Shunkashuutou Daikousha: Haru no Mai

It is apt that the Spring season of anime delivers us a show with a spring-themed gimmick. The author of Violet Evergarden has made their comeback with a brand new series titled Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring, but this time, instead of a more grounded approach to storytelling, they decided to insert a supernatural element into their work, which makes one of the most campy and melodramatic shows of the season. Its attempt at making the audience sob their eyes out fails spectacularly on every front. On second thought, maybe I did cry, not from the emotionally poignant story and the characters, but from how hilarious the entire presentation is. The show feels extremely manipulative with its direction. The animation and the music are trying so hard to squeeze out every single drop of your tear through the sappy music, depth-of-feel effect, and even the sobby and scream-crying voice acting work. It is particularly funny when their “top 10 most tragic anime moments” background music is laced on top of scenes with the insurgent group or some of the characters’ superpowers popping off in the background. The tonal clash is so ridiculous that I can’t help but bust out laughing every time. The prime example of this is the ending to episode 8, after Hinagiku activates her power to save her harem of admirers. The cuts between Hinagiku negotiating and the other characters pleading for her to stop are pure comedy gold. My favourite cut is from Sakura screeching out loud to Itecho lying on the ground, half-conscious, saying, “You don’t need to do this”. It’s a magnificent display of pure melodramatic chaos. The saving grace is OP and ED, which are composed by Orangestar, a really decent Vocaloid music producer. The tracks remind me of his older works like “Asu no Yozora Shoukaihan” or “Henceforth” which fill me with so much nostalgia. It is obvious to me that they are trying to emulate the success of Violet Evergarden, but without Taichi Ishidate and KyoAni, the show just looks like a cheap knock-off. Furthermore, Violet Evergarden’s presentation elevates the show because all of the individual one-off stories are already fantastic, which I can’t say the same for Agents of Four Seasons. Once all of the aforementioned superficial elements of the show are stripped down, you are left with some of the most uninspired characters with some of the worst gimmicks and a plot so absurd that it makes me wonder if this is supposed to be a parody or not. The gist of the story is so outrageous that it is mind-boggling how the author was able to come up with this premise. It revolves around the four agents who have been granted seasonal power, with the agent of Spring coming out of her hikkimori hibernation to go on a road trip to grace Japan with her beautiful lispy spring dance performance. However, the antagonist of the show, an insurgent group, is trying to take down some of the agents while kidnapping others to dominate the world. In particular, Hinagiku's spring power brings new life unto the world, so the organization intends to use her to build their 420 blazeit weed empire. The organization is led by a ara ara catlady dommy mommy, Misuzu, with a dark history of abusing kidnapped agents because of her trauma with getting beaten up by her alcoholic husband and losing her child. The lady also wants to kill all the agents and destroy society, but she obviously wants to keep the cute and precious ones like the Autumn loli and Spring Lispy Hinagiku for trauma-bonding. As for the male agents, well, they have to go probably because of ara ara onee-san’s trust issue with men, of course. The script is an absolute mess, as this plotline is so insane and the villain is so unintimidating and unserious that the insurgents sap every ounce of emotional weight and tension whenever they appear on screen. The funny part is that the show uses this group to drive the majority of its narrative, giving all of the emotional moments a satirical feel to it. Initially, I was taken aback by this monstrosity of a tonal whiplash, but it was abundantly clear that this was the only entertainment value I was going to get out of this show because all of the characters are horribly unoriginal. The main characters are derivatives of all the stereotypical pairings that have been done hundreds of times already, but of course, this show just has to add its own unique gimmick to make them obnoxious. Hinagiku and Sakura are the typical pairing of a cold and serious girl with a kind-hearted and sweet girl. Hinagiku is your generic goody-two-shoes like a shallow version of Madoka, but with a lispy twist. This makes it agonizing to listen as she tries to crank out every line of dialogue like somebody is putting her in a chokehold. To me, this gimmick seems like a manipulative ploy to make her sound like a wimpy puppy for the sake of giving her that extra kawaii must-protect energy. She is also prone to spouting some of the most high EQ motivational lines in this show. My favourite is when she called Rosei in the middle of a gunfight to apologize for a wound she caused him from years ago. Luckily, Rosei has plot armor, and the guys shooting at him are stormtrooper fodders or else he would have gotten 8 more bullet holes through his chest. With how absolutely adorkable Hinagiku is, she, of course, has her harem of admirers, with the number one fan being her guard, Sakura, who is an obsessed yuri fanatic who salivates over every line Hinagiku speaks like Akemi Homura with her obsessiveness amped up to eleven. Her shtick of spazzing out over something so menial as forgetting to bring her lovely bubbly maiden food gets old fast. These two are treated as saints throughout the entire show as they solve everyone's problems and enshrine them as their model yuri guard-agent couple. Their relationship is anything but that, however, as it is as shallow as your typical star-crossed Lady and the Tramp type relationship. The author also adds a strange amnesia plot, the purpose of which, I assume, is to distinguish the pair from being compared with Madoka and Homura. However, it is still a haphazard copy of that dynamic without the same level of depth. On the other side of Hinagiku’s harem, you have emo and emotionless Catboy, Rosei, with a softer, more fragile side, of course, as he mentally breaks down, blasting his winter power everywhere like a broken fridge every mere mention of Hinagiku. His guard and fujo emotional support aniki, Itecho acts as the voice of reason by headbutting his broken fridge boyfriend or caressing his dainty fujo fingers whenever he is having his neurotic tantrums. Rosei’s relationship with Hinagiku is also the polar-opposite relationship found in shows like Hyouka, except with less charisma than Chitanda and Oreki. The shipping for these characters is also pure avarice. Instead of fully investing in one yuri, straight, or fujo ship, they decided to do this fujo-yuri-straight ship dance by dripfeeding the viewers with hints only to lead them nowhere. The greed is on the same level as another series airing in the same season, Witch Hat Atelier. The other agent-guard pairings are also on the same tier as the main cast. The Summer twins, Ruri and Ayame, are in a typical siscon relationship, whose drama is centered around the endless asinine bickering between them about Ruri’s boyfriend. Edgy overprotective Rindou and his loli daughterwife Nadeshiko are your typical found-family schenanigans. When his loli daughterwife gets kidnapped after a missile bombing in episode 7 (you heard me right), he goes into a full mental breakdown. The scene is one of the many stupid fakeouts that they do throughout the course of the entire series, but the shot of Rindou with the dumbfounded shock expression on his face over a blood splatter on the ground at the bomb site is priceless. The show’s more action-oriented scenes are campy and cheap. While I might not have information on the budget for the show,…

