Back Arrow

SeniorPepe

First of all, I don't speak native english so sorry if I type someting wrong. (Para mis compas hispanohablantes encontraran la review en español al final) ___ So I started this anime only for LiSA and Yuki Kaji, and I was not expecting something great, but something watchable, but even my low expectation was so high for this anime. ___ # __Story: 4/10__ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ is the best thing to describe the plot. I mean, yeah I'm curious about what are beyond the walls and who created it, but godsake, we've to go through a stupid senseless war, the misfortune of a town with whom it is impossible to empathize and two nations SO cliche that makes me wanna go to play Clash Royale, and I hate Clash Royale. ___ # __Characters: 2/10__ This is the worst part about this anime, really how you have so many characters and all of them are idiots? The most simpatic are Shu and Kai, and for them I give that 2 points xd but the rest? godsake, we have brainless Eren Yeager, a cliche soft female character that have 0 charm, that orange hair girl that kinda sucks, and the worst of all, the comedy relief character that doesn't make you laugh even not ONE TIME. OH RIGHT, and that disgusting princess with two personalities, really this is a kodomo more than a shonen, Pokémon have more adult characters that this nonsense. img200(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErlkHetXcAUJEmF.jpg) zzZZzZZz img200(https://randomc.net/image/Back%20Arrow/Back%20Arrow%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2019.jpg) haha so funny I wanna die img200(https://i0.wp.com/wp-corp.qoo-app.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20032206552838.jpg) Back Arrow the god ___ # __But what about the fights and mechas??__ Haha anime mechas are SO FUNNY YEAH!! The love of friendship and family will give you a big power broken power up and now you can do the Dragon Ball Z fusion, the Naruto shadow clones and the Gurren Lagann mega robots. The fights are no bad, but when you're watching it you stop, see the sky and think: What the f*ck I'm doing with my life? ___ # __Ok but there's something good?__ Yes, this anime has something VERY good and is the openings and endings, I mean, Eir Aoi? LiSA? FLOW?!?! I can't believe those baits artist who brought me here to watch this crap, next time you should waste your money in some good writers before the artist, but ok, I don't really care beacuse the OPs and EDs are really amazing, thanks Eir, LiSA and FLOW for made me a little happy watching this. But after that... XD Well, the animation is good, the cgi of mechas is well done, but it isn't something that stands out from the rest animes. ____ #__Final Thoughts:__ This was one of the worst animes that I ever see, and the worst part is that I watched it AIRING, god, what was I'm thinking? This show is not worth the waste of your time, almost TEN HOURS of your life, with that you can read a book, play a game, visit a friend, even play 20 rankeds of League of Legends is more worthy than this. I will give a 4 only because really the themes are banger, Studio VOLN you better thank the artists. And before you make another anime, appoint this phrase of the great Shu: ~~~img400(https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit400x1000/cms/this-week-in-anime/170662/steve07.jpg) # and yes, its ends with a open end, god no pls no a SEASON TWO NOOOOOO~~~ ___ # __En Español:__ ~!Empece este anime solo por Yuki Kaji y LiSA, sin esperar nada bueno, pero al menos mirable, y al final mis bajas expectativas fueron muy altas para este anime. __Historia: 4/10__ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ es la mejor manera de describir el plot. O sea si estoy curioso por saber quien creo los muros y toda la cosa, pero por dios, antes tenemos que pasar por una guerra estupida sin sentido, la desgracia de un pueblo lleno de idiotas con el que es imposible empatizar y dos naciones con ideales tan CLICHE que me dan ganas de apagar e irme a jugar Clash Royale, y odio Clash Royale. __Personajes: 2/10__ Sin duda lo peor del anime, de verdad como tenes tantos personajes y todos son unos idiotas? Los mas simpáticos son Shu y Kai, por ellos le doy esos 2 puntis xd pero el resto? mamita posho, tenemos a Eren Yeager con discapacidades neuronales, una mujer soft super cliche con 0 encanto, la loca de pelo naranja que tambien apesta, y el peor de todos, el alivio cómico que no te hace reir NI UNA VEZ, NI UNA EH. AH CIERTO, y la princesita con dos personalidades, posta esto parece mas un kodomo que un shonen, Pokémon tiene personajes más adultos que esto. img200(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErlkHetXcAUJEmF.jpg) zzZZzZZz img200(https://randomc.net/image/Back%20Arrow/Back%20Arrow%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2019.jpg) jsjasjsj que gracioso matenme img200(https://i0.wp.com/wp-corp.qoo-app.