IS: Infinite Stratos 2

I've read a couple of reviews bashing IS2 quite heavily now and whilst I feel that many of their points are justified and I agree with most of them... I can't help but feel the need to throw this series a life-line. For a summary skip to 'enjoyment' section.

Story: 5
The only word I can think of to describe the story in IS2 in a nut-shell would have to be 'filler'.
The story is effectively non-existent consisting mostly of the girls (Ichika's harem - which he remains completely oblivious to as is now a custom with harems echii or not as it would seem) throwing their ... boobs and panties thrown in every possible direction with the occasional fight here and there... (here it comes) ... HOWEVER... whilst this season is effectively fan-service there is a small plot running throughout that left me wondering 'how long until #### goes down' with a sense of excitement.
In addition a number of the antics that were thrown into the mix left me laughing or giggling at the very least and I liked the art quite a lot too.

I think the issue people have here is that things don't 'go down' until the end where things finally begin to heat up, but even then there isn't a conclusive end to the arc... This leaves me with the feeling that the producers are planning to develop it in a third season (or at-least I hope - I'm not sure how closely it follows the manga either). I know its hopeful but it really could pull the series back into perspective story wise.

Art: 8
Nice art work which felt fluent and well drawn throughout the series with some nice detail on the IS's (which are used more than you might think they would after reading comments about the story). The characters looked fairly good including in any echii scenes for those who are interested.

Sound: 6
Sound was average in all honesty with ok intro and outro music. Although some credit has to be given to the voice actors who did a decent job (I'd be shocked if they didn't considering some of the talent there).

character: 5
All of the characters remain the same throughout this season as you (probably and if you haven't then go look at the first series) saw at the end of the first without any character development what so ever; even the 'near-ish romantic' bit is completely forgotten about for all those hopefuls.
The only glint of development from season 1's characters arises from Ichika's big sis which is towards the end if at-all.
The saving grace (if it can be called that) is the introduction of two new characters of which one shows some development over a few episodes.

Enjoyment: 8
Overall despite a stagnant story, very little character development and feeling slightly let-down from season 1 as a result... I somehow really enjoyed this series to put it bluntly. I loved some of the scenario's however cliche some of them may be simply because of how they were executed. I liked the well-drawn art style and loved the battles that were included in it (though I wish the battles were focused on a little more and I've seen more 'epic battles' in other anime). I can't quite explain it... All I can say is that despite its criticisms IS2 is still worth a watch & that I'm still left wanting a season 3.

I initially didn't plan on writing a review, but I wanted to more or less try to tell about how... Mixed the feelings when watching this show are.

First, it was heavily criticized by the viewers it seems, and like them I totally agree with the negative point. This show was awful in its structure and totally cliché with fanservice all the way. No originality.

There was a plot. We pretty much forgot about it until a few reminders sometimes, the pace is horrible. To make things worse, they rushed it totally at the end of the show, with nothing answered at all even though something was ... starting to get interesting(I liked the little development at the end of episode 10, that was a pure detail but the character was one I liked and it was interesting to see more of what she can do).
And there's a awful lot of useless episodes, the main one, totally ridicule, being the one with Charlotte and her disappeared panties, which I didn't enjoy at all... There are a lot of cheesy situations too, while I don't mind, sometimes it's a bit too much (still Charlotte's episode, or the measurements scene, as said by other reviewers. Hell, good thing the action was off-screen because I don't even know HOW he can lack anatomy knowledge to the point of mistaking it this much and how he ends up doing what he does).
Honestly , a few less of those nonsense and a bit more development on the plot or better introduced gags would be welcome. At least, I hope they'll make a season 3 because else that would just be truly a pure shitty show judging from how it ends with questions. TO me, it's bad, but there's worse, and I hope they'll make better in S3. I think this season would have gained some benefits from getting 24 episodes instead of 12 (well, 24 is a bit much, more like 20. Ep 13-15 being plot related to develop a bit of what was going on at the end of 12, 16-17 being a bit more comedy-centered, and back to the plot on 18 to 20 to reveal the intentions, motivations, and some final fights)


Yet, I liked it. Well, not as much as I liked others harem shows, but well... aside from the few useless episodes, I liked the cliché setting. Yeah, sure, no originality, but why always seeking pure originality? It's also rather enjoyable sometimes to see good ol' scenes in other shows, when you enjoy the genre.
Like, I dunno, Death note. Death Note was a nice thrilling story and I liked it. Then Lost Brain was published with a similar plot (student with great intellect fooling the police with great "tactics" and all), and everyone was like "this is just a death note copy with hypnosis instead of killing books". Heck, I liked it because it was similar to Death Note! The "it's not original so I don't like it and don't want to see it" mentality is comprehensible, but then I think it's a bit of a waste as you can never be allowed to get into the same ambiance than the first you ever read in that style.
So yeah, I enjoy seeing the harem cliché, that's rather funny seeing them back. Although I have to say a lot of the gags were bad-written, some were quite enjoyable anyway, as some relaxing show.

