Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Many people have often asked me what the hardest animes to review are. Well I can easily tell you what the hardest animes I’ve had to watch are but that’s a story for another time. This question is very subjective as it differs from person to person. Some people hate reviewing comedies, others hate horror, and there are some out there who hate tackling surreal anime. For me, it all comes down to two categories of animes. The first one is spin-off animes and I’ll talk about them on a later date. The second, is generic animes the animes that everybody watches and are filled to the brim with generic characters, stories, settings, themes, fights, and anything else you can think of. What makes these animes so hard to review is that it’s very hard to spot the good and the bad. Not all generic anime is bad, you can still have a generic anime and it can still be good the hard part is finding those good elements. Or in some cases the anime is so generic and bad that it has no good points to be found. This is where Gakusen Toshi Asterisk comes in. Also known as The Asterisk War, the series at first glance seems like your run of the mill generic anime but one you could still sit down and enjoy right? Wrong on all accounts. The anime which came out in 2015 and produced by A-1 Pictures (SAO and Magi) is based off a light novel written by Yuu Miyazaki in 2012 and still ongoing to this day where we follow a group of students in this advanced future city who are fighting for dominance in the city. You know how schools have rivalries with other schools? Well imagine that only instead of stealing their mascot or vandalizing their locker room you instead pick up a futuristic weapon and fight them for dominance. Again, generic setting and setup but at the same time something you might find interesting. Too bad it doesn’t meet your expectations and instead turns into a bad and very bland generic anime. Brace yourselves for this one folks this is the Asterisk War.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this anime is “Brand-New World” by Shiena Nishizawa. At the end of the day it’s an okay song. It took me a few episodes to get into it but it’s not a bad song. Shiena does a good job singing but at the same time it feels like she had no direction with this song. Is it supposed to be a sad song, a happy song, or an encouraging song? I don’t know and I think Shiena didn’t know either as she maintains a normal tone throughout the song. The ending is “Waiting for the Rain” by Maaya Sakamoto. This ending pisses me off. Not because it’s bad but because it’s so good. The song is beautiful. This was one of the best endings in 2015. Maaya just takes this song and just owns it from beginning to end and it pisses me off because an ending as good as this shouldn’t be used in this horrible anime. This anime is undeserving of such a great song.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens up by talking about the Invertia, an unprecedented disaster that changed the world completely (and here we get our first generic cliché. A great disaster that happened in the past and changed the world but will never be explained because shut up). Because of this event nations all over the world lost power and gave birth to humans with amazing physical skills and abilities known as Genestella (our second cliché. Because of this unexplained event every nation unbelievably loses their power and position in the world). Now these people battle for supremacy in the academy city known as Asterisk (home of the Asterisk Samurais and our third generic cliché. All the nations in the world agreeing to gather all of these humans with amazing abilities and have them fight each other to see which nation is more dominant than the other. And we’ll stop pointing out the clichés right here because if I keep stopping and pointing them out we’re gonna be here all day). We then shift our focus to the main character Ayato voiced by Atsushi Tamaru a new student who just arrived at his academy (which means he’ll be thrown into an ecchi situation very soon. All he needs is a catalyst). The wind blows a handkerchief his way and he sees it fell out of a girl’s room (that’ll work). He goes to return it only to walk in on the girl getting dress but something amazing happens. The girl doesn’t hit him or call him a pervert. She just asks him to turn around so she can finish dressing and thanks him for returning the handkerchief (wow, that’s a first. Maybe this anime will be different from other harem animes). Then proceeds to try and burn him with fire (well my expectations were short lived). The girl reveals herself to be Julis-Alexia von Riessfelt voiced by Ai Kakuma (Isuzu from Amagi Brilliant Park) the first princess of Lieseltania, nicknamed Gruene Rose, and ranked number 5 in the school (in what? Popularity or measurement sizes?). She challenges Ayato to a duel (can’t really call it a duel if you’re forcing someone to do it) saying that if he wins she’ll forgive him but if he loses she’ll do whatever she wants to him (and depending on what it is I say lose