Anime Review: When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
Score: 7.0
Genre:Supernatural, Harem, Comedy
Version: Subbed
Episodes: 12
Where I watched it: Crunchyroll
Synopsis: One normal day, the literature club and the niece of their adviser received supernatural powers. First off you got Sayumi Takanashi with the power of “Root of Origin†which is she can repair and heal anything. Then you have sweet Hatoko Kushikawa with the superpower of “Over Element†or the control of all four elements (air, earth, water, fire) as well as light. Next there’s the aforementioned niece of the adviser Chifuyu Himeki with the “World Create†ability; she can create anything. Next up is Tomoyo Kanzaki’s power of “Closed Clock†is controlling time; only slowing, stopping, and speeding up though, no reversing it. And finally we have the only boy of the group Jurai Andou with the power of “Dark and Dark†which is the ability to produce a, lukewarm, black flame. Andou is what is known as a chuunibyou which is a Japanese slang term which roughly translates to “Middle School 2nd Year Syndrome”. People with chuunibyou either act like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others. – Urban Dictionary. He was a chuuni before and after he got superpowers which lead him into these rants that just caused the others to stare at him like an idiot or ignore him completely. He’s also the one to name everyone’s powers.
Which most animes once a character(s) get powers there is then an adversary to fight. While yes there is a enemy to fight they never present themselves to the “Virgin Childrenâ€. “Virgin Children†is the name of Andou’s group who know nothing of the Fairy War. The name is given to them by Tomoyo’s older brother who is also a chuunibyou and also has powers, which they don’t know about, and knows everything that is going on. Including why they have powers and who gave it to them, but he keeps them all in the dark.
Because the main cast of characters don’t have anyone to fight most of the anime is just a slice of life, only have occasionally use superpowers.
My Thoughts (Spoilers): I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. It was funny and a little bit informative, for instance I learned what a chuunibyou is and realized I went to school with one. I did found it a little bit annoying that none of the girls knew they were in love with Andou until the end, well exempt for Hatoko who knew she was in love all along. I mean I knew in episode two when he gave the student council president, Mirei Kudo, a letter calling her power of stealing other people’s powers “Grateful Robber†which she misread as “Grateful Lover†and thought it was a love letter. When all the girls gave him the silence treatment I knew right then that they all liked Andou.
Originally I had this show at a 9.0 but after episode 8 and you find out all about the Fairy War and F. We meet some interesting characters in this episode and we never see them again. I would have really liked to see more of them. It was almost like this was an episode from another anime all together. In fact I had to stop and check to make sure I wasn’t watching the wrong show. This came right after Hatoko was kidnapped and I thought that the show was going to turn and we were going to see some super battles. Nope. Sayumi does an Ass Pull and can “bring the literature club back to it’s original state†meaning she can use “Root of Origin†to Hatoko, who for all they know has just run away and is missing, to them. They didn’t even know she was kidnapped, so they have no reason to think there’s an enemy out there. Which means they are shocked during the last episode, after all the girls had their one on one dates with Andou, when a possessed Mirei shows up to attack the literature club. Here I thought finally a battle.
Again, nope. Possessed Mirei used two attacks before she stole Andou’s second level power “Dark and Dark of the End†which is Andou’s black flame only it’s now hot and also burns the user and can’t be put out by anyone. Now comes the talking. Andou convinces the possessor to leave Mirei before finding out who she works for or their goal. So that just leaves Andou and an unpossessed Mirei to now burn until the rest of the “Virgin Children†show up and use Chifuyu to create a guillotine to chop off their hands and Sayumi to restore their hands. A bit brutal. And that’s how the show ends with none of them knowing anything. You can see where I had an issue with the show by now.
If this show gets a second season and the characters find out what is going on my score may go up. As of now since the anime covered all 9 novels that have been released so far I don’t know if that will happen, but since apparently the ending was unique to the anime it may take it’s own path. Cause you know that’s gone over so well in the past *cough* Full Metal Alchemist *cough* Rosario + Vampire. We’ll see.