IS: Infinite Stratos

One of the problems with the anime industry is the tendency to overuse stereotypes and themes, and many of the studios in Japan continue to operate under the idea that the shows they create will generate a profit in some manner (regardless of the content), through DVD sales or merchandise. The sad fact is that many producers barely break even from one season to the next, which then prompts arguments of piracy, licensing, pricing, distribution costs, etc, all of which seems more than a little strange as while it may appear that the studios have some perfectly valid arguments, they've neglected to talk about one ... thing - the anime they make.

Every season viewers are subjected to a barrage of average or substandard fare that serves no other purpose than mindless juvenile media, yet these shows continue to be made because the entertainment industries always prefer the safe bet over a "risky" venture. That said, there are always one or two anime that manage to rise above mediocrity, but there's still a very large gap between being good, and being great.

IS is, first and foremost, a reasonably popular ongoing light novel series by Yumizuru Izuru that began publication in May 2009. Six volumes have already been released under the MF Bunko J label (part of Media Factory), and the seventh is due out in April 2011. In May 2010 a manga adaptation by Akahoshi Kenji began serialisation in Monthly Comic Alive, with production on the anime adaptation beginning later that year.

Set in the near future, the story initially seems to be about powered exoskeletons called Infinite Stratos, an advanced piece of technology that is more powerful than any existing weaponry, but can only be used by girls and women. Because of this, society and the world have had to adapt so that females are now in authority, but all of that changes when Orimura Ichika, a 15 year old student, is found to be the only male in the world with the ability to pilot the machines. Because of this, and for his own protection, he is forced to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy.

Seems a pretty straightforward set up right?

In fact this show is so straightforward and predictable it verges on being dull. Aside from being a light novel/manga adaptation (which seems to be the rage these days), the storyline is about as generic as one can get in anime, with almost every stereotype and "popular" theme on display. The plot initially seems intriguing until one realises that the whole concept of Infinite Stratos is nothing more than an excuse to put a "special" teenaged guy in a school full of hormone crazed girls, and let them have fun with each other. The storyline is only peripherally about the problems resulting from the development of the Infinite Stratos machines as they never really come to the fore until towards the end of the series.

But those are only the surface issues.

The series is limited in terms of design as many aspects of the visuals are adapted directly from the manga. Unfortunately this doesn't really do the show any favours as aside from a degree of futurism in the backgrounds and the conceptualisation of the exoskeletal armours, everything else is the epitome of genericism. The big book of harem characters has been used extensively for pretty much everyone, with all of the lead roles looking more like cardboard cut-outs that would readily grace any other generic high school anime of this type. Granted there is a degree of facial expression, but that's not enough to raise the character design in any measurable way.

Thankfully there are two areas where the visuals actually manage to pass muster. The backgrounds are coloured and detailed rather well, but there are some scenes where the quality improves dramatically in order to focus the viewer's attention on the action. In addition to that, the animation is pretty good throughout the series, but the quality work only really comes to the fore during sequences of IS combat.

Another area where Infinite Stratos does manage to attain a degree of respectability is the acting, but even that's not really saying much. After all, this is a harem romantic comedy with some science fiction and fanservice thrown in for good measure, so viewers shouldn't expect Shakespeare. It's surprising then, that Uchiyama Kouki actually manages to play the role of Ichika rather well, and the same could also be said of Hikasa Youko et al in the roles of the girls who want to find out how well Ichika can use his weapon.

That said, all of the exclamations, weird noises, mannerisms, and changes of pitch and tone that one would associate with this type of show are on offer, but while they're handled rather well by the seiyuu, there's simply too little going on for them to really show off their talents. The main reason for this is the mundane script, and viewers may find themselves suffering from bouts of deja vu during specific scenes, especially if they've recently watched any other harem anime.

As for the music, the background tracks are nice enough and there is some variety to be had thanks to the composition skills of Nanase Hikaru, but the problems lie in the choreography, and more importantly, the relevance. There are occasions where the score seems out of place with the on screen action, and while this is due to a slight error in the timing in some cases, more often it's because the background music simply doesn't mesh with the scene. This is also true for the opening theme, Straight Jet by Kuribayashi Minami, which already has difficulty standing out since it's a pretty standard J-pop affair so the last thing it needed was poor choreography. As for the ending theme, Super Stream, this generic little ditty is sung by the actress of whichever female character is managing to keep up with the manliness of Ichika during the credit sequence, while the other female seiyuu performing backing vocals.

Speaking of manliness, it should come as no surprise that there's little in the way of it here, but then this is justified to a degree by the fact that Infinite Stratos features a female dominated society. Ichika is the typical harem lead who doesn't seem to have a clue that so many girls like him, especially as he has very few redeeming features and a slight complex about his older sister, and in true harem fashion he even forgets or misunderstands childhood promises so the story can have that little bit more drama.

And that's just him.

The girls are just as poor when it comes to characterisation, although thinking about it, maybe poor isn't the right word. They fit into the story rather well, they may look like cardboard cut-outs from other harem anime but they do retain some individuality. They can be annoyingly self centred and stupid, but they're supposed to be hormone crazed teenaged girls so maybe that's normal (apologies if you're a hormone crazed teenaged girl who doesn't act self centred and stupid).

Oh wait. Most of them are supposed to be tsundere characters (all of them except the one with the short blond hair in fact), so maybe poor was the right word after all.

There's little in the way of actual character development as the derived and contrived nature of the plot and story doesn't really allow for any great introspection from any of the roles. There are many potential opportunities to push the characters in a totally new direction, but these are not taken as the whole series is less about telling a good story, and more about cashing in on the harem bandwagon.

Regardless of its flaws, Infinite Stratos will undoubtedly find a home in the hearts of some viewers, which is perfectly fine if you like this type of show, and to be honest much of the series is reasonably inoffensive, especially if the viewer has managed to sit through any other harem anime. That said, it should be pointed out that the concept of the story had the potential for being something special. The idea of a society dominated by women due to the development of a new weapon offers up questions of gender roles, societal balance, political machinations, technological advancements, etc, etc, all of which are treated as minor annoyances that get in the way of finding out which girl Ichika is going to choose.

Granted there are some good points to be found in various aspects of the series, but these are outweighed by a lacklustre storyline, poor characterisation, and an overall sense that everything has been done before.

With the dawn of the second season, I think it's time to revisit an old friend. In this review, I will attempt to describe IS: Infinite Stratos and it's components, then give you it's worth as a series.

The basic premise of Infinite Stratos is set in a world where armored mecha suit, the Infinite Stratos is invented, thus rendering all other technology obsolete. One catch, this suit can only be worn by women.

While this was an interesting premise, the setting itself just attracts questions. Why can only women wear it? What has the effects of this technology had on society? What happened to the political ... relations of the world after this technology? What governments has used it?

Sadly, none of these questions are satisfyingly answered, because the next portion of the premise is going to make the TRUE premise apparent. While the original premise demanded world-exploration and examination, none of that is shown because the series basically only sets in one place: IS Academy. The place where Students aspiring to learn the techniques of IS from all over the world, where the armor/suit is used as an entertainment device(I will get to this later).

