Shunkashuutou Daikousha: Haru no Mai

I was pleasantly surprised by this anime and found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected! I found it easy to get attached to the characters, their plights, and the psychological aftermath of their past traumas and experiences. Is it life-changing? No, but it's certainly a good watch and time well spent! I thought the art style was gorgeous, and I really loved the animation quality during their dances. There was an early moment in the first episode during the initial Spring dance where everything suddenly shifts in an instant, and it was gorgeous enough for me to go back to and watch a couple of times!

It just ain't it. The author tried too hard. Too many plot holes, character cliches that literally piss me off, yuri bait, yaoi bait, yuri incest, pedophilia (not the violet evergarden type, violet didn't have emotions back then but I'm pretty sure like autumn just ain't like that gng). Like seriously if you're so scared of queer pairings then just change the damn gender of the guard, so the agent-guard pairing makes sense instead of creating winter solely for the purpose of pining after spring. It just genuinely fell off man. Violet evergarden was peak, the tears were natural, and you can find yourself crying from the bottom of your heart. This? I shed only like two tears, and it just doesn't give me the emotional relief of crying because it's trying to be deep, but it simply isn't. Maybe the industry is messed up and forced the author too much. Art shouldn't be rushed man. Art is only beautiful when it comes naturally. Or at least with a semblance of originality. Like this is just trying to copy Violet Evergarden but doesn't reach the same level at all. In my opinion I just can't man. Jeez.

It is from the writer of Violet Evergarden and animated by Wit Studio of Attack on Titan fame! It was a recipe for success! But after watching, I found this series to be so incredibly disappointing... The Positive: 1. The visuals with the gorgeous use of colours and breathtaking background art. There is also genuinely great visual storytelling in the series 2. The music score is genuinely good and complements the scene well. The Opening and Ending are terrific music choices and well-animated as well 3. The premise of clans on all the seasons having one person chosen by the gods to bring in a change in season while there being insurgents who want to take control of that power, is a down right interesting concept and setting! The Negatives: 1. The characters are just all so frustrating to watch. They are all just wallowing in so much angst, misery and self-pity that it is hard to like them at all. You could argue that there are justifiable reasons for them acting like this because of the emotional trauma that occurred in their past BUT it does not make for an enjoyable watch when nearly every character is acting like this 2. The story is not any better. It feels like the series is just all over the place. It never fully focuses on anything and instead just jumps to different type of suffering people face. It's all overly melodramatic and extremely sappy. One of the episode arcs is focused on sisters bickering for the stupidest of reasons. There are constant flashbacks that all forcefully shoved in your face "like is this sad!, ARE YOU SAD YET?" and it just doesn't work. Once the series introduces an antagonist is when this series completely loses any charm it has left. 3. The villain character is just an over-the-top and ridiculous character. How she gets away with everything is so ridiculously unbelievable. Her characterization is not any better, and they try again to make her seem sympathetic but it is really hard to like her in any way when she is just not a fun villain to watch. 4. Hinagiku the main character is just not an enjoyable main character to watch. Her hesitant, broken delivery of every single line is just annoying. Again, I understand this is the result of trauma but it doesn't change how really grinding it is to hear her speak in that manner all the time. She also doesn't have great characterization and she keeps mentioning how her past self has died but she doesn't act that differently than how she used to (apart from the way she speaks). Every other character including her best friend, Sakura, still treats her the exact same way so what is the point of all that metaphor for her past self dying or whatever? It isn't clearly stated if it is a split personality or really just a metaphor 5. Hinagiku and Sakura's relationship is definitely borderline yuribait. The OP and ED is heavily focused on both of them with the "lewd" handholding and throughout the series, their relationship is a big highlight with how overly close they are. The problem is that they aren't a ship because they both have a male that they are both in love with. However, that relationship is extremely shallow and not even a good ship. This is especially the case for Sakura and Itechou who barely interact and yet you expect me to ship them? There are a lot of positive reviews for this series because it has emotional drama and fun character relationships but I don't even find the series to do that well either. Unfortunately, this series is just not as interesting as it could have been...

It was an emotional joyride from start to finish. every episode made my eyes wet and brought me near to crying. No wonder the author of violet evergarden (which actually made me cry) is the author of this one also. The story is filled with so much emotion, pain and love. I especially liked the bond between Hinaguki and Sakura which goes beyond Love or respect or duty. Such innocent and pure emotions are rarely seen between two characters of same gender. The only gripe I have is that the agents felt a bit less powerful especially against the agency which controls them. They are Demigods FFs, and this is how you treat them, caged and controlled? I just don't understand why does it have such low ratings. Anything below 9 star is just disrespectful to this masterpiece. Many animes can make you laugh or angry or fearful but very few and rare animes have the power to make you cry. Afterall it is the purest form of emotion that someone can ever feel.

The story concept actually very interesting, with the four seasons has their own agents who brings the season with their power. And honestly, i watch it because I've never seen that kind of concept before. The anime is beautiful, the graphics and sceneries are really mesmerising eyes. The character design also good. The scoring also really well made (kudos to kensuke ushio). Honestly i dont see problems from the production. But, the story itself...i feel the world building in this anime is really weak. They don't have strong foundation to build a story about agents of the four seasons. It's already a 14 episode anime but i feel they wasted too many times on flashbacks. They should elaborate more about the extremists group, the affair of hinagiku's parent, or maybe about how the power and hierarchy works. The main villain also really weak. But i like the agents present in this anime. They're pretty interesting and it's lovely to see their bond with their "knight". But yea, I feel the story telling is really under expectations, after a promising premise. So it was a bit sad that the story is weak. Although I really appreciate how well the production were.

Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring is another beautiful work from Kana Akatsuki. In the spring 2026 anime season, two shows were released that carried, and still carry, the heavy weight of expectation due to their creators' previous major works. One of them was Agents of the Four Seasons, written by Kana Akatsuki, the author of Violet Evergarden. For me, Violet Evergarden is one of the best anime I have ever seen, so I was incredibly excited to watch Agents of the Four Seasons. However, I kept my expectations somewhat in check since I knew nothing about it. But now, after finishing the first season, I have to say that Agents of the Four Seasons far exceeded my expectations. I do not want to draw a long comparison between the two works, nor will I spoil anything from Violet Evergarden. I will just say two things. First, Violet Evergarden told its story within a relatively safe framework, but Agents of the Four Seasons expands its narrative beyond that safe zone. This allows the audience to have broader interpretations, which could be negative, causing the work to be overlooked, or positive, making it stand out even more. For someone like me, who always tries to maintain a positive perspective, Agents of the Four Seasons became a more unique experience in some ways compared to Violet Evergarden. When a story steps outside its comfort zone, I can form interpretations that feel more personal and my own. Second, and despite all of this, I still love Violet Evergarden more for many other reasons. But Agents of the Four Seasons, for the reasons I will explain below, is still an excellent and complete anime for me, regardless of which one I personally prefer. Story / Characters Agents of the Four Seasons is a drama anime, and in my view, the purpose of a drama is to make the audience emotional. I can enjoy the story and characters of a drama without actually getting emotional, without tears in my eyes, without feeling deeply saddened. But I cannot become emotional if I am not enjoying the story and characters. And Agents of the Four Seasons succeeded in making me emotional throughout every single episode. It made me connect with the story and characters, feel their pain, and even feel emotional at their moments of happiness. It made me care about the story. This means the anime successfully met my expectations. It means its narrative had an impact on me. That is why, from the final moments of the first episode to the end of the last episode, there was not a single moment where I felt my time was wasted, or that the anime felt slow or weak to me. I mention this because every part I am going to discuss will be considered through the lens of these positive points, since they had a real impact on me. As the anime states in its first episode, Agents of the Four Seasons is a story about the representatives of the seasons. It is a story about murder, a story about salvation, a story about friendship and love. And if I were to add something to that, it is a story about regrets, and a story about what it takes to protect someone with everything we have. Agents of the Four Seasons takes its time for all of its characters, especially for the four main characters. Through visual storytelling and dialogue, the anime makes sure we know everything we need to know about them, and specifically about their feelings toward each other and toward the events of the story. A large part of the anime's story revolves around the regrets that the characters carry regarding past events. The anime portrays their pain and regret through flashbacks, through the characters' thoughts, from each individual perspective, and from a broader view, repeating these moments multiple times. I deeply respect this repetition. I became emotional each time I saw it, because it showed what the characters must have endured over the years. It felt as though I was feeling exactly what the characters felt. I empathized with them, and it was as if the anime beautifully conveyed the weight of those years. With each repetition, the importance and weight of certain moments grew stronger for the characters. That is why I had no issue with the repeated flashbacks, and I valued each and every one of them. Another thing I loved about Agents of the Four Seasons was how it explored the idea of placing a phenomenon that cannot be stopped, cannot be exploited for purposes outside its nature, cannot be imprisoned mentally, spiritually, or physically, and is not vulnerable, into the form of a human being. This theme is examined in several directions within the anime. First, the anime shows that becoming a seasonal agent means a lack of personal freedom in a world where nations seek to kill agents and exploit their power, where agents are betrayed. The anime raises the question: in this world, who is truly a real ally to an agent? The answer is their protectors and the other agents who understand the pain that being an agent brings. The anime portrays this very well. Regarding the protectors, the anime asks: what does it take for someone to give everything they have to protect another person, accepting all the lack of freedom that this duty brings? The answer to this question is love, but not romantic love. The story reaches an answer for each agent and protector pair, but with a different expression. Each relationship is portrayed with its own unique dynamic, and the anime beautifully shows how these bonds are formed, tested, and strengthened over time. Another major part of Agents of the Four Seasons involves groups that seek to either exploit the agents' powers or kill them. The anime presents these conflicts in a way that feels logical and grounded within the world it has built. It also visually portrays the moral weight of killing, showing how different protectors deal with this reality in their own ways, without relying on heavy dialogue. The anime also explores the theme of loss and regret in a way that feels deeply personal. Certain moments in the story carry an incredible emotional weight, not because they are designed to manipulate the audience, but because they feel earned through the character development and world building that came before them. These moments made me reflect on the story long after each episode ended. And apart from all these sections, I genuinely liked all eight main characters of the story. Every single one of them falls into the category of "protecting under any circumstances," which in a way is also the theme of the story. The personality differences between the characters, as well as their similarities in certain aspects, made me enjoy each and every one of them. Production Studio WIT – is there even a possibility of them being bad? The anime is beautiful visually, outstanding in terms of direction, and supernatural in terms of music. In this season, there are several anime with incredible direction, and without a doubt, Agents of the Four Seasons is among them. Ken Yamamoto has once again proven what a phenomenal director they are: the color palette, the music selection, the BGM placement, the opening and ending timing, playing them at the best possible moments, and the fight scenes were all exceptional. Throughout the entire anime, I did not notice any clear art errors. Studio WIT worked flawlessly as always. As for the background music, every single track was excellent – whether for fun moments, sad ones, fight scenes, and everything else. The opening and ending also had beautiful music and visuals. Personally, I preferred the ending's music and visuals more. There is nothing else to add in this section except that everything looked and sounded beautifully perfect to me within Agents of the Four Seasons. With thanks to Kana Akatsuki for the incredibly beautiful story and lovable characters (at least for me), and to everyone who worked on this beautiful anime and gave their best for this work: the members of Studio WIT and all others who contributed …