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20032206552838.jpg) Back Arrow el DIOS __Pero que onda con los mechas y las peleas??__ JAJAAJ los animes de mechas son MUY DIVERTIDOS SEEE!! El poder del amor de la amistad y la familia te va a dar un nuevo poder super roto como la fusion de Dragon Ball Z, los clones de sombra de Naruto y los mega robots crucero de Gurren Lagann. Las peleas no son malas, pero cuando las estas viendo, paras, miras el cielo y te preguntas: Que carajo estoy haciendo con mi vida? __Ok pero hay algo bueno?__ Si, el anime tiene algo muy bueno y son los openings y endings, Eir Aoi? LiSA? FLOW?!?! No puedo creer como me baitearon bien fuerte con los artistas para ver el anime, la proxima gasten la plata en contratar un guionista bueno antes que estos tremendos cantantes, pero ok, no me importa porque los OPs y EDs fueron increibles de verdad, gracias LiSA, Eir y FLOW por hacerme un poquito feliz mientras miraba esto. Pero sacando eso... XD Bueno la animación es buena, el cgi de los mechas no esta mal, pero tampoco es algo woww que sobresale del resto. __Conclusión:__ Uno de los peores animes que vi, pero lo verdaderamente malo es que lo vi en EMISION, dios, en que estaba pensando? Y listo, el show no vale la pena la perdida de tu tiempo, casi DIEZ HORAS de tu vida, con eso podes leer un libro, jugar algun juego, verte con un amigo, incluso jugar 20 rankeds del League of Legends es más digno que verse esta basura. Le voy a dar un 4 solo por los TEMAZOS que tiene, Studio VOLN mas te vale que le agradezcas a los artistas. Y antes de hacer otro anime, apuntate esta frase del gran Shu: img400(https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit400x1000/cms/this-week-in-anime/170662/steve07.jpg) (Necesitas alguien con algo aqui adentro) y si, encima termina con final abierto, dios no, por dios no, UNA TEMPORADA DOS NOOOOOOOOOOOO !~

planetJane

~~~All of my reviews contain **spoilers** for the reviewed material. This is your only warning.~~~ img880(https://magicplanetanimedesign.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/rpy6veo.jpg) ---------

___BACK ARROW___, its name proudly and pointedly stylized in all capital letters, is a gem. Not a gem in the "hidden gem" sense where it's a fantastic show that's underappreciated by the masses, (although certainly some might say it is that also) but a gem in the way that you might call your quirky friend who's a little too into conspiracy theories a gem. It's not the best show of the Spring 2021 season, and not a personal favorite (I more respect it than anything else), but it's among the most unique. It's also by far the one I most expect to pick up a cult following. On one level, BACK ARROW is a perfectly logical synthesis of the previous work of its two main creative minds; Gorou Taniguchi, creator and director of Code Geass on the one hand, and Kazuki Nakashima, scriptwriter of a number of Studio TRIGGER's most famous work, notably Kill la Kill, on the other. The result, as anyone familiar with both of these things might guess, is a decidedly strange fusion. BACK ARROW is political, silly, grandiose, philosophical, and ridiculous. This puts it in the same broad thematic space as most of its "parent" anime, like the aforementioned Code Geass and Kill la Kill as well as some work in a similar vein (say, Symphogear). It's not quite as good as any of those, but it manages to make a strong showing of things regardless. BACK ARROW concerns the geopolitics--and eventually, the cosmology--of a world known as Lingalind. It is surrounded in its entirety by a massive wall. Were it not for the presence of mecha conjured up via magic circlets called Bind Warpers, Lingalind would be a fairly typical fantasy setting for an anime. I suspect this is deliberate, as one of BACK ARROW's aims is to explore the logical conclusions of such a setup. There are two main nations; Rekka and Lutoh, (respectively loosely based on China and a general mish-mash of Western Europe) as well as a number of smaller powers. The mecha are powered by a force known as Conviction, and each owner of a Bind Warper has a statement that they hold as a sort of personal code which changes their mecha's form and what it can do. (As an example, Atlee, a green-haired sheriff girl, has a conviction of "I'll manage somehow!") img880(https://i.imgur.com/HTf8Fan.jpg) None of this is all that complex on its own. However, when BACK ARROW's title character, Back Arrow (a homophonic pun name on baka ero, "perverted idiot") arrives, Superman-style, in a capsule from the sky, things quickly change. Across