Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season

Have you ever hated something so much you went out of the way to hate it? If this sentence makes you judge me, you're probably right in doing so.

After all, if I really hate it that much, then I should just go watch something else. And I probably should. Regardless, it's gotten to the point that I derive some sort of twisted happiness from watching and hating this show. It's pitiful, to be honest.

But enough about my failure to act rationally.

Why do I have such a hate boner for this anime? Why do I go out of my way to hate it?

I hate it for ... a lot of reasons. If I got into all of them, you'd probably close this review. So I'll keep it simple.

Asterisk is a simple show. The Strongest Man To Ever Grace Our Good Earth With His Gorgeous Looks And Massive Penis arrives at a high school where students battle for ranking to determine status. He quickly assembles a harem of girls who fight to see who gets to sit on his crotch, has a roommate capable of spouting exposition like a broken sewer pipe, and always saves the day in the nick of time, and defeats all his enemies handily while making them reconsider their lives, despite his Dark And Secret Past. And shit, that's just the first season!

The second season delivers more of the same. Ayato's harem expands, and the only thing limiting his strength is removed nearly immediately.

And the first sentence there highlights the problem- it's more of the same. Normally that's not a bad thing, but in Asterisk's case it's bad because it doesn't want to expand on anything. It's completely comfortable with what it did, so it doesn't see a need to do anything else. Its "more of the same" isn't "the story and characters you loved, bigger and better" it's "cut and paste everything from last season, and hope that no one notices". Ayato is still a paper thin excuse for a character created so that you can project yourself on to him. Julis is still a tsundere trope rather than a character. Kirin and Saya are still just there to be in love with Ayato, and Claudia still only exists to proposition Ayato for sex and pull a convenient way to advance the plot out of her ass.

I hate Asterisk for what it stands for. The popularity of Asterisk promotes the making of anime that follows a formula, and has minimal effort put in because they know that it will sell. Asterisk takes no risks and contributes nothing. Its fight scenes aren't exciting. Its story and characters don't give any reason to care or feel for them. It's the Best Bits of anime- something for everyone. There's high school, tournament fights, power ups, cute girls, a Sci Fi setting, and the good guys fighting for the greater good. But this all falls flat because while it has all of these things, it fails to do them well. I preferred Julis when she was Taiga Aisaka. I preferred Saya when she was Yuki Nagato. I preferred the high school battles better in Kill la Kill. I preferred power ups in Gurren Lagann. I preferred the Sci Fi setting in Psycho Pass. Despite having all sorts of things I love, Asterisk falls flat because it doesn't do them right.

You can tell me that it's just not to my taste. That Asterisk wasn't targeted towards me. Honestly, you may be right. But that's beside the point. The point being that Asterisk War most definitely sucks.

Story: 4/10
There's not really much to say about the story other than the fact that it focuses on the Phoenix Festa and the events that transpire during it.
Art: 6/10
The art is really good. I love the designs of the characters and the city itself looks beautiful. The action scenes also look amazing. Unfortunately, I have to give the art a 6 because I couldn't ignore the fact that there were times where the animation looked kind of stilted and 3D-ish and I hate when anime do that because in my opinion, it's lazy. At least put in the time and effort to flesh everything out.
Sound: ... 10/10
Two words: FUCKING AMAZING!! If there's one reason I would recommend this series, it's the music. Seriously, if I could, I would download every single song they use in this series from both seasons. That's how good it is. I'm not lying when I say I could listen to the music from this series ALL DAY LONG! The opening is amazing, the ending is amazing, the music during the episodes is just right and does an excellent job of setting the tone of a scene.
Character: 6/10
Although this is a harem anime, I don't hate the characters. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this season did a good job of fleshing them out more and giving each of them their time to shine. For example, I liked how they did Julis' and Saya's backstories because it made me like them more, especially Saya. When I first saw Saya, I thought she was going to be the typical childhood friend that tried everything to make Ayato notice her. But after seeing her backstory, I realized that she's actually a very supportive friend of Ayato. Yes, she does drop subtle hints and does cliché things, but honestly, I see it more as joking than actually trying her hardest to make him like her. I really liked how close Ayato and Julis grow as a team throughout the season, not only as teammates, but friends that can trust each other. I hope they flesh out Kirin's and Claudia's characters a bit more in season 3(Come on, if you watched this season to the end, then it's obvious there's going to be a season 3)
Enjoyment: 7/10
I definitely enjoyed this season more than last season because of the action. The action in this series is so good, there are times where I enjoy it more than the story(I'm not kidding)
Final score: 7/10
Although there are bad things about this series, I feel like the good things outweigh the bad things. In my opinion, most of the people that dislike this series just point out the bad things and overanalyze them(*Cough* Digibro). Otherwise, I recommend this to action genre lovers. Seriously, the action in this series is amazing and the music that is played during the scenes just make them so much better. Trust me when I tell you it's not that bad of a series. Give it a chance. I never follow the "3 episode rule" because in my opinion, it's stupid and I like to keep an open mind and watch the series to the very end. I can't wait for season 3.

Spoiler Free:
I've been struggling with an opening sentence, because before I was gonna hate, i'd like to tell a bit about asterisk in general. But what is asterisks?
It has no story or anything interesting to write an opening about. This is one of those few anime that might be well liked by newbie anime watchers since they haven't seen many good or even mediocre anime that are out there.
After all it has decent art and the music is great. You can't deny this. Sadly these are the only 2 good points of the anime are completely wasted on asterisk.

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Story: 1

So we continue where the anime ... ended in Season 1, the Phoenix Festa. Phoenix Festa is a fighting tournament between the 6 Magic High schools and the winner get's his 'wish' granted.
The wishes of our MC Ayato and his partner Julis have already been told in Season 1.
Julis' wish is to save the orphanage she used to hang out. Very generous of her. I can't really say much more about it. Julis is a princess so it wasn't like she had a hard past or anything, she just hang out with the orphan kids and had fun, but now the orphanage has financial troubles so Julis wants to help them. Interesting... right? No... yeah. The wish and the background story are far too weak to contribute to the story really.
So what about our Main Character Ayato?
He doesn't have a wish.
In Season 1 we are told that his older sister put a seal on his power for no apparent reason and disappeared shortly afterwards.
Ayato however showed no interest of searching for her or anything.
Since season 1, the things about Ayato's sword Ser=vesta are made so grand that him finding his sister should be important to the story, though it really doesn't matter. The sub stories in this anime are apparently much more important than the main story.
So the tournament. At the start of the tournament in Season 1 it was already said that Ayato is the strongest competitor and that his team is the most likely to win. So when he was selected to fight in the Phoenix Festa it wasn't much of a surprise and since he was head and shoulders above the rest I really did not expect much from this tournament.
But there are some "tough looking" opponents.
The asian style twins who really make an effort to look mean, because they for some reason they need to be really devilish without reason or background story.
The boy who is presented as even younger as kirin, but contrary to her he is allowed to use a light saber.
And the robots which i could rampage for hours about on how bad their design (the robot the design, not the art. The art is pretty neat) is, their dialogue ect. but i don't want to make it too long...
Without spoiling I can't really tell much about how bad the story is after the tournament arc, but it's even more pointless and it's basically a setup for another tournament.

So basically the story is about a tournament in which the main character helps a girl who wishes to raise funds for an orphanage. That's the sub story the whole first part of the anime is about. Yeah...

Wait, what did you say? Something about the ecchi tag? This season had an ecchi tag? Why ._. Where was the ecchi-ness in this? Season 1 hardly deserved that tag. Seriously though, why is there an ecchi tag? I don't understand, there is nothing ecchi about this show. If it was i'm sure i would have rated it higher... if there were any interesting characters that is.

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Charaters: 1

Ayato: Our main character. His powers are sealed away by his older sister who disappeared shortly afterwards. And he doesn't care at all. Somewhere halfway the show he gets some interest and it feels like he has to force him self to give a damn about his sister. The rest of the show Ayato is working to support Julis but hasn't shown any affection towards her yet other than groping her in season 1.
He also has minimal facial expressions. Not dandere or kuudere like, but ... so generic. So normal. So uninteresting.
The only interesting thing (maybe) about Ayato is the seal on his power, but the anime doesn't seem to care much about that. Up till now it only has been something to let him and Julis face tough seeming opponents and then when it was dragged out long enough Ayato would find a way to activate or re-activate his power again so he can own them in a few seconds.

