"Back Arrow" is a fantastically fun, well-written show, bursting with unique, loveable characters, constant excellently executed twists, and a concluding act that is every bit is ridiculous and over the top as you'd expect from Nakashima's writing. Despite it being often silly and early in the story almost bordering on parody, it has such a sense of purpose all the way through, and I think that's really what makes it stand out. Kazuki Nakashima has a bit of a thing for stories about intensely emotion-driven characters, with huge personalities, pushing back against basic rules of the world and smashing those rules to pieces, and this is very much a continuation of that. Of course, the mecha aspect helps that a lot; the designs are interesting and unique, with some really creative weapons and abilities, and their connection to their user's conviction externalises their driving personality traits perfectly. Even some of Nakashima's more questionable trends aren't as present. This certainly doesn't have the oversexualisation of its female characters that tends to crop up in shows like Gurren Lagann or, for all its plot-relevance, Kill La Kill. Even further, the majority of the important, named mecha pilots in this show are women, which is something I almost never see in mecha, which is really, really cool.
The show isn't perfect, obviously. The early episodes are a little slow, and the show definitely takes some time to really pick up. The character animation is also, as mentioned, not too fantastic; it's a show that could definitely have benefited from being produced somewhere like Trigger, where Nakashima made Kill La Kill and BNA, as opposed to the less experienced Studio VOLN.
But despite it being a little rough around the edges at points, "Back Arrow" is an exciting, surprising, and thematically fantastic show, that I had so much fun with. If you like mecha, this is one of the best we've had in years.
