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*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Reasons TO watch this:
-The premise of working your whole life, literally from birth, to prepare for taking out a Hero to avoid armageddon is very good. EXCELLENT even. By episode 2 I was psyched to see what would happen next. Up to episode 5 it was very good.
-Members of the harem are likeable if a bit trope-heavy
-The gunplay, combat and magic are all fun to watch


Reasons NOT to watch this:
-Episode 6 handles contentious, unnecessary rape themes very poorly
-Protagonist is an OP Mary Sue
... -CGI horses completely break immersion of the beautiful art style
-the mom is an unbearably cringey would-be-Milf
-seeing 'fitness' scenes was also deeply uncomfortable

The protagonist Lugh is likeable; very ironic given what he starts of as: a jaded cold-blooded mercenary whose life begins anew as an aristocratic boy is charming to watch unfold. Seeing him abuse the system of the world he's granted access to is genuinely entertaining to watch at first. There are also genuine feels to be had with this anime with almost every major character. Seeing him learn to love his world as a second chance and want it to succeed from EVERY conceivable angle makes it legitimately unlike anything I've ever seen. Down to making sure he optimizes cooking for IRL experience STATS from a young age.

Why I'm disappointed in TWFA (The World's Finest Assassin etc) is that while the character grows up from a little boy to a young man somewhat gradually, he is so good at abusing foreknowledge from his world and despite having the prior mind of a militant sniper, he still somehow has atomic numbers and whatnot memorized to abuse the heck out of magic. And this would be incredibly fun if ANYTHING ever went wrong, or if there was PAYOFF to any of the emotional stuff you endure trying to get to know the main characters of the harem. But you don't.
Some REALLY REALLY bad people they make you hate, simply do not get their just desserts despite ASSASSIN in the title and I was pissed about it, so I probably am not alone.

Out of all the characters, Tarte is my favorite, but she really gets the short end of the stick being just a means to an end. In a perfect world, she would get the happily-ever-after she CLEARLY DESERVES.

Overall, this anime has a strong start before falling flat on its face, and then manages to keep you satisfied enough with what buildup occurs before a very short encounter with the antagonist. The setup for a second season that may never exist may or may not be worth the journey through a strong narrative that can't be held up by such weak characters in a harem.

If you want a flashy action anime with heartbreaking, emotional storytelling with great waifus and pretty good fight scenes, you've come to the right place. While it's apparently a promotional ad anime for an upcoming mobile game, you don't really feel it until the end. You'll know why if/when you get there. Pacing is its weakest quality, but that doesn't mean you should skip Takt Op. Destiny. On the contrary, I think it's a hell of a watch.

While some of the characters stand out more than others, but most of them are at least likeable. There's a great deal of realism to the characters in ... this anime. Not a lot of anime-tropes like damsel in distress, godlike protagonists etc. More human elements like anxiety and apathy towards the world outside your comfort zone, the importance of cameraderie among loved ones during a time of loss, and shared anger towards a system that harms innocent people under the guise of keeping others safe.

In anime, often times you are numb to characters dying because it seems inconsequential. This anime makes you care so much about its characters, that you will feel something for every death you will encounter. I had my heartbroken over and over again. And it felt cathartic as heck. Almost never a dull moment.

The classical music slaps and keeps the tones emotional for the scenes in which they play. The opening is also a bit of an earworm, although it took time to grow on me.

While some feel the art is soulless, I feel exactly the opposite. I think the art style has so much charm and heart that it fits the world they are in perfectly, from the glow in the eyes of the Musicarts, to small intricate details on the Conductor batons and the sheen or dust on a piano. The animation for the music playing on the keys in particular is very impressive.

What stuck with me the most is the theme of the importance of music as a form of universal joy in the world that resonates well outside the anime. Think about it, there's music in every form of media from anime to games, jingles on the news, memorable intro themes to cartoons, sitcoms, and every other type of show. Music can make or break the tone of a moment in a movie, can make an action scene feel more hype and get your bloodpumping. So the theme of it as a symbol of hope was incredibly fitting in my mind.

All in all, I liked Takt Op. Destiny. It's worth the journey more than the destination.
9/10 Would get my heart torn out again.

Hibiki and Tsubasa's fight in the first season, while incredibly frustrating at times, hits a lot of the same chords as something like the Nanoha or Naruto series. Half badass action, half emotional character-building journey, the first arc of Symphogear was impressive for something in 2012. I'm writing this from 9 years in the future to ask 3 important questions: Does Season 1 set a good base for what Symphogear eventually became? Is it worth watching Symphogear season 1 again? And do I recommend the series in 2021? The answer to all three is yes. But there are caveats. The first is that you must ... at the very least TOLERATE if not ENJOY Japanese pop. While Nana Mizuki is a powerhouse in the soundtrack department, even I will admit, not all the fight songs in season one are bangers. That said, Tsubasa's character development is worth sticking around for, in my opinion. On the one hand, Hibiki is a Mary Sue and very much the 'Goku' of this show. On the other hand, it's a total blast to watch Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris grow throughout this first part of the Symphogear saga. That said, if you hate 'power of friendship' deus ex machinas, you'd best look elsewhere. For me personally, as someone who loves sci-fi tones in magical girl action anime, I couldn't ask for anything better to fill the void left by Nanoha.

This is not ECCHI. It is a romance HENTAI. That's what this is. There is mozaically censored erotic material for adults to enjoy. That's what you should be here for.

