As someone that has watched this anime 6 times (2 by myself, 4 with friends/couples that wanted me to watch it with them) i have a few things to say This video is well made, i specially like that is respectful in general but it feels like it's more about what you wanted the anime to do rather that what it actually did wrong, best example in an objective way i can think of is the point you made about chapter 13 being the worse one Trying to see it in an objective way the worse one would be Chapter 12, since it fails in a lot of things the show used to do good such as: Breaking the tension with abrupt tone change ruining the atmosphere the show was building for the chapter (for example when both takina and chisato get in the helicopter) Lily Bells don't shoot any lycoris even if they had a direct order to kill all lycoris, there are even scenes where you can see lily bells pointing their guns at point blank to some lycoris and they don't kill them, even if the order to not kill them came way after Animation feels lackluster in important scenes, such as when chisato shoots Yoshi, which should have been more impactful that it was, but it feels like they animated that scene with the bare minimum, they only part that sells it is Chisato's pain scream The way they "Solve" the Lycoris revelation to the public thing is lazy, and while it could be improved and something could be built upon it in the sequel, for now it feels lazy and simply not well-written at all, specially when you notice people saw a teenager getting killed by a guy with a gun and this guy being killed too by this teenager, there's no way to say that was an act or staged, and while yes this point is kinda adressed in chapter 13 in a scene where they show a TV interview about the "Lycoris Event" where they imply the public and society has a lot of doubts in what the Lycoris Event actually was, it's not enough for now to justify its poor resolution Chapter 13 is really good because it works with everything the anime DID put in the table, even if it didn't meet personal expectations, even i would have liked the anime to explore other things or to change some aspects, best example i can think of is Chisato's Character, while i really like it and i think it's really well made and has some moments that show that even if idealized, the best part about her is that she's really human and you can understand why she's like that, i still would have liked more things to be dealt with her character, such as exploring more her not killing rule, showing her with more doubts about herself about this rule or even her to wonder why she's the way it is since you could say she's not living her own life, but at that point i think one could say that about literally Everything, no matter how good or bad the product is, I would have liked bocchi the rock to be more emotionally attaching like K-on (A show it references and you could say is based on) was, i would have liked Hitori to have a different personality since i can't feel attached to the character, i would have liked Hibike Euphonium's protagonist to be more likeable, i felt like she didn't had a personality because in my opinion it felt like she was a mix of a lot of personalities depending on the moment, and i could just not discern how she really was (at least in the first season) but that's not a problem of the anime or it being "Mid", it's just a personal expectation, i can understand Kumiko's personality in Hibike Euphonium was made to be (As reina said in the first season) a disguise and misleading on purpose, looking and acting cute and not being that much actually, or that Hitori in Bocchi the Rock is like that to represent a theme that hasn't been well explored in a lot of animes, and they do it great Even if i wanted it to be different, the shows does something and does it really fucking good, same here in Lycoris Recoil, even if we wanted it to explore more one path or the other, what the show is in general is more than great and works, because as i said, at that point it's not about how good or bad the show is, is just about what each spectator wants, whether or not it's actually good or not, even if i just couldn't watch this anime one more time even if asked to since i felt "obligated" to watch it way more that i would have liked to, at least it helped me see the anime is way better built and made than even myself at the first or second watch i thought it was Also since i feel like you missed some things i want to point out as flaws of the anime that don't fall in personal expectations, but more what at least the real problems of the show were/are since everytime i saw people discuss about this anime, i felt like they were pointing bad things where there was nothing to complain about, and viceversa ignoring the real problems it presented in its narrative or in general as a product, consider this a rant lol i just haven't seen anyone point out the things i'm about to mention even tho i feel they're obviously flaws: - Yoshi died because its arc and purpose was (mostly) finished, and because there was a reason to kill him since he had the heart chisato needed to live, this detail could let a lot interesting to happen since chisato herself said that she didn't want to kill yoshi and take its heart because she wouldn't be herself anymore but she still got yoshi's heart anyways so it could be interesting to see what chisato's thinks about it in the future what's the problem then? Majima should have also died, his character wasn't that well written to start with, at some points you can't even understand at all why he does what he does, and as you pointed out it's some of his dialogues are misleading to say the least, he also accomplished something really important that could also be used to be built upon, with a ton of potential to cause doubt and trouble in the society, there's no way japan will just forget the lycoris event and think it was planned, (and if the writers decide japan WILL forget that day like it was nothing, it' would be poor writing) with this in mind one could perfectly say he (just like yoshi) already planted a seed for the future of the anime without needing to stay alive, specially when you see majima fall from the building, it's like they wanted to leave a cliffhanger, but (as for now) it feels like just that, they wanted to leave a cliffhanger ignoring coherence and what the character already accomplished. (i'm not