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring is, to put it plainly, an odyssey into the furthest reaches of psychological trauma. This is a particularly solemn anime that, while eager to sail across seas of overwrought sentimentality, ultimately justifies its cheesy tendencies through the sheer merit of its purpose. Let it also be clarified, then, that the initial selling point of elemental powers based on the four seasons is merely a means to an end. It is an engine powering a delicate thematic throughline, one that grapples with unfathomable mental anguish and the fracturing of identity. Losing all sense of self after experiencing severe trauma is not fictional fancy, but a real phenomenon, and one which places itself at the core of Agents’ story. Here, it is explored in a way that can seem exaggerated; the trauma that the main character, Hinagiku, lives through is so harrowing that her original self vanishes and is replaced by a completely new personality. This is not that crazy or extreme upon recognizing this dissociative amnesia as an actual psychological defense mechanism that the mind can enact in order to protect itself. More to its credit, the story focuses almost entirely on the wasteland that Hinagiku rides through atop her trauma llama—the aftermath—rather than choosing to linger on the events themselves or exploit them for shock value. Those events are still explored, but only enough to enable an even deeper exploration of their fallout, and this delicate handling of such a fragile topic certainly grants Agents some major virtue. It’s long been a point of discussion within the discipline of creative writing that the subject of a work is less important than the methodology employed by its author. In other words, it’s not the “what” that matters in a story, but the “how”. In Agents, though, the “what” is placed in a position of elevated importance since the subject is such a serious one and, together with the “how”, it creates a doubly grave responsibility. That it genuinely manages to deliver on this responsibility demands that the narrative belong to a higher realm of competence altogether. The way it explores trauma goes above and beyond just considerate or professional; it paints a truly tender portrait delineating the upper limits of the human psyche. Somehow rivaling the literary beauty with which trauma is dialed into focus are the visual elements, the resplendent walls of ice and flourishes of verdant spring flora. While the backgrounds are gorgeous and impressive on a technical level, it's the directorial prowess of Ken Yamamoto that really drives it all home. With a style that leans into showing off the splendor of the natural world, it is reasonable, if daring, to draw comparison to the filmmaking of the great Akira Kurosawa. Yamamoto’s work on Pokémon: Hisuian Snow now seems like it was a perfect primer for Agents, where each blade of grass seems discernible and every snowfall has that unmistakable hushed tranquility. It’s also important to note that Agents is not entirely singular in its thematic focus. There is more to be gleaned within the narrative than commentary on trauma, and the stunning scenery is literally what flushes it all out of hiding. The Agent of Spring’s power, for example, can be read as a meditation on new beginnings. It is simultaneously a physical and metaphorical expanse of the untamed wilderness that is Hinagiku’s fraught mindscape, blooming with the entire spectrum of human emotion. The Agent of Autumn’s power implies disillusionment, the inevitable decay of youthful innocence as a world once only seen with joy is usurped by a world casting far darker shadows. The Agent of Winter is frozen in mental stasis, a formally flat character, unable to grow and develop until his affliction has been resolved. Although it’s clear the story doesn’t have tunnel vision for the trauma throughline, these other interpretations still heavily rely on it to properly bear fruit. The characters are intertwined with the themes, walking manifestations of the very concepts integral to their inner selves. Despite this, the other Agents are not delved into nearly as much as Hinagiku, which might seem like a total blunder. The Agent of Autumn is even relegated to damsel status, hardly ever more than a living paradox of nominal agency. To dwell on this creative choice, however, is to forgo the biggest slice of the proverbial pie. The anime is straight up called Dance of Spring; it is promised that Hinagiku is the focus right there in the title. As highbrow as this show tends to be, it is not without its share of drawbacks. Sure, it’s lovely to sit with the poetic and deeply sincere drama, but the frequent military espionage and bullet-riddled showdowns always feel staggeringly jarring each and every time they crop up. Seriously: Hinagiku will be delivering the most heartfelt soliloquy known to mankind, only for some guy in a suit to kick down the door and try to kidnap her just a heartbeat later. It’s kinda like how Cinderella is a feel-good story about a downtrodden girl trying to find her happily ever after, but 50% of the movie is actually Tom and Jerry antics between the mice and the cat. Agents has a much better A-plot to B-plot ratio than Cinderella, but the point stands. The emotional beats are a really bad match for the narrative’s wild 180s to insurgents breaking through windows and going after the Agents every other moment. Driving the plot forward is important, but the author is Kana Akatsuki, who wrote Violet Fucking Evergarden, so it’s clear she can move a story along without contrivances when she really gives it the full treatment. Agents is more than just a tribute to symbolism, and that includes the less desirable parts that make up the whole package. Still, there is so much thematic nuance to find when the screen time advocates for it. There are introspective looks at inheritance, constant musings on grief and bonds (Kana Akatsuki’s specialty), and of course the nature of trauma. However, there are times where it's like watching two totally different anime. It’s not that it’s falling apart at the seams, but less faction wars could have made it easier to stay centered on the story’s heart. In retrospect, Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring manages to overcome its disparate plotlines and put forth a tour de force of uplifting brilliance. To see these topics reflected upon with such delicacy and care is a positively rare sight outside a therapy office. Agents is an absolute triumph of passion, with a conviction that journeys to higher climes where few might stand. It is an elegiac, yet remarkably optimistic marvel of modern mythic fantasy. It is not surprising to find that such a thoughtfully dense story has so much to say about facing adversity. Amid all the annoying gunfights and awkward pacing, the message still stands strong: “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

The author of Violet Evergarden and the studio behind Attack on Titan. A match made in heaven? Not quite. This is not to say Agents of the Four Seasons is bad. Quite the opposite. It was good, but there are a few aspects that hold it back. Two in particular stand out the most as to what holds it back: 1. Up until this year, Wit Studio has only done manga adaptations & a few originals for their TV works. (They did adapt a novel for a movie, but the criteria is different.) This year, they put out two light novel adaptations, one of which - Ascendances of a Bookworm - was on its 4th season; it's also the first TV series Wit picked up from another studio. Four Seasons is completely on their own which means they have to start from scratch. Adapting different medias takes a different approach. Whereas manga and other comic works are essentially storyboards to work off us, novels of any kind require a step back: taking text-only and transposing it into pictures. Without much knowledge of who all was involved, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if the writing team and other parts of preproduction had a time trying this out. Wit Studio had begun undergoing a change of focus around 2020. There now coming to adapt light novels might be part of that process hence the two different light novel works coming around the same time. With news of Bookworm 4 being 2-consecutive cours, they may have started work on it before approaching Four Seasons. Regardless of speculation, the end result is a bit hit or miss. For starters, they're adapting only 2 volumes. The novels series has a different structure compared to most which already makes it a challenge. Pacing becomes much more of an issue. Another problem is the amount of times spend in flashbacks that, while narratively important, logs the story. Series like Frieren have a good balance in this area; here, it's more sporadic. These two factors combined can disengage an audience if handled poorly. Also some weird framing in Episode 7. 2. There are definitely distinctive markings of Kana Akatsuki's writing style here, but she takes to a different playground. Violet Evergarden is more grounded. Though the country is fictious, the world is familiar taking inspiration from European culture, more specifically Mediterranean, and war is almost universal. Four Seasons takes to a modern fantasy with a magical element that has its own rules in how it works. To that, the magic of the world is well-crafted and easy to grasp: 4 people control a season with its own distinct power suitable to its nature. The biggest issue is not the fantasy part but its antagonistic force, the insurgents. Like Violet, there is a strong emotional conflict going on, but the physical conflict that helps propel it doesn't latch easily. As mentioned before, war is universal. You don't need to over-explain war. If you approach it as Gundam where politics play a factor, then do so, but most people get what war is. The insurgence rely a lot on understanding the whole workings of this world's magic system. The agents are the ones who bring forth the season, which is interesting enough, but not many are going to understand why these insurgents want to attack these agents. Later in the season, we get an idea of why these insurgents operate: to gain political cards, to see if they can manifest an agent in their own group, or cultist fetishes. Though it is explained eventually, it isn't explained early enough which in a way makes the conflict with them feel distant. To her credit, second works are always the hardest to pull off. It's either going to be better than the first, worse than the first, or Terminator 1 & 2. Coming off Violet Evergarden, which is on the level of magnum opus, it wouldn't be too much of a shock if this work was slightly below. That's not to discredit Agents of the Four Seasons, but when your own bar is that high, it's hard to reach it again. Conclusion: Agents of the Four Seasons is good but has a few parts that hamper it from being a classic. From just watching this season, it seems like this is a work that would get better the further along it goes. Since it seems they only adapted the first 2 volumes and with 8 volumes out as of the writing of this review, it wouldn't be too farfetched for a second season to come about. Who knows? Maybe Wit picked this project up and plans to stick with it because of its structure. It's a bit early to be say, but personally, I wouldn't be against it.