on purpose). Someone throws him a lightsaber and he fights Julis where the goal is to destroy the other duelist’s badge to win (that sounds so hard to do. Couldn’t I just beat them into submission? That’s what the other schools are doing). Ayato actually shows excellent fighting skills and almost wins until someone throws a laser knife at him forcing him to stop his attack (scene here: //youtu.be/y5N6WvB_w88). The duel gets stopped by Claudia student council president who welcomes Ayato to Seidoukan Academy. After taking him away we find out that there are a total of 5 other academies in the city of Asterisk with each academy battling for supremacy in the city. In recent years Seidoukan’s record has been bad (too much fanservice not enough fighting) but Claudia believes that with Ayato joining their team they’ll be able to win the Festas and as a reward they’ll grant whatever wish his heart desires (no offence but Twisted Metal did it). But Ayato says he has no interest in that and is just here to go with the flow and see where life leads him. Hell, he’s not even interested in looking for his sister Haruka who went missing months ago (this is new). He goes to his class where we see he’s in the same class as Julis (of course he is) and he meets his roommate Yabuki ace reporter of the school’s newspaper (this just in, generic mysterious character who serves little to no purpose in the anime outside of comic relief and plot driver established). As they’re walking they see Julis get harassed by another student named Lester another high ranking student who wants to duel her despite losing 3 times already (third time’s the charm but the fourth time is just sad). He insults her saying she’s just here for fun and this manages to piss her off (oh no you didn’t).
Episode 2 starts off with Ayato doing a morning jog (did I miss something?) where we see what happened at the end of episode 1 (oh never mind). Just when Lester and Julis were about to fight Ayato and Yabuki come in and calm the situation down forcing Lester to retreat. As a thank you Julis agrees to do one thing for Ayato (wash my back. Oh you’re talking about him my bad) and he wants her to give him a tour around school and the city (in other words, let’s go on a date). After his morning jog he goes to class to meet Saya his childhood friend who moved away 6 years ago (her character archetype is kuudere). She’s voiced by Shiori Izawa. Unlike Julis and Claudia who have adult-like bodies Saya is quite petite (scene here: //youtu.be/naSlAJgugaQ) and she doesn’t seem to like Julis hanging out with Ayato (it’s the kuu vs the tsun. May the best dere win). Just when it seems like the two are about to fight Claudia comes in and tells Ayato that the day to pick his weapon will be tomorrow (which means he’ll be all hers. Lucky bastard). Her flirting with Ayato gets Julis and Saya on the same page and they shoo her away and decide to give Ayato a tour around campus. While Ayato goes to get everyone treats Julis tells Saya about her fight with Ayato the other day to which Saya says that Julis pales in comparison to Ayato (Oh~ shots fired. Kuu gets one point. Now work the body) and that while she’s strong she’s only as strong as her (oh my God. Right in the gut). This makes Julis angry and so the two decide to have a duel (where we see Saya’s weapon of choice is guns) to see who’s stronger but just before they can fight they get attacked by hooded figures who tried to attack Julis and Ayato the other day (geez I wonder who these guys are? And Saya’s packin’, she’s quickly becoming my favorite character). The next day comes where the discipline committee has no idea who attacked Julis and Saya (are you kidding me!? It was goddamn Lester and his cronies) and Ayato and Claudia head down to the chamber of weapons where we see that the weapons seem to have a will of their own and in order to use them you must be compatible with them (oh so it’s kind of like Soul Eater. That’s pretty cool). When they arrive at the compatibility chamber they see Lester trying to test his compatibility with Ser-Versta a sword type weapon which was originally used by Haruka (which means it will be used by Ayato). The sword rejects Lester (Ser-Versta: I don’t like you. Your hands are cold) but Lester refuses to give up and keeps trying to make the sword his (Ser-Versta: Okay seriously, stop it! Your hands are cold. I don’t like cold hands. Especially clamming ones like yours) and each time the sword rejects him until finally the compatibility enters the negatives and the sword goes berserk in the room (it’s alive~! ALIVE~) where it calls out Ayato (Ser-Versta: Show me what you got). So the sword tries to kill Ayato but he dodges all of the sword’s attacks and stops it showing that their compatibility is 97% (Ser-Versta: Hmm~. I like what you got. And your hands are nice and warm). After making Ser-Versta his Claudia tells Ayato to come to her room at night for a talk (Ser-Versta: Woah! My new partner’s a boss) and he goes to her room that night just as she was getting out of the shower (so does the talking take place before or after the sex?).
