Mar 22, 2014
Art: 8/10
I loved the fights, which were animated in great detail, and the 20th century Britain setting, which influences the school area and character designs. Charlotte is probably one of the better designs, especially her clothing (that hat) and personality. Now if only she was voiced by Rie Kugimiya.
Story: 4/10
The problem is that this anime had too much stuff and can't cover it all in 12 episodes.
The plot is fragmented and inconclusive at best. There was supposed to be an overarching plot about a competition among 100 people whose last one standing (remind anyone of Sekirei?) would be rewarded greatly. Instead the Evening
...
Party isn't even a main plot point as it soon gets ignored in favor of a storytelling style like Strike the Blood's—short arcs, a few episodes long, about separate mini-villains. Slight spoilers: the ending isn't much of an ending.
Character: 6/10
Yaya was really cute, probably the most jealous character I've ever seen. Her attachment to Raishin is legendary. Charlotte's also pretty good and her interactions with Raishin are amusing.
However, similar problem with story was that the anime failed to thoroughly explore character backgrounds. Aside from Yaya, Charlotte, Henri, and Frey, none of the other characters get enough attention. There are also a few flashbacks of Raishin's tragic past when his entire family was murdered, and he supposedly came to this school to take revenge. Maybe defeating Magnus is a long term goal that won't happen for a while, but you'd figure that the people around Magnus would be more alarmed that this guy committed mass murder rather than idly chatting with him (the female sensei) or using him as a bodyguard (the headmaster). Aside from Raishin, it'd help to know more about what Shouko has to do with him, who Magnus is, and why they interact the way they do. The members of the harem—well Charlotte and Henri got a lot of focus in the last arc, although their past is still a little muddy. Frey and Loki could use more development too. The worst offenders are the two other dolls that go with Shouko. I don't even remember their names because they only showed up a bit in one episode, yet they feature heavily in the ending theme animation with Yaya as the spinning dolls. I was led to believe that they were important characters but it seems they don't have much to do with the central story after all.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Dialogue and jokes are great. Loki's "I am a humble and tolerant man..." speech gets me every time. Yaya is always there to spice things up. Everyone misunderstanding Raishin, Yaya, and each other and abusing Raishin for being a pervert got a little repetitive after the 50th time but harem protagonists always get shit from everyone. The fights were pretty badass but having Raishin/Yaya get beaten up before someone else saves them or they figure out how to beat their opponent is kind of repetitive and predictable. The automata system in the anime is interesting, but I feel the fights and anime overall would more enjoyable if the audience understood its mechanics better.
Sound: 10/10
As far as music goes, the opening theme was good and ending theme is #1 catchiest of the season. I think the original version is the best though, maybe I got used to it from playing it on Osu all the time, but it feels weird when a different voice begins singing it.
Voice acting was excellent too, especially Yaya's. Same voice actress as Himeji in Baka and Test.
Overall: 8/10
As a harem series, Unbreakable Machine-Doll excels in character interactions and designs. I really like the feel of its unique setting in 20th century Britain when most other animes are in modern-day Japan. Action scenes are also great, but the mechanics aren't explained well, nor are the characters' backgrounds. Plot is often nonexistent, which is quite a shame, given the setting's potential. Still, it was a fun series to watch and Yaya deserves a second season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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