I had high hopes and expectations for this one but unfortunately it was a disappointment. The good: I loved the opening - it somehow made me nostalgic and felt like an opening from a few years ago. The character design and animation - amazing,10/10. The bad: Pretty much everything else. The story - while it had potential, it was too over the top, too dramatic, too obvious that it's goal was to be a tearjerker but was annoying instead. The characters - with the exception of the summer twins and autumn duo, the main protagonists (hinagiku, rosei, itecho and Sakura) were the most boring ever. Sakura was annoying and had zero character development up until the very end. Hinagiku was okay and showed some development, but her story was repetitive and shown so much in every episode that it was too much. Rosei and itecho unfortunately seemed to be only for decoration with no depth to their chatacter and no development. They weren't even useful until the very end. The villains motive was not written well or developed properly, it makes absolutely no sense at all. I watched all 14 episodes in hopes that the story would develop better but unfortunately this was not the case. This anime was just bad, and a 4/10 rating would be more fitting but I'm being generous with a 5/10 only because I liked the opening, animation and summer+autumn duos.

Well no one knows how to make us cry and inflict mental anguish quite like Akaustuki sensei. Violet Evergarden made even the most battle hardened of anime fans bawl their eyes out and was personally a life changing experience for me, remaining in my top 5 anime of all time to this day. So when I found out she had a new work, agents of the four seasons, it was a no brainer to check it out. I actually got the first volume of the LN, just never got around to reading it and then when the anime got announced I said I’d wait for that and I’m glad I did because my God, some of these episodes have to be seen to be believed. Absolutely gorgeous production values from studio WIT, some of their best ever I’d argue and a story worthy of such artistic quality. It definitely veers into the trauma porn category a LOT, though, so if you’re sensitive about child abuse and the like, be aware. The sheer level of depravity from some characters and the pain they’re willing to inflict on others for no real reason in this story can only really be believed by seeing, BUT while the story shows the absolute worst in humanity at times, it also shows us the best and is full of tear jerking moments that’ll leave you an absolute wreck after some of these episodes, both tears of joy and sadness. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance in the first season, I loved the dynamic between Sakura and Hinagiku as well as the other agents and their guards so it was very much an enjoyable experience for me and I’m excited to see where it goes. To sum things up, pretty much everyone that’s not an agent of the seasons or their direct guard is an absolute deplorable piece of garbage in this show. It’s definitely written in a way to illicit an emotional response and get you riled up because the concept of all the adults in the story viewing the agents, who are mainly children, as expendable commodities and not doing anything to protect their mental or physical wellbeing as they endure endless waves of assassination and kidnapping attempts is insane. Seriously, this story makes me so angry and is very hard to watch at times because all of these babies deserve so much more than they’ve been given and they’ve just been abandoned and left to fed for themselves while expected to complete a task every year with no regard for their mental health. It’s brutal, there’s some incredibly disturbing things in this show, but if it’s any consolation, these awful situations lead the agents and their guards to form some of the best relationships I’ve seen in anime. Sakura and Hinagiku have some of the most poetically intimate moments I’ve ever seen, Itecho and Rosei have a beautiful brother type relationship, the literal sisters of summer and then Nadeshiko and Rindo’s beautiful older brother-little sister dynamic. These relationships and their interactions are hands down the best part of the series. There’s a story here, but it’s very slow to unfold and everything seemingly happens to bring the agents and their guards closer and encourage the agents to reclaim their autonomy by toppling the oppressive system to which they’re bound. That brings me to my big problem with this series, the romance. There’s zero reason this shouldn’t have been a yuri. I’ve been saying it all season and will continue to die on this hill. I felt absolutely nothing watching Hinagiku and Rosei interact, they literally only have a ship because of some predetermined spring/winter dynamics. It felt so forced to me and it doesn’t even really make sense when you find out about the whole personality split Hinagiku goes through. Her relationship with Sakura is so obviously beyond that of a friend and is romantic, yet they try and make it a best friends sort of thing? They literally have multiple confessions and tell each other they can’t live without each other and never want to be apart, hello?? The story would’ve been so much more interesting if Akatsuki sensei gave us yuri, a shame. Other than that, there’s the whole very weird age gap thing with Itecho and Sakura, another forced ship and the obvious set up for Nadeshiko and Rindo to eventually get together which is going to be weird as hell considering she’s like 5/6 and he’s a grown man who’s known her most of her life. I cannot understand why she likes these weird relationships, we saw it in VE and it’s reared its ugly head here too, but it is what it is. It’s definitely something that lessens my overall enjoyment of the story, but I wouldn’t say it ruins it, just mind numbingly stupid. As I said, WIT brought their A game here. I knew from the first episode we were dealing with something special and whenever it’s been required, the action animation has been insane. Some of the best looking scenes of the year. Where the show really shines is in its direction, though which elevated the last few episodes to another level. The entire Nadeshiko/misuzu arc was a delight from a technical perspective. Voice acting is also great here and takes many scenes to the next level, special shoutout to Aoyama Yoshino for her performance as Sakura. That girl was acting like her life depended on this role. So I’m a little mixed on this one and I know some people are going to be upset because it’s very popular and I’m like THE Shojosei guy. I do enjoy it because of Sakura and Hinagiku and the other agents, the direction and the whole trying to tear down an oppressive system plot line, but there’s a few things that really irk me as I stated above. Still, really good anime and worth the watch. Most people probably won’t be bothered by the stuff I was, but I can’t help how I feel. I am definitely willing to die about Hinagiku and Sakura, though, and I’m excited to see the rest of their story play out in the rumored second season. Agents of the four seasons gets 8 out of 10.

(Spanish review on my list) Hmmmm, to be honest, I expected more... It's not a bad anime, not at all, but it has several flaws that prevented me from enjoying it. First, the good: - Beautiful animation - Original story outside of all the conventional tropes, where the seasons are governed by people with seasonal powers - Established and logical system of government for managing these four unusual people with powers - Traumas that actually change people And the bad: - They dwell on the same thing TOO MUCH. Each episode focuses on the life of a specific character, their feelings, and how they experienced or were traumatized by the same event, but it was already mentioned in previous episodes, so they just delve deeper and rehash the trauma you already know. - The enemies, despite being well-established organizations, don't have well-formulated plans and end up being nothing more than simple, isolated attacks without impact. - The rest of the world seems not to exist. Despite presenting a globalized era with smartphones, NOTHING is mentioned about other countries or regions, which bothers me. - In the end, all the trauma and heartbreaking backstories of all the characters are resolved in a final episode where they all reunite and capture the villain, who was portrayed as super overpowered and heartless, in a matter of seconds... - The main villain doesn't act with the coldness he was initially depicted with. To elaborate a bit: It has so many plot holes that prevented me from enjoying it as I should have, and the length is excessive for what it actually tells... Easily, in the format of a movie, by cutting unnecessary scenes and moments, they could have told the same story with more impact... It's not bad at all. The story it tries to tell and the messages it conveys about overcoming adversity and love are beautiful. I really liked the region's political system, and I quite liked how they control these four characters with powers, preventing them from becoming weapons of destruction and keeping them young before evil grows within them. It has some very well-done aspects, but they could have made better use of the time or perhaps condensed that entire "arc" into 4 or 5 episodes and used the time to explain what happened next, expand the world to other nations, or tell a different story altogether... but oh well... details... I recommend it because it's an unusual story these days and a good way to break away from the usual Isekai and generic anime. But I don't recommend it if you have other stories with better reviews or something better to watch... in the end, it wasn't the sad, emotional, and moving story I was expecting.