saying majima's character can't growth, ofc leaving him alive could improve its flaws, but it doesn't change the fact that majima already did what he wanted, create chaos or at least doubts in the society, and if yoshi died because its character was finished, i don't see why majima lived if he accomplished what he wanted even if not obvious to the spectator at first) - Majima feels like he's there to fill something yoshi just can't, as a spectator you can't imagine yoshi throwing bombs and laughing and smiling while moving quickly shooting and most importantly, you can't see yoshi being toe-to-toe with chisato in a fight, but you can totally see an agile anarchist like majima doing it, that's where he comes in, and while this isn't bad at all, as the anime shows majima is in part a tool for yoshi even if majima didn't noticed he was being manipulated by yoshi, but in a writing aspect, majima is a tool to fill what yoshi's character couldn't, even if at the cost of making his character a bit flat and definitely not as interesting or deep as Yoshi's character. - Getting in depth with the argument i mentioned earlier it's still incredible to me that everytime i see a critique to this anime they barely mention this if at all, people saw a lycoris killing someone and being killed by a random guy with a gun, a ton of people should have encountered the weapons majima leaved in the city, and the people that didn't should have heard the shooting, the screaming, watching people getting shot and the bloodshed How does the anime solves it? Selling it as an act, ignoring these things that obviously should have happened in the show, i think the writers knew how poorly written all of this lycoris event thing was since you can see the characters disappointed faces when looking at the commercial kurumi made about the attraction being highlighted in the city, it's just amusing to me this part of the show gets so past by when it's obviously one of the main flaws it presents, i guess since it could and probably will be explored in the sequel, but is still nonetheless a proof of the show wanting to solve a problem in a cheap way. - There should have been consequences for the protagonists, and the show DID present one, the lily bells hunting down the lycoris, the thing is (as i said before) even if they had the order, and had entire MINUTES to spare to kill the lycoris, they didn't and there's no way to justify it, it's simply because writers didn't want to kill the secondary lycorises, but they should have definitely died and it would have been a good way to show the size of what was going on at the moment, there was every reason to do something with the lily bells, and they just didn't. anyways this comment is already way too long to keep showing actual flaws of the show, great video! i would have liked it to highlight more specific flaws of the anime beyond personal expectations, but just as my comment is about what the video presents is good even if i thought it would head in a different direction, in fact that's good since it highlights someone's opinion and expectations of the anime showing more than it meets to the eye, good work!
I loved everything about Takina's character. she was easily my favorite character in the show and im glad that you were able to summarize what her character was like in the show along with the character development she went through to make her such an amazing character to watch. You're definitely getting a sub from me after an analysis such as this. Time to binge your videos for the rest of the night. Thank you.
I am biased and love Lycoris Recoil, it is probably one of my favorite animes. That being said, Lycoris Recoil's biggest challenge was that the show had a lot to balance in ideas. Lyco Reco has different factions with wildly different goals. MC wants to enjoy a carefree life, while under a draconic police state that of which she is best enforcer. Luckily she is so good at her job that she does not need to kill. Then there is her partner, the actual best enforcer of the police state ideals who was disgraced due to arguably being too good at her job, but was in reality a cover up due to the police state's incompetence. The police state's goal is to maintain its position and the status quo of Japan with any means necessary while maintaining a masquerade. Then there are freedom fighters who are insane that want their ancap utopia. Then there is the MC's secret benefactor who wants to return MC to her "original purpose". Finally there are the advertisers who said this show would focus on the relationship between MC and her partner. That one drew in me specifically as CGDCT and hints of yuri is lovely. This is a lot of premise and is certain to disappoint in theory. However, the show did a great job of set up. MC makes the right choices towards her goal of a carefree life. Her partner's murderous tendency is reined in due to MC's combat skills, yet the good parts about her such as her attention to detail lets her be relevant whenever the plot tries to deal solely with the MC. The contrast between the two and how they became really close is a guilty pleasure of mine. Finally MC made it clear her priorities and imparts said teachings to her partner. That teaching, "We are not on duty, we should not get involved". This line more less for me set the tone that they did not and does not need to deal with all the plot points. That more or less covered up the bases on the flaw of too many ideas in Lyco Reco. Even if there is a single part of the show I dislike, Majima's role in the final episode, it more than made up for the rest of the show being solid in my eyes. Too bad in others, that spoiling part weakened the show for many. I am more than willing to overlook it partially due to bias and somewhat due to clusterfuck of ideas, the show is supposed to be. Animation and VA work were obviously great. The main VAs won awards because of that anyways. Basically Lycoris Recoil may not be perfect, or one of those instant classics like PMMM, it did great with the complex and often contrasting mix of ideas the creators had. To me, that really sold the show. Speaking of which, since Lycoris Recoil seems to trying to put their faces in merch, or collabs or what not, Lycoris Recoil did collab with Magia Record the gacha game for PMMM. That was a nice treat as well. Here's hoping they get the funding to continue the series of Lycoris Recoil.