Our Main Character is Ichika Orimura, an average High School student and the only male on the planet so far to discovered to have had the capability to use Infinite Stratos. And because of circumstances, he has to head to IS Academy, a place where he will be the only man.

And because of this setup, the show faithfully follows the route to harem, where 90% of the girls wants the Main Character's D, otherwise is interested(and certainly the main protagonists). Since it sets itself up as a Harem series, what is should do is explore the characters who are complex and makes us care for them, let's see the components of this series:

Coherency/Continunity: While the series sets itself up as a series that begs exploration of the world's politics and what happened in the world after the invention of IS, this is merely a setup where the main character can have a school full of girls all to himself.
The idea that women started to dominate the world is hardly ever shown, since the show secludes itself in the IS Academy. Where contrary to common sense, depicts females just about every other Harem series does! I will get into the characters later. The main point is, the social/political changes is shown without any changes!
And the fact that IS is a weapon(more powerful than any, mind you) begs the question on why has it not been used militarily? A weapon this powerful would have the government SCRAMBLING for it, and certainly not only used as an entertainment device(LOLWUT?). The idea if that if it is women who controls it would lead to world peace is completely illogical and is given as a fact. Any person has the power to commit evil, and being a part of a gender does not exclude you.

Characters: The worst aspect of the series are the characters. Virtually all but one of the female cast is depicted as a Tsundere, and often violent too and nothing outside her stereotype. Rin the Chinese girl and Houki the Japanese girl are basically the same in terms of personality. While Cecilia the British girl have nothing really defines her other than "Ojou-sama" type of character. The only one that is not depicted as a Tsundere is Charlotte, whom is wonderful.
And the main character? About as generic as you get, and so dense that you can't even find it on the periodic table. Ichika is a self-insert character that has to deal with the woes of "GIRLS ALL AROUND ME! OH NOEZ!!" Difficult to achieve an level of empathy to and overall a dumbass to peoples' feelings to an unrealistic degree.

Production: The production of the series is relative above average. By no means is it bad. but the sound is rather generic and nothing I could remember to write home about, although the opening song was somewhat memorable. The character designs are generic by today's standards, again, nothing to write to home about. Although there are several prominent Seiyuus acting in the characters, such as Kana Hanazawa. But obvious incoherencies is show, such as one episode, a character fights the main character but is somehow stopped by Chifuyu's sword... Out of nowhere
Being a mecha anime, there are also fight-scenes featuring the Infinite Stratos'. Probably the best part of the series, unfortunately, are short, insignificant, and CGI-animated

Plot: Wait, what? Oh, the plot. Simply put, there isn't much other than a string of events that puts Ichika in various situations where the main characters fall in love with him. Infinite Stratos, as well as the expected consequences of it existing, is not a part of the plot. A random IS does show up and destroy stuff, but next episode, that is no longer a worry.

Verdict:
If you are here looking for a good plot that maps out the consequences of it's premise, turn around. If you are here looking for an above average harem story with quality characters, go elsewhere. Truthfully, without the ridiculously unnecessarily armored IS, this series is just a generic RomCom Harem series that is barely funny at all.
There are bunch of holes in the plot and story. If you are looking for fanservice and cute girls(relatively) or Charlotte Dunois with a splash of CGI-animated Mecha fighting, come right in.

ADDITIONALLY:
If there's one thing thats also great about this series, it's that the series does not pretend to be deep or anything that it is not, making it far less cringeworthy for some viewers to enjoy.

One word: Copypasta.

---Story---
If you have seen Shuffle or any other harem ecchi anime don't waste your time with this bag of cliche already been done poo, because this is a bad rendition of Shuffle with mechas. Seriously. Complete with a retarded protagonist who wouldn't know know a girl was interested in him even if she sucked his dick, a childhood friend apart for six years who will be doing some of the sucking, a big sister, a tsundere high class stereotypical blonde blue eyed english girl (definitely gonna be sucking his dick), and of course it all takes place in the over used setting of ... boy in an all girls school, all the girls doing some dick sucking too. I predict a kuudere too. I don't see a yandere though it would be too thoughtful of the anime staff to put anything in there that would make you think bad things and possibly offset merchandising.

---Characters---
Just looking at the character list it looks like a total rip off from strike witches (which in turn ripped off from other anime) Charlotte looks EXACTLY like Erica Hartmann, Laura Bode-whatever has that same dumb eye patch that Mio does and even Lin Yin Fang (chinese foreigner dur dur) reminds me of Lucchini. Bravo "8bit" and dumb producing name.

---Sound---
Nothing memorable. Dumb ass stupid generic OP that tries to copy what Railgun's OP did well. Don't even remember the ED was probably dumb too. No not probably, definitely.

---Art---
Not bad the cgi looked a bit wonky but I don't really like cgi so I'm biased. The air fight in the beginning honestly wasn't that bad if a tad over dramatic and confusing but it was just a cock tease. ---UPDATE--- Second episode action was pretty good actually.

---Enjoyment---
I'll watch the next episode but only to see the blonde tsundere's ass handed to her predictably.

UPDATE: Second episode slightly better than the first but the ending was SO DUMB. Ooooh why do I feel these feelings? Anh! Ichika-Sama!!! So. Dumb. So. Rehashed. I also am hating the childhood friend more and more. I've seen her character a hundred times and better.

UPDATE: Third episode was stupid stupid stupid. The blonde goes from absolute hatred to complete "let me juggle your balls" in what must be an amazing bankai hypnosis ability that the dense brick Ichika has. We introduce the stereotypical energetic chinese foreigner "second" childhood friend (as if one wasn't enough) who also is under Ichika's hypnosis expanding his rapidly growing cliche harem to three. Well I'm a bit wrong when I say cliche, I've never heard of having a first AND a second childhood friend but on the other hand who would be so stupid as to introduce a weak plot device like that.

Infinte Stratos has absolutely dreadful plot but top notch harem romance comedy and fan service. The key to enjoying this anime is to completely ignore the attempts at plot throughout the anime while savoring the characters and their fanservice. Infinte Stratos' premise is begins with our main protagonist, Orimura Ichika, just happens to be the only male that can pilot the Infinite Stratos mecha unit, which was thought to be only compatible with females. Thus our main protagonist is sent of to the IS academy and becomes the only male in a sea of females. And by stint of being male, he becomes the most ... popular student in the academy -_-.

The plot is simply torturous to watch. Throughout the series, major story developments have been random and sporadic; the events throughout the anime seem to have no relation to one another. Major events often occur suddenly only to fade away without leaving any trace of their occurrence or importance. The premises and themes used all have their potential, they were just extremely poorly developed by sloppy writing. The societal structure of woman dominating men which would have provided numerous opportunities for genuine conflict and for Ichika to develop as a main character is completely ignored. Various fancy names and technical terms are thrown around without explanation of their significance or origin. The power levels between characters are not only ambiguous, but also inconsistent, so no apparently growth in IS piloting skill actually takes place. The complete abolition of plot would have made IS much more tolerable.

