Hotaru Tachibana has a strong sense of justice and just cannot help confronting those who choose to perform malicious acts. Furthermore, Hotaru is actually a girl who likes to disguise herself as a boy. After hearing rumors that her best friend was tricked by the popular host of a local club, Hotaru seeks to punish the evildoer. Upon arriving at the club, however, she is challenged to a so-called "survival game" by the host Masamune Matsuoka, where the first person hit by the bullet of a toy gun will lose.
After a destructive fight which results in Hotaru's loss, Masamune forces the young "boy" to join his survival game team named Toy Gun Gun, in order to repay the cost of the damages that "he" has caused inside the club. Although she is initially unhappy with this turn of events, Hotaru quickly begins to enjoy what survival games have to offer and is determined to pay off her debt, much to the dismay of Tooru Yukimura, the other member of Toy Gun Gun. As time goes on, Hotaru begins to develop a close friendship with the rest of the team and hopes to take part in realizing their dream of winning the Top Combat Game (TCG), a tournament to decide the best survival game team in Japan.
Although Hotaru tries her best, there are just two little problems: she is absolutely terrible at the game, and Toy Gun Gun doesn't allow female members on their team!
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
HaXXspetten
I don't think I've ever seen an anime with as many blatant plot holes and as much inconsistent writing as Aoharu x Kikanjuu. Now that doesn't mean it's the worst anime ever made (it definitely isn't), but it has a huge amount of wasted potential due to its weak story, horrendous characterization, and the fact that the author is seemingly completely clueless about how airsoft works. Initially the anime feels like something quite similar to Ouran Koukou Host Club as the protagonist is a girl (Tachibana Hotaru) crossdressing as a boy who ends up becoming indebted to a popular guy (Matsuoka Masamune) who works as ahost in the city. This notion is then quickly proven highly inaccurate as Matsuoka forces Tachibana to come join his "survival game" team and participate alongside him in an upcoming tournament. I say survival game, but that in and of itself is completely wrong; it's actually just competitive airsoft that we're talking about here. I don't know if it's a mistranslation or whatnot but either way if you're expecting some sort of thrilling life-or-death drama here you're going to be sorely disappointed because there is absolutely nothing lethal in this anime.
So what exactly is it that makes Aoharu x Kikanjuu such a trainwreck then? Well there are many reasons but they can be roughly divided into three categories:
1. The plot
The writing for this anime is bad. Terribly bad. The games themselves make no sense whatsoever (more on that later), but even ignoring that part the overall plot progression is simply all over the place. Initially, Tachibana thinks the airsoft games are childish and stupid. Then after playing *one* game she suddenly thinks they're the greatest thing ever and has become a full-blown addict. Sounds believable, right? Oh and you know how she originally joined the team because of a debt? Yeah that plot element is just handwaved away in a split second as if it never existed to begin with, completely ruining the entire premise of the story, yet it just keeps on going as if nothing ever happened.
There are also all kinds of forced drama which feel completely unnecessary, totally out of place, and oftentimes insanely predictable. Time skips are pulled haphazardly which renders the pacing very inconsistent, and above all, there seems to be no semblance of coherence in the writing whatsoever. Let me just describe a certain scene from episode two here in order to make an example (minor spoilers I guess, but certainly nothing important): there is a segment where Tachibana is surrounded by her three opponents at only a few meters range. Then in the next second they're suddenly all standing on the same side of her, yelling "corner her!", as if implying that they hadn't already cornered her a second ago? Immediately thereafter, Tachibana's teammate suddenly appears next to her and they have a loud conversation for about two minutes. What happened to their opponents? They were standing right next to her just a moment ago! How could they possibly have lost track of her, let alone be outside hearing range? I mean seriously just what happened here, did the producers accidentally put the scenes in the wrong order or something? These kinds of elementary mistakes should be impossible to make. It's so blatantly illogical it feels like it was written by a 12-year-old.
2. The characters
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is pretty blatant fujoshi bait; that much is obvious from the get-go, but even so the character cast is still a disaster. First of all, we have our main character Tachibana Hotaru. Mother of god is she annoying. About once per minute she has to remind the audience that despite her appearance she's actually a girl, she's always referring to herself in third-person and her sole personality trait is seemingly that she firmly believes in "justice". Yeah justice; hence why she goes completely berserk when playing airsoft and behaves like an uncontrollable animal; sounds just like a knight in shining armor, doesn't she? In the first place what does justice have to do with playing games? Are your opponents supposed to be "evil" just because they're playing or something? In that case Tachibana is obviously equally guilty of that crime. There's also the obnoxious truth that despite being a really bad player, Tachibana always ends up spontaneously gaining super powers whenever the plot feels like it, solely for the sake of convenience. The anime never shuts up about her so-called "bloodlust" which is the ability she uses to magically paralyze her opponents just by looking at them and make them cower in fear, as well as enable her to run faster than a speeding bullet. But there's nothing supernatural about this or anything, it's just her "talent".
As far as the rest of the characters in this show goes (essentially all male), they're basically all cardboard cutouts as well. Matsuoka is the typical noble bishounen with a "dark past", Yukimura (the third team member) is quiet, depressive and honestly kind of creepy, and then there's the overly-generic villain Midori who's just an all-round douchebag that enjoys hurting people. They all feel like they're solely there for the sake of being there, but without much thought put into it whatsoever. And the way they behave towards each other is completely unnatural. At one moment Matsuoka is almost pissing himself with fear just by looking at Midori, and in the next he's being super cocky and confident. Again, consistency please. There are also quite a lot of soft Yaoi vibes every here and there throughout the show, which I guess is to be expected given the fujoshi pandering but it still feels very out of place story-wise.
3. The "survival games"
Everything I've stated above is certainly problematic, but without a doubt the nail in the coffin is the execution of the so-called "survival games" themselves. Honestly I don't think the author has ever played airsoft before, or even studied up on how it works properly. I'm going to be very direct here: airsoft is primarily a game of tactics, stealth and precision. It's a game where you attempt to predict the opposing team's moves ahead of time, try to hide and ambush them by sniping them from the shadows, etcetera. I don't even think you need to have played the game before to understand that much. So what does Aoharu x Kikanjuu do then? Well... it basically treats airsoft like a battle shounen.
Do you know what you do with guns? You shoot each other with them. Yeah right, not in this anime; here you avoid using them, charge straight down the barrel of your opponent's rifle, *paralyze* him with fear just by looking at him and thus render him incapable of pulling the trigger, then run into melee range and finally bludgeon the guy by using your submachine gun as a club. Excellent work Tachibana; you were even able to outplay the guy using a freaking minigun by using this incredible strategy! Truly a job well done. While we're at it we should start teaching the military that there's no need for guerilla warfare any longer; simply running up to your enemies and punching them in the face sounds like a much more humane way of fighting.
Of course that's far from the only problem when it comes to how these games play out. People refusing to shoot when they have their opponents in their sights for no apparent reason, people having to hold cliché speeches and punchlines before pulling the trigger, people revealing their positions completely needlessly in order to have a "fair fight" with their opponent instead of just shooting them from cover, etcetera. The list goes on. Even more disturbing though, these games are seemingly completely unmonitored. Despite playing in a high stakes tournament, there are no cameras or anything inside the woodland battlefield. In other words there's barely even any point of having rules for this game; you could basically cheat as much as you'd like and no one will ever know. But I guess that's just another plot hole which we shouldn't think too much about and instead just pretend it isn't there.
So with all that said, is there anything good thing about this show? Well if there's one thing it'd be that despite everything it at least isn't boring. Incredibly annoying yes, but twenty minutes of Aoharu x Kikanjuu per week was not really a problem. It's kind of like watching a very low level football game; even if the content itself is lackluster, you can still probably find some enjoyment in it just by being a football fan to begin with. In the same way, despite the cringeworthy execution, Aoharu x Kikanjuu is so far the only anime I've ever seen about airsoft, so it gets some plus points for originality and for having a fun concept at least. But even with that taken into account it doesn't change the fact that it is still a very sub-par anime at best, and not one I would particularly recommend to very many people.
JackieNinja
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is a action, comedy, shounen genre anime about a girl named Tachibana Hotaru mistaken for a boy. This anime has personally exceeded my original expectations since the first episode. Just a quick warning this is my first review. Story: 9/10 The story mainly follows Tachibana Hotaru's point of view. The episodes have a smooth flow in them, it always kept me on my toes(engaged) and loves making me scream at the screen for another episode. As everyone might know this anime is being compared to 'Ouran High School Host Club’ and I have to say I agree. Aoharu x Kikanjuu really does havethat Ouran feel but since there two complete different anime’s don’t expect the same storyline. The storyline is very easy to understand because as the story begins to unravel you can tell where the story will be headed, it was very predictable at times but even so it was still very enjoyable to watch. There is a bit of a rush in some episodes but the story really recovers from those rushes. As you all know this anime is also a comedy anime, this scenes always seemed to make me laugh a lot and it really made my day a whole better.
