Lycoris Recoil

This is another anime that, at the start of the season, I never expected to be this great, which is why I was greatly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. This is an action-filled, heartwarming, and emotional thrill ride. I loved the action in this anime, gunfights, hand to hand combats, the whole deal. Look, it was very unrealistic, but I can't deny how cool it was. I loved the 2 main characters and the main villain. They were very likeable, and all the banter between them was really entertaining. The friendship between the main 2 characters was very sweet. And the story, while not perfectly told, but still was really good with a few surprises along the way. The sound design was great too.

All thanks to a covert organization that trains orphan girls to become Lycoris; all-girl assassins dressed in high school uniforms who ensure Tokyo stays crime-free. Stoic Lycoris sharpshooter Takina, meets the cheery Lycoris elite agent Chisato, whose remarkable trajectory insight makes her an impossible target to shoot (Neo who?). Together, their wide-ranging missions begin.

Only 3 episodes in and Lycoris Recoil is already proving itself to be one of summer 22's best original anime series. It succeeds in blending slice-of-life, comedy, and action, and its vibrant animation perfectly contrasts with the story's underlying dark aspects. The best selling point of the show besides the neat action scenes (and the occasional action movie references), is the dynamic between the main characters Chisato and Takina as they're literally each other's opposite.

If you're up for some gun-toting girl spies, foil characters, and Loli hackers, you'll certainly gonna love this one.

The premise of Lycoris Recoil is pretty much the typical anime idiosyncrasy: Tokyo is kept crime free by a secret agency of teenage assassin girls which are referred to as 'Lycoris'. What sounds like one of those shows with a generic plot wrapped around scantily clad characters is actually the opposite.

Lycoris Recoil tells a reasonably clever story surrounding the Lycoris agents Takina and Chisato. Takina is the quintessential no-nonsense professional that has been raised from early childhood to be the perfect agent. Chisato is her cheerful antithesis, treating life lightly. Yet neither character is as generic as they sound. Chisato especially is as joyful and wholesome as few fictional characters manage to be, reminding me a bit of Kitagawa from the romantic comedy 'My Dress-Up Darling'. This is greatly helped along by the fantastic (Japanese) voice acting of Chika Anzai who received well-deserved awards for her performance.

Besides the wonderful main character, Lycoris Recoil's greatest assets are the clean yet vibrant style of animation, the furious action, the perfect balance between lighthearted slice-of-life moments and a grim plot of secrecy and terrorism, and the charming and heartfelt interactions between the main and support characters.

For me personally, the show was a perfect fit. Kickass girls with commendable morals and a cheerful personality are always welcome, much more so than the violent psychopaths that usually fill the 'girls with guns' genre. I also quite enjoyed that there was pretty much zero fanservice. The violence might still be a bit much for a true childfriendly rating, though.

I'd be greatly enthused if Lycoris Recoil were renewed for a second season. According to Wikipedia, a second animation project has been confirmed; I can only hope that we'll get to see Chisato and Takina again!

This series is set in a future where there is no crime in Tokyo... at least not officially. In reality a group of school-girl assassins, called Lycoris, tackle criminal threats. One such operative is Takina Inoue; after an incident where she was considered to have endangered others. After this she is recruited by Chisato Nishikigi, an elite agent working out of a café. Chisato has the ability to dodge bullets but refuses to kill anybody. This sees then facing various threats; including terrorist Majima and a hacker known as 'Robota' due to the headgear he wears.

I thought this was fun series. There is plenty of action as well as some humour and likeable protagonists. The story progresses well after setting up the characters. The action is fairly dynamic and there is a good sense of danger even if the antagonists fall into pantomime villain territory at times. Away from the action there is some slice of life showing the girls off duty; this provides some more character depth. The character designs are good, as is the animation. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the girls-with guns subgenre.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

Good animation (as always with these summer anime), with a good soundtrack, i like most of them during my watching experience.

The characters, are surprisingly good, the main cast (Chisato and Takina) are very "distinct" in terms of personality, and have a meaningful backstory, enough for me to get invested

Nice action, i like most of the shooting, especially with the main cast as mentioned earlier

The story, it's good, definitely isn't innovative any means, it's basically like a thriller-esque story, with some depth.

The only main flaw, i had is although the action is nice, some of it are quite confusing in their own, without watching at least the first 3 episodes, you won't understand why the main cast is being badass

Overall, This anime is charming in its own merits.