Character development simply fails due to its ties with the plot. Ichika undergoes no development at all; his skill at pilotnig the IS as well as his thickheadedness remains constant throughout the story. The development of the girls themselves lacks the drama needed to make their supposedly difficult pasts believable, which results in a general lack of empathy for the characters. Important plot elements used in character development are grazed upon so shallowly that they fail to be thought provoking and emotion evoking and end up as just laughable. The development itself is sometimes overly drastic; some characters experience complete 180 shits in attitude and personality that do not coincide with the resolutions of their non-existent drama.

Once their development has been completed however, the characters become astoundingly entertaining; the actual characters are easily the strongest part of the anime. Ichika, although undergoing no development, was never really a weak or herbivorous character, given his tendency to feed and massage the ladies around him. Each female character can be easily related to a certain trope or character archetype, but they are portrayed as more than just moe anthropomorphisms of abstract personality fetishes, although this certainly does not mean that the characters are not moe. Each character is given personality traits and quirks outside of their defined trope that makes them more real and likeable; even aspects that seem trivial are given some detail. Most entertaining is the interactions between characters, the abundance of various personalities allows for different chemistry mixtures that spice up situations that are otherwise very cliched and trite. Although all the reactions are often predictable, the characters are executed soundly and the situations are still fun to watch. Easily the weakest character is our main protagonist himself, as he remains a thickheaded punching-bag for the girls around him.

The production quality for Infinte Stratos is quite high, which is a shame given it's agonizing plot. Immediately noticeable is the cast of seiyuu; most characters are voiced by a well established seiyuu famous for her roles in other anime. Not surprisingly, the voice acting is top quality; special props goes to Kana Hanazawa for the most moe anime voice this season. The music is of satisfactory quality with a catchy opening theme and a decent ending theme. The animation for the ending theme is actually not a harem-o-meter; the most recently captured character runs closely behind Ichika and moved to the back of the line as the next character is captured. The art itself is clean and vibrantly colorful, up to today's standards as a 2011 anime. The IS personal units themselves are well designed and easily differentiable from each other. The battles themselves are quite well done, with dynamic camera movements drawn well and plenty of special effects.

The amount of negative reaction Infinite Stratos has received is definitely understandable; I myself at first whined and pussy bitched about the horrendous plot, and found the character interactions to be predictable and boring. However approximately half-way through the season, I finally accepted that Infinte Stratos was not the awesome mecha anime that I expected, but was instead a decent romantic comedy. Suddenly the plot became much easier to ignore since I stopped looking for it, which allowed my mind to be more positive and accepting of the character interactions, making them more entertaining. Therefore, although still accompanied by the frequent face-palm, I found myself smiling much more naturally and frequently as I watched this anime, and was sufficiently entertained.

Questions, comments, criticisms and compliments are welcomed whether you found this review helpful or not.

First of all i would like to start this review with the fact that THIS IS NOT AN "Genres: Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen" but it's a "Harem, Romance , Mecha with a spoon of Action and a pinch of Shounen" , i dont even feel the need to add a Sci-fi genre considering this is a mecha anime .
And second is that this show has nothing original in it , the Mecha looks like Strike Witches with some add on , the characters are like any harem characters , the story ( still undeveloped ) gives you nothing ... to even consider a storyline or just leaves you with some questions , the sound is okey , nothing new , nothing original .

Chapter 1 : "The story"
I would say , what story , the only things given are the fact that only females wear the mecha suits and for some reason the male character ( THE MALE since i have seen no other males so far ) can also use them and a fight at the very beginning with an unknown "enemy" .
And that is it , ohh i forgot , the scientist who created these mechas is missing? if i recall it and there are only a "few" mechas ( a couple hundred for the entire world ) .

Chapter 2 : "The art"
I would say it's very ordinary , nothing really stands out as good . The movements seem fluid but like i said , just ordinary .

Chapter 3 : "The sound"
Again , nothing special , the OP seems okeyish but it's like i seen something the same more than once and it doesn't really make it more interesting at all .
The ED is far worst than the OP imo , something used like a thousand times . The only sound that is okey and blends well is probably the "during the view" sounds you encounter , they fit good enough with the scenes played .

Chapter 4 : "The character"
This is the worst part of this show imho .
You have the thick like a brick male lead with a "wanabe"cool attitude surrounded by girls ;
The blonde with blue eyes "foreign high-class" stereotype with a superiority complex that breaks? down immediately after facing off the main male character and falls in love with him , going from hate to love in like "snap" ;
The "childhood friend" who's an usual tsundere ( like many other ) who is also a kendo master? and has a promise ( of love probably ) with the main character that he forgot , before she had to leave ( like many other ) ;
And in episode 3 we're introduced to another?! childhood friend , who is also chasing after the male character with a promise of "being together forever" that the male character conveniently misunderstood being the brick , oups i mean thick as he is ;
And the cherry on top for all of them is the fact that there are a lot of misunderstandings between them or subtext or one sided emotions that create a lot of awkward scenes that usually end up with the male character getting wacked or something like that .

Chapter 5 : "The enjoyment"
I would like to say that i started off kind of enjoying the show , with good expectations of shounen mecha action ( mostly because of the first minute of the show and the setting used for the show , an academy for training to fight? ) but by episode 3 kind of all of it was shattered with the 15 times use of the word "childhood friend" to "clear" misunderstandings , and totally setting the show on a harem / romance path .

OVERALL i would say this show is like a combination of Strike Witches + Chrome Shelled Regios + "insert random genre/show stereotype" x 'n' . The probably only "original" ( as in "i have not seen that many" ) is the having of two "childhood friends" introduced as such , and they clearly try to sell out this in episode three one way to many times .
For mecha / harem / romance fans this will be a show they probably will like , but for people who expected to see mecha / action this will be an annoying show .

From viewing the first episode, it's made quite clear that this series is doing nothing to move away from the old formula for harem anime. It's sticking so close to the formula, in fact, that it feels like a copy-and-paste of harem anime done before.

If you're someone who's seen plenty of anime in your time, particularly harem anime, you'll be pointing out many details, character-types and scenarios that are very typical to harem anime in general as you watch this.

In short, this is just another harem anime. While the addition of the mech-suits makes for interesting possibilities, the characters themselves are cookie-cutter and predictable in ... how they will act.

If you enjoy eyecandy and what harem anime have to offer, you may like this series. But, if you're looking for something even slightly original, best look somewhere else.

Ohhhhh sweet! A decent looking mecha series!

Well that’s what I first thought when I picked up Infinite Stratos. However I would soon realize that I was totally wrong. The series opens up with an amazing battle lasting for about 90 seconds which shows off some stunning animations and visuals, it also makes the series seem promising. Then we get to the real story, if you can even call it that.

