結城友奈は勇者である

YUUKI YUUNA WA YUUSHA DE ARU

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
December 26, 2014
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

Yuuna Yuuki is an ordinary second-year middle school student. She gets up in the morning, gets ready for school, goes to classes, participates in club activities, and has fun with her friends. But there is one extraordinary thing about Yuuki — she belongs to the “Brave Hero Club.” What does the Brave Hero Club do? Who is the mysterious being called “Vertex?” Yuuki Yuuna and her friends’ story takes place in Year 300, Era of the Gods.

(Source: Ponycan USA)

CAST

Yuuna Yuuki
Haruka Terui
Mimori Tougou
Suzuko Mimori
Karin Miyoshi
Juri Nagatsuma
Fuu Inubouzaki
Yumi Uchiyama
Itsuki Inubouzaki
Tomoyo Kurosawa
Sonoko Nogi
Kana Hanazawa

EPISODES

Dubbed

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RELATED TO YUUKI YUUNA WA YUUSHA DE ARU

REVIEWS

4digitmen
95/100
The best deconstruction of the Mahou Shoujo genre, barring a few issues with its ending.
When I first ran into this show, I didn’t think much of it and just jumped in because both Keiichi Okabe and Emi Evans were doing the soundtrack, so all I was hoping for was some good ass music even if everything else was unenjoyable, as I am not the biggest fan of the Mahou Shoujo genre. What I got was a proper deconstruction of the Mahou Shoujo genre, far surpassing Madoka, and ironically being more reminiscent of Bokurano than Madoka itself.

I’m not going to be splitting it the usual way, instead, I’m going to do it by quarters. They each represent 3 episodes each, as the show is 12 episodes. Dividing it this way makes sense, as the elements of this show are too tied together and differ quite a bit depending on which quarter. Respectively, Shirayuri (1-3), Freesia (4-6), Shiragiku (7-9), Edelweiss (10-12), and Higanbana (Conclusion). There will not be explicit spoilers throughout this review, but if you want a completely blind experience, stop at Freesia, then read Higanbana. This naming scheme is weird, I know, but it makes sense. To the review:

Shirayuri

The first episode introduces itself as a typical Mahou Shoujo, with light SoL scenes about the Hero Club with interactions between the main characters, and while entertaining, not enough to grip you. This is fixed, however, when almost immediately after, the world freezes, the world-building blocks set in, and you’re treated to the actual visual aesthetic of the show.

For this first quarter, the show goes at a constant pace of interactions in the club, building character (for both them and the show), and then fighting in the Jukai (Sea of Trees). This is almost incomparable to its “predecessor,” Madoka, as there the twist is shown in this first quarter, here the “twist,” if you can even call it that, is revealed much later, after the show has grounded itself and so have the characters, so its impact is much less shock-value meant to put off the viewer into believing it as a deconstruction, but rather a logical consequence for the characters’ abilities which is rarely seen in a Mahou Shoujo. Don’t get me wrong, I love Madoka and for a good while it was one of my favorites, but its execution at the beginning is rather flawed upon rewatch. The setup just isn’t here as it would be in both Bokurano and YuYuYu.

Ironically, even though I want to praise YuYuYu for being the Bokurano of Mahou Shoujo, the beginning section of Bokurano is much more reminiscent of Madoka, but Bokurano is still far different from both as its twist is “confirmed” in its middle section while at the beginning all you are given is tons of speculation.

While this section can be considered boring by some, and likely where a lot of people decided to drop this show in its initial airing, I found a lot of enjoyment in it. The character interactions got a giggle out of me every once in a while and looking hard enough, there was a lot to be found in terms of unanswered questions (which I won’t be mentioning because of spoilers). The soundtrack holds up extremely well already, having some true bangers just in the first episode like:

Freesia

In the second quarter, the viewer is finally introduced into the plot, and a new power-up ability is also introduced to the characters known as “Mankai” or “Blooming.” There’s not too much to go into yet.