Your critiques sound more to me like the story didn’t do what you would’ve preferred it do rather than failings of the story itself tbh. Which is perfectly valid to be clear, but maybe this is one of those cases where it’s more correct to say “it wasn’t for me” rather than “the story fails”. As far as I’m concerned, all a story needs to do to work is be honest to itself, even if I don’t personally like how it goes about it. LycoReco did that. Shit it’s pretty much **the** story about being honest to yourself. Not only Chisato is centrist, the whole thing was centrist. No one was more right or wrong than anyone else, the message was to choose your own path and not let others choose for you. Not for the greater good or because it’s more useful, but because there’s value in choosing your own path in and of itself. The results are entirely secondary. This is also why I think Mika killing Shinji doesn’t in any way take away from Chisato’s autonomy, rather it just asserts Mika’s own. The script is aware than when everyone is free, people will constantly also be stepping on someone else’s autonomy. Ordinarily you would think this is a miserable existence where conflict is eternal and inevitable, and you might even say this worldview portrays freedom as evil or resulting in evil. But what’s magical about Chisato is that she doesn’t take this perspective at all. There is no irredeemable fracture between Takina and Chisato’s perspective in killing because Chisato never EVER tried to lecture Takina about the morality of killing. She never questioned the validity of Takina’s opinion, and never shamed her or judged her for it. She merely offered Takina to try something different. Chisato’s pacifism has nothing to do with eliminating conflict from the world, it is a selfish pacifism adopted entirely to save her own conscience and I think that’s beautiful and deeply human. In the world of LycoReco people are different and this often gets them into fights. People are free to be different and fight. It doesn’t mean anything, no one is right and no one is wrong, and no one has the ultimate answer. All you can do is follow your own heart and inspire others to do the same. It’s positive nihilism at its core and I loved that. Anyway, this comment might come across a bit harsh but I really don’t got beef with you or your opinion. This is a banger video and you may have earned a new sub. Keep cooking bro.
Don't worry, it didn't come off as harsh at all, and was well worded! To respond to your point, my problem isn't necessarily that the show didn't do what I wanted. I actually had a whole tangent written up about this in the video but decided to cut it because it was already running pretty long, but to summarize, another version of this show that I think would fix all my issues is one that embraced its centrism and its melting pot of ideas *even more*. I want a version of the show where Takina is a solipsist and the DA is some even more fringe version of its ideology that no one would agree with and maybe Kurumi would be an anti-natalist or something, I dunno. The point would be, then, to see completely mismatching and fringe ideologies vie for power. It would communicate the theme, but in a much more entertaining way (to me at least) and more importantly, *foreshadow the point more*. And I do mention this (albeit much more briefly) in the video proper. I don't mind that the show took this direction, I just needed a bit more hand-holding, to put it perhaps too roughly. I want the show to foreshadow its direction better, because for the first long while, the show really does come off like it's going to have a greater ideological point. I reckon this whole thing with Majima and the show's true point was envisioned as a plot twist, but a plot twist is only good if the story it twists into is more interesting than the one already established, and as it stands, I don't think this one was well constructed enough to do that for me. This might have some errors or poor wording since I'm not bothering to reread this essay I wrote before sending it lolol but thanks a lot for commenting. A video that provokes lengthy paragraphs from people is the best type imo, and thanks for commenting :)
This video made me think more about lycoreco and made me think of more of the background things and just the overall story deeper. It also made me wanna get the art book and made me realize that they colored her bow wrong in 30:12 LOL. Great video!
Omg! 2 months went flying like... (idk). Happy yo see a new video, and it's about リコリコ！That's amazing. Well, now... Back to the 2/3 months wait. Love ya!
I like that this show it portrays multiple different ideologies for each of its characters, as it makes them much more interesting. In fact, I think that Chisato's apathetic approach to the situation she is in is her character flaw. It's pretty rare for a show to take a step back and not have a major overarching ideological message, and instead letting the viewer decide for themselves. I feel if it gets a season 2 it could create a conflict in the differences in Chisato and Takina's values. While Chisato is only really wants to protect those around her, Takina seems to make attempt to change things (maybe?), as she is shown butting her head in others' (usually Chisato's) business. Also, the difference in the way both of them handle death. Though, Majima's motive makes me very skeptical that this show will have that kind of maturity later on.
Takina’s beta design reminds me of UMP45 from Girls Frontline, someone who would kill without remorse the moment you pay her to do it. Spot on on your part.
