Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

Really good entertainment, I usually prefer more Darker anime but some light hearted no brainers do make for good entertainment now and again, art was beautiful, character movement was good, love the whole "Dual" concept. Sound was excellent, no irritating voices. Also, Tsundere can usually get on my nerves, but Julis, I think she's adorable & that goes for all the others too, although Julis is my favourite. Story wise, its sweet & simple and really ticks all the boxes from character types to the typical anime-ish embarrassing moments & luckily not 1 character that irritated me, don't expect any big twists or any OMG moments although it does hint at something unexpected at the end. Who knows? Good FUN & I can't wait to check out Season 2!

The story centers on a guy who is secretly more powerful than he lets on and his harem of girls who use magical weapons to battle...wait, that describes three different shows from this & last season. This review is for The Asterisk War but there may be some comparison to the other two shows, Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon & Hundred. It's inevitable given all the similarities between all three shows. Of the three The Asterisk War is the best, because it lacks the cringe worthy flaws of the other two shows. Though it’s clear they all have feelings for Ayato it’s not to the point where they are throwing their panties at him. Or themselves. They actually take the time to build the relationships between the characters. Also the enemy is clearly defined, though there are some shadowy machinations behind the scenes. And the battles are energetic and entertaining. Something else praise worthy is the fact that Julis can stand on her own. She’s not dependent on Ayato to save the day. They are more of partners than anything else. It’s not truly a harem show, or a school show. In fact I’m not sure how to classify this show. It’s set in a high school, yet I don’t ever recall seeing them in a classroom. The thing is, it’s also quite cliche. The characters are...how you say cookie cutter, sure to remind you of characters from other series. Sure we take a moment to explore them and their motivations but these come straight out of the “How To Create Characters” textbook. And nothing relating to their powers their relation to their weapons is explained (NOTE: It might be and I’ve just forgotten, but that just means it’s unmemorable). It doesn’t excel in any department except the fight scenes. In all honesty it’s a mediocre show at best but it gets bonus points because it’s better than the other two aforementioned shows. Hence why it got a second season. Normally I review anime objectively, but the three shows are so similar I thought I’d mention the other two. So in conclusion I say watch The Asterisk War and skip the other two.

Asterisk War is an adventure that has barely gotta started, because of its slow pacing and no third season in sight. But none the less, it was a fun one to watch and what we have already is good enough to get your fill or thrilling action. Many of the characters though, are your basic archetypes put to the test, but isn't as heavy handed as other action harems like it. The show is more of the same thing we always see, but trust me, it feels different than the others. If you want to see my full review/discussion video, then copy the link down below. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBYGrulmwn0

If I had to use one word to describe Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, it would be “boring.” The story follows a generic harem MC named Ayato who just arrives at Seidoukan Academy. A school for people with magical powers. In order to help the students control their powers and to train them for a tournament, the school allows them to duel each other. The setup is really nothing. It’s just a way to have the characters fight each other. The fight themselves aren’t really entertaining to watch. This is because Ayato is just overpowered. They use an excuse of why Ayato can’t fight at full power, his sister put a limiter on him, which only allows him to fight for five minutes, then he needs a day to rest. This doesn’t work because it just feels it’s there to create tension, which it completely fails at. The characters in the story are just what you expect to be in a battle harem. Ayato, the overpowered lead who ends up gathering women around him. Julis, the tsundere love interest. Saya, the flat childhood friend. Claudia, the mysterious beauty. And Kirin, the oppai loli. I feel the show thought it was being mysterious. It kept introducing characters, and new subplots. Every character who wasn’t the main group, were all working in the shadows, or doing shady things. Everything else about the show - the art and sound were just average. They weren’t bad, but they were also not anything special. I didn’t enjoy this anime at all. I felt it was below average, and not worth a watch. Even if you’re bored, there are way better battle harems that you can watch.