This section is probably one of my favorites. While the first episode of this quarter can be a bit reminiscent of the earlier episodes and be a bore-fest to some, it's also where it starts to drop some time bombs that are going to take some episodes to blow up. Initially, these details will absolutely make you confused or intrigued, but the characters and the world around them will constantly tell themselves, and in effect the viewer, that “everything is fine” and “there’s nothing to worry about.” This is further contributed by the pull-back to SoL even after the sequence of events. Of course, this is a move that is completely on-purpose by the show, once again demonstrating that it IS a Mahou Shoujo and nothing more. I love this sort of illusion and it shows just how well-crafted and thought out the show was. From a surface-level perspective, there truly is nothing for you to worry about.

As for comparing this to Madoka or Bokurano, Madoka was basically running with its plot here so there’s nothing much to say. As for Bokurano, this is where it really starts to get similar. Yuuki Yuuna takes longer than Bokurano does, but it finally kicks in and that sense of comradery is almost the exact same. The people in the crew each have different roles for the morale and or general thought process, and it's seen big here.

One of the highlights of these episodes is the visual aesthetic taking on a darker tone but still keeping the characters “light.” The soundtrack, however, gets somber. While we are treated to some absolute bangers while in the Jukai, like:

While the outside, real-life tracks are depressing, not as upbeat, for example:

As a side note, the OP lyrics start to take meaning.

Shiragiku

The SoL is back again, but not for long. We are quickly thrown back into reality and the consequences have finally become clear.

Being the rising climax, this is where I praise it the most. The mysteries are revealed and it's such a satisfying experience, and it got me truly in love with the world they were living in. The themes truly shine here, where the “main” franchise theme is hinted/teased at, while their past, present, and future realities are finally settling in for the main characters. It’s very hard for me to talk about anything in this part without spoilers, but what I will say is that it will be surprising no matter how much you paid attention, but this is not shock-value, as it makes SENSE with everything you’ve seen so far. The difference being, the show purposely goes out of its way to make you think it's NOT going to go this way. During this, we are treated to this gem:

While their situation can’t be derived as realistic by any means, through the lens of deconstructing the genre, their situation is definitely of a Mahou Shoujo, but a twisted version of it. No longer does it fall into the same tropes, it subverts them while also still being a Mahou Shoujo at heart, as clearly seen at the end of this quarter. This is where I think Madoka failed, as Madoka did not subvert common tropes but instead used them as plot devices for propelling its themes, and through its middle portion could not be seen as a Mahou Shoujo in any sense of the word except its name.

Bokurano has the most similarities here, as after the reveals, the reaction of the characters and their next actions are very much in-line with each other. The situation they find themselves is also just about the same, if not the exact same. It sticks with the fact that it is still a MECHA show, with a focus on the characters, while ALSO subverting the tropes of said genre. Bokurano also deals with “inevitability,” which is seen heavily in this section of YuYuYu, but in a different light which obviously is because the genres they are trying to subvert are different.

Edelweiss

A most important character arc, and the show’s ending.

The climax of the show is, to put it simply, epic as fuck. Not only is there more info revealed, more world-building, and most importantly the introduction of lore to the series, the characters, and the plot also ramp up accordingly. And, on top of that, the final fight is emotional and full of sakuga. I’m not going to show any of it here, because I would much rather you experience it fully blind yourselves. What I will post, however, is by far the best version of the ending, which is extremely fitting:

The finale, while using what came before it stunningly and finishing things off nicely, ends a tiny bit sour at least for me. It was predictable, which in of itself is not a bad trait, but in the way they did it here, there are a few things which, while explained in later entries, feel a bit asspull-y from a stand-alone perspective. I do like how the anime still is brimming with subtlety and it's obvious that just from the last episode alone there will be another entry and more to come, but I cannot get over how they portrayed the consequences of the characters. It seems almost against the deconstructive nature of the show and instead falls back on the Mahou Shoujo trope wagon a bit too much.