Art: 9/10
The animation is very not that realistic but it very good to the extent that you can see everything clearly. The animation is unique because it really achieve certain moods throughout the series. I personally think this is the animation that would be the best for Aoharu x Kikanjuu i wouldn’t ask for a better animator. The character designs are very fitting, for example Matsuoka, Masamune is a host they have deliberity made him really hot and his friend Yukimura a very indoors looking character.
Sound: 10/10
The voice acting of the characters were really good they all matched up perfectly. Tachibana Hotaru’s voice actor was really amazing personally because her voice really did sound a lot like a boy’s voice at some points and it really made the character fit in to her role perfectly. The opening to Aoharu x Kikanjuu is great especially how the actual characters are actually singing the opening which makes the voice actors and opening in this anime the more better. If this were to be dubbed I think it wouldn’t be to the standard of the original voice actors. During the scenes that unfolded during the anime, OST’s were played and they all absolutely fitted into the scene and mood and the soundtracks was also one the aspects the exceeded my expectations for this anime, I would love to list to the OST’s if they are released soon. I loved both opening and ending because I just liked the songs that played especially the opening because the voice actors actually sang it.
Characters: 9/10
As every anime has are characters. The characters in Aoharu x Kikanjuu were really well-rounded they all had their strengths and weakness. The characters had the right reaction to every problem that popped up in a realistic way. I can really relate some characters from this anime to other anime’s as well and I have to say they really had some character development, you won’t notice it at first but you will. I would remember all the main characters in this anime because they all had their different personality’s and it was very enjoyable to see them slowly change.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I’ve already recommended this anime to many of my friends and it’s been positive feedback from them, how can you not enjoy a anime like this? It keeps you engaged, it makes you laugh and even makes you scream at the screen sometimes. Non-anime fans would probably enjoy this anime and as well as manga fans, anyone any age would. In future I am going to re-watch this anime again because it really makes my day watching it I would skip certain parts but not all of it. It was unique I don’t get this engaged with some anime’s most of the time.
Overall I give this anime a 9. To summarise the story is very engaging it keeps you on your toes. The animation really fits in with this anime because it pictures the characters with their personalities really well. The voice actors are just perfect they even sang the opening theme to the anime and you don’t see that much with most anime. The characters really develop during the series at first its not clear but at the end you can see they definitely changed a bit. I enjoyed this very much my friends did too so I think everyone in the whole world basically would too.
Errour
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is those stories that may be hit or miss, for some it might be annoying, for others it may be the start of something good. I fall in the later category. It may be annoying because there's no development of characters, for me Tachibana Hotaru is a promising main character, but there is a lack of background story, or intentions, that make her character quite annoying or plain. For example her sense of justice would be enjoyable if there would be a reason behind it, a story to tell us why this character think that way, but, as the story progress, it tell usthat her sense of justice is not what we all think of, hence the lack of explanation. But, Tachibana is also someone who stick to her ideals, values friendship and inspires others to go on; which makes her someone to admire, in some kind of way.
But, not every character lack a past of some kind, Yukimura is an example, you can watch him grow as a person and actually be fond of him as he helps each of the main characters to do what is right for the team, he has a background that explains his insecurities. Though sometimes his character might be annoying because of the unnecessary ero-anime love he has.
As for the story, it needs a second season, definitely. There's some parts of it left open that needed explanations. But, for twelve episodes, there's a rush in the story that kills it a bit, Tachibana's love for survival game is an example of it, since it grows from "I hate this, I just want to pay my debt" to "I need to play this game forever, I'm never going to stop" from one episode to another; also, there's quite the plot hole going on with the antagonists, since there's no reason behind their behaviour. However it also has points to love, for example the friendship between the protagonists that grows with every episode and, also, it kind of surprise that some characters are not what they seem, there's more than meet the eye!
The art is great, the colors from certain scenes left me breathless! there's nothing to complain there; also the OST is quite nice, I'm loving the opening song!
Overall, I recommend watching it because you may enjoy it, is not an anime for everyone, that's for sure, but you need to be patient with it, also the whole idea of survival game is really refreshing and unique, the art is well done, and the story is not so bad, so why not give it a try?
(ps. sorry for my english)
TenkaKuro
I first started watching Aoharu x Kikanjuu simply because I thought the art was beautiful. I had no idea what it was about at all. And thus, I can easily say that the art is one of the best points of the series (in my opinion), along with the soundtrack. After the first (few) episodes, I was surprised to see that I actually enjoy a series with 'survival games' as its theme/plot/however to call it. Story 8/10 In my opinion, the story itself could be much better if the pace were slower. If the actions, games and such were more detailed, with more depth. Still, I liked thegeneral idea of the survival games and tournaments and such.
Art 10/10
Like I've mentioned above, the art is the reason I actually started the series and of course, there are many animes with outstanding art, but in my opinion, Aoharu x Kikanjuu is one of them.
There were a few scenes where I just sit there, stare at the screen and think 'wow, that's drawn so beautifully'.
Sound 10/10
I liked the soundtrack - whether we talk about the opening/ending or in-between. It matched whatever was happening and yeah, I simply enjoyed the music.
Character 9/10
It would have easily gotten a '10/10' from me if one actually got to know more about all the protagonist (and of course, the other characters as well). I am pretty sure that the characters could have an interesting past, relationship to each other and who-knows-what, but apparently, it's not shown.
There are many interesting ones and, in my opinion, also quite a few really likable/lovely ones.
Some might turn out weird or the 'development' is kind of... unnatural/too fast, but overall if I thought about 'why did they do that?' the answer/reasoning usually comes to me rather quickly.
Although I am sure if one doesn't give much thought about the 'why', the characters might just appear as 'ridiculous'.
Enjoyment 10/10
I'm pretty sure that I would have marathoned the series if all episodes were out already when I started watching the anime.
There were still times where it was kind of 'normal'/'slow' compared to the usual pace of the series and some episodes were full of excitement.
It was funny, sometimes you might even get goosebumps or just excited/anticipating to see what would happen next.
Most of the time, I thought that it was amusing and enjoyable.
Overall 9/10
The part which I'm disappointed about is the fact that there was not enough 'character development' and 'story depth'.
Also, if the series had a few more episodes to spare, I think it would have gotten a lot better (more time for the events, games, characters etc.).
But apart from that, I still adore most of the characters shown, even the antagonist(s) are fascinating and the mixture of different personalities is interesting.
Dag4444
Blah blah, Ouran High School Host Club, blah blah. I haven't even seen that one, so I don't care and went in expecting nothing. That aside, Aoharu x Kikanjuu is one of the worst anime I've seen in a long time. I cannot say anything good about this one. The story follows main character Hotaru Tachibana, a reverse trap with a strong sense of justice. Hotaru is put under the impression that her friend Kanae was treated badly at this host club she visited. She goes to investigate and gets into a survival game (airsoft gun fight) with the place's owner, Masamune Matsuoka. The place getsdamaged in the process, and Hotaru is forced to join his survival games team, Toy Gun Gun (a really dumb name that they even point out as being dumb), in order to pay off the damages. This ends up just being an excuse to bring Hotaru into survival games as the paying off the damages part is hand waved pretty shortly afterward. Hotaru soon meets Toy Gun Gun's other member Tooru Yukimura. He initially hates her for no reason other than the fact that she's getting between him and "Mattsun" (his nickname for Matsuoka). However, he gets over it really quickly, within the course of one episode. After the team is together, they make it their goal to be the best in Japan. At this point, everything is relatively inoffensive, but the one-dimensional cast of characters and relatively unintersting story aren't earning it any points.
The anime goes downhill very quickly. There are two main conflicts in the show, one of them is incredibly pointless, and the other doesn't really go anywhere. First is the issue of Hotaru's gender. Her teammates (and pretty much everyone who doesn't know her) are under the impression that she's a guy. Not too much of an issue at first glance, but it turns out the Matsuoka doesn't allow girls on his team for reasons that you eventually find out, but it ends up not being something you can more or less figure out way before they actually tell it to you near the end of the series. Ultimately, this does nothing but stir up pointless drama. My issue with this is that they could have easily made Hotaru a boy, and the series would have been exactly the same. The issue of her gender is rarely addressed in a meaningful way. They almost came close in one particularly annoying episode somewhat centered around Kanae in which Hotaru is urged to be more feminine and avoid survival games, but what could have been something to address gender stereotypes in a thought provoking way ends up being nothing more than an episode where Hotaru strengthens her resolve through her friend. It's annoying enough that the point of the episode could have gotten across in a much better way if this was done through Hotaru interacting with her teammates, but it's even more infuriating that Kanae's character was clearly written just so this episode could happen. Her only character trait is that she's a girl with pink hair, and she acts as somewhat of a foil to Hotaru's masculine side. But a foils aren't nearly as effective if you almost never have the two of them interact. Without spoiling anything, the issue of Hotaru's gender never goes anywhere. She says she's going to tell her teammates, then you never see her tell them, so it feels like an annoying tease. To make things more insulting, there's even a scene near the end where Hotaru is grabbing Matsuoka's hand and he starts blushing (after doing no such thing the entire series). The groan I let out at the moment was beyond comprehension. It's almost like they're insulting you. Feels like somekind of really lame yaoi fanfiction.