twenty-four episodes, Back Arrow goes on a capital-J Journey across and eventually beyond Lingalind. Along the way, he helps dramatically reshape the world's political landscape, and eventually comes face to face with a man named Rudolph, who claims to be "God's arbitrator". What this means in practice is that Rudolph--a villain so deeply goofy that at one point he drinks wine with his shoulders--plans to destroy the world. img880(https://i.imgur.com/mHqw34o.png) Things go well and truly off the rails as the series enters its latter half, and if you're the sort of person who values sheer scale above all else, BACK ARROW will be a likely anime of the year contender for you. BACK ARROW's only main flaw is a sort of inarticulateness. It is fairly hard to say what the point of the series is, exactly, until its very end. Ultimately, it is the same message that almost all of Nakashima's work imparts; no matter how great the force that holds us down, by coming together, we can overcome it. A simple message of unity in the face of any odds met that settles well with BACK ARROW's inherent silliness. [An acquaintance](https://twitter.com/customzaku/status/1405979672098246658) put it best, Nakashima's main strength as a writer is "to script things that make enough sense internally even if they sound completely wild and dumb when taken out of context." I could sit here all day and relay miniature stories of conviction particles and nested giant mecha and baby gods, but there'd be no point. These things tie together surprisingly well in the moment, but make little sense outside of them. This is the man who penned what was translated as "kick reason to the curb", after all. img880(https://i.imgur.com/uK1yNXq.jpg) You understand by now whether or not you'd get anything out of BACK ARROW. If it is a minor work in its creators' body thereof, that really only speaks to the strength of the competition. I suspect in the months and years to come, those who would appreciate it will, indeed, find it. It has a magnetism to it, and like attracts like. Don't be surprised if, five or ten years down the line, you see BACK ARROW topping a lot of "underrated anime" lists. Until then, it flies on, like an arrow in the face of an angry god.

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0215MADman

Back Arrow always sounded like pure fire to me. The director of s-CRY-ed/Gun x Sword/Code Geass with the writer of Gurren Lagann/Kill la Kill/Promare. The plot description was cryptic, the character designs showed cowboys AND samurai, it had mechs because why the hell not. INJECT THIS INTO MY VEINS! It immediately mystified me how nobody liked this damn show when it came out. Criticisms of "it's too dumb" and "there's too much character focus" meant nothing to me. It had the right amount of dumb and the character-focused episodes were fun. This is not a show that you take seriously. It's the director of dumb shit and the writer of dumb shit, of course it's dumb shit and I like it for what it is. There was never a moment when "the hype died" for me. It lessened, for sure, but I never got sick and tired of Back Arrow. Although it helps that I like the characters in Back Arrow. The characters are the backbone of this series. If someone came up to me and told me they didn't like Back Arrow because they hated all of the characters and thought they were annoying, I'd totally get it. Fortunately, I liked all of the characters in Back Arrow. From the naïve but likable MC that the show is named after, the cartoonish comic relief cowboys & cowgirls, the always mysterious Shu Bi, and who can forget the main antagonist of the series that is LITERALLY FUELED BY WINE! Single best part of the show: Demyne Shaft's choir. They show up like three times in total but every time they do it brings a smile to my face. However, Back Arrow is not flawless. Goro Taniguchi hasn't been relevant for the last 10 years and it shows here. Anyone could have directed this. Nevertheless, he did a good job. I hate to admit it, but Kazuki Nakashima's writing absolutely fits Hiroyuki Imaishi's manic style more than Goro Taniguchi's. It was dumb fun but it could have been more. The plot could have been far wilder. It's diet Nakashima, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. My biggest problem was the music. It's all forgettable, from the OPs/EDs to the actual OSTs. No offense to Kohei Tanaka but he does not compare to Kōtarō Nakagawa and especially not Hiroyuki Sawano. Also, one more thing I want to point out. If you're a sub elitist and almost never touch dubs, just skip to the next paragraph, this will not affect you. Having seen all of the sub and, at the time of this edit, half of the dub, I can say for certain that the English dub is the superior