Lycoris Recoil caught my eye because of it's interesting trope, cute girls who fight terrorism. The stark contrast between cuteness and warfare is something that has been done before and will surely be done again. Lycoris Recoil stands out in that aspect, whenever Chisato Nishikigi is around the mood always lightens whereas Takina Inoue does the opposite. Like the contrast between cuteness and warfare, the differences between Chisato and Takina give the feeling that whenever they are together something funny will undoubtedly happen. Cafe Lycoreco helps immensely in that aspect, it acts as a base of operations for Takina and Chisato while also creating the perfect atmosphere for sassy interactions between the two of them and the other members of the cafe.
Then there's DA, an organisation that fights crime undercover, and the antagonist of the story, Majima. We aren't given much information on either of these which I believe to be a mistake. I would have loved to have an episode explaining Majima's past and why he does what he does instead of the classic I'm bad because I'm bad. In a similar fashion to this we aren't given much information on Mika or Shinji Yoshimatsu to have a broader idea of their implication to the story. The plot and character development is unfortunately lacking even when it comes down to the 2 main characters, Takina and Chisato.
Atmosphere though, is something that Lycoris Recoil does not lack. Through perfectly timed transitions, beautiful art and animations ( seriously, the commercial bumpers are stunning ), songs that make you want to add them to your spotify list and the amazing voice acting. Put together, these make the anime feel alive.
Through the whole 13 episodes, we experience people pushing forward no matter what their past may hold. Takina no longer yearns to go back to DA, Mika must kill and sever his relationship with Shinji to protect the ones he holds dear. Everyone moves on or has moved on except for Chisato, she sticks to her ideals no matter what and that's truly admirable. She acts as a backbone for those around her who are trying to move on and deal with their past, going as far as hearing out Majima and having a drink with him before their next fight.
Overall, in my opinion A-1 pictures did an outstanding job to create such a good anime that isn't backed by a manga or light novel. Lycoris Recoil might fall a bit behind when it comes to story and world development but the cute interactions, wonderful fight scenes and stylistically beautiful commercial bumpers, intro and outro make up for it. It's definitely one of my favourites for 2022 if not all time.
