#1.4.18

It was pretty great for the most part. Characters were distinct and likeable, I think Mako’s my favourite, and lots of the character dynamics were really great too. Mako is the perfect best friend character for Ryuko because sweet and supportive friend but very well executed etc, while Satsuki is the perfect villain for Ryuko due to completely clashing ideals and philosophies. Most characters are pretty great.

However, I didn’t find Ragyo to be all that good a main antagonist. It’s never really explored why she was so determined for the Life Fibre’s plan to succeed, so her utter devotion to that goal is just a little “huh?” for the audience.

In spite of a weak main antagonist imo, the plot was pretty good in general, helped especially by the incredible pacing. Plot twists, which there are a few of, feel legitimately surprising in the moment but also make you look back on what came before and think “of course that’s what this is!” which is cool as heck though.  I’ll admit though, the execution of Ryuko’s “I can’t believe I’m clothing” arc had lots of room for improvement.

Animation was pretty great for the most part, definitely helped by the insane and over the top directing, though lots, and I mean lots of animation is reused time and time again, and it’s super noticeable. On the topic of reusing things, get used to hearing the words “don’t lose your way” being sung to you every other episode. The song’s not bad but it gets old fast.

Fight choreography was inconsistent. Some fights are really good, some are Sonic X style what with x2 fast pans then 1 final slow pan across a still image.

Comedy was hella on point. This show’s fucking hilarious.

There were many moments that felt kinda tropey or a little too shounen for my tastes, and I feel they’re not really all that well deserved. For frame of reference, FMAB has quite a few stereotypical shounen moments, but literally all of them feel justified.

OVA was kinda dumb and underwhelming.

I said more negative things than positive things there, but trust me, this was a pretty great show. Once you’re past the intense sexualisation of everything (which turned out to be way more important than I thought it would be) you’ve got a pretty solid action comedy show here. I’d recommend it.