choice. The dub actors clearly understand that this show is goofy as hell and have loads of fun with it. Honestly, I think the dub enhances the show's viewing experience a lot. Watch in whatever language you prefer, but in this reviewer's opinion, go for the dub. Honestly, those are my only problems with Back Arrow. I like the writing, the story constantly kept my attention through a couple twists and turns to spice things up, and the characters are all memorable and fun to watch. The animation isn't Trigger but I expected worse. It's clean and inoffensive, and the CGI mechs mesh pretty well with the 2D animation. Back Arrow is fun. It is a fun 24 episode action show. It is not the best or the worst, it is a completely satisfactory experience. Very underrated and recommended from me.

Kusaja

If this show deserves any credit, it's probably for being the most underrated anime of 2021 thus far. Back Arrow is a quirky series that may be a hard sell for audiences only interested in following the hottest modern anime trends, but its craziness can become quite charming and enjoyable for those with a more old-school sensibility and openeness for the mecha genre in particular. Which, to be sure, is exactly what you should expect from the combination of Kazuki Nakashima and Goro Taniguchi, since they are creators whose styles and tastes are reflected in the kind of low-intensity madness that Back Arrow has embraced. At its core, this was a Super Robot action/adventure show with a frequently whimsical bent. Unsurprisingly, there is a rather high amount of suspension of disbelief that necessarily comes with this specific category of Japanese media. Do you believe that guts, belief and emotion can be more important than pure logic and reason? If so, then there's a good chance you'll appreciate this anime. That approach describes me perfectly, so I was consistently entertained by Back Arrow on a weekly basis. Admittedly, I would say a part of me still wonders what would have happened if a more talented animation production studio such as Trigger, Sunrise or Bones had been in charge. While the series can provide some exciting sequences when required, it is undeniable that relative newcomer Studio VOLN was the weakest link and this, more than anything else, kept Back Arrow from achieving the recognition and appreciation it would arguably deserve on paper. But enough talk. Let's dig in and get to the other side of the wall of text. STORY: 7/10 The fictional world of Lingalind, where an individual's conviction can manifest in the shape of giant robots known as Briheights, was thrown into chaos by the sudden appearance of a person named Back Arrow: a strange man from beyond the world wall that surrounds and protects the land. Without any memories, Arrow wishes to return to the other side. As the narrative develops, our protagonist encounters a very colorful cast of characters who will react to him in different ways, becoming either friends or foes. Conflicts will inevitably break out and various mysteries about his own nature and the world itself will be gradually revealed. That's it, this is the story. Not too complicated, at least on a purely structural level, when you take a step back and look at it with the benefit of hindsight. All in all, you could say it's something of a road trip setup. Naturally enough, most of the fun is in the ongoing journey and the anticipation for whatever comes next. The first half of the series does have a somewhat laidback and uneven pacing, to be sure, and the initial couple of episodes may seem especially awkward, but everything does build up over time. Once we're done with the various character introductions, the second half manages to raise the stakes and quickly escalates the action in several unexpected ways. In the end, the twists and turns of the storyline can provide plenty of room for excitement and entertainment, which may turn out to be more important than the ultimate destination. That isn't to say the scriptwriter doesn't care about the details. It may be difficult to believe at a glance, yet the writing has enough internal logic to hold itself together. Realism will remain absent, of course, although there's a considerable amount of early foreshadowing. That may be easy to miss or forget in the heat of the moment, but in retrospect seems almost too obvious at times. Even so, I was actually quite happy upon realizing just how well the big picture stands up. Again, you will not find any super profound meaning in this story, aside from some thematic commentary, and convenient power-ups are entirely fair game in a world fueled by conviction itself, in both the meta and the in-universe sense. Having said that, another essential element found within Nakashima's script