Instead of calling this the “story” section I would like it to be called the “content” section because there is only sort of a plot in the last 2 or 3 episodes. ... The plot presented in the end wasn’t even that good because there was hardly any build up to it. So for the most part we aren’t given a plot, which isn’t the problem because if done right a series with no plot could become really successful. However, like many, it doesn’t do this right. Each episode would focus on a character or two but the series didn’t even distribute the episodes evenly. I think they gave maybe 5 episodes to Charlotte and maybe about 1 or 2 to each of the other characters. However the things that happened in these episodes felt boring and it was just really another textbook Harem with the addition of ISs.
The characters themselves weren’t even done too well. Our male lead Ichika really is one of those weak, clueless harem leads, who does one nice thing for each female, getting them to all fall for him. I really want to know the magic spell that makes all these useless male protagonists have endless amounts of females falling for them but I guess some things remain a mystery. Why on Earth did the IS have to choose him!?

The female characters are better but they still had problems. Perhaps it was because there were too many characters in the series and they weren’t given enough time to develop. But I think the real problem was that some of their personality traits were unrealistic. Some of the girls would get overly jealous when they saw Ichika with another girl and some characters would even have their whole personality change when they saw Ichika. Another problem I found was that some girls would appear to be super powerful one week but when a new girl was introduced they would some how lose all that power. The characters aren’t bad actually and the majority of them are likeable but they could’ve been better if they just toned down the jealousy a bit.

The art was amazing though, the designs of the ISs were stunning and the battles themselves were really satisfying to watch. The animation is up to par with most anime out there.

Sound isn’t really something I pay attention to. The opening and ending were catchy and the background music seemed alright (although I only listened to it sometimes) and the voice actors seemed to fit the character that they were playing.

Although there were many things that I could think were wrong with the series, Infinite Stratos was actually something I wanted to watch every week. Yes I did face palm quite a bit when watching this, but at the end of the day I did find this entertaining and it did make me laugh sometimes.

At the end of the day I still felt that the final product of Infinite Stratos could’ve been much better. It’s not bad but I was disappointed in the direction the series went.

Thanks for reading :)

I was going to write a review for this earlier, but I decided to rewatch the entire series in one sitting before I did. Infinite Stratos was not what was advertised, I was expecting something completely different than what I got. And the answer is yes, this is not a good show. It will not be remembered in 10 years. The only way that will happen is if the light novels do something drastic. But if it was a bad show, why is my score so high?

Infinite Stratos' story is simple enough, 5 girls all find out ways how to get in Ichika's pants. They ... haven't really given another story for me to consider, which is expected as apparently the story in the light novels doesn't pick up until the 5th one. So right now, it is a generic harem with mechs. But these mechs aren’t any normal mechs; they can only be piloted by females. Or so the world thought until Ichika stumbled upon a personal IS. He is the first, and as of now, the only male able to pilot them. I can only guess that it has something to do with magic, as physically, males are much stronger than females. Another theory suggests that females can fit into an IS and males can't because females do not have a penis, and Ichika's is so small he is able to pilot one. The story is the shows weakest aspect and do not watch this if you are looking for a deep compelling plot.

The second weakest aspect of this show is the characters. We have our dense protagonist, Ichika, who couldn't tell if a girl liked him even if she were sucking his dick. He is the definition of clueless and it is quite frustrating to watch him be completely oblivious to all of the girls around him. Then we have our harem members: Houki (Japan), Cecilia (Britain), Rin (China), Charlotte (France) and finally Laura (Germany). Houki doesn't really have any redeeming qualities, except for tits that can sink the titanic. I'm not sure what is up with Japanese girls having the biggest breasts out of any other girl in every anime, but Houki is no exception. Oh, and she's a tsudere... I guess. Cecilia is the stereotypical British snob who makes terrible food. That's the best summary I can give of her as I literally do not know what else to write. Rin is the smallest of all the girls, and never really got anywhere with Ichika. She has a short temper, I guess. But other than that she gets the least amount of screen time. Charlotte is by far the best and hottest character on the show. She has many redeeming qualities including boobs that can change size for the convenience of the plot, deep purple eyes and silky white skin. Not even Ichika, the gayest of the gay harem main characters can resist that... Or so I thought. She is the best character on the show in my opinion. Then we have Laura, the warmongering German who sneaks into Ichika's bed at night. She apparently isn't aware that sleeping in the same bed as a boy naked might give him the wrong (or right, depending how you look at it) impression. Aside from Charlotte, the show has no memorable characters.

The animation and sound in this show is excellent. I typically don't like CG effects in anime but this show does it excellently. The mech fights are beautiful and fast paced. The way the camera moves during them makes you feel like you're part of the battle. The music during the battles is usually hit and miss, but the battles that have good music are noticeably better. The OP and ED are J-pop, so I wasn't a fan of them. There is also not one average looking girl in this show, they are all extremely hot.

Despite this shows flaws, and it has a lot of flaws, I found myself thoroughly enjoyed and thoroughly annoyed at the same time. I am fully aware that this show is bad, but it's so bad it's good. If you want to sit back and watch some mindless entertainment, look no further as Infinite Stratos fits this bill perfectly.

Infinite Stratos is a tale of one boy and a huge harem. Ichika is the only male able to pilot a IS well he is always the center of attention. Unfortunately, I could count the fights on one hand while it would take two to fit the female harem members or at least the ones with names. That’s not to say that there isn't anything to enjoy in this school setting story... right?

Every country gets one personalized IS machine and send their representative to the school where he is located for training. There are plenty of others that get the old run down machines essentially. ... Ichika, being the only male pilot, gets his own personal machine… That about sums up the uniqueness of our lead. Otherwise he is dense, but of course too kind for his own good. Typical. However if you are going to watch this harem, then the only thing that matters is the female characters right?

The girls are good, but even if you start to like one they are introduced one after the other. In total there are 6 in his harem and if you take into account there is twelve episodes… Well as soon as one is introduced the next one comes to steal your attention. There is little development in the characters never mind the relationships.

If there is any reason I liked this show it would be Charles. He being the second male IS pilot steals away Ichika from the other females as Ichika tries to bond with this new male presence in a sea of women. Charles is one of the most intelligent and capable characters in the show, and makes the show much more likable.


However, that cannot save something that has no plot. A story centered on mechs that don't have battles… That doesn't sound very entertaining does it? It seems by episode 10 rolled around they finally finished the introductions and decided to introduce the story. It was just too late. This is the norm for harem shows as they focus on each girl's episode and like IS, they run out. Thankfully they fall back onto battles, but at this point it is too late. If your looking for another average harem be my guest because there is no hidden gems in this show. Hence, i reward it with what MAL calls average: a five out of ten.

It's a mobile suit... IT'S A GUNDUMB!

That is the best way I can sum up this show in one word. GUNDUMB. This anime is one that revolves around a main character named Ichika who can pilot a mobile suit called an IS, an Infinite Stratos. The twist is... wait for it... ONLY WOMEN CAN PILOT THEM! But for some reason so can this lone high school age boy. Why? Anime logic. So... naturally... this boy begins attending an all girls academy for IS training. I know what you are thinking "How can a boy go to an all girls school?" Well... anime logic. Thats how. ...

This anime is lacking in every aspect... except the obscenely ample breasts that most of the characters have. How do these units work? Why can only women pilot them? How are the seemingly random abilities determined? Why does every girl in the school seemingly want to date this incredibly boring, incredibly dense, incredibly bland, incredibly uninteresting and unremarkable boy? These questions and many more are some that will never be answered. Anime logic.

