Back Arrow always sounded like pure fire to me. The director of s-CRY-ed/Gun x Sword/Code Geass with the writer of Gurren Lagann/Kill la Kill/Promare. The plot description was cryptic, the character designs showed cowboys AND samurai, it had mechs because why the hell not. INJECT THIS INTO MY VEINS!

It immediately mystified me how nobody liked this damn show when it came out. Criticisms of "it's too dumb" and "there's too much character focus" meant nothing to me. It had the right amount of dumb and the character-focused episodes were fun. This is not a show that you take seriously. It's the director of dumb shit and the writer of dumb shit, of course it's dumb shit and I like it for what it is. There was never a moment when "the hype died" for me. It lessened, for sure, but I never got sick and tired of Back Arrow.

Although it helps that I like the characters in Back Arrow. The characters are the backbone of this series. If someone came up to me and told me they didn't like Back Arrow because they hated all of the characters and thought they were annoying, I'd totally get it. Fortunately, I liked all of the characters in Back Arrow. From the naïve but likable MC that the show is named after, the cartoonish comic relief cowboys & cowgirls, the always mysterious Shu Bi, and who can forget the main antagonist of the series that is LITERALLY FUELED BY WINE! Single best part of the show: Demyne Shaft's choir. They show up like three times in total but every time they do it brings a smile to my face.

However, Back Arrow is not flawless. Goro Taniguchi hasn't been relevant for the last 10 years and it shows here. Anyone could have directed this. Nevertheless, he did a good job. I hate to admit it, but Kazuki Nakashima's writing absolutely fits Hiroyuki Imaishi's manic style more than Goro Taniguchi's. It was dumb fun but it could have been more. The plot could have been far wilder. It's diet Nakashima, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. My biggest problem was the music. It's all forgettable, from the OPs/EDs to the actual OSTs. No offense to Kohei Tanaka but he does not compare to Kōtarō Nakagawa and especially not Hiroyuki Sawano.

Also, one more thing I want to point out. If you're a sub elitist and almost never touch dubs, just skip to the next paragraph, this will not affect you.

Having seen all of the sub and, at the time of this edit, half of the dub, I can say for certain that the English dub is the superior choice. The dub actors clearly understand that this show is goofy as hell and have loads of fun with it. Honestly, I think the dub enhances the show's viewing experience a lot. Watch in whatever language you prefer, but in this reviewer's opinion, go for the dub.

Honestly, those are my only problems with Back Arrow. I like the writing, the story constantly kept my attention through a couple twists and turns to spice things up, and the characters are all memorable and fun to watch. The animation isn't Trigger but I expected worse. It's clean and inoffensive, and the CGI mechs mesh pretty well with the 2D animation.

Back Arrow is fun. It is a fun 24 episode action show. It is not the best or the worst, it is a completely satisfactory experience. Very underrated and recommended from me.