is the comedic touch. Back Arrow is not a dark, heavy and pondering anime, but a rather lighthearted one that may slip into drama on occasion yet doesn't take itself too seriously overall. Not every joke will be equally funny for every viewer, especially given the fragmentation of audience tastes, yet I would say it was a key ingredient during my personal experience. If you can assume a similar stance, you'll likely get the most out of this series. CHARACTERS: 7/10 Surprisingly enough, Back Arrow himself turns out to be more of a catalyst or source of support for the rest of the cast than a typical anime protagonist at the end of the day. To be fair, Arrow does undergo a certain amount of characterization and changes, but it is correct to say his initial portrayal as the powerful hero who is an ignorant yet well-meaning person will remain relatively static until the second half. I believe that approach works for this type of story setup, personally speaking, yet it's not really a central focus point for the most part. As mentioned above, there is a sizable cast. Many of them have silly names that will make you smile. Predictably enough, not everyone in the series will get the same amount of attention in terms of development. I think most of the villagers never really progressed, with Elsha and Atlee being the honorable exceptions. Still, I would say several of the characters can be quite appealing in their own right, whether they're playing secondary or tertiary roles. I won't bring up every single one, but will mention a couple of them in more detail. For example, there's Shu. He is literally the smartest person in the show and that makes Shu a lot of fun to watch. You could call him a mastermind, on paper. Truthfully, I'd argue that he's more of a clever trickster. Or, if you will, you could call him an outright troll, in the best possible meaning of the term. Although there are opportunities for dramatic tension when it comes to his shaky relationship with the warriors Kai and Ren, perhaps Shu's most important role is as a vessel for comedy. His voice actor knows exactly how to play the part and it does wonders for the feel of the show. On a slightly more serious note, Shu's mentorship of Bit is simultaneously amusing on an extremely superficial level and yet also leads to some interesting places late into the story. Shu also has a pretty decent dynamic with Back Arrow, given his endless curiousity and desire to obtain knowledge of the unknown, but I ended up wishing to see more scenes between the two of them. Speaking of Bit, he's a good example of how you can take a foolish jerk mostly used for comedic relief and then make him into a better person by going through a character arc of his own. I wouldn't have cared for him at the start of the anime, but by the end he became quite likeable. If we had to name a rival character for Arrow, particularly when it comes to the many action scenes, then that would be Kai, the strongest warrior of Rekka....well, he would be the strongest with one notable exception. I'll get to that shortly. Let's be honest. Kai isn't very deep as an individual. He's usually angry at Arrow for obvious reasons and eventually also becomes angry at Shu, which is an occasional source of drama. Nonetheless, it's not an irrational type of anger. Kai does gradually develop as a character and, while the total change may not be great, you can come around to sympathize with him. It's hard to write an emotionally sincere review of Back Arrow without bringing up the Emperor of Rekka, Zetsu Daidan. If you're a fan of old-school martial arts action movies, or if you ever saw Mobile Fighter G Gundam, then you'll understand exactly why he's the coolest character in the show. I will not listen to any arguments to the contrary. Now, it's quite easy to initially dismiss Zetsu Daidan as just another dictator who is hungry for power, yet there is a thematically valid reason behind his actions and that makes him not only fun to watch on a visceral level but also more interesting than you'd think at first glance. And again, you can see him interact with the likes of Arrow and Kai, particularly during the second half of the storyline, in a way that elevates him as a character above his stereotypical archetype. Fine and Prax have the sort of relationship that is natural to see between a knight and her princess in anime. I'd say that duo was the most relevant around the mid-season point due to all the court intrigue involved, thus I can easily imagine some viewers may not enjoy the so-called Lutoh arc, but for me that was still an early highlight since they were more dynamic and represented a change of pace from the initial village setting. Specifically, Fine herself receives more characterization