Now, I have come down harshly on this anime. You may think I didn't enjoy it. You would be wrong. I did like it. Certain aspects of it. Its just that I have experienced exceptional mech animes like Gundam Wing which set the bar for what a mech anime can do with the material. I liked Charles, I liked the dynamic they shared. I liked their bond, I thought that whole thing was rather enjoyable. I liked some of the fights... I liked the oversized boobs... I liked some of the mech designs... I liked the anime style... mostly. The battle scenes were amazing and the natural visuals were some of the best I have seen... but its just that I saw the potential they had and I felt it was wasted.

If the main character had only had a character. He was so stupid and clueless that as a man it hurt me watching this at times. Heero Yuy, again for Gundam Wing, while not saying a word was more interesting and dynamic than this guy. Sheesh.

Anyway... the anime was alright. Worth a once watch as a time waster. Nothing to write home about and nothing to hate on too much either. Virtus Signum gives this anime a very meh 5/10.

First of all my rate was based on MAL, "6" means fine... and thats how this anime is.

Infinite Stratos is your generic harem anime with mecha on it, so do the Harem + mecha is a good combination? i said it wasn't, yet it brings a new fresh type of harem anime. Since its really rare to see a mecha anime with harem, and honestly, i hate mecha anime but when i find Infinite Stratos i thought it was a good choice to start watching a mecha anime and its not really bad for the first mecha anime and honestly i enjoyed a bit. ... and based on what i see from this anime was the harem aspects is far more dominant than the mecha things.

My problem with this anime was the "Plothole" and there is no actual strong story, for the plothole, the story was really "jump-off" , i have a big expectation for IS to expand the story to be much better for the last episode, but its doesnt happen. its like any harem anime which easy to predictable what happen next. as for next, the MAIN REAL PROBLEM with this anime was "What this story about? what the purpose of all this scene?" that words are quite hanging on my mind when i am watching this, since in this anime they didnt have any quite purpose or goals. so, basically is this anime is failed? No, i dont think so, since its quite enjoyable.

After all the negative things i have said, lets see the positive side of this anime.
+ Its quite original and rare to see a combination within Harem and Mecha. its a good start for the people who hates mecha anime (like me) to give a shot watching a mecha thing.
+ As i said, the story was not quite strong but the fillers in this anime (like in the beach scenes ) was far more better than the "main" plot. summary, Fillers> Story
+ The battle scenes were epic, the effect and the movements of mecha was really smooth and the details for the mecha itself was really amazing. Its maybe the best parts for this anime.

If you hate mecha anime and want to try some light mecha, IS or Infinite stratos its worth to try, but just dont have a big expectation on this anime.

In the near future, a Japanese scientist engineers a power-driven exoskeleton called "Infinite Stratos" more commonly known as the (IS). Possessing technology and combat capabilities far more advanced than any other weapon system, the IS threatens to destabilize the world. Faced with such an overwhelming weapon, the nations of the world enact the "Alaska Treaty", which simply says that IS will never be used for military combat and that existing IS technology must be equally spread to all nations, to prevent any one nation from dominating the others. The introduction of the IS does however have a key effect on society. As IS can only ... be operated by women, the power balance between men and women is broken, with women coming to dominate society over men. Ten years after the first IS were introduced; the world has entered a new age of peace. That peace is destroyed, however, by an unexpected discovery. A 15 year old Japanese boy, named Ichika Orimura, is found to be able to operate an IS. Realizing his potential, Ichika is forced by the Japanese government to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy, an international academy where IS pilots from all over the world are trained. And so his busy school life surrounded by girls begins.

Story and Characters (6/10)
Guilty Pleasures. Out of everything that I enjoy, I always return to those series that I find to be guilty pleasures. These series are normally something that isn't truly exception, but at the same time are not exactly terrible either. They find a proper balance and appeal to us on a personal level that keeps us coming back for more, despite the fact that they may not be worth a revisit. This is the best way I can describe Infinite Stratos. A pure guilty pleasure and maybe just a little bit more.

Infinite Stratos follows the life of Ichika Orimura, a young man who is the first known male that can pilot the legendary mecha-style exo-skeleton, Infinite Stratos (IS). These units, for unknown reasons, only respond to females. So, when Ichika activates one, you can image the shock. He then enrolls in the all girls school of IS academy. It's not hard to figure out that this series is going to take the harem route and wastes no time getting the characters established. We are first introduced to Houki Shinonono, childhood friend of Ichika and playing the part of the typical tsundere in the series. We are then introduced to the Cecilia Alcott, who immediately challenges Ichika to a duel to decide who should be class president and falls for him under the philosophy of "He has bested me so now I automatically admire him for no real reason". Shortly afterwards, Huang Lingyin, another childhood friend of Ichika, transfers in. This is followed by Charlotte Dunois, who disguises herself as a boy and then immediately drops the disguise for relatively no reason. Lastly we are rounded off with another tsundere, Laura Bodewig. Each character, while fairly stereotypical, is a welcomed addition to the show and brings a certain extra appeal to it.

The series itself wastes no time gathering all the cast together and establishing the reasons for why each of the main female characters like Ichika. Hilarity and stereotypical antics ensue, along with two completely pointless filler episodes and a thrown-out-of-left-field serious turn for the ending. While IS maybe stereotypical in many areas, it does more than enough to break the mold. Ichika, while dense, is a likeable character. He generally misunderstands vague hints the girls give that they like him, enough to a level that the audience can understand and not brush it off as him just being a complete dunce. It also helps that he's a strong character that cares about his friends, helping to add more depth than what we normally see from most harem series. It also helps that each of the five ladies also have very different personalities and we get to know each of them rather well (or at least in comparison to most harem series), with the exception of Cecilia and Huang, who don't get nearly enough development compared to the rest. Aside from that, my only real issue is with Charlotte. They go through great depth to explain why she disguised herself and she forms a bond with Ichika over it. Yet, for some random reason, this is completely dropped in the next episode. So what was the point of even having this scene if the show immediately decides, "Oh wait, I change my mind. I don't want to do this anymore".

One of the biggest issues I have with IS is that it doesn't know what it wants to do. The first five episodes do a great job introducing the cast and setting the stage for the final act, but then over half way through we're thrown two filler episodes that take place at a beach and an inn for no better reason than they simply do. While there was some plot established and progression was made, these episodes just get thrown in there and really do nothing to forward the series. While not nearly as bad as The Sacred Blacksmith, they also don't really help in this twelve episode run of the series. It makes it even more confusing because the series takes a fairly serious turn for the final episodes. While the series has generally had a light-hearted tone, I felt that these filler episodes made it even more of a noticeable change than had they not been introduced. Yet all the same, I enjoyed the short story that was told and wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

Art (7/10)
One of the things that really makes IS a treat is it's art. This is a beautiful series, there is no doubt about it. Characters are well animated and fairly far from static. Environments are beautiful and I really loved the studios decision to change the classroom to a more futuristic look instead of the traditional school scene from the manga. However, the true star of the show are the IS battles. These are, hands down, the best part of the show. Beautifully done, they provide plenty of detail and are far from simplistic. My only complaint was that there simply wasn't enough of them. However, there were more than enough to truly enjoy.