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) When I went to Disney World – that is the one in Florida (the good one) and not the one in California – for the first time, it was around my birthday. If you do not know, at Disney, they pamper you to no end. They make sure that every move you make and every event you experience fills you with nothing but happiness. It is pretty scary how good they are at keeping you smiling. So there I was, at Disney World, the happiest place on Earth, and it was my birthday. True to Disney form, they made me happy by giving me a special, green badge to wear. Wearing it around the parks meant skipping the long lines, extra signatures from the characters, and the regular restaurant staff giving me kind words and free desserts. Needless to say, I was a supremely happy kid. I speak of badges because Gakusen Toshi Asterisk gives badges to its characters, too. (Also, finding a tangentially relevant anecdote was pretty difficult for this one.) But Asterisk could learn a thing or two from Disney about how to make its audience happy. STORY One of the biggest issues with Asterisk is that the anime does not have an established plot to speak of. This is a split-cour anime, meaning the second season is realistically the second half, the direct continuation as opposed to a whole new set of ideas. What this means is that a lot of the events revolve around just introducing characters and establishing setting instead of actually having worthwhile events. For example, Julis gets the first couple of episodes which are shared somewhat with Saya and Claudia. Kirin gets a couple of episodes for herself, too. Then Kirin shares one episode with Saya, and then the last few episodes are (strangely) about two new characters that showed up at the end of the season. Again, this is all character-oriented material. Nothing that occurs within these separate scenarios – like Julis confronting an evildoer who sent her a letter or Kirin fighting off some monsters with Ayato helping her – affect the larger, overarching narrative. What is this narrative? A lot of it involves unnecessary sexual, harem-based content. It is almost certain that Julis is the one he will choose in the end, considering their partnership and main character statuses. Meaning, the other characters fawning over Ayato seems rather pointless. Furthermore, any and all advances are met with Ayato being too flustered to do anything or with Ayato too afraid to make a move, highlighting said pointlessness. The biggest driving force for the narrative is the “Fenix Festa,” a tournament where the best students of the different academies duel one another. The issue here is that the tournament does not start until later on in the season. That is, for roughly three-quarters of the show, the most important driving force is ignored. Yes, the characters are constantly training for the tournament, but it is never a conflict that they have to directly deal with until much later. Then, once the tournament starts, the anime spends an inordinate amount of time on those aforementioned side characters, Irene and Priscilla. Not only do these side characters come too late into the season but also they divert attention away from Ayato, Julis, and the other characters who are easily more important. Worse still is the lack of world building. Very little information is given on the different factions throughout the city; only random snippets from conversations or quick rundowns let the audience understand how this society functions. Thus, the different fighters and weapons and groups have no basis and therefore no relevance. Narrowing the scope, Asterisk still has problems. A number of subplots go unexplained, like the Cat guardians, the backstory about Ayato’s sister, and the behind-the-scenes dealings with Clauida to name a few. The idea is that these separate subplots will be resolved later on in the second half of the anime, but so little was given about them that they feel more like tacked-on inclusions rather than important pieces of the plot. Even on a thematic level, the anime has trouble. Asterisk focuses on the theme of what it is that motivates people. Or as the characters phrase it, “what it is I’m supposed to do.” Protecting another, upholding tenets, and righting wrongs are all valid motivators, motivators that the different members of the cast hold fast. However, the extra aspects – namely the comedy and the sex – of Asterisk make it difficult to take its serious thoughts seriously. For example, Ayato (and the audience) seeing Julis and Saya’s undergarments after getting splashed by a fountain is unnecessary. And when Irene sucks blood from Priscilla’s neck, the action can only be described as sensual and thus distracting. But to be as fair as possible, there is a second half to Asterisk, a half that presumably will sort out all of these narrative conflicts and inherent problems. So even though the show looks rough now, there is still an entire season left to go. ANIMATION Asterisk’s art and animation is a mixture of both solid and subpar offerings. The cinematography is often standard, except for rare perspectives such as a shot taken from Ayato’s point-of-view when Julis’s hands are covering his face or when bullets are shown hitting other bullets in slow motion. Lighting likewise remains relatively standard. And the same can be said for the art itself. Locations feel “the same”: an arena for fighting, a nice-looking room, and small parts of the city are as adventurous as the show gets. The lack of diversity can be attributed to the lack of world building – since the anime decided not to flesh out its world, the anime’s art suffers, too. Asterisk also likes to use CG for many of its effects. The materialization of guns, the smaller particles, and the robots that Ernesta developed are a few examples where CG makes an appearance. The CG is not groundbreaking, but it is used in such a way that the scenes and effects are bolstered, not hampered, by its inclusion. Bolstering occurs with the actual animation as well, remaining at an above average level throughout the season. Hair swaying and faces contorting are present as well as other nuanced effects such as sparkling eyes and moving limbs. The animation even keeps up during the numerous duels: swords swing, flames bloom, and characters run. Even Ayato’s abilities – which more often than not devolve into a quick cut of him flashing across the screen – have their moments, like when he grapples Kirin or when he uses a massive attack in the final battle. As for the character designs, their inclusion of color symbolism is nice to see. Julis’s pink symbolizes hotness, Kirin’s lavender symbolizes sweetness, Saya’s blue symbolizes calmness, Claudia’s yellow symbolizes happiness, and Ayato’s purple symbolizes respectfulness. But the colors are, unfortunately, all that distinguish them. Their hair is not gaudy and their eyes are pretty, yet they each wear more or less the same school outfit. And since they rarely switch out of their school outfits, they look less like their own characters and more like a specific color moving around on the screen. CHARACTERS Asterisk has a fair amount of problems with its cast, problems caused by the anime splitting itself up. Still, the cast partially holds its own. On a thematic level, they represent the idea that everyone fights for someone. Ayato fights for Julis. Julis fights for the kids in the orphanage. And Kirin and Saya fight for their respective fathers. Claudia may be fighting for Ayato, but technically the audience does not know quite yet where her true thoughts lay. (Hopefully the second season will clear this confusion up.) Regardless, it is this need to protect another that pushes the characters forward. They take action not for themselves but for the person (or people) they hold dear. This theme is not explored outright, but having this commonality ex…

Someone out there is passionate about this show. But it's not me. Recommended for anyone looking for a show to indifferently binge on and go to sleep to, honestly. Uninspired settings, trope-y characters, heavy CG reliance. You get all that in one show, a show that is probably contributing to the slow death of anime in the modern era, really. That all said, the fight scenes are pretty all right. None of them truly stand out for me now that it's been weeks since I've seen the show, but the fight scenes are quite decent; I just don't remember any if someone were to ask. Visually, the show is saved by being so new. It doesn't have Fate/Zero levels of budget to be sure, but manages to look okay. Second and third-rate anime from ca. 2010 and beyond generally look good and clean. And yes, I will watch the second season.