The other conflict in the story revolves around Matsuoka and another survival game player named Midori. There's apparently some sort of history between the two of them. But ultimately it boils down to Matsuoka really wants to beat his team in a survival game. Outside of the games, when Midori interacts with Hotaru, he's almost creepily friendly. But during the games he's a terrifying sadist, or at least that's what they make him out to be. There's pretty much nothing interesting about Midori's character other than the fact that the story needed some sort of antagonist, so it's really hard to care about him. He's extremely one dimensional. There's not much else to say about this part of the story without spoiling it, but it ends up involving Matsuoka being tormented by his inferiority to Midori and the results of every big tournament his team lost. This doesn't go anywhere particularly interesting, but it ends up making for some really lame drama.
So, the story's pretty bad. The characters are pretty awful as well. On top of being a reverse trap for no reason other than to create some really stupid drama, Hotaru is an extremely frustrating character to have as the main character. She's one of the most annoying leads I've seen in a long time. She has that aforementioned sense of justice, but it's only brought up every once in a while when convenient. She grows to love survival games very quickly, and that almost becomes a point of contention and room for deeper characterization, but they do almost nothing with it. For whatever reason, she has some sort of intense bloodlust when she gets really into a game, but it ends up being nothing other than her eyes are drawn differently and she sort of moves faster. She's actually really bad with a gun, as you find out very quickly. Other than that, I want to slap her every time she opens her mouth. Just imagine an obnoxiously gung ho shounen protagonist with the emotional maturity of a 12 year old girl that gets really excited over everything.
Matsuoka is the closest thing to an intersting character as part of the story revolves around him getting over his issues, but it's extremely hard to care about him when he has so little screen time. It's almost like dedicating the plot to a side character.
Yukimura is extremely forgettable. He's a creepy shut-in, pervert that has no friends except Mattsun (and now Hotaru). He was bullied a lot back in the day, and Matsuoka was the one who stood up for him. So now he just has a creepy attachment to him. You could say he's the pervert who's incredibly clingly to Matsuoka and that'd be about the entirety of his character.
Every other character is garbage. I already talked about Midori, so I should mention the side characters... there's like three and I'd be lying if I said they were even fleshed out enough to be one-dimensional.
So, the two components that matter most, story and characters, are absolute garbage. There's nothing to be said about the music since I can't even recall a single track from the soundtrack, shows how memorable it is, and the art style is kinda bland. The animation is kind of acceptable, but nothing to write home about. So I can't even give it a point or two for that.
Finally, I need to talk about the action scenes. This could have been the anime's saving grace, but it was a total let down. All of the choreography of the surival games is out of whack. It's pretty clear that there was little to no spatial awareness in the planning of the action scenes. The best example I could cite: Hotaru is facing down an enemy. The shot implies that there's about 20-30 feet between them. Then when she runs at him, it looks like she's running the distance of a football field. Given that they were in a forest at the time, it's even worse since you could use trees as markers. There were only a few trees near them, yet Hotaru runs by a bunch of them. This sounds nitpicky, but it's really infuriating and totally immersion breaking when given that there's tons of room for realism in the game they're playing. Even stuff like that aside, none of these survival game scenes are particularly fancy. In fact, it often feels like they go out of their way not to show them to you. The first couple of episodes involved Hotaru getting totally hyped to get out and shoot people up, but instead of the viewer getting to see her try, it cuts to her instantly failing and leaving the battlefield. Even when we do see her in action, it's either totally lame or something stupid and immersion breaking like what I described earlier. And at this point I haven't even mentioned how everyone plays this game like they don't even want to win. They're not using real guns, it's not a life or death situation, yet everyone seems to rather talk menacingly to each other instead of just shooting each other. The number of times where someone totally would have gotten shot if the person holding the gun to them just shut up and pulled the trigger is way higher than it should be. How is anyone expected to feel any tension in this already incredibly low stakes (in the grandest scheme of things) game when people are practically refusing to do the only thing you do in it? It's like watching a really bad stereotypical shounen where a fight that could have taken ten minutes last three episodes because no one would shut up and do what they're supposed to be doing. So, the entire show falls apart even on a conceptual level. You're given a realistic game, why not let everyone play it realistically instead of like a really bad fighting shounen?
This anime is bottom of the barrel. It's certainly not the worst I've seen, but it's pretty close, and I wouldn't feel bad about lumping it together with the only other title I've given a 1 to. The characters are mindnumbingly bad, the story surrounding them gives you no real reason to care about it, and everything else is flat out unimpressive. Also, did I mention that it even manages to have an infuriating flashback filter? It even messes up in that department.
1/10 - I'd have more fun pounding my head against a wall
psychoalchemist
Meet Hotaru Tachibana, a girl with a strong sense of justice. She is easily mistaken for a boy, because of her broad shoulders, short hair, and confrontational attitude. She has an altercation with a host named Masamune Matsuoka, who mistakes her for a boy. In order to pay for the damage she caused, she joins his survival game group, Toy Gun Gun. The only problem? Girls aren't allowed! I believe the best way to describe Aoharu's issues in a word is: disorganized. There's comedy, but this isn't a comedy anime. There's some drama, but this isn't drama or tragedy anime. There's a cross-dressing female, but thisisn't a gender bender. And there's some action, but this is by no means an action anime. Like anime such as Kekkai Sensen, Aoharu x Kikanjuu spreads itself too thin over too many genres, and that is what leads to its downfall.
While Aoharu has survival games in it, it doesn't have enough action scenes, nor is the animation good enough to distinguish Aoharu as a good action anime. The art isn't amazing enough to be spellbound by it.
*SPOILERS in this paragraph*
Likewise, the anime's plot is weak. What is the goal of the anime? Is it for Hotaru to improve her skills? Considering she doesn't improve much, no. Is it for her to admit she's a girl? Considering that doesn't happen, no. Is it for Toy Gun Gun to win TGC or beat Hoshishiro? Neither of those happens, so no. Is it for Masamune to overcome his vendetta against Midori? While this does happen, it only surfaces as a huge repetitive issue in episode 11 and is solved in episode 12. So no.
*END SPOILERS*
Without strong action or plot, characters need to fill that void. Let's look at the characters--are they complex? Hotaru as a black and white view of the world; she sees everything in terms of justice. Masamune has an abandonment complex, but it literally only surfaces in the last two episodes. Yukimura, despite being the most entertaining character of the show, is flat. All we know about him is he is extremely attached to Masamune and is a perv. Midori is a sadist, which is fine, but we don't ever see why he wants to torment Masamune so. Fujimon is cute, but that's about it. And so on, and so forth. The characters, while entertaining enough at a superficial level, aren't three-dimensional. They're shallow, so they're hard to relate to. And I'm saying this despite my attraction to Masamune and Midori.
Make no mistake; this anime is not bad. I dragged my feet almost every week, but I was mildly entertained by every episode. Having two eye candy characters helped. But the flat characters, lack of depth, and disorganized storyline really detracted from my experience. (And yes, the fujobait bothered me, but not as much as those other issues.) I don't feel like this anime has changed me or taught me anything. Not to mention, the only thing I looked forward to all season--Hotaru confessing she's a girl--never happened. It's not a bad anime, but it's not very good either, by my standards. It's just average.
Overall score: 5/10
Do I recommend it? Not really. But it's entertaining, if you have some time to kill.
