デート・ア・ライブ

DATE A LIVE

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
June 22, 2013
LENGTH
23 min

DESCRIPTION

Thirty years before a strange phenomena called a "spacequake" devastated the center of Eurasia, claiming the lives of at least 150 million people. Since then, smaller spacequakes plague the world on an irregular basis. Shidou Itsuka, a seemingly ordinary high schooler comes across a mysterious girl at the ground zero of a spacequake and learns from his sister Kotori she is one of the "Spirits" who are the real cause of the spacequakes that occur when they manifest themselves in the world. He also learns that Kotori is the captain of the airship Ratatoskr and recruits him to make use of his mysterious ability to seal the Spirits' powers and stop them from being a threat to mankind. However, there is a catch: to seal a Spirit, he must make her fall in love with him.

(Source: Anime News Network)

CAST

Tooka Yatogami
Marina Inoue
Origami Tobiichi
Misuzu Togashi
Kotori Itsuka
Ayana Taketatsu
Yoshino
Iori Nomizu
Shidou Itsuka
Nobunaga Shimazaki
Kurumi Tokisaki
Asami Sanada
Narrator
Kotono Mitsuishi
Reine Murasame
Aya Endou
Mana Takamiya
Misato
Kyouhei Kannazuki
Takehito Koyasu
Mii Fujibakama
Midori Tsukimiya
Ryouko Kusakabe
Ao Takahashi
Tamae Okamine
Kaori Sadohara
Ai Yamabuki
Risako Murai
Hinako Shiizaki
Satomi Akesaka
Mai Hazakura
Kayoko Tsumita
Kozue Minowa
Hiroto Tonomachi
Anri Katsu
Munechika Nakatsugawa
Masaomi Mikimoto
Kentarou Tone
Kyouji Kawagoe
Gou Inoue

EPISODES

Dubbed

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RELATED TO DATE A LIVE

OVA ComedyDate A Live: DATE TO DATE

NOVEL ComedyDate A Live

Cover Art for Date A Bullet: Dead or Bullet

MOVIE Sci-FiDate A Bullet: Dead or Bullet

Cover Art for Date A Bullet: Nightmare or Queen

MOVIE Sci-FiDate A Bullet: Nightmare or Queen

REVIEWS

OVERPOWERED99
71/100
Combine harem, sci-fi, and dating sims together and you'll get a show that is hilariously ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure Date A Live saw these options: A) Give me harem and cute girls, B) Some cool sci-fi concepts please, and C) Dating sims would be nice, but decided to scratch choosing just one of those and instead incorporated them all into one weirdly entertaining piece. Everything is so silly, so dysfunctional, and so absurd, that I can't help but to humor myself in this show.

Seriously though. When you have a premise that basically takes dating—uh-huh, dating—as a way to save the world from mysteriously strong entities called Sprits, and they look like attractive girls I might add, things can spiral out of control very quickly. This show actually looks as if it embraces ridiculousness more than logic. It took common sense out of the game with the clichéd developments, theatrical dialogues, and generic character tropes like it's the most normal thing you can do. At one point, we see these Spirits demolishing buildings but the next thing, they swiftly fall in love with our protagonist, Shidou, after he spews out some good-sounding yet bland lines. Then there's also that episode about a weird food battle between militarized girls that takes form in fetishized ways. If the story sounds ridiculous, it definitely is. But somehow, it manages to turn an unwanted feature into a fun comedy-drama of farce nature.

Narratively speaking, I guess Date A Live can pride itself the most in two things: the dates and the girls. Even though Shidou is a surface-level protagonist in the more serious moments, he's quite a hilarious guy if we're talking about the slice-of-life scenes, a.k.a. the dates. His awkwardness when it comes to love comes out strongly when he's interacting with the Spirits, which brings us to our next topic about the girls. Forgetting the fact that they're not that fleshed out and embody known character tropes, their double personality of being cute and strong is definitely a charming quality. Every girl is given traits with enough distinctiveness from one another that they become enjoyable to watch in both the fighting and adorable aspects. And sexy aspects too, because their attractive looks will come to waste if we didn't get any fan services right?

Regarding the sci-fi elements here, most of them are seen in the military groups that fight against the Spirits. Not much explanations are given to how their technologies or operations exactly work, so don't expect much other than them existing for the sake of the dating sim premise and some display of cool-looking futurism.

When it comes to the aesthetics, this is where the girls are able to truly shine further with what you can say is the quickest way to a person's heart. The visual boasts a vibrant color palette which—when combined together with the great character designs for all the girls—is pretty darn appealing to look at. Its animation might not be the most immaculate out there, but the consistency helps to provide linear enjoyment. Even for the dating scenes, the quality hardly dips down and did really well to express the differences in tone when you compare the cuter liveliness from the explosive action scenes.

One other thing this show has strong rein over is the adaptable set of soundtracks. Variety comes in with galore as scenes are backed up by music that specializes in different moods, whether those are the cheerful colors of dating or the orchestral tension in powerful battles. The seiyuus did a solid job in personalizing their respective characters with fitting temperaments, especially when you consider the regular switches between the fun and the serious sides. Something else worth pointing out is the amazing deep vocal sang by secret ARMS for the opening song. I personally find it to be one of the better elements you can get here.

So, what can I say about Date A Live? It's definitely not a tidy show by any means. The story has this peculiarity to it that frequently gets to ridiculous levels, to the point where it doesn't follow the correct laws of rationality. But! If you can somehow find leisure in all that ridiculousness, it'll become somewhat of an amusing aspect. And if you're just here for all the strongly adorable girls, then I suppose you've come to the right place.