In episode 3 before the sexy time can begin Claudia needs Ayato’s help (you gotta pay the toll to open the gates). It turns out students who were supposed to partake in the upcoming Festa have dropped out due to injury from unknown assailants and Claudia believes it’s Lester and his cronies since they have no alibies at the time of the attacks but Claudia has no evidence to prove they did it (it’s so obviously them. Just raid Lester’s room or locker and you’ll find something to expel him from the school). Claudia knows their next target is Julis so she wants Ayato to act as her bodyguard since he’s the only one who has somewhat of a friendship with her (well he does carry out conversations with her, something that no one else in the school can do). Ayato agrees to do it and as a thanks Claudia offers herself to him but he wimps out on us (dude! Don’t be that guy). So the next day the students have a day off and in keeping with her promise to Ayato, Julis gives him a tour of the city (their first date). As they’re eating at McDonald’s Ayato warns Julis of the coming attacks but she refuses to accept anyone’s help or run away saying that she’ll take on anyone who comes her way (and then get saved by the MC and fall in love with him. Tell me I’m wrong). Lester and his cronies come by asking to fight Julis but Ayato gets inside his head and forces him to retreat. Later on as the two are walking they get attacked by thugs from another school but Julis handles them with ease (if this is what the other schools can throw at us than you guys got this). The attack was setup by the hooded figures (once again obviously Lester and his cronies) and they chase them into the nearby woods where they escape and Ayato gets his shirt ruined by arrow fire. This props Julis to invite Ayato to her room that night (try not to wuss out this time) where she sews his shirt for him and we learn that she does has friends, back home. When Julis was little she used to sneak out of the castle all the time and during this time she befriended a bunch of other girls at an orphanage in the slums. The orphanage is in dire need of money and since her country’s government is just a puppet government she can’t get welfare and thus has to fight in order to help them (you’re a good person Julis). The next day Julis receives a letter from the hooded figures asking her to show up at this location for a duel (why didn’t you do this in the first place?) and she doesn’t tell anyone about it.
In episode 4 we see that the person who’s been targeting Julis isn’t Lester after all (WHAT). Nope, it’s this other student named Silas (who the hell are you?) who’s a spy for another school who’s been eliminating the competition for the upcoming festa and his plan was to use Lester as a scapegoat to cover his tracks (well so far his plan was working. I really did think it was Lester this whole time). Lester shows up ready to fight him but Silas unleashes his army of puppets on Lester and Julis (who needs to fight when you can just make others fight for you?). His puppets take out Lester and injure Julis backing her into a corner but just before they can kill her Ayato shows up to save her (you ordered the deus ex main character?). So through the rest of the episode Ayato slashes his way through Silas’s puppets with ease all while carrying an injured Julis in one hand (not gonna lie that’s pretty badass). Even when Silas tries to escape Ayato and Julis combine their powers to chase the bastard and take him out where he falls from the sky and lands right in front of Claudia (scene here: //youtu.be/UJEEITSsNDQ, wel~come~) who takes him out and takes him in for interrogation. As Ayato and Julis are flying Ayato gets struck by a bind spell placed on his body by Haruka five years ago (scene here: //youtu.be/PHOCKZKlnu4). Apparently after 5 minutes of fighting Ayato’s body will shut down on him and he’ll pass out. Haruka says she did all this to keep his powers from going out of control (liar! You were jealous of his powers) but other than that we don’t know why she did this. After waking up he ask Julis if he can be her partner in the upcoming festa and she embarrassingly says yes.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off with a meeting of the student council presidents from each school (don’t go killing each other now) where we find out Ayato’s school and Allekant Academy are working together on a project to develop a new weapon. Why? It’s compensation for not pressing charges against Allekant for sending Silas into the academy to sabotage them. After that we focus on Ayato and Julis training with each other for the festa taking place in one month. After training and talking with Saya and Lester (there’s an interesting team right there), Claudia comes in and introduces them to Camilla and Ernesta the two representatives from Allekant where we find out all those puppets Silas used last episode were the creations of Ernesta (you have a creepy hobby). Camilla offends Saya’s style of fighting and decides she’s going to enter the festa and make Camilla pay. Later on Ayato spots a girl named Kirin getting physically abused by her uncle on school property (Ayato don’t take kindly to that) and steps in. Ayato wants Kirin’s uncle to stop hurting her and he says he’ll do it but only if he can beat her in a duel which he accepts. It’s a sword on sword battle where the two are evenly match in terms of skill and speed with Kirin pushing Ayato to his time limit (this is going to become a problem in the future). In the end Kirin wins the fight and we find out that she’s ranked #1 in the school (scene here: //youtu.be/aDfKVTvqLlI, really, she’s number #1? No offence but the show makes Julis look stronger than her. I mean Ayato actually struggled a bit against her but with Kirin it almost seems like he could have beaten her).
