I really wanted to love this one, I did. And now I'm left frustrated with what could've and should've been. This anime pissed me off so bad that it actually drove me to write a review expressing my immeasurable disgust with how this series was handled. I've never given a review before by the way. That's just how bad this one bothered me.
So anywho, I found out about this one through the doujinshi by Sekiya Asami (don't judge me), looked up the OP and decided to give it a go. I noticed some pretty goofy animation at first but brushed it off, as I'm quite indifferent to how something looks, and more about how it makes me feel. And for a good while, I was really enjoying it. Only, the animation, later on, got really bad. And I mean REALLY bad. One that stood out to me in particular, was a scene with Asuha banging her head against a computer chair. It was like three frames on repeat for like, 10-15 seconds straight. Not even joking. It was so jarring that I cringed. Other examples include fight scenes where you can clearly hear things going on, but nobody is to be seen. Screen turning white, freeze frames..... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the gist already with other reviews.
The story had potential, but everything felt too rushed and as a result, wasn't given a fighting chance to stand out. One of the things I was looking forward to the most was the worldbuilding, and sadly, there is little to nothing to find in that area.
As for characters, they seemed to be pretty generic at first, but as time went on I LOVED the interactions between them (some more than others), and it left me craving more and more when it came to learning more about all of them (which you kinda don't). The ones that stood out to me were Asuha and Kasumi Chigusa, Maihime Tenkawa. The other three, Canaria, Ichiya, and Hotaru, felt too bland and predictable.
The characters were really lacking in the backstory department, but seeing as there are light novels that work as a prequel to this anime, perhaps they lie there. This is the part of the series that I believe had the most potential to be something great, but alas, was just another poorly executed area. I really enjoyed the Chigusa siblings and was bummed to not see more from them. It feels like Ichiya and Canaria really got the short end of the stick, and were absent for most of the show.
I thoroughly enjoyed the music. Some tracks were played a bit too much for my liking though.
To sum all of this up, it's a damn shame that this anime failed. It could have been so much better, if only it were in more delicate hands. Perhaps if it were more focused on the characters and their everyday lives, extended the season by 12 episodes, the world expanded on and explained, and for god's sake, better animation, this series could've been the next big thing.
I would love to see this series given another try in the future, but I won't hold my breath.
