Putting any gimmick into your average action show with romantic comedy has been a staple of a tradition for quite some time. Some succeed, and some don’t. Which, in most cases, doesn’t work because it is nothing more than a gimmick in hindsight. So what better way than to plaster guns into your generic romantic comedy in the title and artwork and pray that action fanatics might have some slight interest. Look no further than Hidan no Aria to fill in another entry in the wrong category.
Nevertheless, it is not necessarily the shallow spectrum point in the category. For all I know, there are some apparent intentions of becoming a straight-up action show, and it succeeds somewhat in that department. There are some impossible logic drops scattered throughout most of the action. But for a show that is this inept plot-wise, there isn’t any reason to bash it any further. It wants its effort to be flashy and fast-paced. So by those standards, there are plenty of engaging conceptual scenarios they put into them.
Like any show that stars Rie Kugimiya as the main heroine and a tsundere non-surprising, there is bound to be light-hearted comedy thrown in for good measure. When I mention “good measure,” I mean that haphazardly. When the humor is right in Hidan no Aria, it is put together and hilarious to watch Aria’s reactions to anything lewd. But man, when the jokes do not work, they fucking die horribly. It’s not the fact the quips themselves aren’t humorous, but the way they pace it together feels dragged out far too long than it needed to be. There’s even one instance where Aria calls Kinji a baka repeatedly for almost 8 seconds, and it becomes tedious to experience.
These comedic interactions also falter because most of the characters are cardboard cut-out characters of different stereotypes and add nothing significant to them. All we can remember about them is the typical gags written for them. Shirayuki is a creepy childhood friend who has an intense crush on Kinji and gets jealous whenever a girl is close to him. Then there is Riko Mine, who somehow has an attraction towards Kinji that is never given much context as to why she wants him to begin with. No amount of layers upon layers of depth could be seen in any of them because of this fatal flaw. If you're going to show these girls in these positions, that is perfectly fine, but don’t expect someone to latch onto them for just those assets.
I’d put some forward analysis on our male protagonist, Kinji Tooyama, only because there is something that needs to be said about protagonists typically written in these types of shows. We’re all familiar with the general romantic comedy protagonist who gets flustered and becomes idiotic. It is a redundant trope that we have gotten used to over the years; except with Kinji, he is not a character that possesses this trope. You’d think that would lead to him being likable, right? Well, the answer to that is yes and no. Nothing really to him makes him inherently riveting to watch in guiding through the plot, what little there is, to begin with. Just like the main female cast, all we’re shown about him is what his role is in the story and nothing else.
Usually, I’d like to talk about a show’s plot in the first paragraph, but for Hidan no Aria’s sake, I won’t even give it the time of day for that honor. Not only that, but it almost seemed as though the plot was very second nature to the show’s intentions. Even though it looked like it wanted to, based on how it tried to put in a severe tone what seemed to have been a plot, it provides very few attempts to weave in a coherent story. The story is not only uninteresting but also difficult to follow because of the bad transitions to mindless comedic moments.
With Rie Kugimiya on board with the main project, it’s always apparent to at least talk about the voice acting in the show she appears in. However, Aria is not one of the big highlights of her career. I say this from someone who may not be a huge fan, but I at least respect the range and energy she puts into her roles. It’s one of her roles where if you absolutely can’t stand her voice, Aria will not turn you into a new convert for her fanbase. Her iconic “baka” is probably the most thrown out in this show, more than any other show she’s been in, so that right there should signify whether you want to stomach through that or not.
No expectations were any higher than medium when I went into Hidan no Aria. Still, I was surprised to say that its negatives don’t overshadow the positives too much. That, however, can’t make it a recommendation by any stretch. It won’t appeal to the people who want an insightful anime-watching experience. But it’s not going to be an easy sell for the action crowd. Don't expect much from it if you think you can repeatedly handle the screaming “baka” lines and the other nauseating character interactions.
Grade: C-