This is one season where deja vu is the norm in the action-based harem genre. Asterisk is ridiculously close in plot progression to what I'll call its sister show Chivalry. As I'm too lazy to list out the enormous list of similarities, I'll try to instead point out the few differences as we go through the paces of the review. Overall, as mentioned elsewhere, though the harems of the season are a little too similar for comfort, each is pretty good in its own right and above average in general. That said, this particular is rather weak in the romantic aspect so if that's what you want in your harems, look elsewhere.
Animation:
Whereas Chivalry attempts a unique style and flair, Asterisk utilizes a clean and futuristic setting. The entire show is bathed in light blues, pinks, and purples - nothing stands out as overly-harsh or saturated. Likewise, there is a futuristic feel to everything as holographics pop up everywhere and weapons materialize as lightsaber-like instruments. Backgrounds are often blurred, but when they're not they show a super-modern city complete with lots of greenery and cobble-stoned streets. The characters are pretty good, I'd say even one step up from Chivalry in terms of style and facial animation. The show gets extra props from me as well for making the student uniforms match the feel of the city and for actually drawing robots rather than relying on ugly CGI; though it's not entirely free of CGI and some of it is really terrible early on when animating unimportant students. The show also uses visual-novel style episode previews, which is rather unique.
There is plenty of fighting in this show, and like Chivalry, you'll see a good mix of close ranged melee as well as ranged magic spamming. Effects are nicely done and attacks are varied and well choreographed. Expect a bit of blood though nothing as serious as either Chivalry or Testament. As for ecchi, this is by far the lightest of the genre. There are scenes of accidental exposure but otherwise it's all rather innocent. You won't even get too much in the kissing department relative to other shows in the season.
Sound:
The sound is quite good and appropriate for the setting. The show opens with an energetic, electric-infused OP and ends with a mesmerizing and melodic piece by Maaya Sakamoto who unfortunately doesn't have a voice role. The show often uses a theatric-style fade in to the ED, which readers of my reviews know is a major weakness of mine. The BGM honestly could be better in terms of theme, but does have a few electronic-infused pieces that fit the bill, some of which are pretty recognizable after a few episodes. Expect a lot of sound effects to go with all the technology in the show, though I do believe the lightsaber sounds are a bit over the top.
The voice talent is pretty strong here with Ai Kakuma voicing the lead heroine, a bit more personality compared to her role in Amagi Brilliant Park. Ari Ozawa is still growing in terms of experience but her voice is a great fit for Kirin's shy personality. Nao Touyama is probably the most famous of the VAs here though at least for this season she's more of a tease character; she demonstrates great range here, a strong departure from her voice as Chitoge in Nisekoi. I do find it funny that she also voices a main role in Chivalry concurrently and wonder if she noticed the plot similarity. Last but not least, Chinatsu Akasaki plays a minor role but as a very playful character, and her interpretation definitely elevates the character above what one would expect. Overall, expect a strong sound presentation from this show.
Story:
Whereas Chivalry has an almost desperate air with the protagonist at risk of being kicked out at any moment, the pacing in Asterisk is a lot less tense. There's ample room for comedic moments as well as very light romantic tension. I do feel that the exposition of the setting is a tad weak compared to the other harems of the season, not much is explained about the Strike The Blood-like island and only hints are given about why the world now revolves around a bunch of teenagers fighting each other in some tournament.
In any case, the story is divided roughly into three arcs where Ayato encounters a different adversary. First up is our tsundere princess, who doesn't lose outright to Ayato unlike in Chivalry. The second arc revolves around the school's number one fighter, Kirin- who happens to still be thirteen despite her ridiculous proportions. The last arc is the actual tournament and focuses on the vampire scythe user Urzaiz. Mixed in with all of this are pieces surrounding Ayato's blue-haired childhood friend Yuki Nonaka er... Saya Sasamiya. Each arc has its own rising action and climax and some even have semi-filler episodes to cool off (see the ones titled "A Holiday for Two"). The final arc's tournament climax is a bit too similar to that in Chivalry for my taste; to further the parallel, both shows also don't actually finish the tournament. In this case, the show heaps anticipation about the next season with all parties hinting on how to expect great surprises.
Compared to Chivalry, I think this story played it rather safe. There isn't as much tension with the characters and relationships are pretty bare minimum. The show differentiates itself by building on the technological aspect despite not actually explaining how anything works. Nonetheless, it is still an interesting show in its own right with lots of engaging battles and a few good laughs.
Character:
This is probably where this show differs the most from Chivalry. Whereas Chivalry had a great primary herione and junk supporting characters, this show has an average protagonist pair with some outstanding additional supporting characters.
Let's start with our protagonist, Ayato. Unlike Ikki in Chivalry, he is gifted with unfathomable power at the onset and is only restricted by some unexplained curse cast by his sister. He is by far the weakest of the harem protagonists in the season, I mean come on he can't even properly turn down the multiple approaches by the student council president. Our princess Riessfeld doesn't fare much better either. She's proud and arrogant but is virtually unable to make any progress with Ayato throughout the show, a complete disappointment from a romance perspective and a far cry from what you see in the other harems in the season.
However, the show does make up some ground with the large yet strong group of supporting characters. Saya is a rather low-energy childhood friend who specializes in weapons, her attacks remind me humorously of Virtue Gundam and its slow yet overwhelming attacks. Kirin is in my mind the strongest character in the show, having both a thorough development and a strong personality. The semi-harem is rounded out by the student council president Claudia, who emits both powerful and mysterious auras that draws the viewer in.
The show has a fairly extensive list of supporting characters, not surprising given that there are six separate factions in the tournaments. What makes this show stand out here is its development of these antagonist forces; significant development time is given to antagonists to give encounters deeper meaning. This is a fair improvement over Chivalry and a huge positive over the joke tournament in Testament Burst. This will hopefully pay dividends in the sequel, as they don't have to spend as much development time there.
Value:
Asterisk definitely has a unique style, despite being a virtual mirror image of other harems in terms of certain plot elements. While the plot was a bit too safe to be anything close to innovative, the unique setting, strong sound presentation, and strong supporting characters help to keep the viewer interested. Despite the disappointingly weak protagonist pair, I think the show still came across as entertaining and am looking forwards to the next season. Reiterating from my other reviews for the seasons' action-based harems, they're all similar but all above average, you can't go wrong with either of them. Testament is the one for those looking for the greatest ecchi, Chivalry for the strongest heroine and most angst, and Asterisk for strongest supporting cast and most unique setting.