than you'd expect after looking at her character design. It's hard to address that without spoilers. For me, there were multiple surprises, even after the most obvious one was revealed to the viewer, and it was a very effective way to use the range of her voice actress. Finally, I would point out the series does take quite some time to properly establish a real antagonist for our heroes. Sure, we get to see a number of different enemies, rivals and foes, corresponding to each individual faction of this world, but there doesn't seem to be a true villain at first. This, like many other aspects of the story, changes for the better during the second half. The process of consolidating the cast into different sides gets going and, by the last arc, a particular character serves quite well as exactly the type of villain you simply love to hate. ART AND ANIMATION: 6/10 If there is one thing that makes Back Arrow look like an anime from about ten or twenty years ago, it's the visual design work involved. I would say my feelings towards this aspect of the series are going to lean positive, since I find the character designs to be quite distinctive for the most part and easy to identify from a distance, but they don't reflect what is normally considered to be "cool" in the year 2021. Stylistically, this is not what current anime fandom eats up. The mecha designs are quite wild and wacky in a manner that isn't orthodox yet, in a way, turned out to be refreshing. Not every one is a winner, surely, and I may not rush out to buy any of the merchandise. Yet once again, I think Muga and Gigan, among others including a few Briheights that show up later in the story, did their job well enough and they can look impressive during the best action sequences. To be clear, Studio VOLN doesn't have a lot of experience with making original anime and this may be their most ambitious project yet. I think they did a reasonable job, considering the circumstances and, in particular, I believe it is a very good thing for studios to grow and learn over time. You can't get better without even trying, can you? Even so, a more talented or at least more experienced crew of animators would have made the excitement come across in a more powerful way, visually speaking, and certain episodes make heavy use of stills and other animation tricks to hide their limited resources. This doesn't bother me too much, as someone who grew up watching many older TV anime from the 1980s that also resorted to cost-cutting measures, but it is a weak point that shows a clear area for improvement. SOUND: 8/10 This was an understated yet highly effective musical score. Yes, I think the two opening sequences will be the most memorable pieces of music from this anime even long after the fact, but I found several of the background tracks as well as the occasional insert songs to be pretty good. Not to mention that the sound director was fully aware that music shouldn't be constantly used every single moment. Certain scenes benefit from taking a step back and allowing silence to be used to great effect. I realize not every individual viewer feels this way, yet for me this is something that deserves praise. More importantly, the Japanese voice cast is absolutely stellar and brings the characters to life very well. ENJOYMENT: 9/10 Did I have a fun time every week? Hell yes, and this is what matters the most to me. Of course, every single opinion ever written, whether positive or negative, is going to be inherently subjective. Entertainment value cannot be measured objectively. I know all of that and so do you, kind reader. That is why I will be frank and say it: Back Arrow made me feel nostalgic for another era of anime and reminded me that there is more to this medium than simply following the most popular trends. If you've read this review, you should already know whether this series is for you. I do not criticize audiences for jumping on the bandwagons of the big and popular shows every season, but a part of me still wishes the anime community as a whole would be kinder and more open-minded to Back Arrow. Perhaps that's asking for too much, at the end of the day? Oh well. For me, it's the little show that struggled against all odds and, in a sense, that's enough to merit consideration. I felt that my personal expectations for Back Arrow were either met or surpassed in almost every area...except animation quality. This may not have been a successful experiment from a purely commercial and financial perspective, sadly, yet there is more to fictional media than sheer profit. Sometimes you just want to join a cast of characters on a crazy adventure and enjoy yourself. After everything is said and done, life, just like the journey, will continue to move on.