Back to LoanRanger's Profile LoanRanger's Profile

When it came to choosing what anime to watch next I felt that I needed a little light hearted pick me up, and so I decided I'd search out a slice of life romcom. After finding this anime and reading the synopsis I couldn't help but feel I'd found my typical, safe bet, feel good romcom...but man, was I wrong! There is nothing typical about this anime.

Story - 8/10
Male lead in Hikigaya. Forced into the Volunteer club against his will. Meets a pretty girl, Yukinoshita, who is the only member of the club. Story follows the club's members through their everyday activities solving problems for ... other students. Typical at first sight, yes, but the area that makes this stand out from all the rest is the way the problems are solved. Hikigaya and Yukinoshita both clearly have a somewhat distorted view on their youth and society, as well as holding obscure views on how to approach them. This formula makes for some very unique solutions to the varied problems brought to them. With this the typical romcom setting feels fresh again. I can't guess how each incident will be addressed, and that, to me, is what keeps me intrigued. The story doesn't really cry out to me as fantastic or mind blowing, but it does hold something on me. Although not mind blowing, it is still good and does, as I said, keep me intrigued, and for that I credit it. This different take on the romcom genre can seem a little strange at first, especially if you came to this anime expecting your average set up (like me), but it won't take too long to adjust, presuming that you give it a chance. The story can also seem a little slow paced at first, but once the characters have all been introduced it does start to pick up steam.

Art - 7/10
The art and animation is probably the area which I was most conflicting about. Maybe it was just me but the animation didn't seem to flow as well as I had hoped. It wasn't bad, but there were parts which I feel it had so much more to offer. Also I noticed that a lot of frames were being recycled in certain scenes. It would not really be a problem here and there, but it became regular enough that it became a slight annoyance. Having said that, I did really like the level of detail that went into the background art. The environments were for the most part very well made and pleasing to the eye without taking too much attention from the characters. I also believe the art style of the characters was well suited. It was neither too cute for seriousness nor too realistic for comedy. Despite the odd blip in quality, I'd say it is still easy to sit and admire this anime's art.

Sound - 8/10
The sound in this anime never really jumped out at me. However, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact to me it means that the music was so well fitted to the anime to the point that it felt completely natural no matter what the mood of the scene. Although, at the same time that does mean that I personally didn't find anything spectacular either. The opening and ending themes were quite catchy, and I think it was a nice touch that the voice actress' of the two main heroines were involved. It puts a personal stamp on the theme as opposed to many anime that just take chart music.

Character - 10/10
As I touched on in my story section, the characters of Hikigaya and Yukinoshita are themselves quite unique with their views, which is another point as to why this anime stands out. Especially Hikigaya who as the male lead strangely tries to distance himself from the standard love interest development of a romcom due to his particular take on youth. On the other hand, the second heroine to appear, Yuigahama, contrasts by being more bubbly and girly, suddenly letting us know that we are indeed watching a romcom. She seems to bring balance to the main characters, almost a more natural approach to things compared to the likes of Hikigaya and Yukinoshita. The way they bounce off each other's personalities is a strong point of the anime, but it is not in my opinion the strongest. The character development is fantastic. Every character you meet has their own story, and as you go through the episodes you slowly begin to get a picture of how they really tick. Even the supporting characters build into slightly fleshed out beings as opposed to simply blending into the background. You never really start off with a full picture, which is good because it gives me another reason to pay attention. Of course, like in most anime, some of the character development is done through flashbacks (especially Hikigaya's past school days), but instead of them being an annoying detraction from the main story they are kept short and sweet; you get a deeper look into the character without having to take your foot off the gas.

Enjoyment - 8/10 and Overall 8/10
I can't really say that this anime does what it says on the tin...and I was looking for what was on the tin! However, I did enjoy this quite a lot. It was a different take on the genre. It was quite refreshing, the characters and the story were a joy to watch. If you are perhaps bored of the standard set up then this anime is definitely worth a shot. Hell, even if you aren't bored give it a shot. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Before I carry onto the review I'd like to make clear that this was written after watching 15 episodes of the anime.

After watching Index and Index II I decided that I'd take a look at the spin off series, Railgun, as well. I enjoyed the first season but I couldn't really pick on anything that made it 'brilliant'. However, with Railgun S all that has changed. In my opinion this second season has far surpassed it's prequel, and even both seasons of it's parent series, Index. Here's why:

Story - 10/10
The sisters arc was probably my favourite when it came down to all the arcs in ... Index. However, because it followed the the viewpoint of Touma the arc did seem to fall short of it's potential. But with Railgun we naturally follow Misaka and the story suddenly becomes fleshed out. We are now looking deep into the events leading up to accelerator battle, from Misaka hearing rumours of a clone army, to her actively trying to counter the experiment. We now no longer have just action, but a deep and intriguing story as well. Although being a battle anime is not a bad thing this feels so much more now.

Art - 8/10
I can't find any glaring fault with the artwork, in fact I like the artwork quite a bit. The animation even seems to have improved from the first season. However, I can't find anything especially fantastic either. The animation in episode 15 did impress me during the fight scene, but beyond that I can't really pin point anything else.

Sound - 8/10
Similar to my views on the artwork, I can't find neither anything excellent or terrible. Although, the sound is still very good. It does a good job at creating an atmosphere, and at times it really puts emphasis on the emotional scenes, which once again helps to pull this anime apart from all the other battle anime.

Character - 9/10
The character development for Misaka is in a word, excellent! If you came to this anime straight from Railgun season one then you will most likely know Misaka as a cool, calm and collective badass machine. However, in Railgun S we have finally hit an arc that is threatening to destroy her life as she knows it. We get to see so much more to her character; fear, despair, hopelessness. Suddenly she is not an invincible anime character, she's human, and that makes us feel for her all the more. I would give a ten for character but the I thought that although the development on Misaka is outstanding, there's not much more on offer from other characters (maybe with the small exception of accelerator and the origins of the sisters). The other main characters had most of their character built in the first season, and so I feel I can't give this season a ten.

Enjoyment - 10/10
I can only speak personally here, but I was never left at the end of an episode feeling 'I don't care what happens next'. I always wanted to see the next episode. I ended up cursing the entire week I had to wait for a new episode. Also, one episode in particular managed to fully absorb me. So much to the point that I lost all track of time and spacial awareness, and an anime hasn't done that to me in a very long time. If you are a fan of the genre I am quite confident that you will find plenty of enjoyment from this anime.

Overall 10/10
Probably a candidate for my favourite anime at the moment. With having watched the first season and the parent series I can fully appreciate the improvement in Railgun S. And even without that this is definitely worth a watch!