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mrmariokartguy here. It's been three months since I posted anything, but I'm on a short break now (yay!) and I've got the sudden impulse to write something. We're about a little over halfway through with the Fall 2015 anime season. There's some good stuff, some average stuff, and some others that we on't talk about. As for what I'm watching, it's not that much.
I'm currently caught up on four shows right now: Gakusen Toshi Asterisk , Heavy Object , Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry , and Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai . Yes, they are all Light Novel adaptations.
Since Asterisk, Failed Knight, and Antimagic all have some striking similarities, I'll start with Heavy Object first.
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Heavy Object
I believe this is the only 24 episode show that I know of this season, so we'll be seeing this throughout the new year. The show takes place in a future where these strange near-invincible machines dictate warfare. They do look a bit stupid and impractical, but it's an anime and reality is just a sidenote. The catch about warfare in this series is that supposedly wars are now relatively non-violent, with the losing side surrendering then their object is defeated. Anyone who knows that slightest of warfare will know that that's not how war goes; in war countries aim to cripple the enemy as much as possible, and not attacking the personnel and set-ups of the enemy seems a bit far-fetched. Nevertheless, "peaceful wars" is the meta for this show.
The main characters are two dudes who are in the military, and a young girl who pilots an object. The object-driving girl is the epitome of your average anime girl. Her entire image screams "average" but average is still better than bad. The duo of dudes are seen together the entire show. One's there for an education, and one is there because he's nobility. Pretty much your standard soldiers with a little bit of extra balls on the side.
The animation is passable. It's got a pretty 3DCG feel to it, but nowadays what doesn't? Artwork isn't beautiful to any extent, but it feels like it fits the series very well. The explosions are pretty, and there's no lack of them.
The OP and ED are pretty good. Go find them yourself.
Overall, a decent series to watch and one that isn't really difficult to watch every week. It's not reinventing bread, but it's passes as decent. Did I mention that the author also wrote a certain series called A Certain Magical Index? Yeah, that's that.
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The next three are all magical high school battle harems. There's quite a few of them out there, and we get to see three of them this season.
(these two shows air on the same day)
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Gakusen Toshi Asterisk
First magical high school battle harem on the list: Asterisk War. Please don't expect anything world breaking from an anime using a completely overused trope. It doesn't mean it won't be good, it just means that you may have seen some of the stuff that happens from other series. Use above image for reference.
Story takes place on an island where highly competitive battle take place. MC, who is not voiced by Matsuoka for once, comes to island to search for lost sister. Enters one of the six high schools that train him up for these battles. Of course, he's completely not rated by the system. Then stuff happens.
Along with the main male MC, there's also a girl who he encounters the first episode. She's a redheaded fire-attribute tsundere. Stays alongside the MC the entire series.
The animation is really, really good. It's done by A-1 Pictures, after all. The OP animation is completely breathtaking and matches the OP song very well. The fighting scenes are crisp, and for the non-fighting scenes the animation is solid as well. The scenery looks very pretty.
OP song is by Shiena Nishizawa, who also sang the ED for Kantai Collection. It's a pretty good song and it mixes well with the animations. The ED, in my opinion, is forgettable, so let's drop that issue.
Overall, a decent series to watch. The art really is great in this series, and the action is good enough to follow. Characters are nothing unique, but that's not a big deterrent for me.
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Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry
Second magical high school battle harem on the list: Failed Knight. Please don't expect anything world breaking from an anime using a completely overused trope. It doesn't mean it won't be good, it just means that you may have seen some of the stuff that happens from other series. Use above image for reference.
The story takes place at some magical high school somewhere in Japan. Our MC is a transfer student into the school and is ranked as the "worst one" in the entire school. He meets flaming princess on the first day, walking into her changing as they realize that they share a room. The MC, unlike other MCs from other series, handles the situation quite coolly. Thus began their adventures at this magic high school.
The MC's sister appears a few episodes later and appears to be a complete brocon. Of course, this upsets flaming princess and they have some kind of ongoing rivalry going on.
The characters in this series are actually quite unique; they don't feel like they adhere to the standard tropes. The MC is actually quite level-headed for the lead of a high school harem show. Neither does the flaming princess go abusing the MC left right and center. It's one of the strong points of this show, the characterization is pretty darn good.
The animation is standard, if not sub-par. Silver Link is a studio that you really cannot expect what they'll churn out. The series does look low budget, but to the studio's credit they do the absolute best with what they are given and they do make a good show out of it.
OP and ED are very mediocre as well.
Overall, if you wanted to pick a series out of these four, pick this one. There's a reason why this is one of the more popular series this season, along with One Punch Man (as I am 6 episodes behind, I will not be reviewing this).The characters are pretty non-standard and the action scenes are good. The art isn't the best, but you should easily be able to get over that as the strong points of the show far outweigh the negatives.
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Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai
Third magical high school battle harem on the list: Antimagic Academy. Please don't expect anything world breaking from an anime using a completely overused trope. It doesn't mean it won't be good, it just means that you may have seen some of the stuff that happens from other series.
Story takes place at a school where they have test platoons to carry out certain missions, and are ranked by the amount of points that they gather. Of course, magic is heavily involved with the fighting. Main character is ridiculed as he is the only one who uses a sword in a society where guns are the main weapon of choice. Thus, his platoon is known as the "Small Fry Platoon". There are several other girls that are in the platoon or join at a later point, but they do get their own story arcs (some now, some later, some never to be animated).
Although this series doesn't start out the strongest, it really does get a lot better as the series goes on and it's really caught on to me. It consistently ranks as the #1 show on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays when it airs, and is still one of the top shows when it's not. The characters are likable, the action is good, and the way the platoon interacts is entertaining.
The animation is pretty decent, not far from standard. This is also done by Silver Link, but the animation is much better than Failed Knight's. It's also contains a good selection of very direct fanservice (conveniently censored nudity), but it doesn't interfere with the storytelling and action scenes.
The OP is pretty catchy, and the ED is by the same person who sang Hacking to the Gate. In other words, good.
Overall, a good series. Isn't the quickest of shows to catch on , but when it does it gets good. I feel that I'll enjoy this show a lot in the future. It airs Wednesday, some it's something to fill a timeslot midweek as well.
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That's all I'm currently caught up to right now. There's other stuff that I've seen this season, but I'm pretty far behind so I have no words about that. I'm crap at editing, so notify me of any errors in the comments below. That's it for today, and see you next time!
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mrmariokartguy is a regular on the Crunchyroll forums. You can find him here .
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About the game:
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