Writing this short review after watching 26 episodes of Linebarrels of Iron, the episodes were from the DVD's.
I usually prefer subs but in this case I went with the English Dub. I am not really a fan of Mecha Anime and anything related to Giant Robots fighting each other. But after seeing first few episodes I saw some potential in this anime and thought it might contain tons of action, romance, comedy and a harem based theme *which it did*. I love Anime which revolves around one guy controlling the hearts of different girls. Kouichi is our hero in this consistent anime. He is easily bullied, he is someone who gets beaten up easily but he does have a passion to be the hero at the end. He fights for justice or at least tries to but he is always powerless to defend others.
Enter Emi Kizaki and Linebarrel. Kouichi Hayase (14 years old) goes nuts with the power and from there the story starts to get complicated. I will admit I wasn't expecting the story to progress like it did, the first few episodes really catch you off guard. But the story gets interesting when we understand the characters past and their relationship with each other. Of all the Anime shows I have seen (seen a lot of them), Linebarrels of Iron is always consistent with their episodes. I watched 26 episodes back to back and there weren't any filler episodes (When it comes to fillers Naruto and Bleach are the worst). The story always kept moving, the action was there and yes I will admit the Opening Song wasn't good but the ED awesomeness neutralized it.
The English dubs were spot on. I enjoyed them over the subtitles. Romantic side of this Anime is a bit complex; you literally want to bang your head because there is always something new popping up (you can sense the sexual tension but it never reaches climax). That did irritate me a lot but the action and fights make up for it. If you're looking for a Mecha Anime, Linebarrels of Iron is the perfect candidate, it's fun and has some really good fight sequences. It will give you a good introduction into the world of robots.
Overall, I recommend this Anime and I am glad I watched it. Although there is a potential for making it better or extending it to another Season, I don't think that will be a good idea.
I am tempted to read the Manga as well.
From totseans.com
