Reviews

This series was giving me a number of vibes connected to Code Geass and I don't mean that in a good way. Star Driver appeared to be trying to mix around the classic archetypes of super robot anime, slice-of-life high school comedy and the over-the-top elements of Code Geass. If the series ran for the most part as a comedy like Gurren Lagann where it didn't take itself seriously, then I would have found myself liking this series quite well. Instead the series tries to take itself seriously yet with the many eccentric traits of the characters, it comes across as rather awkward and hard to take seriously just like Code Geass and is bogged down by quite a good number of issues in its plotting. Many episodes tend to run in a similar setup:

1. Takuto is enjoying himself with Wako and Sugata.
2. Random member of Glittering Crux in the student body meets with him or tries causing mischief.
3. Member decides to challenge Takuto to Cybody battle.
4. Takuto overcomes foe.
5. Repeat for much of the show's run.

This was quite a repetitious setup for each episode and made things appear to be mostly episodic for the show. In addition, the show doesn't really bother going into great detail into its major elements such as what led to each of the students in Glittering Crux to join the group, how Cybodies came to be, how humanity came to discover them and why the Glittering Crux did not dispose of Takuto away from Cybody battles if they desired world domination so badly. The ending also came across as rather weak with a shallow baddie unveiling himself, elements of deus ex machina and failing to provide a proper resolution to the love triangle that later develops with Takuto, Wako and Sugata.

There are some elements to the plotting of Star Driver that did work well for me and kept me from dumping it much earlier on. The series does do well at fleshing out and developing the bond between Wako, Takuto and Sugata showing that the three come to greatly care for one another, even as they are aware of the complicated situation they have to overcome with the Glittering Crux and their love triangle. Marino's character arc even lays out some heart-wrenching and deep-seated issues with her that are not as apparent with her on the surface.

On the visual end, Star Driver does have clean artwork delivering a decent amount of detail on mecha, character and scenery designs; as well as having its moments of fluid animation during fights between Cybodies. There are some noticeable occasions where the visual quality can drop quite a bit, particularly in some scenes during the middle and last episodes.

If you could put up with and enjoy the bizarre and over-the-top developments of Code Geass, then you might be able to enjoy Star Driver more than I did. Otherwise, be prepared for a mostly mediocre romp that tries to blend together the elements I mentioned above yet comes across as hard to care for because it doesn't cover its major elements and is hard to take seriously when it tries to be so.