What Did You Just Finish?

[Krozam]

Overman King Gainer

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this anime for me is that even though it's mecha and full of abilities ridiculous for scifi, my suspension of disbelief system had no problem handling it. I usually hate mecha, and most of Japanese scifi in general. No idea why this one was so easy to accept.

Overman is really quite an enjoyable anime. It's only too bad it doesn't reach half of its full potential. The story settings are very interesting, the characters aren't half-bad, and there's even potential for a nice romance on the side, but all of this is severely hindered by the fact that every single episode is crammed full of action. Don't take me wrong, the action is enjoyable in itself, and both the settings and characters do get some development at times, but it's just not as good as it could be. The beginning is confusing, half the series feels rushed, and after several episodes of excellent build-up, the last ep is somewhat rushed and anti-climatic. It's not like 26 eps wouldn't have been enough for this story, even a much longer story, it's just that with 80% of every ep being spent in battle, there's little time left for what I consider "more interesting stuff."

Anyway, once you get past the first ep, which is pretty confusing and doesn't explain much, the story adopts a "mecha of the week" routine. The main characters are pretty likeable, even the teenage boy in the leading role is gutsy and competent enough. Granted, I don't know what the leads in mecha anime are usually like, but seeing as he does most of the heavy lifting in nearly every battle, and even manages to be reasonably straightforward about his feelings for a girl, I don't think anyone could call him useless. The secondary lead is pretty awesome, the girls in the show aren't half-bad, and most of the major antagonists are given almost more character development than the protagonists, so overall I'm not disappointed with the characters, although they could have been much better.

Starting ep 12, it starts getting better. Still a few forgettable eps in the mix, but most of the eps on the second half are much better than a single one in the first half. As I mentioned earlier, the last arc gets several eps of build-up (battle-filled build-up, of course), only to end in a somewhat rushed and anti-climatic way. I won't call the ending bad, but I was expecting much better based on the build-up.

The episode plots are rather repetitive, but the good villain characters and the interesting - if underused - overarching plot make it worthwhile. The basic concept is great, and there are lots of good ideas thrown around carelessly, half-used. I know I'm repeating myself, but the show could really have been so much better if they'd properly delved into the rich backstory and explored the fairly unique settings.

I'm not a good judge of animation quality, but it's not bad. The combat is fluid, which is very good, since most of the anime is spent in combat. Some of the musics are forgettable, but the OP is epic, the ED is kinda good too, and Meeya's song is very nice. I've already DL'ed the OST.

In conclusion, Overman is a fun ride which wastes the vast potential in its settings and characters by cramming every episode full of, admittedly quite entertaining, action. 3.5/5 stars.

[Krozam]

This isn't an anime, it's a live action series, but I wanted to write a review...

GARO (+ the 2nd season, Makai Senki, and the specials/movies Byakuya no Majuu, Red Requiem, Soukoku no Maryuu)

Well, I certainly didn't expect the series to become so good, based on the first few episodes. It stars off as a typical modern fantasy demon hunting story with a monster of the week pattern. Clichéd as fuck, but reasonably entertaining. Quite a lot of action, which is a blend of martial arts and CGI-heavy fantasy battle.

In the 7th ep, I first glimpsed a view of the epicness this series could achieve in its battles. The special effects aren't at their best in the first season, but boy, do they know how to make an aerial battle! Garo's battles put many an anime and manga to shame. I'm rather looking forward to the anime adaptation, it will be interesting to make comparisons.

Starting the 18th ep, the story gets interesting. They finally stop with the monster of the week routine and introduce a plot. The plot is hardly complex, but even as such it makes the series a hell of a lot more interesting. And towards the end, the story gets seriously epic. I consider the ending of the first series a fine example of a properly climatic, fulfilling ending.

The specials, Byakuya no Majuu and Red Requiem are pretty good. They expand the story universe and introduce some good recurring characters. Not to mention having some nice action with improved CGI.

The second season, Makai Senki, is better than the first one. It, too, starts with the monster of the week routine, but it doesn't last so long, and there are occasional plot episodes in between. The plot starts right from the first ep, and it's a lot more interesting than that of the first season. Also, the settings are once again considerably expanded. Of course, the special effects are clearly improved from the first season, and it seems the budget is overall larger, resulting in a larger cast and higher quality overall. The climax of the season is once again epic shit, though I feel like I put my expectations slightly too high, resulting in a slight disappointment. My emotional investment in the second season was far heavier than in the first season, in part thanks to being already familiar with most of the major characters, in part simply because it's better. I teared up a couple of times.

