*Spoiler Warning*
Truth be told, I ended up liking season 2's OVA more than I did the Christmas OVA in season 1. I felt that "The Rikka Wars" OVA actually worked well within the storyline for season 2, even though it's not immediately obvious when this takes place in the broader storyline. Much like the differences between seasons 1 and 2, this OVA isn't as flashy as its OVA counterpart in season 1 and more so focuses on the characters themselves. However, there is more of a "central story" in this episode compared to some of the other episodes we got in season 2. What
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Jun 3, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
Author's note: I'll be referring to "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions" as just "Chunibyo" throughout this review. After the note that the first season of Chunibyo ended on, the second season definitely had a tough act to follow. Although in retrospect, the ending of the first season could've made for a fine ending for the series, I was definitely down to continue the story and see how the crazy adventures of Yuuta, Rikka, and their friends played out after the events of season 1. While I don't think that the second season was as great as the first one, there's still a lot to ... like about this installment. There were plenty of funny, cool and emotional moments throughout the series and while there really isn't so much of an "overarching story" this time around, it is a more character focused season and we got some good development out of most of the cast, especially between Yuuta and Rikka whose relationship takes center stage. There were some cringey and eye-roll-worthy moments sprinkled in with the return of the Chunibyo syndrome, but much like the first season, those are more so the first half of the season than the second. Season 2 also has some great lessons about healthy romance and relationships that made for a lot of sweet and wholesome moments which were the highlights of this season. While I didn't find season 2 to be as great as season 1 was, it still is able to stand on its own two feet and tell a meaningful and emotional story that made the time spent watching this worth it. Ultimately, I felt that season 2 upheld the status quo of how I feel about the anime overall. The second season primarily focuses on the newfound relationship between Yuuta and Rikka and examines how a "normal person" is able to handle being in a relationship with a Chunibyo. Despite initially shedding her Chunibyo identity back in season 1, Rikka and her friend Sanae have returned to being their old selves. Although this was established by the Christmas OVA, I was hoping that season 2 would explain why she reverted back. Unfortunately they really didn't touch upon that too much and not in the ways I would've liked to have seen, so it does make Rikka being a Chunibyo again a little jarring at first especially if you haven't watched the Christmas OVA. However, I think the approach that the anime took with how Rikka handles her syndrome in which she more embraces it as part of her personality rather than a coping mechanism like she did in season 1, was a fine approach. That said, Rikka can still be a bit much with her Chunibyo moments at times, which can sometimes feel like she actually regressed in some ways. On the other hand, we do see her act more mature than her season 1 self and more like someone her age would act, especially in her relationship with Yuuta. So Rikka can feel a little bit all over the map at times in certain episodes and it can be frustrating. However, I do think in some ways Rikka is trying to balance being "normal" with her Chunibyo syndrome, so if you're to look at her personalities as if they were on some kind of scale, sometimes it can tip one way or the other depending on the episode, which I think can give some clarity to her character. Ultimately though, I'd consider Rikka to pretty much be a "what you see is what you get" type of character: she's a quirky mess, but that's why we all love her character! That all aside, we do get a lot of funny, sweet and wholesome moments between the two of them that felt genuine and well-earned from a story perspective. One of their moments that got a good laugh out of me was when Rikka made Yuuta dress up as a magical girl after he lost a bet to her. It was unexpectedly funny and the reactions from the other characters were perfect. There was a new character introduced to the story in season 2: Satone Shichimiya, who I thought was a fascinating and interesting addition to the story. Satone was Yuuta's best friend in middle school and the person credited with triggering the Chunibyo syndrome within him. However, even unlike the diehard Chunibyos such as Rikka and Sanae, Satone has made it her whole personality and committed her life to her "magical devil girl" persona. While she does have her moments of seriousness and emotional moments (she is teenager at the end of the day), in a way she's kind of like a mirror image of what Rikka could've been like had she 100% committed herself to her role (and I'd say Rikka and Sanae are more like 90%-95% committed to the role. It's a major part of who they are but it's not 100% them either. Satone is different.). Although there's no doubt that Rikka takes her Chunibyo persona seriously, Satone chose to live hers at a cost: she buried her feelings for Yuuta so that she could continue to be her Chunibyo self. It's a choice that ends up coming back to haunt her and she ends up needing to confront throughout the season as she reconnects with him. It makes for some good drama and character moments with Satone, and we end up getting a lot of funny and adorable moments where Rikka gets jealous of Satone whenever she's around Yuuta. What I really liked about Satone's character is that despite her less-than-subtle feelings for Yuuta, she is actually respectful of his relationship with Rikka and never tries to get between them or present herself as an "alternative" for him. It's a nice take on the love triangle dynamic and it showed us how even though Satone might objectively be one of the most immature characters in the series, she handled the whole situation with dignity and grace, and it wasn’t easy for her to do either, especially in the back half of season 2. She—and the love triangle subplot—were very well written and handled, and they made the most of her character even after it was clear that she wasn't trying to come between Rikka and Yuuta. Satone wasn't as heavily involved in the plot after the anime had pretty much concluded her story, but she ended up sticking around and helping Rikka muster up the courage to approach Yuuta, even despite her being emotionally sore from overcoming her feelings for Yuuta. It definitely says a lot about who she is as a person, and I have to give a hand to the writing department for giving her character that level of depth. Satone truly felt like a character you were able to genuinely empathize with. Outside of the main characters, Shinka, Sanae and Kumin each had an episode or a few episodes where they took the lead on, and this was the case in season 1 as well. Shinka, who has ironically been called a "fake" Mori Summer by Sanae throughout the anime, gets to confront an actual fake MoriSummer who tries to steal Sanae away from the group because the fake Mori Summer has a crush on Sanae. There's a Shinka-Sanae focused episode where the two team up to try to get Shinka elected as Student Council President, but Sanae predictably goes full Chunibyo and embarrasses Shinka into dropping out. Outside of the Rikka-Yuuta relationship, Shinka and Sanae probably get the most time with each other. There is a bit of a running gag that perhaps their friendship runs deeper than all their fights with each other, and the anime has teased on several occasions that they may be romantically attracted to each other (although I don't actually think they are) as seen through the Christmas OVA and in their blushing when they insist that they're "enemies" or don't like each other as friends. Whatever the case may or may not be, it made for a lot of fun and light hearted moments in the season, and there were even times where their moments were touching, such as Shinka intervening to stop the fake Mori Summer from forcing herself onto Sanae and the two sticking up for each other during their little magic duel with the imposter. Kumin also had an episode where she got to help save the club from being disbanded by winning a napping competition with another school and she has plenty of moments where she drops some solid wisdom for Yuuta. Otherwise she's the Kumin we all know and love, but she spends less time napping this season and is more involved in the plot. Somewhat surprisingly, one character who I thought we'd see more of but barely did see was Isshiki who is relegated to cameo-level appearances which usually involve slapstick levels of humor (which I'm personally fine with). The anime leaves his fate somewhat ambiguous as we only ever see him fawning over Kumin and the last we really see of him is when Yuuta thinks he’s about to confess to a guy. To more neatly summarize the plot of season 2: Season 2 pretty much picks up not too long after the events of season 1. Rikka returns home, but ends up having to live with Yuuta after her grandparents accidentally let go of the apartment. They initially live alone together as Yuuta's family is away, but his sister Kuzuha returns home for the school year. Touka (Rikka's older sister), ultimately begrudgingly allows for Rikka to live with Yuuta as she leaves for Italy. Yuuta takes up the mantle of "supervising" Rikka to help her become a more functional human being, which he has overall mixed success with and their relationship continues to be relatively stagnant with little signs of progress. Shinka decides to intervene and helps get Yuuta to set up an aquarium date, where Yuuta and Rikka finally progress to the hand holding stage in what was an honestly sweet and wholesome moment. It's then revealed that Satone has moved into Rikka's old apartment and her return into Yuuta's life sparks understandable yet adorably funny jealousy from Rikka. Despite Satone's return, Yuuta affirms to Rikka their "lovers contract" and promises he won't get close to any other girls other than Rikka. Shinka then has her failed run for her Student Council and Kumin helps the club win their napping competition (and the way the magical battle between the clubs played out in this shared "dream world" was honestly pretty cool and a creative spin on the concept). There's then a class field trip in which Yuuta, Rikka and Shinka attend. Yuuta and Rikka hope to spend more time together as all their fellow classmates are egging them on. As they spend some time together during their free day, they cross paths with Satone and help her retrieve her purse from a wild monkey. After Yuuta and Satone escape the monkey, Satone gives Yuuta one of the arcade coins that he had during his Chunibyo phase to him as thanks, although Rikka sees this and is initially upset thinking that Yuuta is cheating on her (ah the high schooler logic!), but eventually they're able to smooth things over. It's also during this trip that Rikka gives Yuuta a kiss on the cheek and tells Yuuta that she loves him after he gives her a new Schwartz Shield (umbrella) for her birthday, so now we're really getting somewhere with their relationship (now I know how Shinka feels!). We then have the whole imposter Mori Summer event, and we then arrive at summer break for our cast of characters. As they all hang around helping Kumin work at her Aunt's beach house. It's during this time that Rikka begins to feel herself "losing her power" and she seeks out Satone for advice. Satone tells Rikka she went through a similar experience when she developed feelings for Yuuta, but set those feelings aside to live her Chunibyo life and advises Rikka that she needs to choose one or the other: Yuuta or her "Eye of The Wicked Lord" persona. Rikka insists that she can have both and resolves to "awaken the dark dragon within Yuuta" to ultimately affirm the contract they have. During this whole time as the group hangs around during their summer vacation, pretty much everyone except for Yuuta picks up on the fact that Satone still has feelings for him. Satone affirms to Rikka and the others (except Yuuta) separately that she has no intention of getting between Yuuta and Rikka and resolves to put her feelings to rest herself. Despite her best efforts, she obviously struggles with her feelings and once Yuuta learns of her feelings, he's pretty hopeless as to what to do. Shinka then dusts off her old Mori Summer persona and talks to Satone and gives her the idea of "confronting Yuuta in battle" to resolve her inner turmoil. Meanwhile, Rikka resolves to find the last of the three arcade coins Yuuta had so that she could do some sort of ritual to reawaken Yuuta's dark dragon. After Rikka sneaks out to find the last arcade coin despite being sick, Yuuta and Satone track Rikka down where she and Yuuta have an emotionally heartfelt moment together in which Rikka says she was trying to collect all the coins and do the dark flame dragon ritual to affirm the contract they had while Yuuta tells her she didn't need to go through all the effort to do so. Satone then asks Yuuta to fight her "at full power", and he grants her that. Satone defeats the dragon and allows her to properly move on from her feelings for him. In the aftermath, Satone and Yuuta have one last shared moment of dialogue together which harkens back to their reunion earlier in the season regarding saying goodbye and the permeance of it. Before Satone leaves to go off on one of her Chunibyo missions, she says goodbye to Yuuta which I think was a powerful and touching moment to close out the story between them. Although she still hangs around the friend group after, that is ironically her last bit of direct dialogue towards Yuuta. In the final episode, Rikka decides she wants to take her relationship with Yuuta to the next level by kissing, but Rikka being Rikka she obviously has a tough time communicating this to him. Rikka then asks the girls to prevent her from chickening out and enlists their help in making the moment happen between them. Yuuta meets Rikka under the bridge where she demands a new and "stronger" contract. Although Yuuta does tell her that they don't need to rush things, Rikka insists that this is what she truly wants and he obliges. Despite the classic romantic awkwardness, they're only able to manage a couple of cheek smooches before a sudden phone call interrupts the moment (they had to do us like that!). We then learn that the cat Chimera had given birth to a litter of kittens, and as Yuuta and Rikka leave to return home, they're chased after by the rest of the group who revealed that they were watching the whole time and try to encourage them to smooch. Yuuta and Rikka then run away with the rest of their friend group pursuing them, ending the season off on a funny if slightly frustrating note. Before the outro rolls on the season for the last time there was something interesting: after the final scene fades out, we're greeted by the following words that are put on screen: "Even though I'm Chunibyo, I still want love!". I assume this was written by Rikka, and I can't help but wonder if perhaps this may be a sign that Rikka is slowly but surely moving on from her phase. I do think it was very much hinted at when her "power was fading", but she ultimately managed to commit to both Yuuta and her Chunibyo persona. I think it remains to be seen whether she'll be able to stick to that or if Satone's words will ultimately ring true and that you'll have to choose between one or the other. I of course could be reading too deeply into this! Overall, I thought that the plot and story for season 2 was a natural progression for the anime. It might not have been as deep or had as much to say as season 1, but that doesn't mean it was any less impactful or meaningful in its own right. Season 1 was about learning to accept yourself and how to ultimately deal with traumatic events, while season 2 was more so examining the difficulties and balance required to make a healthy relationship and romance work and grow. Through Satone, the anime also had quite a bit to say about unrequited love and how to deal with it in a healthy way. While the anime ultimately handled that in a way that was the best way for her character, I genuinely