Four seasons invokes the age old question, can one moment sink a show. Honestly I didn't think it was possible, but Agent of the Four Seasons proved me wrong. Let's be blunt. This show is good up to the last few episodes, but then it introduces a sexual violence angle, and that reframes the show in such a way that it detracts from the quality of everything that comes before or after. The bizarre reluctance this show has to show blood and lethal violence, only to then chuck in a plot line that includes serious sexual violence is a remarkable dissonance. I have literally been in car crashes that were more comfortable and less unwelcome. In addition to this sudden tonal dissonance, we have an overarching toxicity that is never appropriately addressed. In addition to the disturbing co-dependency between Sakura and Hinagiku, we also have Hinagiku's 'sacrifice', which is an inherently selfish and cruel act that caused immeasurable pain to the people she loved, and yet this act of selfishness is never addressed as such and is instead portrayed as a heroic act of sacrifice. Even when we learn it was done to protect someone prepared to make the exact same sacrifice, in whose case it was expressed as wrong and foolish. It exposes the ultimate issue with this series. The drama is hollow and unearned. Engineered and twisted to create a scenario, rather than being an emergent quality of an organic and coherent narrative. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the villain, whose motivation and ideals are entirely inconsistent with her actions. Apparently this is a desperate woman, trying fill a hole opened in her life by previous trauma, yet she also apparently has access to unlimited resources, with no adequate explanation of how. None of this is to say that serious and mature themes can't be invoked in anime, but such themes demand a depiction that is taken seriously enough to match their severity. Not shock value moments and plot conveniences. Ultimately this is a show that embodies thematic and tonal inconsistency. We switch from heartwarming, to comedic, to gang-rape. What were these people thinking!? Apparently blood is off limits, but implied rape is OK. I cannot stress how disgusted I was by this series' last few episodes. It was an utterly unnecessary inclusion that only highlighted the thematic and tonal inconsistencies that make this show utterly impossible to recommend. This starts strong, but frankly by the end, it just sucks. This was a show with potential, even quality in its early stages, but they sank it all in pursuit of shock value. It has no redeeming qualities. I wish I could un-watch this series. The fact that it consumed about 5 hours of my life makes me actually angry.

When I first learnt that the original writer of this story was Akatsuki Kana, I was already hyped. The extremely sensitive and convincing writing of Violet Evergarden created a soft spot in me, and it will, most likely, always be there. Therefore, I expected to see some good writing, lovable characters and maybe some heartbreaking moments. Unfortunately, I was met with a series that made me question if it really had the same writer as Violet. The whole idea of each season having it's own agent and guard sounds cool at first, but the more you learn about this world, the less it makes sense. The main characters face a lot of problems that could be easily solved but they rather take the long and hardest path to everything they do. Sometimes their decision making is so off point it just gets funny, it's almost like they jumped into a lake and got surprised they got wet, it makes no sense at all and really kills any chance it had to get me invested onto its characters and plot overall. Some scenes, that were probably written to be sad, don't really spark anything because you just don't care, and for the most part, they just sound kinda corny. Some action scenes are almost funny of how unreal they are. Infinite bullets, terrorists that are trained and work at the black market for years suddenly developing stormtrooper syndrome and lazy writing are really off-putting some times. You also have to do crazy mental gymnastics to even pretend that you find any of the main villain's ambitions reasonable, not to mention some other characters that probably also don't know the heck they're doing in this story themselves. It almost feels like a lot of interesting pieces that when put together, just don't fit well. Still, it has its highlights as well, the animation is beautiful, as expected from Wit and some discussions that the story develops along the way are interesting. But "interesting" is not what I expected from this, and, unfortunately, is as far as it goes for me.

Overhated anime for no reason at all - personally think it’s great even if it isn’t the best - personally loved the romantic elements in this anime - I do understand that they did tend to repeat some scenes quite a lot but still the visuals were absolutely tremendous the whole way through - those that are calling it overly melodramatic as a negative I just don’t understand - it is because it is melodramatic that you become invested in the charachters and the past traumas of all the agents and with that you start to route for each charachter for example because of hinagikus past and capture and her past trauma you feel terrible for nadeshko who almost also faces the same fate - overall pleasantly surprised by how this season turned out

