larrimus

I can't say this was a bad show, but I also certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone without some massive caveats.

One of my critiques starting from the first episode was that the fan service and slightly pervy nature of the show seemed to clash with such a post-apocalyptic world. Though, I could have excused that. I thought maybe this was going for a dichotomy similar to that of Jobless Reincarnation. However, Robins actions combined with how little justice he has faced make it so I simply can't accept that. Obviously, the only justice for his actions would be something like a spell at the end of the Eragon series to force him to truly come to terms with the pain he's caused others, and that's basically impossible in such a world, but I would have at least liked to see Robin removed from this world so he couldn't ever do that to anyone else.

Add onto that the fact that Maru doesn't seem to feel much guilt for letting that happen to Kiruko, and that Kiruko doesn't even seem traumatized makes it seem like this story's writer wants to include these monstrous elements without handling the psychological effects it would have on its characters if they were real people. Perhaps the author of the manga this show came from is a poor writer, or maybe they desperately included those edgier elements just to try to give this story more notoriety.

I'm really stretching myself to offer them that much charitability, and so I can't help but be reminded of the kind of person who says inflammatory things just to get a rise out of people. With enough charitability, I can see them being more of a victim of circumstance than a jerk, but no matter what, I can't see them as putting more good than bad into the world.

But, this is just the first season. I could end up eating my words, and I hope I do, because as the story is now, I can only feel utter disgust.

The initial mecha fight that this anime pre-viewed had me worried that this was something I wouldn't enjoy. I watched the English dub version of this, and aside from Johnny Yong Bosch voicing Ryoto Akagi, I'd say they all sounded just fine. Though, maybe I wouldn't have been bothered by his voice if I didn't asociate him with the voice of Meliodas from The Seven Deadly Sins. The mild cliffhanger at the end of season 1 did leave me hoping for a second season. Though, I really hope its story comes to some kind of stopping point if it does recieve a second season. Like is said in the title: this story is a bit like bad pizza. Not great, but even crappy pizza tends to be somewhat enjoyable.

Based on the super fast paced intro of this story, I wanted to give it at least eight stars. Overall, I really enjoyed this story about managing to solve a conflict without violence. The whole dynamic of none of the character not having real names was also kind of amusing. That being said, I found that the romance really dragged after the first episode due to the main character being so inexperienced. While this does make perfect sense within the story, the first episode gave the impression that it would be doing quite the opposite. It was also frustrating because of the unnecessary drama it caused between the characters. Will they, won't they is a dynamic that has been played out to oblivion, and its answer is even more clear in this case. At least a bit more time could have been spent on the main story without this drama, and I think it would have made this anime far better for it.