Lastly, there's the movie Soukoku no Maryuu, which I just finished. It's... different. In fact, it's completely fucking absurd. The MC travels to an absurd world clearly inspired by The Wizard of Oz. As such, it's filled with weird creatures, vivid colours and, well, it's by far the most CGI-heavy stuff seen in the series so far. It's a pretty nice movie, though.

The main character, Kouga, is stone-faced, strong and quiet type, curt to the point of coming off as a jerk at first. He's a steadfast hero, and someone might find him boring, but I far prefer his type to an annoying teenager. His character development is slow and not so easily visible, but it's there. The female lead, Kaoru, is in the first season a constant damsel in disteress. Or should I say, demon bait. In the second season, she's no longer plot-centric, and as such her screentime is considerably reduced. But, she play the role of Kouga's love interest well enough, and provides some touching romantic moments. Also, her art is great. I love that picture book she makes during the second season, the pages presented at the end of each episode have a very special mood to them, especially once you know the story that inspired each of them. The rest of the recurring characters are generally pretty good, both the villains and the supporting characters. Among the numerous one-episode characters and Horrors that Kouga routinely slays, there are some interesting ones, too.

The acting work is generally pretty good. The actors even manage to pull off all the dramatic, anime-like lines and poses with the necessary seriousness, lol. Kouga's actor has an "easy" role, as a character who rarely shows emotion, but it suits him pretty well. The level of Japanese actors, in my experience, isn't quite on the level of their voice actors, but this one has decent actors, mostly.   

If you can stomach the monster of the week routine, the series is actually very enjoyable. It's hardly deep, but it's entertaining, especially once they start expanding the settings. The best part is definitely the epic fights, where they go all out with the CGI to create flashy magical effects, giant beasts, foreign dimensions and awesome aerial battles. For the series overall, I'd give 4/5 stars. Note that the first season alone would only deserve 3 stars, 3.5 at most. The last 8 eps are great, but most of the first 17 eps are pretty mediocre.

The series continues, but the 3rd season, Yami o Terasu Mono, has a different cast, and the coming 4th season has a different cast again. I'll miss Kouga and co.

[Krozam]

Log Horizon

Every once in a while, I come across an adaptation that renews my faith in adaptations. Log Horizon is one of those. It's patient, faithful, improves on the original instead of crapping all over it, and it's simply good. It covers the first 5 volumes of the light novels, each volume given approximately 5 episodes (most LN adaptations give 3, max 4 eps for one novel - explains why most LN adaptations are crap). The adaptation is faithful (though I've only read the 5th novel, so I'm not entirely sure how faithfully the first 4 vols are adapted), with slight improvements on the pacing and comedy and replacing some of the slightly excessive amounts of inner monologue and narrator explanation with dialogue - shows that the director not only respects the original material, he also understands what needs to be changed when transferring the story over to another medium.

Everybody knows that the concept of Log Horizon is very similar to that of the widely popular Sword Art Online, on paper. What everyone who has watched/read both knows is that in reality, they're nothing alike. IMO, LH is much better. But I haven't watched SAO completely, so I won't go any further with that comparison.

A more interesting comparison, in my mind, can be made to a korean webtoon manhwa called The Gamer. These two stories have the opposite approaches to essentially the same theme. The Gamer plays with the idea of what would happen if a live human were to become like a game character, while remaining in the real world, only applying game logic to his life. He gains experience, his physical and mental attributes are determined by his stats, he kills monsters and gains loot, he can learn skills by reading a book etc. Log Horizon, on the other hand, takes place in a virtual game world, which the human players eventually discover to be more alike a real world than they ever imagined. In many ways, real world logic applies to that world. I can't say much more without spoiling important plot points, but I really find the comparison between these two works quite interesting.

But enough about adaptations and comparisons, let's talk about the anime and its own merits. One of the first things you'll realise when starting to watch it is that Log Horizon is rather slow-paced. There's some action, but it never really takes the spotlight, this story is about something else. It's mostly about discovery, settings building. This is achieved without all that much travelling, for what is discovered here is not so much what lies beyond the horizon, but more about the rules that govern that world, and gaining a deeper understanding of its indigenous people - the NPC's. That's some freaky advanced AI that controls these NPC's, they're so much like living humans that players can befriend them, or fall in love, before they realise that the other party isn't a player character.

