Ragna Crimson

The story is still interesting, it loses some of the impact that the manga has because of some slow pacing.

The animation isn't impressive, which is a shame for an adaptation of a manga that is very action oriented. It can get saucy at times but for the most important fights the animation was extremely underwhelming. The art style also doesn't live up to the manga.

If you absolutely don't want to or can't read manga for whatever reason, then this anime does adapt the story of Ragna Crimson well enough, it doesn't cut out all that much and the animatiom is acceptable. I would just recommend ... reading the manga.

Well, its better than most mid stories in that it actually tries very hard to keep the viewer entertained, regardless of its lacking in certain areas.

If you can get around the blatant CGI, the animation nosediving the further along we go, and the outright unnecessary death toll of "beloved characters" by the end... Ragna Crimson has a fairly enjoyable story in theory. From the very get go, everything is stacked against Ragna and the humans in general. It has such a strong start in introducing you to the world and the state that it's in-- namely dragon hunting being such a main staple for how ... much havoc they wreak against humanity.

Ragna has suffered the dragons plenty throughout his life, despite being weak he survives. He counts on Leonica more times than not. Until the moment he can't. Suddenly there are superior dragons in the picture and they're on a whole other level. Catastrophic world ending kind of level. And suddenly Ragna realizes this is in fact a loop world. And that his future self had entrusted with him everything to right his future wrongs, with power that took lifetimes to achieve.

This is when Ragna leaves everything he knows behind and instead partners up with Crimson who was his partner in crime in the future. They both know the true enemy at hand and are prepared to take them down once they're strong enough.

...Except you'll soon find out that Ragna goes against reason constantly. He could be on death's door and still stubbornly do the dumbest actions you could possibly conceive with given circumstances. All bones broken? So broken every orifice of your body is bleeding? Nah, he just keeps on going! And Crimson has to have pulled their hair out at least a thousand times for everything that's gone wrong because clearly his future self knew better.

Won't go into too much more detail regarding later parts, but just know that the whole second cour stagnates to an unbelievably slow snail's pace. For an action-focused anime, you'd really think they'd put more love and care into the fighting. And they do to some extent. One can only guess the budget was low but they did what they could. Just like any other shounen though, they fight at the same location for multiple episodes. Long and dragged out. There are star moments where they truly shine when it matters, but those moments are few and far between.

It's not an amazing story, but it's not a terrible one either. Ragna and Crimson are easily the most interesting characters, considering their future selves and the way their personalities bounce off one another. Crimson especially is just... this wild character of so many schemes and mischief that constantly gets ruined by Ragna's idiocy and protagonist syndrome of fighting literally anything that smells like a dragon. You might find yourself enjoying the enemy's stories more than you enjoy the 'good side', because they get equal screen time if not more sometimes. If you can make it through the first couple of episodes, you may as well buckle in for the ride.

The start of the show is extremely good and promising and is clear that the writers envisioned a much more complex world and story than we got to see. The problem comes in the last 6 episodes where is crammed more content than it could fit to at least one more series, some questions are kinda answered but raise much more question to which you do not feel the need for an answer. The ending is extremely cliche and poor mainly because there are so many storyline threads opened and close with no clear resolution and with a lot of questions in just a few ... episodes. There are also characters that we are never told what happened to them or others on which we do not know about their motivation that are just left hanging. While to some it may be a reason to want a second season to me it shows how one can write itself into a corner. The main story is about beings known as dragons and how silverine ( some silver compound ) is the only thing that can destroy them as they see humans as lifestock. In the last episodes this turns into a completely different story we are not told almost anything about and which probably was never the intention to exist in the beginning.

So far, it is okay but obviously my opinion could change throughout the runtime. Keep reading my review as l continue watching :)

Story:6.5/10
Plot is interesting but it's held back by characters imo and the pacing has been a little wacko from my perspective.

Animation:8/10
Art style is quite fluid, and the dragon CGI is watchable. So far decent enough.

Sound: 8/10
Kinda self explanatory. VA of MC is not a suitable voice in my opinion but ye apart from that sound is pre decent.
...
Characters:3/10
I can't rlly deal with the MC as the motivations are a little weird for me. Character designs are pre dope tho.