Julis: The main girl.
Saya- Eh i haven't said enough about julis yet? But that's all there is to say ._. Ok fine I'll try.

Julis is a princess and uses fire magic. She wants to raise funds to save an orphanage she used to hang out by using the Main Character, Ayato, to win the Phoenix Festa. and she likes him.
That's really all i can say about her. She bosses the guy around making very simplistic plans. The only reason she stands out is because she is more of a main character than the main character and she has pink hair.

Saya: Her father designed weapons, but those weapons were regarded as inferior to the rest and therefor discarded. Saya now uses the Phoenix Festa to showcase her father's weapon, proving to the world they are far from inferior and hope to restore his honor. This makes her for me more important than the main character and the main girl since she actually has some back story.
However what i dislike about here is that she looks ans speaks like a dandere but acts mostly like a deredere. What's up with that. Make a choice. This is just uninteresting. Monotone, weak facial expressions, lacking spirit. If she did dandere stuff it'd fit, but not with the deredere act.

Kirin: The oppai loli of the show. She clearly feels affection for Ayato and is idioticly shy. She was also the number one fighter of the school that Ayato and the others also attend, until Ayato fought her in Season 1 and beat her. However she is not allowed to use a light saber, because she's too young, implying that if she had one of those flying swords (referring to season 1 randomness) she'd be even stronger. Yet one of the competitors of the Phoenix Festa who was presented as younger (i don't remember how much younger, but as I recall he hasn't finished high school yet) is allowed to wield one.
Kirin probably has the most personality in this show apart from the Vampire girl and her little sister (the only 2 real characters of the show who hardly made an appearance in this season sadly)
Also she trusts Saya blindly even when she makes stupid decisions like guessing the right direction without any hints, but a mere feeling of gut. This even happens when lives are on the line.

Claudia: The girl with the most interesting power that is listed as a main character, but only really appears for a total of a few minutes at most throughout the whole anime and it was already explained in season 1, she can see into the future at the cost of seeing her own death in a unique way every night. This could be such a great chance for some character development, but they don't do anything useful with her.
An example on what they could have done: Seeing as she always tries to lure Ayato in her bed if she ever shows up in the episode at all, so what if that actually happens? I don't mean to "sleep" with her like that, but create a situation where they have to share the blankets. Ayato yet awake see's Claudia squirming in her bed due to the awefull nightmare. He'd grab her hand, maybe say something to her to help her relax and having her relax, smile even in her sleep. Then Claudia wakes up earlier than Ayato still having their hands intertwined. I'm not saying they should go for Claudia x Ayato, but it would be great for some character development. And after all, the tag says it's a harem.
But no, she's just a plot convenience tool.

Flora: Her voice made me want to mute the video. I just wanted to mention her because i wanted to mention this. It's horrible.

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Misc.: 8

The art and music are terrific. The art is above average compared to the other anime of the same season and the music is really good. Every time I hear it I feel sad it's wasted on a show like this.
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Enjoyment: 3

I was mostly sighing throughout the show. Useless pieces of story, the sub-plot overshadowing the main story, no character progression, no character development, nothing. I finished it because I finished the first season. The first season was decent, but this was just bad. The only thing I enjoyed a bit were some art and the music. If the anime was a black screen with no voices and just the OST, OP and ED, i might have rated it higher.
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My conclusion is as followed: If you'd remove the story and the characters, you'd have a somewhat decent anime.
You can't really say "Just because you didn't like it, it means it's bad", because I've seen a lot of similar anime, such as Rakudai no Kishi no Cavelary which I enjoyed for more than just subjective reasons.
Rakudai and Asterisk aired in the same season and they had the same baseline, however Asterisk the example on how not to make a magic romance high school harem.
I've seen a lot of this standard set of genres actually and the reason why I dislike asterisk has nothing to do with the genres. It's a failure as a story. I don't even want to give it the praise as "another generic romance blablabla" anime, that's way too high for this. Generic anime get a 5 from me, because they are generic. Generic anime that have a good story get a 6.
Anime with a generic set of genres that completely fails on the story and character part, are like Asterisk Season 2. (because season 1 was somewhat okay)

So the 2nd sequel has ended, so anybody for season 3??????????? I'm gonna get down to business:

Storywise, basically since it's a sequel it very much connected to the 1st season. But in this season everything is chucked into this so called "Phoenix Festa". In fact everything about the story is all about the "Phoenix Festa." There were no romantic or character development at all, so in my opinion there isn't much to expect at all for this sequel, the same thing with the Art, we never get to see Julis in her underwear anymore, nor do we see any of Claudia skimpy bikinis, so both ... category is a 5 over 6.

Soundwise, I give it a 6 over 10 for the opening theme and that's as good as it gets, since it pretty much blends in with the sequel's plot.


Charcaterwise, I suppose I could have give it a 5 over 10, but the problem is that this sequel has rushed the introduction of new support characters, to the point that the support characters themselves become part of the chaos, I meant the suddenly appear at one point and the gone on the second. Not even the introduction Flora has made any impact to this sequel, cu'z she's more like excess baggage who is merely annoying. and let's not forget Claudia, who is like a very wonderful Ferrari, that was never used on the road, were she only serves as a display piece, too bad she never got into the Phoenix Festa were she could have added some spice to this sequel, btw her saving Ayato from Gustav doesn't count. In the end, it's a 3 over 10 for this category.

Enjoyment, how enjoyable is this sequel???????Jaz a decent 4 over 10, since after the Phoenix Festa, thing turn boring for the last 3 episodes.

So overall, I don't have much love for this sequel, they should have ended it up to the Phoenix Festa and not go beyond there. 3 over 10, my final rating.

This second season pick off where the first left. I'll say this one better, for some reasons.

- Story-wise, more background stories to enlighten us. More serious tone than the first I think, which is good
- Action/Battle, Still as good as the first or even better. More strategies involved and we could see how the MC struggle more to overcome his limit when face stronger enemies.
- More characters and team development, it's true that they're still helplessly fighting over MC (this is harem, ecchi show right? nothing is wrong with that ), but we could see they're growing as team and trust each other more.

Overall, ... I really enjoy this anime and even hope for more seasons (no matter how small the chance is). I won't write long-ass review about how generic this anime is, we all know it's generic, the problem is whether it's enjoyable or not. I think Gakusen Toshi Asterisk better than most anime of the same genre.

So if you like the first season, you'll love this one. If you hate the first one or any kind of this genre, I don't see why you need to force yourself, watching few episodes just to prove that you hate it. That would be waste of time.

This is one of the spring anime that makes me hype since last season

Story(8/10):
This is the continuation from the season 1 where they were participating in the tournament. The plot switch from high school theme to solely battle in the tournament with some minor seasoning. After the tournament ends, there were some episodes left. The story then moves into the next arc which brings a lot of cliffhanger. Which made me rate 8 instead of 9. So much new character, new plot which makes me like "wait.. who is she?","Ehh...",etc.
Definitely, I would like to watch the next sequel

Art(8/10):
The art is really good. Especially when ... Kirin perform her Iaido. The battle of course similarly with the season 1 and I love it. Each movement portrayed really well.

Sound(8/10):
I really like the OP and ED. Other than that The BGM of the battle match really well.

Character(7/10):
Honestly, if they didn't introduce so much character after the tournament I would give it 8. So much character that still hazy. The plot is focusing on Julis if i had to say.

Enjoyment(8/10):
Well I really enjoy the anime. Not so much battle anime that well portrayed but this one is definitely you want to watch.

"Too little, too late" is a painful phrase.

After 12 episodes of broken nonsense, this show somehow got a second season that attempted the impossible: being a competent sequel to The Asterisk War. By some miracle, it succeeded. Not to say that this show is even remotely good now, but this second season somehow turned being awful into an accomplishment. I'm not sure whether to be impressed or depressed.

