Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Do I really have to do this? Because I really don’t want to. *Sighs* Alright let’s do this. Looking back at 2017 it was a year of innovation. Not big innovation but innovation where a lot of studios were trying to do something different and present different animes to us. Animes like Love Tyrant provided something new to the romcom setting, Konosuba of course kept the laughs coming and showed isekai anime in a new form, and Hand Shakers despite being a failure did have some cool animation and love put in to it. However, with every year there’s always an anime out there that everyone is looking forward to watching, but disappoints people in the in. For 2017 that anime was, Akashic Records. Based off a light novel written by Taro Hitsuji in 2014 and still continuing till this day, Akashic Records was surprisingly one of the most anticipated animes to come out in 2017. It was being done by Linden Films (Arslan Senki) and had a good team working on it but when all was said and done the anime was met with disappointment. It was considered by many to be the biggest disappointment of 2017 and was met with low scores all over. However, some people have come to defend this series saying that it’s not as bad as what everyone makes it out to be and today we’re here to find out if that’s true or not. Let’s bust out our textbooks and turn to page 50. This is my review of the Akashic Records.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Blow out” by Konomi Suzuki. When I first heard it I didn’t care for it, but looking back it’s a pretty underrated song. The beat is good and I like the guitar throughout the song. My only complaint is that the singer seems to keep being drowned out by the instrumental.
The ending is “precious you” sung by the VAs from the anime. This song is alright, I didn’t like nor dislike it. Truth be told, I felt that it was out of place a few times at the end of an episode.
Episodes 1-4
So the anime begins in Fajite a city of magic (for a city of magic the place sure does look like a modern European country) and in this city of magic lays a magic academy famous for producing strong mages. In this academy we meet Sistine voiced by Akane Fujita a no nonsense girl who admires magic greatly and seeks to uncover the secret of the flying castle, something that no one knows about. She and her friend Lumia voiced by Yume Miyamoto are running late for school because she’s bummed that her favorite teacher has suddenly quit and they’re getting a new substitute teacher today (I sense our main character will appear soon). The substitute teacher shows up incredibly late (and they stayed in class? Man, such dedication. When I was in school, if a teacher showed up 10 minutes late without an explanation that meant class was cancelled) and introduces himself as Glenn voiced by Sōma Saitō (Tatsumi from Akame ga Kill) and his first lesson is self-study (makes sense. Class is halfway over, what could he possibly teach them in that short period of time). Sistine not standing for this, forces him to teach the class a lesson (she wants to get her money’s worth. Assuming she’s not on a scholarship) but even when he teaches we see that he has no passion, energy, or knowledge of teaching (damn, this guy is making the Jack Bros. look like Koro-Sensei). He doesn’t even bat an eye when Sistine threatens to report him to the board and get him fired so she challenges him to a magic duel which he accepts. They go to the courtyard where they agree to only use one spell as to not injure each other and everyone thinks Glenn is going to win but he loses big time because he chants his spells so slow and keeps getting shocked (scene here: https://youtu.be/bKpEJVWY19I).
In episode 2 despite losing the duel, Glenn still acts lazy in class and doesn’t teach (should of made him sign a contract). He gets into argument with Sistinene about what the purpose for studying magic is all about. To her, the study of magic is about understanding the principles of the world. To Glenn, magic is just a tool used to kill people (Hey Corbin, Baron. What do you guys think the study of magic is all about? (Baron): Hmm~ that’s a tough one. For me magic is unleashing your desires upon the world. Giving your thoughts physical form and watching them run wild. (Corbin): For me it’s just doing cool shit to impress girls. (Baron): Yeah that too). Sistine takes offence to this because to her magic was her bond with her dead grandpa who she cared for greatly so she smacks him (that’s a month’s detention right there young lady) and runs away crying saying she hates him. After school he realizes he might have gone too far and sees Lumia working on a magic circle and helps her activate it. The two than talk where Lumia reveals that the reason she studies magic is to find a way to help make humanity better. When she was a kid she ran away from home where she got attacked by bandits but got saved by a mysterious stranger. Inspired by his actions she vowed to find a way to use magic to help others just like it was used to help her. The next day in class Glenn does a public apology in front of the whole class and begins teaching seriously by showing the students different variations of the shock spell from last episode and telling them that magic is all about probing the heart of mankind (Baron: See, told you. Bringing your desires to life). He continues on with his lecture showing he can create the shock spell by just saying paralyze showing us that chants are all about word association and not memorizing numerous words in textbooks. He decides to begin teaching them the basics of the basics and his classes become so popular that students from other classes step in to hear him talk (he started from bottom now he’s at the top). The next day the teachers go to a magic conference leaving the academy in Glenn’s hands. As he’s running late, he gets attacked by other mages and those mages show up to the academy looking for Lumia who turns out is actually the princess of the kingdom. Lumia gives herself up in order to protect the class and Sistinene gets taken as well where one of the mages decides he wants to rape her (what is this an Arms anime?) but she gets saved by Glenn who took out the mages in the town square and then takes out this mage by sealing off magic and kicking his ass Cowboy Bebop style (scene here: https://youtu.be/gLlbe9c0okA).