While the art style itself isn't revolutionary, nor is it ground breaking, it does the job and it looks darn good doing that job too. This, in my opinion, is extremely exceptional artwork for a TV series.

Sound (6/10)
Sound is another department that, while well done, truly doesn't leave any outstanding impressions. The voice work was very well done, with Koki Uchiyama doing a wonderful job as Ichika Orimura. While not a diverse character, Mr. Uchiyama went above and beyond to give Ichika that extra bit of depth. Yoko Hikasa (Houki) , Yukana (Cecilia), Asami Shimoda (Huang), Kana Hanazawa (Charlotte) and Marina Inoue (Laura) all did a great job as well as the lead female characters, alongside Megumi Toyoguchi (she voiced Ichika's older sister Chifuyu, who is a legendary IS pilot and a teacher at the IS academy).

Music itself fit each individual scene rather nicely and battle music was well constructed to give a rather epic and emotional feel to it, but honestly I didn't really notice the music too much until the final episodes. This is when the series sound design really shined for me. While nothing truly to write home about, it was well done and fitting for the series.

Overall (6/10)
Infinite Stratos (IS) is fairly stereotypical in many aspects. It also doesn't dive that deep into a plot during its twelve episode run. However, what it does do it does rather well. From the animation, to the well casted VAs, to the premises, IS is definitely above average in every aspect. While certainly not an legendary anime, it's certainly enough for me to consider it a guilty pleasure and recommend it for those that don't mind harem series. Bear in mind that IS flirts more with being mediocre than above average, but it is above average for a harem series.

It's definitely one of my top ten guilty pleasures, even if it's stereotypical in so many manners. Not to mention it has the most unintentionally hilarious scene I have ever viewed.

Infinite Stratos is a show that had a great setup but cant quite deliver where it has too because of a few problems. The main character Ichika Orimura is the only male in the world who can pilot an IS and because of this he is sent to a school where people learn to use them and due to the fact that he is the only guy there all the girls instantly love him, not exactly great but I can deal with it. and he has to learn how to pilot an IS with help from 5 girls who all are head over heels in ... love with him but he cant seem to catch a hint.

Story-6

The Story revolves around unmanned IS attacking and they have to combat them, now this is where Ichika comes in because his attacks can go through shield and actually damage the IS which works as a great setup for why he should be the hero (since he is focused as the hero) but this fails because literally every time he is about to win any fight it gets interrupted or his shields run out which makes him look weak thats why I gave the story such a low score that and the fact that there really are no antagonist until the second season so there really is no place for a story unmanned IS can only go so far.

Art-7

The art in Infinite Stratos is good but there are notable changes when they get in the IS but overall the show looks nice.

Sound-7

The opening and outro songs fit the show very well but aside from them there's nothing really special about the music but it's still good(The outro is actually a really good song).

Characters-10

Now this is where Infinite Stratos real advantages shine the characters i this show are great but im not just talking about the main characters im talking about all of them even the characters who make appearances every 2-3 episodes for just a few moments are wonderful and add so much light to this show. The main 5 girls are very strong as well.

Houki Shinonono who is his childhood friend and the first of his harem we are introduced to she also shares a room with ichika for a short while.

Cecilia Alcott is the second addition to his harem and is the IS representative from England.


Lingyin Huang who is actually ichikas second childhood friend and the 3rd member to join his harem she is the IS representative from china and is the only of the 5 to not be in his class.

Charlotte Dunois is the 4th character added to his harem and is the IS representative from France she also shared a room with Ichika for a short time while everyone thought she was a boy.

Laura Bodewig is the IS representative of Germany the fifth person added to his harem and a former student of Chifuyu Orimura.

Other then them Chifuyu Orimura who is Ichikas sister and arguably the best IS pilot in the world and too top it off their teacher, Maya Yamada who is the assistant teacher for Ichika a friends, and Tabane Shinonono who is the creator of the IS and is Houkis sister. All of these characters and the one that I didint mention make this show great to watch.Though Ichikas inability to catch a hint seems to leave many frustrated but I dont mind much and makes for some great moments

Enjoyment-8

The character cast make this show fun to watch every second just because they are enjoyable and no matter who is on the screen you wont mind, plus Ichikas incredible hard headiness at certain scenes makes for some enjoyable times albeit you may find yourself yelling at the screen for him to catch a hint.

Overall-6

This show is fun to watch but they do miss some pretty important parts like the story and Ichikas inability to look strong since all of his fights are interrupted or he runs out of shields because he dosent realize how much he uses, the opening and outro are good and fit the show like they were made for it but the fact that 4 of the 5 main females are representative candidates from their selected country's they seem to weak I get that their young and all but still Ichika almost beats them very earlier and it makes their titles seem almost meaningless. Ill be honest I actually love this show it seems to hit all the notes i personally want from a show but I didint want my personal feelings to affect my scoring but to me it's an 8 or even 9 outta 10 but like I said thats just cause I love the show so much.

If you like Harem based shows then id say it's a must watch if you like mech shows you could do worse and there's a nice amount of comedy in here to find every episode entertaining not to mention fanservice including 2-3 instances of nudity but its done in a classy sort of way or better yet as classy as it can be without seeming out of place but it is a show that id recommend seeing at least once.

Never thought someone would make an anime that resembles Vandread, one which I loved watching. Same background: women are the only ones able to control mechas and, with just one man among them, feelings never shown before suddenly appear... Main difference is that Vandread occurs on space and IS, on Earth... Other thing was that Vandread had an incredible climax, based on a real enemy...

One single man, surrounded by tons of girls... And just like on any other harem anime, the main character is just stupid enough to not realize the way others feel towards him... Well, this is what makes this kind of anime ... funny... Plot may not hook you, but all those amazing mechas, with cool transformations and weapons, starring exciting and ultra quick battles, were enough to keep my attention...

Seeing how Ichika is dumb and unable to return all the affection he receives from the other girls is the main attraction in here... Since there are no wars and ISs are made only for competitions, you can't expect an intense plot or epic battles against terribly evil and powerful foes... I noticed that a second season is ongoing right now, so who knows? Is there something really big coming up?

We can also get an obvious cliche after Laura's appearance. All that stuff that Germany is mean and buys fight with others... This is demonstrated through provocations made by Laura to both Cecilia and Rin, these two representing the alliance between England and China during WWI... It's not like what happened in that time wasn't horrible, but this is 21th century... There's no reason keep arguing over that kind of thing anymore...

Episode 8 has a totally unpredictable ending, surprised me completelly... Congrats on that! The real ending was a little disappointing... That forgiven since there's a sequel, so it couldn't end here as well... Animation was the main focus: battles are fast and explosive, transformations are incredible and those mechas (that look more like compact armoured suits) are unique, pretty original and well designed!

This is an anime for chilling out and get some good laughing, no masterpiece... It's focused more on comedy than drama. Still, I've enjoyed it a lot and this is a nice recommendation for those who just want to have fun...