Koutsuna_sama
The first thing i noticed when i came to the page for aoharu x kikanjuu is thet there are surprisingly high rated reviews about this anime now the best i can do here is keep it short and just start off with some redeeming points for the show 1) art the art while not especially good or anything does not fall below the average mark and the only reason i decided to watch the anime was because of the display photo if it on anicha*t 2) animation again not great but has a couple of the moments in the show as well as the end part of theopening theme where i thought that this might actually give the show some points
3) sound
nothing stood out
opening was a little above average i guess
Now im sure there is a huge list of flaws but i'll try to list the major ones
1) story
terrible writing
incredibly frustrating
pointless in the end ( like everything else in life )
2) characters
bland
flat
uninteresting
( i know the three words mean the same thing bit im just emphasizing)
3) plot holes
more abundant than hydrogen molecules in a bucket full of water
too many to mention
so i wont even try
Overall
now i know this review sounds a bit too horrible with no redeeming points
in the end the fact remains that i still ended up watching all the aired episodes of the anime , and that is because of two reasons
1) im still relatively fresh to the genre so its not really as frustrating as a terrible sports anime or shounen for that matter
2)the concept that comes along the show , that of survival games and airosoft guns is refreshing , ( i didnt know about it in detail before i watched this show )
so thats fun
Final verdict
don't expect anything out of the show except maybe see some decent suva-game action
Justlike1984
Aoharu x Kikanjuu proves yet again how easy it is to take an interesting idea and stuff it full of unnecessary complications. Story and Characters: The story starts as Tachibana (actually a girl) mistakenly accuses a guy of seducing his, I mean her, friend. As compensation he has her join his airsoft team. Other than the strange fact that Tachibana never cares to correct people as to her gender, everything starts out okay. But this later becomes an unnecessarily large conflict when it's state the team MC join doesn't take girls. Unfortunately the show becomes less about airsoft and more about the ridiculous drama and conflict betweenMC's team, Toy Gun Gun, and another team Hoshishiro. The airsoft battles are okay, but you'd expect more in the way of strategy. The show draws little actual interest towards airsoft, which is surprising given that it's the main reason most people would pick up the show
Everyone takes their games seriously. Way too seriously actually. It's stated in episode 1. No training or skill is shown and it actually makes the viewers take it less seriously. As You'll find that the characters are simply a fujo's wet dream, with a neet homo manga writer, a guy who works at a host club, a sadist, and finally a boy who's not really a boy who ties it all together.
The strangest thing is Tachibana's sense of "justice". It's never really explained where this comes from though he mentions it frequently, and it's outright thrown out the window and turns into simply being her self-admitted selfishness later on. So it's just his own little meaningless character trait. The characters aren't good, and neither is the story.
Art:
Brain's Base put a lot into this and you can tell. Unfortunately for them it doesn't look like they'll get much out of it as preorder sales are abysmal. It would be more appropriate if they threw their money at making season 2s for their actual successes, even if they may not sell as well a the first, rather than throwing all their money into such a poor story.
Overall: 3/10
I actually enjoyed this series for around the first 6 episodes. It was a bit silly but it was fun to watch. But towards the latter half too much dumbly written drama and poorly attempted characterization came into play and it was hardly about the airsoft. I just wanted it to end.
It wish I would've been able to end the season saying this is a show I didn't regret watching because it seemed that way when I started. It proved that you can't pander to multiple crowds at different ends of the spectrum and get positive recognition.
Hopefully I never again have to write a review in which I spend more time correcting "his/he" to "her/she" again. If you want a show about actual airsoft, this isn't it.
animedork95
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is a fantastic anime. It is an awesome gender bender, an awesome sports anime, and an awesome friendship story. I feel like a lot of people ended up not liking this anime because they based their opinions off of the first two episodes and then were shocked with the turn it made once it really started in the 3rd ep. I want to clarify-- this is not Ouran High School Host Club with machine guns. There IS a host club in the beginning, there IS a girl who wears pants instead of a skirt, she DOES break something and initially is forcedto play on a team to repay her debts, and yes they mistake her as a dude. But this doesn't matter. After the 3rd ep, none of that matters because the beginning was just a quick means to introduce the main character to survival games (aka paintball with beebee guns). I'm not happy with how they did this or how they rushed it, but couldn't be bothered to care too much about it after I got to the amazing main plot.
Story:
If you enjoy dramatic sports animes with a slightly darker overtone, hilarious moments, and an emphasis on friendship, then this is for you. I was surprisingly entertained and excited about an anime about survival games. If you like paintball like I do, you'll probably be pretty thrilled since you never thought there'd be a paintball anime. But like any sports anime, it's dramatic. Sometimes it's hilariously dramatic, sometimes it's seriously, heart-string pulling dramatic, either way it's dramatic in a good way. What I really enjoyed about this story is that it progresses basically like it would if it were a male protagonist. She trains to get better, she sucks at first, but has great potential, and is determined to get better for herself and for her team. I really enjoyed this aspect of it.
Art:
It's nice, it's new style, it's smooth. Nothing really stood out to me regarding the animation, besides an occasional really sweet angle.
Sound:
The opening is fantastic. The song gets you pumped up, the animation really suits the song and gives it a darker feel, and it's sung by the voice actors of the three main characters which is always a good +1. I thought the soundtrack of the whole anime was pretty good. They're really good at pumping you up during battle scenes and at important moments, but I felt that their weakest link here was during the softer moments in the anime. They're really good at battle sequences, but during downtimes and more heart-felt moments, the music was either a little bland or just plain forgettable. I felt like they could have done better during these moments.
Character:
The best thing about this anime is the characters. Without trying to spoil anything:
Matsuoka is a host in all the best ways. He's attentive, a good listener, and also caring to a fault. As a captain of the survival team Toy Gun Gun, he successfully utilizes these skills to bring out the potential of his teammates. As a character, he's very well-done. The more you watch, the more layers you see of him, the more you find out why he acts the way he does, and the more you find out just how much they thought about his underlying personality. He's a great example of a well-developed and well-written character that can be both strong and sensitive.
Yukimura is hilarious. Yukimura is a hentai mangaka with racy tastes, and isn't afraid to show it. He's the type who would creepily sit in a corner reading porn magazines. He's also a first class survival gamer. Pretty early on you find out that he has a dark past that's led him to only trusting and relying on Matsuoka (Matsuoka also has a dark past that's been touched on in the anime but hasn't fully been disclosed yet). He brings this obsession with Matsuoka into the survival games, playing as a sniper who always has his back. Yukimura undergoes some amazing character development throughout the show. I won't go into details, but I'll just say it was nice seeing him become more trusting and also more independent as the show went on.
I'd also like to take a moment to say that the side and supporting characters were also interesting and nicely developed. For example, the "evil" team Toy Gun Gun is fighting against has striking characters who will quickly become either your favorites or your most hated. And then they'll be developed a bit more, and your view will quickly change from black and white to grey. I can't wait to see how these side and supporting characters will continue to develop in season 2 (really hoping for a second season).
Now for the main character. I could write a whole research paper on why Tachibana, Hotaru is such a good and necessary character. It's so refreshing to see a sports anime with a female lead who's actually treated like a proper main character. Tachibana is like a classic shounen lead: she's all about justice, likes to battle people who go against her sense of justice, and is athletically talented. She's also extremely naive at first and a little oblivious. But through a misunderstanding and a journey of self-discovery and friendship, she learns what and who she's fighting for. In the end, she matures into an even more amazing, and hilarious, lead who I hope to see develop even more in the future. For a shounen, this is a standard character setup. But for a female protagonist, this is anything but. Like "Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit", she is a physically strong protagonist who isn't afraid to show both her femininity and masculinity, holds her own against her male teammates, and is proud of being herself in all that that entails. She doesn't consider females weak, and she doesn't consider males strong. She believes in herself and her strength as Tachibana, Hotaru, just as she believes in Matsuoka and Yukimura's strength as her teammates. She is a valuable member of Toy Gun Gun and is, eventually, treated like a valuable member. Knowing both her strengths and her weaknesses, Matsuoka recognizes just how amazing Tachibana is, and just how amazing she could become. It is so exciting to see a female lead like Tachibana in a medium so devoid of well-written female protagonists (without a story solely focused on a love interest).
Enjoyment:
I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this anime. It was hilarious, it was thrilling, it was heart-warming, it was refreshing-- I can't say enough good things about it.
Overall: 8/10
While I loved this anime to death, there were some shortcomings regarding the first 2 episodes. Despite that, the anime was still a fantastic watch.
I would not recommend this to people expecting Ouran High School Host Club, people who're just in it for action and guns, people who want Ouran High School Host Club with machine guns, or people who're expecting a weak, moe female lead holding a large gun.
I would recommend this anime to people who enjoy sports animes, well-done gender bends, comedies, and heart-felt friendships.
Canaan
Eleventh Review....Aoharu x Kikanjuu! This series was introduced to me by a good friend of mine, she knew the type of anime that I am into so she suggested I watch this one. About a Girl pretending to be a Boy in order to be on a Shooting Team - Toy Gun Gun. At first I was a bit iffy in the idea that the girl pretends to be a boy, however I watched the first episode together with my friend and I absolutely loved it. I loved the fact that Hotaru (The Main Character) still has her friend and it shows us a bitof her everyday life before getting straight into the main event.
The story was well designed, about a tournament between Gun Shooting (Pretty much BB Pellets) and this team that Hotaru finds herself in. I really got into the story and enjoyed the series a lot, once I had watched a few more episodes I was really finding myself amused. The more the story picks up the more you are wanting to understand what had happened with Team Toy Gun Gun before Hotaru joined. It has it's serious elements but the series also has it's funny elements to keep you awake and not bored.
The Art was a favourite of mine, it was well developed and well put together, especially within the fights. The way that they produced the battlegrounds was also a nice sight and it shown a lot of detail that had went in to the story board of the scenes. Sound was also a good element, they had a nice range of instrumental music throughout and the opening was very well played. The sound made more of the battles come to life and gets you really into it and picks your interests up as the fight carries on, puttign you on edge.