appreciate her character arc as I think we can all relate to Satone's struggles to some degree and the fact that she was able to ultimately move on was heartwarming to me. As far as the production value goes, it was just as good as it was in the first season. The animation, art, the fight scenes and music were all on point once again. I thought the English Dub VA for Satone was a great fit for her character and I thought everyone else did a solid job again in this season. I was surprised by how much I liked the OP "VOICE" and the outro "Van!shment Th!s World", they were both excellent songs and really fit the vibe for the overall anime. Even the animations that we got for both songs were solid, and I especially loved the Rikka hula hoop with the pentagram and how in the OP each of the characters were rotated on screen. It was a really cool touch! Usually when an anime has multiple seasons, I would typically rank the first season's OP and outros above the subsequent seasons' since I usually associate those songs the most with the anime, but this is one of the few times where I think both seasons had solid OPs and outros—I honestly can’t pick a favorite! Season 2 of Chunibyo might not have been as flashy or emotionally intense as the first season, largely because it focused more on the characters themselves than an overarching plot. This season leans more into slice-of-life storytelling, trading some of the dramatic weight for lighter, more everyday moments—but that shift works in its own way. It was heartwarming and worthwhile to see Yuuta and Rikka’s relationship continue to grow and to reflect on how far they’ve come since their first meeting in season 1. It’s been a great return on investment in real time! I also appreciated that most of the original cast remained actively involved and that Satone proved to be a wonderful addition to the story. Shinka, Sanae, Kumin, and Satone each had at least one standout moment this season. Although there are still some cringey Chunibyo moments early on—and Rikka can occasionally feel inconsistent between moments of growth and sudden regression—those issues are outweighed by the strong payoff in the second half of the season, where the character arcs really start to bear fruit. As for the “big kiss being interrupted” scene, while it’s a bit of a cliché and slightly frustrating given the progress Yuuta and Rikka have made, it also feels very on-brand for this anime. Chunibyo is chaotic and funny, but it blends that chaos with sincere romance and wholesomeness in a way that just works. So in the end, I wasn’t too surprised they decided to tease the audience—especially since there’s still a movie left to tell the rest of the story. All in all, I really enjoyed this season. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends. It’s been a fun, chaotic, and genuinely sweet ride!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 28, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
I typically don't write reviews for OVAs, but seeing as this is a direct sequel to the first season and that I think I can keep this review short enough, I'll make an exception here. I thought it was cool that the season included a Christmas-themed special! I don't think you can ever truly go wrong with having a holiday special in a rom com anime! This OVA takes place some time after the events of the first season in which Rikka returns back to school with Yuuta, Shinka, Sanae, Kumin and Isshiki. Somewhat confusingly, Rikka and Sanae appear to have reverted to ... their old Chunibyo selves—even though it seemed like both had moved on from that at the end of the season. I wasn’t aware Chunibyo was something you could just pick back up again. At any rate, Rikka seems to be more tame in this episode while everyone else is pretty much their usual selves. The plot of the OVA centers around Rikka and Yuuta trying to make progress in their new relationship, but both are shy and inexperienced so neither really knows what to do, let alone have a conversation about it. Isshiki is also hoping to take another shot at getting with Kumin after she rejected him back in season 1 (although she rejected him in his sleep, so maybe he has a chance?) Rikka turns to Shinka for advice and she recommends that they can use the upcoming Christmas holiday to do so. The club isn't able to meet in their regular classroom, so Sanae hosts them all instead. It’s revealed here that Sanae is surprisingly well-off as she lives in a luxurious mansion. From here the characters just pretty much goof around and nothing of particular importance happens. As with any holiday themed special in a rom com anime special, there is some obligatory fan service: Sanae is in a Christmas Tree themed dress, Kumin dresses up as a female Santa and Rikka for some reason dressed in her gym uniform for Yuuta (evidently he's into that...hey to each their own I guess). The episode does get a little interesting when Rikka and Sanae get drunk off alcoholic cake (I guess that's a thing?). Sanae rants about how much Rikka talks to her about Yuuta, and evidently Rikka has some level of annoyance with Yuuta as well. They both go full Chunibyou and attack him in a scene oddly reminiscent of that time in SpongeBob when Sandy Cheeks chased down SpongeBob and Patrick after they insulted Texas. However, the two quickly pass out. Yuuta collects Rikka and bounces, which allows Yuuta to be able to fall through on his original idea of taking Rikka on a cruise ship around the city. The two talk about their relationship and agree to take things slow. However, they're interrupted by a drunken Sanae, who tries to "claim" her master back. However she almost accidentally knocks Rikka off the ship, but is saved by Yuuta. We're teased with a Yuuta-Rikka kiss, but it is actually Sanae who accidentally kissed Shinka when she landed on top of her, which made for a funny moment. After Yuuta takes Rikka home, he's watching the snow fall and then sees Rikka descending onto Yuuta's apartment level as she has done ironically many times back in season 1, but this time wearing a Christmas dress - a nice call back to the first time they met but holiday flair! It was a great closing shot for this episode special. Ultimately though, nothing changes in Yuuta's and Rikka's relationship at this time, and there's no action with Isshiki's quest either. Overall, I thought the OVA was enjoyable and a cool bonus episode for the season. For whatever it's worth it did feel like a Christmas special. There wasn't an English Dub available for this special, but I didn't mind watching it subbed, the character voices weren't too far off from what I imagined. However, I was confused as to whether it's considered to be canon in the story (my research says it is), and the fact that Rikka and Sanae have both returned to their Chunibyo personas left me a bit confused. It at least appeared that Sanae had moved on from it for sure and Rikka seemed to as well (although she was wearing her eyepatch during the final moments in the finale). So I'm not sure how season 2 will handle Rikka's and Sanae's characters moving forward and if their reversion to Chunibyo will be addressed, but it does feel like it took a little bit away from the moment in the finale if this is truly canon. Perhaps in Rikka's case, she'll learn to temper her Chunibyo persona and be "serious" when needed. At least that's what appeared to be the case over the course of this OVA, but I guess I'll see what the case is when I get around to watching season 2. All in all, it’s a fun and worthwhile episode. While I’m slightly concerned that it undercuts some of the emotional weight of season 1’s very emotionally charged finale, it still delivers on humor and charm we've come to love with this anime - with some added holiday warmth!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 28, 2025
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
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*Spoiler Warning*
Author's note: I'll be referring to "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions" as just "Chunibyo" throughout this review. I'm sure that we all had an embarrassing phase growing up that we're occasionally reminded of by ourselves and/or others. I'm no exception either. While I never quite convinced myself that I was a Jedi Knight or a Sith Lord, I definitely thought about the world in some cringey and admittedly childish ways but as I grew up I stopped thinking like that. There's a number of hobbies and interests that I had as a kid that I either dropped or don't quite have the same ... level of intense passion for as an adult now. Some of them did carry over and I go about it in different ways now. That's the reality of growing up, and while it's different for everyone: some people either completely change who they were between childhood and adulthood, some people more or less "evolve" and some people probably never quite actually grew up (you don't need me to give you examples here, I'm sure you can find examples of this in your life). Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions is an anime that takes an interesting and an honest look into such a case through Rikka Takanashi, a high school girl who refuses to grow up and is what the anime establishes as a "Chunibyo" (a delusional adolescent who believes that they're "different" from everyone else and that they have otherworldly "magical" powers, and they go around acting with this alternative persona that they conjured) and how this syndrome impacts the world around her. The anime covers the topics of growing up and trauma responses through the use of Rikka's character, and I thought it made for some pretty good storytelling. Initially, the anime can be a bit "cringe" with the Chunibyo moments which can be a little over the top, and Rikka's character can be a bit annoying early on, but once you learn why Rikka is the way she is, it all makes sense and it makes her a strongly sympathetic and endearing character. Despite its relatively short run time of 12 episodes, Chunibyo executed the "slow burn" kind of romance between Rikka and Yuuta pretty well and it nailed the pacing of the story. The anime was generally ok in its first half but it especially got good in its second half as it began to explore Rikka's character at a deeper and emotional level, and it helped give perspective to events that happened in the first half of the anime. Suffice to say, Chunibyo's first season did a solid job and handled complicated and emotional topics very well! For an anime that came out all the way back in 2012 (a little more than a decade now as of this writing), the production value aged like fine wine! The quality of the animation certainly holds up to today's anime for sure. All the "magic battle" scenes were pretty cool and part of me was wishing that it was happening for real in the anime! The art was solid and the character designs were unique and helped the characters stand out in their own way. The English Dub was good, and I thought Margaret McDonald was an excellent pick for Rikka; she sounded exactly the way I thought Rikka's character would sound. The music was great as well, and both the OP and Outro songs were great to listen to at the start and end of every episode, with the O, "Sparkling Daydream" leaning more into the "rom com side" of the anime and the outro, "INSIDE IDENTITY", leaning more into the "fantasy side". Looking at both the song titles and lyrics for each song, it's actually pretty clever how they connect to the story, although plenty of other anime do this, I think they were pretty cheeky about it! The animation for the OP was also memorable, and I finally know now exactly where the Rikka Finger Spin meme came from (I knew it came from this anime, but I didn't know it came from the OP!) so it felt like I came across a historical artifact here which was a pretty cool feeling! Getting into the story of Chunibyo's first season: we're introduced to our MC, Yuuta Togashi, a former Chunibyo who used to call himself the "Dark Flame Master". Yuuta, wishing to leave his cringey past behind him, goes as far as enrolling in a high school far away in an effort to potentially avoid anyone who might recognize him so he can have a normal high school life. Surely enough, this is all for naught as he crosses paths with Rikka, the eye-patch wearing Chunibyo Girl (and face of the anime), who calls herself "The Eye of The Wicked Lord" (on a side note, they definitely nailed the naming, this is definitely something even middle school me would've come up with!). Rikka recognizes Yuuta as the "Dark Flame Master", and despite Yuuta's insistence that his LARPing days are behind him and for her to leave him alone, Yuuta gets roped into Rikka's life by virtue of them being apartment neighbors. Yuuta gets involved (mostly as a passive observer) with Rikka's and her Chunibyo friend Sanae's obsession with finding "the Invisible Boundary Line" and their battles with the "Administration Bureau" and the "Priestess" (Rikka's older sister, Touka). I have to admit, it was pretty funny at times when Rikka would be deep into her Chunibyo mindset and think she's conjuring these epic magic spells or wielding heavy weapons in duels, and then it cuts to what it is in reality which is Rikka swinging around an umbrella or whatever she has her hands on while making explosion noises. It made for some great comedy and minor cringe at Rikka's expense. Over the course of the anime, Yuuta grows closer to Rikka. He agrees to adopt a stray cat that she found but she's unable to keep due to Touka's allergies, she joins Rikka's LARPing club (although in an effort to get close to his budding crush, Shinka, who joins the club for her own ulterior motives), helps Rikka keep the club by getting a high enough score on her semester exams, and helps look after her during their summer break in which Rikka has an emotionally difficult return to her old home. It's then we learn that Rikka never fully coped with the unexpected loss of her father, and she developed her Chunibyo persona as a way to cope with reality much to the disappointment of her family. After Rikka decides sneak off to return back to her apartment, Yuuta accompanies her, and this is where we get some pretty clear signs that Rikka is developing feelings for Yuuta, although she herself isn't sure how to process it and Yuuta himself begins to consider how he truly feels about Rikka as well. Naturally everyone starts sensing the vibe shift between the two of them. Shinka decides to play matchmaker and tries to get Rikka to confess to Yuuta. After Rikka messes up her confession several times, Shinka attempts the good ol' fashioned "rooftop confession" scene, but it almost ends up being the worst case scenario when Rikka almost falls off the roof. Thankfully Yuuta saves her, and ironically it serves as the push he needs to fully realize his own feelings for Rikka. The two eventually confess to each other in a wholesome way that really makes it feel unique to these two characters, the whole "pinky hold" was adorably wholesome and on brand for Rikka and Yuuta. The final few episodes involve Rikka coming to terms with her Chunibyo persona. Touka reveals to Yuuta that she's moving to Italy for her job and asks Yuuta to force Rikka to move on from her Chunibyo self, arguing that its not healthy for her to continue to keep up her delusions and so that she can have a functional relationship with their mother and grandparents (which while I do think she has a point, in my experience, you can't "force" someone to get over their trauma, something which Yuuta kind of argues). Yuuta is initially hesitant, but during the school festival in which the club is due to make a LARP-style performance, Yuuta pulls the plug on his participation and makes Rikka face reality, though we don't get to hear exactly what Yuuta said to Rikka. However, when he tells Sanae off and gets her to break out of her Chunibyo phase in a later episode, we can get the gist of what Yuuta said to Rikka. Whatever he does, it's enough to make Rikka snap out of her Chunibyo phase and into what she really is at the end of the day: a quiet and broken girl. While it initially seems like Rikka is slowly but surely moving on from her Chunibyo phase, reality is anything but as she is depressed by whatever Yuuta said and having had to give up Chunibyo despite the approval of her family and the world around her. Rikka goes to spend time with her Grandparents, but after not hearing from her for a while and after reading a letter