Akuma no Riddle Review

Akuma no Riddle:
Information:
Other Names: Riddle Story of Devil & 悪魔のリドル
Studio: Diomedéa
Writer: Kiyoko Yoshimura
Director: Keizō Kusakawa
Music: Yoshiaki Fujisawa
Type: Manga Adaptation, TV Series
Length: 12 Episodes, 24 min per episode approx.
Genres:  Action, School, Shoujo Ai
Rating: R- 17+
Air Dates: 4th April 2014 - 20th June 2014
Alternate Recommendations: Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation & Mirai Nikki (TV)

Synopsis:

The story is set at Myoujou Academy, a private girls' boarding school. The 10th year's Kurogumi class has 12 assassins with their sights on one target, Haru Ichinose. Tokaku Azuma is a recent transfer student who is also targeting Ichinose, but she gradually develops feelings for Ichinose.

Review:

To start of this review, I will firstly be talking about the setting which I found to be not the most unique thing in the world, you know a battle royale is something I've seen a lot however I did like the idea of an all-female cast with a Shoujo ai (Girls Love) element thrown into the mix, which would have created a nice romance element to the show, but as always the romance is never fleshed out and has no significance in the plot what so ever.

Now for the main plot of the show which I can sum in one word: predictable. Seriously you know what's going to at the end of each episode as within each episode the main characters will take on one assassin at a time, and if the main characters were to die around the 2nd assassin things would go nowhere so you know who will win each fight and doesn't leave much to the animation. But aside from this the best bits within the plot are the assassinations themselves which are really well done with some quite predictable to real interesting and fun traps that are great to watch as they provide some great entertainment as you watch the two main characters figure each one out.

The last thing I would like to talk about story wise is the ending, which can be summed briefly as predictable and is something you'll defiantly see coming.

Now for the real meat that propels this show, which is the characters that for starters have some great designs each being unique and different that you'll never forget anyone within in a short space of time. Another good point about this show is the characters themselves which all stand out on their own having distinct traits and personalities as well as great backstories that deliver great additions to a boring plot, each describing the motivations that each character has within the setting, having a major effect on how immersive the characters can be.

Now for the bad points the development. There is none, barely any characters change throughout the series which isn't so bad considering it's one episode for each assassin, where there's no time for that but in the case of the main characters who should have some development, especially Tokaku Azuma (playing the role of protector) who should have some development, as this is a romance, has barely any while other lead character Haru Ichinose has none at all, leaving a huge amount of disappointment as well as a bad taste.   

Moving away from the bad points the next point to discuss in the art and animation, in which I would love to say that the art, is amazing, having such a unique style brings the show out better, making it feel different from other anime, good job Diomedéa. The animation itself is also great and moves quite nicely with the shows pace, which can mainly be seen during the show's opening that has a great impact on the tone of the show, letting you know what you're in for.

Finally the soundtrack is the last thing I will touch upon, starting with opening which as said above is great creating a great tone for the show. While on the other hand the endings, in which there are a lot of them, range from great to boring depending on your personal taste as each song represents a certain character the way you feel about each song can change depending on what you think of the character. On the other hand while the soundtrack may be good it doesn't stand out much making it very forgetful.

Overall decent show, I recommend watching if you have time.

Final Verdict:

Setting/Story: 6.8

Characters: 7

Art/Animation: 7.6

Soundtrack: 8.1

Final Score: 7.3/10

Ranking System:
10 - Perfect Masterpiece
9.6 - 9.9=  Near Perfect
 9 - 9.5 = Excellent
 7-8.9 = Good
 5-6.9 = Average/Mediocre
 2-4.9 =Bad
 1- 1.9= Unwatchable

Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan Anime Reviews

Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan Review
Information:
English Name: Sky Wizards Academy
Studio: Diomedéa
Writer: Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Director: Takayuki Inagaki
Music: Flying Dog & Masakazu Sato
Type: Light Novel Adaptation, TV Series
Length: 12 Episodes, 23 min per episode approx.
Genres: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, School
Rating: PG-13
Air Dates: 9th July 2015 - 24th September 2015
Alternate Recommendations: Absolute Duo & Seiken Tsukai no World Break

Synopsis:
The story is set in a world where humanity, driven off the land by the threat of magical armoured insects, now live in aerial floating cities. Thus wizards—aerial combat mages who fight the insects with magical powers—came into being.
Kanata Age is a young man who lives on the floating wizard academy city of "Misutogan." He was once celebrated as the "Black Master Swordsman," the elite ace of the S128 special team; however, he is now despised as the "traitor of the special team." One day, he is assigned as the instructor of E601, a team that has suffered ten consecutive defeats. E601 has three girls—Misora Whitale, Lecty Eisenach, and Rico Flamel—with one or two peculiar quirks.

Review:
To start of this review I will quickly go over the setting which in simple terms in about humanity fighting an on-going threat of some sorts which is nothing new, in this case it is the Devil Beetles which are magical mechanical insects that what to exterminate humanity for an unknown reason, in which in response young people are trained in the art of killing them using a variety of tools in a highschool setting.
Nothing really new there, there are thousands of other anime done in a similar fashion, so all I can really say is the setting is mediocre at best and doesn't really catch the eye much.

Now for the story which is written just above; that follows Kanata Age becoming an instructor for fireteam E601; know in a nutshell this story is highly predictable and overall is quite boring if taken seriously however if it is watched purely for entertainment can become a nice popcorn show if you want to unwind for a few hours.
But as well as having a highly predictable plot the show has some really bad moments with various other sub plots being thrown in at various places that make the show into a complete mess, so much that kept forgetting what was happening as I progressed from one episode to the next. And with each of these sub plots there are more and more questions to be answered about the setting, that are never answered as well many relationships that are just left with no conclusion by the end of the show; speaking of the end of the show, there is no ending as once again it just ends on a cliff-hanger with various things unanswered, and is anything but satisfying.

Next is the animation which once again can be described as mediocre at times and really bad at others, one such example is the main enemy themselves, the Devil Beetles which are completely CGI, that not only looks bad but doesn't fit nicely with the regular animation, resulting in it standing out badly. As for the regular animation as said before is highly average but it does quite poorly during the shows supposedly high points which are the fight scenes as they feel slow and out of place.

Thirdly I would like to talk about the soundtrack used within the show, for which firstly I'm going to say is mediocre at best, even though it does fit with the show well, its just not a good soundtrack and I found it be hardly noticeable so much as that the average viewer won't notice it unless they try to seek it out. In a similar fashion the Opening & Ending to the show are nothing to talk about as the Opening while fitting the show well and opening animation well, it just doesn't have a good enough impact to make you come back without skipping over it; this can also be said about the Ending which while a good song doesn't have a good enough impact to make you stay for the full thing.

And finally the lowest point of the show, it's characters who are the run of the mill stereo typical rom-com harem characters. Starting with the main character Kanata Age, an overpowered dense high-schooler, with no interesting character attributes, a boring personality, no development and average design, making him a mediocre MC. Next is the four girls who are Misora Whitale, Lecty Eisenach & Rico Flamel, who are Kanta's fire team, that have a slight better score than Kanata having some development & better designs but still have the same old personalities seen in other shows; such as the Tsundere, the clumsy girl and the know it all which also applies to the 4th girl Yuri Flostre who has a good design but has a boring personality and no development.
The supporting cast are not even worthy of mention and are highly forgettable aside from the odd one or two who help move the plot in a different direction.


Overall if you have nothing else to watch, give this a go; however if otherwise give this one a skip.

Final Scores:
Story/Setting: 4.7
Animation: 4.5
Sound: 5
Characters: 4

Final Score: 4.4/10