IS: Infinite Stratos

First of the Bat i would Like to say that this is my first review. Why i did it for this anime is beyond me. Second i would like to say that i am no expert with anime. I'm just your regular Joe that has a lot of anime and likes to watch em, so i wont go overly critical to my review. I'll just say write in why i scored the way i did in each of the categories given to me.

Story (6-fair) - Well I've watch a lot of anime. i have over 400 in my collection. and to tell you the truth, ... watching all of them you'll soon realize that plots are rehashed all the time. It might be a different setting, characters, and events, but if you dig deep into the basic plot, you could usually count the different kinds they're using. This anime is no exception. its your typical harem scenes. One guy and a bunch of girls. plot line revolves around girls pilots, and the only Guy in the world who could pilot the Power Armors. of course, the girls fall in love with him because hes such a nice guy, revolving around that plot, they placed in action, power armors, and a mystery. Its not your award winning story, but if you want original, those things are usually reserved to the drama anime. I gave it a 6 because plots thin, but very enjoyable.

Art (9-great) - I like the art direction to this one. Its nothing i haven't seen before, but animation is smooth and consistent. Unlike some anime, that seem to dull down when you get to the middle of the series, or seemed rushed, and cheap during some fight scenes like in gurren laggan, so far its been consistent halfway thru the series.

Sound (7-good) - Sound, well i really didn't notice anything good or bad about it so i gave it a 7. Its good, Not great, but not bad either. All in all, nothing significant to talk about.

Character (8-V.Good) - Characters are good, aside from the robots and the fighting, the anime does touch up on the character development. Not so much for the girls, but more of the main star and only guy. Stories usually revolve around the girls and how they are connected to the main guy. Big diversity of characters too, given the fact that its an international school, and so far, Japan, England, France, and Germany, are represented. Good mix of characters and personality.

Enjoyment (9-Great) - I really like anime like this. Nothing hard to think about, and i like the interaction of the characters. Primarily because its one of those fast anime. There are only 12 episodes to this series, its halfway, and they're very aggressive about the story telling. I like this anime also because i'm partial to Sci-Fi and Mechs, and Power armors.

Overall (8-V.Good) - Overall i gave this one an 8. I enjoy watching it, and there are a few anime out there that i do actually wait for to come out to watch the next episode. Its not a smart anime, bring nothing new to the table, but highly enjoyable. Even the little humor that is inserted here and there are noticeable. But if you taste is not like mine, you might not like it. All i can say is watch the first episode, if that doesn't hook you in, then the rest wont either.

Enjoy

Here's the deal: I have a dream animé. It's a show that's primarily mecha, with the robots piloted by humans and function like body armors rather than bigass robots that tower over the skyline (Zero--and pretty much all the other Maverick Hunters--from the Megaman X franchise inspired this). I wanted a little romance on the side, and awesome fights here and there, with possibly a few moments of comic relief. Character designs should be clean and crisp, with detail in the eyes and the mecha suits. Fanservice is not desired, but allowable to an extent. A male or a female lead would be fine, so ... long as the female lead doesn't lead the series into a shoujo dive.

Keeping this in mind, I searched for shows that have any one or a combination of these characteristics. I searched high and low (I wasn't aware of MAL at the time I watched Infinite Stratos), and I eventually stumbled on Infinite Stratos.

Characters:
- Clean and neat, with the occasional excessive cheek tints. (AWESOME!)
Fanservice:
- Bordering the allowable and the excessive, but nevertheless still allowable. (Fine.)
Mechas?:
- Yes. Battle suit-style mechas. (F**K YEAH!)
Tags:
- Mecha (AWESOME!)
- Romance (NICE)
- Harem (...huh?)

Then the plot dawned me. Frankly I was initially disappointed to see that the title closest to being my dream animé was quite possibly the largest harem I've ever encountered (and frankly, it still is). At least Gundam 00 had 4 Gundam Meisters; Code Geass had a myriad of pilots; even Megaman X had Maverick Hunters and Navigators. And here we have Infinite Stratos, set in an instructional school in a setting where females are the only ones capable of piloting these mecha suits--with the exception of our lead character. (Whether this is positive or negative is entirely up to the reader.) I'll leave my ranting for now, and move on with my review.

Story: 5/10

Infinite Stratos introduces itself by giving us a heads-up on what's going on in their world: mecha suits called Infinite Stratos (or IS for short) are the latest in technological innovations, but only females can control them. A worldwide pact was made to prevent the use of these suits for war; instead, the suits are used for sport, and a school off the coast of mainland Japan teaches students how to use them. Obviously, the school would be an all-girls school, with a peculiar exception of a student: Orimura Ichika, the only male in the world who can pilot an IS.

The show manages to compress all this in one episode, which was good. The bad part was that they didn't follow it up. They didn't give so much as an amply descriptive story behind why Orimura is the only male who can control an IS (they tried it near the end of the series, and even by then it was still largely vague). Also, for some magical reason only females can pilot the suits. No explanation given. It's probably just a plot device to maintain the "harem" status of the series, but it doesn't help the story at all besides giving the viewers girls and more girls.

The 12 episodes of this series are roughly about class competitions, a single person's flashback, and one mission that was supposed to be a climactic ending but certainly fails to do so. If Infinite Stratos is bad at somethine, it's the story.

Art: 9/10

Here Infinite Stratos tries to redeem itself (and at least in my case the redemption effort works). Art in this show is clean and fluid--just the way I like it. People are drawn quite well, and nothing is left without detail. Even the GUIs of the students' workdesks and the classroom screens are well-made. Mechas are presented in 3D when in combat, and in 2D when in static frames. I think this is a plus, since the 3D action scenes are certainly eye-catching (I mean, with all those lasers and boosters and all that). Color schemes for the mechas aren't really stellar, but at least they match the mood of the show. Also, if you're going to do a mecha show, you have to pay attention to the mecha designs. Luckily, Infinite Stratos does this well, and the mechas certainly look great.

Environment-wise, it's pretty much standard. You won't expect any vivid settings from a school that's pretty much isolated at sea, but at least they try their best to give it a futuristic feel. Personally, I liked the art direction of this series.

I suppose animation goes here as well, and the fight scenes are well-done. Not the type of fight scenes you'd expect from a 12-episode harem series, but still well-done.

Sound: 10/10

Here's something Infinite Stratos is definitely good at. Sound in this show is quite excellent; the quality of BGMs on battle scenes are at a level that probably won't match the storytelling. Opening and ending themes are also well-done. Look, if you want to get a general feel of Infinite Stratos without watching it, then go look for its OST tracks. You pretty much get all the good points of Infinite Stratos by listening to the OST alone. (There's no harem in OSTs, right?)