Listen, if you told me that one of the best anime of all time happened to be about girls that shoot guns, I wouldn't believe you, because only Asahina and Kyon shoot guns in Haruhi, and Kyon isn't a girl. Also watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
I have a love hate relationship with this show. It perfectly fulfils my appetite for CGDCT with guns but the story is such a massive missed opportunity. The ending is also a complete asspull. This could’ve been some ancap /ak/ kino if it leant into its darker elements a bit more. In my opinion, the show should’ve ended with Chisato dying with Majima after he successfully blows up the tower and reveals the existence of DA. That sets up so much for Takina who would be forced to chose between the autonomy Chisato imparted in her or throw it all away for an extrajudicial agency that has earned its collapse. There’s so much potential that ends up going nowhere because they wanted to stick with CGDCT despite the CG being feds who are anything but cute. Also remember Lilybell? Exactly. Thankfully next season gave me Akiba Maid War which is basically everything I wanted from this show tonally and should’ve won best original anime instead of this. Majima did nothing wrong. Go watch Gunslinger Girl instead.
About that middle bit with the characters. I definitely would also love to see the more “motherly” Chisato and more “edgy” Takina design in a show format, with their personalities changed accordingly. I think it’d make a cool dynamic seeing how they would interact. About the last episode. I agree with the ending feeling weird and all of that. But I like how they had the two sides meet and just, talk. It was a cool thing in my opinion. I do think they could have done a better job though. Wtf was that patreon read 😭
I very much agree with most of what is said here. Personally, I believe that a few small changes could’ve been made and everything would’ve worked out. There are some shows. I wish I could just do a little rewrite on.
I agree with nearly everything you've said however there's a part of me that hopes/feels that we've only received half of the story and that the loose threads will be picked up on in season 2. In particular one of your final points about Chisato being willing to send Majima falling to his death. I thought there hints throughout the show that the desire to kill does reside in Chisato. She has a few dead serious moments in show where her cheery enthusiastic masks slips. When she's speaking with Mika about the truth of Mr. Yoshi, and at the end when Takina's life is threatened (there's a bomb about to explode). I disagree with you on Mika killing Mr. Yoshi, I interpreted that as him realising HIS full autonomy. I can't help shake the feeling that 12 episodes was just too short, incredibly dense though they were, there's only so much you can fit in during that time. I will have to wait and see what season 2 brings, though, given what we've been shown so far, I have high hopes that at least some of these threads will be picked up on.
I'd be careful with drawing parallels between why you were disappointed with the end and the reason why the majority of others were. From what I can tell yours is from the show's confused (seemingly) execution, while the others are angry 2 girls didn't get it on. I don't think they're lesbians and I love the joyous way their friendship is portrayed. I hope Chisato gets it on with Majima, I think they're a great match. And Takina should get it on with whoever that guy from Lilly Bell is who was said to be giving Chisato evil looks. Whatever this shows failings are in communication of theme(s) are eclipsed for me by how it somehow made this 45 year old care about cartoon characters: from Kusunoki and Mika to Chisato and Takina. The structure of the show is more occupied with spending time feeding you information about the various characters than it is about exploring a larger theme. Maybe that is for season 2 :-D
One point I will disagree on is with Majima. When I watched the show, I got the sense he was spouting BS, and he knew it was BS, when addressing DA, the public, and even Chisato. He felt his most honest when he was actively putting his skills to use, thanks in large part to the Alan Institute helping him. Then, when Chisato is hanging from the tower by a single cable, I got the sense she suspected this wasn't the end of Majima as she reacted to the fireworks. In the high likelihood Majima appears again in the second season, he'll probably have another ideologically driven shovel or two of BS. If anything did bother me about the ending, it was the handwave Mika gave about his leg and warriors deceiving their enemies (to a man he was clearly in a relationship with).
I thought it was pretty ok, but at the same it really showed a lack of understanding simple ballistics and far too much plot armour. It's still a good show, yet it can really get annoying at time. The romance also felt like it slipped by the wayside for a show revolving around a couple and conflicts the would naturally occur got pushed aside for whatever reason. Anyway, excellent video dude, 44 mins is no easy feat, well done.
Glad I'm not the only one who found her annoying. Was feeling like a weirdo but IDK, I just don't like her. First time in an anime I strongly dislike a character, I'm usually easy-going with regards to all that.
Can I pay you on Patreon to never read the names like that again?
