Hello! This is my first review (most overused excuse ever, right?). English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for mistakes.
*I'll do my best not to contain any spoilers.*
*Also, this review will be long because I love to write!*
When I first started to watch Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru (YuYuYu) back in July 2015, I really expected it to be lighter Madoka Magica. I had heard many people talk about it and refer it as ''the most underrated anime of 2014''. When I finally got to see the first episode, I was pretty surprised to see Slice of Life-elements - I thought this
...
was sad anime!
Hero Club's Five Tenets:
"Give a good greeting."
"Try not to give up."
"Sleep well, eat well."
"If you're troubled, talk to someone!"
"You're likely to succeed if you try."
Story:
YuYuYu tells a story of four girls (and later fifth) and their Hero Club, which does things like picking up trash, looking for new owners for cats, making summer festivals - you get the idea. One day, however, things change when time freezes and mysterious ''Forestize Warning'' message appears on girls' phones. Fuu (Hero Club's founder) informs the other girls about their job as real heroes which defend the world.
The story is really well-made and much thought is used in creation. It gives little hints from the really beginning if you pay attention. This is a series you could watch again. I would give story 10.
Art/Animation:
Fantastic. 2D animation is absolutely stunning and detailed and character designs are beautiful. YuYuYu uses 3D mainly for the enemies known as ''Vertex'', so it might look jarring to someone. I have seen worse 3D in anime before, but this time it was actually pretty good. As for the 2D, animation is really smooth and beautiful. Not really much off-model shots - I would give it 10, but 3D looks sometimes quite jarring - not too bad, however. So 9.
Characters:
Yuuna Yuuki - Main girl, which the series is named after. She is happy and energetic girl who loves eating and making friends. When Yuuna gets determined, nothing can stop her. She is that kind of a person that you can talk to about everything, from sad things to happy ones.
Mimori Togo - Yuuna's best friend, but still asks to be called by her last name. She is really patriotic girl who doesn't use English loan words in Japanese. She is also very smart and skilled with computers, and thus is the one maintaining Hero Club's website. Togo also uses a wheelchair so she has Yuuna pushing her around.
Fuu Inubouzaki - Founder of Hero Club and thus the one who runs the things. She loves eating even more than Yuuna and has a lots of ''Girl Power'', as she herself puts it. At the beginning of the series she was the only person who knew about the real purpose of the Hero Club. Fuu is also very protective of her friends, as she is their senior.
Itsuki Inubouzaki - Fuu's little sister, who is really shy and sweet. She likes to look at Tarot cards and tell others' fortune. She is also a really good singer. Itsuki is usually hiding behind her protective sister, but as the time goes on, she herself becomes stronger.
Karin Miyoshi - Fifth girl who transferred to main characters' school. She is a hero of Taisha who doesn't really want friends. As tsundere character of the show, she has a lots of pride and a cold heart at the beginning, but eventually evolves into a likable character with a good heart.
Overall the cast is pretty amazing and their relationship with one another is really well portrayed in only twelve episodes. I give it 9.
Sound:
Voice actresses did a really good job in both acting and singing theme songs. My personal favorite is the opening song, ''Hoshi to Hana''/''Stars and Flowers'', which is really beautiful and well-made song with meaningful lyrics. Ending theme, ''Aurora Days'' really portrays the calm side of the series while the aforementioned ''Hoshi to Hana'' has a more serious and mysterious vibe to it. Itsuki's song, ''Inori no Uta'' is also really good and fits her gentle character.
Background music in YuYuYu really fits the mood, was the scene intense or just pure Slice of Life. Battle themes have powerful strings or acoustic guitars, while mysterious Jukai has just a piano and vibraphone-ish sounds, symbolising the emptiness of colorful but out-of-this-world nature of the forest. I give overall sound 9.
Enjoyment:
I admit it - when I saw the first minute of the first episodes, I was so surprised that I thought YuYuYu would be average Slice of Life-Comedy at best. By the time I watched the end of episode and the second one, I thought it was pretty good, but maybe not Madoka's level. At the end of the series, I first gave it 8 because I had trouble with some things, but after analyzing it and watching some episodes again, I thought ''This is amazing, so why did I give just 8?''
Thus I give it 9. I will watch it again later, all twelve episodes, but I doubt that it will rise to 10.
*Edit: After watching it again, I find it really hard to not give it a 10. So, even if it may not be perfect, I give it a 10!*
Overall:
Story: 10
Art/Animation: 9
Sound: 9
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Lots of 9s, huh? I would definitely recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys magical battles, well-made characters and stunning animation. Even if you do not regularly watch this kind of shows, at least give it a try. First few episodes might turn someone off, but in the end this is closer to a masterpiece than garbage.
Thank you for your time! If you liked my review, I might do this kind of thing again!
Mar 10, 2016
Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru
(Anime)
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Hello! This is my first review (most overused excuse ever, right?). English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for mistakes.
*I'll do my best not to contain any spoilers.* *Also, this review will be long because I love to write!* When I first started to watch Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru (YuYuYu) back in July 2015, I really expected it to be lighter Madoka Magica. I had heard many people talk about it and refer it as ''the most underrated anime of 2014''. When I finally got to see the first episode, I was pretty surprised to see Slice of Life-elements - I thought this ... |