I managed to watch this anime all the way through, regrettably, not dropping it halfway. Oh how I'm disappointed. This anime is clearly very stereotypical, in all it's choices. How you ask? Let's begin with the characters. I think if they weren't plucked from each stereotypical character trope, and splashed with colourful hair, than I think the Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, would lose many of it's fans. (I persevered, due to my love for Saya.) First you have your plain, overpowered male protagonist, who attracts all the girls, and gets caught up in a lot of events, as progression for the plot. We have this in Ayato, who joins Seidokan Academy, the scene for most of the events in the anime. Then we have our tsunderes and lolis coming out. Before you know it, Ayato, and his friends (pretty much girls) are battling for victory in tournaments. These tournaments, are what we are told about early on. This takes up a lot of the plot, besides, the problems, of our main characters. I feel that many there are many plot holes, and unanswered questions, that the viewer wants to learn about, during the anime, which saddened me. These story points, that I felt I'd learn about, I never did, so I'm at the very least pleased Season 2 is coming soon. The art, is bright and attractive, but sometimes, it's lazy, outside of fight scenes. The music is half decent, but not memorable. In conclusion, I think Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is a shambles. I'd only recommend it, if you are desperate, for your deres, but if you haven't watched it, don't bother.

The Asterisk War is one of those shows that at first glance seems like every other show but ends up being something special as far as battle harems are considered. That's not to say that the show is unique because its not but at the same time its not as generic as its competition either. It has just enough to stand out but not enough to be remembered as a masterpiece of the genre. Sort of like when your in school and you get a passing grade but cant be arsed enough to do anything else. The series takes place in a relatively advanced world with not only great advances in technology but advances in genetic modifications as well. One thing i do like is how the genetic modifications are all subtle increases in our natural abilities such as speed and strength. Its not flashy abilities like throwing fire balls, well some people can do that but not on their own they need special weapons for those kind of abilities. In this setting are several schools who train students in ...... well to be honest we don't really know. supposedly each school works differently but the purpose of the schools isn't really expanded on aside from it being there for plot purposes. These schools however do compete with each other in a series of duels or atleast that's what we are led to believe seeing as how the big tournament the shows builds up isn't exactly a school event but all the schools have a stake in. As you can tell the plot isn't all that thought out and we end up with several unanswered questions but hopefully we will get more explained in the upcoming 2nd season. One thing that did stand out a little bit to me was the art-style that seemed reminiscent of the game "Phantasy Star Universe" which i wasted a unbelievable amount of hours on in the past so this was a good thing in my eyes. The animation is actually alot better than you would think, now its not Ufotable tier animation but still pretty good. Well aside from a section in the final episode that looked like they were trying to experiment on which i respect trying something new but it did feel unnatural. What is probably the best part of this show is the soundtrack and it is certainly one of the better ones of winter 2015. The background music does its job perfectly and gets the audience hyped up for the current and upcoming scenes and the opening/ending is probably my favorite part of each episode. Now the characters on the other hand are fairly mediocre with a few exceptions. Just like with the setting the characters arnt really expanded on too much and seem to be there just to push the story along. Lets start off with the biggest complaint, that would be our protagonist Ayato who alot of people have referred to him as being worst than Kirito in terms of plot convenience. I however don't really see it that way, i mean yes he is pretty generic and pulls his abilities out of his ass when he is losing however lets take a second and compare him to another battle harem protagonist from the same anime season. Lets compare Ayato to Ikki from Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, both are fairly generic and pull off random abilities when losing but i would like to give Ayato a little bit of credit from where Ikki falls painfully short. First off Ayato has a reason to pull off his abilities when in trouble seeing as how his sister sealed most of his power away when he was a child making it painful for him to draw on it for fairly short periods of time. In a tactical sense lets compare it to Ichigo's Vizard mask where he could only maintain it for 30 seconds to gain a slight advantage. However with Ikki he pulls wins out of nowhere from pure determination because of sloppy writing, what i mean is that he should not be winning every single fight when prior to the series starting he had never won a fight in his entire life. This is why i preferred Ayato over Ikki because it felt more realistic to have someone draw on hidden power and win than for someone to win because the plot called for it. The other thing i prefer about Ayato is he has a goal to try to accomplish where as Ikki just wants to get stronger, and yes i know all characters want to get stronger but Ayato has a reason to get stronger where Ikki on the other hand does not. Ikki just wants to be stronger because that's what the plot calls for not because he has some goal to achieve. As for the rest of the cast most of it is just a bunch of anime tropes aside from one character in the end which serves to be the polar opposite of Ayato. Where Ayato wants to get stronger in order to find and protect his sister while still being a good and honorable person, This character Also wants to protect her sister but is willing to go to any length to do this even if it means hurting people who probably didn't deserve it. Overall the show is fairly generic but it was still enjoyable to watch each week and was far superior to that other battle harem we were introduced to in the same anime season. Its not exactly something i would recommend of the top of my head but if i was asked what a good battle harem show would be then this would probably come to mind first......well this or highschool DxD.

