Review of She, The Ultimate Weapon

It's hard to describe the masterpiece that is Saikano, there are so many different things to say about this anime, most of them very good and positive things. Despite the story being as far out there as it is it has a very realistic feeling to it, even in some of the more extreme circumstances this anime has. Out of all the anime I've watched, including elfen lied, nothing has made me cry more, it's definitely a really touching anime and will make you cry no matter how tough you are, that is a fact. Story- Saikano has a very unique story that is a fact,but just because something is unique doesn't mean that it is good. However the story in Saikano is a very good one despite what other people may tell you, that of course doesn't mean that it's not without it's flaws. People often rate it very lowly because of some very minor issues that it has, which is complete idiocy on their end. If I rated anime lowly based on minor flaws then every anime I've ever watched would be a 1/10. Sometimes anime has flaws on purpose, it's often brought up that the enemy is never revealed in Saikano, but is that really even an issue? They are fighting a very oppressive force, but the enemy has no relevance to the story at all. It doesn't matter what force is oppressing the people, Chise would have still have become the way she is despite who the enemy is. The army is just as corrupt, easily willing to completely ruin someones life in order to save many. Even without an enemy the army would still want to have a weapon to stop an opposing forces, that's what the military is all about after all, defending the people. Chise makes the ultimate sacrifice of her own humanity in order to save everybody that she cares about. Not many people can really contemplate doing something like that, if given that option many people would just say no and end up killing their self before coming a weapon, but not Chise. Despite losing most of her own humanity she is able to persevere because of love. Shuji on the other hand is thrown into all of this much in the same way Chise was and he is left a bit confused. He's constantly wrestling with his own emotions, knowing that he loves her, but now knowing what to do, and here is where most of the story takes place. The basis of the story is about Chise and Shuji trying to overcome this giant obstacle and just trying to find happiness in all of this. Being that it is such a stressful and tense situation they of course have many different things that happen to them that make them drift apart at certain points and make some stupid decisions. If you come to this anime looking for the perfect love story where everything is fine then leave now, it's not the perfect love story at all, in fact many people say this anime is terrible because this story is quite corrupt and dark to be honest, but despite all of these issues that they encounter and have to deal with they can still manage to be together after everything they went through. I wouldn't call this a perfect love story at all, in fact I would consider one of the most imperfect love stories, but what ends up happening in this anime despite it being so corrupt makes the good parts that much better. That is why it made me break down so much, it was just so sweat and pure when things where going well and it was also so sick and disgusting that it brought me to the edge of being sick multiple times. It has some of the most intense scenes I've ever witnessed in an anime or in real life even, and I've been through some pretty intense stuff in my life and have seen some pretty bad things along the well as well. Some of the things that I've witnessed in Saikano are going to be engraved in my mind right along side stuff like sitting in the hospital bed waiting to die. Saikano has a magnificent written story that will make you feel happiness, but also sadness. You will be filled with anger, but also calmed. It's something that can't be put into words and is something that just must be experienced.

Art- For something that was released in 2002 it looks pretty good. You can tell that it is an old anime when you go to watch it, but it was still good for the time. The animation quality is good as well are the overall designs. It does have some very powerful scenes and I think that some of the art style definitely helps that out. Come to think of it some of the scenes are quite remarkable. I dig the art style, it holds up quite well.

Sound- Nothing to complain about on the sound side of things. The intro and outro where pretty good in my opinion. The sound assets are a bit dated, but this was aired in 2002 after all, that can't be really helped. The sound assets help add to the mood of the scenes going on just like you would expect. Overall the sound was pretty good for the time for Saikano.

Character- There are 2 main characters in Saikano with a very important side character. The two main characters are Chise and Shuji, the third important side character is Akemi. The characters are designed well over all. They definitely seem to grow for the better as the story progresses, but they do make some mistakes along the line, which makes them seem all the more human. Often the "hero" of the anime doesn't make mistakes, or only makes small mistakes or one big mistake then has a revelation. In Saikano both main characters and Akemi make multiple big mistakes, but they stay true to their character while doing so. It really makes them feel alive compared to some other characters that are fairly predictable and just cliche. This anime does alot of things right and one of those things is the characters.

Enjoyment- There wasn't a dull moment in this anime that's for sure. I "enjoyed" it all the way through. I wouldn't say enjoy so much as "interested" really. There were certain scenes that I almost couldn't handle to be honest and I don't think I really "enjoyed" those scenes in particular, but they weren't bad. They made me like or dislike the characters even more and made me closer to them in some small way. I would compare some of it to something like having a tragedy in your life that you learn a valuable lesson from. You don't like it per say, but you are somewhat grateful at the same time for it happening. That sounds about right to me. It was a very enjoyably experience overall and I don't see how anyone could drop this series or call it bad, it was all just masterfully done.

Overall- Overall this anime was alot different that I expected it to be, but in a good way. I was expecting a solid 8/10 anime that I would enjoy and tell people to watch, what I got instead was a fresh take on romance and a masterpiece at that. I can kind of understand why some people dislike this anime and rate it lowly, but what baffles me is how some people can give it a 3/10, that's just piss poor on their part. I'm usually not one to speak out about things like this, but Saikano deserves more respect than that to be honest. it's a masterpiece and should be treated as such, just because you don't like something doesn't mean that it's bad and vice versa. Saikano is something that everyone should at least try watching once. You might no be able to handle it and have to drop it, which is understandable, but don't go around calling it bad just because you couldn't handle it. I highly reccomend it and it has easily become on of my personal favorite animes of all time.