Part of why this second season managed to improve upon the first one is that it actually makes an attempt to have dynamic characters, giving every character something to do, posing an actual threat for the main character, ... and attempt slightly more meaningful character arcs. It doesn't necessarily succeed in many of these areas, as the asspulls are still as frequent as the world-building is disastrous. However, for the first time, I felt slightly engaged in what was going on. The new characters such as Sylvia had genuinely cool designs and personalities, and some of the returning characters that barely got any screen time last season actually become genuine threats that bring actual life to this show during the end of the show's tournament arc. Hell, the final bosses of the arc --two literal robots-- have some actual chemistry and character development, both of which were missing in this franchise. The irony here is adorable.

Sadly, the tournament arc ends around episode 8, the show spends its final episodes trying at giving someone other than our main lead an emotional arc that was set up in the first season. The foundation of the first season had already collapsed in on itself, so seeing Julis' childhood friend that got teased in the early parts of season 1 was almost enough to keep me invested for an episode...before nearly falling asleep. None of the actually worthwhile side characters like Sylvia or the two robots Ayato would fight in the Phoenix Festa tournament make an appearance, and we're left with our dry harem, which only got marginally better than the first season. It's far too late to flesh any of them out now as we already spent an entire season enduring them as obnoxious caricatures with nothing going for them. There's no way for me to care about Julis's problems or Claudia's sneaky advances on Ayatofu. Even seeing some of the more neglected side characters Ayato hung out with in season 1 team up wasn't enough to get me to care about them, and that's because of season 1. If these characters were written as anything more than sleazy caricatures of archetypes beforehand, then maybe seeing the show try to do interesting things with them would have been more satisfying. It also would have helped if the show's idea of character development was natural growth instead of making Kirin radically more stern and mature than before out of nowhere. Sadly, all I can do is attempt to cherish what obligatory efforts the writers made to make us care about a couple of mediocre side characters.

While the awful artwork and art style mostly hasn't changed, they are a few moments of impressive visuals, such as the very first scene of the season. The sequence where Sylvia sings to Ayato is also pretty nice, as it's both a visual and narrative highlight for the show. Sadly, the fights are still terrible overall, as like last time, they're either incredibly clunky or immensely difficult to follow. There's no real middle ground here. The closest they come to that would be the final fights of the two major arcs of the season, which are admittedly entertaining, if not necessarily well-animated.

The music is still incredibly mediocre, with no memorable OSTs whatsoever. They do have the courtesy to throw in a new vocal track and a few new pieces of background music, but the only highlights are the songs that open and close each episode. The OP for this season --"The Asterisk War" by Shiena Nishizawa-- is incredibly frantic, albeit a tad unwieldy with the frantic techno beats in the chorus. Once again, it's the ED that shines compared to everything else, as Haruka Chigusa's "Ai no Uta -words of love-" is a catchy and relatively heartwarming piece with pleasant vocals and visuals of characters actually having fun for once.

Sadly, this season is still not worth your time if you didn't already enjoy the first season. It tries to do what legitimately good sequels do, yet it fails thanks to its own incompetence and the borderline irredeemable failings of its predecessor. It's still a mess with largely terrible characters, nonsensical world-building, and asspulls galore. It still fails to animate good fight scenes. It still fails to be captivating for more than a few minutes at a time. At the very least, the attempt was there, which is more than I can say for the first season. That doesn't mean people like me are going to care since it's the sequel to The Asterisk War. No matter how good a sequel it may be, it would always be limited by the unsalvageable foundation that series built for this now dead franchise.

With the ending of the 2nd season finishing as I write this, I think it's fair to say that Asterisk is pretty good within its genre. Not life changing or anything, but within the battle harem type genre, it's probably among the best I can think of at the moment. But first, make sure you watch the (inferior, I may add)first season... now then, let's begin.

STORY: 6/10

If you watched the first season and are still watching it now, you get the whole idea of what's going on. Pretty much more of the same, with the Phoenix Festa continuing and the MC continuing to overcome the ... odds. The story isn't especially thought provoking, but it makes sense, is easy to follow, and the characters aren't complete idiots as they are within similar shows. The story does its job, and is fairly enjoyable. The arcs move fairly smoothly from one to another. I found it enjoyable, nothing more, nothing less.

ART: 8/10

The budget was solid for this show, and it shows. The battle scenes are well executed, with fairly good CGI and it's not completely overused either. Outside of it, Asterisk does have a style that's a little different, and while I found it off-putting at first, I've grown to enjoy it. Well done as a whole.

SOUND: 9/10

The soundtrack added to the show, most definitely. As both a doujin composer and an anime watcher, I was thoroughly impressed by the soundtrack. Matched up with what was happening quite well. Definitely a strong point.

CHARACTER: 6/10

Within a harem-type setting, characters are often a weak point of the show, and Asterisk does suffer a little bit from it. The first season set the characters and their goals, and the second season doesn't really develop those goals a whole lot aside from the MC. If anything, the characters aren't total archetypes, and you're bound to find a character that you enjoy watching. It suffers from being a harem though, with each girl needing a little bit more development to flesh them out, especially one character shown in the middle that doesn't really appear too much. Many people wanted to see a lot more of her. Could be better.

ENJOYMENT: 9/10

If you add up all the parts, Asterisk season 2 isn't a particular standout by any means, but I sure enjoyed it. It brought more enjoyment than the sum of its parts. And really, isn't that most important thing?

OVERALL: 8/10

If you know this isn't your cup of tea kind of anime, don't watch it. It's not going to change your point of view. If you enjoy this type of show, you're in for a treat, with this show being fairly well developed and having a good production value. And if you're, like me, someone who goes in with an open mind, you'll probably enjoy it more than you'd like to admit. I know I did.

I don't understand why everyone is hating on this anime. I've seen much worse harem, OP lead character animes than this one. I don't think the story is boring either. There's so much we don't know too. Yeah, he did get some of his restrictions taken off, but they definitely aren't off. Plus, what's up with his sister? We still know nothing about her. Additionally, I want to know more about Claudia's background and story. I would love to see their team in the next festa because that's a pretty badass team they put together! I also want to know what Yabuki is up to. ... He's all secretive and in this special gang that we still don't know anything about. I really want a season 3, but i'm not sure we're going to get one. if that happens I'll just go buy all the manga, because I will finish this anime and figure out what happens with the rest of the story. In regards to the harem, this anime isn't near as bad as some of the other harem animes. The girls all care about Ayato, yes, but none of them are just kissing him, straddling him, or trying to sleep with him every chance they get. I like the development in all their characters and their relationships with each other. I don't know, this is just my opinion.

Amongst the plethora of generic fantasy harem anime, there are usually a few gems that make the genre truly shine and not just some place where someone can attach themselves to their favorite large chested female harem stereotype that gets found by the overpowered male MC who aside from his best friend is the only damn guy in the series. Asterisk...is not one of those.

Story: With the series being made into a split-cour series, Asterisk season 2 directly follows our overpowered MC, Amagiri Ayato and his harem of similarly powerful but not as strong female characters who can all be described in 5 words ... in their journey to win the 'Phoenix Festa', a tournament where the Genestella, the 'special' kind of people who can wield Luxes, their swords, and fight for glory for an undisclosed prize at the end of the tournament.

Asterisk is not an extremely creative series and really shouldn't be seen as such. The general plotline is very copy-pasted with the greater majority of harem/tournament series out there (which is a surprisingly large genre) and really doesn't have too too much to show in the way of both originality and/or uniqueness. As such, there really isn't much to talk about positively to the show's credit since the whole story of it is so generic. If you really want an explanation, think your generic tournament-based anime with an overpowered MC and plot armor crossed with your generic harem-based anime and you basically have Asterisk in a nutshell.

There are however a few things that really grinds my gears about the show. The biggest fault I find with this series is the sheer amount of stuff that they try to hide from the viewer in order to keep 'interest'. Stuff with the organizations that are in control over the Genestella, the dastardly Dirk who somehow while being in high school has control over people higher in power, and the warnings as to why our protagonists shouldn't participate in the next plot driving tournament aren't really explained, thus leaving the viewer in the dark about what really happens and is really more aggravating to watch. The other really being not having enough screentime with my new favorite girl in the series, but hey, that's really more of a personal thing now isn't it?

