself is not shown in an unreservedly heroic light. There is always a subtle sinister tinge to how they are presented. Lycoris agents like Fuki and Sakura are brash and aggressive while coming off subtly as conditioned to view the Lycoris program and DA as an entirely justified ultimate authority. The killing of targets is rampant and emotionless, while the deaths of Lycoris never seem to phase Commander Kusunoki. It is especially in seeing the Lycoris being killed where it feels like the show is actually intelligently leveraging its premise. There is something naturally upsetting about seeing a girl being killed, even if they are meant to be a trained assassin themselves. Though there is never a blatant statement by characters protesting or highlighting any of this, it subtly makes the viewer uncomfortable, breaking up what could have devolved into an endless and mindless action plot with cute girls. To give credit where it is due, it is hard to claim that Lycoris Recoil is blindly siding with its titular organisation and presenting its actions as uncritically beneficial for the nation. It is just that it is never blatantly (and in the cases of most other anime, clumsily) highlighted by the main characters denouncing the Lycoris program in a speech or having a "are we the baddies?" moment.

The conclusion, which has the DA again cover up the plot's climax by essentially hoodwinking the public, is the natural extension of the ideology of the Lycoris program. Simply put, their entire rationale is that the nature of their peace being artificial does not detract from its value. In other words, the ends justify the means, and the value of abstract truth is subordinate to material results. Although the villain, Majima, calling the Lycoris program Machiavellian sounds like nothing more than the show trying to make itself sound smart, it is actually a succinct and appropriate conclusion for once. And despite the absurdity, the public being gullible enough to believe the cover-up after some extremely apparent damage could be a subtle statement. With how ridiculous the lengths of the cover-up reach, attempting to pass off the Lycoris operation as a live-action performance in the prelude to a movie, it is easy to see this as being critical of the public psyche in Japan. They are willing to accept anything, no matter how nonsensical or blatantly false, if it benefits them—in essence, being willingly blind in exchange for simplicity and security. The public is as much to blame for the existence of the Lycoris program as anyone since they are implicitly shown to be willing to pay this insane price for it.

While this all sounds remarkably interesting, subtle and even sophisticated for a show that, on the surface, is just cute girls doing Gun Kata, it is unfortunately not that simple to give Lycoris Recoil all this credit. Where the show falls apart is in its villain, or more accurately, how it tries to provide Majima with a basis for his actions. Again, it would be passable to have the show's villain be a bog-standard anarchist terrorist or psychopath and leave it at that. It's incredibly trite, but it serves the purpose of most action shows. Yet, since Lycoris Recoil is taking a subtle magnifying glass to its enforcers of order, so does it attempt to examine what motivates Majima to destroy this peace. The thing about Majima's motivations is that they are entirely abstract. Not in the sense that he is a political idealist of some sort or is actually an anti-authoritarian rebel. But instead, he is sowing terror and chaos to expose DA and the Lycoris program for being just as unethical as him by forcing a response. In essence, the show attempts to point out that the only difference between the "heroic" Lycoris and the "villainous terrorist" is government fiat. It makes this point somewhat since both organisations are brutal and operate outside the law. Without any legal constraints or the moral high ground of being bound by them, it is possible to argue that Majima has a point and that the Lycoris program is just another organisation using violence to shape the world in its preferred image. The problem is that Majima himself justifies the existence of the Lycoris program because he is apparently violent for the sake of it.