One thing I can say is that I felt the same way about the Madoka ending. From a stand-alone perspective, ignoring Rebellion and the in-between manga, the show ends on an unsatisfying note and ignores what they were trying to do from the beginning. It ends as a Mahou Shoujo when it should end as a broken Mahou Shoujo. Of course, this issue is fixed with both of them having sequels, and while I don’t think Rebellion is the best movie of all-time, I greatly enjoyed what they went for and that it made sense overall. I have yet to watch the second season of YuYuYu as I am reading side-materials, so we’ll have to wait and see for that review.

Higanbana

Overall, I can safely say that YuYuYu is much deeper than what meets the eye. Regardless of what I mentioned here, there are many other factors you could also look into that will give you new perspectives on the show. For example, Japanese flower language, or Hanakotoba. Make sure that you start researching AFTER you watch it, as if you do before/while watching, you may very well spoil yourself.

There’s something for everyone here, and while the community tends to overstate Madoka, I think YuYuYu is much more noob-friendly. Even in its construction (and deconstruction) of a Mahou Shoujo, it’s simple but complex, and all it takes is your interest to find something that will hook you to just this anime or even the franchise, either that be the characters and their interactions, the worldbuilding, the plot, the soundtrack, and its integration, or even the tiny details that might pique your interest. Give it a shot.

As for starting it, I HIGHLY recommend you read/watch WaSuYu alongside YuYuYu as it gives some perspective you wouldn’t normally get watching it after YuYuYu. It was originally intended to be this way, after all, however, the order I will be presenting is my own as while the LN published during airing, the anime came out years later, though the contents are the same (if not better).

YuYuYu episodes 1-3
WaSuYu chapters 1-4 or watch movies 1-2, episodes 1-4
YuYuYu episodes 4-7
WaSuYu chapters 5-7
YuYuYu episode 8
WaSuYu chapter 8 or watch movie 3, episodes 5-6
YuYuYu episodes 9-12
WaSuYu Extra Chapter

Anime will only take you so far if you do get invested, so there’s a release order guide down below:

Thank you for reading.
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Flexit
90/100
A really well written and presented story about magical girls going through unimaginably rough times in life.
This review will be covering all of the [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru](https://anilist.co/anime/20800/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru/) series. The order of the series will be written at the bottom of this review. Beware of spoilers. You have been warned ^^ If you think this is just a regular show about some wholesome magical girls then you are so wrong........The Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru series take place in the modern world as we know it. Adults going to work like regular adults, kids going to schools like regular students, but, there's a twist to this. Behind the scenes of all this are magical girls fighting against the alien like creatures called Vertex, coming from over the wall far away, otherwise knows as the World of Flames. The objective of these creatures is to reach the Divine Tree that the hero's are protecting, otherwise known as humanity's god and protector, Shinju. A Vertex reaching the Divine Tree would mean humanity's destruction. That's why these young girls fight and offer their lives, protecting the world and the people they love so much, whilst losing control over their bodies, like for example the loss of never returning voice or memories. I will now introduce the characters. --- #__Characters__ --- I will start with the characters from what should be considered as the first season. Washio Sumi, later knows as Mimori Togo. A grade schooler adopted into the Washio household by caring parents. She fought against the Vertex alongside her 2 best friends, Sonoko Nogi and Gin Minowa. Washio is one of the people that could be considered as a leader type, at first being shy infront of her 2 new friends but later mustered up the courage to talk to them as old friends. After the sad death of Gin Minowa, Washio lost her ability to walk and her memories of the past 2 years in the next battle whilst being protected by Sonoko, forgetting all about her 2 best friends and everything involving the Divine Tree, Shinju. Later on, Washio was adopted into the Togo household, when entering middle school, where she met her new neighbour and next best friend, Yuuki Yuuna. Gin Minowa, a grade schooler that loved helping out those in need. This often lead to coming late to school getting bumped with a book my the teacher. Gin was a cheerful, energetic and a popular girl amongst her classmates that did well at inspiring her friends. She did her best protecting her 2 friends in battle when they were unable to fight, giving them the chance to hide and recover, which also lead to Gin's sad but heroic death. Sonoko Nogi, the last grade schooler on the list. A very wealthy, smart, friendly and very carefree girl. Despite not being much of a leader type, she was selected to be the leader of the team. With her carefree attitude she resolved problems with easy. After the hard loss of Gin, she was left with Washio to protect the world by themselves. In the next battle, Sonoko sacrificed her body in order to protect the world and save her friend that has lost her ability to walk and memories of the past 2 years, including her best friends. Before ending the battle, Sonoko learned the truth of what lies beyond the wall, which was world of flames. Now let's move on to the characters from the second and third season in which was Washio Sumi, now knows as Mimori Togo, one of the main characters. Sonoko Nogi joined in the season too but only at the near end. The character that the series are named after, Yuuki Yuuna, is a middle schoolar and a member of the Sanshu Middle School Hero Club, a club that is aimed at helping out people in need, making plays for little kids and more together with the other members - Mimori Togo, Sonoko Nogi, Karin Miyoshi, Itsuki Inubouzaki and her sister and the club president, Fuu Inubouzaki. Yuuki Yuuna. She was the one to took care of Togo during school and became her new best friend. What Yuuna lost after using the the power up function from the hero's system was the sense of taste, later on her consciousness which is luckily got back but that didn't end cus after that she was given a curse while saving Togo. A curse that would spread onto others and cause them misfortune if spoken off. Fuu Inubouzaki, the club's president. A very energetic person that cared very much for her club members. That's why she was devastated the most after finding out the after effects of the hero system's special power upping effects. What she lost was vision in her left eye. When she discovered that her little sister wanted to be a singer before losing her voice, she went on an emotional rampage. Later on she got into a car accident caused by Yuuna's curse gave misfortune and was hospitalised for some time. Itsuki Inubouzaki, Fuu's littler sister. A quite shy and cute girl with a very soft voice. She was the youngest member of the Hero Club. Her loss after using the Hero System, as mentioned earlier, was her voice and her dream of becoming a singer was crushed. Surprisingly she was the calmer one about it when it came to Itsuki and her older sister Fuu, calming Fuu down on her rampage, being happy for having her big sister on her side. She was named the next club president for when Fuu graduated at the end of the currently last season. And finally the last character, Karin Miyoshi. Karin was a student sent by the Taisha, an organization of people who oversee the worship of the Shinju, making her transfer into the school and joining the Hero Club. At first she was a very Tsun Tsun girl but with time she opened up to the characters. She has a very leader like personality and was probably the most skilled amongst all the members of the Hero Club. She lost her vision in both of her eyes, control over one of her legs and her hearing whilst trying to defend Yuuna against the thousands of Vertex coming from the breached wall. Now that we are finally done with the characters, it's time to move on to the story. --- #__Story__ --- #__Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou__ As I said at the beginning of the review, the story takes place in a normal world from the view of all most of the citizens of the are but it was a different story for the chosen Heroes. The series begin at a grade school where the first 3 Heroes introduced to us went, Washio Sumi, Gin Minowa and Sonoko Nogi. It was just a normal day in life for