his past "Dark Flame Master" self wrote to him, Yuuta begins to realize after his experience in telling Sanae off that he handled the whole thing wrong and races to see her. During this whole time, Kumin, who has spent a good majority of the anime napping, either intentionally begins imitating Rikka or somehow develops Chunibyo syndrome herself after Rikka and Sanae break out of theirs (Whether Kumin genuinely develops Chunibyo or just mimics it out of admiration or solidarity is unclear, but either way, it leads to one of the most important scenes in the show). When Yuuta is racing off to see Rikka, Kumin confronts him and reveals the truth to Yuuta: Rikka developed her persona by watching Yuuta when he was LARPing as the "Dark Flame Master" and found it so cool that she developed her own version to help cope with her reality and to hopefully impress Yuuta, revealing that she always liked him. Kumin, in what I think is the one of the defining moments of the season, eloquently explains that having a persona is like being in a club and there's nothing inherently wrong with how Rikka carries herself. The finale is quite emotional and very well done: Yuuta goes to Rikka, and dusts off his "Dark Flame Master" persona one last time to help reconcile with her. With the help of all their friends, Yuuta evades Rikka's Grandfather and the Police, and takes her to the "Invisible Boundary Line" where Rikka is able to finally say goodbye to her father. The final moments of the episode include a touching narration about how all humans are delusional in their own way, no matter how “mature” we try to appear over the footage of the rest of the cast of characters dealing with Rikka's Grandfather as Yuuta and Rikka try to evade the police in their typical fashion, which encapsulates the message of the anime quite well: its okay to be yourself. It was a truly powerful finale and I don't think they could've done it any better. Overall, I felt that the plot was well-written, very well paced and had a solid execution. Early on some of the Chunibyo moments can either come across as funny or cringey, and this being a high school themed rom com there's an occasional eye roll that's warranted as well. However, the anime does well ensuring that it all ultimately serves a purpose in its story. Nothing comes across as "filler" and you slowly come to like and value each of the characters who all at least have one standout worthy moment in the story. This was truly a slow burn story done correctly. Now to get into the characters: Rikka: As the face of the anime, my opinion of Rikka ended up closely mirroring my opinion of the anime as a whole during my watch: initially I thought it was interesting but also thought it was all a bit silly at the same time, and I was wondering if there was something more to Rikka than meets-the-eye (pun intended). Before her big reveal, we do get small glimpses into who Rikka actually is as a person, and one of the best examples I saw was during the exam episode where she's genuinely lost and terrified about the prospect of losing her club. It's one of the few times she ever so slightly dropped her "Eye of the Wicked Lord" persona and showed us who she was: a small, fragile girl who's lost and doesn't know what to do. Even Yuuta himself admitted that when he saved Rikka from falling off the roof of the school that she "felt fragile", so I think I'm onto something there. After we learned about how she uses her syndrome to cope with the loss of her father, I genuinely felt sorry for her and empathized with her. I even felt bad for all the head bonks she had gotten throughout the anime (which initially was all done as a gag to be sure, and I honestly thought at the time she was maybe a Chunibyo because of all the brain damage she got over the years), and I definitely felt like she was a character that needed to be protected. As far as her grief over her father and her being Chunibyo as a means of coping, to be frank I don't know if there's truly a right answer on how to handle all that. While she obviously couldn't go the rest of her life being in denial and had to face the cold hard reality sooner or later...she also wasn't really harming anyone. It seemed like other than Yuuta and her family, they kind of just rolled with her craziness. We all deal with grief and mature in our ways, and this was Rikka's way of doing it. I don't think forcing her to face reality was really the right move, but I do see where her family was coming from: she can't stay like this forever and needs to move on. After she shed her Chunibyo persona, it honestly did seem like she gave being "normal" a try, but you could tell the life had been sucked out of her and she wasn't really happy with who she was. It was a sudden change for her to be sure, but I also was also a little concerned if she was going to end herself (the telltale signs of her getting rid of all her stuff, her ghosting of Yuuta, and just being kind of gloomy in general) and maybe it might not have ever come to that but she seemed like she was in her pre-Chunibyo state and didn't know how to deal with the loss of her father still. When she finally acknowledges her grief and being able to say goodbye to her father, even if it was all just in her head, was a touching and powerful moment and I felt proud of her. She definitely made her mark as one of the more memorable characters I've come across in anime. Otherwise, I liked her design. It's cool and quirky which sums up Rikka quite well. I'll also say that outside of her Chunibyo persona and prior to the reveal of why she's a Chunibyo, I did like the moments where she flirtatiously trolled Yuuta which was early on in the first few episodes of the season. It only happened a couple of times (their first meeting when she descended past his apartment room for the first time, and when she surprised him and Shinka in the science lab), and I wasn't sure if she was actually being serious in those moments, but it got a good chuckle out of me! Yuuta: I thought he was a fine MC, and I think he did a great job in being Rikka's opposite as a former Chunibyo himself. While he's a bit dense at times, he does have enough self-awareness to realize his mistakes and correct them going forward. I thought him dusting off the "Dark Flame Master" in key moments, such as the confession scene and when he took Rikka to the "Invisible Boundary Line", were genuine and heartfelt moments. It truly felt impactful when he took up the role again since he was doing it for Rikka and although as much as he wants to forget about it, I think it's through his bond with Rikka that he learned to accept that old part of himself. He may not wear the persona 24/7 as Rikka does, but when he does it, he does it for her and that is what makes it truly special. Otherwise outside of that it's him reflecting on his past self which makes him cringe which I don't blame him for. His relationship with Rikka and how it evolves over the course of the season felt natural and they had great chemistry with each other. Shinka: I'll be frank: her design reminds me of Asuna from SAO (similar colored hair and eyes). But otherwise she had some interesting moments. Initially she was your standard "popular girl" in a high school rom com, but they did something interesting with her as well: they made her a former Chunibyo as well under the moniker of "Mori Summer". It's kind of ironic: had she never said anything about it to Yuuta or joined the club, we probably wouldn't have ever learned about her past, a typical example of high schooler arrogance and naivety there. Other than her clashes with Sanae throughout the season as she somewhat tries to convince her that she's the real Mori Summer, she was more or less of a background character. There was a running gag that dogs liked her and would lick her constantly any time she was near one which made for some funny moments. She did play a big role in helping Rikka and Yuuta get together (although I don't think she ever intended for Rikka to fall off the roof) and she does step up to help in the end with Rikka shedding her Chunibyo persona, comforting Sanae and helping Yuuta get to Rikka. She may have selfish motivations at times, but towards the end of the anime she does start to feel like she truly belongs with the group and is a genuine friend to them despite the occasional drama (but then again it’s high school, drama is the currency of that world). Sanae: Ironically, she was like the more stable version of Rikka. While she wears her Chunibyo persona just as loud and proud as Rikka does, she is clearly able to set it aside when the moments call for it as we're told that she's the smartest kid in her grade. I did feel sorry for her when after Rikka dissolved the club, she was trying in vain to get her to return to the way she knew her even though she may not have known why or how Rikka was a chunibyo in the first place, but her resistance to change does also help Yuuta realize the error of his ways with how he handled Rikka's situation and how he would almost instantly regret yelling at her too and I felt sorry for her in that scene. I wasn't expecting her to shed her Chunibyo persona though. Other than that, she was mostly a comic relief character through her little feud with Shinka. I did think it was cool and funny how she used her outrageously long pig tales as a weapon (and there's a few times throughout the anime her long hair comes back to bite her). Kumin: Originally there wasn't a whole lot to her character. At first I thought she'd be more or less of a one-off character, but she ended up being somewhat involved with the main cast (she basically naps for a good chunk of every episode, which honestly with how rough my sleep schedule was in high school, I don't blame her) and becoming Isshiki's love interest. Her rejecting Isshiki's confession to her while she was sleeping right on the ground made for a pretty funny moment. However, her big moment came right at the end when she started imitating Rikka (again, still not sure on how that came to be), and dropping the truth bomb on Yuuta about Rikka and giving him some good perspective. I'm glad they did that for her character because otherwise she felt kind of sidelined and only had her napping all the time as a bit of a running gag. It not only saved her character from being totally useless, but it made for what in my opinion was one of the best moments of the season. So night caps off to our sleeping girl here! Touka: I think she's a character that had good intentions but went about it in a way that was ultimately negative to Rikka (which I'm sure was not her goal). I already spoke to Rikka's situation earlier and I don't know if there's truly a right way to handle her situation, but I do think Touka does deserve some credit for at least playing along a little bit with Rikka's delusions of being "the priestess" and her going to Yuuta to try to help Rikka out just goes to show how much she truly cares about Rikka at the end of the day. I can empathize with her point of view that Rikka does need to learn to be a functioning person in society. She might not be winning any "sister of the year" awards any time soon, but I think her character is best understood in context. Isshiki: I liked his character. While he doesn't play a huge role in the overall plot, he is Yuuta's first friend in high school, and he does come to form a genuine friendship with him over the course of the anime. He does encourage him to go for Rikka and helps him out in the season finale, so he definitely deserves credit. I would say his standout moment comes towards the end of the series when he gets his "hot girl list" gets exposed to the rest of the class. Him taking the fall to protect all the other guys honestly had me giving him some respect guy-to-guy, and although he needed some slight encouragement to fall through on his word of shaving his head, it made for a nice character moment for him in the story even if it didn't have any serious impact on the story. It made for a funny and even a little heart warming moment, especially when all the guys came around to support him after. I can unabashedly say that I enjoyed Season 1 of Chunibyo. While it has absurdity and eye rolls especially early on in the anime, it's a show that gets surprisingly deep. The romance between Rikka and Yuuta was handled surprisingly well for a high school rom com. It felt genuine and was honestly wholesome. The season's emotional moments shined just as bright as Rikka's "Wicked Eye" or the lights on the "Invisible Boundary". Ultimately, this is a story that ultimately reminds us that it's okay to be different, to hold on to the parts of ourselves that the world tells us to let go. Maybe don't go full Chunibyo, but don’t need to lose your spark to acquiesce to society's arbitrary standards either. I know I didn't. I look forward to watching Season 2 and seeing how the story continues!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 24, 2025
Takt Op. Destiny
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
Author's note: I've tried to cut down on the length of these reviews, but evidently I had a lot to say about this anime. Enjoy! Early on, it felt like Takt. Op. Destiny had everything it needed to succeed: great premise (an alien invasion happens and the only way to fight back against them is with the power of special powers derived from music, and interestingly enough music is essentially banned in the world), relatively interesting characters who had good dynamics with each other, a plot that had a goal for the characters, beautiful character designs and phenomenal animation backed with classical music soundtracks ... that unexpectedly worked quite well. However, for as much as a promising start as this anime had, it unfortunately didn't stick the landing and the weaknesses of the plot and specifics to the story begin to pop up around the midway point of the anime and start piling on by the end. There were certain aspects of the story and important parts of the lore that are actually relevant to the story that felt either glossed over or underdeveloped such as: the full picture of the relationship between the "Conductor" and "Musicart", how exactly Takt and Destiny's relationship is different from the normal Conductor-Musicart relationship, how one actually becomes a Conductor and the necessary requirements for that and where exactly MusicArts come from and what they are. The ambiguity and underdevelopment of the story with these topics leads to some inconsistencies and contradictions in the back end of the anime and an ultimately rather confusing ending with Anna somehow becoming a Conductor (or Muiscart hybrid? I don't even know), when it was never even so much as hinted that she could wield such powers. We'll cover the ending in more depth later on in the review, but ultimately you can think of this anime as a song that has a great intro and a catchy overall beat, but starts faltering in the middle and ends on a sour note. I personally did enjoy the anime, but looking at it objectively as possible: it's a flawed anime. I do understand that the point of this anime was to serve as a prequel for a game that was released following the anime (which was subsequently shut down), so for something that had no prior source material and was completely original, I thought it was a good attempt overall. There are plenty of anime originals that I thoroughly enjoyed such as Lycoris Recoil, Angel Beats, Charlotte, etc. and those are the kinds of anime that have stuck with me after all this time after watching. The anime being backed by Mappa and Madhouse, who have stellar track records with what they've produced over the years, gave this anime everything it needed to succeed from a production standpoint. Unfortunately, no amount of glitz and glamour created by beautiful animation can cover up the fact that the plot of the anime was undercooked and that's probably why the whole thing ended up failing. It's a shame because this is an anime that has genuine potential and a lot of interesting things that you could do with it, and its unique because its the first anime I've ever seen that's ever tried to blend classical music with action in a narrative sense. There's plenty of other music based anime out there as well, such as Your Lie in April, Bocchi The Rock and I'm sure there's hundreds of others, but Takt Op. Destiny did something new and exciting and I can give credit for the attempt. If it had better writing and took the time to address the deficits in the