The character development was very well introduced into this show, for Hotaru being the main character she was introduced straight away as one of these Tom Boys that like to protect the 'Princesses' and this made the main character even more enjoyable to watch. The next two main characters were Masamune and Tooru, these characters to me looked like a very nice pair that worked well together, they were a combined team of specialist tactics and this made them perform together a well developed character point. There is much unknown about these characters but as the story goes on the truth is unraveled and it slowly reveals their past and how it all ties together with the tournament.
I honestly didn't think I'd enjoy this as much as I have and I am proud to say that now having completed this it is one of my favourites. It was very enjoyable to watch and it was also at some points emotional. It keeps you hooked into the series in order to find out what happens and what the end outcome is. I actually was quite happy with how the anime turned out and how well it was put together, I loved the idea and concept of a Gun Battle and the character developments made this even more interesting to carry on watching.
P.S. This could totally be turned into a Yuri/Yaoi haha!
~ Canaan
*Spoiler*
Was upset that at the end of the series she still never mentioned that she is a she and not actually a he, so hoping for a second season at least for a follow up.
anilee0510
A surprisingly enjoyable series that is less plot driven and more character driven. The story wasn't terrible but it also wouldn't have been as engaging had it not been for its wonderfully interesting cast of characters. While I found Hotaru extremely off-putting initially, especially her use of illeism, eventually I grew to tolerate her and even found her somewhat endearing by the finale. Others I loved right off the bat: Yukki and Fujimon are hands down my favorites. One I can relate to so well, the other is basically a giant puppy. You pick up early on that AxK thrives on being extreme. At times,it's almost ridiculous how much weight they give the survival games and it teeters at the edge of being overly dramatic. The characters as well, while lovable, are also very predictable in terms of personality-types. What I wasn't expecting was how greatly exaggerated the character personalities were going to be.
I consider the art a fitting style for AxK. The animation, coloring, lighting, everything looks gorgeous and is definitely one of the best I've seen recently. I'm especially a fan of the scenes when Hotaru lets out bloodlust - again, an example of how this series takes everything over the top, but I say this with an amused fondness.
It had a heartwarming, very emotional season finale that made me go "d'awwww" for several minutes. I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for as season 2 as there were still several plot points that were briefly touched upon but never fully explored.
topratesnakewalk
ok so first off, I personally think a LOT of people do not give this Anime the credit it deserves. True there are some similarities between AoharuxKikanjuu and OHSHC so yeah. But really, with out all of the comparisons, I do believe this show has a pretty good plot line. I think people were hoping for a gory ripped limb from limb kind of anime. well they were sad Pandas once they realized that it was AirSoft wars... which were pretty well represented... Like seriously... have you ever been shot at point blank by a high powered battery operated air soft gun with hardplastic pellets? No? than you have NO idea how serious these "death battles" can be. Trust me you do everything in your power to avoid being shot at point blank.... OUCH!!!! X0 and yes I have participated in Airsoft war games. they are just like that... :) So the story line, although incomplete, people need to see that you can only fit so much into 12 episodes... this is clearly a call back anime.. which means there NEEDS to be a season 2 to close up the quote on quote "Plot holes" which I believe are on purpose in order to grip the viewer into wanting to know more. The art was top notch. As expected of Funanmation, and the sound and voice acting was incredible. although a little over the top with the Air Soft sound effects. the characters were very lovable except for the whole "all boys are idiots" theme that seems to be the rage nowadays. overall, I really did enjoy the anime. It was definately satisfying and I'm looking forward to a second season. So haters, go watch Cowboy Bebop... that seems to be a little more up your alley.. (a.k.a. TOTAL TRASH!!!)
icetly
SPOILER FREE REVIEW: If you are looking for a short, funny and enjoyable anime, with simple art and nice backgrounds, you should consider watching this anime. Story (6 out of 10): The beginning may seem like Ouran Host Club, but that's really just the first episode. The story revolves about a high school girl Tachibana Hotaru, who got drawn into the world of survival games by her two neighbours to repay a debt - the twist is that her two team-mates don't know that she's a girl (girls are forbidden in their team). If you want an anime with a deep and spectacular story, this mightnot be the anime. Don't get me wrong, I loved the story and it's quite simple and enjoyable. It was funny and the ending was great (somehow, the endings in anime always disappoint me, but this wasn't really the case). Although I would have liked to see a few more action scenes.
Art (9) and sound (9): The art was great and simple (just as I like it). The characters were nicely drawn and I loved the backgrounds. The sound effects weren't overused, as they are in many anime and the music was also great.
Characters (7 out od 10): Each character was different and had it's own personality. They were enjoyable and funny and I can't decide on my favourite one. As the series progresses, you find out more about them. But they didn't really develop, this is where the anime lacks.
Enjoyment (10 out of 10): Why did I give it such a score? It's funny, it's simple and perfect for a short casual watching. It certainly didn't dissapoint.
Overall: As I said, it's one of my favourites anime. It's simple, short and interesting, with likable characters and great music. You find yourself laughing every episode. I really hope for a second season. While the anime isn't deep, or spectacular, it's really really enjoyable, so I'm giving it a 9.
NekoMinSeo
Boy, Aoharu x Kikanjuu was one weird anime. It's seriously either a hit or miss with it; if you expect something similar to Ouran, walk away, you won't get it. Even if it could be, somehow, categorized as a reverse harem (depends how you look at it; at the core it's stil about one girl surrounded by bishies that get some kind of liking to her, romantic or just simply interest), the point and story of the show is something else entirely. Story - 5 It's plain mediocre. Nothing really happens and nothing really gets concluded, besides Mattsun's self-victimizing perception of himself and others, maybe andTachibana and Yukimura's developed friendship. The sketchy thing going around is the survival game part of it. Half of the show feels like some sort of Kuroko no basket; inventing skills that sound like magical powers and look extraordinarily awesome, but when you come down to it, there's nothing magical about it, it's just "talent" and "force of will". That looks awesome, yes, and the atmosphere at some points was unbearable and very tension-directed, but keeping it in context, however, that's a different issue entirely. The epic tense atmospheres were a lie; they were tense, but the reasons for the tension are mostly laughable because of how seriously they are taken and too trivial to take seriously overall.
The genderbend part is also an issue; while I do appreciate that the main girl doesn't just happen to genderbent for some specific trouble she had, but she's just simply "boyish" and that's really fresh, I hoped for that to cause a bit more of an issue and not be a "detail" that she was going to forget to mention for the whole show only to make a semi-issue out of it later, which in the end it won't matter in the slightest anyway. I do give it points for dragging it so far that some characters might question their sexuality though...XD
Characters - 6
There's this type of over the top emotional exageration prevailing through the main cast and, differenty from other people, I don't feel like completely bashing on it. I found it more than once to be laughable and exagerated, but there are stuff that to some people matter more than to the rest and I feel like that was made obvious when the contrast between Toy Gun Gun and other players was made. This made me believe that it was only Toy Gun Gun and Hoshishiro that took this game so seriously and personal, both of them because of personal reasons and needs that they couldn't get in their everyday lives. However, that was portrayed pretty badly. Mattsun's connection and relationship with Midori was only scratched down upon, as well as their relationships with the rest of the world too. There's not much development going on; it's more like "take it and believe it" type of situation. While I liked Mattsun's internal struggle in the last episode, I didn't feel like it completely justified the events before that.
In terms of likeability, Yukimura was the one that made me go "aww" for the most part of the show. He's totally creepy sometimes, but he accepted that creepiness despite not being commonly socially accepted for it. Development-wise, he also overall lacks, but it was sweet how in the end he found something to believe in, even if it was different from what Mattsun believed, putting a stop to his blind loyalty; seriously the most that you can get in terms of development in this show.
Art - 7
I think that the animation had a very important role when it came to the over the top exageration of the characters' reactions, and to be able to send shivers on my spine with an overall trivial reason, there's some skill to be praised here. Unfortunately, animation got quite bad during the last few episodes which were made of very simplistic backgrounds and flashbacks to which the characters simply spoke "upon".
Sound -6
Nothing deem of worth but I liked the opening song.
Enjoyment - 8
Despite realizing the laughable exageration of it all, I couldnt help but fairly enjoy it. I don't know if it was some sort of guilty pleasure or if I looked for something beyond what I actually got, but it would be a lie if I said I didn't wait impatiently for each episode.
Overall- 6
It could have been way better. After episode 12 I expected there to be an episode 13 to wrap something up, instead I feel like I was left hanging with only half story done. I hope it gets a second season or if it doesn't at least some sort OVA finale.