them when suddenly time froze, and their phones started ringing, showing a spectacular button on the display. Pressing this button transported them into another world. It was their world, but at the same time it wasn't. A world covered in tree roots with the Divine Tree as the world's protector. At this point, the girls knew they were the chosen ones to become the Heroes and fought of the Vertex together. During the upcoming events, the girls got to know each other better and better until they finally became the best of friends. With the challenge rising each battle, the girls were required to have a training camp together to improve their team work and it helped them until a certain point. The battle after that was their biggest challenge yet and Washio together with Sonoko were heavily injured, that's when Gin went and protected both of them from 3 of the Vertexes at once giving her friends the opportunity to hide and heal. Sadly, it took Gin all her power to defeat the 3 Vertex and by the time her 2 friends found out the battle was over and headed towards Gin, they found her standing alone motionless, soon realising they were too late. This part was definitely was the saddest for me out of all the events that have occurred through the whole series. Watching Gin fighting on to protect her 2 best friends and the whole humanity alone, getting pierced my multiple shots through her whole body but still fighting on until her were last moment and in the end being the only character through the series that has lost her life was so painful and heart breaking to see. Finally, their final battle began, but this time it was different. The Hero system that allowed the Heroes to transform and fight has been updated with a new function. This function was called "Mankai" or "Blooming" in english. What this new function did was enhancing the Hero's strength by a huge amount and giving them also a barrier that shielded them from the enemy attack. The name referred to the activation process which was based on flower mark on the Hero's suit. The flower had 5 leaves and each taken hit from the enemy would fill out one of the leaves until the flower was full and the Mankai function was available of usage. This seemed to good to be true, and it really was. During the battle, the Heroes started noticing that something weird was going on with their bodies. Despite noticing this, the Heroes continued on using the function until Washio completely lost her ability to walk and memories of the past 2 years, being confused about what is happening around her. At that moment, Sonoko devoted herself to protect Washio by all means until she got as far as reaching the World of Flames. That's when she lost the control of her whole body and realised what was really happening. She was spot on with her words, "We are being kept alive." At this point I was sitting here and staring at the screen thinking about what I just went through and questioning my own sanity because when I started watching the series, I though I'm just getting into a regular wholesome magical girl show, but I was so wrong. I am a big sucker for drama tho and I start dropping tears pretty easily when it comes to seeing young kids losing their bodily functions and going through times tough as these with their whole lives before them. Anyway, back to the story. After all that has happened, Washio Sumi has been adopted into the Togo family, getting her name changed to Togo Mimori and we saw no more of Sonoko until the next season. #__Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru__ The next season introduced to us the next Heroes in line, Karin Miyoshi, Fuu and Itsuki Inubouzaki, Mimori Togo which we already know and Yuuki Yuuna. At first, just like in the previous season, all the girls here, except for Fuu, were regular students enjoying their lives. Fuu was sent from the Taisha amnesty to recruit members that had a high enough aptitude of becoming a Hero. The only character that hasn't been recruited by her was Kari which later on transferred into the school, send by the Taisha amnesty. There were multiple groups like but only one would be chosen to become a team of Heroes and all of the members thought it was just a regular club, except for Fuu of course, but even she nor Karin knew about the Mankai function and it's effects. When the club was finally chosen to become the Hero team, the girls were confused. The first battle went pretty smoothly for most of the Heroes, Togo was the only one scared of becoming one but being later on protected by Yuuna she mustered up the courage to pay her back when she needed it. In the next battle, Karin joined in, wiping out the enemy by herself and joining the Hero club bringing us the TsunTsun trope. As the battles on other events went on and the girls got to know each other better, giving Karin the opportunity to open up, another battle began, and it was a tough one. The process of defeating the vertexes came in 2 phases. First damaging the Vertex enough to slow it down, then to start the sealing process so it can release it's core which then must be destroyed. The core of one of the Vertex was too big for the planet and was left floating in space. This battle was also the first time when the girls, except for Karin, the very pro Hero, that has been knocked out somewhere at the beginning, had to use the Mankai function not knowing the truth behind it. With it's power, the girls managed to pull through thanks to Togo getting Yuuna all the way up to space so she could finish of the giant core. After the battle, Karin, Fuu and Itsuki were transported back to the usual place but Yuuna and Togo were nowhere to be found. They were transported in front of a little shrine standing at the great bridge instead of the usual place. What they witnessed there was Sonoko Nogi wrapped whole in bandages not being able to move a finger for the last 2 years. She was the one to tell them about the truth of the Mankai function and all the heroes being sacrifices so the world doesn't get destroyed. Later the girls were hospitalised with minor injuries and some lost bodily functions that were apparently supposed to come back over some time, and that's what the girls believed, for a certain time. Yuuna lost her sense of taste, Togo lost her hearing in one of her ears, Fuu lost her vision in one of her eyes and Itsuki lost her voice. Karin was the only one without any loses. As time went on and Togo being the only one left in the hospital, she went on and monitored the progress of the lost bodily functions of her friends to see if they