Trinity Seven Review

Trinity Seven Review

Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.

With that said, thank you, and onto the review:

I'm not sure why I like watching harem shows so much. Maybe its just the unique stories that come with it, or the females that have interesting hair colors and personalities. It could also deal with romance, or the animation. Harem shows are just kind of guilty pleasures for me, especially Nyan Koi and Tenchi Universe.

Of course, they need to be balanced on other aspects too. Is the story original? Do the characters act like stereotypes? Is it interesting? Would I recommend it to anyone?

Highschool DXD is a recent example that is a more mature harem. It's original, with some good characters, and an interesting story. Too bad the first half of season 2 did nothing for me. I'll talk about this later in my incomplete review.

I heard about Trinity Seven like I hear most about anime: the internet. This looked like a fun and interesting show, though with an appearance of Stereotypical Main Male Character lord knows what number we're on. I waited until the majority of the episodes were out before I watched it, since I was still watching my main two shows for the season in which I covered in January.

What did I think?

*sighs* Well, it wasn't as bad as other shows I've seen. There is some enjoyment, but this is pretty much a cliched as hell harem to the extreme.

The story feels tacked on, especially in the last half, the characters are pretty much all one-dimensional with no unique traits to them minus the headmaster and Lieselotte. The main character is the same main male character who we all know and love, especially since he's a pervert. Thank you, Highschool DXD.

Though, I do still like the show's animation, score, and voice work (for the most part), I don't really think the show really stood out for me. Yeah, it was enjoyable, but it still wasn't what I was expecting. When I think about it now, I feel like I half deserved to watch this, and half like I wasted my time.

First, we'll start off with the story:

Story

I always have an issue with harem storylines, since the majority of them follow the exact same formula. Here's what I've noticed:

Main male character lives an incredibly normal life.

Main male character is actually a "speshaal shnowflake" with amazing magical abilities.

Main male character gets into a situation in which he is surrounded by hot women.

All of the women fall in love with our protagonist, some for no reason at all.

Main villain is stereotypical, or is poorly developed.

Main characters kick ASS!

The end! ;D

I do think that some of them are at least unique (Nyan Koi!, Unbreakable Machine Doll), and even though some of them are in the norm (Tenchi Muyo, Highschool DXD), they also manage to provide some pretty unique elements that manage to propel it higher than most.

Not only does Trinity Seven manage to check off every single thing I mentioned, it also does a piss poor job at incorporating new elements.

Arata lives a completely normal and boring live with his cousin Hijiri. However, one morning, a Black Sun is noticed in the sky, and a mage appears before Arata. The Black Sun caused a gravitational phenomenon three days ago that pretty much ended the world, but it was recreated due to Hijiri's grimore that she left behind. And also because it was Arata's wish.

We also find out that the Hijiri known wasn't the actual Hijiri. More is explained later on in the series, but like I said, it's horribly constructed. Once finding out from Lilith (the mage who appeared before him) that Hijiri is alive, Arata finds that the only way to save her is to enroll in the Royal Biblia Academy, and meet the Trinity Seven.

So overall, its kind of a weak story to set up with. The first two episodes (and a couple minutes of the third) are focused on meeting 6 out of the Trinity Seven, and then the rest of Episode 3 is YAY BEACH TIME! 

Episodes 4-5 includes rescuing another member's personality, plus meeting the last of the famous seven. Episodes 6-7 are shown trying to defeat the last member, who is captured in her sister Selina's camera, and can come out anytime. The last part is never explained properly, but anyway.

The next few episodes have Mira and Arata (and his now human grimore) traveling to another magic school that was thought to be destroyed. A girl who looks just like Hijiri pops up, and stuff happens that allows Arata to transform into his Demon Lord form.

Oh yeah, did I also forget to mention that Arata is a Demon Lord candidate? Oops, my bad.

Do you kind of see how this story sets itself up?

The last two episodes of the show are not better in the slightest. A light wizard pops out of nowhere, and attacks the school. It is announced that Hijiri is pretty much bad news! YAY! SHE'S EVIL! 

Then, they announce that she's also a Demon Lord candidate, mainly because of her magic. and at this point, I was just about to do this:

But then again, just one more episode left. So that was out. The last episode just is a rushed mini battle, and then OMG DATE TIME!

So as you see, the story in this anime is a complete mess. The elements that it brings to the table are stale, and just don't really feel authentic. The main archetype from all harem stories has no limits in bad anime, and there really isn't any backstory for the Trinity Seven. And although this anime isn't horrible, it's up there with Arcana Famiglia in the worst stories I have seen in anime in the past few years.

Although, there are some nice aspects. I like how the Trinity Seven's archives being the 7 Deadly Sins, the comedy's okay for the most part, and I really liked how some aspects of the story. But that's it, and a couple good elements do not make.

Now onto the characters:

Characters

Majority of the characters in Trinity Seven are either one-dimensional, aren't too interesting, or are just the same tropes that we all can't help but hate, seen over and over in various other series.

There are good characters though, but the bad sadly outnumbers the good.

I'm going to start off with our lead male protagonist, Arata:

You know anime, I get sick after seeing this same character pop up over and over again. The cardboard cutouts who almost have no originality, and feel as if you want to mainly smack them than support them. This is Arata, however he's more like Issei than other generic characters.

Arata is a candidate to be Demon Lord (AKA he's one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Special snowflake alert!) He has the the power to nullify and copy magic thanks to his Superbia archive. He also has the ability to tear off clothing. Like OMG, I so haven't heard this one before. *coughHighschoolDXDcough*

So overall, there's not a lot to say about Arata, like Shido from Date A Live.