Instead of giving Majima some political or even ideological motivation, for instance: having a loved one be an arbitrary target of the Lycoris, believing that the extent of power the Lycoris program wields to be a latent threat, or at the very least just believing an illusory peace is wrong because it is not real, they just make it such that he is encouraging violence of the sake of it. Of course, some lip service is being paid to the idea that the security brought about by Lycoris is immoral because it is founded on an illusion. But it unwittingly promotes the conclusion that the drastic powers of the Lycoris program are necessary. Lycoris Recoil portrays the public as constantly on the precipice of a descent into violence. There is a comical number of foiled "terrorist" or other violent attacks on display in the initial episodes to demonstrate the skills of the Lycoris agents and the DA's all-reaching power. This is where the failure to answer why there is an upswing in terrorism comes back to bite the show since it now implicitly states that it is just the natural course of development society takes. It misses the opportunity to examine the motivations or causes of the upswing in violence as being due to some kind of societal pressure, alienation or even political dissatisfaction. But this point of humans being naturally inclined to violence is hammered home with the inclusion of the enigmatic Alan Foundation, whose goal is to promote natural genius, which by cliched and hackneyed extension, includes genius for violence. This all suggests that the natural state of humanity, society, or somesuch is not only chaos but brutal violence. Ironically, this justifies the necessity of the DA and Lycoris program since it seems they are the only thing keeping them in check. If the illusion of peace were to break down, it would lead to a cascading collapse into violence, at least according to the logic presented by the show.

This confuses the conclusion that Lycoris Recoil is making on one level since it is critical of the DA. It is tempting to try and give the show even more credit by seeing this as a nuanced conclusion about how using violence for control ultimately promotes violence as a response. And that excessive control will eventually breed resentment and then resistance to itself. But the problem is that the inclusion of the Alan Institute angle that indicates that all of this is "natural" genius and means Lycoris Recoil, on another level, suggests that society needs to be controlled. This entirely changes the tone of the show to having the Lycoris program being, at worse, a necessary evil. Finally, the genre and presentation of Lycoris Recoil comes back to haunt it as all of this is subtext or below the surface. Following the tone of the show's conclusion, it shows the cover-up as being positively received by everyone, with all the main Lycoris being happy and still somewhat naive yet desensitised regarding the mass violence they have perpetrated. In essence, the lighthearted tone, necessitated by its cute girls do Gun Kata premise, undermines any of the more interesting things of substance it was trying to do under the surface and promotes its sinister conclusion as being benign and justified.

I know nothing about the writer of this show, who goes by the pen name of Asaura. So it is hard to make any conclusions about his authorial intent based on knowledge of the provenance. Still, I will admit that I was initially suspect of Lycoris Recoil of having some deeply unsavoury ideological leanings hiding under its exterior. In a way, it is preferable to find the show contradicting itself so thoroughly since it feels more like an oversight than an attempt to push some ultra-authoritarian philosophy and then fail at it miserably, like in GATE. And despite the premise having all the potential to be vapid, I was pleasantly surprised to find some substance underneath. Though, because of the veneer of the show and how subtle it is at times, it is apt to question if it is giving the show too much credit or if it is a genuine example of including political themes without being blatant and intrusive. And at the same time, because of how confused its conclusion about its themes and ideas are, it is hard to rate the show highly. It can only go so far on style alone. Despite my personal bias in favour of any performance by Anzai Chika, my overall preference still places greater importance on a show's intellectual and thematic bite. And it is impossible for Lycoris Recoil to evade this expectation given the themes and questions it has voluntarily raised in its premise and attempted to answer. Unfortunately, the expectations cannot go back to simply being a cute action show.

Overall, Lycoris Recoil is exceedingly charismatic, an achievement in its own right. It also successfully integrates its themes and ideological problems into the show without appearing dry, convoluted, or disruptive to other elements like character or pacing. However, because it is so contradictory in its conclusions, despite its subtlety at presenting its thematic problems tacitly, its potential is far from realised. Ironically, even in its themes and ideas category, it again scores points for its execution instead of on substance. Despite its flashy charisma, it is hard to give Lycoris Recoil more than a 7 out of 10, given its glaring weaknesses. Perhaps it could go up to an eight on the style and entertainment factor alone. Still, given my preferences, it is hard not to penalise it for such great missed potential and confusion in its exploration of ideas.