Character: 6/10

The only reason I didn't give this a score lower than 5 is because of a certain French girl (this statement also happens to be a weird Titanic reference). The rest of the characters are pretty much shallow; actually, they're just "pretty." Not even the lead character stands out. Our lead Orimura is just a dense boy with a strange admiration for his older sister (no worries, it isn't incestuous); his childhood friend is the usual tsundere; the English girl is just simply arrogant and aggressive (but she's not annoying, though; I did like her at one point); the Chinese girl is also a tsundere (surprise, surprise); the French girl is the only character that has an actual backstory worthy of being called a "backstory;" the German girl is the one with a weird obsession for both Orimura and his sister (this is the kind of obsession you should worry about). I've pretty much described the other 4 characters. I'd really like to do defense on the French girl, but she comes out near the middle of the series, so I'll leave it for you guys to watch and find out.

Enjoyment: 10/10

This might seem confusing, since I gave some components pretty low scores. I already mentioned that Infinite Stratos pretty much embodies my dream anime (only ruined by a harem element). In this sense, I did give it a chance, and I did like it. I suppose it was because of the suits? Perhaps I really just wanted to see mecha-stye battle suits. It was so close to being my dream animé. So close.

Overall: 8/10

Generally, Infinite Stratos is lackluster. My scores for Enjoyment are pretty much fed by bias; had I had a different idea for a dream animé, Infinite Stratos would have scored pretty low. However, if you're into harems and fanservice, and if you have the slightest interest in mechas, then you might just like Infinite Stratos. I watched the show like how I leisurely go hiking on a mountain. You don't hike to meet and talk with your fellow hikers; you hike to enjoy the view. That's what I did with Infinite Stratos: I didn't watch to understand the people inside; I really just watched for the view. And by my standards, it was a pretty good view.

Even before I touched the play button on Infinite Stratos (IS), all I've heard about it was "wow so generic", "so boring T_T", "another one of those stupid harem ones". Screw what people think, but I still started watching with a rather pessimistic opinion. IS is generic, but what's so bad about being generic? Isn't the entire definition of being general the idea that it follows the popular and majority trend? Truthfully, an anime that is only accused of being generic doesn't provide ample and concrete evidence of being a bad anime. In fact, I believe that IS is progressing rather nicely. Despite the setback ... from the uneventful first few episodes, the later episodes really suggest some exciting developments into this "generic" load. Nevertheless, before you read on, think about why you even watch anime. Is it only to avoid watching generic animes and, as a result, stuffing your brain full of random crap that you don't even like or are you truly watching anime for the enjoyments and benefits it gives, regardless of the peripheral labels and whatever's been said about it? Hopefully it's the latter, because if you chose the former, then there really isn't a point in reading on since I'm pretty sure you've already made up your mind about Infinite Stratos.

Story (5/10)
Despite the previous paragraph of me showering praises on IS, I'm getting out my flamethrower and shoop da whooping the story and setting. Seriously, the plot doesn't make any god dam sense. Infinite Stratos follows the life of Ichika, as he transfers to the Infinite Stratos (basically a mechanical body armor) Academy as the only guy since apparently only girls can use IS. There he meets a few childhood friends ( girls of course) and seduces a couple more distinguished students -- basically a harem type setting. When I first saw the mech stuff, I thought "crap, what a ripoff mating between code geass and gundam." Hey! We have these giant bigass robot suits and we're just going to fly around in them for fun! Achieving something with IS? Tehe no need for tha- OF COURSE YOU NEED A FOKIN STORY. Seriously, screw this plot. It's illogical and pitiful. This is where the "generic" accusation hits Infinite Stratos hard in the nuts (or somewhere else for girls). The lack of an adamant plot development, coupled with absolutely no innovation on the mecha aspect vehemently cripples the story potential of Infinite Stratos. Sometimes I feel like I'm just being pulled around randomly by IS. Suddenly there's this event, then there's that event, and etc... IS doesn't show the viewers the way it's heading, if it's even heading a way. For some viewers who are ravenously persistent for a bite of plot, Infinite Stratos has left them to starve in the crappy 3-D world.

Art (10/10)
The art... what can I say. I guess animes have large budgets nowadays because the art is absolutely fantastic. Ahh...Charlotte...she's drawn so cute and so awesomely 2-D styled that it really makes me feel better watching the parts with her in it and makes me feel nicer towards the entire series. If you take an incredibly obsessive preference in art like me, then Infinite Stratos will not disappoint you in that aspect. Prepare those pencils and papers, and the mouse on the pause key.

Character (9/10)
Everytime I decide to watch an anime under the harem label, I prepare myself for immutable facepalms and headdesks at how pathetic the male character will be. Lucky for my brain cells, Ichika didn't kill as many of them as other harem animes would have (It's ridiculous how much calculus I forgot after watching certain parts of To-Love-Ru). Ichika is a bit spineless at times but overall he has the right spirit. The problem with having that typical "I'll protect you" spirit is that it's overused to the point where they forcefully yell it out every, oh let's say 5 minutes. And of course, that'll cause this bunch of lovey-dovey mushy crap to magically appear and ruin whatever positive feelings I have towards the anime. Ichika had less of those experiences, but nevertheless, he is still lacking the standard of determination, seriousness, and independence that I look for in male protagonists. As for the girls, all of them (except for a few of them when they are in their super WTF tsundere mode) were decent and tolerable. Laura and Charlotte were probably my favorites. Laura, for the groundbreaking determination she shows later that's rarely seen in harem types, and Charlotte simply because she's so cute. Everytime Charlotte says "Ichika, you pervert" with that shy look on her face, my infinite quantum black hole of a heart melts a little. I would have given the characters a 10/10, but Ichika's lack of skill and an adamant personality, and the other average characters unfortunately lowers the aggregate score to an 8/10.

Enjoyment (8/10)
I certainly do enjoy IS very much. It gives me the feelings of living in such an academy and the excitement of endeavoring in those events (both unfulfillable in the mundane 3-D world). However, one thing that I find IS to be lacking in is consistency. During one fight, Ichika is suddenly god-hack mode powerful. In the next fight, he's pathetically weak and a pushover. This inability to adequately address his skill level on a stable standard shows mediocre planning and over-exaggeration on idea conveyance. Another hole in the enjoyment of Infinite Stratos is the predictability of some battles, and how incredibly annoying it is to always have Ichika lose the battle when he's about to win because of some retarded reasons like "running out of energy". Overlooking these two flaws, Infinite Stratos can be very entertaining for some personality of people.