story, this anime could've been so much better and could've ended up as a personal favorite of mine. Another thing that really hurts the anime is the lack of a compelling villain. There's really only two meaningful villains in the story: Head Commander Felix Schindler and Grand Maestro Sagan. Both villains are rather flat with strange and confusing motivations: Commander Schindler is basically a creepier and angrier version of Thanos, and Grand Maestro Sagan is both a masochist and a nihilist. They both use the invading aliens, called "D2s" to serve their purposes of wiping out poor people in an effort to conserve the limited resources available (Schindler's goal), and to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible in order to ultimately gather them all up in one place and trap them at the cost of everyone on the continent (Sagan's goal). For Schindler's part: his motivations could've worked and made sense. It is implied throughout the anime that there's economic and social instability as seen by the abandoned towns, population displacement, the fact that the entire middle section of the country is pretty much a "no go" zone due to the D2 infestation. In one of the episodes, our cast of characters goes to a farm that previously didn't exist - it had once been all desert. The groundwork for an interesting subplot was there — but the anime never does anything meaningful with it. It treats those story elements as background noise for the most part and only really brings it up to have a subplot for a particular episode before never really addressing it again. The anime also doesn't really address why Schindler really wants to do it and offers no sort of backstory for him to where we can at least try to see his point of view. Even Thanos's backstory in the Marvel movies, while pretty minimalistic, was given more attention than Schindler, who raves about his plan like a madman in the middle of his duel with our cast of characters. So Schindler comes across as a flat and unconvincing villain. Interestingly, the anime does give Grand Maestro Sagan a bit of a backstory and shows us how he came to form his motivations: he fought during the initial D2 invasion and led humanity to at least temporary victory after the D2s retreated and went dormant, but at a great cost. Through his grief and suffering, he decides the best way to end the D2 threat (at least on the North American continent) is to rally up all the D2s in one spot and trap them all together which would destroy the continent. It's a bit of a leap in logic to say the least, but at least the anime attempts to help us understand where he's coming from. However, the plan is so asinine that even Takt, the MC of the story, calls him out on it before killing him. Sagan's motivations are also a bit inconsistent across the story: he institutes a country wide "music ban" with the goal of trying to avoid attracting the D2s and prevent further loss of life. If Sagan's grand plan was to kill off anyone anyway, why would he have done that in the first place? Wouldn't he have wanted to encourage more music events with bigger crowds? He somewhat does this early on in the anime when he allows for the music festival in Takt's hometown to take place, but if you look at his actions as a whole it's kind of inconsistent and having these smaller scale events probably aren't that effective to Sagan's overall goal, unless his goal was to try to drive the country more towards the east coast, but the anime doesn't seem to imply that. I wasn't opposed to making the New York Symphonica the true villains of the series, there's plenty of story examples of a post-apocalyptic world with a dystopian type government, and the fact that music is banned and many people can only enjoy it in hidden, isolated spaces make for a compelling story that really could've gone somewhere. Even with the anime's limited run time they could've made something with it: like possibly showing how the New York Symphonica oppresses and subjugates a populace trying to just scrape by and how one of our primary sources of comfort, music, is heavily restricted. Unfortunately, the anime doesn't even attempt to do that. They just have two high ranking officials with delusions of grandeur. Ironically enough too: the "music ban" is largely treated as a suggestion more than actual law. We are shown the consequences of playing music primarily through the D2s attacking, but there's never any kind of legal or authoritarian crack down by the New York Symphonica who put that law into place to begin with! To explain the plot of Takt. Op. Destiny: decades before the whole story begins, mysterious white stones from outer space crash land on Earth. These stones are able to react to music which releases energy and its pretty much all happy and good vibes. However, another set of stones crash lands on Earth, which are black in color and release aliens who are hostile to the sound of Earth's music. These aliens come to be called D2s. Conventional weaponry is pretty much ineffective against the D2s, but humanity discovers that they can fight against the D2s using the power of the white stones. With some combination of the power of music, these white stones, and actual human beings "Musicarts" are created. Musicarts are almost like these celestial aliens with superpowers, and they are controlled by a "Conductor" using the power of music (at least that's what seems to be implied). The anime explains that in order to be a Conductor, you have to have some kind of gene in order to wield a Musicart. Humanity is able to defeat the D2s and send them into a dormant state, but the New York Symphonica, which was created to fight the D2 threat, effectively outlaws the playing of music in an effort to ensure humanity's safety. As such by the time the story actually begins, it's been a good while since most people have listened to music and the concept of music is entirely alien to the younger generations. Our cast of characters are: Takt (an anti-social, moody, but aspiring pianist and Conductor), Destiny (Takt's musicart who was formerly Cosette), Anna (Cosette's older sister and family friend to Takt), Lenny (a fruity, yet chill guy who is a Conductor and is something of a mentor to Takt), and Titan (who is Lenny's Musicart). Following Cosette being killed in a D2 attack and being transformed into musicart known as Destiny, and Takt being transformed into a conductor, the gang travels across the United States (I think this is the first time I've watched an anime that's setting is right here in 'Murica!) in an effort to reach the New York Symphonica's HQ in New York City so that Destiny can be properly "tuned". From the get go it is established that Takt and Destiny do not have a "normal" Conductor-Musicart relationship. Why that is the case is never really explained, but what is revealed is that Destiny pulls from Takt's life force in order to be able to fight the D2s, which is slowly killing Takt (Darling In The Franxx style). The gang traverses across the United States, going to Las Vegas, Houston, New Orleans, Appalachia and finally their destination in New York City. Along the way, Takt and Destiny, who initially have a frosty and bickering relationship, slowly learn how to fight with each other and become closer as a result. Lenny drops in and out a few times to help them out in a fight or to teach Takt how to be a Conductor. They fight against the D2s multiple times, fight and expose Schindler, help people in need along the way and are able to finally make it to NYC where they meet Anna's older sister: Charlotte, who works for the New York Symphonica. Charlotte evaluates Takt and Destiny and tells them that part of the reason that Takt is dying is that he doesn't have this gene required to be able to wield a musicart. Charlotte also rules out any possibility that Cosette could be brought back, the anime did treat this as a distant possibility at best throughout the anime, and the news that Cosette is gone for good does have the emotional impact it deserves. Charlotte proposes that she puts Takt in cryostasis to give her time to try to work on a cure for Takt's ailing body, as even if he were to quit fighting and being a conductor all together would only buy him a limited number of years. Ultimately there's no time to ponder as Sagan reveals his grand plan to kill everyone. Lenny, who had been investigating the resurgence of D2 activity when he wasn't with the trio, reveals to Takt that it was Sagan who was ultimately responsible for the death of Takt's father and Cosette. Sagan confronts them and Lenny is killed by Sagan's Music Art, Heaven. Lenny's death enrages Titan and essentially turns the sweet, bubbly musicart with a shotgun, into a solid impression of Doomguy and it was epic. After Lenny's death, Sagan executes his plan and unleashes the D2s on the Symphonica HQ. Takt (who is nearing death), goes with Destiny and Titan to rescue Anna and Charlotte and put an end to Sagan. The trio ight their way to Anna and Charlotte, with Takt's condition continuing to worsen. Despite this, he insists on falling through with his plan and refuses to leave. Anna begrudgingly agrees, but unexpectedly kisses Takt. Titan extracts Anna and Charlotte, Takt confronts Sagan, and Destiny confronts Heaven and Schindler's former Musicart, Hell. Heaven and Hell combine into a single music art named Orpheus, which Destiny is eventually able to beat. Takt, using the last of his strength, kills Sagan with Destiny's weapon and ends the immediate D2 threat. Takt and Destiny then rest on a beach, and Destiny decides to save Takt at the cost of her own life, declaring her love for him as she does so. Destiny reduces her essence into a small pennant that she gives to Takt in the afterlife before he is returned to the land of the living. Off-screen, Takt is put in cryostasis. The final scene shows that Anna is somehow now a conductor and she now wears Destiny's pennant, allowing her to use her powers. Despite its inconsistencies and contradictions, Takt Op. Destiny is still a fun story at heart. It has moments where it truly delivers. We did get to see the evolution of the relationship between the main trio (Takt, Destiny and Anna), and how they grew closer overtime. During the anime, I started to ship Destiny and Takt together. They started off like an old married couple who constantly bickered and argued, but by the end of the story, the two deeply cared for one another. They had good chemistry with each other throughout the anime and the nature of their relationship was a tragic one. Anna was also a likeable character and really the voice of reason in all the craziness. Lenny and Titan were also solid and enjoyable side characters in their own rights. I didn't find the character development to be really "rushed" but it did feel a little compressed at times, which can likely be attributed to the anime's limited run time. I already discussed the villains earlier, so I'll get into the rest of my takes for the cast here: Destiny/Cosette: I'll bundle these two together since Cosette becomes Destiny. To start off: Cosette was a sweet and likeable character, and she was clearly the last vestige of light in Takt's life before he became a conductor. She was the one that usually checked up on Takt and was the one who pushed him to ultimately play in that fateful music festival. There's no question in my mind that she had a crush on him. Ultimately when she becomes Destiny, it's pretty much it for "Cosette" as the music art replaces the original personality. Although the anime did let the possibility that she could somehow return linger, I knew that "Cosette" was effectively dead but when we got the final confirmation it was certainly no less tragic. Now for Destiny: I really came to like her character. Early on, she starts off as a cold, aloof kind of character whose singular goal is to kill as many D2s as possible, and as such she does come off as kind of stiff and robotic. Early on Destiny was also pretty reckless, charging into situations headfirst with reckless abandon (and total disregard for property damage which was a good comedic schtick early on, especially early on when she gets owned by the D2s). She also had a funny quirk in which she liked to scarf down sweets (as it replenished her energy which she needs in order to fight). Destiny butted heads with Takt a lot early on in the anime due to their clashing personalities, and it made for a lot of funny and entertaining moments. However, over the course of the anime we get to see her evolve as a character as she learns more about the world around her and humanity. She started off as something of an "Ice Queen" but she thaws and by the end she's the most "human" that she's ever been when she saves Takt out of love, which early on in the anime, she most certainly not have done that, given some of the insults she fired back at him. We get to see her slowly start to warm up to Takt over time as well, evidenced by how she loved hearing Takt play and the lengths she went to save him during their initial fight with Schindler. I do wish we got to spend more time with her "learning" to be more human as this aspect of her character growth did feel compressed, but it didn't feel overly rushed either. I am confused on her ultimate fate though, as the ending initially makes it seem like she now lives on through Anna, but apparently Anna is just using her powers? It's not exactly clear through the anime. I'll finish my take on Destiny with this: I think she had the best character design out of everybody in the cast. I loved her red dress and her rose crown and all the other details they gave for her. It really made her stand out and she looked fabulous. She's easily the most memorable character of this anime, and I liked how her weapon was this sword-laser gun hybrid, it was very unique! Takt: He isn't necessarily the most likeable at times because of his cold, aloof attitude, and he's not even the most original MC for a story like this, but I think his character works well. It provided an excellent dual comparison and contrast with Destiny's character, and why Takt is a broody "piano head" all the time is understood given what he had gone through (witnessed the death of his father and Cosette to a d2 attack) and the situation he is thrust into with Destiny, but he does slowly but surely soften up by the end of the anime. He isn't as rigid or standoffish with characters like Destiny, Anna and Lenny and has emotionally impactful moments with each of them in the latter episodes. Takt isn't the flashiest MC or the most well written, but he's serviceable in a story like this. I do like how anytime he went into "Conductor mode" his eye color changed to match Destiny's and his arm which got bitten by Cosette's "ghost"(?) disappears as well. It's a great level of detail and he's the only conductor that has that transformation. I do wish the anime addressed his special relationship with Destiny more as it is not portrayed to be a natural Conductor-Musicart relationship. Anna: I liked her character. She's the "normie" of the cast (at least she starts off that way) and the voice of reason between Takt's and Destiny's arguments throughout the road trip half of the anime. You could definitely consider her to be the "mom" of the group and it's hard not to feel sorry for her given the fact that she lost Cosette. I think they did a great job in filtering her grief over her loss with her instance on Destiny calling her "big sis" like Cosette did and how Anna kept calling Destiny by her sister's name which confused her. However, we do see how overtime she's able to come to terms with that loss and how she acknowledges Destiny as her own person, which made for a sweet and impactful scene. Anna can also be credited as the character that helps fuel Destiny's evolution into becoming more "human" as during the New Orleans episode, Anna went out of her way to help people who were in need, which surely rubbed off on Destiny as she would follow suit once the cast reached New York. I did find her becoming a Conductor/Musicart "hybrid"(?) to be confusing. It's never hinted that Anna has this "gene" to control musicarts, and even if she's able to get her powers from the pennant that Destiny leaves behind, it goes against the established lore of what musicarts are. Although I'm glad that they give something for Anna's character to do at the end of the story, I don't think that was the right approach and how they finish her story in the anime is just confusing. I will also say: while Anna's kiss to Takt in the final episode was a little jarring in the moment, it makes more sense when viewed in context. It felt like a "heat of the moment" and perhaps even more so as a "Goodbye" gesture than a purely romantic act. Anna has always cared about Takt and was arguably the most responsible figure in his life after his father's death, and she always did what she could to support him. So while the kiss is definitely sudden, I’m not sure it should necessarily be interpreted as romantic. That said, it did make the interaction between Takt and Destiny afterward awkwardly funny, which can be appreciated given the overall heavy atmosphere as Takt and Destiny move on to the final battle. Lenny: Objectively, I think Lenny had the best and perhaps the most complete character arc out of anyone else in the story, and it is unambiguous because he dies. His character arc of him getting interested in music, feeling responsible for Takt's father's death, to becoming a Conductor and righting all his past wrongs, to mentoring Takt to the extent he could and dying protecting him, it was a great arc for him. Admittedly at first I wondered if he would end up being a villain since early on the anime hinted that he was up to something shady and in an early episode when they travel to Las Vegas, Lenny seems to be wanting in on the corrupt Casino operation in the city, but that ended up not being the case. I thought Lenny was a great character, he's always trying to help others and his death was certainly a heartfelt moment in the story. Titan: I liked her character! She was fun and had an awesome design! Ironically she almost reminds me of LLEN from GGO (an anime I just so happened to have finished): an adorable honey badger gunslinger (with a shotgun) mowing down enemies left and right mercilessly. Her special power in which she got to shoot off multiple shotguns at Heaven following Lenny being mortally wounded was an awesome scene. After Lenny's death, she loses her smile and becomes a more vengeful character, which made for an awesome and somewhat terrifying transformation. It's clear how much Lenny meant to her, and how she is after her death speaks volumes. Musicarts (Hell, Heaven, Walkure, etc.): I'll just sum up thoughts on all the other named musicarts together here as outside of Destiny and Titan they don't really do a whole lot: I do think its cool that they're each named after a piece of classical music and I liked how they each had their own unique design and abilities. I particularly found Hell's wheels to be particularly memorable (Hell on wheels anyone? No? Ok...), and her ability to combine into one musicart with Heaven made for a cool scene. I do wish we had gotten to explore their origins at least a little bit more to try to pin down what exactly they are as the anime keeps them relatively vague. Although its implied that they're controlled by music, I do wish their moves and powers actually gave off some sort of harmonic sound or there was a rhythm to their moves (and maybe that was the intention), but I do think that would've helped better communicate what the Musicarts are and help them feel more like these musical creations. As far as the production value of the anime goes: it was solid, and admittedly it helps carry the anime. The visualizations, animation, character designs were all excellent and it made the battles feel like true spectacles. The use of classical music during the fight scenes was also pretty effective, I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would've. The English Dub for this anime was serviceable and I felt the VAs did a fine job for the characters they were matched with. I liked the OP "Takt" and it does a good job in showing you what the anime is all about, and the song is great to listen to with its classical melody. The outro, "SYMPHONIA" was also great and served its purpose in being a "reflective" moment for the anime and the characters. I did like how after Anna finally acknowledges Destiny as her own being and no longer as Cosette, the outro changes up a bit where Destiny is in a lot of the same spots where Cosette was, and Cosette is essentially reduced to being a ghost-like figure playing the piano with Takt. It was a great level of detail and I love it when anime shows do little things like this. Takt Op. Destiny had the necessary accompaniment to be a standout original anime: stunning visuals, unique concepts, great action and an interesting heroine with Destiny who is supported by a decent supporting cast, all while being worked on by two(!) anime studios with reliable reputations. While the intro to this musical anime was solid, it began to lose its tempo the longer it went on. It stumbled in the execution of its key ideas because of a clearly underdeveloped plot that seemed to truly wing it at times without any regard for consistency. While it's good in flashes and in specific story beats, there's too much inconsistency within the plot and too much ambiguity and contradictions that can't be swept aside. The plot also leaves a lot of missed opportunities on the field — even though the anime was clearly trying to say something deeper about the impact of music in our lives. There's no doubt that this anime can be interpreted as heartfelt love letter to classical music at a deeper level, and while that sentiment can be appreciated, it feels like the story didn’t quite hit every note it was aiming for. Still, I personally enjoyed this anime and I do think it's worth checking out, but just know that not every note is going to hit in the way you think it should.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 18, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
*Author's Note*: I'll be referring to the series' name as "GGO" throughout this review. In many ways, I found Season 2 of SAO Alternative: GGO to be just like its first season: a solid show with plenty of action-packed moments and some good comedy sprinkled in. Again, you gotta try hard to go wrong with a loli in a pink uniform, armed with a p90, running and gunning while committing the occasional war crime with her friends. It’s not the deepest anime in existence, but you can enjoy it for what it is. There is some further character development with LLEN that happens, and ... this time around it deals with her slowly brewing burnout with GGO and the intense battles she wages which gets explored both subtly and clearly. The sequel season does a pretty good job in establishing continuity from the previous season, primarily Pito’s identity as Elsa. All it took was one scene of her acting like her “usual” unhinged self in the real world that happened early on in this season, and it helped bridge the mental gap I had between the Pitohui in GGO and the Pitohui in “real life”. There were a couple scenes that established it, such as pretty much straight-up attacking L in a car while he was driving and told her about the announcement for Squad Jam 3, or when Pito was sparring with L and she ended up hitting him in the nuts (I originally felt bad for him, until I remembered that he's just as unhinged as Pito). Those two moments were more than enough to convince me that Elza was really Pito. I also liked that although this season of GGO used some of the same ideas with yet another Squad Jam, the anime continued to find ways to keep things fresh and interesting to make sure you don’t get burned out, and the season finale of all the players coming together to take on an “NPC squad” felt like a satisfying way to end things off for the series. I think I liked this season of GGO a little bit more than I did the first season, but I don’t think I liked it that much more to warrant any sort of ratings upgrade. The story for this season of GGO can really be classified into 2 arcs: Squad Jam 3 (which is most of the season), and the “NPC Test Battle”. Both arcs were pretty solid from a story perspective and were enjoyable from start to finish. While there were some minor plot inconsistencies and moments of confusion, it's not anything that takes you out of the story. If you liked season 1, then in all likelihood you’ll like what’s in store for these two arcs. Squad Jam 3 sees LLEN and Miyu (Fuka) working together this time with Pito and L, which is the first time we get to see all these characters on the same team. The set up for this Squad Jam is that Eva and her friends want to have a rematch against LLEN from the first Squad Jam to truly settle the friendly rivalry that they have between them. LLEN, initially a little hesitant to sign up which are the first clear signs of her burnout with the game, eventually relents to peer pressure and agrees to join. Additionally, there is some sort of mysterious benefactor-like character who works in the background to try to get all the other teams to band together to take down LLEN and her team. It's never really elaborated on who this person is or why he wants to LLEN’s team to lose, but it's a fun way to start off the Squad Jam with nearly half the teams immediately gunning for them. Much like in the previous season, we get some awesome action and get to see some brilliant strategic plays from a lot of the teams that really added a layer of authenticity to all this, so it's good to see they kept the formula intact from the previous season. Although they don't play a huge part in this season, I loved the fight between Mai and Clarence. It was a great fight between the characters and I loved the action we got for it and how it ultimately ended with them both killing each other. Outside of LLEN and maybe Pito, Mai is the next character up that received the most character growth by far, going from sitting back and running recon to becoming a vicious and cold-blooded sniper. Although it wasn't explored too deeply, it was fun to see Mai's character evolve! This time around there’s a couple of twists to the new Squad Jam: the battle takes place on a slowly sinking island which forces all the teams to slowly converge in the middle of the map for a final battle (honestly the whole situation reminds me of Fortnite) and that one player from each surviving team is selected to be “a traitor” and pulled into a new squad with their fellow traitors, effectively pitting the traitors against their former squad for the final battle (almost like Trouble In Terrorist Town!). Pito is unsurprisingly “chosen” as the traitor and teams up with Eva, David and a few others to form the traitor squad and they set up in the center of the map which is a self-operating cruise ship. All the teams reach the outskirts of the center and have an epic shootout against their former squad members (most of who were the original team leaders) as they rush to make it onto the ship before the rising water levels take them. LLEN and her team run into the surviving Amazon members and take care of them. They then encounter Pitohui, who then drops the reveal that she's actually not supposed to be the traitor and that LLEN is the real traitor. Pitohui states that she was doing some good ol' fashion trolling so that she could mess with LLEN and so that she could tear apart the traitor squad. So Pito has been operating as a double agent (or is it a triple agent?) this entire time. While this is a cool reveal at the moment, once you think about it, it doesn't really make much sense. It's understandable that LLEN would've stayed quiet as she didn't want to leave the team but it's a bit of an in-universe flaw that Pito would be able to ride the hoverboard to the traitor team rendezvous point since they were meant to take the traitor away, and it was also established that they could only take one person anyway so you would think that the developers wouldn't have had that oversight either. I think it would've been better if instead the traitors were teleported to the rendezvous point or if Pito was just the traitor all along, her character is perfect for the role and she ends up betraying the traitor team anyway (which I guess in this context its not really betraying?). I'm not kidding if you thought Pito was crazy back in season 1, she becomes fully unhinged this season with the chaos she causes. She's diabolical and it was fun to watch! However, the whole "Pito isn't the real traitor" thing just makes the story a little confusing but if you don't think about it too much, it's fine. What was also pretty cool and something I speculated on back in season 1 was that Pito was using the old nerve gear, and she admits this to the cruise ship's AI. I love it when I'm right! Eva ends up saving LLEN in the nick of time just as her squad was about to turn on her, and the two team up to take on Pito and Miyu as L is sidelined by her. The 2v2 fight we get between them was pretty awesome, and LLEN and Eva sinking the ship with the plasma grenades was a pretty awesome strategy and really amps up the stakes. Ultimately the 2v2 becomes a 1v1 rematch between LLEN and Pito. LLEN didn't go full on vampire to beat her this time, but she did head-butt the absolute crap out of Pito which made me question if LLEN herself was starting to lose it too with how brutal she was. It was still an awesome scene. Ultimately, LLEN finishes Pito off by pushing her into the ship's propeller blades, and is declared the winner of the Squad Jam after L raises her above his head Simba-style, all while he sinks beneath the waters. As the story transitions into the second arc of the season, LLEN contemplates quitting GGO entirely as she's beginning to grow tired of the game which is shown subtly through her hesitance to sign up for the third Squad Jam, and clearly being over almost constantly running decoy during the shootouts. However, Miyu points out to LLEN that her burnout is largely stemming from her "rivalry" with Pito and the Amazons and gets LLEN to basically admit that she still enjoys the game deep down. LLEN and the other frequent participants of the Squad Jam tournaments then get invited to participate in a beta test where they get to fight a squad of "NPCs". After some encouragement from the Amazon Girls with the promise of having one final fight between them, LLEN agrees to participate with the sole purpose of having their final battle. Ultimately that fight doesn't come to pass as all the teams are eventually forced to work together to defeat the NPCs. LLEN defeats the final NPC, Jacob, and wins the beta test for everyone in what was a great scene for LLEN as a character. Before she finishes off Jacob, he asks her "why she fights". After mulling it over, she finally settles on her answer "because its fun" like a true gamer before ending him. It was a nice full circle moment for her character and I'm glad she found her passion for gaming again. The twist of this arc comes at the very end of the final episode after we see LLEN hanging out with her friends celebrating their victory. Somewhat expectantly, it's revealed that the NPCs were actually real life humans. More specifically, Jacob and his comrades were using GGO as a means of therapy to help get over their combat PTSD. Interestingly, the doctor that's with Jacob tells him that LLEN was an NPC. At first that's a little confusing but it becomes clear he’s lying to help Jacob process the experience emotionally. It's ultimately a little bit of a weird moment to end the series off on a character that we were just introduced to in the last few episodes, but if the anime was trying to teach the audience about how different people use gaming in their lives, I do think it made its point. Overall I enjoyed the story for this season. Although it did use the same ideas that it used in season one, it did feel like a natural continuation and evolution of the story, and the anime did enough to keep things fresh and entertaining. Season 2 also did a good job of showing the effects of long term gaming on characters like LLEN and Pito, as well as how it can be used in other ways like in Jacob's case. I also loved the Kirito cameo that they did when Pito was recalling to Miyu about the only other time besides LLEN that she met an opponent in battle that truly terrified her. It was a cool moment that helped connect the two stories and I'm glad it did it, the moment didn't feel forced and it made for a nice character moment for Pito. Speaking of Pito, she had one of the most dark, unexpected and I'd dare say funny moments of the season: when LLEN and her team were pinned down by machine gun fire during the NPC Beta Test fight, to strategically flank the enemy, L asked Pito to kill herself so that she could respawn behind him, and she did it