The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water

(14+) A solid entry into the leveling up type of combat academy many series are based around. The rounds of the tournament battle (where various teams got knocked out) was really exciting! Great battle scenes and characters! The setting makes for a very good story, and I found some similarities between this offering and "Chivalry of a Failed Knight" (which I liked a tiny bit better than this one). If you like these types of stories, check it out, you won't be disappointed!

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The Asterisk War was honestly a fun watch. It's got that classic magic school tournament vibe, but with a futuristic twist that keeps things interesting. The animation is clean, the fights are sharp, and the world-building is surprisingly deep. I liked the main duo Ayato and Julis have great chemistry without being over the top. Sure, it leans into a few familiar anime tropes, but it does them well. If you're into action, light romance, and cool powers, it's definitely worth checking out. It was super entertaining. It was good I enjoyed it animation was amazing, the sounds, and the characters. Wish it got more love. I am interested in what happened next though sad it didn't get an another season.

The series doesn't bring a lot of originality to the table, between an over powered protagonist attempting to defend another OP female character (who then become friends..) to harem fan service in the 1st season, its packed full of cliches.

But for all of that it's still watchable.

Pros:

• There is a second season.
• Good opening/closing music and score.
• Above average English dubbing.
• Consistent and good animation quality (1st Season).
• Mad Science, AI's and semi-sentient weapons.
• Japanese style combining robots.
• Some additional good scores in the 2nd season.

Cons:

• "Fan Service" inside the first few minutes.
• Trope heavy.
• High cheese factor.
• "Fan Service" heavy.
• Generic Harem subplot.
• Catgirls, don't mind them, just want an explanation in a primarily vanilla world.
• Small drop in animation quality in the 2nd Season.
• Neon added toT-Shirts, cars, planes etc. somehow make them "magical".
• Last third of the 2nd season was very weak with unresolved plot points.

Just watch season 1 and every episode was exciting for me :) great work!

Asterisk War's biggest strength and it's biggest weakness is it's characters. I thought the main character was lacking in both motivation and depth, making him hard to connect with or relate to. Oddly enough the surrounding cast is the opposite, and they carry the show. I also thought the concept and world building were cool and interesting, but they never quite reached their full potential. The whole idea of an academy competing in a tournament is fun to watch, but I thought it was done better in Chivalry of a Failed Knight over this one. I think Asterisk War is a decent anime, but with so many other similar options out there it just falls a bit short. If it ever gets a season 3 I think it would help immensely.