hundred dollars take it or leave it
As someone that has watched this anime 6 times (2 by myself, 4 with friends/couples that wanted me to watch it with them) i have a few things to say
This video is well made, i specially like that is respectful in general but it feels like it's more about what you wanted the anime to do rather that what it actually did wrong, best example in an objective way i can think of is the point you made about chapter 13 being the worse one
Trying to see it in an objective way the worse one would be Chapter 12, since it fails in a lot of things the show used to do good such as:
Breaking the tension with abrupt tone change ruining the atmosphere the show was building for the chapter (for example when both takina and chisato get in the helicopter)
Lily Bells don't shoot any lycoris even if they had a direct order to kill all lycoris, there are even scenes where you can see lily bells pointing their guns at point blank to some lycoris and they don't kill them, even if the order to not kill them came way after
Animation feels lackluster in important scenes, such as when chisato shoots Yoshi, which should have been more impactful that it was, but it feels like they animated that scene with the bare minimum, they only part that sells it is Chisato's pain scream
The way they "Solve" the Lycoris revelation to the public thing is lazy, and while it could be improved and something could be built upon it in the sequel, for now it feels lazy and simply not well-written at all, specially when you notice people saw a teenager getting killed by a guy with a gun and this guy being killed too by this teenager, there's no way to say that was an act or staged, and while yes this point is kinda adressed in chapter 13 in a scene where they show a TV interview about the "Lycoris Event" where they imply the public and society has a lot of doubts in what the Lycoris Event actually was, it's not enough for now to justify its poor resolution
Chapter 13 is really good because it works with everything the anime DID put in the table, even if it didn't meet personal expectations, even i would have liked the anime to explore other things or to change some aspects, best example i can think of is Chisato's Character, while i really like it and i think it's really well made and has some moments that show that even if idealized, the best part about her is that she's really human and you can understand why she's like that, i still would have liked more things to be dealt with her character, such as exploring more her not killing rule, showing her with more doubts about herself about this rule or even her to wonder why she's the way it is since you could say she's not living her own life, but at that point i think one could say that about literally Everything, no matter how good or bad the product is, I would have liked bocchi the rock to be more emotionally attaching like K-on (A show it references and you could say is based on) was, i would have liked Hitori to have a different personality since i can't feel attached to the character, i would have liked Hibike Euphonium's protagonist to be more likeable, i felt like she didn't had a personality because in my opinion it felt like she was a mix of a lot of personalities depending on the moment, and i could just not discern how she really was (at least in the first season)
but that's not a problem of the anime or it being "Mid", it's just a personal expectation, i can understand Kumiko's personality in Hibike Euphonium was made to be (As reina said in the first season) a disguise and misleading on purpose, looking and acting cute and not being that much actually, or that Hitori in Bocchi the Rock is like that to represent a theme that hasn't been well explored in a lot of animes, and they do it great
Even if i wanted it to be different, the shows does something and does it really fucking good, same here in Lycoris Recoil, even if we wanted it to explore more one path or the other, what the show is in general is more than great and works, because as i said, at that point it's not about how good or bad the show is, is just about what each spectator wants, whether or not it's actually good or not, even if i just couldn't watch this anime one more time even if asked to since i felt "obligated" to watch it way more that i would have liked to, at least it helped me see the anime is way better built and made than even myself at the first or second watch i thought it was
Also since i feel like you missed some things i want to point out as flaws of the anime that don't fall in personal expectations, but more what at least the real problems of the show were/are since everytime i saw people discuss about this anime, i felt like they were pointing bad things where there was nothing to complain about, and viceversa ignoring the real problems it presented in its narrative or in general as a product, consider this a rant lol i just haven't seen anyone point out the things i'm about to mention even tho i feel they're obviously flaws:
- Yoshi died because its arc and purpose was (mostly) finished, and because there was a reason to kill him since he had the heart chisato needed to live, this detail could let a lot interesting to happen since chisato herself said that she didn't want to kill yoshi and take its heart because she wouldn't be herself anymore but she still got yoshi's heart anyways so it could be interesting to see what chisato's thinks about it in the future
what's the problem then?
Majima should have also died, his character wasn't that well written to start with, at some points you can't even understand at all why he does what he does, and as you pointed out it's some of his dialogues are misleading to say the least, he also accomplished something really important that could also be used to be built upon, with a ton of potential to cause doubt and trouble in the society, there's no way japan will just forget the lycoris event and think it was planned, (and if the writers decide japan WILL forget that day like it was nothing, it' would be poor writing) with this in mind one could perfectly say he (just like yoshi) already planted a seed for the future of the anime without needing to stay alive, specially when you see majima fall from the building, it's like they wanted to leave a cliffhanger, but (as for now) it feels like just that, they wanted to leave a cliffhanger ignoring coherence and what the character already accomplished. (i'm not saying majima's character can't growth, ofc leaving him alive could improve its flaws, but it doesn't change the fact that majima already did what he wanted, create chaos or at least doubts in the society, and if yoshi died because its character was finished, i don't see why majima lived if he accomplished what he wanted even if not obvious to the spectator at first)
- Majima feels like he's there to fill something yoshi just can't, as a spectator you can't imagine yoshi throwing bombs and laughing and smiling while moving quickly shooting and most importantly, you can't see yoshi being toe-to-toe with chisato in a fight, but you can totally see an agile anarchist like majima doing it, that's where he comes in, and while this isn't bad at all, as the anime shows majima is in part a tool for yoshi even if majima didn't noticed he was being manipulated by yoshi, but in a writing aspect, majima is a tool to fill what yoshi's character couldn't, even if at the cost of making his character a bit flat and definitely not as interesting or deep as Yoshi's character.