All in all, Asterisk's story really isn't all that interesting or noteworthy to talk about. You can pretty much predict what will happen in the story from the synopsis alone and the series ends with a more or less cliffhanger 'read the LN' ending that either means A-1 is trolling us about a future Season 3 or you'll have to read the light novels to know what happens next.

Overview:
+/- Generic and predictable story (There really isn't anything bad or good about this cause...there's really nothing I can actually talk about in this series)
- Too many loose ends and unexplained 'teasers'
- Not enough Sylvie. More. Sylvie. Damnit.

Characters: I...Can you even call these characters? Personally, I don't really have much to say in the way of actually describing our main cast cause as I've said before, they're all pretty much copy-pasted character tropes put onto a new series. So...akin to the series, I'm just going to copy paste what I wrote as an explanation for the main cast from my first Asterisk review.

Julis = Token Tsundere
Saya = Kuudere Osananajimi (childhood friend)
Kirin = Dandere Imouto
Claudia = Sexy Onee-san

Oh, and Ayato is your standard OP MC with the denseness of a black hole. That's...about it. Time for side characters.

The majority of the side characters introduced in Season 1 are basically non-existent due to their arcs being finished, and are instead replaced by a new set of characters that bear equal importance. But unlike Season 1, there are a few that stand out, but for different reasons, but that'll get covered later. (RIP Sylvie screentime.) All in all, side characters don't really stand out or have much importance beyond plot-related details.

Overview:
+/- Generic character tropes (If you like these kinds of characters, then hey, good on you. I like a few myself.)
- Plot-related and largely unimpressive and unimportant side cast

Art: Produced by A-1 Pictures, Asterisk has a pretty standard look for anime of this day and age. Leaning towards a moe-like style of animation to make sure that their girls look as cute and attractive as possible, the show also utilizes its same brand of flashy action as it did in the first season.

Admittedly, the action itself is pretty fluid and actually visually appealing to look at and witness. Any CGI isn't just shoved in there and melds pretty well, and does its job pretty well. Especially since the series is largely action-based, they're well done in the style of the series to provide some rather entertaining fights, even if sometimes they're TOO SHORT and/or quite predictable with its outcome.

Overview:
+ Consistent and good quality animation
+ Nice, fluid action scenes
+/- Moe-like artstyle (depends on your outlook with the 'cute girl' look)

Sound: The sound for asterisk is...while admittedly sounds pretty good, doesn't really ring as a unique or interesting track. The sound fits with the series but doesn't really have much merit in the way of being that one repeat track that you listen to OVER and OVER again. Both the OP and the ED, as well as the general tracks in the series suffer from this.

However, there is one song that I feel has to be mentioned. A 1:30 minute blurb of a song from the one character I feel we should've gotten more screentime of called 'Lonely Feather', which is this really quiet, graceful, and calm song of Engrish that was a really nice surprise to listen to.

Overview:
+ Lonely Feather (Give us more Sylvie, damnit.)
+/- Good sound, but mostly forgettable

Personal Enjoyment: I have seen many harem. And I mean MANY harem. Not all, but enough to have at least 30% of my list dedicated to the genre somehow. Asterisk strikes a firm middle on the harem spectrum. Not being too terribly unique or well-written for it to be good, but at the same time, not too reliant of generic tropes and/or your standard harem scenes to demote it to being complete fanservice material that could care less about story so long as they're DD cups plastered on the screen with some kind of white or clear fluid on them. At the same time, Asterisk doesn't really offer anything unique or interesting to make people seek out to watch it.

Did I enjoy this anime?

I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but at the same time, I don't hate this series. I admit it's not the best, but it didn't leave me in agony watching it hoping it would end, nor did it actually make me anticipate the next episode with writhing anxiousness. It was just a watch I had on my list and I don't have anything much to say beyond that. I will admit I do have some character tropes that I do like, hence the reason why I like some of the characters personally, but beyond that there's really nothing that I can say is worth me liking in this series.

What didn't I like about this anime?

Flora. Dear. God. That voice. Flora is a side character from this season who has the most ear-shattering voice in this entire series. Her voice is so high, and she talks so much, I swear my ears were bleeding when I was listening to her talk a few times. Oh yeah, and 'read the manga' endings. No one, and I mean NO ONE likes those.

Would I recommend this series?

If you want a harem series and want some time to kill, there are admittedly much better series to watch out there. Asterisk isn't a show I would say is worth recommending since there are SO many other better things out there, but it's at least watchable in comparison to what else exists in the rotting cesspool that is the harem genre. (I've been to hell and back with this genre. I KNOW WHAT'S THERE.)

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

Screams echoed and metal churned above my head.

I started to panic. We were buckled in, so we couldn’t move. The ride had stopped. The doors to let us out wouldn’t open. And when the lights came on, scary props of all kinds stared back at us. Their creepy eyes and wicked smiles practically laughed at our impending demise.

“They need to get us out of here!” My voice croaked.

Someone, somewhere, listened to my frantic cry. For at that moment, the doors opened and our seatbelts unfastened. I rushed into the hallway, breathing in more so than ... usual, thankful for my newfound safety.

It’s nearly Halloween, so I figured I would recount a scary event from my life. Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season also scared me, but in a completely different way.

STORY

Asterisk returns for the continuation to its split-cour. The Phoenix Festa is currently underway, Ayato and his harem fight their battles, and, all the while, trouble brews in the background.

This season is split up into roughly two different arcs. The first nine episodes center on the conclusion to the tournament that began last season as well as other conflicts in-between. The last three episodes center on the group’s visit to Lieseltania, Julis’s home country, that also has its own set of conflicts.

And it’s frightfully weak.

Some positives first, though. Unlike last season, the amount of ecchi scenes that did nothing but detract from the narrative are pretty much gone. A shot of Julis breasts and butt as she’s constricted by ropes of talisman in the middle of a fight or a view of Kirin’s exposed bust in her revealing dress still do not add anything to the show, but, due to more fighting and less downtime, the anime cuts back on these unnecessary inclusions.

It was also nice to see the anime capitalizing on events from its first season. Ayato saved a woman named Irene from losing herself. So, in return, she does her best to relay information to him when he needed it most.

The positives mostly stop there.

One of the more noticeable negatives is the constant reliance on a handicap. For many of the fights, there just-so-happens to be a reason why they cannot go all out from the get-go. Ayato is not allowed to use his main weapon before Flora is saved. Kirin’s leg is damaged. The group must keep their weapons in their rooms rather than bring them to the ball. It happens so much that it feels artificial, as though the anime wants to induce thrills without actually creating them.

There’s also the issue of the fights lacking gravitas. For two reasons. One, who they are fighting matters very little. The twins and the robots do not mean much to Ayato and the others on a relational level. And two, the overall outcome of the matches has low impact. Ayato asks to see his sister and Julis gets a lot of money to give to the orphanage she looks after, but these outcomes are not exactly powerful.

Moving on, improper world-building returns once again. The anime alludes to other groups, areas, and information but does not explicitly explain or explore these avenues. One can surmise the format of the other tournaments, what the different motifs per group are, and even what people do on a recreational basis, but these are superficial traits. I.e., nothing major or in-depth is provided.

Another negative is Sylvia. She is a singer and formidable adversary who helps out Ayato in discovering Flora’s location. But it all lacks cohesion. She appears out of nowhere, happens to have this convenient ability, and, worst of all, she does nothing else following her help (except for a wink during the award ceremony).

Yet Asterisk really shows off its sloppy execution with its last three episodes. The anime had to do something for the final stretch, but, since the Phoenix Festa was its major plotline and hence held its major climax, no matter what was to come after, it would be difficult for it to feel meaningful.

Regardless, it contains a lot of issues.

For instance, the anime does not follow through on Ayato’s sword transformation. During their final fight against the robots, Ayato’s sword changes into a form that supposedly fits him. But during the final three episodes, said transformation no longer exists, losing continuity and even retroactively slandering that happening as little more than a convenience.

These last few episodes also have a similar problem to the earlier fights. Namely, their enemy (the old gentleman) simply does not have a foothold in relation to the characters and the overall direction of the narrative. It also does not help that he doesn’t even battle. He just summons a bunch of beasts. While the beasts are mythological in origin – a cool trait – they’re more flashy than purposeful – a not-so-cool trait.