In episode 6 Ayato finds out from Julis and Claudia (who was relaxing by a pool wearing a two-top bikini. How in the hell has he not hit that yet?) that despite Kirin’s appearance and assets she’s only 13 years-old (girl when you hit adulthood you’re gonna break a lot of hearts) and is being used by her uncle who wants to climb up the executive ladder of the school. She’s also fighting to save her father and unlike anyone else in the school who uses those technological weapons she just uses a regular sword to win her battles (imagine how dominant she would be if she had a technological weapon). After the information about Kirin we see she went to the boys dorm to thank Ayato for standing up for her and they talk about their sword styles where Ayato invites Kirin to do morning training with her which she happily agrees to do (ah~ her first crush. Too bad it’s not gonna happen). At first Julis is worried because she thinks something might be going on between them (Ayato do I have to call the cops on you?) but when she sees he’s acting like your typical dense MC in a harem she calms down. One day when Ayato and Kirin are doing their run they get attacked by a crossbreed between raptors and dogs (daptors? Rogs?) who can breathe fire and can regenerate (well this is the worst enemy for people who use swords). Luckily, Kirin finds their core and destroys it and after analyzing the broken core Ayato figures out that the creatures were created by Allekant (give those kids a noble prize). The episode ends with the ground breaking around them and they fall down a hole.
So after falling down the hole they land in a pool of water alright in episode 7 (well that’s convenient. Although they were running by the ocean so I guess it would make sense) but are quickly attacked by the Loch Ness Monster (so it’s been hiding in Japan this whole time). After getting Kirin to safety Ayato takes the beast down unleashing his full power. After that they just wait for their clothes to dry while waiting for help to arrive. While waiting we find out that the reason Kirin is fighting so hard and listening to her abusive uncle is to rescue her father. When she was young she got kidnapped by a bunch of robbers at a restaurant but her father rescued her. However, in the process he killed the robber and was arrested for his actions (uh, self-defense. The guy was threatening to kill his daughter and him so he’s within right to kill him). While he would have gotten away free on self-defense the fact that he’s a Genestella only made his crime more serious and now he’s in prison where he won’t be released for a few decades now (again, self-defense. Also, who cares if he’s a Genestella? This is racist). Ayato tells Kirin that she shouldn’t rely on her uncle so much and should do things her way. After they get rescued Kirin finally stands up to her uncle, thanks him for everything he’s done for her (yeah thanks for the mental trauma), and cuts her ties with him. After cutting her ties with her uncle she decides to have a rematch with Ayato who this time wins because he came more prepared and used different styles of fighting that caught her off guard (scene here: //youtu.be/HoZ8lZ5VTRI). After the match Kirin goes to congratulate Ayato where she asks if she can join his team (sure, so far you’re in the lead) but her uncle won’t allow it and actually tries to hit her in front of everyone but Ayato stops him (you ain’t hitting a girl on his watch). Claudia threatens to expose Kirin’s uncle’s secret agenda to the school board and he takes his leave (thank you, don’t come again). Back with Allekant we see that they got data on Ayato and are gonna use it to create even more powerful mechs.