Overall (7/10)
Infinite Stratos has amazing art and pretty good characters, however, it only gets an average 7. It's tragic to see an anime with a high potential of proving itself despite being criticized for being "generic" only to fail miserably with the lack of a concrete plot. It's truly tragic. If the producers only spent a bit more time to develop a plot for IS, I believed that it could have well received higher scores and reviews. However to me, it seem like the producers kind of just half- assed their way through, trying to make an exciting action packed harem type anime, without actually having to plan for an exciting action packed harem type anime. You know what they say about life. "Nothing is free".

First of, if you're gonna watch this, fuck you, you think this is some sort of Mecha Anime, you're horribly wrong, not even close. Oh it must be a harem then? Wrong again! Listen up children, this show is the story about your best girl. The only girl archetype this show probably doesn't have is a Yandere, but if you're looking for a yandere you're in the wrong place bud, Date A Live road is next door, perpendicular to Harem street.

This isn't something you watch to ponder about your existence and learn it's deep philosophical value. You're watching this to discover your best girl, something ... for a lonely Friday night, something to remind you why 2-D girls > 3-D girls.

Let's start of with the MC, you can't see him of course. He may have mass, but his volume is zero, because he's as dense as a black hole, that's how he gets all the girls. The girls happen to stumble into him and stare into the event horizon, never to return from his infinite grasp. Hence why the show has the term "Infinite" in it, or un-ending so you don't have to google that term.

If you happen to watch this because it had the rag "Mecha" in it, you've probably done the near impossible and became a super heated quasar, escaping the black hole, because genetics is a bitch and you thought "the show sucks, the story is shit." Well you're fucking wrong kid, it's a harem cum Romantic comedy, it just HAPPENS to have mechas in it.

Now that you actually know how to watch this show, turn off half your mind, relax, because the blood is gonna flow else where as you frantically search for porn of it.

11/10 would mecha again.

I haven't read the manga yet and the review is simply based on this anime, I'm fully aware that there are still a couple of more episodes to go, and it is too early to make any conclusions. Ok, amigos how do I rate this anime:

Story- 7

Ok, so the anime is about a girl genius, Tabane Shinonono, who invented an exoskeletal suit called "Infinite Stratos" or "IS" for short, which can only be operated by women thus gives them greater dominance in society and leaving men to be wussies ( I wonder what happen to the nukes?) but the story is more focus ... on the misadventures of the un-expecting Ichika the only muchacho who can operated an IS and with his harem, other genres are trivial, but it's all good.

Art- 6

Artistically-wise, It's good, but the technicality bad. Well, I'm referring to the mechs or IS's in a technical way is too overly decorated. Going to the school uniform, well, the way it is drawn it kinda conforms to the time but as in any school genre it ain't 100% uniformed, co'z every girl in the academy sport a different style: like when it comes to their socks: some wore high knee, some wore low knee, while there are others sport ankle length socks and as always they come either in black or white, but quite a few wore panty hoses . There is the shoes, which loafers are the usual choice by many, while quite a few have there own style of foot wear and let's not forget the skirt's length, in a schools genre the length of the skirt is either short or very short (Oh my I can see their panties from here), but rarely does it goes long, and in the case of this anime, I'd say that this is the only one that I know which the length of the skirt or the whole uniform itself (since it is worn like a one piece dress with 3 layers beneath ) whose length varies from one girl to another.

Sound- 7

I just like the opening theme, that's all.

Character - 7

Ichika Orimura - As it is said he is the only muchacho in the academy, actually he never intended to attend the academy in the first place . It's just that he happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and can't seem to keep his hands to himself when he touched an IS, which by the way it reacted to him, thus he got drafted into the academy and he seem to do pretty good in getting into a lot of uncomfortable situations involving his harem. And as in any harem genre, he is oblivious and very much indecisive as what to do with them, he operates a Byakushiki a close quarter melee IS and he only has Yukihira type 2 saber as his weapon because of his kendo background, not surprising since he was trained by his Nazi sister Chifuyu.

Houki Shinonono - Ichika's childhood friend (the 1st one), she's a tsundere which make up part of the harem, she and the muchacho (male lead) could have been lovers if she and her family were not not taken away and placed under protective custody due the sensitivity of her sister's work. She's an top notch kendo (and Iaido) practitioner, and she looks good in the uniform that she wore, in fact her style really trends up to that particular time (which is the future). She harbors feelings for the muchacho, however she can also kick his butt......when she's jealous and pissed. She's the first chica who slept with the muchacho (in separate beds of course) and she was almost see naked ( unintentionally that is). Since we now know what her personal IS look like which is the Akatsubaki, it is yet to know as to what it is capable of, judging from her kendo and iaido skills it is believe that her unit is a close quarter melee .

Cecilia Alcott - the 2nd girl who entered the muchacho's life, overall, she's a bitch at first to the muchacho but later on warms up, she always brags about her being part of royalty (even if she's just been orphaned....according to info) and being a representative from the UK (my ass). She's very clingy to the muchacho and would be rude to anyone who comes near him, she's the forth girl which the muchacho has see naked (being topless in the beach counts and it's her fault ). Her uniform make her look like a granny, well she would look hotter if she wore the same style as Houki. She operates the Blue Tears a sniper platform IS, not much for a melee, since she relies on her unit's drones to get close to an opponent.

Rin (or Lin) Yin Fang - 3rd chica to come into the muchachos life, actually she's suppose to be the 2nd girl into his life since she happens to be the muchacho's 2nd childhood friend, she's rather petite, flat chested and wore her uniform like a whore, but she make up for being a good cook ( according to info) though in this anime she only presented the muchacho her sweet and sour pork dish and she can also be a handful for the muchacho when she's pissed or jealous. she has a medium melee or frontal assult type of IS which is the Sheng Long, which aside from having Impact Cannon, it is also equipped 2 big meat cleavers when joint up it becomes a spear with 2 tips at opposite sides, I guess she's a kung-fu practitioner to have that kind of melee weapon.

Charles or Charlotte Dunios - 4th chica to come by, at first she was able to fool the muchacho that she's a man (and so as everyone else), until he accidentally saw her naked while taking a shower, which by the way she's the 1st girl whom the muchacho has accidentally seen naked, twice, (being in the men's bath doesn't count, and Houki doesn't count either) and she the 2nd chica whom the latter slept with - in separated beds of course. Unlike other members of the muchacho's harem, she's more open minded and she's the only one whom the muchacho can related to . At first she wore a male uniform with a close turtle neck, then later on she sports a female school uniform, but the sneakers make her look like a middle schooler . Her IS is a mass produced 2nd generation unit called "Rafale Revive" which is a versatile multiple weapons platform, capable of sniping, assault and close quarter melee, and is probably be a formidable match to everyone else except for Laura's IS. Later on she decided to come out clean and declared that she's a girl and not a boy to the disgust of everyone else towards the muchacho, so much so that he's about to be killed by a jaded Rin.