Episode 3 starts off with us finding out that the mages who attacked the school are a group called the Researchers of Divine Wisdom a terrorist group who go around killing and capturing people with special magic. Lumia’s special magic is amplifier which can amplify the abilities of others with a touch (no wonder they’re after her). Glenn and Sistinene team up to take them down and rescue Lumia before they can rewrite the teleportation crystal and use that to escape (because getting away by carriage just makes too much sense). They take down skull golems where Glenn uses a powerful magic spell which drains him of almost all his mana and then he fights against a sword-wielding mage where he gets pierced 4 times but manages to win with the help of Sistinene (never thought I see the day where the lazy teacher and top student would be on the same page). He then passes out but Sistinene performs some healing magic on him where she falls asleep and then Glenn goes to save Lumia in the teleportation room where we see she’s being held hostage by Huey the former teacher of Sistinene and Lumia (look, if this is about that last paycheck I keep telling you it’s on the way). He’s got Lumia trapped in a 5 layered spell circle where if Huey dies it’ll self-destruct and kill everyone. Not having much choice, Glenn uses his own blood as a catalyst to remove each layer of the seal before Lumia gets teleported away. He reaches the last seal but passes out from mana overuse (wow, Danmachi got it right). Luckily. Lumia touches Glenn which restores his powers and he saves Lumia while also capturing Huey (this time he actually does use a punch).
Episode 4 is a lowkey episode. The magic festival is around the corner and Glenn is determined to have his class win the festival in order to get a bonus (oh yeah, don’t give the teacher who saved the academy and his students a reward or anything. Seriously, there’s literally no mention of Glenn saving the academy or being rewarded for his bravery in this episode). Glenn has the entire class participate in the events and even bets a 3-month pay with another teacher that his class will win. The day of the festival arrives where we see the queen is there to oversee the event and is actually the mother of Lumia (I have so many questions to ask her). The class does better than Glenn could have predicted and Lumia even wins her event moving the class up to second place behind class 1 (scene here: https://youtu.be/9ovxabPFOII).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 the magic festival takes a break as we have lunch. During this time the queen comes before Glenn and Lumia wanting to see her daughter after all this time but Lumia plays the fool and pretends not to have any kind of relationship with the queen and runs away (no respect. No respect at all). The queen decides to head back to her seat but not before asking Glenn to watch over her daughter (oh trust me he will. I can already see the doujins of these two). Glenn goes to find Lumia where we find out she has this devastating power hidden within her that if it became public knowledge it would destroy the royal family so a plot was carried out to have her killed but she escaped and lived a life of secrecy with Sistine’s family for the last 3 years. While Lumia holds no ill-will to the royal family and wants to see her mother again, she’s feels that if she were to do that it would be like betraying Sistine’s parents (no it wouldn’t. What is it with you girls and logic? Just go talk to her). Glenn tells her to listen to her feelings and they get confronted by the imperial guards who accuses Lumia of being a traitor and attempting to assassinate the queen (really, her? Please, she couldn’t hurt a fly). She willingly goes along with them agreeing to be executed but Glenn saves her and they make a run for it. Glenn tries to contact Celica but she along with the queen are being detained by the imperial guards and can’t help them (abandoned by the people closest to you). Wondering what to do next Glenn gets attacked by a soldier from his past to the end the episode.