This anime is based on a work by an author that has previously published a renowned work such as Violet Evergarden, it actually lasted for longer than it so although that could happen even if it was more niche, it also would mean that there is enough public for it to keep going as much as it did. The anime was in charge of a famous and beloved studio such as Wit, the staff was involved in recent fairly popular and praised shows, and even Kensuke Ishio was part of it, who’s a popular and respected composer of our times. It is visually well done and also combines fantasy, contemporary settings, action, comedy, romance and even some queer bait. On paper, it should have had all the ingredients to become an instant success. Well I don’t know how it fared in Japan, but it doesn’t seem to have caught up that much in the West. It’s not that talked about nor promoted and its rating is not that high on any site you search it up, why is that, what seems to be the reasons for that? 1-Too long for it to come out The light novels and mangas this anime is based on have begun publishing while Violet Evergarden was finishing, so it’s not an issue as far as the source material is concerned. The anime however came out six years after its older sister ended, and as much as that one was one the most beloved and praised anime of 2018, if not the most, it had the misfortune of ending right before lots of more people got into anime during the pandemic. 2-The previous work seems to have fallen off from grace Despite having some of the most streamed anime openings and endings of all time, Violet Evergarden itself wasn’t exactly hype material to lure newcomers in. You would probably think that it was very dramatic for it to get a lot of traction, but not even that level of cryporn seems to motivate people enough to check it out. Basically what I’m saying here is that people who watched that show as it was coming out still remembers it fondly of course, but for newer viewers, it had become a faded memory of its decade with not much legacy behind it. I blame the movie finale for that, which although it was mostly positively received, it met enough contrarian opinions for its reception to count as divisive, not exactly a glazed piece of entertainment to get more people to watch it. 3-Wit lost people along the way What was once debated as the best studio of all times by casuals alongside Ufotable and MAPPA due to their animation and involvement on famous works, has lost a lot of respect after delaying and eventually dropping Shingeki no Kyojin and not adapting the second season of Vinland Saga, nor continuing any of their other famous anime from the last decade. In the meantime Kabaneri was mocked as a weak rip off, Great Pretender never managed to become mainstream as it was West flavoured and was initially review bombed by Shingeki’s fanboys, and also the sequel sucked ass, Ousama Ranking met divisive opinions near its end and came and went as far as popularity and praise goes, Vivy met a similar destiny, and Bubbles was one of the few times where pretty animation and famous names wasn’t enough to fool people about underwhelming writing. Their other more contemporary shows were Shikanoko, of which people got tired of, Isekai Suicide Squad, of which you only need the name of it to know it is bad, and Moonrise, which was considered a very disappointing series. 4-Their remaining worthy shows are very different What carries the studio now is Spy x Family, not exactly a series for action junkies or fans of drama. Its combination of brief action scenes and mostly wholesome family comedy and Annya’s antics helped making it popular and viral exactly at the right time it needed, and even that one has met some more negative opinions since then on its following seasons and source material, and after it was revealed or at least rumored that its author doesn’t even like it nor doing it. Agents of the Four Seasons doesn’t promise that, it promises action, politics, romance and a lot of drama, not necessarily exactly a pleasant time. The other one is the fourth season of Honzeki no Genkokujou, and even then it is not as praised as previous seasons, it is the first season that the studio is working on, thus inevitably being compared with the previous ones, and has met criticisms for using AI in its production. 5-Wit is still not KyoAni The fans of all the aforementioned shows follow those specific franchises, not the studio itself. It’s what happens with a still relatively new and inconsistent studio. KyoAni on the other hand is older, has a loyal fanbase, a distinctive style and is consistent with its frequency and quality (or lack thereof as far as I’m concerned wink wink). Plus, without intending to romanticize the arson incident caused by a madman that they went through, the fact that they came out from that and finished all their previous works and started other brand new ones while retaining their visual quality, provided them of a very inspirational image and story, thus gaining even more respect from the community, you WANT to support them, even with more with their undisputed visual quality, which brings the next point: 5.2-Wit is still not KyoAni. Visuals The only thing Wit has KyoAni beaten on is in variety of styles in both visuals and premises. Otherwise KyoAni has a recognizable style, far more polished artwork and detailed motions and body language, not polemic use of CGI, and the likes. Let’s keep the point about visuals going to bring up the next point. 6-Too much competition As far as visuals and animation go, and despite being an overall good series in that regard, Agents of the Four Seasons doesn’t compare to the level of polish and quality of contemporaries like Frieren or Atelier, nor works with distinctive visual styles like Dorohedoro 2, Jaadugar, or the retro-styled anime that are airing right now, like Ghost in the Shell and Sayonara Lara. And well, there’s Red River too but that one is considered mostly bad on every front. Heck, even a josei show from a previous season like Ikoku Nikki had a very atmospheric style for a slice of life show. Agents of the Four Seasons has a lot more going on but its presentation is more limited and boring somehow. And although I began this point talking about animation, this anime also has too much competition as far as its core elements are concerned. What genres did I say that it combines? Action, fantasy, comedy, romance and drama, in a year with all the aforementioned options and many more, like a new Re: Zero or the dark horse Nippon Sangoku which won the serious and mature anime title of the season, and all the other actual romcoms that Spring 2026 was so full of. The previous points explain why Agents of the Four Seasons didn’t manage to become as big as it should have been on paper, but doesn’t say much about its actual quality, could it be that despite all of that going against it it is in fact a good show? Well, if my score was to be an indicator, the answer would be no, and that’s because of poor handling. Not in terms of visuals though, since despite not comparing to the aforementioned competition, it is still a very solid production. The artwork does not suffer from quality drops, the motions are fine, the backgrounds and special effects are well done. The issue is that nothing stands out. Despite the combination of hair colors and clothes, the character designs and figures don’t stand out much, the perspective is so focused on them that you don’t see the sceneries all that much, the action sequences are good but few and scattered, and the seasons theme is underutilized not only in writing but also artistically, how many scenes do you recall where the agents affected the land with their seasonal powers? 10 throughout 14 episodes or something? And even then those are more abilities than change in sceneries and do not always reflect their season all that much nor affect their users in any way. Katanagatari …

Agents of the Four Seasons was one of the most disppointing series of the season. Because with a lot of shows, you usually know what you get. If I watch the new Isekai, I don't expect much. But this show at least tried to imply early on that it wanted to do something unique and not just go the same route every other show takes. And there were moments where it was able to achieve what it wanted to. However, most of the time, the ideas fell flat for me and that had mostly to do with how the writers decided to present us this story. But let's start at the beginning. The show takes place in a sort of fantasy type world. Because instead of seasons just coming and going, you have agents who got powers by the gods to invoke the new season. So basically, whenever it's time for Spring, the agent of Spring has to travel around the world and bring Spring to all its different locations. Which sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare, but let's ignore this for now. Because even without that, the anime shows early on what problems come with such a system, since there was no spring for 10 years as the agent of spring had been kidnapped by a group of insurgents and therefore couldn't perform the ritual. Though, it's also not 100% clear what the consequences of this truly were. Because in episode 1, it is implied that this meant eternal winter, but later on, we meet the agents of other seasons and it doesn't seem like they were out of a job for 10 years either. But all of that isn't really important anyway, because the core of the story isn't the magic or the system around this magic, but the agents and their guards who are all treated less like humans and more like objects. With Hinagiku, agent of spring, being the prime example. Because when she was kidnapped, the spring village barely cared to even look for her. They just hoped she would die, so another one got her powers. And you can already see how this type of story telling can resonate with people. And tbf to the show, it did for me as well in the first episodes. Because while the characters are rather typical, the anime gave me enough information to understand where everyone is coming from, what their feelings and even their wishes for the future are and how these traumatic events from the past influence their decisions in the present. Now that all sounds fine on paper. The issue is that the show is way too focused on the past than the present. And it does that by showing flashback after flashback. And don't get me wrong, I don't think flashbacks are bad in themselves. For example, when it comes to the story of the agent of summer, this worked well enough. The anime gives you information about the agent's and guard's past and then uses that information to drive a plot in the present in how they overcome their differences and strengthen their relationship. This is how flashbacks should be used. Tell us, the viewers, the necessary information, so that we understand the present conflict and there is a sense of progression when this conflict is solved. However, the show doesn't do that for our main characters: Hinagiku, Sakura and even Rosei. As mentioned, we get a flashback early on that already tells us what we need to know about our main characters. What was the traumatic experience and why they are the way they are now. However, for some reason, the show decides to give us basically the same flashback three different times (actually four, not counting the first one). Because it shows us the same event from three different perspectives. And this could be interesting if the characters were fundamentally different, so that learning about them gives me more insight into them. But only very few aspects of the additional flashbacks really add anything to the characters, because they are all so similar to one another. Take Sakura for example. Early on, we learn that she is now a lot stricter with herself because she blames herself for Hinagiku being kidnapped and that she only trusts herself, because the villages stopped the search for Hinagiku early on. From this flashback and the scenes in general, we also already know that Sakura isn't just doing the guard job as her duty, but that she has feelings (in one way or another) for Hinagiku. That should be fine. So then we get her personal flashback, which only adds that before meeting Hinagiku, she was all alone and isolated and Hinagiku was her first real friend. I mean, sure. But what does this information add to our character? We don't suddenly see her differently in the present, because this bond between the two was already clear beforehand. All this flashback adds is another "trauma dump" for our characters that is supposed to invoke an emotion in the viewer. And this would be fine, if her trauma was significantly different, but in the end, she is the same has Hinagiku and yes, even Rosei. All three of them had an isolated childhood with no friends and only meeting each other, they had their first memorable relationship. The show basically tries to use the same story three times to get the same emotional response out of you. And I just don't think that works. Even worse, it takes away from the original flashback that did actually invoke an emotion in me, because now it feels like I was just badly manipulated. The second big problem of this decision on focusing on mainly flashbacks for the emotional core of the story is that the development of the characters just feels very strange. There isn't much present day story so the whole development is pushed to the final three episodes where things now have to escalate very quickly. So quickly that the show even has to mention it by saying that despite the fact that the insurgents shouldn't have any money or influence to pull that off, it seems they do again. No real explanation how btw. And all of that also lessens the impact of the traumatic experience. If the show was about the characters overcoming their trauma throughouth 12 episodes, it would feel so much more natural and earned than them squeezing that into the final three episode arc. Now, I was very negative here, so I want to make clear that the show also has some good things about it. Firstly, the visuals are good. They are not super outstanding, but especially when it comes to colours, there is a clear intention that helps set the tone for the scene. And I also think, the general idea is a good one. Having the agents (and guards) be isolated "tools" which then rebuild their "humanity" by finding meaningful relationships with one another is a strong emotional core. And it works when the show focuses on that in the present as shown with the agent/guard of summer and autumn. And I will also say that they managed to make Hinagiku's past dark enough so that you can understand the trauma that came with it. It's just that that I think focusing more on the trauma with several flashbacks instead of focusing on overcoming that trauma is what holds this show back. If we actually spent a longer time with the characters in the present and see how they slowly but surely learn to move forward, then it would have made a bigger emotional impact on me compared to showing me the same traumatic event several times. I guess, you can say that reliving these events in your head is part of it being trauma. You can't just forget it. You remember it, even if you don't want to. But if that was the idea, then I think there should be a better way of showing this.