Kadrian
At first, I was like, another weak girl anime? But actually, the girl is a tomboy and as you venture further into the anime, you might even forget that 'he' is a 'she'. It has great action scenes, even though it is fake gun game but it has the atmosphere of a real gun battlefield. It is something like Ouran HighSchool Host Club. It has really great action scenes and heart-warming moments, and of course, heart-breaking moments. But the ending is really happy, FYI. Well, Please do give it a try if you are on the fence about this anime. It has great arts that isfor sure!
dakotasapphire
There comes a time in every anime viewers life when they come across something seemingly unique and are compelled to watch it. Either through stunning visuals, or an interesting synopsis, we dive into an anime world knowing full well it might just end up being 'meh.' Right, so here I arrive with this anime, Aoharu x Kikanjuu. Story: It was a 'good' story. The whole premise of them becoming the best in Japan at survival games was interesting, and kept me in it for the long run. What I didn't like is how they kept speeding things up further than they'd need to, they squished alot into one 12 episode anime leaving me somewhat unsatisfied.
Art: Possibly the strongest point this anime had. The action scenes were what kept me watching this, and the creepy close up shots on many of the characters faces made the show have stunning visuals (like I said above). The designs of characters and more specifically the secondary characters uniforms were really cool. I mean, it wasn't gurren lagann level of fantastic art, but it was really SHINY.
Sound: The sound felt out of place to be honest, there was too much elevator music. It's literally what you would of listened to waiting to get to the floor of your hotel room. It seemed too jazzy for the show, as no one really had a jazzy personality. Not even Mattsun had that spunky of a personality. The music didn't match the story. Regarding the intro song, it was fun to listen to. So the whole soundtrack wasn't a whole miss. And it wasn't making my ears fall off or anything. The voices were just okay. I thought midori's voice did a good job highlighting him being very sadistic and Yukki's voice matching him as being pretty dull/interested in perverted things.
Character:
I kind of wish this was a shounen-ai so instead of deliberately hiding that the main character is a girl most of the show, they'd of just had her as a him. The main 'girl' is pretty unfeminine and looks more like a uke to me.
If you like that the main character is a justice freak, well, you'll have a ball, but she falls a little flat in development. Not just physical (budum bum).
I liked the dynamics between the secondary character team and the first, but the characters really weren't developed any further than just being a tool to the action of the story and humor. It was ALL about the survival games and the friendship that made no sense to of been made (besides sharing an interest) and the loss of friendship. If you're okay with characters having no individuality past being 'sadistic' 'masochistic' 'bloodthirsty,' or 'mundane' then I guess you can watch it.
Overall:
It wasn't a BAD show by any means. It had great action, the art was spectacular, and it COULD be interesting at times. So it's a good action story that doesn't take up much time, and it's about a game that some of us play, and the passion that comes with it. I guess don't knock it till you try it?
lensaamiranda
Picture the bishounens of Ouran High School Host Club with guns. Toy guns. Yeah, it's about good-looking guys playing in survival games. Although those who have watched Ouran High will primarily notice so many similarities between these two shows that it kinda creeps you out. But don't worry, as the story progresses the similarities will fade out. STORY-6 The one thing I noticed about the story is the pacing. The pacing is inconsistent; some things that could be resolved quickly were dragged and things that are supposed to be given more screen time is cut short. For example, Tachibana the MC was almost immediately free of his debt, afterwe witnessed them playing like once or twice. The same goes for the biggest event;TGC, after Toy Gun Gun's (the MC'S group) match with Hoshishiro, there wasn't even a glimpse of the other teams' fight! It ended just like that. Huh.
However, things like Tachibana's insecurity or excitement could be short and sweet, but they made it long and it felt draggy. They just looove flashbacks...As a result, the action scenes were cut short.
Many things were also left unanswered, like what really happened between Matsuoka and Midori?? There is also one more thing that bothers me. The MC's gender is repeated too many times that it feels redundant. Like yeah, yeah, we know you're a girl already!
ART-7
The art is quite pretty, but it was not outstanding either. We'll get to see pretty sceneries sometimes, the character designs are also cute.
SOUND-7
The OP helped to set the mood, the soundtracks were relatively okay, but it wasn't really memorable.
CHARACTER-7
The characters are quite lovable, but they lack a solid background. That's why the characters felt kinda superficial. We don't know Tachibana's or Midori's background, and background building is very essential so that the characters don't seem superficial.
ENJOYMENT-8
Despite all the flaws, I enjoyed watching this series, paticularly the action scenes.
OVERALL-7
I gave a 7 mainly because of the inconsistent pacing and the lack of character-building. However, once you overlook those things, you can sit back and enjoy.
NewbieJun
Well then.... Second season maybe? Short Summary: Tachibana Hotaru is a high school student who is mistaken as a boy when in fact she is a girl. Through strange circumstances she finds herself in the world of survival by a host, Matsuoka Masamune. They form a team with a ero-manga artist Yukimura Tooru and aim to be the best in Japan. So to start off: Japan are you getting in that trend for survival games? There has been a few survival game animes lately; not that I don't like it but is it a trend in Japan now?? The story was so-so because so far I've seen two similar animes whereone gets super dark later on and the other is just comedy based.
This on the other hand is like a mixture of both; just slightly.
The story follows the world of survival games and how it came into Hotaru's life.
The characters kind of annoy me in the sense that they are not really honest with themselves...
It's interesting to see how the meaning of a word changes depending on a person and how different it can be from it's original meaning. This is the case with Hotaru and her sense of justice (Pretty much Seryu from Akame ga Kill)
It's not a bad series to watch, I enjoyed watching it and I can see that there will be a second season (Thank god).
BanjoTheBear
(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) I have never shot a gun. I have held my uncle’s small pistol, though. He carries it around for self-defense purposes. He let me hold the weapon during a birthday party for one of my relatives, and I, rather stupidly, raised the gun up instead of aiming it downwards. Everyone was quick to yell at me and for good reason. Guns are dangerous. We watch action flicks, we play first-person shooters, and we read jokes about weapons, desensitizing us to their power. It is not until one is wielded that someone truly understands what it isthat he or she is holding.
Before real guns, there are the imitations, usually called BB guns. They shoot pellets, not bullets, but they are still dangerous and, for some, as fun as the real thing. Aoharu x Kikanjuu is filled to the brim with guns of this type and the survival games that incorporate their use. Although the guns are not actually the focus. They are the setting for the anime but not what the anime wants to talk about. Instead, the show concerns itself with heavier dilemmas. Deceit, rejection, and perseverance which, coincidentally enough, each occur in the very games the show shows.
My earlier recollection was sort of misleading. I have used a paintball gun before, during a friend’s birthday. I was there with a bunch of other friends. I had on the goggles, the camo gear, and the big boots. Running around the obstacles and pretending as if I was in a real warzone was fun. Then I got hit with a paintball. And it hurt. A lot. I remember the stinging, despite the layers of clothes I had on, and the welt afterwards. Though if I had a choice between getting hit with another paintball and watching Aoharu x Kikanjuu again, I would brace myself for the stinging.
STORY
Where to even begin?
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is a drama. Ironically, that is one of the anime’s biggest problems. The setting and subject matter, while filled with adrenaline, is not an intense pastime. It is not supposed to be taken extremely seriously. But the anime refuses to follow this sentiment. Instead, the show takes this fun and nonlethal activity and turns it into the most over-the-top and overly dramatized piece. The show always showcases the events, such as the main competition or a duel in the woods, as life-or-death scenarios, contrasting too heavily with the fun hobby that the characters partake in. The anime tries so hard to be dramatic but because the subject matter is not as emotionally-driven as it believes itself to be, the result is the feeling that something is off. That something is just not working.
This feeling persists throughout the entire season because Aoharu x Kikanjuu almost exclusively focuses on drama. Said drama permeates everything; whether it is Matsuoka pushing Tachibana out of a door or Yukimura arguing with Matsuoka, the anime always grossly dramatizes whatever happens to exist on screen. Comedic bits exist, but these moments are quick interjections rather than a focal point. The comedy works better than the drama, but since the drama comes off as awkward, the comedy is unable to act as the buffer it was designed to be. Thus, instead of resting alongside the drama, the comedy is jarring, breaking what was already hurting.
But the drama being as ineffective as it is does not explain why the drama itself turns out that way. So, what is causing the show to, figuratively speaking, shoot itself in the foot? This leads into the second problem: the monologues. The plurality is slightly misleading; there are more monologues in Aoharu x Kikanjuu than there are guns in the anime. That is a lot of time spent on monologues. Yet, again, monologues on their own are not inherently negative. In fact, monologues are often nice ways of conveying the inner thoughts of a character that might normally be impossible to hear. Aoharu x Kikanjuu, however, does not use monologues of this kind regularly. Instead, the anime opts for the messiest options. Tachibana will commentate on the most obvious of happenings. She might raise questions that the audience is already pondering. Or she may recount, word for word, what she is about to do or what someone else has done or felt. In short, the anime does the complete opposite of the “show; don’t tell” philosophy by constantly telling everything that is going on, at all times. This stream of monologues is not only relegated to Tachibana. Matsuoka, Yukimura, and even some of the unimportant side characters frequently describe exactly what is going on around them, to the point that the audience would not even have to be watching the anime in order to understand what is occurring on-screen.
