Jul 9, 2017
Sooo plot-wise it isn't anything deep or hard to undestand like "D.Gray-Man" for example but this is an otome game turned anime so we have to keep in mind that no Uta no Prince-sama series can dive down the proverbial 'story slash rabbit' hole because it's main purpose is and will always be to promote the games and reel in the fans with the bishies.
However for a game turned anime, I have to confess that they have done an unbelievably enjoyable creation that not only gives you a good feel of the characters without giving away too much but also managed to mesh the
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characters from the different routes into very cohesive and interesting units. Which is one of the MOST important aspects to consider when tackling this particular type of an anime. If we take the anime "Amnesia" as one example, another otome game with an anime, we get the feeling that the storyline is all over the place with different scenes from the characters routes overtaking the episodes and disabling us from getting a good grasp on them. It has some merit points of course, as I have enjoyed it's high rate art style and extraordinary in my opinion opening song, which I love a lot, but for the life of me I just could not get a good understanding of the male characters no matter how hard I tried and thus the anime lost its main purpose - to make the watchers interested in the game. Somehow it was still better than the disaster that was "Diabolik Lovers", whose only redeeming point was the intriguing colour pallete for the characters that slowly turned into my favourite and the opening song. If they had incorporated more of the game plot and explained things, instead of just pushing on with the blood sucking scenes as its main 'priority', I believe it would have turned out a bit more decent than just eye candy and a treat to its hardcore game fans. I mostly gained interest in the games from their songs, wiki information and fan reviews than the anime, which had almost no purpose. I could go on with this but I rambled off topic long enough.
The Utapri series as a whole and not just this particular season have achieved their main purpose but done it in such a way that the anime has managed to stand almost next to the game, as if with its own entity. The males aren't all over the main heroine nonstop and she has a set goal that she doesn't stray from, which creates more room for development unlike with every other harem anime I've seen up till now be it a normal harem or a reverse one. It gets sickening and annoying after a while so I am very happy to announce that the romance in this series gets less and isn't overbearing at all. Cheers to the creators!! I apploud you for managing that near impossible feat! And the refreshing new concept completely seperate from the stand alone routes that is STARISH brought out a whole new prospect for development that both game fans and non game fans can enjoy without confusing the audience in any way, shape or form. The characters are fleshed out just enough to make us interested in them without giving away their route information. The voice actors are all complimenting the characters and just doing a wonderful job, they always have strong and vivid openings, whereas the endings promote the final song and every song throughout the episodes is built up on in its personal episode, making it even better. The plot is light and different from the game, avoiding the confusion caused by combining all routes and in general promotes the games leaving everybody happy.
As a side note, every season had its own set goal to reach at the end and now that everything important has been introducen or at least pointed out, there might be more focus put on the development of or between the characters, while dishing out equally great song that cater moslty to the set pop criteria of the series. After all, the three groups have been fully introduced, along with the academy and the master course so now there is a lot of room for development. The first season will always remain the best plot-wise as it brought out the main aspects of the anime along with just being the first season of a great series but I believe that each season has its own set goal at the finish line and has achieved the point it wanted to get across - such as introducing the aformentioned groups and main aspects, whilst still being a great season on its own. Of course the heroine is bland for the most part but again for the thousand time this is an anime from a game so she HAS to be like that. It's a set standart for these types of animes simply so that every male character can somehow fit with her. I honestly have no complaints on any season so far.
On a personal note, skip it if you wish, this series has been able to pull me out of my depression a couple times and it was what brought Miyano Mamoru to light for me. His songs as Ichinose Tokiya left me wanting more songs with his voice and now I have a decently packed playlist saved on Youtube, which is getting deleted all the time to my heartfelt rage. And if by some miracle the creators of the Uta no Prince-sama games are actually reading my review then heed my plea and translate at least one of your games in english already. It's been years and Diabolik Lovers came out after your games if I am not mistaken but they have two of their games already translated (and I am set on buying the first one to finally understand the plot as it interests me and the anime was a near complete zero). I'm not alone in this either. Many wish to buy them if they ever get an english release. Unfortunately Japanese is not taught at schools on a general principle, very few do so and everybody has their own wall preventing them from being able to start learning the language.
I give my thank you to anyone who read this long ass review but I needed to get it off my chest ^.^'
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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