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Absolute Duo ~9~

As the new year of anime starts I can’t help but ask myself “Is it really possible for me to invest even more of my life into animoo?”
~ Unsafeman121 Jan 2015

~Plot~
~9~
The plot takes a little while to kick off, however each time it does, it bring Absolute Duo to a whole other level even if it does lack consistency in a few areas. For the most part, the anime is fairly open and so is difficult to predict the scenarios which may occur down the line - by no means a negative trait for an anime to have. The protagonist’s unique “Blaze” (the ... name for the character abilities in this anime) leads you to wonder how the rest is going to progress, especially with regards to combat, which is an interesting variation on lots of the other action-heavy anime. Characters which have been introduced at intervals throughout the anime, such as Lilith, have sped up the plot and made things more engaging again and again.

~Sound~
~9~
I will start off my saying that Yamamoto Nazomi does an incredible job of voice acting the main female protagonist, Julie. I have to admit that I am not terribly familiar with her work, but if it is anything like in Absolute Duo, then I will be pleased to see her name pop up again in the future. The rest of the voice acting is also done to a high standard. The OP and ED contrast greatly, yet I love them both for their own reasons, the former is fast paced and exciting while the latter is a lot softer and cute. Both compliment the anime nicely, as does the background music throughout it.

~Visuals~
~7~
Absolute Duo has been nicely drawn. The characters seem, for the most part, well balanced and the more action-packed scenes make it clear what is happening while still adding flair to the scenarios. The contrast between colours is crisp where it needs to be and things are pleasing to the eye. The main negative that I would have to comment on is some of the character models; on occasion I have found some of their faces to be irregularly shaped, especially with some of the side views, there is also the matter with a few scenic scenes being relooped shorter segments (such as with the waves). The action scenes do make up for this a little and so will leave the Visuals section with a 7 rating from me.

~Characters~
~9~
The protagonist, Tooru, voiced (of course) by Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, is unique in his abilities, even if his character model and personality is fairly generic. The main interest for a large part however, is Julie. This is an intriguing character which you keep wanting to find out more about, you learn fairly early on that things have happened in her past, though it does not go into as much detail as may have been ideal. The multiple side-characters have their own personalities which all seem to tie nicely in together as of present. Character development really started to blossom after the introduction of Lilith and the proceeding episodes, and it is nice to see that they have dedicated time to that portion of the anime. There is one character which sees significant development and this adds incredibly to the late portion of the anime - making some scenes very moving.

~Enjoyment~
~9~
(Enjoyment is always difficult to write about so my rating is primarily based off of a scale I have on my profile. I will post the relevant quote for the rating below followed by a brief talk:)

“9 ~ This anime was extremely enjoyable to watch and went above and beyond my expectations.”

Of the anime I have seen from the season in which this was released, this was one of the ones which I followed the closest. I awaited each new episode with eagerness and each week it turned out to be the top priority anime I want to watch out of the ones I was going through at the time.

~Overall: 44/50 (0.86) ~
~9~

Absolute Duo has a mix of nicely drawn action , along with well voiced parts, awesome OP and ED tracks and is just generally a well rounded anime. The plot becomes incredible and the characters are well nicely developed, adding a great deal to the overall feel of the anime. I would not be able to call the visuals a let-down in any way, though it is the largest constituent as to why Absolute Duo was not able to reach the infamous “10” rating for me.

For those who are interested ~ Ranking Progression:
This is where I show the changes (if any) in my overall rating as the anime progressed, I review my ratings every 4 episodes ~ though if one does stand out for me I will also mention it.

E01: 7
E04: 8 (Rated Up 1)
E08: 8
E11: 9 (Rated Up 1)
E12: 9

Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu ~6~

So ~ the end of this anime season is approaching and I find myself, once again, trying to come up with reasonable ratings for the various anime which I followed over the past months.
~ Unsafeman121 Dec 2014

~Plot~
~6~

Though weak, I have to give this anime credit for having a plot and following through on it for the entirety of the anime as opposed to dropping it half-way through as I have seen some others do. Though not too impressive, the plot does improve slightly as the anime progresses. Although not brilliant, the plot did change my view of the anime making ... it slightly positive as opposed to slightly negative. The last few episodes really up it a little bit and it does intrigue you a little bit more due to a barrier which needs to be overcome.

~Sound~
~7~

I enjoyed the OP and ED of this anime ~ the ED I would even consider possibly downloading. The character voices suited their respective characters and so I believe the voice actors were well suited to the roles which they each played.