Bodewig Laura - the 5th chica to come by and gave the muchacho a slap in the cheek , she's a genetically designed super soldier (according to info) and has a VT system implanted in her. Her school uniform makes her look like a member of the Nazi since she did came from Germany, at first she dislike the muchacho because she blames him for her idol (Chifuyu) for leaving Germany, but after beating her in the tournament with help from Charles or Charlotte she warms up to the muchacho and even giving him his first kiss. She also declared him to be her husband (though they are not even married yet) after saving him from a jaded Rin and she's the 2nd chica whom the muchacho saw her naked which she intended it or maybe she really does sleep naked, she's the 3rd chica whom the muchacho slept with... in the same bed this time and nothing happen between them. Her Schwarze Regen is a heavy artillery, assault and a close quarter type IS, which is equipped with an AIC that can be used as a defensive shield against an incoming assaults or attacks. She's also a member of Schwarzer Hase special forces in Germany whose members also wore ridiculous eye patches even if they have both their eyes.

Orimura Chifuyu - Ichika's big sister and is also his homeroom teacher, she's also his first kendo instructor . She the muchacho's only immediate family, she's a highly skilled kendo and iaido practitioner, she competed in various Mondo Grosso tournament and won (why don't they just call it an IS tournament?) except in the finals where she had to drop out in order to save his brother. She has a Nazi like method when teaching, dealing and training her students and seem to have dominatrix attitude with the way she dress and the way she wore a bikini and probably the way she wore her lingerie.

Yamada Maya - Ichika's other class instructor who looks too young to be one and seems to be the same age as a 3rd year student, but her big boobies and sweet character make up for her kiddie stature.

Tabane Shinonono- Houki's big sister, who sports rabbit ears and wore a granny dress, she has a voice of a girl from the 6th grade. She designed the exoskeleton unit called "Infinite Stratos," she was able to exercise leverage against any nations who wanna use her design for war by implement an "IS Treaty" that regulates the used and distribution of the IS units.

Others-.......well they are just trivial, so why such rating, co'z I like the way the how the author designates the roles and situations of the characters.


Enjoyment: 7

Well' let's face it, what makes this anime enjoyable is the muchacho's way with his harem, which get's him in a lot of cabeza del dolor (headaches). Also, the IS units who were duking out with one another, but the main piece de resistance is the ultimate battle with a drone and knowing as to who the main villain is. Which, by the way I'm suspecting Tabane Shinonono since she designed the IS in the first place and she's the only who has a monopoly with the IS Core design so it's possible that she can make an IS capable of functioning without a human operator.

Overall: 7

Overall it's enjoyable and that's that.

If you are looking for a deep and moving story...THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!

For those who are familiar with harem genres, the formula , story and fan service is overly familiar...pretty much generic, however this anime is awesome; being the only boy in an all girls school + bad ass mecha...who cares about the little things its fun.

However, If you are looking for a comedy, mecha , harem anime this is what you are looking for! The character art is good and the fight scenes is awesome, especially when they take the fight to the skies, also the girls are somewhat ... emotionally stable, girls don't become psycho and overly dramatic, like Shuffle! If you are a healthy male I'm sure you'll have fun watching this, as much fun as it can get when the girls watching yaoi

Many anime I've seen using the incredibly cliché theme of harem generally come out the same, with characters seeming to all fall into a very similar rut at which point you soon start finding every single almost identical to the characters of many other anime. Quite often a somewhat gimmicky twist is tossed in that is supposed to refresh the watcher and make that anime rise above others of the same type. This anime doesn't break that mold, but it creates a great set of characters, and it'll keep you laughing.

Story: The story is probably the biggest lacking factor of this show, it leaves you ... wanting more story in a way that turns you off. It featured an annoying amount of plot holes, with somewhat crazy crap happening with no specific reason. If you are in the least bit versed in any anime of a similar kind, you will see "twists" a mile away. Even though the show features mech battles, they are quite infrequent, and are rarely long enough to satisfy mech enthusiasts.It does hit the typical ecchi anime bumps every ecchi anime hits, with the main lead always accidentally fall on the women around him and then as such, slaps him and gets incredibly mad (blah blah blah). It does have it's golden moments though, and when you finish it, you will be wanting more.

Art: Genuinely surprised me. The mechs are throughly detailed, beautifully animated,and the mech battles appropriately flashy and very well done. The characters all have little details that are rarely forgotten when the characters are shown, even if for a brief moment. The varied use of colors makes it pleasing to the eyes, never sinking into territory too dark, light, or bland unless trying to give off that vibe, to which point it displays it well.

Sound: The opening song is just the typical anime opening, nothing special but at least it's not grating or saccharine sweet like many others I've seen. But when it comes down to matter of sound effects, voice acting, ambient noise, and non-opening music, it does it's job well, making the sound an important part of the show overall, as sound should.

Character: Most characters are well fleshed out, and have a few traits to put them above the rest of the pack. I would have probably given it a 10 for characters if it weren't for how annoying they made the lead character. He is pretty much the "Oh no! My friends are in danger, I'll go save them even if all my limbs are torn off and my body burned to ashes!" Although that may be an exaggeration, the main character is painfully similar to so many others. I understand that how oblivious he is adds to some of the comedy, but it's just so predictable and painful to have such a character. He's probably not as bad as I portray him to most, but there is definitely a pattern. Like I said, all the other characters are well done, and are a breath of fresh air in the genre.

Overall: I highly recommend you watch this if you are a fan of romantic comedy, ecchi, harem, high school life, and those who like mechs get a fair share of what they desire. As the show does typically forgo the action in turn of a perverted accident scene, mech-heads will enjoy the detail put into each mech and mech battle, no matter how few there are. The characters are typically wonderful and consistent. The show looks great. Although the story isn't the best I've seen, it in no way hinders this fine show. It's sad how inconclusive they made the ending, but it hints to another season when plot holes can be filled and we can be reintroduced to such great characters.

9/10 Highly Recommended

Lets make this short.
Summary: Ichika Orimura, a 15-year-old Japanese boy who starts a busy high school life surrounded by nothing but girls who can use IS.