Lilith's turn:

Lilith is the first member of the Trinity Seven we meet in the anime, and her powers come from the Luxuria archive. Her main weapon is a gun that comes in two forms: a short pistol that can be used in close contact fights, and a long rifle which is used at long range. 

Though she is the same age as Arata and does wear the uniform of the academy, she actually is a teacher due to her high experience in magic. She becomes one of Arata's friends and allies after she first meets him during the Black Sun phenomenon, Even though she does become a big supporter o him, she is also a common target for his perversion. 

Another interesting fact, she also is the one who says Arata's name the most. "Arata, Arata, Arata, Arata." over and over again, like a broken stopwatch.

Overall, Lilith is okay as a character. While I do think she is super smart, and has some presence into this show beyond being a big fat overused trait, she also doesn't really add a lot of flavor into the anime. Besides being a broken record with the Arata thing, she doesn't really have any development for her personality. I do think she's memorable though.

Now onto Mira:

Mira is the 5th member out of the Trinity Seven to be introduced, and her magic is connected to the Superbia archive, her main thema being Justice. She is the head of the Grimoire Security at the academy, and is mainly a tsundere. At first, she is very cold to Arata and doesn't like being involved with him, however she does eventually warm up to him during the Liber Academy investigation.

Though she doesn't really have a lot of building blocks to her, I still do like Mira. Even though she is a tsundere, she's done better than other tsunderes out of the harem shows I've watched, say like Houki. I find Mira to have a lot of funny moments within the series, and let's admit, she is charming.

Last but not least for the characters I want to talk about, Lieselotte:

Lieselotte is the last member of the Trinity Seven to be introduced, and is the twin sister of Selina. She vanished from the school six months prior to the story, and was last seen in the library. When she first appears in the series, she is an antagonist, as she infiltrated the forbidden library in order to search for magic. Her thema is Stagna, which is apart of the Acedia archive. 

She obtains the power necessary to become a demon lord candidate after sucking out magic from her sister's body. She is defeated in Episode 7, where it is revealed that she can't go back to the school because she has committed too many crimes. She is currently now sealed in Selina's camera, and can switch into her body at random times. This is only shown in Episode 11, and it's very confusing.

My personal favorite out of the Trinity Seven is obviously Lieselotte. It mainly has to do with her personality, and how this is a role different for Nao Toyama. I kind of find her interesting in a way that makes her more enjoyable, and I liked it when she appeared on screen.

Other members of the Trinity Seven include a member who automatically calls Arata her husband, looks like Hijiri, and whose personality is as interesting as watching paint dry, a ninja who suffers from the same problems, Mira's partner who is one of the only members of the Trinity Seven I cared about, and a girl with two personalities, one being the big busty lolli type, and another being a soft, angelic girl.

Other characters include Arata's grimoire, the headmaster of the academy, another grimoire that Arata saves after the whole lost academy fiasco, the head of Liber Academy who only appears for one episode and is inconvenient, a light wizard who is just your stereotypical "I must keep fighting, and it is my duty too." girl, and Arata's cousin.

Animation

The animation was done by the studio Seven Arcs, most known for doing the animation for the Dog Days franchise, Sekirei, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

In comparison to Sekirei, this anime looks WAY better in terms of how polished it is, and how the model consistences work. The school's ceilings and floors look incredible, and the characters don't suffer from too many model inconsistencies. Because does anyone remember Musubi from Episode 11? *shudders*

Overall, I don't have much to complain about. To note though, there is censoring as well when the girls get their clothes ripped off, but it's not as bad as other light beams that are in other shows.

Sound

The score for this series was composed by the group TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND, also known for the score of the anime Witch Craft Works.

This OST is pretty epic, mind you. There's a lot of electronically based pieces, which not only manage to produce a unique edge to this show, they also manage to kick some butt. My favorite track would have to be MAGUS MODE, as it incorporates a unique melody, and chipped vocals. I find it fun whenever the characters talk over it.

Opening and ending wise, the show manages to supply a pretty kick-ass opening, and first ending. The other endings aren't that memorable, but they're still okay.

Vocal performance wise, not a lot of stand-outs here this time. I mean, yeah, a lot of them are good, but there just isn't a lot that stick with you, or aren't memorable. Especially our two leads, as their voices are annoying as hell.

Highlights include Yoko Hikasa, Ryoka Yuzuki, Nao Toyama, Rie Kugimiya, Aya Suzaki, and Shin-ichiro Miki (better known as Kisuke).

Verdict

Before I watched this show, I didn't really know what it was going to end up like. Unfortunately, it's one of those shows that if it ever gets released here in the US, I will not be scouting it for my anime collection (which is relatively small at this point, but hopefully it grows more soon.)

There are just too many problems regarding this series, mainly to do with its story and characters. and while some moments of the show are enjoyable, bad sadly has to outweigh the good in this case.

I wouldn't recommend this show out of regards that it's bound to get you frustrated, and annoy you in some way. However, if you do want a sci-fi based harem, this may be the way to go.

Also, if you want another one of these:

Score: 6.5/10

Positives:

Unique elements in story regarding Thema and magic.

A couple of interesting characters.

Great animation.

Fantastic score.

Negatives:

Majority of the story elements are either highly overused, or not executed properly.

Most characters are either boring, or not memorable.

Special Snowflake alert!

Voice work average for the most, minus leads and others.

Enjoyment very minimal.

Frustrating in later episodes.