with zero hesitation. It was a great dark humor moment in the anime and it got a solid laugh out of me. Although in retrospect, it was kind of unnecessary, since they could’ve just flanked the enemy using the massive boulders around them, but I digress it was still a funny scene. The production value for this season was excellent. Since this season is less than a year old (as of this writing), it has that "modern" look in the animation and all the visuals feel like they've received a fresh coat of paint. The animation, character designs, and art all felt new and fresh. Also, I was able to watch this season in dubbed which was something I wasn't able to do in the previous season. I thought that the English VAs did a fine job and that they were great fits for their characters, particularly LLEN, Pito and Eva's in-game characters in GGO. The music was also just as great as it was in the first season. The season's OP "GG" was a great song and I loved the visuals, and in hindsight it also really foreshadowed the rematch between LLEN and Pito which at the time I thought was just meant for a fun visual. All the outro songs "Little Dancer", "Toxic", "Overclock" and "Oh UnHappy Day", all of which are sung by either LLEN or Pito's characters, were phenomenal and did a good job of fitting the vibes for their respective points in the season. My particular favorite outro song was "Overclock" and I especially loved the visuals. It’s a great rock song with a highlight reel from the first season which made for a perfect nostalgic touch. Speaking of which, in each of the episodes during the break, the anime would take a moment to show off art of the characters (usually LLEN but sometimes the other characters as well) which was a neat touch and something I looked forward to each time! Season 2 of GGO was very much like its predecessor: fun and very action packed, with the occasional moment of humor thrown in. I do think the anime tried to be a little bit deeper than it was in the first season but it wasn't anything ever truly philosophical or thought provoking, which is fine. Not every anime needs to be. It’s a fun anime about a pink-armored loli with a P90, tearing through battlefields with her friends and casually committing an occasional war crime. It's a fun anime to sit back and enjoy for what it is. Ultimately this season doesn't do too much different than it did from its predecessor and it concludes all the characters' stories pretty nicely for the most part, with the only real loose end being that LLEN and the Amazons needing to have their rematch which is what I wish the final scene would've been, but alas. GGO has been a fun anime, but I don't truly know what else it can do before it starts to get repetitive. We've already had 3 Squad Jams and a scenario in which all the teams work together to take down a common enemy, so I don't know what else can be done with this cast of characters as far as GGO goes. The anime did float the idea of LLEN trying out Alfheim Online on a few occasions, so perhaps that could be a way to continue their stories if they so choose. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing the GGO cast again. They're all fun and enjoyable characters in their own rights and are capable of standing on their own two feet. Maybe we'll get to see them make a cameo appearance in Sword Art Online's future installments. At the end of the day, while I think I liked Season 2 of GGO a little bit more than I liked Season 1, they did ultimately feel roughly the same in quality and storytelling, though Season 2 does benefit from a fresher coat of paint.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 28, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
*Author's Note*: I'll be referring to the series' name as "GGO" throughout this review. One of the best things about the Sword Art Online franchise is its world building. Whether it was Aincrad, Alfheim, GGO or The Underworld, each "world" in this franchise's universe was undoubtedly special and interesting in its own way, even if the story involving that world wasn't always perfect. GGO does stand apart from the other SAO worlds since it goes against the mold: rather than being a high-fantasy setting similar to something you might see in fairy tales or other fantasy story books, GGO is a more dark ... and gritty world involving a post-apocalyptic world where the players wield guns and other heavy weapons as opposed to swords and shields. When the world of GGO was introduced in SAO II, I personally liked the world and found it to be very interesting. I thought it was a natural evolution for SAO's story and felt that the change in scenery with its world was a nice touch. As such, if you liked SAO II's Phantom Gun Arc as I did, I think you'll enjoy what GGO has to offer you. The most interesting thing about GGO is that it follows an entirely different cast of characters that exist within the SAO universe in the world of GGO. The main cast from SAO such as Kirito, Asuana and Sinon, do not make any direct on-screen appearances and are only ever directly mentioned or alluded to a handful of times. GGO does not keep SAO away at arm's length, but instead does a rather skillful job in weaving its story into the greater SAO franchise and keeping the focus on itself. GGO doesn't do anything to change or take away from the main SAO story in any way and successfully establishes itself as its own unique side story that takes place some time after the SAO II Phantom Gun Arc. However, there are plenty of references to the SAO world that we get to see throughout the course of this anime and it does a great job in making you feel like you're still right at home in the SAO universe. GGO also sheds a little light on the story for why virtual reality games didn't completely go by the wayside in-universe following the debacle of Sword Art Online. GGO follows the story of Karen, also known by her gamer tag "LLEN", a shy girl who is insecure about being taller than most other girls and even some guys (come to think of it, she might be the tallest character in the show). To deal with her insecurities, she turns to virtual reality games to craft herself in the way she always wanted to be: an adorable, fun-sized shortie. After trying numerous worlds (including Alfheim), she settles on GGO where her character is essentially a loli. Finally achieving her dream, she gets into GGO and learns about all the mechanics and weapons. She eventually settles on her iconic weapon: the P90 (which really harkens back to my days of playing CSGO. I mained the P90 as well!) which she affectionately named "P-chan" (there are some scenes where her gun "comes to life" and talks to her, which makes for some interesting and humorous moments). She crosses paths with and befriends a hardcore (and I mean, really hardcore) gamer named Pitohui, or "Pito" who helps mentor LLEN in the world of GGO. During their time together, they talk about meeting up in the real world and Pito makes LLEN a promise that they will one day face off against each other. Pito also talks LLEN into participating in GGO's first ever "Squad Jam" and pairs her up with her friend "M" as she is unable to attend. While LLEN and M are able to win the first Squad Jam, towards the end, M has an epic level crash out where he attempts to kill LLEN after he reads a letter from Pito threatening to kill him (I have to say, LLEN’s reactions and facial expressions during this entire scene were absolutely perfect, and she has a lot of priceless reactions throughout the entire anime). After the Squad Jam, M is somehow able to track down LLEN in real life (totally not a stalker!) and reveals the truth about Pito: that she's not just a hardcore gamer, but is quite literally insane. Pito is obsessed with her own death and was literally heartbroken that she wasn't trapped in Sword Art Online's death game. According to M, she also lamented that she couldn't kill people for real life Laughing Coffin did (and M reveals that he loves her, by the way! I totally don't see any red flags with Pito!) Since she couldn't live through the life-and-death stakes she always wanted to, she cracked and turned to other games to get her fill and taking them to the extreme, vowing to kill herself in real life if she ever died in game. M, trying to stop her from doing this, asks LLEN to participate in the Second Squad Jam which Pito will be participating in this time around, and M asks her to be the one to kill Pito because evidently she would accept being killed by LLEN (for some reason?). Pito recruits her friend Miyu to help her in this endeavor, and Miyu's character is also a loli...but who wields dual grenade launchers! With the help of a group of high school students she had faced off against in the first Squad Jam (Saki and her friends, who are all Amazon type warriors), LLEN and Pito have their duel which LLEN wins (and she wins by straight up turning into a vampire. It was both awesome and bewildering at the same time. I genuinely don't know how to feel about that scene). Although LLEN and Miyu are promptly eliminated by the last squad standing who look like they're straight out of the TRON universe. M takes LLEN and Miyu to meet Pito in real life, and along the way M reveals how he came to meet her, and the details were...a little concerning to say the least: he pretty much stalked her, and Pito, revealing herself to essentially be a dominatrix, coerced M into be her manservant (well, at least romance is alive and well in the SAO universe). The story does pull off a pretty cool twist with Pito's identity. Pito is actually the in-universe singer that LLEN and Miyu are fans of: Elza Kanzaki, which LLEN figures out as she realized the only way M could've figured out her identity and address was because of the fan letter she sent to her. Elza, who is this petite and seemingly sweet person, which makes the reveal pretty jarring, then unexpectedly kisses LLEN right in front of Miyu and M right after LLEN tearfully says she's grateful that she's alive. I honestly had no idea how to react to that scene, but if anything it confirmed Pito might be one of the most unhinged anime characters I've ever seen. The final shot is them hanging out in GGO with LLEN making Pito promise not to take games too seriously anymore. After a blast rings out from a trap they set up, the two girls rush forward for their kill, pretty much bringing their relationship full circle and ending off on a happy, somewhat bloodthirsty note. Overall, I thought the plot of GGO was solid and entertaining. There's not a whole lot of depth to the plot or to any of the characters. There's a little character development that happens with LLEN becoming more comfortable in her own skin and Pito seemingly understanding that games aren't meant to be taken as life or death stakes, and for a story like this it's fine. GGO isn't trying to reinvent the wheel here, its a fun simple action-comedy anime with a loli running around with a P90 and who treats the Geneva Convention more like a checklist. Although there's definitely some weird moments that are a little hard to wrap your head around, like M being a total simp and degenerate for Pito (which is honestly understandable to an extent), or Elza actually being Pito (which is a reveal I'm still reeling from, it's just hard to see her as being Pito but maybe its one of those things over time you get used to). Additionally there are a few inconsistencies in the plot. For example: at least as far as the Squad Jam's first game is concerned, we're told that while other teams can technically "team up" they really can't communicate to each other on their comms. In the second Squad Jam, LLEN is able to communicate to Saki and her squad over the radio. There's not too many of these plot inconsistencies and they aren't really major things at the end of the day, but it is something I noticed. Although the major thing that doesn't make sense to me is if Pito was obsessed with her death so much, why is LLEN the only one technically allowed to kill her in the game? Now they do make a promise to meet up with each other in real life, so that could be why Pito doesn't immediately kill herself after dying to LLEN in the game, but its a bit of an inconsistency with Pito's character. Despite its flaws, GGO overall has a fun and entertaining story. The production value for GGO was solid. The animation, character design, music and action sequences were all on point. Speaking of the action scenes, one of GGO's strongest points were all the Squad Jam battles. It did a stellar job in making it feel like a warzone and every single battle was high stakes. All the other players were also competent and we got to see them each have their own unique weapons and tactics that helped make it all feel authentic. From an action standpoint, I would say GGO gets full marks! I also watched this season in subbed as there was no English dub available for this season. I thought all the voice actors did a great job with their roles. I particularly liked LLEN's and Pito's VAs, I thought they did a great job on selling their respective characters with LLEN's voice being smaller and higher pitched while Pito's was more mature sounding. The production work on GGO helped sell the anime as being part of the greater SAO universe and it showed! I also loved both the OP and Outro as well. At first I thought the OP, "Ryuusei" was sung by LiSa, but as it turned out it was sung by Eir Aoi. She did a phenomenal job because it did sound like LiSA to me until I saw the credits. It was sung beautifully and the animation for the OP was a true and phenomenal SAO style OP. I really liked the closing shot of LLEN and Pito aiming their weapons up at the moon which made it glow red. It was a great shot. I also loved the outro, "To see the future" which was actually sung by LLEN's voice actress! She nailed it and the outro's animation was really sweet in showing Karen and her Avatar LLEN spending time together. Now onto my takes for the main characters: Karen, AKA, "LLEN": I thought she was a solid MC! She was well written and her struggles with her accepting her height was certainly an understandable struggle. It was touching to see her slowly but surely overcome her body dysphoria as she learned to accept herself while playing GGO. While there's not a ton of time spent on this, it is something that is gradually seen over the course of the anime and with its limited run time, they made it work pretty well. I loved her moments as LLEN. Seeing her running around as a Loli sized character, dressed in all pink and gunning down enemy players left and right while giving some of the most hilarious facial expressions was honestly a great time. She also does a great job as being a stand-in for the audience during her scenes with M's character in which he reveals how much of a degenerate he actually is, her reactions mirrored my own! Overall she was a solid and serviceable MC. Elza, AKA, "Pito": She's the de facto antagonist of the story, and she is certainly among the most wild characters I've ever seen. I was getting a lot of Zero Two type vibes from her and I think she honestly might be crazier than her! They did a great job in selling her as this brutal and sadistic dominatrix. That all being said, while her motivations can be a little hard to wrap your head around at times, she is an entertaining character and certainly sells herself as a force to be reckoned with. Her kissing LLEN on the lips was also a wild scene. As I mentioned: I do have a hard time coming to terms that she is not at all what you'd think she'd actually look like in the real world, but I think that more so comes from the shock of the reveal. Then again: we wouldn't expect a pink speeding loli running and gunning with a p90 to actually be an amazon in real life, so I suppose it goes both ways. I will admit, after learning about Pito's obsession with dying, I was skeptical about her chances of actually surviving the season. Part of me thought the reason she took the games so seriously was because she was using NerveGear, and perhaps she had found a way to short-circuit her system in the real world like it did for SAO players who were killed. This theory is even teased during the second Squad Jam: after barely surviving a shot to the eye, Pito passes out, and one of the mercenaries working with her and M remarks that she might be using the original SAO NerveGear as a reason why she wasn't disconnected. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she was. After all, later seasons of SAO show that Kirito still had his old NerveGear, and everything we know about Pito would suggest she’s exactly the kind of person who would use it, especially over newer models with built-in safety features like the one LLEN uses. If this is true, that would be an incredible level of hidden detail for the story! Miyu: I liked her character! She's LLEN's best friend in the real world and is her partner in the second Squad Jam. I did find it fitting that her avatar would also be a loli type character and I loved the fact that she had dual wielding grenade launchers. Her and LLEN worked great together and had good, believable chemistry. Goushi, AKA, "M": He was certainly interesting. As a soldier, he's probably the most competent, especially when lining up shots and planning attacks. His scenes doing that were very well written and executed. Outside of that, he's a total weirdo. His love, which seems one sided, for Pito is strange and hard to wrap your head around but from a degenerate perspective...I kind of get it. I wouldn't go as far as to say "he's literally me!" though. From a story perspective, he was a fine supporting character and played his part well. His motivations, as weird as they are, can be understood. Saki and the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club: I'll bundle them all into one take. I thought they were cool! I liked how they were just a group of girls that LLEN always passed by in the real world on the way to her classes, but when they finally talk to each other, there's that understanding that they fought each other in GGO. Although I didn't really remember any of their real names, I could remember which of the girls was who in GGO. I will say that Kana, who is one of the girls that provides heavy support, really reminds me of Ochaco Uraraka from My Hero Academia for some reason. I also do like how they were able to learn to work together through gaming and they work together seamlessly in GGO. It just goes to show how gaming can bring people together and make them grow as individuals and as a group! It was sweet of them that they were willing to put aside their desire to "get revenge" on LLEN and help her with her mission to take down PITO. GGO's first season was a solid and entertaining side story that works great within the SAO franchise. Although it's not really a deep or enriching kind of story (if there is a moral lesson to be had, I suppose its a reminder not to take video games too seriously, but I also feel like that goes without saying), it is still something you can kick back and enjoy it for what it is. There are some weird, strange and even wild moments that'll take you aback, but I think it works well with the kind of story GGO set out to be: a fun, chaotic time! GGO also impressively doesn't need to completely rely on SAO or any of the original characters to tell its story and is able to stand on its own two feet well enough with its own story and characters. It truly doesn't feel like any of the main cast from SAO need to make a cameo in this story (although I won't lie, it would be kind of cool to see, but it's not necessary). If you liked SAO II's Phantom Gun Arc, you should feel right at home with GGO! I'm looking forward to what's in store for season 2 of this series!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 22, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
As someone who considers Sword Art Online overall to be "good, but maybe not top 10 good", I was blown away by Ordinal Scale. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this movie was Sword Art Online at its best. It had great action, a solid story, beautiful animation, great callbacks, on point humor, strong emotional beats, some good old fashioned fan service and most surprisingly: competently written antagonists! For a movie that's supposed to bridge SAO II to SAO Alicization and as someone who went into this movie with average expectations, I ended up enjoying this movie a ... lot more than I thought I would have. Ordinal Scale does a great job of channeling the nostalgia and vibes that SAO Aincrad had while also telling a new story that's more mature and providing a natural evolution for the characters. It didn't rely on SAO Aincrad's nostalgia alone to be successful, it's a movie that I believe stands on its own two legs. Speaking of the characters, the movie is mostly centered on Kirito and Asuna and I thought they were both phenomenal in this movie. The movie does a great job in balancing their sweet and wholesome moments with the times where they're in the thick of battle taking on the old Aincrad monsters. The old side characters: Kline, Silica, Lisbeth, Agil, and even the Leefa and Sinon, all had their moments in the spotlight and always felt involved in the plot. None of these characters ever felt forgotten or marginalized and a good balance was struck between them and the main characters. Although I think I'm in the minority as someone who personally enjoyed SAO II, I do think that if you're in the camp where you liked SAO Aincrad but did not like SAO II, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by this movie. The story of Ordinal Scale follows the introduction of a new VR technology called the "Augma" which blends real life reality with virtual reality. Kirito, playing the role of the "old school gamer", is reluctant to embrace the new tech while everyone is all in on it. What's immediately interesting about this new virtual reality system is that there are some good old fashioned "boss fights" which are ironically enough, from the old SAO Aincrad World and some of the old bosses do make a cameo appearance at some point in the movie while also introducing "new ones" that we never got to see in the SAO story. The leading player in this game is a guy named "Eiji" who is later revealed to be an SAO Survivor who went by "Nautilus" and was in the same guild as Asuna. However, it gets revealed that Eiji is targeting SAO Survivors, mainly to collect their memories of SAO so that he can use them to restore Yuna, who is essentially this world's Hatsune Miku, back to life as it's revealed that she also played SAO but sadly did not survive. He also partly does it out of petty revenge, feeling that he was "forgotten" as he was relatively uninvolved in the efforts to clear the game due to his crippling fear of death. Incidentally, it's through this fear that he got to meet and later fall in love with Yuna, who was a diva back in Aincrad and is later to be revealed as the daughter of the "true villain": Professor Tetsuhiro Shigemura, who developed the Augma. Coincidentally, Kayaba studied under Shigemura, so you know this has bad news written all over it. After Asuna is hurt during a boss fight, she begins to lose her memories of her time in Aincrad, which prompts Kirito to go on a mission to uncover the secrets of the Augma while he adjusts to the new style of the Augma, which is different from the full dive gear he's originally used to. The twist of the Augma is that, in addition to collecting memories from SAO Survivors, it ironically functions as a version of the very same NerveGear that originally trapped them (oh the irony!). It also gets revealed that Yuna's live concert is really just a mass harvesting operation to complete her "resurrection" back into life which could end up killing everyone there. Kirito, now comfortable using the Augma, defeats Eiji in a duel, and Yuna's AI intervenes to help save the cast. She then sends them to defeat the final boss of Ordinal Scale, which also happened to be the final boss in Aincrad. The main cast with the help of some friends defeat the final boss and return to the concert venue to clear out the remaining bosses while Yuna has her final concert. Shigemura is detained by Kikuoka, who in a post credit scene recruits him to Wrath who is responsible for Alicization. The final scene is a sweet scene between Kirito and Asuna, where under a starry night, Kirito gives Asuna a promise ring to mark the next milestone in their relationship. Overall, I thought the story of Ordinal Scale was solid. It blended the nostalgia and new content well together. The original cast, particularly Kirito and Asuna were solid. The new characters of Yuna, Eiji and Professor Shigemura were all tragic characters that were well written. You genuinely feel for each of them. Yuna is someone whose life was taken far sooner than it should have been, while Eiji and Professor Shigemura are driven by their grief of their loss of Yuna to act out in the way that they do with their plot with the Augma. In the whole SAO franchise, Eiji and Professor Shigemura are the most clearly written and best understood villains. While they might be considered average when compared to other villains in other franchises, for SAO which is a franchise that has always struggled to write compelling and interesting villains, this was their best work and it impressed me and to an extent I empathized with them. I also have to give props to their established beliefs that in addition to wanting to bring Yuna back, they think that ridding the SAO Survivors of their memories would be doing them a favor. This level of twisted sense of logic is not often seen in SAO's villains, so the writers truly outdid themselves this time. These characters aren't reinventions of the wheel, but for a story like this they didn't need to be. From a story perspective as well, I really loved that they finally got to "beat Aincrad" when they took on the final boss. This is something as a casual fan of SAO that I had always wanted to see, and this movie delivered on it. The fight was truly intense and hard-fought. It delivered on the spectacle that the final battle should've been and I loved every second of it! I also really liked the scene at the end where a second copy of the in-universe "SAO Report" gets published, featuring a line that pays tribute to Yuna and all the other "nameless" players. In a way, it felt like Eiji got his justice, though it's debatable to what extent he truly deserved it. All the same, it was a touching moment that gave closure to their story and reminded all of us that even the unseen players in SAO’s world had meaning. Especially the ones who didn't make it out. The production value of Ordinal Scale was also well done and up to par with the other SAO standards. I really enjoyed Yuna's singing during the boss battles and I particularly enjoyed her final song before she disappeared. It made for a truly impactful moment for her character in the story as she finally got to achieve her dream of singing before an audience, and it made me genuinely happy for her. Otherwise, the animation, the fight scenes and character designs were all what you should come to expect from an SAO work: top notch. I really loved the callback they did when Yui changed the main cast's outfits back to their Aincrad looks during the final boss fight. It was a sweet callback and I loved it. Even Yuuki, from Mother's Rosario in SAO II, made a brief appearance in spirit when Asuna was fighting the final boss! So with all my praise for this movie aside, I do need to address the obvious question: is this movie essential to watch before you get into Alicization? The answer to that is no. While there is a post credit scene that connects the movie to Alicization that I mentioned earlier, it's really more of a teaser. The movie does have relevance for a cameo in Alicization - War Of Underworld Part 2 in which it's Eiji and Yuna who show up during that battle for a cameo. I did not watch Ordinal Scale before I watched Alicization, so the cameo was lost on me the first time I watched it. Still, it was clear they were tied to Aincrad, which helped me follow the moment. However, in retrospect, it also doesn't make much sense to me why Eiji would back up Kirito considering Eiji was involved in a plot to steal SAO survivor's memories, but hey, redemption! While this movie isn't essential to watch before you go on to Alicization from SAO II, this movie is absolutely worth checking out. If you liked the Aincrad Arc but weren't the biggest fans of the second half of the first season or SAO II, I think this movie might serve as a bit of a course correction for you. It will make the fall off in Alicization hit harder perhaps, but Ordinal Scale is a great movie and I enjoyed it! In my opinion: Ordinal Scale is peak SAO and I think it's everything that fans of the series could ever truly ask for in an anime like SAO.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 20, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
I found Season 2 of Solo Leveling to be a fun and enjoyable continuation of the story. Even though it went how I expected (not a bad thing!), it still delivered plenty of thrilling, action-packed moments and grand visual spectacles. The fights were phenomenal and beautifully animated, though at times they moved a little too fast to follow. There were some genuinely powerful emotional beats, like Jin-Woo curing his mother or saving Hae-In with Byung-Gyu’s soul. However, I found the real highlight of the season to be the introduction of a new character: Esil. Sure, she's only a side character in one ... episode, something about a demon princess just works for me. No, I will not be elaborating on that. But beyond her character design, I did like her quirky personality and she had a cool moment of stepping in to save Jin-Woo during perhaps really the only time in the season that he was in serious danger of losing, allowing her to somewhat come full circle after she tried to sneakily kill him during their first meeting. I do hope she comes back later in future seasons and plays a bigger role. I'm not expecting her to be the girl Jin-Woo chooses (if the anime decides to even go down that route, personally at this point I think it'll be Hae-In), but for now, she's my best girl of the anime. The production value of this season was just as good as it was in the first season. I thought A-1 Pictures did a solid job and they handled the larger scale fight scenes pretty well. The new OP, "Reawaken" was also great. Although I think I personally like season 1's OP more, LiSA did a stellar job with "Reawaken" and the animation we got for it was a banger. They also nailed the creepy vibe with the outro with "Un-Apex" which I'm pretty sure is symbolic of Jin-Woo's original self being "dead" or something along those lines. It is ironically enough touched upon in the episode Jin-Woo's mother returns home and how he feels he's changed after taking human lives back in season 1 (which was done in self-defense), so maybe that'll become a focal point down the line. Outside of Jin-Woo, I really liked the Island Raid Arc! It was cool that the anime brought in Hunters from foreign countries (in this case, Japan and later China for a brief scene in the season's finale), and the epic battle that followed between the hunters and the ants over the course of the season's final episodes. It was an exciting battle, and the anime made the raid feel like it had real global stakes. Especially with the ants evolving and the introduction of a new "super ant" that would come to be known as Beru. The anime had been building this since season 1 and I felt like it delivered well. It was great to see the other characters, such as Hae-In, Jong-In and Yoonho, display the full extent of their powers. It also didn't feel like that they or any of the other S rank hunters, were completely invincible. In fact, this arc showed us that S rank or not, they were still mortal. Many struggled, and even died during this arc, mostly due to Beru. Speaking of Jin-Woo, who I will be going into more detail here shortly, there is something I feel like I have to defend him on. Although I'm not sure how big of a deal this actually was: during the release of the "controversial" Episode 9, apparently people were upset that Jin-Woo had an emotional reaction to resuscitating his mother after she wakes up from her coma after giving her the Elixir of Life. I'll go into that specific moment more for why I think it might be an issue from a grander story perspective later, but Jin-Woo's reaction wasn't the issue. If anything, it was on-brand and it made sense. I think too many people who watch this show get too caught up in Jin-Woo's "edgy" personality and his "aura farming" moments, which don't get me wrong are cool moments and help make him who he is, I think critics forget why Jin-Woo was doing all this in the first place. He was doing this to support his family and once he finds out there is a