The premise is nonsense, but not without hope. The why’s are unimportant. The premise forces a non-violent solution to defeat an enemy, and one that relies on character interaction. This forces the creators to make the Spirits into actual characters instead of an ‘unknown enemy’. It also means they have to write actual character interactions, instead of just making a light show of explosions.
It does work, for the most part. The Spirits are all vastly different, and quirky in their own ways. Some of them may seem cliche on the surface, like Yoshinon’s shy girl antics. They do make them weird and silly enough to make them memorable. There are plenty of fun fish-out-of-water moments with Tohka. There’s also Tokisaki, who’s a great antagonist with a weird modus operandi and an atmosphere of real danger. The show also has some moments which satirize dating sims, and they’re brilliant whenever they appear.
[b]Date A Live[/b] also has a unique relationship to violence. There are some explosions for the hungry, but its view of violence is very different. In most action films, we’re encouraged to cheer for violence and to enjoy seeing people get hurt. It’s not that we’re told to enjoy the suffering of others. We’re told to ignore it, so we could enjoy a beautiful, violent dance.
[b]Date A Live[/b] acknowledges that violence is pretty awful. It’s not just in Origami’s dull, “My parents were killed so know I’m an avenger”. Characters are afraid of killing others. Characters can’t remain indifferent to violence. [b]Evangelion[/b] created alien enemies which looked nothing like us. It was easy to look at their deaths. [b]Date A Live[/b] admits that enemies are humans and asks if there’s a better. It’s a pretty uncommon response to the aestheticization of violence in media. It’s even less common in shows like this.
That’s pretty heavy. Don’t mistake [b]Date A Live[/b] for more than a light-hearted romp. Nevertheless, this attitude towards violence sure helps raise the series a little, and makes it more fun.
Just as its willing to turn that format upside down, it’s also neck deep in Harem cliches.
Why do series’s like this create a fun, quirky cast of female characters only to have the male lead dull? Shido’s given a little more to do. It feels like he can be a good character. Yet, has no personality to speak of. He does what is right just because it’s convenient to the plot, but that’s it.
There were so many things you could do with him. He could have been a megalomaniac who enjoys the attention. He could be a neurotic, like [b]Evangelion[/b]’s Shinji. He could be a White Knight who’s overdoing it. All of which would have added plenty of more comedic moments. Yet, he’s just a convenient tool to move the plot with less depth than an FPS character. This is one series that deserved so much.
Since the male lead has no personality, the romance is also not that exciting. Seeing a man having to juggle three girls could be fun. It’d work here because the series gives them a little more to do, but Shido is nothing. The girls fall for him mostly because it’s convenient. If love was so convenient, it wouldn’t be a staple in the arts. There was also no reason for Origami to be a part of the harem. It added nothing.
[b]Date A Live[/b] falls too much into cliches to be great. When it’s good, though, it’s better than another anime where the only effort is in the character design. It’s a lot bolder than it looks, and turns the nonsencial premise to more than a punchline. If you can stomach the occasional cliche harem, there’s good entertainment to be found here.
3 dates out of 5