Be prepared. It's a date-eat-date world out there.

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Crackf13nd
20/100
first 5-10 minutes were great, disbelief afterwards
I came into this anime blind. It was brand new to me, and I found myself in a monster of the week sort of godzilla style anime but instead of monsters, you have powerful female characters. You are introduced to Tohka, the damage these characters can inflict is so large people move into bomb shelters to escape the carnage. It was shaping up to be an interesting, maybe dark anime where our protagonist is running from the monster and maybe runs into the 'secret government monster fighting service'. Oh boy that happened, but the whole anime turned sour to me. Upon watching I found an uneasy feeling, the lighting in the scenes wasn't right for a serious anime, it was too bright and cheery for the scenes intended. "maybe it was just an amateur decision?" I told myself. When the entire plot of the anime was revealed to be a dating sim with a bland main character.

Now for the great parts of this anime, while few and far between it dwindles down to the waifu argument. Most people will rate anime high because 'it has a waifu', not me, while great visual design is great, which is what Date A Live has with Tohka and Yoshino. The waifu argument doesn't apply for me, anyone can make a big tiddy or a washboard girl for you to oogle at, it really depends on the visuals and the writing to carry a show for anyone who gives points for a waifu anime. I found myself liking some of the softer spots even, I love how cute Tohka can be, and how cute Yoshino is, but I can't look over the very dry plot, and the lack of any suitable content for myself. The show isnt funny, it has some cute moments, some funny ones sure, but at best, this show is average, but if you were to honestly ask yourself what someone who has seen this anime loved about it, they will say 'the girls', basically they waifu a girl. Honestly if you are going to rate a harem anime high, it should have more substantial content other than girls, anyone can learn to create a girl with pen and paper and given time, but it really boils down to the writing like I've said before.

If you light light novel trash, here you go, monster of the week dating sim with flat writing, and no real plot to speak of, I dropped it out of spite, and am not the person to subject myself to more than what i watched for some potential content I would like, I love lighter stuff, but this is just not it chief, there are better light hearted animes to watch.
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AnimeHealsLifes
70/100
A show that combines, gorgeous characters, semi-unique ideas. Results in a show that allows enjoyment after a long day.
Date a Live Fits in a category of a ecchi/mecha anime. Has fan service check, 7 times the woman than men check, a dense protagonist check, but there is nothing wrong with that. Shido Itsuka a seeming less normal high school with a mysterious past, living in a world where there are natural disaster called quakes that are as frequent as Shido meeting a new girl. Quakes are a like natural occurring nuclear bombs that devastate their surroundings. It is soon realized by Shido that the quakes have another secret they are caused by Special Disastrous Designated Creatures spirits for short. This is when where he meets his first spirit a princess clad in purple armor later to be called Tohka. My Thoughts First, I am going to review the whole series a whole because all three follow the same narrative which Shido decides to save these spirits from being eradicated by the AST(anti-spirit-team). Let’s start with the most prevalent issue the premise, It gets repetitive real quick kiss the spirit seal their powers move on to the next one. It is remarkably interesting at the beginning, but as the story progress the girls get less back story and character development. This leads to in my opinion some girls having more flesh stories and some getting demoted to supporting roles for the main chicks. Still Tohka all the way (Yes, I know the ending of the light novel). The other characters well they are interesting bunch and fit the comedic role that helps carry the story more +1 points Let’s get back to the spirits they are interesting, but the anime dedicates 3-4 episodes to build up their stories and expect us get attach to them. This work for the first two season, but the last season failed to make a genuine connection and makes those characters just background noise. Characters:(Most Important) Shido Itsuka: The protagonist of this show, best way to describe him he is bland not much going for him. He risks his life to save these sprits, has mysterious powers, and has forgotten his past. Yes, there are characteristics that the industry has beaten to death, but you kind of have the guilty pleasure that you want him to succeed. Tohka Yatagami: The first spirit that he encounters, and she is the one you will see the most. She grows on you as naïve girl that is trying to learn more about the world, she has a bottomless stomach, and you can tell she cares deeply for the Shido. Keep emphasis that her relationship is the most fleshed out. Origami Tobichii: A Femme Fetal if I ever seen one, she is a girl after Shido heart literally. She is the most straight forward of the cast and is not afraid to show it. She is powerhouse that sports an Anti-material rifle when it comes to the competition, and even though you want to sympathize with her to the point that you are routing for her in a somewhat guilty way. Kotori Itsuka: Wow! She takes multiple personality to the next level she can be that sweet loving sister at one moment, and boom next, she will German Supplex you on the concrete from the empire state building. She has a mysterious past that manifest in hair bows. Regardless, her role is by far the most crucial in all the series not just typical sister, and most important she is not blood related *Wink* Closing Thoughts If you like echhi, harem, diabetes inducing scenes look no further than Date A win!!! It provides interesting characters, and overall a story that you can turn your brain off and enjoy. From the very beginning to the final episode you will captivated by the fan service, *cough* I mean the visuals. The question is should you invest your time in watching the other season, and the answer is simple Yes! The series gets it gears moving in the second season, and bring more spririts that make you question your allegiance. Just heed my warning be wary of the season 3 as it turns its gear to a different direction that make it feel rush, and chore to get through. Not to mention as of today a season 4 has been announced in production. Overall, this anime deserves a peck from Shido(7/10) and give it a try if you are looking for a guilty pleasure. Not to mention with global release of there new gatcha game around the corner is the perfect time to get invested.
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