Lycoris Recoil

## Season 1

### Soundtrack

Honestly, the opening of Lycoris Recoil is of standard quality. There isn't really anything notable to it, it's just a song you'd expect from an action anime of this sort. The animation of the opening also isn't that interesting. Not much to say other than that.

The same thing goes for the ending song. It's a great song that fills you with hope and excitement after every episode. Unfortunately, it's not very notable. I did like the animation, though. On top of that, the full version on Spotify is pretty great. I'll definitely be thinking of Lycoris Recoil every time I listen to it.

### Thoughts

Lycoris Recoil. Seemingly, it's a random title for an anime about a secret organization of high school girls that keep the nation of Japan under the veil of peace. I honestly didn't know what to expect from this anime. The friends that recommended it to me were Umamusume fans, so maybe there was a bit of prejudice there, but I tried to keep it to a minimum. What low expectations I had were definitely blown out of the water, though. Lycoris Recoil is an amazing multilayered anime with a pretty convoluted plot, yet at no point did it feel overwhelming or illogical. It does a lot of things right, pulls the rug under you a good amount of times, but also does what you'd expect sometimes. Really, it's a jack of all trades anime that fulfills the genres it tries to portray.

I think the most interesting part of Lycoris Recoil is the plot and the worldbuilding. I can't go truly in-depth about the plot, but it's genuinely pretty convoluted. It starts you off with a couple of questions, then after getting an answer, a new question is asked. That may sound very obvious to some of you, but not a lot of animes can do that properly. First of all, there's no clear "good" or "bad" side, only actors of the plot working in the gray area, near the divide between the villain and the hero. For instance, the Lycoris, basically high school girl MIB, is supposed to be the "good guys" of the story because they're the one keeping the peace in Japan. But, the show goes on and on about how their actions, especially the suppressing of information, may not be the best course of action, especially to the Lycoris themselves. I think it's a really understated theme though, seeing how the argument against the existence of Lycoris is only presented by Majima, the supposed "villain" of the story. I think Lycoris Recoil does a lot of things right, but because of that it doesn't really do anything super right, if that makes sense. I think this plotline is the epitome of that sentiment, for me. At times, it feels strong, but in reality the Majima plotline is just an excuse to move the story forward, add some tension for other plotlines, and also a reason to add more fight scenes (which I'm not complaining about).

I talked previously about the plotline about the DA and Lycoris as they try to keep the peace in Japan after thousands of firearms are distributed, but in my opinion the stronger plotline is the one about Chisato, one of the main characters. Basically, her life was saved by the Alan Institute, a belligerently philanthropic organization that works to actualize the geniuses of the world. The thing is, her life was saved by the institute to actualize her talent of dodging bullets. It's why she's regarded as the strongest Lycoris agent of all time. Their interpretation of that is that her nature is to kill, so her mentor is entrusted by the institute to actualize that gift of her as a Lycoris. Unfortunately, it goes against her interpretation of the situation. Because she was saved, she sees her gift as a way to help lives, not take them. I think it's more cut and clear here which side is more convincing. Though, Chisato goes through the trials and tribulations on every mission because she doesn't want to harm anyone. Even until the end, the tension just keeps rising and rising, especially when it's revealed her artificial heart was locked and couldn't be recharged anymore. Would she have to kill to save her life? Watch and see.

If you were to look at someone watching this anime randomly, you'd probably see the slice of life elements. Between the exposition and action sequences, there is actually a substantial amount of runtime left aside for calmer stuff. I think it's really nice. At its core, Lycoris Recoil is an anime about cute girls doing cute things. Sometimes, it's working at a cafe or shopping at a mall, but other times it can also be harmlessly disarming terrorists. No matter how you put it though, the slice-of-life scenes are pretty important to the story. They really show more sides of the characters, especially Chisato and Takina. On top of that, I would even go so far to say they're required in order to slow down the show a lot more and let the audience digest the substantial amount of exposition. It really makes you that much more invested in Lycoris Recoil.

Next, I'd like to talk about the other main character, Takina. She's a Lycoris that was "exiled" to work in Chisato's "cafe division" at LycoReco. In my opinion, she's probably as talented as Chisato, just without the generational talent ability of dodging bullets. As opposed to Chisato's cheerfulness and chalantness, Takina is at first, a brashly serious and uptight person. Of course, as the story goes, their relationship develops and so do their personalities. Chisato becomes more and more immersed in her conviction of disobeying her "destiny", and Takina learns what it truly means to have a fulfilling life; to actualize yourself, not needing to meet someone else's expectations. I think their relationship is beautiful. I love each and every scene they're in. They have an incredibly exciting dynamic. It's like they've known each other for years. So, what is it? Is it yuri/gl or just a friendship? I'm willing to pull for yuri here, myself. #YURI.

What truly moves the story aren't just the main characters, but really the other characters in Lycoris Recoil. I won't go into depth on any of them, so I'll try to generalize my praises. They're all so great. There are so many relationships between the characters that get the story going. It really makes for a world that feels "lived in", which really makes it that much more believable. I must also say that there are multiple characters with really interesting backstories and motivations that, once you revealed and understood, really add so much more to the story. Like, I could go on and on about Mika, Chisato's mentor. He's such an incredibly interesting character with a backstory that's just as interesting. Holy shit, the side characters really are great. Even the comic relief ones!

Well, what about the aesthetics? I think that Lycoris Recoil's art team did pretty well. There are a lot of scenes with really beautiful lighting, especially the outdoor ones (like in the radio tower). On top of all that, the indoor scenes look surprisingly good, at times. I also think the fight scenes are pretty dynamic and exciting, especially near the end, when Chisato goes against Majima twice. Those scenes are really damn good! Though, I must say at times the age really shows. Like, sometimes the animation doesn't feel as detailed as animes in the year 2026. I don't know, it's just kind of a vibe I get sometimes. Oh yeah, and there is nearly ZERO fan service, which I did not expect from an anime about high school girls. Consider me impressed!

Oh, one more thing. Lycoris Recoil has the best eyecatches out of any anime I've watched. Even including Kamiina Botan. The artwork is so damn good (AND REALLY CUTE).

At the end of the day, Lycoris Recoil is of acquired taste. It's an anime about cute high school girls doing not so cute things in a pretty cute way. Just the concept of that is enough to dissuade some people. But, I urge you if you're into anything I've talked about in previous paragraphs, you should watch Lycoris Recoil. It's a really great anime that will leave you satisfied. There isn't really anything more to it. Oh, for what it's worth I was really surprised when I learned this is an anime original. I really hope there's a second season. Watch LycoReco! 9/10 Gem-Gem.