- Getting in depth with the argument i mentioned earlier it's still incredible to me that everytime i see a critique to this anime they barely mention this if at all, people saw a lycoris killing someone and being killed by a random guy with a gun, a ton of people should have encountered the weapons majima leaved in the city, and the people that didn't should have heard the shooting, the screaming, watching people getting shot and the bloodshed
How does the anime solves it? Selling it as an act, ignoring these things that obviously should have happened in the show, i think the writers knew how poorly written all of this lycoris event thing was since you can see the characters disappointed faces when looking at the commercial kurumi made about the attraction being highlighted in the city, it's just amusing to me this part of the show gets so past by when it's obviously one of the main flaws it presents, i guess since it could and probably will be explored in the sequel, but is still nonetheless a proof of the show wanting to solve a problem in a cheap way.
- There should have been consequences for the protagonists, and the show DID present one, the lily bells hunting down the lycoris, the thing is (as i said before) even if they had the order, and had entire MINUTES to spare to kill the lycoris, they didn't and there's no way to justify it, it's simply because writers didn't want to kill the secondary lycorises, but they should have definitely died and it would have been a good way to show the size of what was going on at the moment, there was every reason to do something with the lily bells, and they just didn't.
anyways this comment is already way too long to keep showing actual flaws of the show, great video! i would have liked it to highlight more specific flaws of the anime beyond personal expectations, but just as my comment is about what the video presents is good even if i thought it would head in a different direction, in fact that's good since it highlights someone's opinion and expectations of the anime showing more than it meets to the eye, good work!
I loved everything about Takina's character. she was easily my favorite character in the show and im glad that you were able to summarize what her character was like in the show along with the character development she went through to make her such an amazing character to watch. You're definitely getting a sub from me after an analysis such as this. Time to binge your videos for the rest of the night. Thank you.
Im so glad you enjoyed! :)
I can't wait for season 2. In the meantime I'll enjoy the rest of my licorice
Takina sweep! Apparently she has a dark backstory that they weren't able to fit into season 1. Hopefully the sequel will shed some light on it
yooo thats hype
It's about fucking time.
I am biased and love Lycoris Recoil, it is probably one of my favorite animes. That being said, Lycoris Recoil's biggest challenge was that the show had a lot to balance in ideas.
Lyco Reco has different factions with wildly different goals. MC wants to enjoy a carefree life, while under a draconic police state that of which she is best enforcer. Luckily she is so good at her job that she does not need to kill. Then there is her partner, the actual best enforcer of the police state ideals who was disgraced due to arguably being too good at her job, but was in reality a cover up due to the police state's incompetence. The police state's goal is to maintain its position and the status quo of Japan with any means necessary while maintaining a masquerade. Then there are freedom fighters who are insane that want their ancap utopia. Then there is the MC's secret benefactor who wants to return MC to her "original purpose". Finally there are the advertisers who said this show would focus on the relationship between MC and her partner. That one drew in me specifically as CGDCT and hints of yuri is lovely. This is a lot of premise and is certain to disappoint in theory.
However, the show did a great job of set up. MC makes the right choices towards her goal of a carefree life. Her partner's murderous tendency is reined in due to MC's combat skills, yet the good parts about her such as her attention to detail lets her be relevant whenever the plot tries to deal solely with the MC. The contrast between the two and how they became really close is a guilty pleasure of mine. Finally MC made it clear her priorities and imparts said teachings to her partner. That teaching, "We are not on duty, we should not get involved". This line more less for me set the tone that they did not and does not need to deal with all the plot points. That more or less covered up the bases on the flaw of too many ideas in Lyco Reco.
Even if there is a single part of the show I dislike, Majima's role in the final episode, it more than made up for the rest of the show being solid in my eyes. Too bad in others, that spoiling part weakened the show for many. I am more than willing to overlook it partially due to bias and somewhat due to clusterfuck of ideas, the show is supposed to be.
Animation and VA work were obviously great. The main VAs won awards because of that anyways. Basically Lycoris Recoil may not be perfect, or one of those instant classics like PMMM, it did great with the complex and often contrasting mix of ideas the creators had. To me, that really sold the show.
Speaking of which, since Lycoris Recoil seems to trying to put their faces in merch, or collabs or what not, Lycoris Recoil did collab with Magia Record the gacha game for PMMM. That was a nice treat as well. Here's hoping they get the funding to continue the series of Lycoris Recoil.
Your critiques sound more to me like the story didn’t do what you would’ve preferred it do rather than failings of the story itself tbh. Which is perfectly valid to be clear, but maybe this is one of those cases where it’s more correct to say “it wasn’t for me” rather than “the story fails”.
As far as I’m concerned, all a story needs to do to work is be honest to itself, even if I don’t personally like how it goes about it. LycoReco did that. Shit it’s pretty much **the** story about being honest to yourself. Not only Chisato is centrist, the whole thing was centrist. No one was more right or wrong than anyone else, the message was to choose your own path and not let others choose for you. Not for the greater good or because it’s more useful, but because there’s value in choosing your own path in and of itself. The results are entirely secondary.