I usually don't review anime, unless I feel like I could really change someone's decision to watch the show. This is one of those cases, but not how you may think.

Story:
Infinite Stratos has an all around weak story, why? Because there really isn't much of one. Its a pretty run of the mill mecha/harem show. I'm ok with both of those but I prefer a bit more substance. Here's a short story synopsis: "Guy who can fly mechs for girls goes to all girls mech school, hilarity, action, and ecchi insue."
The story really doesn't explain much about the events that are not part of the ... romance/harem plot and leaves a lot to be desired. simple explanation would have at least made the story average.
3/10

Art:
The action scenes are really good, the animation is slick and the art direction is really good all around. And for the people who mainly would watch this for the harem and ecchi aspects, its good as well.
8/10

Sound:
The sound is pretty average, the music is really nothing special, its not bad its just average. I watched the dub, because the accents are apparently hilarious, they are in a sort of endearing way, and overall the characters without accents are really well voiced and there really aren't any characters that stand out as downright bad.
6/10

Characters:
I won't spoil the romance or the characters stories here, but overall I think the characters are good. The lead is annoying and overreacts at times but when he's fired up he becomes an all around good guy. Each girl also has a sort of backstory or previous relationship with the lead. All of these are underdeveloped and relegated to a single scene each. Other than that, each character develops at least a little bit by the end, and honestly there's nothing bad about the characters in my opinion. They are all just good but a bit stereotypical characters.
6/10

Enjoyment:
Now, if it wasn't for the story and some poor choices regarding the characters this show could have been great. I saw that from the beginning, and I can say that I genuinely enjoyed the show as a mindless sort of show to just watch in my down time. Overall, I'd say to watch the first few episodes and see if you can get into it, I did and enjoyed it, but its not for everyone.
7/10

Overall:
Give it a try, it could surprise you.
6.5/10

Where do I start?

Perhaps I'll start with the good. IS is a story about the luckiest boy in the world. It's a guy, Ichika, who lands in a school of mecha-wielding girls who have raging hormones. It has it's funny times and the action isn't half bad. Plus, a few characters can provide a really good laugh in awkward situations.

That's about all I could say though.

Infinite Stratos wasn't the right name for this series. There were two better that I was thinking of:

Infinite Tsundere
Infinite Fanservice
...
Allow me to go into detail.

Infinite Tsundere:

Every supporting girl's personality takes a dip in all parts of tsundere personality. One girl even goes from Tsuntsun to deredere in the span of two episodes. One goes the opposite direction in the same span. However, no one diverges from it. It's just a bunch of tsunderes piloting mechas and competing with each other for the love of a guy so clueless that he makes Kamijou Touma look like a genius.

And I do mean clueless. Everyone else can immediately note what's going on except him. I'm usually not one to mind the clueless main character role. At times, you could call me a fan of it actually. Ichika pushes boundaries though. Especially considering how every girl goes out of their way to accommodate him. But I'll get to that later.

Infinite Fanservice:

The fanservice essentially serves as the plot. If you want to see some compelling story, you won't. I mean that. There's not a moment where you can pick up on a plot until the very last episode.

But there's plenty of shower scenes that border on the erotic while thinking about the main character. There's also plenty of boob-grabbing, boob-rubbing, partial nudity, "accidental" nudity, body-on-body and just all-around general flirting. Remember, this is a guy that has been thrust into an all-girl school. The girls all act like they've never seen a boy before. I mean, almost every single one. Heck, even a teacher. I'm fairly surprised that he hasn't been violated while he slept. Oh wait . . .
--------
But in the end, the problem with this series doesn't lie with the lack of plot, abundance of fanservice or the tsundere club.

It lies with the main character.

The world is centered around him.

No really. This guy, through pure luck, lands into an all-girl school, immediately making him popular. He lucks out to grab the class with his sister, a renown pilot, teaching it, thus making him even more popular. He sees a friend who he hasn't seen in 6 years and she remembers everything about him and becomes the first member of his harem by default. He gets his own personal IS for "data" purposes and somehow, despite being weaker than everyone, he's constantly the key to winning.

Then there's the fact that every single girl he knows is in love with him in some way. Of course, that's how harems work. But with Ichika, you just won't get it. He does nothing of importance or style to earn the harem. It just kinda . . . happens. And that alone is what drives the series. Girls are unreasonably drawn to him. That's your plot.

Oh and danger is drawn to him as well. Though, there's a reason for that. To be honest, it's a bit underwhelming, though.

Oh and the characters don't have a set personality or power level at all through this series. They will flip so hard, you forget who they are.

The series has too much convenience and not enough plot to be considered something close to a masterpiece. But it is still good fun for the most part.

I'm not one to bash animes in reviews which is why infinite stratos is killing me, I always enter an anime with an open mind and base my opinion on the story and how well it was done. Where to start, hmm lets see, oh I know! All the girls, now i can understand the writters making the characters mostly girls and I've enjoyed anime like that, but IS takes it, everyone in it was a girl except for the main character, not only that but everyone in it was in love with him. Then the story seemed way too rushed, every episode would be ... like 3 mashed together, towards the end so much is thrown in it makes it hard to even try to like it. The story is also soo predictable, as are the characters, they could've at least added some twists to the plot. I do have a few good things to say though since i hate being one of those all-animes-suck-these-days reviewer. The art really is good, the characters definately have more detail to them then in other animes. Finally i think IS tried have everything and failed at it, they changed up the location, tried to show growth as characters, and tried to have two fall in love (which nobody could really tell because they failed miserably at showing any progression in any relationship between any characters, they just kept adding more), it was one where everything was there, it was just unbalanced, an poorly thought out, but I will say thanks for trying, it's all anyone can really ask for. If you watch it you'll notice that they could've done soo much more with the characters than what they did which would've made IS pretty good, and thats what disappoints me, when so much potential was wasted.
In case you're wondering, the plot is about mech suits tbat only females can operate but a guy finds out he can use one so now every girl at the IS training academy is in love with him, the rest is pretty much pridictable sorry to say.

Ninth review...and where the hell do I even begin with this anime.

Ok, so it says 'Harem' in the description but it's far from it, all the other stuff in the description should just be removed and replaced with Full on Romance 10000000 girls vs 1 boy. 'Cuz all the show is really about is every girl getting one guy.

I thought 'Hey, a program about people using Mecha robot things and fighting in tournaments sounds pretty cool' So I started watching this anime thinking that I would enjoy it, honestly in some areas I did, and admittedly some areas even made me laugh. However ... most the show was just all about girls loving a darn boy that's so stupid to not even realize anything.

I gave this a overall 6 as the art style is very nice and how they did the fighting and the Mecha suits actually looked nice, the sound was decent and I did enjoy some areas of the anime. As for the story it was well thought of with the IS suits and the academy, however the story about the Harem areas where too overpowering for the anime and it wasn't at all decent in my opinion. Heck, even the character development was poor because of all the 'I have to love this one guy that's the only guy in my class' scenario.

