Name: Lycoris Recoil

Aired: 2022.07.02 ~ 2022.09.24
Watched: 2022.09.27 ~ 2022.09.29
Origin: Original TV Anime
Studio: A-1 Pictures

Maybe there’s new meaning for it because it’s broken. – Chisato Nishikigi

Animation 9.5/10
To sum up the animation of Lycoris Recoil in one word would be "beautfiul". As expected from collaboration from A-1 Pictures Studio and Shingo Adachi, the animation was vivid, clean and the lightings were impeccable. The animation and the arts stayed consistent throughout the anime and the action sequences were creative. I would personally deduct -0.5 for because of the quality of the characters other than the main protagonists. Members of Lycoris looked very bland (maybe this was intentional) however, even the side characters with some sort of personality looked extremely 1 dimensional compared to the effort the studio put in towards animating Chisato and Takina.

Music 9/10
The music went very well with the anime and tracks such as:

▶ leaves lingering excitement even after finishing the series. The music director, Shuuhei Mutsuki, was relatively unknown until he took on the lead music director role for Spy X Family. After finishing Spy X Family, and seeing his name as music director for Lycoris Recoil, I have to say, I was excited to hear more of his works. Other OST such as Lycoris Recoil Theme and Reconnaissance were also pleasure in my ears.

Plot 9.5/10
Plot has to be THE trap that most Original TV Anime falls under. However, Lycoris Recoil and the Staff did an amazing job at sending a message, getting the viewers excited for the next episode, giving it a good closure to the season and on top of that leaving something for Season 2! The clash of ideology between Chisato and Majima were just and and handled extremely well. My only concern would be I still don't understand the character of Shinji Yoshimatsu on some of the decisions he made. Maybe some background story of the character would have helped the viewers understand some of the decision he made. In addtion,
if Lycoris Recoil gave the anime a complete closure on Episode 13 without answering some of the mysteries and questions left, it would have been awful for the viewers; however, with hint at a season 2, I personally loved the ending and the little epilogue scene at the end.

Character 10/10
Character is probably what completed Lycoris Recoil and what really hooked me in to the anime. Chisato and Takima are both wonderful characters and when they are together, the synergy is even greater. Although we get little pieces of Chisato's past, it felt like she was a complete character from the start. Her level of combat, her personality and how she deals with all the problems thrown at her, she stays true to her character from EP1 to EP13.

Spoiler, click to view

One could argue she broke out of her Character when she shot Shinji however, this is debatable due to the situation she was put in

Takima is the character that goes through an entire transformation and character development after she met Chisato. The development of the character was well written and the pacing of the development was also justified throughout each events. I've also enjoyed the more intense and deep story between Shinji and Mika and hoped we got a little more of that so we could understand Shinji's character a little more because of how important of a role he played in the story despite his short appearances in the anime.

Personal Enjoyment 10/10
I watched LycoReco as soon as EP1 dropped and instantly knew I'd love this series. I decided to save this until the last episode dropped so I could binge the entire thing! Hopefully we get Season 2. fingers crossed For a Original TV Anime, this anime definitely did an outstanding job :)

Overall: 96/100