Infinite Stratos Review

インフィニット・ストラトス
Infinite Stratos

A light novel adaption (of the same name), one that I believe is still going on.

I came into this show thinking it would be a horrible show, I'll admit, it was pretty bad in the beginning, but I walked away from it, liking it a lot

CHARACTERS (4/5)

Well, IS is a harem show. With a small cast, one could expect character development for everyone, but that is not the case. Until the end, much of the time is split between the 6 characters, and we don't get to see that much of most of them.

Our main character Shiro Emiya Orimura Ichika (The Guy) with 5 other heroines, Houki Shinonono (Black Hair), Cecilla Alcott (Pale Blond Hair, Blue hairband), Rin Fan (Short Jumping one), Charlotte Dunoa (Blond hair), and Laura Bodewig (Grey hair, on end).

Given the lack of development for most of the characters, I would give it a much lower score, but the voice acting really brings them to life, and for Charlotte, Laura, and Houki, enough time is devoted to their backstories and character development to warrent a higher score.


SETTING/ANIMATION (3/5)

The setting is generic, one guy at an all girls school, I've never seen that before... There isn't much to talk about there.

What really saves this category are the fight animation's. Unlike SOME shows *cough* *cough* *Fate/Zero* *cough* *cough*, the CG (when used) looks like it's actually in place, it melds well with the traditional animation, and it in general looks very nicely done.

STORY (3.5/5)

Story? Well, that's an interesting one. You would expect a harem to have, well, no story. That seems to be the case at first, but then we delve deeper, and we learn, it's a good story given the scope of IS and the time they had to tell it. No pictures here, if you really want to know, then watch it.


MUSIC (3.5/5)

Wow, something that isn't a 5/5. The music is actually divided into two subcategories worth 2.5 points each, half for the score itself, and the other half for the presentation, the score isn't bad, if anything it's well written. It's just not used well. The score can also be a little overdone at times, and it seems somewhat generic (in the case of Charles for example). Often when there is music playing, it often competes with any onscreen talking, or action, rather complementing it. At the end, this mostly fixes itself.

OP via youtube (not mine)

Personally I like the ED better...


OVERALL (3.5/5)

A poorly done story at first, carried only by the voice actors and the animation, comes back in the second half and ends strong. Needs a second season, it really needs a second season.