possibility that he can resuscitate his mother, that reasonably becomes his entire focus for a majority of the anime. While it is undeniable that Jin-Woo has changed in more ways than one since the story of the anime began, deep down the only thing that has remained consistent is his love for his family. So when he cured his mother from her coma, what should he have done? Pull a "Giga-Chad" moment and just walk away silently? Give me a break. Jin-Woo's reaction wasn't anything over the top and felt understandably reasonable in that moment. It was one of the most emotional moments in the entire anime, and while I can understand how it can hit different for certain people, from a character perspective the scene was golden. It had me empathizing with Jin-Woo, and I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of him (to be clear, I don't dislike him, I generally like his character.) To go off on a bit of a side tangent here, this whole situation with Jin-Woo "acting like a cuck beta" in that moment reminds me of how people saw Eren Yeager throughout Season 4 of Attack on Titan, when he became "a based giga chad" when he decided to do The Rumbling, but then those same people pretty much turned on him when he had that emotional breakdown to Armin in The Paths and revealed that he loved Mikasa all along as well as saying how much he'll miss her (I have my own issues with that scene that I covered in my review for AOT), but the point is: Eren's "based" persona was largely a front that people actually bought into when he really wasn't that. I don't think Jin-Woo is faking his personality, it seems like it's organic and genuinely molded through his experiences and a possible side effect of his growing power melting away his old self, but underneath all that he's still very much human and that's what people forget. Eren and Jin-Woo, deep down, are still their original selves. With that out of the way, I thought the rest of the story for this season pretty much hit all the notes I predicted back in my review for season 1: Hae-In is starting to fall for Jin-Woo and Jin-Woo will be roped into the Island Raid story arc. There weren't too many surprises for me in this season other than the reveal of Jin-Woo's father which made for a pretty cool reveal and some hints sprinkled in about the all-powerful and mysterious "system" but I'll admit that this season largely went the way I thought it would. It was still cool to see those moments happen, but I do have a slight concern that the anime could start to become a little *too predictable*. As much as I enjoy being right, I don't mind an occasional subversion of expectations! While I did enjoy season 2 very much, I do think this season revealed a problem that I think most power scale fantasies run into: the main character is too strong. Too be frank, other than maybe the Demon King fight in which Jin-Woo was fighting to get the Elixir of Life so that he can cure his mother, I didn't seriously think there was any battle in which Jin-Woo was in serious danger or could lose. Even then, I wasn't expecting Jin-Woo to die to the Demon King. At worst I thought if he lost, he'd escape and vow to return in the future even stronger than he already is. The story might have made a misstep by having Jin-Woo revive his mother too early (and I'm not sure how long the entire Solo Leveling story is truly going to be, but it feels like maybe they could have saved a potential re-match and reunion with his mother for the anime finale, but perhaps the creators have something else in mind). The only other fight where Jin-Woo had to put forth some level of effort was his fight against Beru, and even then I wasn't expecting Jin-Woo to lose. I also didn't think Beru would die or be Shanghaied into Jin-Woo's growing shadow army, which, while a cool moment, brings me back to my original point: is Jin-Woo too powerful now? Since Jin-Woo is now level 100, unless the system allows him to grow even stronger than he already is (which is something I'm not sure how they can justify doing considering all he's done pretty much single-handily over the course of two seasons now), and with his growing Shadow Army which has a number of powerful heavy hitters, I don't think it'd be unreasonable to assume that Jin-Woo could take over the world if he wanted to. I don't expect him to pull an Eren Yeager any time soon, but I think this season has now made him unstoppable, and the only way I feel he'll be seriously challenged (if the story even does going forward), is by introducing a new ridiculous level of higher difficulty. The only other possible way I think Jin-Woo could be challenged is if he runs into someone who has similar or exact powers (either the ability to get stronger through the mysterious system or have their own version of a Shadow Army, or both). Maybe the story will introduce an antagonist with those abilities or some power that truly rival Jin-Woo's, but my concern is going forward that the fights are going to start getting stale if Jin-Woo is just able to blaze over his opponents with little to no difficulty. Perhaps his father or the two mysterious figures we saw at the end of the finale will have those abilities, it's too soon to say for sure. Overall, I do think the grand scale of season 2, as well as everything Jin-Woo and the other characters accomplished (plus the introduction of Esil), is enough for me to say that season 2 improves enough on season 1 to warrant a rating bump from 8 to 9, but I will consider it a rather weak 9 with some red flags for the anime going forward. I'm curious how Solo Leveling will tackle these concerns going forward, but I'm excited for season 3!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 23, 2025 Mixed Feelings Spoiler
*Spoiler Warning*
Rascal Does Not Dream of A Bunny Girl Senpai (which I'll be referring to as Bunny Girl Senpai throughout this review as I'm too lazy to type out the entire title repeatedly) had all the ingredients for me to enjoy it: an attractive female character in a bunny girl outfit, said female character is something of a dominatrix, and it tells the story of how a relatively wholesome romance develops between two characters while also teaching the viewer some important life lessons about puberty. While I can understand why others would enjoy this anime and give it glowing reviews, for me personally I ... found Bunny Girl Senpai to be a bit underwhelming. I didn't think it was a bad anime, but for everything that it had to work with I was expecting more. The major thing that held this anime back for me was the over-convolution of "puberty syndrome". At its core, the show defines this as a supernatural phenomenon that affects the characters brought on by their psychological trauma from either some sort of identity crisis or horrific event. This phenomenon can cause all sorts of things to occur such as including but probably not limited to: the world around you literally ignoring your presence as if you were invisible, being forced to relive the same day for an extended period of time, having physical injuries magically appear on your body, swapping bodies with another person, a cloned version of yourself appearing, developing amnesia and your personality replaced by an age regressed version of yourself, or straight up hallucinating about the existence of another person. What I took issue with was the in story explanation of why puberty syndrome would occur with the various characters. Every time one of the aforementioned examples occurs, the main character, Sakuta, would go to his nerdy friend, Rio (I'll admit at first I thought she was a teacher before figuring out a few episodes in that she was actually a student), who would explain these phenomena using *quantum physics*. I didn't mind that the puberty syndrome occurrences were explained and I would prefer that they were explained, but the explanations themselves felt a little over complicated at times (and that's putting aside the fact that I'm not sure if the examples used were actually examples of quantum physics, but I'm far from an expert in that field so I wouldn't know the difference). It would've been fine if quantum physics was used as a tool for explaining the plot maybe once or twice, but it was used in almost every instance and Rio's explanations would have me scratching my head trying to understand what the hell she was even saying. I came to watch an anime girl in a bunny suit, not a lecture on quantum physics. If I did, I'd watch "That one time I got reincarnated as a scientist and I have a Science Fair in 3 days" (it's not a real anime, I'm joking here). The irony of all this is outside the OP, Mai, the face of this anime, is only dressed in her bunny outfit twice by my count. So a little bit of a false advertisement here.... Outside of that, there were a number of smaller grievances that I have with Bunny Girl Senpai that I'll lay out: -The English Dub was not that great. Sakuta and Mai, the two main characters of the anime, felt pretty monotone throughout the course of the anime. I thought the VAs themselves were fine choices for the characters, but there wasn't a whole lot of inflection in their voices throughout many of the episodes. Now there were times where they did show emotion and they did fine in those instances but for the most part they sounded pretty flat to me. The side characters had more variety in their vocals than the main characters and I wouldn't say that's a good sign... -I didn't find Sakuta to be all that great of an MC. Now while I didn't believe he was badly written, he's probably what you could consider your average harem MC: pretty bland personality, has all these beautiful girls clamoring for him, and kind of plays the miracle worker role which I'll put an asterisk on. He certainly helps the girls solve their various issues brought on by puberty syndrome and their underlying darker issues, but what is nice is that he doesn't actually solve their problems for them but rather steers them in the right direction so that they can overcome their issues. Other than the fact that he cracks crude jokes here and there which I did find to be funny, for the most part he's pretty standard for your average Rom Com MC, just with a dash of EMO and light on the degeneracy. He honestly reminds me of Ayanokoji from Classroom of The Elite, but not as much of a genius, not really manipulative and capable of feeling emotions. -I do think the romance between Mai and Sakuta was a little rushed. While I generally thought the pacing in this anime was actually pretty good all around, Mai and Sakuta getting together felt a little too sudden. In the first three episodes, Sakuta goes from discovering that he can see Mai when nobody else can, to for all intents and purposes being in a relationship with her. I can understand why the characters would develop feelings for each other (in Sakuta's case, attraction), but it felt like their relationship happened a little too fast. Otherwise, I do think the characters are a great pairing for each other and they have good chemistry. I also do think their "fight" in the final episode was also a little unnecessary and forced, and it was all a means to try to get the anime to end on a wholesome note by them making up. I honestly think they should've kissed in the final scene but the cheek pinch is also pretty on brand with their relationship. -If there was one missed opportunity for this anime to explore something was the relationship between Yuuma, Sakuta's best friend, and Yuuma's girlfriend, Saki. All the other side characters got a little arc to themselves to explore the themes with their problems and the underlying issues, but Yuuma's and Saki's relationship isn't ever portrayed as being super healthy from an outsider's perspective. Throughout the anime, Saki clashes with Sakuta, wanting him to stay away from Yuuma due to the false "hospitalization incident", and during Rio's time in the spotlight it gets revealed that Yuuma and Saki aren't speaking to each other due to a fight. While Rio selflessly sacrifices herself to tell Yuuma to fix things with Saki in spite of telling him her own feelings for him, I definitely think that this was something the anime should've covered. Bunny Girl Senpai already talked about a lot of important issues that people going through puberty experience such as bullying, relationships with family, self-confidence, etc., and while the anime does cover romance it's really only ever shown through a positive lens. I get that there's only so many episodes to go around but at the same time the anime subjected us to the "ground hog day" treatment with Tomoe in two separate episodes, so... Now my grievances aside, this anime does have some rewarding traits. It does a good job of describing the issues that you get to deal with during puberty and gives some solid advice and inspiration on how to potentially overcome them. This anime is filled with plenty of those scenes doing just that and were certainly the emotional highlights. Aside from the underwhelming voice acting, the production value was pretty good. I thought the art style, character design, animation and music were all solid. I liked the OP and thought "Kimi no Sei" was an enjoyable OP and I thought the outro, "Fukashigi no Carte" was a good song as well. I really liked how they'd change the outro scene up depending on the arc it was in. First the outro featured Mai before going on to featuring all the other female characters like Rio, Kaede, Tomoe and Nodoka depending on which of them the episode was about. I thought that was a nice touch and their respective characters would also be singing the song and the scene would be slightly changed up as well. That's a level of detail I can always appreciate. For the story side of the anime, while I generally thought it was "okay with flashes of good" the entire time, I do think Kaede's arc in the final few episodes were the best in the anime. There was something inspiring about Sakuta helping and inspiring Kaede, whose puberty syndrome effects were amnesia and age regression, to overcome her fears of the outside world and helping her to step outside of her comfort zone and all the other characters helping her in their own way. That was anime and Sakuta at their best and I felt for the guy when Kaede got her memories back. I thought Bunny Girl Senpai should've been better given what it had to work with, but the execution was lackluster in too many key areas for me to ever give this anime an endorsement. That said, the anime was enjoyable enough for me to continue watching and see how it ended more than me being on the edge of my seat wondering with anticipation of what would happen next. Bunny Girl Senpai has some redeeming qualities with the message it sends along with some of its humor and emotional moments, but outside of that the anime just didn't "wow" me. There's some glaring flaws that hold it back from me giving it a higher rating with the plot being over convoluted with quantum physics, underwhelming performances from the main voice actors, and some story elements that didn't have the best execution. Bunny Girl Senpai is certainly an interesting romance anime with a blend of supernaturalism to it, but it didn't do enough for me to say it's better than other romance anime like Toradora, Love is War, My Dress-Up Darling, Your Lie in April, and even newer ones like Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian. I can rank it above other certain romance anime I've watched because at least this anime teaches something of genuine value and doesn't veer into abject degeneracy. Now, I will say if I do have the opportunity to ever watch the sequel movie, I would since the anime did also generate enough curiosity with me to want to learn more about Sakuta's and Shouko's relationship and get the answer as to what her whole deal is, but as of this writing I don't believe the movie is available in the U.S. where I'm currently at. Honestly I think this best sums up my feelings towards this anime: I liked it enough to continue watching it, but not enough to the point where I could say it's better than most other romance anime I've watched or could ever give it a ringing general endorsement. I could recommend it if you're really into the romance genre or perhaps you need inspiration with a personal struggle, but outside of that, I'd struggle to give it much praise. The "fine" rating also pretty much sums up my feelings as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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