This anime is for people who wants
-light-hearted stuffs
-Harem comedy
-MC who is an average nice guy but sometimes really dumb and relies on others
-Girls falling in love with him after being defeated [ how retarded this is]
-Girls from different countries o.O with different personalities
-Mecha battles
... -a little bit of plot
-hot chicks & TsundereS

Not for people who wants
- Seriousness
- Two-sided romance
- Super Intense Mech fight/battles
- Deep plot
- Smart and cool and op MC who understands everything
- more than 2 teachers in the class.
- Dual Gender Academy
- yanderes

The Story
Infinite Stratos has a generally well-written story . It has its own originality and it was developed quite smoothly. The mecha stuffs were average as compared to other mecha shows. It is mainly because the story revolves around the love aspect. So its basically like a comedy-harem plot with an extra "mecha" aspect to simply prevent it to be like any typical harem anime

Art
The visuals were standard as They focused more on the interactions between the characters . However the character designs were really great. As you can see from the poster, the character designs were above average and we can really pick off any emotions that characters try to hide, just from their facial expressions . And the character designs highlights every individual in the show and portray them more efficaciously .

Sound
The OP and ed was catchy and worth listening to , However the sound effects were horrible. They did not stand out and left no impressions. The sound effects literally did nothing in the entire anime but fortunately there's the great art to back up for it

Character
The worst aspect of the anime. In merely 12 episodes , Infinite Stratos have to micro manage and cover 6 main characters . Of course with the first episode as introduction being left out , 11 episodes to develop the characters were simply insufficient. Another of a harem member kept joining the crew and there's no time to stop ,and understand more about every single character. Almost all the characters were briefly introduced and we do know anything beyond that. At least the "main" main character ; Houki was at least more concisely introduced.

Enjoyment + Overall
Even though this anime has its flaws , i believe its worth your time . I really enjoyed it and i had fun watching all different personalites coming in at once.
But dont ever watch this seriously , instead try to enjoy it because of its humour and its light-heartedness.

Story-7
Art-8
Sound-5
Character-5
Enjoyment-7
Overall-7

My first Anime, after which I now understand the difference between PG 13- older (Genre) Echhi and Echhi 17+.
Just say! this Anime is for his own taste people who dont cares about the plot, the main thing is HAREM (people who love this genre like me) In spite of the main story I like when there are lots of girls and one lucky guy, so my enjoyment as a minimum will be 8/10.
First season main story in overall was booring= mech vs mech in workouts all the time and only at last episodes something appeared so the story I didn't like, BUT!..... what happened with ... protagonist and his girls it was just fantastic, I love it when the girls were fighting among themselves for one guy love.
Music also point at the point and the sounds also liked, Art very well especially girls. That's all I am satisfied with the exception of the same main story, I hope next season will start with of what happened the first season ending will.

Japan engineered an armed exoskeleton weapon known as Infinite Stratos (IS for short) and it became the mainstream of weapons. However for some reason, only women are able to operate the IS and therefore, women are now favored in society over men. Orimura Ichika is a 15 year old boy and accidentally touches an IS placed in the IS pilot training school. He is found to be the first and only man who can operate IS and forced to enter the training school, which only consisted of girls. And so the tale goes on, of how Orimura Ichika’s life is surrounded by girls, has begun.

-Review: ... Firstly, as the synopsis states, IS is an armed exoskeleton weapon created by Japan. To some certain extend, it can only be operated by women. But one day, a boy named Orimura Ichika accidentally touches an IS placed in the IS training school, and it resonated with him and moved. Therefore, that makes Ichika, the only male to operate this mainstream weapon. Which also draws him a huge amount of publicity in this series’s universe because first and foremost, IS can only be operated by women. In addition to that, the IS is a mainstream weapon currently being the biggest hype of the Infinite Stratos universe. Imagine you being the only guy to operate this powerful weapon, which has the ability to destroy a few thousand missiles at once (mini spoiler). Certainly the world government, who was in opposition of the IS at first, will take an interest in this matter.

But the strong points of this series does not lie mainly on the synopsis, in fact this series is highly focused on the daily highschool life of Orimura Ichika (protagonist) in an ALL GIRLS SCHOOL. You heard me, the ONLY guy in an ALL GIRLS SCHOOL. By all girls school, i’m referring to IS academy which is built solely to train women to resonate with the IS. Up to date, it is the only school that offers IS training in the world. So yes, our little protagonist is one heck of a lucky guy. As the series progresses, you will get to witness the cruelty of this world. By cruelty, i’m referring to the possible jealousy of fellow otaku’s as Ichika indulges his everyday life with physically, perfectly crafted girls. Yes, the main teaser of this series, is Ichika’s harem. Honestly if you think about it, this whole setup was for the sole purpose of Ichika’s harem.

So Infinite Stratos girls? What’s the fun in that? Aren’t they just normal anime girls? Believe me, I had thought for a moment while looking that the illustration, that this was just going to be another comedy harem anime, with newly introduced big chested girls in each episode clinging and slutting all over Ichika after first sight. My part of my interpretation that was not entirely wrong, because the character developments in this series was just plain horrible and they certainly did, cling onto him at first sight. Despite knowing that after watching the first few episodes, I was still intrigued by this series, especially at the girls. Why?

There was no particular reason actually. Although the first few phrases of character developments was just as mainstream as highschool DxD, I was gradually attracted to the characters after a few revolutionizing events in the series, and when the “fierce competition” between the girls over Ichika came to an understanding and there was actual development and progression between Ichika and one of the protagonist girls in his “harem”. After that phrase was over, the story will continue, after all that senseless ecchi.


One of the main portfolios of this anime series, is the dynamic animation between battle scenes. The aerial camera views that were normally used in 3rd person flight simulation games, was flawlessly implemented into the dramatic battle scenes between the IS. In addition to that, the IS armors were well designed, compared to the original, manga design. Much more details and texture was added into the IS armor designs and these details were maintained throughout the anime series. In conjunction to the consistent animation between the IS battles, the frames in between these fights were also very smooth, there was very little “lag” during the IS battles which makes it extra enjoyable and boost the viewers expectations. 

However the animation was not throughly consistent throughout the whole anime series. The downside to the animation in this series was mainly during the slice of life events of Ichika. Time to time, the animation seems to slack between the conversation between characters and at other times, the characters facial expression are bluntly portrayed. In addition to the character animation, at times the color contrast on the characters are just plain dull.

In all mecha related anime, sound is essential to lighten up the tension during a battle. Overall the sound was on an average level. The sound effects were good, it had variation according to each IS suit, and dynamics that were proportional to distance in aerial combat. The opening and ending theme songs were just so so, it was congruent with the opening and ending animation but they arn’t that catchy because of the inconsistent rhythm. However the main downside to the sound was it’s repetitive use of tracks which got boring after a while.

But if I must say, the main downside of this whole series is infact, the generic stereotype theme of which the characters are adapted from.