I know I've been slacking on finishing up anime of 2026 lately. Reasons being that there have been too many shows that are being released today in and outside of anime. It's also because of time consistency. That's what watching movies, whether it involves a marathon or just for the fun of it, can do to ya. Still, whenever I get around to watching and wrapping up anime, this particular anime is one of them that I at least managed to get done. In short, this has a huge potential to be like a franchise given its concept and its themes. Unfortunately, how it was executed was pretty short-handed with some of the main cons that I would agree with others such as its pacing and its story consistency. Not saying that it's a bad thing. I'm saying that this might be a mixed bag overall. To start off, in the long run, this anime talks about the legend of Winter being alone until he chose to cut off part of his vital essence to generate a new season since the world he lives in is devoid of other seasons. That season is "Spring." At Mother Earth's wishes, Winter again cuts off his vital essence to give birth to the other two seasons, Summer and Autumn, thus beginning the cycle of the four seasons. The Four Seasons visited every single corner of the world to perpetuate the cycle, until one day they decided to entrust this mission to Mother Earth's creatures, but none of them were capable of this task. Until mankind made its appearance, willing to perform the Four Season's duties. Therefore, the four deities granted a small group of humans these powers. Over the centuries, they have come to be known as the Agents of the Four Seasons. I would explain more to how the Agents of the Four Seasons work, but it seems pretty complicated that it's better to read through the light novels for better context, which I would like to read those, too, as well as the manga that this anime is based off of. So, time to cover the central story of the anime that is based on the manga. It's all about this young girl who is the Agent of Spring, Hinagiku Kayo, voiced by Yuka Mukui (Japanese) and Celeste Perez (English), who was kidnapped by this group called the Insurgents at the age of just six. As a result of her kidnapping, Spring hasn't manifested in Yamato for ten years, and winter, instead of lasting three months like the other seasons, has lasted six months during this stories period of time. However, Hinagiku has made her return and is now preparing to bring her season back to the nation, accompanied by her Guard, Sakura Himedaka, voiced by Yoshino Aoyama (Japanese) and Marisa Duran (English). While Hinagiku and Sakura are traveling through the nation to return the season of Spring to Yamato, the Insurgents track them down to kidnap Hinagiku again. In the meantime, the Agent of Winter, Rosei Kantsubaki, voiced by Shogo Sakata (Japanese) and Alejandro Saab (English), along with his Guard, Itecho Kangetsu, voiced by Satoshi Hino (Japanese) and Christopher Wehkamp (English), who gets wind of Hinagiku's presence after her kidnapping and wishes to see her again. Reason being is that Rosei loves Hinagiku when they were children and torments himself for being the reason Hinagiku was kidnapped by the Insurgents. The reason why the Insurgents are after the Agents of the Four Seasons, including Summer and Autumn, is divided by two groups. One of them being the Reformists - including one specific group known as Kasai led by this really disturbing woman whose crimes might land her in the Epstein Files - who would threaten the Agents' safety to pressure institutions into changing the laws governing their divine powers. Then you have Defeaters, whose goal is to eliminate the Agents out of hatred for the seasons. I hope I have described the story's synopsis as the best I can lay out here. The reason I've done so is that this anime does jump into various points of the story such as Hinagiku and Sakura's journey through the nation of Yamato to bring back the season of Spring to meeting up with some people such as the Agent of Summer, Ruti Hazakura, voiced by Sumire Uesaka (Japanese) and Alexis Tipton (English), and her twin sister/Guard, Ayame, voiced by Ranko Baba (Japanese) and Hayden Daviau (English), and to their childhood where they meet Rosei for the first time where they fall in love. Meanwhile, Sakura has a bit of a past of her own alongside Itecho from adoration to spite during a recent event. Then we meet up the Agent of Autumn, Nadeshiko Iwaizuki, voiced by Hime Sawada (Japanese) and Emi Lo (English), who is the youngest deity of the Agents of the Four Season while being supervised by her Guard, Rindo Azami, voiced by Taku Yashiro (Japanese) and Lee George (English), who treats his role like a business alongside Reiko Nagatsuki, voiced by Misato Matsuoka (Japanese) and the English actress being unknown. Then we get moments of the Insurgents Reformist group leader called "Gozen" who has a tragic backstory yet it's hard to feel sorry for her since she has an obsession that led her to grooming of underaged characters, including Hinagiku when she was kidnapped. We would also have moments when we look into Hinagiku's mental space. Again, it's why the story is pretty complicated with its concept and how it was structured. Which leads to what I agree with one of the main cons involving the pacing. Now, the concept is really interesting with its world building and its lore. Except that it feels that it wasn't fleshed out enough with how the show starts. The first episode is when Hinagiku and Sakura travel to start Hinagiku's ceremony to bring the season of Spring back to the nation. The next episode is when Rosei catches wind of Hinagiku's presence and gets caught up by some of the Insurgent's firing squad when they land after a plane trip. Then the third episode is when we see the Agent of Spring and her Guard arrive in the residence of the Agent of Summer and her twin sister/Guard to stay the night until the Insurgents catch up to them. I would already assume the light novels did it better as there was more context to the story and the lore. I will give this show credit that it does a good job in displaying character interactions. I enjoy the time when I look into Hinagiku and Rosei's backstory when they first meet and start to fall for each other. I enjoyed the time when Hinagiku and Sakura had first met. The present day situations are a mixed bag such as Sakura being overprotective yet I do understand her trust issues due to that recent event. The time we see the Agents of Summer and Autumn having their own screen time is okay. It's just that this entire show centers more on Spring herself. Don't get me wrong, this show does center the other Agents. Winter, especially, since it involves Hinagiku and Rosei's past interactions and their end goal in present time. I just feel that Summer and Autumn could have a season of their own. This universe has the potential to be like a franchise. Yes, it sounds like it's a huge risk. I was more overthinking that there is more to Nadeshiko being the Agent of Autumn and we could explore more of her and her Guard, Rindo, like how we've seen bits of how Rindo became her Guard. Same for the twins who became the Agent/Guard of Summer. We also see bits of their past yet I kinda wanna see more of their past, how they came to be, and having an entire arc of their own. Yes, I'm asking too much. Though I do want more out of the entirety of the Agents of the Four Seasons. I might be the only thinking that, really. As far as the characters go, they are also fine yet I have to be honest that they are one-noted at times. There are rare times when they would show off more of their characteristics when they have a duty as an Agent and their Guard. The voice performances between both Japanese and English are pretty good on their own. The script wasn't the strongest, though. While the last two are a mixed bag for me, the action isn't that great, unfortunately. Not as bad…