Another very interesting element in the story is politics. I don't know what it is in fantasy politics that I so much enjoy (I care little about real world politics), but LH is one story that serves me well in that regard. Just as the main character's intelligence serves him well in this new world he's found himself and 30,000 other players. I do love an intelligent protagonist, perhaps even more than a badass one. Shiroe would have no need to be ashamed in the company of characters such as Keima from The World God Only Knows, Tooru from Iris Zero and the nameless protagonist of Hammer Session. He's a masterful organiser, manipulator and strategist, who is awesome enough to change the very rules governing his new world.

Other than Shiroe, there are a few other characters worthy of notice. First of all, Crusty and princess Leinessia are a pair whose interaction is in the highest class of entertaining, IMO quite comparable to Lawrence and Horo from Spice and Wolf. The two maidens holding special feelings for Shiroe, Akatsuki and Minori, also gain quite some development during the story. And then there's one more very interesting NPC character, whose identity would be a spoiler. There are plenty of entertaining and likeable characters besides them, but honestly, I feel like characters overall are a weak point in the story. They avoid archetypes pretty well, but they're not given much depth either.

The plot is... great. It manages to be unpredictable and entertaining without being overly complex or twisty. But what is perhaps even more impressive is how little it relies on action. Similar to the author's earlier work, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, there is a measured amount of action, but its role is strictly limited to supporting the plot. It's a bit more reliant on comedy, but in part that is thanks to the adaptation - the original novels have somewhat less comedy. Furthermore, if the anime adaptations are any indication, the author has greatly improved from the days of Maoyuu. LH has a way, way more interesting story to tell. A story about building a society out of a more or less lawless bunch of gamers lost in a familiar yet foreign land, and as I said earlier, about discovering the rules governing that world. This story is clearly settings-oriented, but it's a different kind of settings building from what you usually see in similarly oriented fantasy stories.

I might have rated the anime full 5 stars, if not for the unfortunate fact that the 5th volume happens to be a breather between two more serious arcs. Had the anime ended at 20 episodes, it would have had a properly climatic ending. As it stands, the last arc is interesting, but rather lacking in excitement - not a good finish, it leaves far too mild an aftertaste. It does give us a glimpse of what to expect from the second season, however, and somebody had the good sense to ensure that there WILL be a second season, so that it's not just another annoying incomplete story -ending. Still, the last arc would have served better as the start to the second season.

The visuals are good, but nothing worth talking about. The VA's are good as well, but nothing outstanding. The BGM's aren't bad, but probably not worth DL'ing either. The OP and ED, however, are both great.

In conclusion, Log Horizon is a great anime with fantastic settings building, a likeable cast of characters and a quality plot. It squeezes far more out of its basic concept than I thought possible. It's not for everyone, as there is a significant lack of ecchi and the pacing is pretty slow for the most part, but for me those are positive facts. I score the anime 4.5/5 stars, due to most of the supporting characters being somewhat shallow and the ending being anticlimactic.

[Haxton Fale]

I somehow got around to watching Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova, a series best described as "enjoyably mediocre."
The series starts a bit chaotic. At first the NATO fleet fights Fleet of the Fog, then a sudden jump nine years into the future, and a few minutes later - two years back, to explain why a teenager is (successfully) commanding a powerful submarine with a loli at his side. There's also his crew, but they are never properly introduced nor explained. All we know is that they are all fugitives who are hired by various people. To top it off, the animation of people is plain bad by today's standards, with awkward and unnatural gestures, lacking cel-shading, weird-looking eyes, and lack of fluidity, and the music is hardly there.
Despite all that, the show is quite enjoyable and entertaining. The story, even if not the most original and lacking in explanations, is enticing and has some more or less unexpected developments. Fog ships' Mental Models, as the anthropomorphisations are called (for some unexplained reason) are quire diverse in design (especially Haruna, wearing nothing but a cute set under her big coat) and with interesting personalities (save for Iona, for the most part, who is as bland as main heroines go). And, most importantly, the battles.
If there's one thing the show does right, it's the battles. The ship models might not be on the level seen in Strike Witches or Vividbutts, but they sure do look amazing, and the glowing "decals" only add to the charm. The fights are intense but not flashy, good enough for me to not worry too much about the more technical details (like the unreasonably spacious bridge on I-401). And they feature the most (decent) music in the entire show, so that's another plus.