That said, Lycoris Recoil has set itself up for a sequel. While it is demanding to fully explore its weighty ideas in just 13 episodes, it is possible to dig into them in subsequent seasons with more finesse. Though it cannot undo the contradictory nature of this season's plot, it can springboard off it to be something truly exceptional, that rare show with both an abundance of style and substance. But regardless of if that comes to fruition or not, that will be the merit of its sequel, and it is hard to award points to a first season, even if it is necessary to set that up.

The plot description that came out before it aired did nothing but set the wrong kind of expectations, and for that I am glad. The opening 5 minutes of the first episode with high school aged girls in uniform taking people out with silenced pistols as if it was no big deal is what really drew me in, and I was stuck for 13 episodes. This anime was a masterpiece and I loved every second. Chisato was infectiously, the best girl of the season imho. This anime had everything, great characters, music and animation, the comedy never took away anything from the serious tones it ... would sometimes get, they clearly left it open for more, and I truly, TRULY hope we get it.

I’m going to start this with a quick shout-out to A1 pictures for doing a really good job with this anime original. Lycoris Recoil seemed to be the surprise of the season for many as it quickly shot up in popularity. I must say that at first I was skeptical but with a really solid second half of the season I have to agree. The anime did a great job with just developing a story and getting us attached to the characters while still delivering those deep heartfelt moments. Now It's not perfect, but it was a ... really enjoyable watch.
Art: 10
The art in this anime was phenomenal, the character's designs were really creative and enjoyable, the animation was smooth with its movements and fight scenes, and the music would always deliver. All backed up by really good voice acting too. Just watching the anime was a pleasure to my eyes.
Characters: 9
So I can't lie I almost gave this a 10. As I think most of the characters were developed really well in a short time, and there is so much much good chemistry behind each one. I think the protagonist duo is excellent and was always enjoyable well they shared the screen, but I also think characters like Kurumi and Mika were also done really well(Mika my personal favorite). But the one minor flaw that I have is that I personally thought the main antagonist Majima could have better motives for his actions and I thought he was okay at best in my personal opinion.
Story: 8
Now this score may seem a little low but it's because I really think this anime thrives with the characters more than anything else. I didn’t think the story was really where my enjoyment came with this anime, and so with Majima being the main driving force of the story, I thought it was good but not great, however, the subplots that were intertwined were a lot better, especially the stuff surrounding Yoshi. Overall it's a good watch I’d recommend to anyone. 8/10

This review may be shorter than I expected. If you're asking why, I don't know either. The series was good. No longer words are needed. I've been thinking for a long time where to start my criticism. But I couldn't find it. This is something that I personally rarely experience. So I guess I can only criticize you on certain main issues. As I mentioned in my expectation article, when A-1 was involved, I waited eagerly and with high expectations like every other person. My plan was to watch the series after the season finale. But one day, after a Lyoris Recoil post that a ... friend of mine sent me on Instagram, I gave up on this idea and started watching the weekly episodes regularly. It's not a good idea to talk about my feelings here, so I'm going to be very brief. I am an easily emotional person, but after watching countless anime due to being an otaku, this emotionality has decreased for me in the anime world. Although Lycoris Recoil did not make me cry, it became one of the anime that filled my eyes after a long time. Yes, I know, it's not that emotional in content, but I have my own reasons. The emotional part is here. Now let's get to the criticism. The character designs are meticulously crafted. If you look carefully, even our characters, who are not even supporting characters, have an emotional integrity. Background scenes and drawings, animated drawings and sound integrity are higher than I expected. Even if the episode designs increase the expectation, they are not very effective in terms of curiosity. A person who is familiar with anime can almost accurately predict what will happen in the next episode. Even if the variety of venues shown in the series is not large, the correct and skillful use of these venues prevents you from getting bored even though you see it all the time. I can't say anything bad for our main characters Chisato and Takina. If we look at it from a good point of view, the conflict between them throughout the series and the time they spend together can make people happy, as they benefit from the contrasts rather than the common aspects of each other and build their friendship on this. As someone who understood in the second episode that the series would be a great success, my score is nine out of ten. If you were to ask where did you break a score, it's a very good series...