After a tragic event, that profoundly changes who a person is, how are they supposed to return to the life they used to have? Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring approaches the topic of trauma, and the long-lasting impact it has. I don't usually write formal reviews for anime, but I think this one deserves it. This anime follows the journey of Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, as she tries to find herself after the tragic events of the past. Through a really rich storytelling, the anime portrays all of Hinagiku's struggles as she attempts to manifest Spring once again, and everything that returning to her usual life entails. And Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring achieves this by exploring in depth the characters it has, developing the characters feelings, motivations and relationships gradually throughout its 14 episodes. This isn't something commonly seen in anime, and this unique approach to storytelling sets this story apart from others. It also proves to be an especially effective way of portraying the anime's central theme: psychological trauma. It's not easy to properly depict how trauma influences every action of a character and the lasting consequences it brings to the way they relate to life. However this anime is able to perfectly capture that, in such a genuine and raw form, that makes the message and this journey so memorable, making us understand what the characters are going through. This anime doesn't only focus on the trauma that Hinagiku has to deal with, but also on how that impacts the people that are also important to her. This story is told in a really interesting setting, where some people, the Agents, are gifted with the power to manifest seasons, being an Agent for each of the season. A setting that initially seems simple, but as the anime progresses we see there are a lot more layers to it, due to the impact such powers would have in a society. The world of Agents of the Four Seasons is slowly explored in this part of the story, that focuses on the Spring Agent. However, the other Agents also appear and have their role in the story, being developed in the same manner as the other ones, a characteristic feature of this anime. Other themes besides trauma are also approached, like romance, which all complement the main story really well and give it more nuance. Although it's not the focus, there's also some action scenes within the anime. So the anime feels quite complete in what is has to offer, considering it ends up also showing us more than just drama. It's important to note that this anime is based on a light novel created by the same author as Violet Evergarden, a very known series. And the truth is that you can see similar aspects in the way the story develops between these two series, especially regarding the drama genre, since both stories are heavily dramatic, in the best way possible. Despite this, they are two completely different stories and the similarities between them really end with this heavily dramatic storytelling. Complementing this emotional and rich story, we have a incredible adaptation, both visual and soundwise. Every episode offers beautiful shots, that makes you appreciate even more the magical elements of the story, and the action scenes are really fluid that even makes you wonder if this anime is going to actually be an action story instead of a drama. The direction of some scenes really are breathtaking, and add so much value to the story being told. And to give more depth and feeling to the more vulnerable scenes of the characters, there's a emotionally touching OST to supplement them, created by Kensuke Ushio, recently more known for the OST for the Chainsaw Man movie. The fact that I ended up hearing the OST tracks outside of the anime shows how good they are on their own. With all this, it's obvious this anime isn't perfect, like no other piece of media is. The main issue with this anime ends up being tripping in its own unique storytelling. While the slow and introspective storytelling is what brings this story together and work so well, it also ends up hurting the anime when it exaggerates, and when that happens, the anime would end up repeating itself, making the scenes less interesting and actually hurting the overall narrative, by taking away the sincerity of some scenes, with almost feeling like it's only pushing for the drama at some parts. However, this issue was not at all that common to find, being more common in a minority of the episodes. There are also parts of the story don't get the development they should have, especially regarding the setting behind the whole idea of the Agents having the powers of the Seasons, but it's important to note this story continues with "Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Summer" where the focus starts to be the Summer Agent, so it's not properly a negative for the story. Nonetheless, the most common complaint about this anime with which I don't agree on might be way it tells its story. As mentioned above, the story has an unique way of exploring the characters that works incredibly well with the story. However, it's not something everyone appreciates, as this can be seen as slow and repetitive. It can be especially difficult to appreciate this way of storytelling focused on the characters if the viewer doesn't particularly ressonate with them, which is understandable. But this ends up being subjective to the expectations one has for the anime. Overall, Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring proved to be one of the most surprising anime of the Spring 2026 season. By delivering a heartfelt and genuine story about dealing with past trauma and finding peace after tragedy, in an interesting setting where some people are gifted with supernatural powers to manifest the seasons, the series leaves a lasting impression. Combined with its excellent production values and beautiful soundtrack, it is an anime that reminds us how powerful this medium can be in portraying such an emotionally complex theme.

Every episode leaves a strong and lasting impression. I shed tears during several moments. The soundtrack, OP, and ED were outstanding, and the drama had really good build-up. The story was well written, but the music and its timing especially made every emotional moment hit harder. The way the music plays leading into each ending gives a powerful kick every time. A truly lasting impression. ❤️ Hinagiku and Ruri were my favorite girls. I really loved them both, and I also liked their character designs the most. 🌸 Hinagiku — Spring Hinagiku as Spring: innocent, gentle, and warm. She melts away the cold with her smiles. Her kimono with flowery designs and shrine miko appearance create a beautiful image of Spring. 🌻 Ruri — Summer Ruri as Summer: cheerful, fun, and teasing, but also carrying a sense of melancholy (her past and things related to her sister) when it comes to an end—similar to the common Japanese perception of Summer. Her white one-piece dress, straw hat, and sunflowers create such a vivid and beautiful image of a "Summer" girl. Some might differ from my rating since i rate on how much I've enjoyed rather than anything, but i trully believe it's 100% worth watching, also ignore those tourists trashing series in review form. only believe what you see and feel.

Note that I've not seen the authors other work, Violet Evergarden, so I might be missing some context related to their style in this review. Trauma dump, that's what this is and absurd word building. While Hinagiku backstory and how she re-integrated back into society with Sakura may be a tearjearker but the way it was told was all over the place with random moments chosen for the glimpses of the backstory. The first episode I believe was the only one I completely liked throughout and the spring dance was equally beautiful. That's where the other saving grace for this anime is, the artstyle which can be attributed to Wit as they never miss the mark. Now for the world building part which was where my biggest gripe of this whole anime. You're telling me these 4 people are the most important people for the country and they're guarded like your average celebrity. Every alternate episode felt like your monster of the week episodes with the insurgents easily getting past the security or breaking into the literal residence of the agents. Seriously that was a big turn off for me and it literally got too irritating at a later point that it felt like I was seeing the anime through just for Hinagiku-Sakura interactions and visuals.

