Animation / Art / General Visuals - 8/10
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The quality of the animations varies a fair bit, but as a whole it looks good. At times even great. If it could sustain its best it could be a match for any shounen out there.
Art is also clean and interesting. Character designs and scenery detailed.
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 9/10
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As a proper double season show we get multiple great OP's and ED's that fit well with the show's high octane action and emotions. The tunes during the show are similarly top notch, with great battle themes and beautiful emotional pieces that emphasize the key moments.
Voice acting is also good. Especially that of Crimson who is superbly done. Voice Acting an androgynous character who needs to sound both male and female or neither at the same time is quite the task, yet they pulled it off.
Story - 8/10
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The story seems basic at first, but quickly evolves into something a lot more interesting once the world building gets going and more characters are revealed.
The premise features a young and talentless man who is part of a community of dragon hunters, beasts who are at odds with humanity and constantly fight for control of the world. Though he is talentless he tries his best and helps his friend, a young girl prodigy. When faced with the reality of losing her, he obtains the powers of his future self to change their fate.
From there the story takes on the twist of an Overpowered MC going on a rampage to rid the world of his enemies and ensure he never has to experience the loss of his friend. However, despite his apparent overwhelming power, things are far from easy as we learn along the way.
While initially seeming like a cookie-cutter "kill all enemies" shounen, the world building adds a lot of interesting twists and unknowns to make it a fun ride. The show bridges the genres between fantasy, contemporary and futuristic, building a world that has both advanced tech and magic. And dragons. Lots of dragons. It's fascinating if a little underdeveloped still. But the future holds promise should we get more seasons.
Characters - 9/10
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Ragna Crimson's characters are its strongest suit. There are a lot of them, and they are all well written and horribly tragic. The death count in this show is astronomical and there is literally no way to tell who lives and who dies.
In addition, the lines between good and evil become ever more blurred as both the heroes and villains are explored in depth. There are amazing motivations on both sides, and you can't help but to feel disgusted to the bone while being incredibly empathetic at the same time to both sides. By the end you can't help but to want to feel like things should have turned out differently for all those involved.
Ragna, our main protagonist is a low confidence, talentless orphan, who after obtaining near ultimate power, becomes incredibly competent and capable in battle. Though he struggles with his morality and self esteem issues for most of the show. This can get tiresome at times, though his backstory does make it more understandable.
Crimson, a key supporter of our protagonist is a much more complex of a character. Androgynous and morally questionable, it is hard to get a proper handle on them, which makes it all the more interesting. They might save one person, only to then have them kill another for the grand plan to work. Ruthless and seemingly unpredictable, intellectual genius. Their presence in any scene simply elevates it immediately.
Additional cast could fill a list that's a mile long. Countless allies and enemies. Some mere decoration, others explored more in depth. Nobody is safe, people die, people live. You cannot predict it.
Whether you love it or hate it, it leaves an impression.
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Total - 9/10
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Ragna Crimson touches greatness with its top notch shounen action, mixing it with more seinen like tragedy and gore. While it fumbles here and there with animation quality, the overall result is undeniably great.
A must watch for any shounen fan.
