I watched this anime around 3 years ago and said that I actually liked this anime back then... god, was I so wrong... I can't even begin to get into how much this anime actually irks me but how about we start on something we all should consider... the story.
What on earth were they even trying to do here? This anime is a prime example of the writer throwing everything at the board and seeing what stuck (or didn't) because literally, this anime has everything you'd expect and more and the execution of it was piss poor. The story has no real structural integrity, half the time I feel as if the writer didn't know what they were doing and kept writing themselves into a corner after each interaction or scene. It feels jumpy, all over the place in an unorganised and unsophisticated mess.
And the characters... my lord, HOW MANY? You'd expect a group in a harem to be relatively small, right? Only like 5 or 6 characters? This anime... has 12. FEMALES. I don't know about anyone else but 13 characters to focus on individually in a harem is going overboard... Not to mention, most have every generic personality type in the book, like the affectionate kind, the tsundere, the yandere, the big sister, etc. and not a single one of them are written or developed that well at all, not even the MC, Souta Hatate, isn't safe in any of this. I would overlook those personality types, but the anime as a whole is just obnoxious and annoying to sit through, I had forgotten what Akane's voice sounded like but it's way too high pitched and just becomes irritating to listen to after a few seconds... (no hate to her VA though)
The OP is way too obnoxious for my taste too and can get on your nerves, the ED is... sort of better but not by much (no hate to musical artists responsible either).
For the emotional factor, because oh boy this anime has one... I know people love to tear into Clannad for being "cry porn" but if you thought Clannad was somehow emotionally manipulative, then If Her Flag Breaks would redefine the definition of emotionally manipulative... not even joking, this is worse than anything else Maeda has written. Things just become emotional for no reason other than to pad out an already failed attempt of a story and it's only 14 episodes long. When you know you have to pad out something that isn't that long in the first place with pointless emotional fluff, you're doing something wrong.
On a positive note, Souta's ability to see and destroy "flags" is unique and in concept and execution, makes for a good power. The art style looks pretty decent and the OST was pretty good actually, I just hoped they didn't use the same emotional track for those drab parts though.
In summary, If Her Flag Breaks was something that had great potential with Souta's ability being the focus. But unfortunately, the good about the series is overshadowed by a garbage story, annoying, unfunny, and forgettable drab characters, dreadful usage of emotional devices and the show's own sheer obnoxiousness which left me despising it. To think that I actually liked this 3 years ago honestly makes me happy now that I have changed my view on anime over these last few years since I would have only been seeking literal dumpster fire anime otherwise.
16.5 out of 20 users liked this review