Wow. I have not seen anything like this before. Oh wait. Yes I have. This is one of the WORST anime I've seen, worse than SAO. That's a big achievement. Let's get right into this. Story 2/10 Let me say, the plot is not the worst thing in existence, but how it was executed, was HORRIBLE. This plot has many, MANY plot holes, dumb coincidences, unneeded fanservice to the point where it was cringeworthy and even PREDICTABLE most of the time, and a very unstable pace of plot, usually sloooooooow. Oh, and also, it ends in the most unsensical place I've seen in an anime. The story is a huge mess. Art and Sound 8/10 They were the only good points to this anime, and you know what? It's decent, both of them. But here's the thing. I DON'T GIVE A CRAP. The animation and sound, if it's good, good for the anime. I don't like a good anime with mediocre animation and sound as much as I do a good anime with good animation and sound. I think 100% of people will agree with me on that. But can it change the rating of a show? To me, no. So I don't give a crap, even though the art and sound is actually pretty good. Characters 1/10 The Characters. Ah, the characters. What is this, a copy of SAO? SAO is a horrid anime. This anime copied SAO, and somehow made it even WORSE. Super op character? Check. Badass into Tsundere? Check. All the girls like the main, super op character? Double check. I don't get it. What's so good about Ayato? He's strong? He has purple hair? He looks EXACTLY like Kirito? All the characters are clićhe cardboard cutouts that have absolutely NOTHING interesting going for them. Enjoyment 1/10 Why? WHY is this anime ranked higher and rated better than animes like Black★Rock Shooter? Why is it rated so goddamn HIGH? How does ANYONE see good in this anime, so much so that they give it a goddamn 10!? This anime had GLARING issues, and I wish I'd dropped it before I reached the end. Why did I think it was gonna get better during the Festa? (Minor spoiler, but it's revealed in the 1st ep I think.) Overall 1/10 Worse than SAO. A job well done, A-1, you topped your worst anime(maybe)with another anime. I wonder if that was your goal. Either way, it's downright horrible. Asterisk War gets a grand total of 1/10. (Wasn't that obvious?)

I might remember Fall 15 as an unique season because of this anime and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry. Many people have mentioned their obvious similarity, and the funny thing is I enjoyed both and watch almost the same time. Man.. I might have too much tolerance for this kind of anime. There's no outstanding aspect from this show. Almost everything is generic, some that I find interesting: - various weapons (Ogre Lux) with it's own personality and ability, I'm itching to find more of them in 2nd season - little "extra" they put at the end of each episode, and it's hosted by my favorite character, Claudia!! okay, sometimes she's interfered or replaced by someone.. - the OP and ED are great, the OP sets the mood, and the ED just.. beautiful - and lastly, the story is not that bad, I want to find out how the MC overcome his "limitation" and where is the person he's seeking, hope they'll show it well in 2nd season

This is incredibly appalling to the point i had to write a review of how incredibly unpleasant this was. The show lacks originality in that the protagonist is dense, kind , girls fall for him without reason and has some sort of special power that is sealed. i have no problem watching these types of shows but still other similar shows have at least something i find enjoyable in them. what the author did here was just take a story template and slightly modify it. the author lacks creativity and the animation company just looks for something that will make money. There's one thing i don't get and that's why he wants to protect the heroine. its like meeting someone for the first time without knowing them you claim that you will protect them what kind of joke is this. Art: The art is a generic art style used in most anime. while its not bad its also not unique in any way. there are some art styles that are unique in that you can be able to tell in a single look which author drew the work. a good example is the author of highschool of the dead just by having one look at triage x i knew it was his work. Sound: while the sound isn't bad it lacks impact in that after the series is over i can't remember any sound that was played in the anime. Enjoyment: i didn't enjoy this in that it betrayed my expectations. character: the character development is poor and the characters are a rip off of what the anime industries consider to be popular. overall: drop the anime and cancel the manga or ln

First look That anime is just a ordinary harem with some mix of romantic.You can see nothing interesting,cause there are lots of cliches in anime . Fanservice realization is shitty,ecci elements are presented too bad at all.After several of watched episodes, relations between Ayato and girls ,who are always surrounding him, are becoming too boring to you.Major time of that anime(75-80%) you can see only THESE simple romantic relations.It is a copy of other anime with similar genre. The plot(can contain spoilers) Beginning is looking like: "main hero accidentally running into girl and see her without any clothes.Then she is suggesting him to take part in duel,cause she wanna revenge for that accident.Of course,Ayato accepts it and wins.And relations between Ayato and Julis begin..."And so on...So typical for harems. The plot is predictable and very simple. IT IS A GREAT CHELLENGE TO END WATCHING OF ALL EPISODES OF SUCH ANIME! In conclusion i would like to say that anime is boring and simple.I don't recommend you to watch it.

