[21/03/26] Lycoris Recoil (Anime/Rewatch) - 9.1/10

Idk, i think my main issue with the anime is that its arguably biggest backdrop is quite shallow, and doesn't really do much in the way of societal exploration. There's a sort of assumption here that the Lycoris are a good thing (Majimas whole plot being covered up into simply a movie being seen as a positive narrative turning point), but the Anime never really does anything to communicate to us as the viewer WHY we should believe cover-up as a benefit. It instead, appeals to a sort of closed, internal logic, that we shouldn't want Lycoris to be disbanded because the girls would be killed, but it doesn't actually communicate any general, real world message. Japan itself here seems to be riddled with terrorism, but why this violence is so prelevant is never really explained except to use as simply a setting to justify the existence of the Lycoris. It makes the narrative feel really afraid, they want to write about a bunch of teenage girls fighting terrorists, but doesn't actually want to unpack the baggage that inherently comes with that premise. In a sense, there is little nuance. I think that is my biggest issue here. This is also why i dont like the ending at all, Majima's entire plan having 0 societal effects and being conveniently covered up into a "movie production" yeah because people are just that gullible ? it's so deux ex machina

I also find Majimas motives a bit dissapointing, we never get into the resl meat of why he's doing things like this, no explanation of where he's ideas fundamentally come from. He talks about his dislike of the cover up, and him wanting to side with the weak against the strong, but why does he care? Where does this kind of thinking manifest from? I feel like, as i said before, they wanted Majima to be a villian with "deeper" motives, but didn't want to fully commit to that in fear that it might impair the entire Lycoris/DA narrative

Also feel like the way the Alan children are written is a bit underwhelming.. it feels all a bit too smooth. You'd think issues might arise from training a bunch of orphaned children to kill people, i guess this doesn't exist within the Lycoris Recoil narrative. Chisatos character is fine (feel like the ending was a but if a cop out though, plus there couldve been more friction with her ideals. for example, her lettinng majima live, and thus endangering more lives, in a sense, because she didnt kill him, she ended up in a position where more lives couldve been taken. this couldve created an interesting scenario where, in either way, whatever she does contradicts her ideals in some way or another in a way thats actually nuanced, which could lend itself to personal revision. the story doesnt really touch on that though), honestly, but I feel like more could've been done with Takina. She feels a bit archetypal (actually, both do, but Takina more), her motives themselves feeling quite flat, and for such an interesting concept like the Lycoris, the narrative doesn't do much in incorporating that into their characters. As stated before, a backdrop

OFC, this does not mean that i dislike this anime, not at all, i think the action here is great and i really like the character dynamics. The mix between Slice of Life and action is fun to watch, plus it appeals to that part of my brian that likes to see cute girls shooting things with guns. The premise itself is fun and decently interesting, my main issues with the anime is that i feel like it doesn't do enough with that premise