All in all, the show could have gained a lot if only the technical bits were a tad better. A little unoriginal, but clearly entertaining, which earns it a 7.

[Krozam]

Mikakunin de Shinkoukei

One of the best slice of life romcoms I've had the pleasure to see. I'd compare it to Acchi Kocchi: they're both very lighthearted and lacking in drama, cute and funny, based on 4-koma manga, and have rather similar atmosphere. I must say I enjoy the AK male lead more than the Mikakunin one, but on the other hand, Mikakunin has more enjoyable female cast. Sure, they're all rather one-dimensional, save perhaps the female lead, Kobeni... but their character dynamics are a constant source of entertainment. The male lead is a bit quiet, but I wouldn't exactly call him bland. He has his good points.

Perhaps the weakest point in the story is around the middle, when they introduce some fantasy elements that, IMO, aren't properly foreshadowed and feel completely unnecessary and out of place in the story. I got used to it, however, and ultimately it was a minor bother to me.

The ending is nice. It feels incomplete, they clearly left the door open for another season, but the last ep is quite a fine finish nonetheless. It has just the right amount of drama to bring such a lighthearted story to a pleasantly climatic end. All in all, Mikakunin was a very pleasant watch, 4/5 stars.

[Krozam]

Strike the Blood

A nice, entertaining fantasy action series. I'd compare it to Campione: there are several common elements, not least of which is a harem which actually looks like it might lead to a real harem end. The male lead is pretty decent - I wouldn't call him cool, and he can be pretty thick-headed when it comes to girls, but he's still relatively capable and likeable. The girls have really cute character designs, and not bad personalities. I especially like Asagi, who is the only "normal" girl in the bunch, but still manages to be very useful (and has the cutest design).

The plots aren't bad, but they're usually pretty straightforward. Fairly high in entertainment value, but not much depth. The fights are entertaining as well, if a bit repetitive. The settings and the magic system are pretty interesting, but not explored enough.

I haven't read the original novels, but I think the anime is probably a pretty good, non-rushed adaptation. After I learned that the author of the original novels is the same person who wrote Asura Cryin', I couldn't help comparing them. Unfortunately, the comparison truly doesn't flatter StB. If it's about the depth and development of the characters or the complexity of the plot, Asura Cryin' stands several levels above StB. The visuals are clearly superior in StB, but AC has far better musics. The comedy, the settings and the magic system are roughly equal. The emotional impact of Asura Cryin' is incomparably higher than that of StB. Both shows are unfortunately thematically shallow.

In conclusion, StB was a nice, light watch. Constantly entertaining, but ultimately left me a pretty mild impression. 3,5/5 stars.

[MrKenkadze27]

Last anime I finished was Little Busters!: Refrain

This anime was amazing compare to the Prequel. It had Animation Improved a lot. The soundtrack was the same, noting new noticed (maybe I am wrong). Some People may consider the rest as A spoiler so... (It's nothing major)

(click to show/hide)

As for the story, "The secret to this world" wasn't as exciting as I thought, the secret was about the world it self. Some of the characters weren't there (I won't spoil why), and one of the remaining was actually a traitor. Only thing I can say is that 2 Main characters were Riki and Rin.

This anime was just amazing, emotionally powerful, Screw Clannad, this was better. (at least for me). It was the "darkest" anime Key has put out to date. Another thing, this Wasn't dubbed, so It was such a pain reading subs but it was worth. I rarely watch subs, meaning this anime was special to me. Score: 9.9/10.

I know I am not good at making reviews but whatever.

[Krozam]

No Game No Life

I'm really tired, so I'll make this relatively brief. A really good anime, surprisingly so. I liked it form the start, but the comedy didn't really hit me in the first few eps, so I was expecting to rate this 4 stars or so. However, it kept getting better, some episodes were downright hilarious. The intelligent main characters are pretty interesting, though a bit lacking in development. The other characters are unfortunately often given comedy relief duties, but every once in a while they all get their chance to shine. The settings and concept reminded me of Mondaiji-tachi at first, but they are pretty interesting, and in many way different, after all. The plot is pretty intelligent, though usually there is too little foreshadowing, the rules of magic aren't well enough known, and the main characters' mental abilities are just too extraordinary, it's a bit disappointing how out of this world the ways with which the MC's win their games are. Luckily, the main game of the last arc somewhat avoids the worst of these problems, making the otherwise worthy climax for the series even better. The hilariously creative fanservice deserves a special mention.