"Gakusen Toshi Asterisk" is itself an amazing anime that I would recommend to those who like me are picky about the type of genre. The story of the anime starts out a bit unoriginal as there a huge amount of anime that have a very similar beginning, but then fixes all my rants about it within the first 15 minutes of the anime with an interesting plot line and characters. But one problem, at the end of the first season, something was gonna happen until.. just why. But that leaves suspence (But I was mad at that) The art style is the most common but one of the most popular art styles, (And my favorite too) Just beautiful. The sound in this anime is just perfect, its studio quality, nothing else to say about it. Characters in this anime are really well done, good back stories and just very comedic in all. But slight spoiler (It shouldn't be anyways because of the tag Romance) is the harem is just at a perfect balance where it wouldn't make it cringe worthy.And for once, the hot girl is the winning the competition, *cough* (The Pet Girl of Sakura Sou)* to get the MC. I really did enjoy the anime and hoping that if you are reading this review, just give it a chance, I really am enjoying this and hope for a third season. Soon.

Story - 5 Art - 10 Sound - 10 Character - 5 Enjoyment - 10 Overall - 8 This is one hell of an underrated anime. So firstly I know people tend to hate on it due to the severe lack of any real character progression or depth. In my opinion the anime redeems itself: 1 - with its stellar visuals and sound, 2 - with its likeable, fun and caricatured (although often 2 -dimensional) characters 3 - by being fun to watch. (keep in mind this is far from a masterpiece, but if you're looking for such, you are looking in the wrong place my friend) However, it does leave the plot as an afterthought, but it is kinda there. I hope the second season addresses this. It has great action and the premise/setting is quite interesting. If you are an SAO fangirl/boy - bless your soul - this anime will probably fill that Kirito shaped whole in your heart if you're unable to find another anime that quenches your thirst for too nice OP harem dudes with swords and scruffy hair. I think this review covered most of the bases... Feel free to disagree but I think this is worth watching for the demographic mentioned above.