Another problem is the revelation of Ayato’s sister. Despite all of the build-up the anime had given towards her whereabouts, how much she meant to him, and the general mystery behind her disappearance, she is revealed all willy-nilly to Ayato. It comes off as strange, as though the anime were trying to squeeze in this reveal before the season closed (reinforced by the fact that the show also introduces a new character that had been alluded to recently).

The whole package simply has too many weaknesses for any of its strengths to support.

ANIMATION

To Asterisk’s credit, the animation for its fight scenes are consistent. Julis’s giant fireballs, Kirin’s swordplay, and Says’s laser guns provide different levels of movement and moments of action. The same goes for their foes. The robot hurling his massive hammer. One of the twins using talismans. The hydra whirling its heads around. The animation is neither nuanced nor notable, but it at least remains passable throughout the season.

Similarly, the inclusion of CG models does not take away from the show’s action or art in general. It is mostly there for more complex scenarios – such as RM-C squaring off against Saya or a cascade of glass-like confetti – and they are detailed at not clunky in their movements.

Expectedly, the art continues to be more or less the same as it was with the first season. To this end, the it is once again not very impressive. A lot of the season takes place within the arena and nearby facilities – both of which are rather plain in detail. The futuristic city and the trip to the rustic country of Liseltania switches up the backgrounds, but that’s all they do.

Lighting and cinematography are at least looked at, such as with the shadow assassin and with the fights being depicted clearly. Yet to reiterate at this point, the anime does not do anything special here.

The character designs follow the same course. Their color symbolism persists – Julis’s pink for her fiery personality, Saya’s blue for her cooled behavior, etc. – as do their all-white outfits with magenta coloring. And the girls do don some fancy dresses for that ball. Again, though, their designs are not captivating or gross. They are simply meager for what they are.

CHARACTERS

This season, the characters of Asterisk still do not have much strength.

Ayato does unlock some of the chains that bound him mentally, meaning he does, however slightly, develop as a character. Granted, this “development” entails nothing more than him standing still and thinking very hard, but he at least no longer has to worry (now for up to an hour) about using the extent of his power.

Julis surprisingly doesn’t progress her relationship much with Ayato – even when she is asked directly by her brother. Nevertheless, the anime demonstrates a more caring side to her personality. She cares for Flora, her country, and the orphanage she had grown up with. She always talked about these separate parts of her life, but, this season, the audience actually gets to see her care for them explicitly.

Saya’s angle this season focuses on proving the strength of her father’s technology, and she does so through her fight against RM-C. To be fair, this conflict is arguably minor when considering the bigger picture, but she at least has her own plotline that she contends with.

The same cannot be said of Kirin, for she does not receive much attention during this season besides the occasional words on wanting to grow as a swordsman or the oft cute moment she takes part in. Although, being fair once more, she had her time and development last season, so it’s acceptable (to some extent) that she is not given as much focus this time around.

However, Claudia does not deserve this exception. For much of this season, and as it was with last season, she is barely around in terms of character focus. And when she is (namely in the last three episodes), the show’s constant dancing around her conflict in an attempt to maintain the mystery of it all prevents whatever mommy-daddy issues she may or may not be having from gaining any purposeful traction.

Ignoring Claudia and Kirin’s characters, it is clear that the cast do not receive a lot in the way of attention. Mostly because the anime was more concerned with the fights themselves rather than character exploration.

On one level, that makes sense. At its core, Asterisk is an action-heavy anime with dashes of ecchi and comedy mixed in. In other words, it is somewhat unfair to expect anything more. On another level, this season is the “second” season (for this split-cour). At this point, Asterisk needs to do more than just less-than-par development or extra characterization.

Which is unfortunate since the anime had those more personal moments. Saya crying on the rooftops from being frustrated with their tournament performance or Julis trying her hardest to save her “long-lost” childhood friend are nice examples that back up this statement. But these scenes are either not around enough or not looked at beyond what they mean on the surface.

Regardless, the anime does manage to hold a consistent theme throughout its run. Namely, leaning on others.

Many of the characters highlight this idea well enough. Julis leans on Ayato to help her succeed in the Pheonix Festa. Ayato leans on Saya when he needs encouragement. Saya leans on Kirin for support in her quest to showcase her father’s tech.

This theme is even seen between AR-D and RM-C, between Camilla and Ernesta, and between Nicolas and Gustave. Indeed, given the tournament’s format – two people work together against another similar duo – the notion of leaning on others, be it during times of need or just in general, gives the characters even more thematic presence.

However, the best character for this interpretation is Claudia. For she does not lean on anybody; she almost exclusively carries her problems all by herself.

As a result, she’s clearly in a distressed, unwelcomed emotional state, leaving her relationships with the others on the weaker side. That is, her not leaning others clearly puts her worse off, adding another layer to the aforementioned theme. (In fact, one could argue that her clingy nature with Ayato stems from the forced distance she appears to put between her and everyone else.)

Even if the theme itself is not explored outright, it’s still a nice theme to see. Nonetheless, it’s not enough to keep the characters from ending up at the lower side of the execution spectrum.

SOUND

The highlight of the opening track is the singing. The shifts to a higher pitch, the different speeds, and the evident passion in the vocals (especially right near the end) give the song more clout than it may otherwise have. As for the rest of the OP, it contains a lot of drums, techno beats, and other flairs – like a quick music drop in the middle and jarring sound-effects here and there – that help to make the piece, once again, more noteworthy.

The ending track creates a more grounded atmosphere. A steady beat and leveled singing keeps the piece from becoming overbearing, and, even when the second half picks up the tempo slightly, it still maintains a feeling of simplicity through catchiness, some onomatopoeia, and light piano work.

The other tracks in the original soundtrack are not exactly notable. Orchestras for the triumphant moments, techno beats for the various fights, and a combined piano-and-violin piece for those sweeter scenes fit the show but are not standout in any particular fashion.

Lastly, voice-acting performances remain more or less the same from the previous season to this season with one (negative) difference: Flora. Chitose Morinaga as Flora, while certainly reaching a high pitch, uses a voice that is quite grating, often distracting, to listen to.

ENJOYMENT

In an anime like this one, I get a lot entertainment from the romance. The show is considered a harem anime, so it is perhaps obvious that such romantic happenings will occur.

And they did.

Julis getting flustered when Ayato ate from the same spoon as she did seconds before (the famous indirect kiss). Claudia wanting to take Ayato to her room to help him unwind. Kirin requesting to lock arms with Ayato (and Saya joining in soon after to do the same). Julis, Saya, and Kirin all perking up at the mention of being called “rivals” in regards to Ayato.

Small scenes, but romance even of this minimal level makes me a very happy person.

Granted, I wish it was around more, but, to reiterate an earlier point I made, the anime focused more on its action in almost all cases. For much of it, I was not too impressed. The robots mega hammer, the knight duo, and the miasma girl did not make for interesting fights.

However, some of the action could be quite fun to watch at times. Ayato punching the one twin into unconsciousness with one strike, Julis literally cooking her opponent, and Sylvia kicking a dude with unbelievable force were cool moments.

But if I had to pick between the action and the romance, I would choose the romance any day of the week.

Admittedly, though, Julis refusing to go further with the romance was frustrating to see. She was still pushing back on the idea that she has feelings for Ayato even after everything they have done together. There’s also Claudia never getting the opportunity to progress her relationship with Ayato, too. And Saya and Kirin curling up on his bed, while cute, does not give their romantic prospects much hope.

Even so, I would still like to see more from the series. If only to eventually see a total conclusion to this entire tale (since I’ve invested all of this time into it already).

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season unfortunately fails to be a solid continuation. The animation and the music have their own strengths, but the story is a mess and the characters are not given enough individual focus. It’s a malfunctioned amusement park ride too scary for Halloween to handle.