K-On! meets Bourne Identity somehow works. This unique mash genre mash up is worth your time if you love slice of life anime and like films like Bourne and John Wick.

The star of the show is Chisato and Takina friendship and it's development made the show a joy to watch. The driving conflict takes a second place to their relationship and acts as a mechanism to have Chisato and Takina react to different events.

The animation is very slick and blends the slice of life style with the dynamism required for quick cut action scenes. Jumping between the two is a joy and Chisato ... is animated perfectly in each action scene.

Lycoris Recoil is a 2022 original anime series produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Shingo Adachi. The series follows the story of Chisato Nishikigi, a highly skilled Lycoris agent who works at the Lyco-Reco café, and Takina Inoue, a rookie Lycoris agent who is transferred to Lyco-Reco after failing her mission.

Lycoris Recoil is a must-watch for fans of action, comedy, and slice-of-life anime. The series features fluid and dynamic action sequences, witty dialogue, and heartwarming moments of friendship and camaraderie. The characters are also well-developed and likable, with Chisato's optimistic and outgoing personality contrasting perfectly with Takina's serious and reserved nature.

The series also explores ... a number of interesting themes, such as the nature of good and evil, the importance of teamwork, and the power of friendship. Lycoris Recoil is a series that has something to offer everyone, and it is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers.

Here are some of the things that I particularly loved about Lycoris Recoil:

The action sequences are top-notch. The series features some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen in an anime, with fluid animation and dynamic choreography.
The characters are well-developed and likable. Chisato and Takina are a great duo, and their supporting cast is also well-written and engaging.
The series explores a number of interesting themes in a thoughtful and nuanced way.
The anime is visually stunning. The animation is smooth and fluid, and the character designs are expressive and appealing.
Overall, Lycoris Recoil is a masterpiece of an anime. It is a must-watch for fans of any genre, and it is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers.

I highly recommend Lycoris Recoil to anyone who is looking for a well-made, entertaining, and thought-provoking anime series.

10/10

Okay... let me start off by saying... I did not expect this show to be as good as it was.

I really, really, enjoyed this show. Despite having slice-of-life elements, almost every episode of Lycoris Recoil was, simply put, really good. Speaking of slice-of-life, the show does a fantastic job of switching between that and action. Every scene just feels right, even if it has no major impact on the story. The Animation in the show clearly shows an extensive budget with some really talented artists. But by far Lycoris Recoil's strongest trait is its character design. Aside from Kraft Lawrence and Holo (Spice & Wolf), ... Chisato and Takina might be my favorite anime duo of all time. Their dynamic is just so well executed that it's very easy to look past some of the flaws in the show.

Speaking of flaws, there are a couple. First, without spoiling anything, some of the action scenes in this show logically make zero sense. However, while in some shows I would find this to be a detriment, in Lycoris Recoil it doesn't bother me one bit. If you're reading this and trying to decide if you want to watch it, this might not make a lot of sense, but trust me on this one. Second, The "opposition" I initially found to be slightly confusing, but over time it eventually started to unfold quite nicely. A couple of nitpicks with the sound design that are few and far between (I'm an audiophile to be fair) and maybe a goof with the animation once or twice (the animation is fucking incredible otherwise) but overall I simply can't find any major or even minor flaws that hinder the experience of this show. To me, a show like this can have flaws and still be an amazing show.

9.3/10... Well done A-1.

The story is kinda simple and predictable, it is not complex.
I mean, as a working guy, I appreciate this kind of anime to relax and enjoy.

The characters, the art and the sound are amazing!
The fighting scene are very enjoyable mixing in some fantasy and the details like the way how Chisato is holding her gun. The fashion design of the characters like the dressing and everything are great to see.

