So now that that little piece, that only people who watched the show already would understand completely, is out of the way let's think up an opening statement for The Asterisk War......
I got nothing. Let's just hit it.
Story: 7
Lightsaber dueling academies duking it out in a massive tournament. Sounds like my kind of town. This is the scene of our main protagonist Ayato (I-ya-toe). You knew exactly what these guys had in store when the first thing he does on screen is go to do a gentlemanly act and ends up catching a female lead in the middle of getting dressed and staring for three seconds too long. Said female lead is named Julis (U-lis) and she immediately wants him dead while at the same time owes him for his good deed. One would think the two cancel out but who am I to suggest logic. They have a quick duel that proves they are both strong but get interrupted by the student council prez Claudia. She takes him to her office where to admits there was really no reason to stop the match, but she wanted him alone anyways. Sounds like my kind of chick. From there Ayato plans on partnering with Julis in this big lightsaber, tag-team, duel tournament.
I mean there is something to this anime that keep me invested story wise. It may just be me wanting to see this tournament and the aftermath of it all or maybe it is just the characters and how they react to each other, like in most ecchi/harem animes. Either way, I watched most of this show on a binge night of insomnia and came out satisfied thus far so I have no major complaints. One thing that was always on my mind during the whole thing was who the antagonist was since the show just loved playing stage magician and tried to make us guess between the shady characters lined up before us. In the end, in it ended up being weakness itself. I'll let you figure it out from there or just watch the anime. It doesn't really have too much that brings it down but then again it doesn't really break any new ground either. It also re-affirms my earlier statement. As a whole, it is a good story, but not one that really draws people in. I just chose it as a random title selection. I'm sure that's the only way people are finding this show now-a-days.
Art and Sound: 6 & 8
One thing I appreciate about the art in this anime is how they didn't force down your throat that this is a futuristic anime. You know what I mean, when the detail in how futuristic the world is is panned over more times then the fingers on your hand. When it takes every opportunity to show how the environment is so advanced in comparison to the one the person watching is currently in. They keep it down in terms of future shit. They will show off their nice toys but they don't make it a main focus of the show. They show us early on that A. weapons can condense into simple handles/grips and will materialize when needed and B. the schools, as well as the island city they are attached to, are all connected on one big mainframe and that duels between peers and rival alike can be announced automatically. Aside from that, holographic signs, AI robots, and integrated web and phone usage is now down SAO style. You know the whole wave hand to call up a menu and what not. Everything else is simply normal anime design. Which is good because it looks smooth and doesn't have anything that looks out of place.
Sound did better compared to art though. The opening, adequately named A Brand New, is really catchy and has made it's way onto my favorite openings list. It's that pump up jam that gets you excited for the episode to come and that's good. I normally skip over the opening when I binge to save time, but this was one of those times where I didn't care because of how great it was. The ending was also really nice, finishing each episode with what can really only be described as a dream send off. I could fall asleep to it anytime. The song is called Waiting for the Rain and it is so light-hearted it really doesn't matter what happened in the episode, you will feel better about yourself when you listen to it. Voice acting wasn't as good as the OP and ED but they weren't cringe worthy either. Everyone has a voice actor or actress whose voice fit the personality of the character, which is good because it would feel weird otherwise. Sound effects are also good but can we take a moment to talk about how the beam sword on and off sound effect sounds strangely, and almost copy-right worthy, to that of the lightsaber? I not saying we should make a thing out of it, I'm just saying that it is pretty close. It just has that feeling, like when you hear the door opening sound from Doom. In the end, I thought the sound was really good.
Character: 6
Ah dammit, another mid range score. Yes the archetypes are back once again. Let's rattle them off real quick. Ayato is a dense male who is surrounded by Tsundere Julis, Big chest flirt Claudia, numb feeling flat chest girl, and shy klutz girl. I say that they put a nice twist on them but honestly that would be lying and I honestly don't have the energy to provide enough BS to cover that lie up. To be fair, Ayato does decide by episode 3 who he will stay beside and will be ignorant to the rest. Except for Claudia; he will do the embarrassed run motion every time it gets good. Julis does warm up to the main protagonist quicker than most Tsunderes. Aside from that, pretty typical stuff. I will praise the fact that they gave the AI's personality here. Too many times have I seen AI with the flat tone voice. It honesty gets old and this is a nice change of pace. But main character-wise, you know what you are getting as soon as you see it.
Enjoyment: 7
I can't say I was totally impressed here, but I will say I was entertained. I would add it onto my list of worlds I would love to take part in, but then again lists like those are already long enough as is. The show does it's best to make the world feel fun as well as intense and does a pretty good job of it. Although the lack in character variety leaves a little bit to be desired and the climax at the end kind of acts like a bottle rocket type of bang. Which is again sad since we were shown many different sets of grand finale packages. At the time of this review, I am watching through season two, so the show is good enough that you will want to finish it completely at least.
Overall: 7
Author update: I actually didn't go through season 2 after writing this. Kinda stopped because I got really bored. I also have a re-review for this season as well as season 2 in the season 2 review. I correct my thoughts on this season and give it a new score so check it out.