The third problem also explains why the heavy drama never seems to act as intended. Flashbacks are rampant throughout the season. Much like the monologues, flashbacks on their own are not an issue. They are used to reveal the pasts of characters to develop said characters or to present events outside of a chronological order. That is to say, flashbacks, when used correctly, serve a wonderful purpose. Aoharu x Kikanjuu does not use flashbacks correctly. Instead, almost every single flashback is used to recount a specific moment from the season. A character said that one thing? Flashback. Someone is trying to remember what happened during the match? Flashback. Currently in a battle? Flashback. There are some nice uses of flashbacks within the anime – Tachibana’s best friend has a flashback that encourages Tachibana to move forward and Matsuoka’s character is largely developed through flashback. But the vast majority of the flashbacks exist as nothing more than unnecessary interjections that chop up the events portrayed and, subsequently, prevents the drama from being as emotional as it wants to be.
Arguably one of the most important plot points – the reason for the disbandment of “Toy Gun Gun” – is based on a flashback. More specifically, it is initially given as a false flashback. Lying is a staple theme in Aoharu x Kikanjuu, evidenced by Tachibana’s gender-hiding ruse. Her lie shapes the way the plot progresses. She is let onto the team because she lied, she is motivated by the original lie, and she loses the main tournament because of her lie. Her lie is a white lie but it permeates the anime from start to finish.
Therefore, it is not inconceivable to assume that the show handles this theme appropriately, but the fourth problem is encountered instead. Aoharu x Kikanjuu strangely concludes without Tachibana coming clean. A lot of fuss about her predicament is brought up as the show nears its end. It seems as if the anime is going to reach the type of resolution befitting the show’s own ideas. But no. The anime elects to keep the lying. Despite Yukimura explaining what really went down years ago. Despite the enemy not revealing her secret so that she could tell them herself. Despite the countless opportunities she had to tell her comrades and friends the truth. The anime ends with the group determined and closer than ever, yet Tachibana’s lie still persists, making the whole lying concept more of an aside rather than the important motif it was meant to be.
Why is it that Aoharu x Kikanjuu does not bring closure to its theme? The main reason is to leave it up in the air as a possible point of contention in a continuation. This, quite frankly, is cheap. Her lie is a major plot point that is leaned on constantly throughout the season but is ultimately quasi-closed – Tachibana is hopeful that a future chance will arrive for her to finally reveal who she really is, but the audience never sees said chance. This highlights the fifth and final problem of Aoharu x Kikanjuu’s narrative: the inept handling of specific scenes. The ending is only the beginning.
Another weird moment is when the anime emphasizes a seemingly important character at the café Tachibana, Midori, and Fujimon visit. His face glowers at the mention of “Toy Gun Gun” because he is, presumably, the second member to have voluntarily left the group (before Tachibana and after the first girl). But nothing ever happens with this man. He does not show up again let alone has a role in the narrative. Another example is the main tournament, TGC. There is a ton of build-up to the tournament, such as its purpose, its meaning, and so on. Furthermore, most shows would have the two rivals square off at or near the end in order to build even more tension. But in Aoharu x Kikanjuu, the battle happens in the very first round. The audience does not get to the see the TGC event at all, reducing the overall amount of gunplay shown and the overall amount of tension. Then, when Tachibana, Matsuoka, and Yukimura lose, the anime skips ahead, ruining the pacing that had already been established. These two examples are the most egregious in terms of breaking the narrative, but there are other examples. The ridiculous gun duel at Matsuoka’s place of work and Tachibana walking into a hospital with a large black bag that contained her (fake) gun are more instances where the anime simply does not make sense.
Five major problems in total for Aoharu x Kikanjuu’s narrative. As they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me five times…that is just unacceptable.
ANIMATION
Without a doubt, Aoharu x Kikanjuu’s strongest facet is the art and the animation that it contains.
The art especially has an elevated amount of quality. Forested areas are rife with detail, as are the apartments of the characters and the city areas they visit – the gun shop, a café, and so on. Contrary to the drama’s execution in the narrative, the drama further boosts the art. Sinister depictions of elite gun wielders, shifted camera placements for demented shots, and fluffy edges for the flashback sequences are varied ways in which the anime diversifies its artistic direction. Other examples, such as special particle effects for pellets hitting targets and the menacing eyes and smiles of the characters, further demonstrate how dedicated Aoharu x Kikanjuu is to making its art as dramatic as possible.
Actual animation can be hit or miss, but for the most part the anime manages to, once again, use a lot of tricks that make its animation more involved than it otherwise should be. One of the more intricate scenes is when Midori outs Tachibana to confuse her temporarily. When Tachibana gets shot in the head, the anime goes into slow-motion. While slow-motion animation is common, the environment was currently in a thunderstorm, meaning the rain droplets slowed down as well. The rain helps to accentuate the slow-motion, even more so when this effect is used for only a few seconds – everything is normally animated, the slow-motion is used, then the show snaps back to its normal animation. A sequence like this is rarer, though. Tachibana jumping off of a mini-gun or her flying through the air while shooting her own weapon are nice to see but the anime, due to the constant stream of monologues, has a lot of characters standing around and talking, either to themselves or to the person next to them.
Still, the extent of the actual animation is nothing to scoff at. Despite the more animation-intensive moments being the exception, the anime has its cast running around shooting their guns quite a bit. Not every episode has them taking part in a battle, but enough are present to make the anime feel as if it is focusing on the gunplay. Besides the running and the shooting, characters also have hair, limb, eye, and mouth movements during the season that equate to a higher amount of actual animation and subsequently better overall execution.
The character designs are the only section of the art and animation that are not as grand. Tachibana, while androgynous in her depiction, is a bit too plain. Beige hair, green eyes, and constant school uniform make her out to have quite the dull design. Matsuoka is handsome, with his spiky blonde hair and pretty face, but this side of him only really comes out when he is on the job. If anyone, though, has an argument for their design, it would be Yukimura. His glasses, black and frazzled hair, and long-sleeved sweater paint him as the recluse that he is. To be fair, when the characters are participating in their survival games, their designs change. Jackets, scarves, and hats replace their regular attire to help the audience understand the transition from normal to game life. These, at the very least, demonstrate that the anime put some thought into the designs of the cast.
Of course, this is technically a realistic setting, so having wacky character designs would go against said realism. However, the lack of aesthetic appeal in the designs does little to improve the impact of the cast, consequently reducing the effectiveness of the drama and therefore the execution of the anime.
CHARACTERS
For Aoharu x Kikanjuu, the cast once again misses the target so much one would not be mistaken in thinking that this was not an anime about shooting guns.
The first oddity is the anime’s fixation on obsession. Not with the guns but with the people. Yukimura, Fujimon, and Ichi each have an unhealthy obsession with the leader of their group, Matsuoka for the former and Midori for the latter two. Fujimon’s is based on a masochistic fetish and Ichi has romantic feelings for Midori. Characterizations, but they are unfounded. Both Fujimon and Ichi never have their backgrounds explored, their infatuation with Midori less a cute connection and more a weird relationship. Yukimura fares slightly better; in the past, he was betrayed by people he thought he could call friends. The only person to stand up for Yukimura was none other than Matsuoka. Yukimura still turns into the loner he is, though. He secludes himself, focusing on his (perverted) work, himself, and, most important to him, Matsuoka, the only friend he could truly call his friend. Thus, his obsession with Matsuoka, while still a bit strange, has some sort of reasoning behind it.
But that is the extent of Yukimura’s character. Outside of this beginning revelation, he contributes little else besides the occasional perverted joke or plea for help. This affects all of the characters – nobody seems to have “enough” about them. Matsuoka is known as a swinger of sorts. It is not until the final episode that the audience learns of his fear of rejection. That is why he works as a swinger; surrounding himself with other people compensates for the hole he has in his heart. That is quite the nice character trait in terms of writing. Yet, similar and opposite to Yukimura, this trait is revealed once at the conclusion. Having his last few lines about his person at the end are fine, it is Aoharu x Kikanjuu never hinting at such a deeply troubling issue – at all – throughout the season that comes off as sloppy. As if the anime had forgotten to make his character relevant during the season until it was too little, too late.
Midori, unlike both Yukimura and Matsuoka, has a bit more going for him. By day, Midori is a doctor, saving the lives of the people who visit him. By night, Midori reveals his true personality, that of a deranged and psychotic sadist who relishes in the pain of the enemies he “kills” during the survival game matches. He is two-faced, but he understands how to separate his one life from the other. Midori is arrogant, cocky, and manipulative, all of the makings of an evil villain. Though he is not all evil; he guides Tachibana towards fixing her relationship with Matsuoka and, while his crazy actions are in fact insane, his feud with Matsuoka is not entirely his fault. In this way, he is to some degree a complex character.
