So wraps up one of the anime of all time. I don’t even really know where to start with this. I feel like this is one of those series that is going to stick with me into the future, but not for the right reasons. I think this series started with a lot of potential. However, the warning flags were there from the beginning. All the way back in the episode 1 thread I wrote this in the comments:

My biggest worry about this show after seeing the first episode is that it is going to be a lot of style with well-executed and choreographed action set pieces, but with a story that makes no sense and characters that don’t have any chemistry. What we have seen so far of Rouge and Naomi looks promising, but…there is so little we have seen so far.

Having made it all the way to the end of this show, I feel like the show didn’t even really live up to that expectation. The first couple episodes had some of the action and choreography I talked about, but there was a large stretch through the middle of the season where even the action felt lackluster. The one thing that has been consistently great this whole season has been the OST.

None of the story in this final episode makes that much sense if you stop and try to parse it all out. And, to top it all off, the final battle ends only for a whole new antagonist to appear, a story that is left up to the imagination of the viewer. This show feels like they tried to cram three seasons of plot into 13 episodes, but by doing so, everything became incomprehensible.

My biggest issue with this show though, has to be about the main pair of Rouge and Naomi. The relationship that these two build is never given enough time to develop. Naomi’s sacrifices in episodes 12 and 13 just feel hollow because we don’t really have a good sense of what these two are supposed to mean to each other. The show could have really used a lot more time where things slowed down and the two of them actually got chances to bond together, to allow time and space for their relationship to develop.

As for a screenshot to encapsulate this show for me, I nominate this @rikka@ani.social:

This certainly was an anime.

What was the point of fighting against Jill and later Roy only to do the same thing anyway? To reveal the Usurpers did something bad to it? As if we didn’t already know… Why not give Rouge’s id to Cyan if apparently Naomi’s body apparently died? It worked for Rouge. Also, somehow Naomi’s personality was in her id as evident by Naomi now being part of Rouge, even though Rouge, Noir and Naomi themselves kept their personalities when their id was taken, implying the id had nothing to do with a Nean’s personality (even though the name wouldn’t make sense in that case)… I’m trying to make sense of things, but alas. I have way more questions too.

This entire anime was such a mess. Things were setup poorly, followed up poorly and disjointed. It’s like Bones never even read a story before. Animation was fine, but certainly not even close to what Bones is capable of. Music was mostly fine with some cool stuff here and there., but I really don’t like the main theme’s motif. It doesn’t really fit imo. The hype version of it I like even less. The OP is an absolute banger though. Best part of the show probably.

This anime could’ve been good. There was potential. They just didn’t use the potential. Imagine this being your 25th anniversary project.

I saw a pretty accurate description in a MAL review:

This anime gives me the feeling that it’s written by AI hallucinations with lots of things that don’t connect, which leaves me feeling confused each new episode if I’ve missed an episode in between.

Bruh