~Visuals~
~6~

I found the graphical style of this anime to be pleasing, though possible slightly below that of many others I have seen ~ that being said it is still enough for it to gain a positive rating of 6. There wasn't anything in particular which I disliked about it, but there are areas where I feel it could have been cleaned up slightly. The action scenes were well drawn.

~Character~
~5~

I feel that the characters are one of the weaker points in the anime. I did not feel like I was able to get to know any of them particularly well (to the extent which is achievable in a single series anime). I did not dislike the character design, though there wasn't anything which made me specifically like them.

~Enjoyment~
~5~
I didn't not enjoy the first episode very much, and I have to say that I'm pleased I started to enjoy the anime more as I went along. That being said, I do not believe it is one that has particularly shone for me, and there wasn't too much excitement when I saw that the next episode had been released.

~Overall~
~6~

"Though still enjoyable to watch, it was sub-par in my opinion."

It is safe to say that many people will criticize this anime on some of its "questionable" natures, however this is not something that bothers me at all, there are many different anime with questionable themes, and lots of them i have still enjoyed thoroughly. Sadly I do not find that is the case with this anime. That is not to say I didn't enjoy watching that anime, but I felt the of the anime which I have given a positive rating to, this is definitely on the lower end of the scale.

For those who are interested ~ Ranking Progression:
This is where I show the changes (if any) in my overall rating as the anime progressed, I review my ratings every 4 episodes ~ though if one does stand out for me I will also mention it.

E01: 4
E04: 5 (Rated up 1)
E08: 6 (Rated up 1)
E12: 6

Trinity Seven ~8~

So ~ the end of this anime season is approaching and I find myself, once again, trying to come up with reasonable ratings for the various anime which I followed over the past months.
~ Unsafeman121 Dec 2014

~ Plot ~
~8~
Very intriguing and at first slightly mysterious, the plot makes you keep wanting some more. There many times at which the episode ended and I just wanted to be able to continue watching. It seems fairly well thought out and the happenings all seem to fit into the world well. There are times when parts could be explained a little bit more clearly, such as ... in the Library section, however I feel that this did not detract from my enjoyment of the anime. Each "section" feels like it brings everything a little bit closer together and it is very satisfying to watch. There are very few times where I felt there wasn't progress in the plot, and yet still a good amount of character development is achieved. The combination of these two make this anime a worthy watch.

~Sound~
~7~
Although I did not particularly enjoy either the OP or ED of this anime, I felt that the voices were VERY well suited to the characters, everything fits well and it certainly helps the ease with which one can watch this anime. I didn't find any issue with any background music that played in the anime, and wasn't distracted by any of it, but in the same regard, it didn't blow me away as anything incredible.

~Visuals~
~8~
Personally, I enjoyed the visuals, I felt as if they were above average for an anime of this type and I was sometimes impressed by certain backgrounds or settings. You can tell that effort has been put in to make this anime look great, and it is another reason for which this anime is so enjoyable to watch. It is well detailed and there are few things about it which I would change if I had the choice. (You can tell they put lots of effort into the fanservice ;) )

~Characters~
~9~
One of the strong points about this anime, the characters are all very likable and well made. There is sufficient character development (for an anime of this length), that you feel for some of the characters and get to know them a little bit more than in some other anime. There is an incredible mix of characters, and each on adds to the feeling of the anime. They each have their traits and they all seem to function well together in terms of interaction. It doesn't feel like any of the characters make any of the others redundant. The way in which they can synergise their powers is clever and I feel that this was a slightly more unique aspect.

~Enjoyment~
~9~
This is one of the anime which I have thoroughly enjoyed. There are several reasons for this, though obviously as I don't want to give any spoilers, I will not mention many of them. A lot of they enjoyment I feel, came from the very well written script and the interactions of the characters with each other and their relationships.

~Overall~
~8~
"This was more enjoyable to watch than the average anime, would recommend to others."

In my opinion, this anime is above par and one that I would recommend to people, even if they hadn't specifically mentioned the title themselves. There is a great mix of characters, their voices fit and the plot is great. This is one of the better anime out of the ones I have been watching this season (4th release date of 2014)

For those who are interested ~ Ranking Progression:
This is where I show the changes (if any) in my overall rating as the anime progressed, I review my ratings every 4 episodes ~ though if one does stand out for me I will also mention it.

E01: 7
E04: 7
E08: 7
E09: 8 (Rated up 1)
E12: 8