SUMMARY

Story: Terrible, non-meaningful fights, lame plot choices, and a botched final stretch leave the narrative hurting for much of its run

Animation: Fine, okay actual animation, okay artistic direction, and okay character designs

Characters: Bad, Ayato, Julis, and Saya grow minimally as characters, Claudia’s entire arc is handled poorly, but their theme of leaning on others for aid is prevalent

Sound: Fine, okay OP, okay ED, okay OST, okay VA performances

Enjoyment: Fine, some romance and cool action segments exist, but some frustrating romantic decisions and uninteresting action also exist

Final Score: 3/10

*Possible spoilers ahead*

Well, yet another time i wasted my time due to my bad habit of refusing to let things go. I had a bit of hope for this title, and i gave it a honest shot, but boy, did it fail to deliver. Let's start our analysis then shall we? First of all, why do most of us like watching anime, as well as watching movies? Well, a big part of it, is pretty much the same reason we like reading books - the story. Well, honestly it is rather mediocre. However mediocre isn't necessarily bad, unless you choose to deliver it like Asterisk ... did - with slow pacing and boring characters, then even the best story can become mediocre (as in the case with one piece for example), and a mediocre one drops to simply bad, just like in the case for this anime.

Well then, why is it bad you may ask? The answer to it, simply is complete lack of originality, paired with the slow pacing and the bland characters i mentioned earlier. Tell me if you heard this before - a kind of overpowered hero appears and starts off on the wrong foot with the main love interest (and other main character), but eventually bonds with her and fights together. He also has a limiter on his power, that he overcomes throughout the series. Oh, and its a harem. Now then, how many titles can you mention that fall under that? Tens, if not over a hundred. It also has absolutely nothing that would distinguish it from any of its predecessors, in fact, season 1 started at the same time with an anime that looked 99% similar to it in almost everything, and that other anime (chivalry of a failed knight) ended up being superior to it in every way, and actually worth watching.

What else is there to mention? Well, probably that its somewhat of a harem (i have to mention it again, since its a pretty important point), and that already makes it worse, as in most cases that genre sucks the fun a certain series has right out of it... Maybe also the characters, that i mentioned are quite bland - you have your typical obligatory tsundere for a heroine, a 'quiet girl', a shy oppai loli 'imouto' type girl, and an overly clingy slightly more mature character as the "principal" or something of the sort... And finally, you have the protagonist that is your typical copy pasted lead - a slightly overpowered good guy that has about 0 personality, and a mandatory lack of spine when it comes to girls unlike what he acts like in battle. If i'd have to throw in a few positive things about it then guess i'd say its the art - it looks rather good (if generic), and doesn't make a lot of compromises in quality throughout the series.. Sound is decent too.

And that's about it. My personal rating of the show is 4/10, and i'd definitely not recommend anyone to watch it, unless they literally have nothing else to watch.

When this show came out in 2015, it had a "rival" if you could put it that way, and it was a show called "The Chivalry of a Failed Knight" at first this show started weaker than the asterisk war but over time it showed what it truly was at it's core and eventually beat out the asterisk war by the end of the season. despite its bigger fanbase and higher rating, the asterisk war is the show that would continue with a second season...too many people's distaste. The asterisk war didnt have a strong footing in the base so ... to see it get a second season was weird for many, after the performance the first season gave us, many ignored the second season, but the very few who stayed and the even fewer(like me) who watched it later without hearing anything about it watched it, might say it improved...mabye?

if you know what the story is so far given by the first season or light novel then you could say that it was ...improved? i felt that the story was easier to follow than the first season probably because i watched the first season. although splitting the seasons in 2 like that was not a good idea on their part. if they were gonna have season 2 continue right where season 1 left off, they should have made it into a double season anime where it would be easier to catch up. not wait 1 season where everyone following would get confused, but i digress. The story was easier to follow and in my opinion was handled better than the first season. it even got kinda dark near the end. I don't want to go into alot of detail but you can imagine that it continues on the pheonix festa so you can imagine what the end result is considering the tropes this show has piled up. if this show was made in to a double season anime, i would give the story a 6 or 7 but having that break in the middle and continuing right where season 1 left off was a bad idea so i dropped it to a 5 which is still better than last season but still, some plot points are still not explained very well or at all so to improve the score, the story needs to go into more detail with proper explanation. but i guess this will have to do.


Now i don't need to explain this whole Art section part much, A1 Pictures + Anime adaptation = (mostly)beautiful art, designs, animation, fan service, and overall asthetics. A1 has a high budget with their anime for the most part. Just look at Sword Art Online, that show made alot of money. even though it's not too good...anyways this anime has a really cool asthetic of the asterisk( 6 sides 6 schools) it has a very big hexagon fetish if you can't tell. it's really unique. not to mention the fights here this season have also really improved. there is a lot of subtle detail in the first fight and it was one of the "Woah that was sick!" moments in the season and there aren't really that many. some, but not alot. Overall though, the art is fantastic! the good train doesn't stop there either!


Now as a musicien (saxophone and drummer primarily) i say that the music is AWESOME! if you call this music bad, you either hate this series a lot, dont like music at all, or you don't like EDM. which is ok. the ending song "Ai No Uta" by Chisuga Haruka is fantastic. further boosting the music is Swedish musicien Rasmus Faber. a man whoinspires my music to this day. his work here on both seasons are absolutley incredible! the opening is also very strong. sung by the same singer from the first seasons opening "Brand New World" i wish i didn't forget her name because she is also very strong in her work. so yes, if you can't tell, the asterisk war has my favorite soundtrack of any anime, which some will be dissapointed and vise versa. what isn't exactly spectacular in this show however is next.


while the characters are in a sense improved (if you know the story) as they have had themselves develop over last season. they are still bland and not very intruiging. what i hate most here however, is the introduction to many other characters (who i will not mention for specific reasons). now you may be asking, "whats so bad about new characters unless they suck of course?" here is whats bad. These new characters are given small roles and little screentime, when they are actually SOME OF THE MOST GODDAMN IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN THE STORY TO DATE!!! sure they may have small roles now but you wouldnt know how important they are if the show isn't given a 3rd season or you havent read the light novel which i assume most havent. Some of them are even Powerful and or key characters later. I understand this is their introduction to the series. but if you are not gonna continue the show (which i'd assume many are happy to know about) you might as well not introduce them at all. yes you can read the novel, but very few are likley to do it. it hurts because some of them are really cool and among my favorites but it sucks to not see them develop further than a mere episode or two. in short, Yes the characters we have are better and more developed but the introduction to new and important characters getting little to no screentime is very serious especially with no continuation.


overall, the second season the The Asterisk War is improved and stronger than it's first one. the story is more clear, it actually IS a story, the characters are more developed and still retains the strengths of the first season. Sadly though, the damage has been done. the first season left a bitter taste in many peoples mouths, not to mention DigiBro's review hit the show even harder. The shows rival "The Chivalry of a Failed Knight" would surpass it and sadly get no second season while this show did. after what everyone saw, many would not go near this one and understandably so. but for those who stayed, they would see a small improvement or none at all.


When i think about it , i enjoyed this show because i can see what it's trying to be. on paper it's just another fantasy superhuman school tournament anime. But the further you dive into it's lore, you would be suprised at what this show/ Light Novel can offer. yes it's filled with tropes, yes it has annoying harem traits even though its not really much of a harem, yes it gets bland. this series like many others is by no means perfect but more so than others. what the anime gives us is another blatant school tournament anime with many tropes and predictable characters and story lines. the same can be said for the light novel, but at least the novel gives us more detail, explanation, better pacing and all other categories. A1 has this tendancy to put out anime almost like they get mass produced. meaning that while they put out anime fast, the quality can be questionable at times. and it seems this show is no different. i want to see this series do well. i really do. even if i am one of the few who actually support it. but this series has potential, it might have even been better if it was taken in by another anime studio. A1 may be able to get the art right but they need to work on the story aspect more as well. it's because of these reasons it gets an 8 from me.


Now, I mentioned that this season improved, and it did. however it did NOT improve ENOUGH. i gave this show an 8. which VERY generous. but it doesn't quite deserve that 8. but not a 7 either. if you are still reading this review the real score for me is a 7.5. so here is what i would do to give this show an 8..

1. Make series a double season. the show would have better pacing and the story connects better if there was no break inbetween.