are getting any better and she soon realised that the damage was permanent. She ten researched the the reason for each hero having a fairy just to find out the fairies are keeping them alive at any cost through multiple attempts of suicide and she knew she had to tell the others to prevent them from using the Mankai function again, but that didn't help. Fuu went on an emotional rampage when finding out that her voiceless little sister was planning to become a singer and already passed an audition causing her to get into a battle with Karin where Karin found and later on being stopped by Yuuna and her little sister. But it didn't get any better from here with Togo destroying the wall separating Shinju from the World of Flames, attempting to destroy the world and ending everyone's suffering. The Heroes had to fight countless Vertex and bring Togo back to her senses. Yuuna was badly injured during this fight and with Itsuki and Fuu trying to stop Togo, the only one that could protect her was Karin. Feeling guilty of not being any help in the last battle and being the only one that still has her body under her control, she offered her body to protect Yuuna from the Vertex, in the end losing all of her vision, hearing and the ability to walk. In the end, Yuuna pulled through thanks to Karin's sacrifice, putting a stoppage to Togo's actions and then all together saving the world once again. At this point, the season was at the end and everyone regained control over their body, including Sonoko. But Yuuna on the other hand has lost her consciousness and was left as an empty shell in Togo's care. Thankfully, Yuuna once again managed to pull through and the season finished with a happy ending. #__Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Yuusha no Shou__ The 3rd and for now last season. No new Heroes introduced but instead Sonoko joins the Hero club. After all the suffering the girls went through, you would think they wouldn't make the girls go through even more pain. Wrong! They made them suffer even more. It began with Togo's sudden disappearance from the screen. What happened was that Togo had to pay for her sin, which was destroying the wall, and was offered as a sacrifice to the dying Shinju. With this process, Togo disappeared from everyone's memories, images and anything related to her, keeping her friends in the dark about the horrible truth. With enough hints, Sonoko and Yuuna remember Togo and inform the rest of the members about it, so they go searching for her. Where they found her was the place knows as the World of Flames, in a giant black hole. This time the Mankai previous after effects were removed and filling out the whole flower symbol would mean the loss of their protective barrier. with Sonoko's transporting help, with the other Heroes protecting them, Yuuna successfully reached her destination and saved Togo from Shinju, taking her place and coming back home with a curse mark knows as god's wrath. This curse mark would spread if being spoken off otherwise it would spread misfortune to those hearing about it and also disabling their protection barrier that kept them save. Sadly, Yuuna realised this when it was too late and Fuu got into a serious car accident, thankfully she survived it. Yuuna had to live with the guilt of hurting her friend without being able to talk about it with anyone otherwise the curse would spread further. Another thing what the curse did was bringing Yuuna closer and closer to death. After some time, the Taisha amnesty contacted Yuuna and asked her to marry Shinju so the Divine Tree can live on. The reason for this is being the closest Hero to death. Even tho she could not speak of this, her friends found out my sneaking into her home and taking a diary she wrote everything about the curse in. Soon after, Shinju began to wither and the world was collapsing, leaving Yuuna no other choice, but to be offered to the Divine Tree, but her friends wouldn't let her go through it, so they saved her and let Shinju die, putting a stoppage to all the chaos behind the scenes and keeping humanity with a need to adapt to limited resources. Everything was finally over and the girls lived happily after. --- #__Order of series__ --- #1st Either [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou](https://anilist.co/anime/100791/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru-Washio-Sumi-no-Shou/) - TV Or The three movies [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou Movie 1 - Tomodachi](https://anilist.co/anime/97858/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru-Washio-Sumi-no-Shou-Movie-1--Tomodachi/), [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou Movie 2 - Tamashii](https://anilist.co/anime/97859/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru-Washio-Sumi-no-Shou-Movie-2--Tamashii/) and [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Washio Sumi no Shou Movie 3 - Yakusoku](https://anilist.co/anime/97860/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru-Washio-Sumi-no-Shou-Movie-3--Yakusoku/) #2nd [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru](https://anilist.co/anime/20800/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru/) #And 3rd [Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Yuusha no Shou](https://anilist.co/anime/97769/Yuuki-Yuuna-wa-Yuusha-de-Aru-Yuusha-no-Shou/). I really loved the story but I also loved all of the openings and endings that gave the nice positive and comfy vibe to the series. The art wasn't bad at all either. Anyway, you have reached the end of the review based on my own opinion. Hope you liked it ^^
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AlmereJells
15/100
The story as a whole; from the original, the prequel and the last season, struggles to be consistent.
This story is a mess. And I'm writing this one review for the entire series. To preface, I love drama and dark stories, but when it's done well. The story as a whole; from the original, the prequel and the last season, is constantly trying to figure out what it's trying to be. Sure the visuals are amazing, the enemy designs are great, but beyond that, we get a story of girls who are forced to save the world and the organization who is helping is either evil or very oblivious and the writers can't make up their minds on which direction they chose to go. Instead of typical school drama such as romance, heart-break, betrayal, social ostracisation, we get needless trash getting piled up on these girls to show how "horrible this world is" in the same amount and intensity of teen drama.