The thing that stands out about this series is its dramatisation. It supports this highly creative fantasy story - with a multitude of out-of-the-box ideas - in a way that not only pleases the eye, it actually makes this anime much more emotionally intensive than it would probably be in its original LN form. I haven't read the LN's, so I don't know that for sure, but seriously, the dramatisation is simply breathtaking at times.

I actually considered full stars, but in the end, the weaknesses are a bit too severe, and there isn't quite enough depth, to justify that. So, 4.5 stars it is.

[Krozam]

Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin

I liked this a lot from the start. An interesting concept combined with excellent characters. I particularly like Juugo, the male lead, who is a decent guy, but makes a point not to be a dreamer or selfless. Many characters in the story are well fleshed out, dodge archetypes, and develop nicely considering the anime is pretty short. The comedy is my type and the production quality quite nice. Overall, there's nothing I dislike about the anime, and plenty I like.

However, it still feels like it failed to entirely achieve its potential. Maybe it's just too short and incomplete, at 11 episodes that seem to barely scratch the surface of a much larger story. This could well be the start of a good plot, but as weird as it feels to say this after an entire season, it's still too early to say. I wouldn't say the impression it left is lukewarm, but it's not as strong as it should be. Despite being entertaining, well balanced and strong across the field, I feel like it's not worth more than a "mere" 4 stars.

[Krozam]

Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara

Hmm... The comedy is mostly too over-the top silly to hit me, but it has occasional funny moments. The dialogue often feels unnatural, though not all the time. The personalities of the girls are usually either too over-the-top or too generic for me, but at least their designs are cute, and the male lead plays a decent tsukkomi. The storyflow is messy and disoriented till the end, but the mystery/plot is actually pretty interesting. The resolution must be anime-original, because it is a definite ending, while the light novel series is still ongoing after 10 volumes - but it's not a bad ending, it's actually better than I expected from such a mediocre anime. Overall, it was just interesting enough to keep me watching, mainly due to the intriguing mystery. 2.5 stars.

[Krozam]

Trinity Seven

Trinity 7 is quite possibly the most faithful anime adaptation I've ever seen, it follows the manga almost 1:1. A few events are reorganised and a few dialogue lines cut or added, but that's it. It neither improves from the original material, nor screws up anything. It ends nicely, at pretty much the exact point where I expected it to end. It could use better musics and dramatisation, but they're not bad by any means. Animation and voice acting are as you could expect from today's anime, neither superb nor bad. Adaptation quality aside... well, I might as well just link my review of the manga:

http://forums.fansub.co/index.php?topic=240.msg8721#msg8721

Long story short, it has one of the most awesome harem leads ever, great comedy, decent but sometimes underwhelming fights (they improve as the story progresses), interesting plot and magic system... The other characters are likeable and all, but unfortunately often defined by their relationship to the male lead. They're slowly gaining depth, though. Overall, not a particularly deep story, but entertaining as fuck. Superbly re-readable/rewatchable. 4.5/5 stars.

[Krozam]

Magic Kaitou 1412

Delightfully intelligent and well dramatised. I like Kid's style a lot (even if his normal personality is a bit... annoying, even). It suffers from the same problem that plagues Conan - namely, the main plot is slow as fuck - but also enjoys the same strength: the countless "filler cases" are interesting enough that I didn't really miss the main plot often. Perhaps even surprisingly, this is one of the most enjoyable anime for me in the past two seasons. I wish they'd make more anime with concepts like this, they make for a nice break from all the generic harem shit. 4/5 stars.


Absolute Duo

As far as generic LN adaptations go, I'd say that this one is among the best of its kind. It does most things right (apart from, you know, being original). The MC is pretty likeable and reliable, the girls have distinct enough personalities, the fanservice is not too intrusive, the fights and animation are decent, the pacing and comedy work most of the time, and the last two eps are climatic enough. I might even say that the plot holds some minor interest to me. 3.5 stars.