2. Either give new characters screen time or don't introduce them at all. very simple enough said

3.Offer more in depth explanations for certain lore aspects so they are less confusing. also simple.

4.Give characters more depth in their backstory and if the Mc has a harem, give the girls a reason for liking the MC. don't just make them clingy just because, give them a reason at least aside from being a childhood friend or being related.

5. slow the pacing and keep it steady so viewers understand what goes on in the show. this is very important, the story how it's given is very bland and one-sided, so critical points in the shows plot progression become very confusing.


These are my points on how to fix the series problems so that it gets an 8. until then, it has a lot of work to do. i want to see this series do well and i feel that these issues i pointed out will help it improve further and hopefully give you the reader a clearer explanation to this series. if not, there are other people out their i'm sure who feel the same as me wo can even provide better explanations to the show than me, im only one person afterall. I can only hope that the series can show it's true colors. i hope you find this review helpful at least.

I swear the 1st Season was better i could see alot of potentials but this 2nd season really ruined it all.First of all the 1st season had a good introduction but it only had that and nothing more and the plot was kinda ehhhhh.Well if it was only a introduction i expected alot at Season 2 but what happened really is like a pointless thing -.- This may contain spoilers so if you haven't watched the series read at your own risk well only a little obvious spoilers ^.^.
Well they won the festa but that doesn't change really change anything at the plot.So it was ... really sad when 2nd season ended they joined another tournament well the fact that it doesn't change anything from the plot repeating it is kinda stupid.I saw alot of potentials but the end episodes bothered me cause it was really pointless.The anime had alot of potentials but it only turned into a bad 1 it was so dissapointing that the plot itself was wasted :(.

Characters:6/10-Seriously this anime only focused on 2 main characters how about the other characters?.

Sound 6/10-The opening is kinda messed up somehow and it doesn't really fit the anime itself it could have been in a better anime than this 1

Art-9/10-It is 1 of those Sword art type of animation so i'll give it a high 1.

Enjoyment 4/10-I didn't really enjoyed this anime alot well maybe the 2nd season cause seeing it ruined the potential of the anime is kinda disturbing really?It could have been better if u asked me.If u are going to watch this 2nd season don't expect some plot twist and plot progression happening cause ur just wasting your time.

I didn't know people hated this anime soo much but I really love it the music the story i found it very enjoyable overall I found it really good and hope we get a season 3, I loved this show so very much I would watch it again I havent already thehe but yh I rlly liked the battles and all sure something were abit over the top at some point where there wasnt any need to like when it came to the harem stuff but like it wasnt heavy harem and all idk how to put it, for exmaple in infinte stratos I ... rlly didnt enjoy that show i just felt like it was extra and not needed and abit stupid really i just felt like with this one it was pretty chilll, and yeee

The second season of Asterisk is more like the second half of Asterisk as we finally see the Phoenix Festas come to a conclusion. It's a much more focused season with an emphasis on action and on introducing enough cute girls to match up to Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara. It also offers some more plot and character depth, helping to differentiate the series a bit from its many other sibling shows back in 2015. If you enjoy action-centric shows with a touch of harem, then this franchise has a decent offering.

Animation:
The show is unchanged in its drawing style from the first season. Expect the ... same clean, crisp look of the original with a futuristic touch. Detail and shading is average overall but is balanced out by occasionally exceptional effects. Some of the scenery specifically in the last few episodes is refreshing, but a good portion of the show takes place in the Festas arena, which gets a bit old after awhile. There is unfortunately a lot of unsightly CGI here in the form of cars, planes, and the android/mechs AR-D and RM-C; given how large a role the latter two play in this season, it really does become a distraction. The four heroines aside, there are literally over a dozen other supporting females to keep track of - and unfortunately it's getting to the point where I don't think I'm going to remember half of them by the time season 3 rolls by. Everyone is nicely drawn with many of the female characters getting a touch of moe. There's also an above average variation in wardrobes, in case you got tired of everyone wearing the same old uniform.

There is plenty of action in this show, and I particularly liked the variety between melee and ranged combat. Given the team-based nature of the fighting in this show, you get to see many neat combinations of attacks coupled with some nice choreography. There is a slight amount of blood in the show but more than anything I'm amazed at how little damage everyone takes- get thrown into a concrete wall and literally walk away with some dusty clothes and an unhappy expression. Expect a lot of nice effects given the various special abilities of the students. This isn't a particularly ecchi show, they even skipped out on obligatory onsen/bath scene in this season.

Sound:
The show opens with a focused, fast-paced, and electronic-infused song. The melody isn't anything special but the intensity is fitting given the action-centric nature of this season. The ED of the first season was a real surprise of a treat; this season's song is similarly calm, though it strikes a faster, airy club feel. Haruka Chisuga, in addition to the ED, also sings a few insert songs. The BGM in general still isn't any stronger than in the original, there are some nice tension pieces during battles but otherwise it's pretty forgettable.

You hear a lot of Ai Kakuma, Shiori Izawa, and Ari Ozawa in this season, and they all deliver superb performances. You still occasionally get the playful voice of Chinatsu Akasaki and *surprise* Maaya Sakamoto has a role in the show now, though sadly no longer in the ED. The only real annoyance is the introduction of Flora; her personality is pretty crappy as it is but they just had to add on an equally irritating voice. Her aside, expect a great performance overall from the many ladies in this show.

Story:
Let there be no doubt that there will be a third season, lest the world come to a premature end. This second season of Asterisk wraps up the latter half of an exciting Festas competition and really sets the stage for the next tournament, as well as answering some of the many lingering questions from the first season.

Much like Shakugan no Shana 2, this sequel is an action-packed barrage that, in the middle of it all, loses a bit of what makes it unique. Let's just say that certain assumptions were made in the first season that were trivially dismissed or resolved (in a very unnatural/forced way) in this season.

I definitely have issues with specific events in this season; certain events just feel excessively forced or illogical. However, overall the plot is fairly well executed. Expect plenty of cliffhangers and exciting battles once things get rolling. The season builds up to a very predictable climax with a few plot twists (also somewhat foreshadowed) along the way. What was surprising was that the resolution actually thickens the plot rather than resolves it, hence my insistence that this show isn't over yet.

Character:
I'm somewhat divided in this category. On the one hand, there are some really interesting characters. On the other hand, character relationships don't really feel convincing; you could go as far as to call it plain stagnant in this season.

Focusing on the main characters, there isn't much of a change from the last season. I'd say that Ayato and Julis are slightly dynamic, but just barely so. Honestly speaking, Saya and Kirin are more interesting in my opinion. The irony between Saya's emotionally-stunted character and her overwhelming battle firepower whenever she says "burst" is wonderful. As for Kirin, perhaps I'm just weak against this character type but her shy resilience is likewise enjoyable.

Perhaps there just wasn't time to further relationships as the show focused so heavily on action and introducing even more characters for you to try to remember. Let's just say that I feel that many of these often briefly-introduced characters will play a much larger role in the next season. There definitely is a bit of character bloat at this point, and some of the new characters are a tad on the annoying side (both on the protagonist's and antagonist's side).

Value:
Asterisk started as a plot clone of numerous other action-based harems. It has now evolved to focus more on the former for this second season. This installment was an enjoyable, action-packed sequel that builds on certain aspects of the original. While some of the plot was a bit canned and some of the characters detracted from the overall experience, the show in general was still more or less a positive experience. Action aside, it really isn't as strong as the first season, but still good enough. Fans of the original should enjoy this well-rounded sequel, and I eagerly await the next season.

So, the second cour of Asterisk is over and its time to reflect on what transpired. I liked the first cour, and had high hopes for the second. However, I am really disappointed in how the paced the second season.

Overall Score: 6/10

Story: 6 - The pacing was really off here. I know the! phoenix festa was a big deal and all, but counting from when it started last season I think it lasted for 13 episodes! If the plot revolved solely around this one tournament, this would not be so bad. But there are other main plot treads that get left by the wayside ... such as the following Gryps Festa that seems to be a bigger deal, and a BIG pain plot thread dealing with Ayato's past (and his powers). The writers seem to be betting on another season, and based on what sales figures I have seen of season 1, the sales will not merit sinking more money into this series to produce a 3rd season. I hate when this happens!

