Story: Back in the world of DAL, we are thrusted back to Tenguu City, the place where our main protagonist of the DAL series, Shidou is given yet another dilemma regarding Spirits, otherworldly spirits that bear the power of angels and, through the magic of harem anime, can only be sealed and defeated peacefully with the power of a kiss. Now, with the looming threat of a gigantic sphere in the sky looming over the city in a crater he calls home, he must once again go on a date with all of the girls that he has previously conquered in order to avert the ball of energy that rises high in the sky. (Trust me, it makes a lot more sense in the movie than it does here.)
Like its parent story, Mayuri Judgment has what I can only describe as the same story basis as the rest of the series up to this point (Meaning, seasons 1 and 2, or everything up to Miku Truth, if you're reading the LN.) which is a lot of dates. Hey, it ain't called Date a Live for nothing. As the movie is practically all dates for the entire hour and twelve minutes that this movie is, the movie comes equipped with its own doubled edged sword.
Since the entire series is basically just dates with the main girls of the series, anything that really has anything to do with Mayuri, the title spirit of this particular movie, is really next to nothing. And that's really the biggest kicker. Because the movie is set up in a way where her importance only really comes in later, anything that has to do with her really has no weight on the movie as a whole. You don't really get much if any quality time with her and it really kicks the idea of having a movie based around her, even if the explanation given does make sense in context to the series.
On the flipside, since the show focuses on the dates with six of the main girls in the series, a lot of character refreshment or moments really shine through. With each date, the personality of each girl featured shines through and gives each of them a little bit of time devoted to them. Each date is reflective of each girl's personality complete with their own individual quirks and is honestly just a nice refresher for getting back into the series. Plus, you get a really nice fight scene at the end with all of those wonderful, wonderful character designs.
In the end, DAL Mayuri Judgment is a double edged blade to itself. It doesn't feature the title girl of the series all that much within its entire runtime, leading to a rather rushed and somewhat cliched end. Yet, even so, what we do get is return characterization, showing us most of the girls one by one on who they are, what their quirks are, and what this series has to offer.
Overview:
+ Refresher to the series
+ Dedicated moments for the majority of the returning cast
- Barely features or devotes time to the title character
- Rushed and unsatisfactory end
Characters: Honestly, there really isn't much to say about the characters. All but Mayuri are returning cast members so there really isn't much to say about them. As I have stated before, most of the 'harem members' of the series (i.e. Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku, Kotori, and Yoshino) have devoted time to them since they all go on a date with Shidou individually.
And then we have the real kicker, Mayuri. Mayuri herself is someone who appears 17 times in the movie before saying her first goddamn line. (I counted; I know this to be true.) There really isn't much to her character than to be a plot device. There isn't much characterization about her (if any) and just feels flat. There honestly isn't much to say about her simply because everyone only meets her for about 10-20 minutes at what is basically the end of the whole movie, and that's during the epic fight scene.
Overview:
+ Return of the old cast in good form
+ Focused moments for the girls of the series
- Zero characterization on the title character
Art: Like its previous iterations, Mayuri Judgment was produced by Production IMS. Coming with that studio comes along the beautiful artwork for the Date a Live series. Complete with all of the beautiful and well designed Astral Dresses and well produced art, Date a Live never ceases to bring forth consistent quality and visuals.
In addition, for this movie in particular, IMS created a CGI monstrosity known as Cherubim, and, despite my usage of the word 'monstrosity', it's actually rather nicely made. Despite being made from CG, Cherubim fits with what is going on with the scenes that it's in and showcases just how stunning this series can look when it wants to. (Oh yeah, and Tohka gets a new design, and it's really nice.)
Overview:
+ Good, consistent art
+ CGI thing looks and fits well with what is going on
Sound: When it comes to DAL, the soundtrack is an aesthetic that really shines for the series. With previous seasons having songs sung by bands like Sweet Arms in addition to really nicely composed battle music, Mayuri Judgment brings a good chunk of those tracks back during sections of the movie.
In addition, the movie introduces a new, original ED song for the credits called 'Invisible Date' sung by Sweet Arms. Similar to the other OP/ED tracks of the series, this track bears in resemblance to them by having a majestic and overall nice tone to the song that is what I consider to be very memorable. (And that's not just because I have listened to the song several dozen times.)
Overview:
+ Return of tracks from the series
+ New track that holds up the standard for music in this series
Personal Enjoyment: Alright, Date a Live is a series I really, really, really, really, really, really like. Really. It's a series that combines some of my favorite genres in anime complete with an intriguing story and nice aesthetics. I could go on and on, so to shorten it, I like this series a lot, and seeing a movie for it, an original one might I add at the end of the second season made me squeal. (Not really, but yeah...kinda.)
Did I like this movie?
Yep. I enjoyed it. The rushed end didn't bother me cause stuff like that is standard fare for this series (still not forgiving the 10 episode runtime of season 2) and honestly, because it's just more of Date a Live, I can't not say that I despised it. Because the movie was basically just Date a Live in a nutshell, there really isn't much criticism based off of my personal feelings simply because that is what the series is about.
What didn't I like about this movie?
The biggest gripe is Mayuri. You introduce a new character that's in the title of the movie, is supposed to play a main part in the movie, and it listed as a main character. And ya don't use her. See anything wrong here?
Would I recommend this movie?
Honestly, if you're as big as a DAL fan as I am and don't really give two shits about the flaws, then what are you still doing here reading this? GO! GO YOU FOOLS! On the other hand, if you're someone who has watched DAL and isn't as gung-ho about the series, then watch it if you want to. As mentioned before, it's basically DAL, it's got the same plotline, same characters, and is really just a refresher for the series before season 3. (Which at the time of this review, I hope happens.) So really, this movie is just to service the fans of the show. But when has that ever really been a bad thing, eh?