When you look at the genre tags, it’s poster and watch the PV’s for Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, the first thing that may come in your mind is “Wait, didn’t I already watch this already”. Yes, yes you have, and this anime is nothing special. Hell, there is another anime this season that has a similar premise and presentation. Yet it is able to entertain, even with its “seen this before” premise and its generic tropes used. Though a flawed anime, it’s guilty pleasure anime may please some, though it may disinterest others too. Nevertheless, its high production values are sure to pull in some viewers in. ~{Story}~ The plot focuses on Amagiri Ayato and how he transfers to Seidoukan Academy to find his missing sister, or it was supposed to focus on that. The anime quickly crosses out that storyline for the sake of focusing on Ayato teaming with with Julis, a rapier-wielding love interest for the protagonist, and together they compete in the Phoenix Festa. Along the way, Ayato meets other competitors such as Saya and Kirin, who are all just here to be added in Ayato’s harem list. And… that’s it! It’s as generic as it sounds. As obvious as it is, Gakusen Toshi Asterisk’s story isn’t its strong points. It would have been a lot better if the story focused on Ayato’s lost sister rather than the festival, as the festival storyline is filled with “seen this, done that” type of stuff. However it’s not terrible, as it still works. However this is just the first half of what they will present to us, so hopefully its second half ends up breaking its generic storyline in half. Story: 4/10 ~{Presentation}~ As a fantasy action, ecchi, harem, school anime, it does exactly what it’s supposed to do. Main characters competes with skilled opponents, proves he’s the stronger one, gets all the ladies, and rinse and repeat. A-1 Pictures probably didn’t have an issue doing this anime as they have done things like these before. However, as expected from A-1 Pictures, the production value for this anime is splendid. And this anime doesn’t seem like it wants to escape from its generic tropes as its having a fine time standing out because of its quality production values. Those who are fans of the genres this tackles will have a fine time with Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, but those who aren’t aren’t going think differently about these types of anime after watching this; it might just make it worse. Presentation: 4/10 ~{Character}~ Gakusen Toshi Asterisk consists of one main male character and a near-handful of female characters, because it’s a harem, what did you expect! Ayato is your typical fantasy-harem protagonist. He’s an underrated competitor and most of the girls go gaga over him. He is particularly that interesting as he doesn’t stand out much compared to other protagonists of similar series. The main female character, Julis, is also quite typical, cliché-driven too. They try to add a backstory for her to make her seem like a developed character, but it ends up ineffective. There are other female characters such as Claudia (I have no idea why she’s so interested in Ayato) who is your typical “horny-for-protagonist” type of character, Saya, who is your typical emotionless girl who believe she deserved to be with Ayato because she knows hime more, and Kirin is your typical deredere kohai who gained self-esteem and confidence from the protagonist. As I probably mention before repeatedly, the characters feel very typical and their interactions between one another is nothing special considering it is an ecchi-harem. However, since the female characters are attractive, fun-enough, and cute, they end up being likeable, even if there characters you’ve seen before. Character: 6/10 ~{Art}~, A-1 Pictures doesn’t disappoint again as the art is beautiful in Gakusen Toshi Asterisk. The colors are vivid and a treat to the eye. The backgrounds are well detailed and it’s just gorgeous to look at. The character design is also really good, and they help the characters be a little more interesting than they actually are. However, even the art style is very typical. It’s the same type of art you would expect in a fantasy-school anime, but it works well. The character designs, though great, are still “seen this already” type of character looks. Never has this anime made me think that they could have made the art better here. Art: 7/10 ~{Animation}~ Animation quality is also fantastic. The style is the same as every other fantasy school anime, but it works very well. Everything is very smooth and it looks gorgeous. Fight scenes were also animated really well. Although some fights were cut short in length, that’s not a fault for the animation. A-1 Pictures tends to give all their best when it comes to animating anime and Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is no exception. Production values are top-notch and it’s one of the bigger redeeming points of the anime. If you’re not a fan of these types of anime, at least try it out for the animation quality. Animation: 7/10 ~{Voice Acting}~ The voice acting is good in this anime, though really nothing special. Ayato is voiced by Tamaru Atsushi and he gets the job done. He’s nothing too special, and he isn’t than well know either. Interestingly, he voice acts another ecchi-harem protagonist this season; Kimito from Shomin Sample. Kakuma Ai voices Julis and she does a decent job with the character. For most of the time, she gives a masculine tone to Julis which is nice to see, and is able to make Julis have a deredere tone is a quick second. Claudia is voice acted by Touyama Nao, who happens to be one of the more well-known seiyuu of the cast, does a really good job making Claudia sensual and lusty. Izawa Shiori does Saya, and she also does a very good job being emotionless (it doesn’t really require much skills, does it?). Ozawa Ari does a great job of being cute adorable for Kirin. Overall it’s a decent job from the cast, even if it’s them following tropes to fill in for their characters. Some characters were teased at the end for the second season, so I’m hoping I’ll find some characters I really care about. Voice Acting: 5/10 ~{Music}~ The anime’s opening is pretty good and it built up on me more and more every time I watched it. It’s got some pretty catchy beats, however it’s the type of anime that will be in every other fantasy, school, harem anime. The ending is also really good. Actually, I like it better than the OP. It’s solemn and beautiful. However, it totally doesn’t match the anime much. The background music is okay, nothing too great. The techno beats used during fights are mediocre, nothing that will boost your adrenaline. That is prettt disappointing, considering most of A-1 Pictures anime consists of good OST, especially ones that are similar to Gakusen Toshi Asterisk. Not to mention than A-1 Pictures didn’t do the greatest with Subete ga F ni Naru’s OST either. Music: 5.5/10 ~{Enjoyment}~ The anime is enjoyable at times, but mostly it gets irritating as it feels like as if I’m already seen this before. The cliché-driven presentation, the story being unfocused at time, and characters being rehashes of what we’ve seen before make me disinterested about this anime. However it’s high production value pull me back in. And even if it’s typical, it’s typical for a reason; because people still find these entertaining. Luckily it was well paced, even with some episodes there just do waste time. Enjoyment: 5/10 Overall, Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is a decent anime that gets to be entertaining enough, even with its rehashed presentation because of its production values and animation quality. However, we only got to see half of what Gakusen Toshi Asterisk has to offer, we’ll get the rest on spring. And hopefully it will be better, more enjoyable and will make this season look like more of a buildup of what it has to offer. + Fantastic production values + Gorgeous art and animations + Though cliché-driven, it’s still somewhat enjoyable due to a cute cast. + Th…

I'l be to the point. This anime is filled with cliche. If you are looking for something original go else ware. If you are just here for the enjoyment of a decent battle harem, it is fine to watch. Story is slower paced, moving a bit at a time. The art works well for the theme. Sound is nothing special, but not annoying. Characters and romance are by far its weakest points. In truth, it is the people who we have yet to meat that have captivate our imagination the best. I.E Ayato's sister and the parents of Saya and Kirin. Myself, I would also like to learn more of cluadia. It does have a little problem with fan service. If your not looking for something amazing or completely original, this is a fine anime to watch. I certainly enjoyed it.

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is your typical anime to watch to kill boredom. Not quite special, not too good and not too bad either. Future-themed anime with one overpowered main character that is surrounded by multiple girls that vary in boob sizes and the basic "anime girl" characters at the most. Of course this piece of work has it's brighter sides. Seems like there is an interesting romantic character development bewteen the two of the main characters which kind of kept me watching until the end of this season. There are two more characters, Saya and Kirin, which I think deserved a bit more attention in this season. Sometimes it felt like they were being excluded on purpose so the main storyline could develop more but that, in my opinion, didn't really work out as the end, or rather the "point" of the end was disappointing in some ways. To be honest I didn't hop into watching this anime with any expectations at all, all I can say is that it definitely could be better. Fair piece of work, strong 6/10 in my case.