This is also why I think Mika killing Shinji doesn’t in any way take away from Chisato’s autonomy, rather it just asserts Mika’s own. The script is aware than when everyone is free, people will constantly also be stepping on someone else’s autonomy. Ordinarily you would think this is a miserable existence where conflict is eternal and inevitable, and you might even say this worldview portrays freedom as evil or resulting in evil. But what’s magical about Chisato is that she doesn’t take this perspective at all. There is no irredeemable fracture between Takina and Chisato’s perspective in killing because Chisato never EVER tried to lecture Takina about the morality of killing. She never questioned the validity of Takina’s opinion, and never shamed her or judged her for it. She merely offered Takina to try something different. Chisato’s pacifism has nothing to do with eliminating conflict from the world, it is a selfish pacifism adopted entirely to save her own conscience and I think that’s beautiful and deeply human. In the world of LycoReco people are different and this often gets them into fights. People are free to be different and fight. It doesn’t mean anything, no one is right and no one is wrong, and no one has the ultimate answer. All you can do is follow your own heart and inspire others to do the same. It’s positive nihilism at its core and I loved that.
Anyway, this comment might come across a bit harsh but I really don’t got beef with you or your opinion. This is a banger video and you may have earned a new sub. Keep cooking bro.
Don't worry, it didn't come off as harsh at all, and was well worded! To respond to your point, my problem isn't necessarily that the show didn't do what I wanted. I actually had a whole tangent written up about this in the video but decided to cut it because it was already running pretty long, but to summarize, another version of this show that I think would fix all my issues is one that embraced its centrism and its melting pot of ideas *even more*. I want a version of the show where Takina is a solipsist and the DA is some even more fringe version of its ideology that no one would agree with and maybe Kurumi would be an anti-natalist or something, I dunno. The point would be, then, to see completely mismatching and fringe ideologies vie for power. It would communicate the theme, but in a much more entertaining way (to me at least) and more importantly, *foreshadow the point more*.
And I do mention this (albeit much more briefly) in the video proper. I don't mind that the show took this direction, I just needed a bit more hand-holding, to put it perhaps too roughly. I want the show to foreshadow its direction better, because for the first long while, the show really does come off like it's going to have a greater ideological point. I reckon this whole thing with Majima and the show's true point was envisioned as a plot twist, but a plot twist is only good if the story it twists into is more interesting than the one already established, and as it stands, I don't think this one was well constructed enough to do that for me.
This might have some errors or poor wording since I'm not bothering to reread this essay I wrote before sending it lolol but thanks a lot for commenting. A video that provokes lengthy paragraphs from people is the best type imo, and thanks for commenting :)
I love Chisato. I love this show. Good job on the video. The intro was great
YO ITS JOUZUJOHN WOOOOOOOOO GLAD YA LIKED I(T
This video made me think more about lycoreco and made me think of more of the background things and just the overall story deeper. It also made me wanna get the art book and made me realize that they colored her bow wrong in 30:12 LOL. Great video!
Omg! 2 months went flying like... (idk). Happy yo see a new video, and it's about リコリコ！That's amazing. Well, now... Back to the 2/3 months wait.
Love ya!
tsym!! i hope to get a video out before the two month break... but well see
@@Crunchybagels Btw, i love the final rap part. (and, idk why but Chisato remainds me of Asuka from Hibike)
Babe wake up, new crunchybagels vid
If this show ended in pools of blood i might have actually picked it back up
takina is under the radar which i like her very much because she really suits my style and personality of being serious but still can have fun
another goated takina stan!
I like that this show it portrays multiple different ideologies for each of its characters, as it makes them much more interesting. In fact, I think that Chisato's apathetic approach to the situation she is in is her character flaw. It's pretty rare for a show to take a step back and not have a major overarching ideological message, and instead letting the viewer decide for themselves.
I feel if it gets a season 2 it could create a conflict in the differences in Chisato and Takina's values. While Chisato is only really wants to protect those around her, Takina seems to make attempt to change things (maybe?), as she is shown butting her head in others' (usually Chisato's) business. Also, the difference in the way both of them handle death. Though, Majima's motive makes me very skeptical that this show will have that kind of maturity later on.
Takina’s beta design reminds me of UMP45 from Girls Frontline, someone who would kill without remorse the moment you pay her to do it. Spot on on your part.
Listen, if you told me that one of the best anime of all time happened to be about girls that shoot guns, I wouldn't believe you, because only Asahina and Kyon shoot guns in Haruhi, and Kyon isn't a girl. Also watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
i really should get to that tbh...,,,
Shingo Adachi has a very cool hat
i agree
Chisato will always be my favorite heroine protagonist
I have a love hate relationship with this show. It perfectly fulfils my appetite for CGDCT with guns but the story is such a massive missed opportunity. The ending is also a complete asspull.
