Reviews

Jun 18, 2014
Ah, surprises. Don't we all love them? Whether good or bad, they always add something in our life - something that spices it up and moves it out of the monotone stillness we are ever so used to.

Good surprises are common, and usually with very little significance attached to them. However, a slight surprise can put a smile on your face and leave you in awe of our large world.

When I first started watching this series, I expected a typical shouen that would keep me entertained for a while. I really liked the magic system present in this show, along with its impeccable execution. This is why I kept watching, despite lowering my rating to 6/10 during the first half, and dismissing it as your average shouen, with no real content or anything memorable...
This however, slowly changed during the second half. Things started to pick up their pace quickly and kept me watching, sitting on the edge of my seat. The second half of this show saved it, and made it worth the watch in every way possible. This show let me enjoy myself in a way I haven't for a long time now, and I can reassuringly say that it was one of the best "feeling packed" shows I've ever watched.

Read on to see my views on the characters, sound, animation, story and the overall "feel" of this show.

STORY: 7/10

Firstly, the story of this show is nothing spectacular. In essence, it is about a person who is supposed to be the incarnation of a military prodigy - nothing new, and it has been done before.
However, the way it is executed in the show makes for a feeling packed ride that is very memorable. It's hard to say more without spoiling so I'll just end my opinion with this:

"A slightly generic story turned interesting and further redeemed by avoidance of typical shouen moments."

Now that the story is out of the way, I'm free to elaborate freely on every other aspect of the show without worrying about spoilers :)

ART: 9/10

The art in this show was nothing short of amazing. The character designs felt fresh and fit the characters' personalities perfectly.

Apart from this, the effect design for the various spells used by the characters were literally spot on. From the growing roots, to the raging fire and instantaneous flowing rivers, the mood and feel of the spells was completely captured and portrayed to the viewers perfectly.
You would never look at the screen and say to yourself "wow, for talking so much that sure is a weak looking spell". Even the simple "paper" spells seem to be executed well, it's as if the "paper" is given command and as a living being is executing it.

The use of CG might be off-turning for people, but I personally didn't mind it. The only use of CG was for animating Machine - like beings, which fit perfectly well. Similarly to how Berserker was incorporated in to Fate/zero, the CG doesn't make you feel like anything is out of place.
Personally, watching traditionally animated robots is a bit weird to me, as no matter how hard you try it's near impossible to achieve the feeling of machinery without putting too much time in to it.

One more thing I feel obliged to mention, is the backgrounds. They were absolutely BREATHTAKING and I would even compare them to kara no kyoukai. There was absolutely no scene with a dull background with a deficiency of details... My eyes always had places to look at to notice all of the details and, honestly, it was a pleasure to look at.

SOUND: 10+

This is largely personal preference, but the sound completely captivated me. I always felt as if the sound fit the scenes perfectly, from the abstract whistling sound when Suzuka first appeared to the catchy poprock-esque themes present in the battles.
Sometimes there was pure silence, and it was appropriate for the situation.

The voice actors did a great job imo, and the voices never felt out of place. This added to my immersion in the show and helped me relate to the characters in many ways. The only voice that slightly bothered me was the voice of Kyouko's father, but that's a minor "flaw" based purely on taste.

The openings gave you a decent taste of the show, and the endings did well to close off the feeling packed rides and get you excited for the future events.

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to various tracks from the show and I'm enjoying them fully! ^_^

CHARACTERS: 9/10

This show had a fairly large cast of characters, and even if all of them weren't fully developed, they still had their progression and enough time to shine.
To add on to this, none of the characters fit a certain stereotype and no character was annoying, irritating or just plain out badly written. In essence what I'm trying to say is that all the characters were bearable and worked as a whole really, really well.

A few honorable mentions I personally really liked were:

Our main character, your typical shouen hot head (kind of) who developed so much, even before the miraculous "power up". Also, he had a high level of maturity which is nowhere to be seen in your usual shouen main character.

The homeroom teacher, though I can't explain why due to spoilers.

Kyouko, for being a mature friend and her adult like behaviour in the (emotionally) intense situations and times where a typical character would've just cried dramatically.

Natsume, for trying her hardest and her bravery. Also what I said about Kyouko.

Suzuka, for her gradual development and evolution in to a normal girl...

I really could mention so many here since all of them (well, with SOME exceptions) were special in their own way, kudos to the writer for coming up with these characters and designing them in a realistic way without slapping a bunch of stereotypes on to them.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10

I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed this anime much, much more than I thought I would and I feel confident enough to recommend it to anyone reading this review!
This anime just made me feel excited, didn't leave me sad or mad about certain parts of the ending, didn't leave a bittersweet taste in my mouth and never made me facepalm at certain events.
I laughed, I felt sad for characters at times, felt happy for them at other times and was cheering and watching in awe as the show unraveled.
I truly had fun watching it, and simply because of this reason I believe it to be a gem in the rough that needs to be discovered by everyone out there!

OVERALL: 8/10

As much as I loved this anime, it pains me to say that it had a fair share of flaws, mostly present in the first half... The critic in me (assuming I went out and pointed out every little flaw and didn't factory enjoyment and immersion whatsoever) would say the score of this show is hovering around 6.5/10, however factoring in the fun and enjoyment, the lovable cast, the amazing art and music.. I feel as it's deserving of a 9/10.

Despite my mixed feelings on this, I've decided it's a safe bet to rate the show as 8/10 which I figure most people can agree on.
It's not a masterpiece, it's not a one of a kind show... but it's good and nobody can deny that. It's simply that, good and there is no other way for me to explain it.

I don't know what to recommend to you if you liked this show, apart from maybe Kara no Kyoukai or Fate/Zero due to the similar approach to the magic systems.

If you're a fan of the music of this show, I'd point you towards the To Aru series.

I believe no other show really manages to achieve the "feel" of this show, which is why I can't truly recommend something.

FINAL VERDICT:

If you don't watch this show, you won't be missing out on the masterpiece of the year. You will be, however, missing out on a lot of potential fun that might just brighten up your day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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