I decided to write a review for this show because it's actually rather easy to. This might even be the shortest review you will ever need that makes sense. *Some spoilers ahead* This season, two very similar anime came out namely this one and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry. While the battle systems may be different, they are in essence almost parallel anime. Both have "overpowered" MCs, red headed princess heroines that use fire. Both are in a school setting with a battle tournament going on. Basically when you've seen one, once you see the other you feel like you're watching the same anime. Except they aren't the same in which one outperforms the other, namely Rakudai Kishi is better than Asterisk in every aspect. You might think Rakudai kishi will start off as another harem romance anime, but it's not. There is a clear romance between the two main characters that actually makes it refreshing to see. They fight for the promise they made to each other, and it's a pretty simple yet believable reason to, unlike in Asterisk where typically the guy makes no real love interest and flirts with everyone while being oblivious, albeit choosing to "fight" for the red-head princess heroine. No motive, not love, just "she showed me the reason to fight" kinda cheesy shit. While the main stories of both animes might be generic or even mediocre, it's the subtle differences in their execution that really makes the difference between "I'm sick of this same old shit" and "that was actually quite nice". TL;DR Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is basically Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, except Asterisk is below mediocre while the latter is better. Watch both if you have the time and like the typical harem/romance/school/overpoweredMC but otherwise watch Rakudai over Asterisk. Plain and Simple.

(Spoiler-free review I suppose?) So usually every season as most people know we always have that one cliche harem anime about a magical high school and becoming strong and boobs and magic, oh joy. Now I'm not saying that all of these animes are bad. For example, Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry didn't seem special at first but it did a good job. Gakusen Toshi Asterisk is an example of the opposite. The plot could've been better, the storyline was ehhh, the development was crap, the... okay I'll just show everything I say in each category. Story: 3/10 Since it's ultra cliche and nothing new, I don't have much to say. For a whole entire season of 12 episodes, it didn't really go anywhere much. Honestly I think it might get somewhere in the second season, with all those mysteries they've presented, but I still have my doubts. Also, what I HATE is about how the harem practically takes over the anime and wipes out the point of the story. There should be a balanced ratio between the harem and the actual plot, but there wasn't here. :/ Art: 7/10 Art wouldn't really affect how much I like the anime. The art was good, no problems with it, so that's that. Doesn't suddenly make it a good anime, though, if you were thinking anything like that. Sound: 5/10 The ED was nice, but I really didn't like the OP and the OST really wasn't all that memorable. There wasn't even one that left a mark on my brain as "great" or anything, so I wouldn't call their soundtracks that successful. They did establish the moods well enough during the scenes though, so it's not so bad. Character: 1/10 Alright so, like I said before, it's a harem (which by the way was done wrong). The main character, Ayato, is a boy who is quite strong and is probably the most bland character I've ever seen in anime. You can totally predict his reactions to things, and he's just so NOT well-thought. Then there are the girls who are part of the harem itself: Julis, Saya, Claudia, & Kirin. Pretty much all of them want Ayato's D, but the annoying part is that right after they meet him, they're already part of the freaking harem. They don't even have any reasons for liking him. I like the kind of harems where the characters' love for the MC slowly develops for a certain reason. This one was just adding random characters for the sake of a harem and ecchi moments because Why not? Not to mention that they don't even give you a choice about who you should ship with the MC, they make it so obvious who's meant to be with him; they just add the other harem characters so we can have more tits in the show. Sometimes that's okay if the other characters are still important, but I wouldn't call the other characters THAT important. The female lead, Julis, is also one of those cliche pink-haired tsundere girls that is just put with the role of the female lead and the role of being meant to be with Ayato just because she looked ideal. They really were running out of ideas, so they must've thought, "Well all these types of animes have the pink-haired tsundere female lead!" Also, I barely saw any character development so all the characters were quite boring. The MC being an overpowered yet empty-headed ding-dong, and all the other girls just taking up random roles for the harem, and all the other side characters somehow contributing for the sake of the number of characters... I can't even say that the characters were horrible; this was the most pathetic crap I've seen in a while, it's like all the way down there. (Not literally *coughs*) Enjoyment: 1/10 I tried to be patient with this anime, honestly. At first it didn't seem special, but there are a lot of good animes that are based off of light novels so I gave Asterisk several chances to the point I even finished the anime. But I got no satisfaction. Not even ONE part of the anime happened to impress me. There was never enough suspense. I kept waiting, waiting, waiting for it to seem like a good anime for once, but it never happened. I guess you could say the last episode was suspenseful, but it still didn't work enough on me. :/ And really? Making it seem suspenseful only on the last episode? That was way too long of a wait for me, and they didn't even impress me enough by THEN. Overall: 3/10 So yeah, I wouldn't recommend this anime to you unless you have literally nothing to do with your life and have watched all of the good animes in the whole world. Or if you want to join us who don't like this thing. I REALLY hope it ends up being better in the second season (and oh yes, I'm giving the second season a chance, because I'm still trying to be a stubborn and patient anime watcher) but this season was crap whether the second turns out good or not. Oh and also, a list of the cliches that I can think of: -Overpowered bland male MC -Harem for the sake of ecchi -Magic school with magic weapons where you master magic -Magic school has a competition -Pink-haired tsundere female lead -No reason for the girls to like MC... they just do -loli female childhood friend (part of the harem obviously too) -the assertive female! (part of the harem as well!) -the high-pitched tiny cute female! (Oh look another harem character)