In episode 6 we find out that the soldiers who attacked Glenn are Albert and Re=L members of the Mage Corps and old comrades from Glenn’s days when he worked in the Imperial Army (yay~, reunion). They bring them up to speed on the current situation and make up a plan to save the queen and the plan they come up with is winning the festival in order to get close to her. Glenn and Lumia go on the run while Albert and Re=L stand in to coach the class to victory. The class wins the last two rounds of the festival giving them the victory and they go to meet the queen where we get quite the twist (that would fool even Shyamalan) and find out that Albert and Re=L this whole time was Glenn and Lumia and the Glenn and Lumia the guards were chasing all this time was Albert and Re=L. Celica activates an isolation barrier containing her, Glenn, Lumia, the queen, and the captain of the guards. The captain tries to kill Lumia under the direct orders of the queen shocking Glenn until he realizes that the key to resolving this whole situation is removing the queen’s necklace which has a curse embedded in it that would have killed her had she told anyone, tried to remove it or a certain amount of time went by. The only way to remove it is accomplishing the goal of the necklace which was the death of Lumia. However, thanks to Glenn’s powers to nullify magic he was able to remove the necklace and save the queen’s life where she and Lumia embrace in a loving hug and share a moment between mother and daughter. The true culprit behind all of this was the queen’s handmaid Eleanor a member of the The Researchers of Divine Wisdom. She manages to escape but vows to return. After Lumia says goodbye to her mom, she and Glenn go to party with everyone else where we see Sistine got drunk on cake (scene here: https://youtu.be/OFR0XCrqCaE, was there catnip in it or something?) and they spent a fortune on the food putting a dent in Glenn’s wallet.
Episode 7 starts with a hentai scene with Sistine bent over a tree (you know doujin writers have enough creativity. They don’t need your help anime, they got this). Actually, Sistine is getting trained by Glenn who wants to get stronger so she can protect Lumia in the future. After that scene, we find out that Re=L has been ordered to act as Lumia’s bodyguard and has been transferred to the magic school as a transfer student but really she just wants to be close to Glenn and protect him (Sistine’s got some competition). Once Re=L transfers to the academy we see that she’s socially awkward and after a magic exercise a lot of the students avoid her (why, she’s adorable). Luckily, Sistine and Lumia befriend her and she slowly starts to become a part of the class. Later on, the class goes on a field trip to an alchemy research facility on a tropical island so we get to see the girls in swimsuits (shockingly, the one who looks like she wants to get some in Lumia. She may have that innocent smile but she definitely wants the D). After a few more shenanigans such as beach volleyball, Glenn stopping the boys from sneaking into the girls’ room, and a few of the girls seeing the stars at night we get a sad scene between Glenn and Re=L who wants to know why he left and why he won’t let her protect him (because if he did this anime would turn into Rosario + Vampire). Glenn wants Re=L to focus on her own happiness and not live for him but Re=L says living for him is her happiness and she doesn’t see anything wrong with that (assuming you’re at the age of consent I don’t see anything wrong with a little bump and grind). She runs away not getting what Glenn is saying and we see Eleanor that handmaid (who is evil) from last episode up to no good again.
In episode 8 Re=L shuts everyone out and refuses to interact with them believing that they’re the ones who changed Glenn and took him away from her (she’s 50% right). The class goes to the alchemy lab (I believe it’s called the Edward Elric Lab of Alchemy) where they see a few chimeras and we learn about a magic research done long ago about reviving someone from the dead (the best way to describe it is using a cloud to backup your files and then pulling them out should something happen to the file not in the cloud. Replace files with the human spirit and you got your research). But the research was abandoned because it required the sacrifice of many souls and you need someone with original magic in order for it to work. Since original magic is rare and almost impossible to find in this world the chances of actually performing the spell and seeing if it works are slim. After the tour Re=L continues to stay away from everyone and runs off. We find out later from Glenn that Re=L may have the body of a teen girl but she has the mentality of a child. As she sits on the beach sulking she gets approached by her brother who wants her to capture Lumia and bring her to the Researchers of Divine Wisdom in order to earn his freedom. Albert sees this and tries to save Re=L but has his hands tied with Eleanor who is a necromancer and has fast healing skills (she also might be a masochist). Luckily, Glenn shows up but it’s too late, Re=L attacks Glenn in the back piercing him with her sword and joins her brother (mentality of a child or not nobody can be that stupid). Eleanor retreats and Re=L captures Lumia (by God why does every arc revolve around her getting captured? Even Princess Peach would be laughing at how many times she gets captured) with Sistine too scared to do anything to stop her (you fail). As Sistine sits there defeated, Albert comes in with Glenn who is barely alive and the only way to save him is to perform a white magic ritual spell (that’s a little racist) called Reviver. As Albert makes preparations for the ritual Glenn stops breathing (wuss) so in order to keep him alive Sistine has to perform CPR on him (which means giving him her first kiss. She was gonna do it anyway. Scene here: https://youtu.be/4ioBXt3f1sc).
