Kyuutoryuu

Moderator Edit: This review may contain spoilers. --- Ever go into a burger restaurant, only to realize that it sells some of the most kickass tacos? That's what watching Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de feels like. Came in expecting superpower battles, came out having experienced one of the best anime dealing with friendship. Right off the bat, this anime tells a story of a group of normal high schoolers (and one primary schooler) gaining superpowers. For some inexplicable reason, they are now held with the burden of functioning as normal students with these destructive weapons at their disposal. Not surprisingly, this presents quite a problem for them;and I think that's the purpose these superpowers serve. They were implemented as a device to see how the main male character, Andou, would resist his chuunibyou desires to use his cool-yet-dangerous powers. They were implemented to see how Sayumi, the most level-headed member of the group, would manage this newfound burden as the leader (and so on and so forth). At the end of the day, we didn't get many battles; rather, we received a story of a series of struggles that these high schoolers faced while possessing these powers. There were many hints of romance throughout the series, but again, they were used as devices to highlight the friendship between the main characters. Tomoyo had to come to terms with her own self, accepting her chuunibyou and not being afraid to be who she was. In order to achieve that, she also had to come to terms with her feelings for Andou, as he was the one who truly allowed her to express herself. In a Sakurasou-like fashion, there was a side-story in which Tomoyo strove to be a light novel publisher. Initially hesitant, with the support of Andou, she boldly put her name out there (and got pretty damn far!). It's amazing how much an anime (that's technically a romance-comedy) can teach me about hard work and dedication. At the end of the day, it's not about how far you get; it's about how far you extended your efforts. Because of that, Tomoyo didn't have anything to regret, and Andou acknowledged her regardless. Another "romance" of Inou-Battle came in the form of Hatoko's relationship with Andou. Admittedly, while watching her interactions with Andou, I could greatly relate to a lot of the frustrations she had. Unable to relate to Andou (due to not having the same interests--see: chuunibyou), she was hopelessly trying to grab his attention, and yet, unable to do so. So frustrating a effort finally culminated in one of the most emotional seiyuu performances I have ever seen in an anime. So much emotion was put into every word; I truly understood the magnitude of Hatoko's frustration. I would dare say this scene alone makes Inou-Battle worth the watch (for those curious, it is in episode 7). At the end of the series, Hatoko didn't fully understand the person whom she affectionately calls "Ju-Kun"; despite that, she certainly had matured as a character and became infinitely better at understanding those different from herself. With the final episode, I think most who had been following Inou-Battle weekly would agree that there was a huge surprise; there was an actual battle with strategy! Indeed, a lot of confusion was cleared up with the explanations in the final battle, and it showed that there was a maturation process all the characters had to go through (especially Andou) in order to learn how to manage their powers. At the end of Inou-Battle, I think there are two main takeaways: with power comes the need for great responsibility, and friendships only strengthen when friends take the time to talk things out. Rather than harboring a silence anger, voicing frustrations is often the best thing that could happen for a friendship. It was a definite pleasure to watch such characters as Hatoko learn how to better relate to others, Tomoyo learn how to be honest with herself, and Andou learn how to balance chuunibyou with maturity. With Inou-Battle, don't look forward to supernatural battles. Instead, look forward to deep themes of hard work, responsibility, self-honesty, and friendship. Inou-Battle will deliver.

AbsarNaeem

When Supernatural battles become commonplace. That's the title of this anime but it is highly misleading, I repeat, it's HIGHLY MISLEADING. There are no supernatural battles in this anime. This anime is your average romcom harem anime situated in school and the characters all belong to the literature club. Story 7/10: One day, the members of a literature club get superpowers. There superpowers are such, that if it were an action, shounen anime, it would be epicly amazing. But as it turns out, you only get to see the powers being used for fun and in a few episodes. Most of the series is spent in the romcom livesof the characters as they pass through everyday troubles. Character 8/10: The characters are quite nice. They've got there own stories and all of them have affection for the protagonist and there's quite a bit of comedy. Each character is unique in his/her own way. Enjoyment 8/10: This series is meant to be seen as a romcom series. I picked it up thinking there would be good action with some romcom because who doesn't like superpowered action harem romcom anime. But there is barely any action in it. But the romcom is good enough to enjoy. Overall, it's not a loss. Nor it's as awesome as other fall anime. But it's a good watch. But still, it could've been a lot better.