Only one time during my entire viewing of this, did I ever think to myself 'that is pretty cool'. That was in episode 11. There is nothing redeeming about this piece of animation. The story is boring: its a rehash of your average tournament plot with harem elements that fails to make any sense. It attempts intrigue through plots and spying. It only achieves ennui as the show fails to explain its own plot points, or even the basic mechanics of how the magic system works. There is no world building here. I can only imagine that the light novel contains the information necessary to understand the basics of what happens here. This lack of understanding of the system gets to be incredibly frustrating whenever there is a fight scene. The stakes of this show are never set. From the first fight scene there is no explanation of the power level. From the first episode, I had no idea what was an important attack, or what could kill, or if the point of all this fighting was to kill. The fireballs Julis slings seemed to do no damage whatsoever in the beginning of the show. However everyone seems to be afraid of these small yellow arrows that are fired from weird wrist gauntlets, to the point where anyone would think those arrows can kill people with one strike. In later scenes we see bullets are able to hurt the genestella, but when we come to the tournament everyone is using energy guns that, despite their seemingly immense power, rarely hurt other genestella. It leads me to question why this is happening. We know from the first scene of the first episode that these weapons have the capacity to kill. But the tournaments themselves don't require a contestant to murder an opponent to continue. Are the weapons being modulated, so that they only stun people on contact? We know they aren't, because the protagonist is able to slice through weapons like a lightsaber through warm butter. Was it an accident? Or an actual fight to the death? We never find out. It seems like it would be pretty easy to find out, considering all of these duels between the genestella seem to be televised and incredibly popular, despite being incredibly dangerous. In short, the plot is nonsensical and the more you think about it, the more you are left wondering why you are watching. The characters are cliches. I would say only one character has an interesting moment as we learn about her and her weapon. Otherwise the characters make no sense. They were written first to be archetypes and characters much later. Rarely are the characters reasonable. If their actions are supposed to actually make sense in context of the universe, then the show fails to allow the characters to explain, or the explanations fail to justify their actions. The main character himself is honestly the most annoying character there is. He is one of these Genestella, which are this race of supermen that apparently can kill people easily with their hands, and are able to easily survive drops from multi-story buildings. He is probably one of the densest MCs ever. His only redeeming quality is that he is not a jerk. And he is good with his super sword. That's it. I have no clue why he is attractive to any of the women in this show, except maybe the one 13 year old character. She would be, realistically infatuated with him from their interactions. I feel like the only reason this happened however is random chance. Considering how all of the other character motivations are a pit of tangled vipers that make no sense, I would attribute this one realistic interaction to accident rather than any sort of coordinated effort on the writer's part. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day. To summarize, the characters make no sense. Their motivations are secrets that are usually not revealed, and when they are revealed its either in a ham-fisted manner, or the knowledge does not improve my idea of their previous actions. The animation is alright when the show isn't showing anyone fighting. Otherwise the fight scenes look like hell. It is difficult to tell what is going on at best. At worst the animation reinforces the confusion of the overall magic system. The animation is also pretty inconsistent. For example, there is a scythe weapon in the show that in almost all scenes seemed to change size. One could argue that this is a result of fluctuating magical power, I would argue that its a result of the animation staff messing up the scale. The CG is also pretty mediocre, as it fails to blend well with the rest of the art on display. Overall, there isn't much to see here. Except for skirts sticking to asses. The music is alright. It was used appropriately to help guide the emotional subject of the various scenes. The songs are pretty good, and they are nice to listen to outside of the context of the show. The end credit song is pretty good. The sound design itself is awful. The weapons all sound like cheap plastic toys when they are being handled. Also, I think the sound that the swords make while slashing through the air was actually stolen from Star Wars, and then slightly modified to prevent law suit. Overall this show bring little to the table. I would honestly question how this anime got made. I would not recommend this show to anyone, except as a way to deconstruct what makes a bad anime. In that regard I think this show would be very educational. Otherwise I had to force myself through the ending of this show. I only did this because I wanted to be able to follow a series of videos put out by a youtuber that I liked. If you are looking for an enjoyable harem show, I recommend My Bride is a Mermaid. If you are looking for a show similar to this one, please see Strike the Blood(which at least delivers on its hints of fanservice).