Episode 8 is a filler episode focusing on Saya and Kirin (and to be fair this is the only episode in the season that I actually found myself enjoying since it actually develops its characters something this anime has failed to do throughout the season). In the episode we see that the two lolis have formed a tag team and are entering the festa as well (and here I thought Saya would team up with Lester. It would have been an interesting combination to say the least). While the two have amazing skills that play off each other well (one uses a sword the other guns. It’s a perfect combination) their teamwork is out of sync. In order to fix this they decide to hang out with each other on their next off day where they go shopping to find a gift for Saya’s dad since his birthday is coming up. She buys him a gun (best daughter ever) since she always received one on her birthday (best dad ever). After that it’s Kirin’s turn to decide the next activity and she asks Saya to teach her how to swim (I’m surprise she didn’t ask Ayato). While practicing Kirin accidently collides with a student from another school named Violet (wearing a very risqué swimsuit. If you’re trying to show off your body than I’m afraid you’re very low on the list). She insults Kirin quite a bit until Saya finally hears enough and throws a practice board at her. Violet challenges Saya to a duel thinking it’ll be easy since Saya isn’t ranked but Saya owns her in less than 10 seconds (scene here: //youtu.be/XvbfTSLxBe0, bang). After this Saya tells Kirin to be more tough and not let anyone push her over (I agree. You’re a sweet girl Kirin, but you need to be a little more aggressive in life, your duels, and with your love life). This brings the two closer together and during their next practice we see that the two are in perfect sync with each other.
Episodes 9-12
The festa has finally begun in episode 9 where we find out that the tournament is going to allow Allekant to use their autonomous puppets in the festa. Ayato and Julis win their first fight easily (or should I say Ayato seeing as how he was the only one fighting and we see the other major match that everyone has been anticipating Allekant’s puppets designed and created by Camilla and Ernesta (and the puppets are funny as hell). The puppets even give the other team a chance to fight by not attacking for 1 minute but once that minute is up they completely destroy the opposing them.
The fights continue in episode 10 as Saya and Kirin win their first match (scene here: //youtu.be/28EBpbyQNiY) and Ayato and Julis win their second match with Julis taking on the opponents herself (scene here: //youtu.be/F6BPeJX6dLQ, about time she pulled her weight). We get a little fanservice with Saya and Kirin (scene here: //youtu.be/atgE9KZZ7Mo), a little romance between Ayato and Julis (scene here: //youtu.be/KePXVGaXnq8), and we find out that this anime has vampires (I’m not kidding. Damn, I just can’t get away from them). The vampire comes in the form of Irene a student of Le Wolfe who’s been tasked with entering the tournament and eliminating Ayato. She’s a troublemaker always getting into trouble but her sister Priscilla is a respectful student cleaning up after her sister (the yin-yang concept lives on. Scene here: //youtu.be/IoySF34mIQg). Anyway Irene’s weapon is a sheath that can control gravity but the sheath is a gas guzzler that requires the blood of its host in order to work (the Hummer of weapons so to speak). This is where Priscilla comes in. Priscilla is a Regenerative meaning she has the power to heal herself from any wounds so she’s the perfect refueling tank for Irene to sink her teeth in and suck out her blood (I’m sure that’s not the only thing she’s sucking). We see how these two sisters fight in a match against Lester and his friend where the sisters win.