When building a world for a dark story, it's fair to show that the world is not all sunshine and rainbows. Because that's how real life is too. But when everything the writers are trying to throw at us is more and more stuff to make us feel bad for the characters, it's not balanced. Sure, it was never balanced to begin with considering at first the girls seemed to be equipped with deus ex machinas, but with two extremes, the show lacks the middle ground and any substance for it to be considered fair. If this was a show about girls doing over the top stuff and purely for the eye candy factor, I wouldn't mind the plot, or the lack thereof, but when the writers are clearly trying to put in heavy plot, it's apparent that either they were too ambitious or do not know how to write.

Speaking of lacking, the show is called "Yuki Yuna is a Hero" but the original fails to even bring her character to be main character worthy. The other support characters carry her weight in being more memorable until the 6 episode sequel. But even with those 6 episodes of her finally being a main character, she lacks substance. Just "oh no, things are going bad because of me, therefore I must disappear". Fuu's guilt with bringing her sister along, Tougou's conflict with wanting to end the suffering that caused her and her friends by the god or whatever (useless pair of chopsticks, if I'm being frank) was written so well BUT it had to be ruined with Yuna intervening with "because we're all friends". Save that kind of stuff for kids shows, seriously. The biggest problem with protagonists like that is they always have to bring up their friendship and that damned phrase "I understand". We never understood Tougou's feelings until the prequel and with how Fuu felt, there is no way she would "understand" any of them, but to be such a nosy meddling character is exactly the reason why she fails as a character. Sure you could argue that a lot of anime protagonists do that as well, but with all the series I've seen, I have never met a character with no backbone and so little personality and little understanding of the people around her trying to be such a caring and understanding person. This isn't Persona 3 where we have to deal with a protagonist with the personality (and looks) of a bathroom tile, but we're dealing with a character that is using ignorance and baseless positivity to make the supporting cast's suffering seem like their emotions were overreacting.

In conclusion, is it worth your time? Well, like I've mentioned, the visuals are great. The music is absolutely amazing. But the needless drama to make the world and story "dark", the lack of any clarity and direction it wants to take the story, the lackluster ending after so much build up, the MAIN CHARACTER as a whole, and least we forget, the needless fanservice is what killed this show. If you want to watch this show, you'd be better off watching clips on YouTube to get the gist of the show than spend 9 hours of your life like I did. Or better yet, just watch a better show.
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