Sorry for pretty much all the hate, but this show could have been so much better if it stuck to it's original concept of the IS suits and that's it. Please no haters - this is MY opinion, Thank you.

~ Canaan

This is my third review so far and, it's also of an anime that I did not like...
Why am I doing this? 'cause I hate my life.
Holy hell this anime is boring as duck...
It like... has ALL the features that an ecchi-harem series has:
-Absurd plot
-Tsundere(s)
-Girls getting wet over the MC right after they meet him
-Incredibly boring characters...

Let's get in-depth with the features, shall we?
... The ''plot'' of this anime is unbelieveably boring, it goes NOWHERE. It just introduces all the characters and then they say ''There, have fun with them''
I really cannot get in-depth with the plot, it's just so stupid that it is difficult to talk about it.
Human beings are able to use mechas but... OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH WHAT A COINCIDENCE, ONLY GIRLS CAN USE THEM (like if the machines only work with pussies and they ignore the dicks) BUT THEEEEEN... *CHAN CHAN CHAAAN* A GUY CAN SUDDENLY USE THEM...
Sometimes I wonder if it could be any dumber... And really cannot find an answer, I think it's stupidity at its max. level.

The characters are boring as duck. The MC is so ducking stupid. He doesn't have ANYTHING what a real MC needs to have. The girls of his harem... We all know very well how they are, it's just another cliche
-The tsundere(s)
-The MC's chilhood friend who wants to duck him
-The one character who no one gives a duck about
-The ONE girl who is a bit decent...

I still wonder why I watched all this series, maybe because I always think these type of animes can get a bit better as the episodes go by... But I'm always wrong.

When watching anime, sometimes ideas and logic in general need to be thrown out the window due to the sometimes complete unrealism of the series. Infinite Stratos, does this on a quite frequent basis. (I didn't have anything planned for this opening statement. Let's just get to the review.)

Story (6.31/10): The story of infinite stratos is about the school life of a boy named Orimura Ichika, who is able to polite something known as an IS, or Infinite Stratos. The catch to this, is due to the fact that only women are able to pilot these things, so, a boy ... being able to polite one is a pretty big deal. It is then that we peer into his life as we see him surrounded by the hundreds and hundreds of girls that exist within the facility where they train IS pilots.

Now, before we get into the nitty gritty I will give an explanation for what an IS is in case you haven't read or seen the series before. An IS is essentially a tiny gundam, with the ability to fly and shoot stuff, or perhaps even wield a sword or two. It's sort of like a mech that only armors the arms, legs, and partially the body and head, while having two giant floating whatever they are, on either side of the pilot. This idea in and of itself is somewhat flawed, I feel. The reason is due to the fact that the IS's use, is somewhat muddled. On one hand, the series says that they're used for recreational purposes and for "sport", yet, the series shows us these machines as real genuine weapons, as intended by their primary use. It's really confusing to think about when the idea is muddled with the actual plot.

Aside from the obvious idiotic initial idea of a guy being placed in a world of girls, a flaw that Infinite Stratos seemed to have, was a lack of a direct plot line or idea. Every few episodes, the idea of the show changes into something that is completely different than the rest of the show. I never felt like the show had a really cohesive plot line, rather than being stuck together through production means.

On the other hand, the pacing was rather decent in terms of the fact that the series never seemed to rush as much as I have seen before.

Overall, IS had quite a bit of problems in terms of is storyline, but everything did actually come together rather well in terms of what the creators were going for. Sure, it wasn't the best, but it was somewhat decent to watch.

Overview
+ Watchable
+ Decent pacing
- mashed different plot points together somewhat uncohesively
- confusing mech usage

Characters (5.95/10): Orimura Ichika. Just...wow. Whenever a harem series comes into existence, the one thing, the ONE THING that is made every time they make a main character, is to make him more oblivious than the oblivious ability in pokemon. Ichika follows this general time stream of having this same trait, but exponentially increased. He possesses the general traits of a "non-perverted" harem lead by being the nice guy, being kind to girls, the whole enchilada. With that, he has the most obvious trait of being the most oblivious guy ever, and it...is...frustrating...to...watch. This trait made the some scenes somewhat unbearable to watch, especially due to the fact that the girls of this series give completely obvious signs that they like/love him.

What I find interesting, is that fact that literally, just by looking at the girls' hair, you can probably tell what their personality is. Moving on to the girls, since they're for the most part, one-noters that only add to the fact that this is a harem series, most of them seem kind of forced. At least 2 or 3 out of the entire harem seem somewhat forced in terms of liking the guy. There was never any real sort of progression with some of the girls actually falling in love with him, and it somehow felt unnatural. (Then again, a harem in and of itself is unnatural.) Aside from having a huge crush on the main guy, Ichika, they all really feel like cardboard cutouts with a certain distinguishable trait, all except our main female Houki, of course because, main character status.

For supporting cast, we have a load of characters that range in terms of screentime. We have some that add to the plot and show overall very well, really, playing more of a part than most of the harem girls in the series, while others are just there for reasons unknown.

Overall, the cast, except for a few choice members of the supporting cast, was quite bland in comparison. Most of them were quite overused troupes and traits from series past, and there wasn't anything completely out of the ordinary or special. (I do like Honne Nohotoke though. She's an exception.)

Overview
+ Decent supporting cast members
- Densest...guy....ever....
- Bland and unoriginal harem girls

Art and Sound (7.64/10 and 7.22/10): While the series has some flaws with its storyline and idea, the artwork has a decent thing going for it. Created by Sentai Filmworks, the series has a thing for fight scenes with the mechs, which look surprisingly fluid and well...awesome. The use of 3-D models in the series fits well with the flow of battle that the series uses, and the actual designs are nothing to shy away at either.

To be frank, the art is a good thing to have come out of this series in general.

On the topic of its soundtrack, IS has the problem that a great number of anime series have, and that is unmemorable tracks. While the majority of the soundtrack did sound good enough to listen to it, with the OP actually fitting for the series it was in, it wasn't so good that you would remember it for days to come. To put it frank, the sound was good, don't get me wrong, but there wasn't any track that stood out as something that I would like to listen to over and over again.

Overview
+ Decently good art
+ Good mech designs
+/- Good soundtrack, not memorable

Personal Enjoyment (6.82/10): As a personal fan of the harem genre, one thing that I always like trying to find, is a series where the idea of a harem goes beyond the general one guy surrounded by 5 girls, by giving the story and characters, some substance. Essentially, what this series does differently than the normal template of a harem series. Infinite Stratos didn't really succeed in that department.

For me, nothing stood out as extraordinarily different or even remotely apart from the general formula of a harem series. Apart from that, the obliviousness that Ichika has is positively ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact, that I had an aneurysm after raging at my paused screen by the obvious hints (that weren't even hints), that this guy was given.

While I won't lie that I enjoyed this series nonetheless on account of it being a harem, (I have low standards), IS doesn't really push itself apart from the norm of a harem series, is for the most part, was pretty standard in terms of plot. The series isn't fabulous, but it was at least watchable to some extent. Though personally, this wouldn't be the first choice for rewatching a harem series.

Overall Score: 6.46/10