Tachibana is somewhat similar in the sense that she, too, is two-faced. This obviously applies to her gender reversal. She is a girl who acts and looks like a boy, but she is not so much acting as she is just extremely tomboyish. But this also applies to her main characteristic: a passion for justice. Tachibana has an immense sense of duty. She feels it is her responsibility to quell the bad in the world and to let the good rise to the top. Or so it appears. The “justice” she often invokes is a negative force that consumes her completely to the point that she becomes the very evil she seeks to quash. That is, it is revenge, not justice, that she pursues. Her lying about herself is also not the most justice-esque move one can do, meaning no matter how much good she fights for, her hypocritical nature contrasts harshly with her known behavior.
For both Midori and Tachibana, there is “more than meets the eye”, but there is simultaneously nothing else for the eye to meet. The development they receive, especially in Tachibana’s case, is nonexistent. Midori remains more or less the same, conniving man as when he is first introduced, and Tachibana, due to the story’s stalling, never goes through her full arc. She stumbles along the way with the guns and her own determination, but those are dips in the growth graph as opposed to recognizable turning points. Matsuoka and Yukimura already have shown their own incompetence as characters. Adding Midori and Tachibana, the main antagonist and the main protagonist, respectively, into the same category only serves to make the whole of the cast an underwhelming offering.
Looking at the separate pairings more closely, a pattern of parallelism begins to emerge. The composition of their groups mirror one another – two guys and one girl – as do the personalities of the people that make up said group – someone obsessed with the leader, a situational lunatic, etcetera. And most important of all, they all share the same passion: survival games. The two groups share a lot of similarities, yet there is a clear distinction between them: one is more successful over the other. Midori and his group have continually won the main survival game event for the past few years, indicating the closeness of their group and the power of their collective abilities. Matsuoka and his group, in contrast, have continually lost each year. Worse still, each time they lose they lose a member. It is three-fold: Yukimura’s abrasiveness towards others, Matsuoka’s own insecurities, and Matsuoka’s rivalry with Midori drive the third teammate away. Matsuoka’s group is never cohesive and always broken. The bonds they share with each other are not taut in the slightest. This is why he and his team fail whereas Midori and his team manage to win. Midori, Fujimon, and Ichi trust one another completely. “Toy Gun Gun” does not. Yukimura did not trust Tachibana with their storied past. Tachibana did not trust in Matsuoka’s leadership. And Matsuoka did not trust himself to keep both Yukimura and Tachibana loving the game that he himself had come to love so much.
Now, this all sounds nice on paper, but the execution is a different matter. Even disregarding the lack of depth for Fujimon’s and Ichi’s characters, Aoharu x Kikanjuu does not make this comparison explicit. Individually the cast is placed side-by-side at times, but without the anime increasing the scope of its comparisons, the parallelism it was seemingly shooting for is lost. Furthermore, while the exploration of the relationships between Matsuoka, Yukimura, and Tachibana exist, the same cannot be said for Midori and his friends. Despite how much Midori, Fujimon, and Ichi succeed together, the anime rarely shows how close they are to one another. In fact, Midori takes advantage of Fujimon’s kindness and Ichi treats Fujimon with disrespect, as if their “friendship” is anything but. Meaning, the parallelism is not lost because it never existed in the first place.
In the end, the cast of Aoharu x Kikanjuu is difficult to justify. Yukimura, Ichi, and Fujimon are clearly lacking strength, Matsuoka’s character is poorly handled, and both Midori and Tachibana, while characterized well, needed more throughout the season. And even though parallelism can be found, it definitely is not working as intended.
SOUND
The opening theme for Aoharu x Kikanjuu is rather upbeat, contrasting harshly with the anime’s dramatic mood. Surprisingly, the song is not overbearing due to the mellowness of the singing, once again going against the show’s usual overbearing drama. Still, the song can instill that feeling of longing, coinciding with Matsuoka’s, Yukimura’s, and Tachibana’s own longing for one another. A nice touch is the combination of vocalists that get all three involved in the piece which works well with the guitar and drum beats. Catchiness does not find a home in the first half but it does find one in the second half, making the OP an overall solid offering.
The same cannot be said for the main ending theme. The ED is a smattering of noise, caused by the erratic lyrics, the tonal shifts, and the likeness in instruments to the OP. Vocal-wise, there is not enough power to match the piece’s sense of regret and eventual triumph, resulting in a dissonance between what is heard and what is felt by the audience. At the minimum, the ED at least contrasts nicely with the OP, providing a wider range of feelings – regardless of how expertly they were incorporated – for the audience to experience.
Voice acting is by far the best part of the sound-work within Aoharu x Kikanjuu, although not everyone gives a grand performance. Mikako Komatsu as Tachibana uses a voice that walks the line between male and female, a perfect fit for the tomboy. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Yukimura demonstrates his chops once more with a reserved and higher-pitched voice to match the recluse and slightly effeminate dude. Tomoaki Maeno as Matsuoka has his moments, such as when Midori confronts him at TGC or is ashamed of his decision-making skills, but otherwise he provides an average performance. The same can be said for Kazuyuki Okitsu as Midori; he has the “holier than thou” way of speaking but does not particularly stick out from the crowd, lessening his role as the main bad guy. Finally, Ryouhei Kimura as Fujimon also deserves a shout-out for his subservient way of speaking when referring to Midori.
As for the remainder of the soundtrack, the OST is another step down. Jazzy ensembles with blaring trumpets are used for the explanatory moments. Acoustic strings for the uplifting ones. Eerie tones that make the sadder scenes that much more painful. Standard fare for many an anime. Aoharu x Kikanjuu also includes an extra ED – played precisely once, at the end of the eighth episode – that is decidedly darker than both the OP and the main ED, fitting snuggly within Aoharu x Kikanjuu’s plotline at that time. And there are, of course, more emotional pieces, such as laidback piano tracks and reminiscing violin ones, all of which aim to achieve the same kind of emotion that the anime sought.
Unfortunately, these more emotional pieces follow the show’s execution of its drama, being incapable of invoking the kinds of responses necessary for the scenarios they surround. And no matter which track is listened to, they are highly forgettable. This, combined with the fact that the most important tracks are not as impactful as they need to be, makes the OST lackluster.
ENJOYMENT
There was exactly one – one – instance in the anime where I derived satisfaction: the scene following Tachibana and Kanae’s “race.” She acts like an awesome friend, a heartfelt message is given, and, best of all, a romance-oriented joke is had. Before and after this scene, I dreaded watching this show.
I hated Tachibana’s persona. I did not much care for her sense of justice and her constant whining. I especially loathed her when she went psycho. It was a combination of the animation, art, and lame way she acted while going berserk. I could not take her seriously when she acted normally, so when she turned into somebody that was even more annoying than she was, I could not stand having or listening to her on-screen.
The actual survival game sequences were boring. I did not find it fun to watch Tachibana or anyone else run around walls, a few metal barrels, and a heaping of foliage just so they could shoot a few BBs that sometimes found their target and sometimes not. For me, watching gun duels is just not exciting. It is a lot of sitting, stalking, and waiting, as opposed to sword duels where swiftness and deftness are valued more. Plus, every move in a sword duel counts. Each move has (literally) more weight. With guns, spraying-and-praying is a way to approach the enemy, one that the anime uses more than a handful of times, and in only a select few instances is hand-to-hand combat relied on. If I was the one doing the firing, then the feeling would most certainly change. But as much as the show tried, I simply could not find entertainment in the survival games they showcased.
That is not the end of the torment for me, though. Midori’s impeccable behavior – where he does everything right and can never do any wrong, no matter what happens – is a character trait that immediately gets on my nerves. All of the monologues were grating quite early on, mostly because the anime simply could did not have the right type and amount of emotion throughout. The ending, where Matsuoka suddenly has feelings for Tachibana but he (understandably) has no idea why, is such a cheap way to try to inject some romance into the anime where none was previously present. These nuances range from minor to major, but since they all occurred within the same anime, they compounded to the point that I could almost not care any less about this show.
Aoharu x Kikanjuu is survival game drama incarnate. Other than the nice animation and art pieces, the story is awful, the characters are a mess, their designs are usually boring, the music is hard on the ears, and the entertainment is nearly nonexistent. On second thought, make that two paintball hits.
SUMMARY
Story: Terrible, heavy drama feels unnatural, too many nonsensical internal monologues, misused flashbacks, theme on lying is poorly handled, and specific, inept scenes destroy the narrative
Animation: Good, artistic direction follows the drama, above average actual animation, and a mix of detailed and boring character designs
Characters: Bad, Yukimura, Fujimon, and Ichi are very weak, Matsuoka is handled poorly, Midori and Tachibana are okay, and the parallelism between them all needs more attention
Sound: Bad, okay OP, bad ED, bad OST, okay VA performances
Enjoyment: Terrible, annoying characters, boring action, and other nuances quickly added up to a miserable experience
Final Score: 2/10