Art: 7 - Fights were well animated sometimes and at other times you could tell they were stretching their budget, but overall it was average, nothing to slam the series over.

Sound: 7 - It was good, nothing too impressive but nothing really bad either.

Character: 6 - No real growth of the characters established in season 1, and side characters, were one dimensional and sometimes annoying (Flora's voice just annoyed me). The villains are not very compelling either. The bad guys might as well have handlebar mustaches and twirl them while laughing menacingly.

Enjoyment: 6 - I enjoyed the ride a bit but the never ending Festa really got old fast. Then when you get to the 10th episode and realize that they won't be wrapping it up in a satisfactory way it just ruins the enjoyment of the rest.

If they had finished the Festa using only 4-5 episodes of this season and then had some setup for the Gryps and explored other main plot threads better it could have been a much more enjoyable series. Sadly, they either were expecting a season 3 or didn't care about making a good anime, and only cared about selling light novels in Japan.

It did better than I thought it would.

Also this is the 2nd course not a 2nd season. The 1st course drops out mid tournament and the 2nd picks up directly after. This review combines both "seasons" since it is the same story arc.

The story is the generic battle tournament between competing schools in a tag team style. This all takes place in an academy city which is weird because I don't recall seeing any classes, teachers, or anything school related. The plot is adequate enough to lead the viewer in linear chain of events. Don't expect anything special.

Art is kinda a let down. I've ... come to expect better of A1 Pictures and this is a step down from recent works. A couple of scenes were bad, but nothing that plagues the entire show.

Sound is lacking a bit too. The opening and ending aren't bad however they don't excite me. A play once and skip scenario. I found the sword sound effects to be annoying as well. Voice acting is decent enough to avoid complaint.

Characters are slightly better than I expected. They seem to have a bit more maturity than the normal dribble. It's still not enough maturity to have developed character direction or depth required to sustain a romance. Which brings me to the pseudo-harem. Why is this a thing? The show practically screams which characters are going to be together. There's no actual competition. Time wasted on the harem could have been spent making a functional romance.

It can be enjoyable. A casual viewer could watch this without cringing. Action fans who like sword fighting could also get along fine. Critical reviewers or hidden gem hunters should stay away.

tl;dr meh.

I really gotta stop getting my hopes up when I see something nice. Seriously, I reviewed the first season and gave it a 7/10. I am just going to attribute it all to the sound and art pulling me through the whole thing, because it took me about two months to come back to watch season 2. Yeah, I at the time of writing the review for season 1, I concluded that the enjoyment was derived from the visuals alone since the story doesn't satisfy and the characters aren't likeable enough to write home about. So the enjoyment I got from the show fizzled out ... when trying to explain it.

So obviously, when it came time to finish this series, I had to mentally prepare myself for what's to come, as well as revise my thoughts on the first season. So let's get this over with.

Story: 3
This section (along with character) is where I messed up when it came to my last review. Sure the setting is pretty cool with the futuristic town and neat little gadgets, but anybody can tell you that a setting is wasted if the character and story derive no support from it. Another thing is that I found interest in how the story would handle this tournament but failed to mention how they cut it in half at the end of season 1 just so they can resume in season 2. This leads to our lack luster season ending fight. And its not like we needed to see every stage of the tournament to understand how it's going. They honestly focused too long on including every round for both Ayato's team and Saya's team. when neither have anything interesting happen for the first two rounds. Ayato's team keep up the "no one must know about your time limit" lie for the whole time they fight rounds 1-3, so why did we have to see it? Couldn't you have saved time by skipping rounds 2 and/or 3 since nothing new happens?

This isn't just a season 1 problem either. Season 2 follows in the same footsteps by showing us every round that they fight in. Round 5 was to show he can fight at a high level while still recovering from overusing his power so long as he follows Julis's strategy but they already showed that off with rounds 2 and 3, so we are wasting our time here. Round 6 has some importance because it is the point where Ayato extends his time limit to a point where it doesn't matter anymore as well as learn a new move to SLOW DOWN TIME, so there went the stakes for him fighting at full strength. Round 7 was also entirely useless but also completely diverged from the plot at hand so more time wasting. The point I am making is that they clearly didn't have enough material in mind to fill two seasons and MAKE THEM INTERESTING. The three episodes after the tournament (yea the rest of the tournament took up three fourths of the second season) were used to simply set up for season 3. The last episode especially is just jam packed with set up material. So much so that I am completely confident that you will forget all of it by the time a third season comes out. Which let's hope not since they haven't done a good job with two seasons already.

Art and Sound: 6 and 8
Nothing new from the last review and nothing new to add in terms of season 2. Art and Sound were really the only points in the series that I found no real complaints with. I saw an increase of sketchy animation choices where it wasn't as polished or even lacked effort but honestly compared to story and character, a visual hick-up here and there wasn't a bother to me.

Sound is sort of in the same boat as well. the new opening and ending are good but takes longer to get used to hearing. Honestly, I prefer the the first Op and Ed since they do a better job pumping you up. Which now that I think about it, that works against them. If you pumped somebody up for something like a concert but the concert itself sucked then not only does that person come away feeling worse off then if they were curious and wanted to check it out for themselves, but they would also feel tricked since they were led to believe they were in for a good time. Such a double edge sword the music and sound department is.

Character: 3
i wasn't too far off when I explained the character section in season 1, I just rated it too high. The characters don't change in this season, they just talk about themselves more in an effort to try and get us to relate to their motives more. It only really boils down to Saya explaining more about how much of a friend she wants to be for the main character Ayato, while at the same time giving little restraint on how she wants to be with him as well. Nothing new here, just more time spent on it. The other part was on Julis and her desire to help the poor in her country since she is a princess there. Again, nothing we haven't heard before just more time spent on it. They did add in a point about how one of the kids from the orphanage was taken as a debt balance piece, but it was during a the part where they are spending more time setting up for season 3 then actually telling the story for season 2.
So in the end we end up with no character development across an entire season. I also realize that the AI robots aren't that interesting. Better voiced for sure, but when they are described as puppets for the purpose of learning growth and then they speak up to say things that just so happen to demonstrate their growth, I kinda just checked them off as plot pieces and nothing more.

Enjoyment: 3
Honestly, if I learned anything from this series its that I gotta keep from getting pumped up by the music and art. I said I enjoyed season 1 but honestly I won't go back to it. I worded the summary pretty good, so at least I got that part right. I described the end of the season to be as impactful as a bottle rocket. If I had to apply that to how season went it would be as if they keep firing off those little rockets hoping to buy enough time to get a real finale ready. Its nothing but stalling and it shows. If you actually watch all the way through you are honestly one of two things. 1. A person who saw season 1 off a whim and is now just rounding it off for completion sake (like me) or 2. a hardcore fan who is blind enough to all the flaws to be able to derive genuine joy from this series and is now patiently waiting for season 3. And much like the unicorn, I don't believe that there really is a person alive who fits in the second category.

Overall: 4

Also, I'm not really going to retype out the review to season 1 so I'm just going to send them here for the new scores.
Story: 4
Art:6
Sound:8
Character: 3
Enjoyment:4
Overall: 5

And the only reason the first season hits higher is because it wasn't in a holding pattern.

Although the series is just a continuation to the first season, Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2/The Asterisk War 2 is still the best action, sci-fi, fantasy and harem anime to date.

The review rundown:

Story: As mentioned, the series story is a continuation to the events of the first season where Ayato's seal is now revealed to the public where it sends him and his partner, Julis, into trouble of winning the Festa since there is more powerful opponents to stand its way. It was intended to stop it from comparing it with Chivalry of a Failed Knight in terms of setting.

Characters: Same main characters ... but there are more characters to bring support to the main characters in the story. In the process, there are more enemies/villains that the 5 main characters has to face.

Sound and Music: The series opening and ending music are catchy and energetic thanks to Rasmus Faber, Shiena Nishizawa and recently, Haruka Chisuga. The sounds of this anime are still the best.

Art: Likewise, A-1 Pictures provides the animation and some CGI fight scenes.

Overall: The series is enjoyable since I'm a fan of sci-fi, fantasy and supernatural and action anime.