Asura Cryin' 2

I found the second season of Asura Cryin' to actually be better than the original season.

There's far less instances of character overlap than the first season had. I didn't find myself being as confused with "who" was on the screen at the time like I did with the first season. They went the extra step and provided deeper characterization than the first season.

They also concentrate on telling the story and seemed to have gotten rid of "filler" in the second season. The story line was more compelling and there was a sense of urgency to it. Unfortunately, at least to me, ... they fell a little flat on delivering the final part of the story.

The art was okay. I really didn't notice anything that would push it above "Good". It was better than some but not as good as others.

This is not a music styled anime so they didn't do anything noticeable with the music.

While this anime is not groundbreaking - overall - I was glad to have watched it.

This review is about the first and the second season of Asura Cryin. You can read it even if you didn't see the show, there's no massive spoilers.

It was the first show I watch in my life (well, after bleach but I don't put Bleach, One piece and all these shows in the same bag as the little shows, like Asura Cryin).
It's one of my favourite.
I thought it was because it's the first show I watched, so there are kind of magic things, you know, the first time. So I marked it at ten, the first time I saw it. And then I watched ... other show, all different from others. And I put a lot of ten... And I remember Asura Cryin, and then I said: "Well, no it's not as good as Durarara, Angel Beats, ect..."
So I decided to rewatch it.
I did it. Everything is clear now, I know why I love this show. It deserves a 10.

Let's begin with a quick synopsis, about the two seasons.

We follow the story of Natsume Tomoharu, a young student who has the entire house of his brother for him because his brother moved out for a time. He have a mysterious ghost, which is reality a "spectral projection", who followed him everywhere, it's Misao.
They moved in all the Natsume stuff, because it's the beginning of the scholar year. When they moved, someone get them a suitcase, really heavy.
This suitcase is in reality an altar for what they've called "Asura Machinas". Some people in the school are also "handlers", the persons who have an Asura machina.
On the other side, there are people who have more power than humans, and it's more like supernatural powers, they are called "demons".
Natsume is a nothing more than a human, but he will go through his proper discovers.
We will follow the story of this world, well, I think said universe rather than world is more correct.
I'll not said more things about the story, to not spoil.

Where Asura Cryin did well, it's the plot. To be honest, is one of the plot the most worked that I saw, I think. You can't predict what will happen. And another thing is also good, is that the two seasons are really connected, well the second one is the direct next part of the first.

I'm a bit boring about Mecha anime, maybe because I saw too much show of this category. But Asura Cryin is not a basic mecha anime. Their powers are not overpowered. If they use it to much, there are some repercussions. And that's why it's interesting, and also that's only why the story is pretty interesting and well-constructed.

There're some magic things in this show, like the voice that came out when an Asura Machina is called. It's the voice of the spectral projection first, and it becomes the voice of a machine. It's such a detail, put it put you in the show, and you are really excited to see what will happens.

Let's see part by part.

Story: 10/10
As I said, it's one of my favourite show. The story is well constructed, and there is always some rebounds. They also succeed to make a good happy end, without inconsistencies. And I appreciate that!
Art: 10/10
Asura Cryin was published some years ago. The art is not bad, I like the design of the machinas, the universe and characters are also good. I have nothing to keep out about it.
Sound: 10/10
Well, the two opening and the two endings are... Awesome. It just in total harmony with the show, especially the second opening, which begins a bit slow and become faster.
The ambiance music are also good, but once again, I think I don't really take care about it. My ear didn't bleed at any time in the anime, it's mostly the opposite. Which is a good thing, obviously.
Characters: 10/10
I was a bit in trouble to mark this part. I put 8 first, but maybe it deserves a 10. I don't really like Natsume. He's pretty... Basic. Takatsuki is also banal. That's why I was tented to put 8. But I think Misao, Shuri, and hopefully Saeki (well I maybe forgot some others), got really interesting behaviours. Misao is always hyperactive, she gives a really good rhythm to the anime, Shuri also, and Saeki is pretty interesting, because he give a bit of serious in the anime.
The "bad side" is also well represented; they have good behaviours and ideology, that's why I finally put 10.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Well, I think you understand. I pretty like everything in this anime, except some moment, when it's a bit like "love story time", but it never happens too much, so that's pretty good. Honestly I rewatch the two seasons in maybe 3 days. It's pretty short for me, and I enjoyed it maybe more than the first time I saw it.

One advice: stop thinking and watch it.
But once again. Don’t believe everyone. Make your own opinion.

Ever have to watch an anticipated (or somewhat anticipated) sequel because the first of the series just made absolutely no sense? Well this would be one of them.

I was skeptical at first about continuing the series and even after I started watching, it was kept on hold at episode 1 for the longest time. Assuming you have watched the first season, you should know why. Simply put, the first season was full of ambiguity and there was only a rough grasp of the current plot.

Now, to end the first season off with nothing but questions about everything we had witnessed, anyone would assume that ... the explanations would follow in the season season. Well time to be disappointed ladies and gentlemen because what we are going to get, is far from explanations.

As for the explanations, without getting too in depth and ruining the fun for all of you(if you so happen to be the masochist to find out yourself), what the end result is, is that not only does the story get more ambiguous because of the new stuff that gets thrown at you, you basically get no explanations on anything from season one. Not One(good one at least).

As if it couldn't get any worse, it does. By the end of the series your going to have so much contradictory information in your head, that you have no way of making sense out of this huge mess of poor planning.

Asura Cryin' as a whole, is a perfect example of the "try too hard to put in everything and fail miserably" type anime. It tries to appeal to, too wide of an audience, that it stretched itself so thin, that it snapped.

To put it simply, try taking a small rubber band about 3-5 cm in diameter and try to wrap that around your family sized box of cereal. What is the end result? The rubber band breaks and whips you in your hand. Not only will it leave you in pain and pissed off, but u got an opened box of cereal in the end to add insult to injury.

As for the rest of the anime, it was alright. Some characters were great, some blew, and some will even confuse you more. The second season incorporates more sound tracks into the series, but none too inspiring. I found myself liking the first seasons OP more than anything else from the series and a bit disappointed in the rest of the sound tracks.

There was no way I could enjoy this to its fullest because I personally was too focused on the terrible plot. However, because Asura Cryin' tried so hard to appeal to everyone, I got to see some of the character development I had wish to see.

To conclude, Asura Cryin' sucked. Watch it if you really want to see the conclusion (believe it or not there is a very conclusive one), but if you really wanted to see a well knit plot, don't bother.