Overall, this is definitely a series worth investing your time into for all those mecha fans, because it brings a whole new battle viewing experience with the enhanced dynamical camera views. Aside from that, the relationship between Ichika and the girls are certainly something to look forward too while waiting for the 2nd season of Infinite Stratos to air.

Hey there!

IS: What to say! Some guy rolls into a school full of girls! ==> Screams: Harem, Romance, Comedy, Action!

Yeah, that`s fairly it!

What to expect: Nothing! Just lay back and watch the most stupid main character (when it comes to girls!) evolve itself!

The red line is so thin that you really have to look for it with a microscope!

... Consider this anime if you are really so f**ked up from your work that you do NOT want to watch sth. with a meaning and a sense! It´s really narrowed down to a very, very, very dense MC, action, battles for nothing and a polyglotte harem!

You will definitely enjoy the meaningless plot after a hard days work/school/study/whatever week!

I really enjoyed it after a harsh week of meetings!

After seeing the first episode of Infinite Stratos it is obvious that this anime is obviously going to development into a harem with the basic storyline essentially being: only 1 guy in a school full of girls in a school that pilot mecha suits. Surprisingly unlike most harem anime that I've seen, this anime does not constantly bombard viewers with scenes upon scenes of huge misunderstandings and fan service within every minute or so which i found to be quite relieving as these types of scenes can easily get over repetitive.

From listening to the opening and ending theme songs of Infinite Stratos i can ... say that it is nothing new. it is what one would expect the theme songs of this kind of anime to actually be. In the same time the artwork is nothing special nor is it anything to complain about.

The characters in this anime seem to be better than I originally anticipated this anime would have. For starters there is the childhood friend that have not met for 6 years and are both sharing the same room which seems quite cliche. However, i was originally expecting the main character to be some kind of Tsundere character which is slightly true as she can seem cold at times... There main character does not seem to completely match the stereotypical main character in harems that i've seen as he does not seem complete pervert or a complete good for nothing weakling... in some senses the main character does fit the description of a stereotypical male lead in a harem since he seem in some respects as someone who is lazy or an idiot... however even though i have been defending the last two characters to be not 'completely' stereotypical in every way... sadly in nearly just about nearly every harem anime there has to be a uptight chick that constantly looks down on people who happens to be Tsudere...

So far i have enjoyed this anime and I would recommend anyone who wants to start watching a new anime to watch this... So far it seems that there is a large array of possiblities within this anime and even though many will blatantly say that it is just another harem anime, I would somewhat concur with these people from what I have seen in the first episode... It is possible that the anime will tilt the other way into a typical harem anime but for now it seems more interesting compared to that of any old harem anime.

Infinite Stratos; Infinite Harem. My score is a little biased and 'bumped', due to the fact that I like the girls in his harem. I have no problem sitting here watching Charlotte Dunois doing perfectly nothing.

Story: 6
Anyhow, as far as the story goes, it's average. It's nothing too original, but it does stray from the customary harems. You have a world where girls have the power to control these mechas, and there's one special male who too is able to control them. ...The harem ensues. There hasn't been a real 'plot', it's your everyday 'school' life, and the comedy/'romance' surrounding. Each few episodes hold ... their own little 'story'/'problem'.

Art: 9
It's definitely the work of a new Anime series; the art is great. Characters are well drawn, and the effects are spot-on too. Animation is smooth, and nothing looks cheesy or choppy. The OP is well done, though deceiving (the opening itself contains more action than the whole series so far), and the girls + Ichika are quite the beauties themselves.

Sound: 7
I'm not one to stick around to watch an OP or ED (though I may watch it once or twice if I like the song), so I can't make any judgment there. From the few seconds of what I do hear from ED though, it's not bad. I know I've sat through the OP at least once, and the song was good enough for me to not skip it instantly. The soundtrack is typical. Haven't heard anything super outstanding yet, and all the BG music sounds terribly cliche. For once there isn't a single character's voice who annoys me (well, still contemplating on the voice of Houki's sister), and the voices for all the characters seem to be suitable. Effects don't sound lame/incredibly fake, and it works for me.

Character: 7
There isn't much background stories given on any of the characters. It's all very vague, but I do like them. The characters follow the general harem archetype (tsunderes -- and a lot of them, quiet ones, intelligent ones, etc), but they don't follow it to an extreme; which is a relief. Ichika, the main character, is the lead male in a harem. Need I say more? We've all seen him before, the guy who tries hard and is extremely dense about the loving women around him. He is oblivious (to an extent) of the feelings of those around him, but I sure wish he would start some romance between himself and Charlotte! That being said, the characters remain pretty static, and the changes that do occur aren't really 'developed' -- they're pretty sudden. Regardless of a lack of character development, I've come to love most of them. ^^

Enjoyment: 8
I've been able to get some laughs here and there, and I'm a sucker for fan service. The women are beautiful, and there's quite a bit of fan service. Am I enjoying it? Hell to the yes. Episode 11, where I'm currently at, brings the humor to an end, and seriousness/drama kicks in. The fights are lame (to an extent), and the mid-battle conversations are expectantly cliche/stupid. Aside from that, IS: Infinite Stratos has maintained it's ability to satisfy my enjoyment levels.

Overall: 8
I wouldn't say it's a must watch, but I would recommend it if you're into harems and beautiful women. It's a love/hate thing. Don't watch this for the action, and don't watch this for something serious.

-PLOT-
Ichika Orimura, a first year student stumbles upon an IS machine. IS machines are advanced weaponry made by the brilliant Japanese scientist, Houki Shinonono. Ichika finds out within the next few minutes that he is able to operate the IS machine and (so it is stated in the next few episodes from the first) begins to duel an instructor of a training academy which teaches high school students how to use IS weapons... the only problem is that Ichika is the only male in the entire world who can operate an IS -- the rest only respond to females.
He finds himself forced into the training ... academy, meeting up with many of his old friends and making many new ones...

-STORY- (6/10)
I give the story a 6/10 rating because, though easily understandable when the pitch was given, it was a bit scattered. The story seemed to be explained backwards -- what I mean by this is that they explained everything like George Lucas would have, they begin to explain and give detail with the story as the anime progresses, making it a bit hard to follow.
None the less, I did enjoy the story once I got use to what the hell was going on... but even so, a lot of things were left out.
"Where did he meet a few of his old friends?"
"Who is this friend, she/he was never properly introduced?"