This could’ve been some ancap /ak/ kino if it leant into its darker elements a bit more. In my opinion, the show should’ve ended with Chisato dying with Majima after he successfully blows up the tower and reveals the existence of DA. That sets up so much for Takina who would be forced to chose between the autonomy Chisato imparted in her or throw it all away for an extrajudicial agency that has earned its collapse. There’s so much potential that ends up going nowhere because they wanted to stick with CGDCT despite the CG being feds who are anything but cute. Also remember Lilybell? Exactly.
Thankfully next season gave me Akiba Maid War which is basically everything I wanted from this show tonally and should’ve won best original anime instead of this.
Majima did nothing wrong. Go watch Gunslinger Girl instead.
About that middle bit with the characters. I definitely would also love to see the more “motherly” Chisato and more “edgy” Takina design in a show format, with their personalities changed accordingly. I think it’d make a cool dynamic seeing how they would interact.
About the last episode. I agree with the ending feeling weird and all of that. But I like how they had the two sides meet and just, talk. It was a cool thing in my opinion. I do think they could have done a better job though.
Wtf was that patreon read 😭
I very much agree with most of what is said here. Personally, I believe that a few small changes could’ve been made and everything would’ve worked out. There are some shows. I wish I could just do a little rewrite on.
I agree with nearly everything you've said however there's a part of me that hopes/feels that we've only received half of the story and that the loose threads will be picked up on in season 2.
In particular one of your final points about Chisato being willing to send Majima falling to his death. I thought there hints throughout the show that the desire to kill does reside in Chisato. She has a few dead serious moments in show where her cheery enthusiastic masks slips. When she's speaking with Mika about the truth of Mr. Yoshi, and at the end when Takina's life is threatened (there's a bomb about to explode).
I disagree with you on Mika killing Mr. Yoshi, I interpreted that as him realising HIS full autonomy.
I can't help shake the feeling that 12 episodes was just too short, incredibly dense though they were, there's only so much you can fit in during that time. I will have to wait and see what season 2 brings, though, given what we've been shown so far, I have high hopes that at least some of these threads will be picked up on.
LMAO I just realised I already commented on this video months ago FML when is season 2 coming out!!!!
it is a good show
STRIDE!
@@Crunchybagels you didn't mention how unfathomably sexy majima is
>I don't do hot takes anymore
>Pulls out a f*king flamethrower with "Chisato is overrated"
Though tbh I've always empathised more with Takina
I'd be careful with drawing parallels between why you were disappointed with the end and the reason why the majority of others were. From what I can tell yours is from the show's confused (seemingly) execution, while the others are angry 2 girls didn't get it on.
I don't think they're lesbians and I love the joyous way their friendship is portrayed. I hope Chisato gets it on with Majima, I think they're a great match. And Takina should get it on with whoever that guy from Lilly Bell is who was said to be giving Chisato evil looks.
Whatever this shows failings are in communication of theme(s) are eclipsed for me by how it somehow made this 45 year old care about cartoon characters: from Kusunoki and Mika to Chisato and Takina.
The structure of the show is more occupied with spending time feeding you information about the various characters than it is about exploring a larger theme. Maybe that is for season 2 :-D
Yes
I remember that nihou Kailan exists now that you’ve reminded me, and basically nothing else(how young was I when I saw something of that idek) 😂
One point I will disagree on is with Majima. When I watched the show, I got the sense he was spouting BS, and he knew it was BS, when addressing DA, the public, and even Chisato. He felt his most honest when he was actively putting his skills to use, thanks in large part to the Alan Institute helping him. Then, when Chisato is hanging from the tower by a single cable, I got the sense she suspected this wasn't the end of Majima as she reacted to the fireworks. In the high likelihood Majima appears again in the second season, he'll probably have another ideologically driven shovel or two of BS. If anything did bother me about the ending, it was the handwave Mika gave about his leg and warriors deceiving their enemies (to a man he was clearly in a relationship with).
did this man just say a little over a year ago today...? nah man, that shi aired last season take it or leave it
I thought it was pretty ok, but at the same it really showed a lack of understanding simple ballistics and far too much plot armour. It's still a good show, yet it can really get annoying at time. The romance also felt like it slipped by the wayside for a show revolving around a couple and conflicts the would naturally occur got pushed aside for whatever reason. Anyway, excellent video dude, 44 mins is no easy feat, well done.
Majima is him
Yeah it’s a bit of a mess. I just think it was really fun though.
fair take
Ok
licorice is gross
its like... fine, i guess
(not a metaphor for the show, actual opinion on licorice)
*Promo SM* 😊
The show was always mid....it just has really good characters. Nothing wrong with what it is but it was never a great show overall. Just fun to watch.
Its trash just like 99% of popular anime shows
Chisato is a garbage Character and the writing overall sucks, espacially the last episodes
Glad I'm not the only one who found her annoying. Was feeling like a weirdo but IDK, I just don't like her. First time in an anime I strongly dislike a character, I'm usually easy-going with regards to all that.