In term of the character development, the chemistry between the two main character on how they are slowly developing their friendship together is very adorable. I enjoy the pace of it as we are learning ... the main characters. Can't wait for the backstory as well.

As of writing this review, I just watched episode 3.

Peaceful, safe, and beautiful Tokyo…

All thanks to a covert organization that trains orphan girls to become Lycoris; all-girl assassins dressed in high school uniforms who ensure Tokyo stays crime-free. Stoic Lycoris sharpshooter Takina, meets the cheery Lycoris elite agent Chisato, whose remarkable trajectory insight makes her an impossible target to shoot (Neo who?). Together, their wide-ranging missions begin.

Only 3 episodes in and Lycoris Recoil is already proving itself to be one of summer 22's best original anime series. It succeeds in blending slice-of-life, comedy, and action, and its vibrant animation perfectly contrasts with the story's underlying dark aspects. But the best selling point of the ... show besides the neat action scenes (and the occasional action movie references), is the dynamic between the main characters Chisato and Takina as they’re literally each other’s opposite.

If you're up for some gun-toting girl spies, foil characters, and Loli hackers, you'll certainly gonna love this one.

Simply one of the best animes I've seen in a while.

This anime follows Chisato and Takina, along with a host of her friends in this covered up world where Lycoris lurk underground to keep the peace in public. Along the way many mysteries are unraveled. It sounds simple, but trust me- it's not, and it's very good.

I will say- first off the bat this anime starts off kind of slow. 3 episodes in, and I was like- this anime is OKAY, but I don't see the hype. It felt like CGDCT. But at one point the anime finally turns on the after burners, and ... the show becomes A-FREAKING-MAZING. I won't spoil it, but the plot just becomes so good. Speaking of, the plot will come off as very confusing at first. I know for sure I was- but I stuck with it. As good as the plot was, I think they didn't have to make it so convoluted initially. That said, why is this show so good? One simple reason.

CHISATO. What a greeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaattttt MC. Seriously. When I was first introduced her, I couldn't stand her very long. Great, as I rolled my eyes- another happy-go-lucky everything is bufferly type of person. Buuuuuuuuuuttttt, then you start to unravel her past and yeah- it's real good. She is just the most precious bean in the world. Okay, but aside from her happy nature, she's also kind, caring, and pretty funny. Actually, the show over all has some really good humor. A few times had me on the ground.

How about the rest of the cast? You'll like them too. Walnut is the hacker, and she's hilarious. Takina is the straight and serious character, and she does a fine job. Makina is very interesting. The rest are kind of forgetable, but they're also good.

Gotta also mention the antagonists as well. You could argue there's 3 main ones. I can only mention 2, since the 3rd would be a spoiler. But the first is another hacker- Robota. He's mainly there for comedic relief. Then there's the really good one- Majima. A Joker-type, except he isn't here for chaos? I mean he does cause chaos, but for a twisted sense of balance. It kind of sucks cause his intro is very weak, but as the show goes on you get to see layers to his character. So stick with it- I think you'll enjoy him as Chisato's antagonist.

Also, even if you don't like the story or characters, I think you'll at least enjoy the animation and VA. Both are easily 10/10. Seriously- no shortcuts were taken with the animation. Very cool shots. Very smooth action scenes. The studio even does a great job animating small simple things like glints of hair flickering or the ruffles of clothes. And the VA- my GOD Chisato's VA is adorable!

How about some negatives? There are a few, but I would say the big ones is that as I've said previously- the show starts off slow. The second would be that the atmosphere is sometimes too lax- like, you know there's danger, but if people are cracking jokes all the time then the sense of urgency can disappear (ahem MCU). It doesn't overdo it with the jokes, but I do feel like the sense of danger isn't as prevalent as it should be.

Okay that's said- should you watch this anime? Hell yeah. Watch it and enjoy it, cause I guarantee you there will be a season 2! I can't wait.