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 the Reviver spell was a success so Glenn and Albert go to rescue Lumia (again) and save Re=L (yeah sure why not?). They infiltrate the alchemy research lab using underground tunnels where they fight chimeras. Albert takes on the head researcher Burk who is working with the Researchers of Divine Wisdom to perform the resurrection spell (oh yeah, they’re using Lumia as an amplifier to help them resurrect these emotionless Re=L dolls). Glenn reaches Re=L and her brother where they fight and we learn about Re=L’s past. The body she’s currently in isn’t her body but instead the body of an artificial being created by the Researchers of Divine Wisdom. Re=L and her brother were members of the research and once her brother realized all the horrible things they did to create the artificial body he contacted Glenn who was a member of the Magic Corps for help. Before Glenn could move Re=L’s brother got killed and Re=L was badly injured while trying to escape. With her life hanging by a thread, Glenn copied her memories up till her death into Re=L’s current body saving her life and everything. So, this means that the person who’s been claiming to be Re=L’s brother this whole time is a fake but it’s too late. The resurrection spell worked and gave life to 3 Re=L dolls who have no emotions. They attack Glenn but Re=L saves him and Glenn takes out the fake brother (whose name I don’t know nor do I care). Lumia gets saved, they reunite with everyone, Re=L apologizes for everything, and we end with beach volleyball.
In episode 10 we meet Leos a childhood friend of Sistine and also her self-proclaimed fiancé (now this might just be me thinking from experience but I’m like 99% sure he’s evil like all other fiancés in animes who aren’t the main character). We see that just like Glenn he too is an instructor who’s come to the school as a guest to teach the students in military magic research. While Leos’s lessons are good and easy to understand, Glenn doesn’t like the fact that he’s teaching his students dangerous magic methods they’re not ready for and could potentially kill themselves or others. After his lesson he and Sistine go for a walk where he pops the question to Sistine which she says no to because she wants to focus on her dream of becoming a magic archeologist and discovery the secrets of the sky castle (that and she’s in love with Glenn. Plus, you’re evil. Come on, do something evil. Go on). Leos tells her that her dreams are foolish and badmouths her grandpa (there we go, now we have to hate you) until Glenn (who was forced to spy on them because of Lumia. I’m almost certain she wants a threesome between her, Sistine, and Glenn) comes out of hiding and defends Sistine. Sistine takes advantage of this and says she plans to marry Glenn which he plays along with since if he does marry Sistine he’ll be marrying into money and won’t have to work anymore (he’s terrible). Glenn challenges him to a duel where they’ll be using the students in a military magic mock battle to see who’s teaching methods are better. That night, Glenn gets a drink with Albert who tells him that a drug called Angel Dust has made its way into the city. This pisses Glenn off because the effects of the drug turns people into mindless husk and it also reminds him of Sara a woman from his past whose personality is similar to Sistine. Albert tells him not to get involved in the case (which is why you’re telling him about it right now so when he does get involved it’ll make this situation seem ironic when really it’ll just be cliché).