(Starting with character because otherwise my other parts will make no sense.)

Character: 5/10 I've seen more interesting characters in hentai. Here we have cookie cutter characters of tropes you've seen before: hyperactive grab-your-attention girl, prick boss, dense asshole protagonist, shy girl love interest. What a revolution in character design *sarcasm*.
This is a hentai, I don't know what you were expecting. The protagonist's dialogue defending being a dick in the office is cringy. Shy girl is understandably ... upset by his actions. It was interesting at first, but seeing him be a dick over and over grows tiresome. It should be noted I hate peppy girl but at least protagonist develops a bit later.

Story: 4/10 Pretty okay for a romance plot. Slight intrigue in the form of one character deliberately screwing over another (and not in the good way). Timing and love hotels make for interesting hentai locales, although there is variety. The protagonist is surprised when being a dick to fool his coworkers hurts shy girl's feelings. Wow.

Art: 9/10 I vehemently disagree with the persons who say the body is gross when the majority of it is incredible accurate during sex scenes. The shadows on the backs and the musculature of the ripped protagonist are very well defined. Proportions are accurate, shading is nice. You can really feel how good the sex is. Great. The change in locales and variety of colors makes it fun to watch. I enjoy the freckles on shy girl. Wonderful touch.

Sound: 8/10 Standard hentai fare. Lewd moans, okay dialogue for sex scenes. A few uncomfortable lines here and there. Mostly good.

Enjoyment: 6/10 Can't complain. Got what I came for: a shitty, vanilla romance hentai. I like shy girl even though her motives make no sense at first. Appreciate that this is not an NTR hentai. No I won't tell you what that means.

Overall: 32/5 is 6.4. I'd give it a 7 Not earth-shattering, not too cringy. Aggressively horny? Definitely. If you wanted genuine romance, you're watching the wrong hentai. There's a lot of sex. Unremarkable characters and plot make this very skippable. But I personally liked the shy girl with freckles. Inoffensive, good sex screnes. Thumbs up, if a little middling.

I don't usually do things like this, but seeing as this is now my favorite anime of all time, I figured I would give it a shot. This will not contain any plot spoilers; however, I will say that this is written strictly for those who have watched season 1. If you haven't, GO DO IT NOW.

Story (9):
Let's start right from the beginning of the season which continues after the summer vacation section of the school year. By now you have learned how much potential each of the students has, what their roles are in the classroom and what their specialty of assassination style ... is. So why do we want to be invested in the story in season 2? Well, for two reasons: one, we want to find out Koro-sensei's backstory; two, we want to see what shenanigans happen to the students. As I said, there will be no spoilers here, but the story gets itself turned on its head with some of the plot twists, which for the most part all well placed. If you don't like sci-fi, you probably won't enjoy a lot of Korosensei's backstory. You will see plenty of new developments with the antagonists we've met in this part of the anime, but also one new one. The story is heart-wrenching at points, but if you like having your heart-strings pulled you will enjoy the ending, even if it was fairly predictable at points.

Art (9):
So, why not give Assassination Classroom a perfect score for art? Well, it's a nice and clean art style that drastically shifts depending on the tone of the plot, but for the most part, if you've seen lots of shounen anime before, the fight scenes don't stand out that much; not even the climactic, final battle.
The stylistic black outline gives it a manga feel that really makes the characters pop. The lighting and shadows are pretty standard, but there's nothing that really stands out. It's amazing, despite its deliberate inconsistency at points, but it cannot be called perfect.

Sound (7):
The soundtrack is quite memorable in season 2. The opening songs: "Question" and "Bai Bai Yesterday" really match the steadily changing tone of the plot which is always a plus. The background music for the anime itself is always fitting, as are the sound effects for the action sequences. So where does the anime lose most of its points? The English. Whether deliberately cringe-worthy or not, the Japanese voice actors (specifically Karma) speaking English while understandable is as bad as (if not arguably worse than,) in season 1. Actual English speakers speaking English during a school competition is also cringe-worthy. It does add to the humor in the show so it may be deliberate, but it's still painful to endure.

Character (10):
The strongest part about this anime is the investment you have in Koro-sensei and his class, and the character development that we see in this season is very nice. The coming of age element in this school anime is spot-on and paced well for Nagisa in particular, who is our main focus, but we also see how far the students have come as a now-harmonious class despite adversity and their differences. The tension between characters and the mediation of Koro-sensei and Karasuma-san make this season even better than last season, since we see the students finally use their assassination skills obtained over the school year in their final mission. Plus, we see some very drastic changes in some of the antagonists, who would otherwise have been quite flat.

Enjoyment (10):
First and foremost, this was a comedy-action anime, and Assassination Classroom delivered in spades. There is PLENTY of action in season 2, from parkour, to combat, to travels taken throughout the plot. The dialogue is extremely well-written for each of the characters which made me quite invested in most of them and my friend and I had quite a few laughs watching it together. Koro-sensei does more than teach his class, he teaches everyone around him and also the viewer to always take different perspectives and not to get lost in our anger or anxiety. He's more than just an anime character, he's a real teacher.

Overall (10):
I believe both seasons of this anime are special, and should be visited by everyone who wants something completely obscure to watch or likes weird anime. Season 2 does what season 1 does with a more serious tone at points (similar to the end of season 1) but is only more enjoyable for it. You will only enjoy the anime more by watching season 2.