-ART/SOUND- (8/10)
I absolutely loved the art and sound of this anime. The character design was a perfect mixture between seriousness and cuteness. It wasn't too far to one side, if that makes sense. On top of that, the fight sequences between the IS battles were very smooth, and I could make out what was happening. Very rarely do you see this in some anime. I believe it was because they used some kind of 3D program, so instead of drawing out everything (which might be the cause of reduced FPS), they were able to just simulate it.
The sound FX was clear cut, and it didn't have a lot of cheesy sound tracks added to it. I think the music was good aswell, though some might dislike the introductory soundtrack, I thought it was very nice. The music they embedded into the video during some battles also either gave the scene a more dramatic, suspensive aura or a more action-packed, "KILL HIM GODDAMNIT!" aura.

-CHARACTER- (8/10)
I'd say I liked all of the characters, the way all of their personalities clashed with eachother to make a decent harem seemed to be put together quite well.
On a personal level, I love how Ichiko seemed different from the average, run of the mill male character in this genre of anime. He doesn't make mistakes like tripping over a 1 centemeter wide pebble and land hand first on a big chested woman every episode, or not looking away and removing his hand after him and big-chested-woman-A exchange awkward looks... no, instead he seemed mature and there wasn't too much retardation and perversion.
As for the rest of the females, I didn't give any one of them more attention than the other. They were all equally cared for, and hated by me at different times. In other words, they're the typical females in harem that are extremely pressed towards the main character -- though they get mad at him when he gives more attention to other girls.

-ENJOYMENT/OVERALL- (9/10)
Though the story might have been a bit confusing at times I'd give enjoyment and overall rating a solid 9/10 because it had me smiling, feeling sad, or having atleast some kind of emotion other than boredom or annoyance which was directed to the anime itself (not the character's personalities). Some might say that this was a generic harem (but isn't all harem the same? A guy is surrounded by a group of girls that like said guy. That's why I watch it... because it's harem) or that it was poorly written.... and yeah, it may have been so, but at least it kept me entertained throughout the entire 12 episode series, and actually made me want to write this long review about it. A lot of times I stumble upon anime with great story and great detail, but it never keeps me entertained! But of course, to each his own. That's just my view on it.

IS: Infinite Stratos is an anime talks about IS a Mecha or robot for girls only. Orimura Ichika the only male who can use an IS. After that he was put in girl's school because, Just I said he is the only who can use and by the way this anime contains Harem and some annoying childhood friends. What a Lucky Guy!!

Story 8/10
Well the story is all about mechas and some family and childhood friend issues as well as fighting. The story is not boring I find it funny because of the character of being innocent and funny. The Story is unique and it really ... follows the genre.

Art 9/10
The IS are awesome well design the fights did really fit the styles of this anime. The Art really fits the story. The Character really put a good fight between his enemies. The quality of the anime is great and well constructed.

Sound 9/10
The voice actors really fit in every character they play. The background music really puts the atmosphere around. I liked the Opening and Ending songs it keeps on coming. They really put the great effort to it.

Character 9/10
The MC is not very strong just moderate,that MC needs to be train. The character is innocent and very funny for me. The MC owns A Harem because its girl's school.

Enjoyment 8/10
I'd enjoy watching it. I bet you will enjoy, Great female booby characters and underwear shots hahaha.

Overall 9/10
You will never regret after you watched this anime. Don't worry this anime has season 2 or more.

Thats all people this is my Infinity Stratos review

Ah Infinite Stratos. The anime I love but really, really, don't ever tell anyone about. Well. Unless they're already anime fans. Then I'll talk to them about it. Infinite Stratos is my ideal for one specific thing I like to find in anime. What I refer to as "junk food". Anime that you can reach into your brain housing unit, flip the off switch and just veg for a bit. Now Infinite Stratos happens to be a very good piece of junk food, but it's still junk food.

With a standard scifi harem set up and the usual characters showing up with the special addition of ... three foreigners instead of one, two childhood friends, and back to normal with implied repressed feelings for the protagonist's big sister! Woo! There's even a reverse trap. Which would a spoiler if they didn't give it away in any cast image ever put up, including the one on the anime's page here on MAL. Not to mention, how often do you actually see characterized males in harem anime? Especially during the harem assembly phase.

Despite the standard setup IS rose above it's material, making the old archetypes shine as fun and enjoyable characters, and the story's set up is a bit hackneyed, but looks great with it's refurbishment and fresh coat of paint.

So if you're looking for something to compliment your reading of Anna Karenina that will let you switch to something complex and interesting but not so depressingly Russian you're barking up the wrong tree. If you want to put your brain on pause for a little bit and take a micro vacation from work or studying though, Infinite Stratos might be what you're looking for.

Infinite Stratos . . . A Mecha/Harem/Ecchi/Romance combination of a anime. That is something that people just do not see everyday. But to me, I thought it went well overall for the entire season. Going into this, I had no idea what to expect since I only had a picture and the tags to go on and decided not to read the synopsis. I feel like I should start doing that more often but anywho I liked this anime overall.

Ecchiness. Yup thats right, it has some of it in here. I was glad to see the ecchiness to be ... true since getting ecchi into a mecha anime is a bit hard but they pulled it off beautifully. Only down side is the censorship...YET AGAIN! I am not a big fan of censorship so of course I am going to watch this anime again once the uncensored version comes out.

Though it is hard to tell, I can see some romance inside some of this anime. But mainly it is a Harem. Why is that? 1 guy, bunch of girls, that is why. Romance side would be some of the stuff in the anime that make up something kind of like a date. So there is some romance in it.

If you have not noticed yet but this is a mecha anime. I will let that soak in real quick..........Ok, if you hate mechas, you might not like this. There are terms in here that could drive people crazy and seeing battles and stuff . . . not your thing, don't watch. Mechas are my thing so I would reccommend this to anyone who does like mechas. But if you do not like Harems, then yea, don't watch. If you are a guy and you don't like harems then I will question your manhood just a tad.

Overall I think this is a pretty good anime. It holds up pretty well, has a story and ties in things well. Censorship is a killer mainly because I hate censorship and it makes me angry for some reason. If you hate censorship too then I would suggest waiting until the uncensored version comes fully out and watch it then.

Art (9/10)
The animation was done fairly well. Backgrounds were detailed and characters were animated well. Even the extras were all physically different in some way. The battle scenes, even though there weren't many, were really smooth and exciting to watch.

Characters (6/10)
This category is where the anime suffers. First, you have the dense male harem lead, Orimura Ichika. At first glance, he looks like a regular teenage guy who gets the opportunity to enroll in an all-girls school. Many guys out there would give up everything just to be in his situation. However, because he is the typical, dense male harem lead, he is oblivious to ... the feelings of the all the girls around him. This happens throughout the whole series so it is frustrating to watch sometimes. Understandably, since he is the only male, all the female characters want to befriend him. The main females come from different countries of the world so there's a bit of diversity in the characters. However, they all possess at least one of the typical harem traits (childhood friend, tsundere, ojou-sama, sadistic etc). With that being said, the characters' interactions were not special. I guess with IS being a harem anime, I should not have expected character development. I didn't really have a "favourite" character because there wasn't a character that was interesting.

tl;dr - Don't watch IS and expect the characters to be great.

