Nov 8, 2019
as a long-time fan of ensemble stars, i am conflicted on how to view the anime and review it. to put it short... it's alright. nothing too special or extraordinary, and definitely not a flaming pile of garbage (at least, not yet).
this is just a pet peeve, but the way they translate the nicknames in the subtitles just... bothers me. the lack of appellations and translated nicknames like mika's "oshi-san" really just feels weird, especially since this was never kept consistent with summer live. jun's "ohiisan" being allowed to remain while other characters have their nicknames translated to english equivalents like "teach" is a strange
...
choice.
without prior knowledge of the series and story, the story feels really weird and clunky due to the way they've decided to tell it. i understand the placement of things such as magicians assemble/"the ex-fine story", but it feels really all over the place. the translated version of the main story which many more people are used to doesn't have all this tie in with the stories of ex-valkyrie, the oddballs and ex-fine. those came later as the game progressed and while i see why it was added, it just kind of feels weird and took away from the main story. overall, the storytelling really doesn't feel like it's as good as it could be and as far as i'm aware it's hard to follow for people who aren't super invested in the franchise, which is a bit of a problem for people wanting to get involved. from what ive seen from the pre-existing fan base though is that most people are having fun with it, which is definitely good! i just think it could be better
as someone pre-invested in the series long before the anime came out, i really like how scenes were played out in the anime. my favourites so far have to be literally all of kiseki so far, the makoto rescue sequence & knights being confronted about kidnapping a guy, the hokuto cameo in magicians assemble (which is actually SUPER plot relevant, trust me) and the hokke/trickstar reunion scene & baby hokke flashback. i do find it annoying how some of my favourite parts were cut (like chiaki calling out during the DDD and akiomi threatening him with detention and the hokuto/eichi dialogue snippet of "hm... it tastes like tea" "because its tea" from the start of summer live), though. i can understand why it is since theres a limited amount of time per episode, i just really wouldve liked to see those parts included. can't win em all, i guess. it's still got some pretty good comedic value like the actual series, which i find to be a partial win, to be honest.
anyway, onto more positives! i am really loving these new songs for intros and outros!!!!! they all go so hard and i genuinely enjoy listening to the ending credits. i don't really know what else to say. its so good. especially both the trickstar and eden versions of the second opening "kiseki". [chefs kiss].
i also really love the way that performances by the characters were animated, ESPECIALLY the final showdown between fine and trickstar at the DDD, akatsuki from that one dreamfes that establishes the corrupt system at yumenosaki and ra*bits in their competition with trickstar. choreography and setting design is REALLY good here and it was so much better than i visualised when reading the main story for myself. i really loved this part of it.
overall... the anime is pretty okay i would say. its got its problems and its not necessarily easy to wholly understand for newer viewers, and i don't think it should be used as the "holy grail" of starting enstars because... lets be honest, the written translations of the main and side stories covered in the anime > the anime itself. it's definitely got novel for people who are already into the franchise, though, and i appreciate that a lot. overall, its a pretty okay adaptation and it seems to be doing kiseki some justice so far.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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