We find out in episode 11 that Ayato and Julis made it to the final rounds where Claudia congratulates him and flirts with him a little until he receives a call from Kirin asking for help in finding Saya who is lost (scene here: //youtu.be/6IB5aoGIiVI). While out looking for Saya who got lost because she has no sense of direction (another member of Zoro’s family) he bumps into Priscilla being chased by thugs from the casino (did you pull an Ocean’s 11 on them?). He helps her out but Irene mistakes him as a harasser (no, just a lady killer) and tries to attack him (big sis does not approve of the harem) but Priscilla stops her and as a thank you invites Ayato to her place for dinner. We also find out that Irene and Priscilla are Ayato’s next opponents (scene here: //youtu.be/QE5tNdAl3-k). The next day Ayato and Julis go to Irene’s place for dinner where she opens up and tells them she borrowed money from Dirk the student council president of Le Wolfe and is forced to do his bidding to pay him back. She also tells them that she was ordered to destroy Ayato since Dirk is scared of him (you really shouldn’t be. Just last 5 minutes against him and you’ll win. He’s like Mike Tyson just hang on for 2 or 3 rounds and you’ll win). After dinner Priscilla walks them out where she tells them that whenever Irene uses her lux her personality drastically changes. Wanting to help her out Ayato decides to ask Claudia for advice on luxes and goes to her room (she’s gonna be half naked isn’t she?) where he finds her asleep on her dresser fully clothed (what is this madness?) and tries to kill him (well this was unexpected). She comes to her senses and apologizes for her behavior (that was the old her). After clearing that up Ayato asks Claudia about luxes where she says that just like humans they each have their own personality (some good, some bad, and some you just want to choke). Claudia talks about her lux and how every time she uses it she’s force to experience death not physically but mentally and each nightmare she has is different than the last one. She then talks about how some luxes have the power to change the personality of their host (such as turning them into a vampire for no apparent reason). After their talk she warns Ayato to be careful in his match tomorrow and he also agrees to join Claudia’s team for another festa taking place next year (scene here: //youtu.be/fDjGdNvh7Cw).
In the final episode of the season it’s Ayato and Julis vs Irene and Priscilla. Half of the episode is the fight between these four characters and unfortunately it’s really not all that interesting. Much like the other fights in the anime it’s not creative, pretty generic, and it’s really dull to watch (scene here: //youtu.be/aASLVvjMaGc). After the match pretty much everyone figures out Ayato can only fight for 5 minutes (well the secrets out now) and everyone starts strategizing for the next round. Julis is mad about this but Ayato calms her down with his charm and situation turns into a fanservice situation involving all the girls (scene here: //youtu.be/YUAr3FhXSEI). After that not much really happens. Priscilla wakes up in the hospital where she says she’s going to help her sister carry their burden as well and everyone prepares for the next round set to happen in season 2.
Final Thoughts
I’m sorry but the Asterisk War sucks. I really did want to like this anime but no I just can’t do it. It’s so generic and bland. The show has so many generic clichés, uninteresting characters, horrible fighting that’s boring to watch, not all that impressive animation, and a tournament that is not the least bit interesting. On top of that nothing ever fully gets explained in this show. For example, Ayato’s limiter why was it put on him what was his sister protecting him from? The schools make no sense. Throughout the run of the season I didn’t see a single teacher or authority figure at all in that school. Are we really supposed to believe that these schools are all run by student councils? That’s stupid and you know it. Like I said before none of the characters are interesting. Ayato is a bland character. Even by shounen standards this character is so uninteresting and bland. The other characters aren’t any better as the girls are different types of deres. We got the tsun, the kuu, the dan, and the seductress who out of all the girls is the only one who has any semblance of a character. Just because you have a cute girl holding a sword it doesn’t make that character a good character. The animation isn’t really all that impressive. It looks like a downgraded version of SAO. In fact, if you look closely some of the character designs resemble the characters from SAO. Even the technology is generic. Nothing looks interesting. In this advanced futuristic world there is absolutely nothing new or original in it. Everything that you see in this anime has been done in past animes, way better in my opinion. I. . .I can’t do it anymore let’s move on to the final score.
Final Score
The final score for the Asterisk War is 1.5/10 with the only thing stopping it from being a one is the fact that it didn’t piss me off and the fact that I do find Kirin and Cluadia cute. It just bored me to no end and didn’t catch my interest once. With the second season coming around the corner I have to say I am not the least bit excited for the next season as this season has given me nothing to look forward to. Will the second season be better? I seriously doubt it. All we can do is tune in and pray that the second season gives us something good. If you want to hear a more in-depth conversation into why this anime sucks so bad check out the video series: The Asterisk War Sucks on Youtube: //www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw6UBKuaMyFBDjAE414AeRrmncbD6Trvc. Everything that I dislike about this series can be summed up in this video series and once you watch it you’ll come to dislike this series as well. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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