The show was very good and the idea itself is very interesting, but I can't help but HATE SAKURA. She just pisses me off so much, and shes honestly cringy. Other than that tho, I really liked this, even the romance aspect is cute. And I love how they make it clear that the agent and the agent's guard have a every strong relationship, but they dont make it weird (Sakura being the only exception). I do wish it had more though, I feel like I want to see more of the world building without all the chaos. Like for example, more about how each season's village work, since the Summer agent mentioned that her village does things differently. And what about the previous Autumn agent? The winter and summer agent must've met them. Also, what happened to the summer agent after the ending (I won't mention more about it for the sake of ppl who are yet to watch it)

Agents of the Four Seasons is an anime you feel deeply to the point you get to cry in some episodes. However, it does not equal the level of sadness you experience with Violet Evergarden. If you come here because it was written by the same author, don't expect this series to be as emotional as that. The story is, mainly, about emotional suffering. Overcoming the pain caused by psychological violence. How some wounds are irreparable, letting a hole in a person's identity, killing the innocence of those affected. Also, it explains how the people around you, who love you and who are loved by you, are really important to get past that trauma, to help you learn to live with it. Relationships between agents and between an agent and their guard are what really move the plot. It has action, but that's not what the plot is about. Characters fight because of their feelings. To protect others. Expect a slow beginning. To put the context, the author takes a lot of episodes. It is full of flashbacks to make you really understand the feelings of every character of the main four —the Spring and Winter agents and guards—, from their pain to their love towards each other. Real action comes at the end. The characters have realistic personalities, taking into consideration what they've lived and their situation. They evolve throughout the series. Romance, also, is not the center, but follows the drama and adds emotion to it. It is sweet, but also faces with the cruelty of the trauma and its consequences. Two people that love each other aren't the same after they pass through that, even if the feeling towards each other maintains. As for the visual and musical side, animation is really good, character design is really good, and music is just perfect. Plot: 8/10 | Animation: 8.5/10 | Music: 10/10 | Characters: 9/10

The worldbuilding is easily one of its strongest aspects—the concept of the Four Seasons and their Agents is unique, and the setting feels rich and well thought out. On top of that, the production is consistently gorgeous. The animation never really drops in quality, whether it’s the powers, the fight scenes, or the quieter emotional moments. Everything flows beautifully, and the soundtrack deserves a lot of credit too. It elevates every scene, from heartbreaking moments to the more magical and whimsical ones. Where my feelings become mixed is with the storytelling. This is a series that clearly wants to explore heavy emotions, trauma, identity, and what shapes a person, especially through Hinagiku. Those themes are compelling, and the show genuinely managed to make me cry more than I usually do. But too often it feels like the emotions are being pushed onto the viewer instead of naturally earned. The music and visuals do a lot of the heavy lifting while the story itself struggles to keep up. The pacing is the biggest issue. Around the middle of the season, it feels like several episodes pass without the plot moving forward in any meaningful way. Because of that, relationships, romance, and even some of the tragedy surrounding Hinagiku never feel as fully developed as they could have been. There was something special here, but it never quite reaches its full potential. Still, I really liked it. The production values alone make it worth watching, and the final episode definitely hints that this story is only getting started. If there’s another season and the pacing becomes tighter while giving these characters the depth they deserve, I genuinely think this could become something remarkable. As it stands, it’s a beautiful anime that left me both impressed… and wishing it had gone just a little further.

This anime is really good; the opening and ending themes are the best of the season, in my opinion (I even downloaded the songs and always have them playing). This anime is so good that I’m confused as to why its rating is so low (I think it still deserves an 8). While watching this anime from start to finish, I lost count of how many times I cried until my head spun from crying for so long and so much. (The visuals are a real treat for the eyes.) I hope there will be another season. This is the first time I’ve watched an anime by this creator (maybe I’ll consider watching *Violet Evergarden*). By the way, I highly recommend you watch this anime. This spring season has been very satisfying because it’s packed with so many new and returning anime that are great to watch (Have a great day!!)

As early as the first episode of Agents of the Four Seasons, you will know whether or not the show is for you. Less concerned with a logical narrative and more based around emotional melodrama then anything else, everything is heightened here. It's characters are purposefully vaguely drawn at first, it's structure glacial as it explores them from top to bottom so exhaustively that it can be read as possibly "too much" as it leaves very little to the imagination of the viewer. By the end of the show, you know everything about these characters whether you'd like to or not. Because of this, I find it rather difficult to discuss Agents of the Four Seasons. It's undeniably a flawed show in some aspects, it's narrative clunky and it's final destination murky. In fact, at some points it's more of stylistic exercise, a way for Wit Studio to show that are still one of the best in the game despite the fact they have been caught using AI as of late in some of the more recent projects (thankfully Four Seasons was free of this to my knowledge). Kana Akatsuki's prior work Violet Evergarden was arguably very similar in that regard, even if Kyoto Animation managed to elevate the material extensively by expanding or removing much of it. This is a much more literal translation of the work, warts and all, and Akatsuki's exceptionally flowery prose doesn't always translate well to dialogue or filmic characterization. It does, however, make for a hell of a visual feast, with it's bright pastel colors and gorgeous character designs that just pop off the screen. Ken Yamamoto clearly knows his stuff from a boarding perspective, as every shot is concise and tells you a lot about the cast and their general motivations at each moment. The action setpieces are a particular highlight, never reusing animation and always going for quick bursts of momentum to it's animation rather then flashy intricacy. It stays simple and because of that works wonders. Special shoutout to Kazuhiro Furuhashi - the director of Spy X Family, Dororo, Gundam Unicorn, the 1999 HunterXHunter, and the criminally underrated GetBackers - for working as Animation Advisor on it cause his skill in simple poses and clear blocking is evident here. Those action scenes are admittedly in service of the show's weakest element, however, which makes them a mixed bag by default. The show's insistence on having a greater threat and a villainous faction works on paper but their motivations are left distractingly dull and land with a thud. One wishes that their motivations instead stay in the more nebulous terms; making them unknowable to relate to the main character's own general uncertainty as to what they actually wish to achieve. Nevertheless, they ultimately do serve their purpose in the grand scheme of things and the show isn't as focused on them as one would think even if by the last quarter they threaten to overtake. No, the real meat of the show is when it slows down for the character work, which is almost always immense. It's not hard to see why these characters would be appealing to adapt, and the cast is entirely game here, especially Yuka Nukui who has the difficult and nigh impossible task of making a slow spoken character like Hinagiku not be grating to listen to. The characters, while definitely leaning into archetypical at points, still feel like real people which ground the fantastical tale. For a story that plays so much into emotional truths rather then logical ideas, it's impressive much Agents of the Four Seasons keeps things on a base level in terms of it's cast and characters. It feels real, it feels tangible. And that's the success of the show as a whole. In it's best moments, it's honestly a triumph. It gets you to care about characters and beings who seem otherworldly and above us, tapping into a literal modern day mythology and treating it's cast of characters as, first and foremost, flawed humans who are decidedly broken and unsure if they can even be put back together. Maybe they don't have to be either, as long as somebody still loves them for who they are rather then the idealized version of them; if the antagonist has one thing going for them, it's this parallel to the protagonists. I feel torn about whether or not I should recommend Agents of the Four Seasons to everybody as it's very much an acquired taste of a show, as I suspect many will find it's melodrama and constant flashbacks ponderous. But for those who love that particular blend of the fantastical and the dramatic, I suspect Agents of the Four Seasons will be something of a hidden gem just waiting to be unearthed.