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This is a fantastic adaption of the Babylonia arc from FGO. It's a must watch for FGO players. However, if you've never played FGO, don't watch it, because it won't make any sense.

Here's a bit of backstory. Fate Grand Order is a mobile game which makes a ton of money. It's also a game which really respects its players. Therefore, they decided to make an anime of one of the chapters in FGO as fan service. As fan service, it's fantastic, giving us a lot of epic moments and animating the battles that we wished we could have seen in motion. It also expands on ... some of the characters. Episode 8 legit made me cry.

But because it's made for fans, and the fans pretty much chose the last chapter of the main game to animate, it can't possibly make sense to people without the background. It'd be like picking up the seventh book of a series and expecting to care about the characters and plot. Nobody would start Harry Potter by reading Deathly Hallows, for instance.

Yes it's not friendly to new-comers, but I don't think it was ever supposed to be. Players of FGO have spent a lot of time (and money) on the game. This anime is a thank you to players for being so invested. If you want to get something out of this anime, please go try the game. It really is fantastic. If you don't have time to play the game... well there's really no need to watch this anime, either. This timeline doesn't connect with any of the other timelines, so you won't lose out on anything.

I've read the reviews for this anime and while I mostly agree with them, there's something I think I can add, so I'll add it. Firstly though, Hamatora is that it's about super powered people in a non super powered modern world.

A lot of people have compared this to Psycho Pass and Darker Than Black, and while I can sort of see where they're coming from, at the same time, it's not right at all. Hamatora is inherently a light hearted anime with some icky stuff going on in the background. Even when it becomes darker, it has a weird light hearted, or rather, disconnected ... feel to its violence. Both Psycho Pass and Darker Than Black had a lot of heart warming moments but they were serious animes existing within a distopian society. While it's true that Moral looks like Makishima (and on surface level seem alike, but their methods, motivations, and goals are completely different), and that Minimums being similar to Contracts, I think Hamatora actually has more in common with slice-of-life animes.

STORY 7/10 - Although the way the story was told causes some head scratches, the concept itself is not bad. Moral unfolds an acceptable plan of villainy that the heroes must wade through, and the stakes are not too small scale or too large. I don't suggest watching this for a deep and complicated plot, but it's thought provoking enough for something 12 episodes long. And despite everything, I was satisfied with the last episode.

CHARACTERS 7/10 - The artwork of the characters is nice and everyone has something unique to set them apart, and they're all very easy to look at. The characters themselves, however, are something of stereotypes, and they never quite get any character development. Nevertheless, they all do have their little quirks, such as the psychotic Birthday's attempts with ladies and Hajime + food. They're very enjoyable to watch, and for a fluffy 12 episode anime, they work.

ANIMATION 9/10 - The animation is sharp and the fight scenes are smooth. The only thing is that sometimes the drawing's too sharp and has a game-animation feel to it. Added to that, the nightmare of colour that happens whenever a Minimum is activated can be off putting for some people. I've come to enjoy it myself, but it was hard to get used to and I see people getting headaches from it.

MUSIC 6/10 - Some of the score is nice, but some of the music is really oddly placed. It causes a disjointed feel to the scenes which would be kind of cool if it were done on purpose, but nonetheless does not really add to the anime. It reminds the viewer that they're watching something rather than simply immersing them in the moment, which is never a good thing.

OVERALL 7/10 - While this was not the greatest anime ever to come into existence, it certainly is enjoyable enough to warrant a watch. The hot springs episode for instance was hilarious for me and I've never seen anything like it, but I know an equal amount of people who hate it so I suppose this anime's a hit or miss. It doesn't really get better, it doesn't really get worse, and you can probably tell if you'll like thae series or not by episode 3. Although, it does get a lot bloodier in episodes 11 & 12. If you're looking for light hearted shonen overall, definitely give this a try.