Sound (8/10)
The OP and ED were very good. I found it nice that the seiyuu voicing the main female characters sang the ED. Both songs were upbeat and fit the general mood of the series. The BGM wasn't really memorable but it was not out of place.

Story (6/10)
It's hard to say that IS actually had a "story". A third of the episode was used just to introduce characters. The rest of the episodes (excluding 11 and 12) were mostly about the girls interacting (is that even the right word?) with Ichika. Episodes 11 and 12 wrapped up the so-called "story" with a battle scene. If I were to condense the story into a few points, here is what it would look like:

- Teenage boy discovers he is the only male capable of piloting an IS
- Main female characters are introduced
- Male lead interacts with females
- Final battle

As you can see, there aren't a lot of points. However, I understand that a harem anime is not watched for its story so I guess there's no helping it.

Overall (7/10)
Infinite Stratos met my expectations in general. I wouldn't mind having a second season sometime in the near future. There are some aspects that I would want the producers to improve on but overall, I enjoyed watching Infinite Stratos.

IS is a 12 episode series that is one of the most highly anticipated amongst the Winter 2011 anime lineup for TV broadcast and quickly become a fan favorite upon its debut, but does it deliver?

The story starts with the introduction of Orimura Ichika, a male who for some unknown reasons able to operate an IS, an armored exoskeleton that can only be used by females. Being a qualified IS operator, he enrolled to an IS school that has a population predominated by females (actually I don't remember any other male character in that school). Being the only male student, naturally all the ... girls are quite interested in him and so the harem begun. The series separates into different arcs, each focusing on a female character being introduced as transfer students from a different country, her back story examined and will have their own moments with the male lead. The series spends a good 2/3 of its episodes introducing the harem cast, but at the same time the series manage to introduce bits of elements to move the story forward. The finale is a bit of let down with its inconclusiveness, which may be a good thing for the viewers screaming for a season 2!

The animation has more good than bad points. The environment is detailed enough, the characters are very cute and well designed as they are able to expressed their emotions very well, more importantly the cast doesn't look generic, each are unique looking and easily recognizable. The mecha designs for the IS exoskeletons are also quite good and unique for every individuals. The visuals for the action scene is also well rendered. As for my minor complaints, there are times that the animation looks inconsistent with the characters looking awkward and scenes that is generally done of poor production quality. Also very noticeable is the inconsistency of the designs with many visuals just keeps on appearing and disappearing with each transition of scenes which sometimes could be annoying and sometimes amusing that it is laughable.

The series is well covered by its different background music, I felt that the music played in any given scene is just about right and appropriate for the mood it is trying to convey. The OP and ED themes along with its accompanying animation sequence is good enough and feels appropriate for the series.

IS has a fairly good cast of characters. As a harem series, the male lead does a good job and doesn't look annoying on how he is clueless to the feelings of all the lovestruck girls around him. The girls albeit stereotypes that is designed to appeal to its audience, each feels unique and has a personality that is quite different from each other. Each characters has a role to play and was their own moments as the series moves along. Voice acting is very good, the VA has done a fairly good job in portraying their respective characters, I enjoyed listening to everyone as they chat with each other.

If I'm going to summarize what I felt about this series, it will be "Infinite Stratos is a harem series done right." Despite having inconsistencies in both the plot and animation and a finale that lacks any real ending (season 2 please!), this is a series that I enjoyed all throughout, never a dull moment here. Infinite Stratos is a series that I will recommended to individuals seeking a harem show that contains a mix of mecha, sci-fi, and comedy as these are the predominant genres of the series.

I don't know if it's just because this pulled through for me as a harem/ecchi/action anime that stood out from the other recent ones I have watched or not;but I was really satisfied with watching Infinite Stratos.
Please remember that this review is my own personal opinion, and whether you choose to think bad about it is yours to think. I'm also going to say up front, this review will contain SPOILERS.

Story:8: The story didn't bore me at all, or in other words, I wasn't dissatisfied with watching any of the episodes. The plot development wasn't very extensive but was played out very well. Although in ... the beginning it seemed as if the harem theme was rushed at you a little too quickly, it smoothed out to a good pace for the rest of the episodes. When episodes were mainly focused on the development of the relationships between Ichika and the other main girls,the anime didn't stray far from the main goal and story plot. Looking back at the anime now, one can say that it is mainly based on ecchi and relationships, and the animators just added mechas that contributed to this factor, but one can also say that the way the anime went about incorporating this factor is very nice. What impressed me the most was when a typical scene appeared,too cliche in other words, but the resolution of the matter was taken in a different way I haven't seen before; that's something that stood out for me. I won't say that there were typical outcomes, that a dog could guess what was going to happen, I mean come on guys, it IS a harem based anime. But Infinite Stratos was a definite change in pace, now that I look at my recent, I've watched too many of these similarly themed anime in row, but IS didn't fail to disappoint and follow in their shadow.

Art7 and Sound10: The Art for a 2011 anime could have been done better, I'll say that the animations for combat and the equipping of the ISs could have been greatly improved on. The sound was IMO the same as all the anime I have watched so far, it complimented very well with the scenes that were presented.

Characters 8: My favorite has to be the main character Ichika who's blind ignorance to the desperate girls around him, just put a smile on my face the whole time. His misunderstanding at their attempts were laughable (in a good way) and his personality was something different that I haven't seen yet in a good harem anime. Now for the other main characters, the girls. I won't describe them all but the way each one was introduced was unique in their own way, and I loved every bit of the plot twists that occurred around each one (in regards for their relationship progression with Ichika).

Enjoyment and Overall (8&8): I didn't cheer with joy for this series, nor did I end it with a feeling of "why did I watch this?". I think I was completely satisfied because of the mediocre anime that came before this one on my watch list. I went into this anime, not expecting much, but left the first episode with a grin on my face. The harem aspect was done well IMO, comparable to Date a Live. The ecchi aspect...Well you don't really see much but it compliments the series when you do. I'll have to say it isn't shoved in your face for complete fan-service/ otaku fap time, but tastefully implemented with a clever cooperation. Overall this anime was Very good and is one of the few on my list so far that has passed the line of the overall score of 7. I recommend this anime to any mecha/ecchi/harem lover and I guarantee joy or at least satisfaction.