[Hanover Fist]

Hori-san to Miyamura-kun or HoriMiya

I'd watched the first two episodes of this OVA early last year and just discovered the third was out. The OVA is cute, fun and funny. Ultimately it's a teaser for the manga, but a very successful one. After the first two OVAs I snarfed up all of the manga that was scanlated at the time and have been following it regularly since (49 chapters). So I was quite pleased to find the third episode of the OVA.

It's a high school slice-of-life comedy with unusual aspects: It begins with a focus on intimacy without a romantic aspect. The female lead Hori is a pretty and studious girl that runs the household on her own, taking care of her little brother while her mom works late. Miyamura is a quiet otaku-looking glasses-wearing guy with a surprising hidden dark side of tattoos and piercings, always the outsider.

They first cross paths when Miyamura brings home Hori's little brother Souta after a fall and a bloody nose, and she has Miya stay for dinner. Hori is astounded to learn that the multiply-pierced bishounen is the quiet bland guy in her class. Due to the supposed insistence of Souta wanting to see "Onii-san", Miyamura becomes a regular guest at Hori's home and helps with shopping, meals and keeping Souta occupied and entertained.

Gradually Miyamura gains friends at school while deepening the non-physical intimacy at Hori's home. They discover things about each other that they don't want to share, preferring to keep those things to themselves. The pace in which their relationship grows stronger is a little slow, but very natural, and it feels right.

The OVA doesn't really conclude anything, but it leaves you with a warm and happy glow, having more depth in one episode than most long series out there. The animation is a little plain - not a high budget show, but it doesn't need to be. I'm happy with it and give it a 4/5. Then again I'm hooked on the manga, so I might be biased.

[Krozam]

It's been a while since I watched any anime, let alone finished a series...

Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan

I'll keep this short. The concept and story are weak, unoriginal and predictable. Its sole saving grace is the fact that the adaptation is - for once - not rushed. Only two arcs in 12 episodes, I'd hazard a guess that it's two LN volumes. It still can't really save a story that was bad to begin with.

But, the characters aren't half-bad. I honestly enjoyed the quirky and flawed characters: one girl being a stubborn, brutish idiot, another being shy to the extreme and lacking in self-confidence, third girl being comically narcisstic. The story also - while failing in pretty much everything else - does a decent job giving them a little bit depth. I will reveal my bias in telling you that, in the presence of these three characters who at least try to escape the most common archetypes, I actually ended up rooting for the fourth girl in the harem, a stereotypical tsundere, for romance. I can't help it, I have a fondness for tsunderes. Although, the fact that she's the only one (relatively) actively pursuing him might have something to do with it. The male lead isn't too bad either, I like his laid-back attitude, and the fact that while he's very strong himself, he's actually more of a strategist than a fighter, drawing out the strength in those he teaches (as an instructor). Too bad the author clearly isn't smart enough to write an exceedingly smart character in a way that takes full advantage of it. Oh, and his obliviousness to the feelings of the girls around him is annoying, though I'm unsure if he's just faking it or genuinely incapable of picking up any hint, no matter how clear.

Nothing else really stands out either positively or negatively. In the end it was a mildly enjoyable light watch, saved by the decent characters. Probably won't ever watch it again, but I don't feel like I wasted my time. 3/5 stars.

[Krozam]

OverLord

Hmm... Not bad. Better than I expected. The concept of a VR MMO turning all too real is done to death, of course, and the MC is OP as fuck... but I usually like an OP MC, and this one is interesting enough, I suppose. There's a strong feeling of self-insert, especially apparent in the worship of his NPC servants, that bothered me at first, but I got used to it eventually.

It would be an exaggeration to call the MC evil... although some of his NPC servants do fit the bill... but he's certainly not a regular hero either. As un undead, his human feelings are suppressed, but often he goes out of his way to save people (usually from his own servants, lol). It is left ambiguous how much of it is because of moral reasons, how much of it is cold calculation. Overall, a pretty interesting character.

Nothing amazing about the plot, it's pretty straightforward so far, but at least I'm not bored by it. After the first couple of episodes, there's plenty of action, although apart from the last battle, they were pretty much all utter curb stomps. Characters apart from the MC have been pretty one-dimensional so far. The animation is quite good and the character designs are generally pretty cool, I'd say that visuals are a strong point. Musics aren't bad, but hardly remarkable either - except the OP and ED, which are both pretty good.

Well, I found myself sufficiently entertained, and apart from the "VR MMO turning all too real" bit, it's not too clichéd. I'll give it 3.5/5 stars.