I've watched a lot of anime at this point, but my schedule is still way too busy for me to follow a bunch at a time every quarter. So most of the new anime I tend to watch are ones that I hear good things about through word of mouth. Case in point, I heard a lot of good things about Lycoris Recoil, and I'm very glad I decided to check it out.
Lycoris Recoil is about a child soldier named Takina who gets transferred from her position at DA (an agency that discretely kills anyone who may be perceived as a threat) to work with independent agent Chisato, considered to have once been DA's greatest agent. The two spend the show going on more ground-level missions, working at a cafe as a cover, and trying to get Takina her spot at DA back. On a plot level, Lycoris Recoil is pretty good. The season has two main villains, Shinji and Majimi, and they're both great. The former has a more personal connection to Chisato and her teacher Mika, while the latter is a more entertaining foil for Chisato with grander motivations. I think this was a great call, both antagonists lend something important to the anime, and they're intertwined enough that the dual-storylines didn't feel too disjointed. Even more, I think the anime's pacing in general is spot-on. Each episode can stand on its own, but there's also a serialized plot that slowly gets more prevalent as the show goes on. The last few episodes are never overloaded with plot, and there are plenty of fun bonding moments for the characters. I've voiced my complaints about TV episodes feeling more like chapters in a book rather than their own individual films nowadays, so I'm always happy whenever a show does the latter. With all this praise, I really only have one gripe with Lycoris Recoil, which is its treatment of DA. It's very obvious that DA is flawed, right from the start, with characters like Mizuki and Abe repeatedly criticizing the system. And yet, DA never really faces any consequences for its actions, and as a whole, the anime never does enough to criticize how immoral DA is, especially in terms of its usage of child soldiers. Instead, it's like the show is saying "Yeah, DA kinda sucks, but it's the status quo".
Lycoris Recoil appeals to my genre sensibilities pretty much perfectly, it's a cross between adorable and slightly gay slice-of-life, and thrilling John Wick-esque action. I adore the main cast of Chisato's cafe LycoReco. They all have fantastic chemistry to the point where I'd love a second season just so we can see more of them. Of course, the dynamic between Chisato and Takina is the highlight and heart of the show. Even with all the crazy action scenes, my favorite scenes in Lycoris Recoil are the small stuff like the fountain scene in Episode 3 and Takina doing a fish pose to cheer Chisato up. The whole upbeat extrovert meets cold introvert concept isn't super original, but that doesn't mean it can't be super effective. I also like that the ending at the very least hints at the fact that they end up together, considering how common queer-baiting can be in anime. As for the action, it's freaking amazing. I was skeptical when people were referring to Lycoris Recoil as "anime John Wick" give how high of a bar those movies are, but the moment Chisato slammed a car door on someone and shot them through the door, I was sold. Even within the limitations of seasonal anime, the action in Lycoris Recoil is kinetic and fun, and Chisato's ability to practically dodge bullets leads to some pretty great setpieces scattered throughout the anime.
Highlights:
Diamond Cut Diamond: The entire final three episodes was easily the high point of Lycoris Recoil. Diamond Cut Diamond was stuffed with fantastic moments, from the hilarious sequence of Kurumi (lowkey the best character) and Mizuki in the airport, to Majima's shocking public announcement, to some of the best gunfights in the series, to Takina channeling her inner Homura to save Chisato, everything else be damned.
Nature Versus Nature: The first half of Nature Versus Nature is easily the most gutwrenching moment in the whole show, hands down. Shinji forcing Chisato to kill him for the heart was incredibly cruel, and the painful screams from Chisato and Takina's voice actress left me stunned. The rest of the episode couldn't quite top that emotionally, but between the introduction of the LilyBell agents, Erika saving the day, and Kurumi getting Robota arrested, there was still a lot to love.
Recoil Of Lycoris: This was a pretty great finale. While there were a few things I would've really wanted (the DA facing some sort of consequences, Chisato/Takina being explicitly in a relationship), the final battle with Majima was fantastic, the Hawaii epilogue was super cute, and there was enough loose ends that I could totally see this anime getting an even better second season.
Overall, Lycoris Recoil was a ton of fun! While I wish it would've explored some of its themes a bit more, this is still a fantastic blend of action and slice of life, with strong pacing, lovable characters, and some incredibly fluid and kinetic animation.
4/5 Stars
My ranking of the episodes of Lycoris Recoil would be:
- Nature Versus Nature (Episode 12)
- Recoil Of Lycoris (Episode 13)
- Diamond Cut Diamond (Episode 11)
- Opposites Attract (Episode 6)
- More Haste, Less Speed (Episode 3)
- Another Day, Another Dollar (Episode 8)
- Nothing Seek, Nothing Find (Episode 4)
- Repay Evil With Evil (Episode 10)
- Time Will Tell (Episode 7)
- Easy Does It (Episode 1)
- What's Done Is Done (Episode 9)
- The More, The Merrier (Episode 2)
- So Far, So Good
No comments:
Post a Comment