Overall:4.5/10
So far after ep 3 a 5/10 rating from me

I will continue updating as i watch the show, i also may drop after ep 5 depending on where it's at.

Ever wanted a strong future waifu who motivates you to be stronger? Ragna is, at best, a C-tier dragon hunter who devotes his life acting as nanny to a 12-year-old A-tier dragon hunter named Leonica, nicknamed Leo. To protect her from a particularly strong beginner dragon, Ragna joins forces with his future self.

Acquiring OP-ness is a classic shonen trait, from One Punch Man to My Hero Academia. But what I like about how this trope is done in Ragna Crimson is that this OP-ness was already inside Ragna—just from the future. You often see a shonen protagonist work hard to make his future self stronger, ... so getting the reverse is a fun treat. The blending voices from present and future, as well as the art from the future realm with all the gears, is also awesome.

While the premise is cool, I'm not a fan of Ragna's character. Yes, shonen protagonists are meant to be simpler and often have one goal in mind. But Ragna takes that one goal and, as his future self puts it, idolizes and leeches off it. He exists purely in terms of serving Leo, whether it's as her nanny, companion, or self-proclaimed bodyguard. Even his marketing pitch when he convinces Crimson to work with him is based on how he simped for Leo. Hopefully, with more focus on his and Crimson's dynamic, he'll grow as a character independent of Leo.

I also like the edgy soundtrack that plays in action scenes. It reminds me a bit of RWBY—which not everyone likes, so take it or leave it.

Overall, I recommend this anime if you want basic shonen with tiny future waifu material. ^^

(Episode 1 and 2 spoilers) - TL;DR at the end
Ragna Crimson is an edgy shonen at its core. If you're a 13 year old teen, new to anime, and you're into things like tokyo ghoul, owari no seraph and stuff, you'll probably enjoy it. On the other hand, if you're already a long time anime watcher, it'll feel like more of the same recycled stuff - basically a very mediocre experience that'll bore you

Story 6/10
Cliché "I will kill all the titans/vampires/dragons" plotliine that has been reused a thousand times. The author decided to add the most bullsh*t magical time travel plot no jutsu into the ... midst in order to make MC super OP right off episode 1 (but considering your typical shonen with dumb sh*t powerscaling, he'll still get his ass kicked somehow).
There's also some dumb plot points further down the line which I won't spoil but it's ironic how he goes through so much to save the girl and then just abandons her after emotionally crushing her lol

Art 6/10
I mean, it's not bad, but it's definitely not spectacular - definitely not on the level of ufotable, studio WIT or MAPPA shows. Sometimes the characters' faces/eyes are off by just a tiny bit, to the point where it becomes uncanny valley material - that was probably what bothered me the most

Characters 6/10
Edgy MC who wants to "Kill all the dragons" but has the personality of a wooden board, classical precious bubbly friend who gets relegated to side character status, another girl who also wants to "Kill all the dragons", random crazy b*tch, classical evil villain - it's nothing noteworthy

Pacing 6/10
I have no fcking clue how they managed to turn 1 single chapter of the manga into a 40+ minutes episode. Wait no, in fact, I do know how - by needlessly stretching the non-existent plot for 30 minutes and showing us over and over again the same cutscene of the girl dying/MC screaming. They used her death scene so much that I even started laughing after a certain point.
I understand that they were trying to build up the characters to make us care about what was going to happen, but they completely failed at it, so it just became a drag

Voice acting 6/10
Nothing spectacular or noteworthy. Can say I laughed a bit after hearing 3 times in a row the dude scream due to the girl's death

Sound design and OST 6/10
Nothing spectacular or noteworthy

TL;DR
Overall, it's a super mediocre anime that struggled to get my attention and even getting to episode 7 was a chore. I'm sure you've realized by now since I've repeated this as many times as the anime repeated the poor girl's death scene, but the only thing I can say about this anime is that "It's nothing noteworthy". Especially if you've already seen a lot of anime and are aware of all the tropes/clichés