
a review by Lahm

a review by Lahm
And thus concludes the prologue of the Tokyo Ravens story. Although it has been four years since I previously watched Tokyo Ravens it's still fresh in my mind, wishing I could go back and watch it again for the first time as I was sad to see it finish with no season 2 on the horizon, however I can be happy that, unlike its counterparts in the genre it received a satisfying conclusion that left me happy for the characters, even if their stories are unfinished.
It definitely isn't the most incredibly animated anime you'll ever see, with the CGI through the first cour being off-putting at times (The famous CG omelette comes to mind) but it was forgivable seeing as it did not show up all too often and towards the second cour it vastly improved. On the positive side the magic battle were beautiful to watch from start to finish and they even managed one of the most visually appealing scenes of the two seasons Tokyo Ravens participated in towards the end of the show when Kyouko uses astrology which together with the music was a very moving and defining moment for the anime. Could another studio have done better? Certainly, but I really enjoyed what 8bit did and couldn't ask for anything else.
The peak of the show definitely lies with the abundance of well thought out and very visually appealing characters, with the show throwing many side characters in and out of the story to help along or fight against our main cast of characters, being Harutora, Natsume, Touji, Kyouko, Suzuka and Tenma. Each of these brought along new personalities and dynamics to the screen which bounce off each other and even the side characters (Most notable being Ohtomo, an incredible character that could headline his own Anime) with ease, which made the filler episodes much more bearable to watch and brought the conclusions to the various storylines towards the end of the show that much more enjoyable.
Speaking of the storyline, it did a good job of mixing a lot of slice-of-life episodes in the first half of the show, but when things get serious in the latter end of Tokyo Ravens, it gets very, very good. The final two arcs of the show, are an incredible demonstration of how to manage a final battle. Almost all the many characters introduced in the series to that point have some sort of role to play in the conflict, something that many shows cannot seem to do, but Tokyo Ravens excelled at, with each character slowly appearing one by one each in their own way to fight for a loved character in Natsume.
Finally, there's the ending. Four years later the kiss still leaves me wanting to see Harutora and Natsume happily ever after, but until then I'll be happy to just see the adventures of Harutora, Hishamaru, Kakugyouki and how them with the others deal with their newfound standing within the world and how they use that to deal with the Agency.
In the end, it's a 100% watch from me between the loveable characters in the slice of life elements to the uniquely insane combat that the world's magical system brings. Thanks for reading!

41.5 out of 45 users liked this review