Episode 11 starts off with the magic military mock battle. Leos’s team uses military tactics while Glenn incorporates guerilla warfare tactics which many would see as cowardly (because they’re a bunch of spoiled brats who know nothing about real warfare). The battles ends in a draw but Leos is far from giving up and demands another duel which Glenn accepts. A one-on-one battle in the courtyard tomorrow morning. Glenn keeps talking about how he’s just doing this to marry into money which upsets Sistine and she smacks him saying how much she hates him. Lumia tells her that Glenn isn’t that kind of guy (obviously, you think she would know this by now) and convinces her to go talk to him about this situation (helping out your rival in love. Bad move Lumia). That night, Glenn and Sistine talk where Glenn opens up about his past. At a young age Glenn dreamt of being a hero who used his magic to save people so he studied hard and eventually wound up in the magic corps only to have those dreams shattered (and his hands soaked in blood). Despite this Glenn never gave up on his dreams and a large reason for that was because of Sara who cheered Glenn on and looked like Sistine (hell, Glenn even gave them the save nickname, white cat). But while on a mission Glenn got Sara killed and left the magic corps in a depressed state. This moves us to why Glenn is fighting for Sistine, to protect her dream and atone for his failure to protect Sara. Leos comes in mocking Glenn’s sob story and almost reveal a few secrets of Glenn’s past which angers him and the two begin to fight where Leos unleashes powerful magic and beats Glenn. After the fight, Glenn limps away defeated, and threatens to reveal Lumia and Re=L’s identities unless Sistine agrees to marry him (there it is, there’s that evil). The next morning Glenn is nowhere to be seen for the duel and just vanishes leaving everyone confused.
In the final episode Sistine gets forced to marry Leos in order to protect Lumia and Re=L. On the day of her wedding (where she looks absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress) Glenn crashes the wedding and escapes with Sistine into the streets (talk about a runaway bride. Scene here: https://youtu.be/yzKCL7rQJkQ). We find out that the reason Glenn disappeared was in order to get ready to face Leos as he realized the only way he’d win is if he took this fight seriously (so seriously that he would have to reawaken his bloodlust). While in the streets they get attacked by Angel Dusts addicts who have now become violent zombies following the orders of Leos. This whole scenario reminds Glenn of Sara as she was killed by addicts in the past all while under Glenn’s watch. Glenn, now determined to keep Sistine safe begins killing the addicts left in right (in pretty brutal ways) which actually scares Sistine. Leos appears and reveals that his true identity is Jatice a former member of the imperial corps and was on the same squad as Glenn who is an all-around madman who believes in absolute justice and killing people to achieve it. He reveals that the real Leos is dead from an overdose of Angel Dust and that he’s after the Akashic Records a powerful object that will allow him to control the principals of the world (and guess where they are, the flying castle that Sistine wants to explore. What are the odds?). Glenn tries to fight Jatice by himself but just isn’t strong enough. Sistine comes back confessing that she wants Glenn to stay in her life forever (because she loves him) and the two team up to defeat Jatice but he escapes vowing to return and deliver justice onto to Glenn (scene here: https://youtu.be/_k_9lDsTl4I). After this everything returns to normal. Sistine’s arranged marriage gets cancelled (seeing as how the groom is dead), Lumia and Re=L’s secrets are safe, and Glenn returns to being a teacher.
Final Thoughts
Boy was this a disappointment. Once again we have a promising anime with a good set up but a terrible execution. I will say that this anime has the occasional funny moment here and there, a good concept, and or two interesting ideas but everything else is bad. Glenn is strong but he keeps getting beaten up and almost dying so he comes across as a wuss when he really shouldn’t. I will say that he does have a personality. He can be laid back, irresponsible, rude, blunt, and lazy but can also be compassionate, serious, and care about those around him when the time comes. Sistine’s only purpose is to be the tsundere character who’s always yelling and being the comedic foil for Glenn. Lumia really comes across as a worthless character. Her whole purpose is to act as a plot device and be the damsel in distress. They rely on this trope way too much and it gets annoying fast. It honestly feels like she should have been the main female lead instead of Sistine.
The animation is alright, the music isn’t really all that great, and neither is the action. Probably my biggest complaint with this anime is that it never stops to breathe. As soon as one arc ends another one begins. It’s just like Strike the Blood, we never get a chance to relax and get to know the characters or the world they’re in. Hell, the Akashic Records, the title of the series doesn’t get mentioned until the final minutes of episode. How about the sky castle Sistine wants to explore? They make it sound like this was going to play a huge role in the anime, but just like the Akashic Records we learn little to nothing about these them and get left in the dark. It’s just running through one arc using a basic formula, never adding anything new, and ending it fast so that they can start a new arc. Disappointment.
Final Score
Final score for Akashic Records is a 3/10. A disappointing anime all the way to the end. I don’t know if the novels are any better as I haven’t read them, but if they’re anything like the anime than the series is in serious trouble. So, yeah, didn’t like it. Watch it at your own risk. Throw this anime in the same dumpster as Asterisk Wars, Strike the Blood, and World Break; animes that had good ideas but horrible execution. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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