I can understand the lassitude of always seeing the same things, and if you're watching a lot of harem oriented shows recently, I suggest you don't watch IS. Not now. What I usually do is getting into periods of anime style: watching a few shows of serious, good plot without much of a comedy (duno, for example, Psycho Pass, Kara no Kyoukai, Shingeki no Kyojin), and then switch the change to mood and not being too overwhelmed by the heaviness, dark ambiance of those animes, by watching a few lighter things, like harem, simple romantic comedy, stories with a plot but still having somewhat of a plot or pure WTF colorful shows (dunno, for example, watching To love, Dog Days, and D frag).

So indeed the harem cliche was strong, but I did enjoy quite a lot IS and IS2, because that has been a while since I've watched a good old harem show with colorful characters like this. The last light animes that I saw were a bit less cliché, but not as lively in consequence as there's not a whole bunch of girls trying to get your attention, more like a few scenes here and there without much boldness coming from them. So it was kinda refreshing seeing a show like IS. Back to IS2, I was grateful for the new characters, Tatenashi being someone that lacked in the harem, the almighty always-plotting-troublemaker who only gets things worse, and is the boldest of all (even if her timing isn't all that great), and yet is strong enough to be able to keep doing this without fear.

Also, the voicecast is good. I was pretty happy to hear Kana Hanazawa, Marina Inoue, Yukari Tamura, Megumi Toyoguchi and Yukana(the last one being awfully rare in the shows I usually watch, yet I really like her. Still, I think Yukana was playing a bit too high-pitched in this). Sure, the show isn't great, but it's rather enjoyable to hear those voices when you like them.

So, to conclude, IS is a mere continuation of the first season, with an interesting background not exploited at all and it just feels like an horribly long intro plus a few OVA-type episodes mixed in the middle, but while it's not a good show, it's not the worst of what we can see either. It's abit frustrating sometimes, true, but well, just watch it when your brain is off. Seeing IS after a while of not watching typical harem anime can be nice, if you want one without much of a thinking, just for relaxing after a long day.
Let's hope a season 3 will be coming to finally develop that poor plot who was totally neglected during this season.

Infinite Stratos 2 is the anime equivalent of a lobotomy. An anime so insipid, so devoid of intelligent thought that a trip to the garbage can would likely yield something more interesting. Maybe you'll feel dirty afterwards, but hey, at least you won't receive brain damage for it.

I struggle to think of a single good thing to say when describing Infinite Stratos 2. Even the absolute worst of the medium (from the infamous Mars of Destruction to the nonsensical Cipher) can at least be laughed at in their awfulness. Not Infinite Stratos. It is everything wrong with the harem genre and the anime industry ... as a whole, assembled into one cretinous pile of filth. You would need standards so low that they pass the Earth's core and leave the other side of the planet in order to appreciate this trash. Nothing went right. Everything went wrong. Hell, this is awful even by the first season's standards.

Allow me to describe one of Infinite Stratos' most asinine scenes. In the sixth episode, Charlotte finds herself in a situation where her panties have magically disappeared. Rather than simply tell Ichika the situation like any sensible person would, she convinces herself that lifting her skirt and directly showing him is the only way to get her point across. Ichika does as she asks and looks. Her response? "Pervert!"

Another scene involves Ichika being forced to take body measurements of all the girls in the school (which every single one of them is happy about for some incomprehensible reason). He closes his eyes, so embarrassed by female cleavage, thinking to himself that a measuring tape does not require eyes to see. His complete lack of understanding about human anatomy results in him fondling the girl. Every single member of his harem then appears out of thin-air and catches him in the act, screaming and assaulting him as the camera pans away.

Even from the very first episode, we know that a trainwreck awaits. The antagonist walks down a dark corridor and meets five soldiers armed with assault rifles. They open fire... and all the bullets somehow manage to land in front of her feet or behind her. She jumps into the air, pulls out two pistols and shoots them all with perfect accuracy. Yep. Even the most brainless of Hollywood blockbusters aim for better than this, but I suppose Infinite Stratos never cared for quality in the first place.

The final episode is the most brain-damaging of all. The antagonist's sidekick willingly reveals to one of the girls the location of a hidden bomb, and the main antagonist then unleashes a laser attack on thirty or forty armed mech soldiers, annihilating them all instantly. Of course Ichika (the most worthless soldier in the entire school) and the members of his harem can take her on in a one-on-one fight, however. As the final insult to the audience's intelligence, a deus ex machina unfolds, placed in direct sight of the enemy at the most convenient time possible. They then escape, and the story ends with a random onsen scene wherein Ichika passes out in the girl's bath. OK.

I do not know how a show so stupid could have ever been produced. Even putting aside the abysmal writing, the harem aspect (the anime's sole appeal) fares no better. The two new additions to his harem (Tatenashi and Kanzashi) suddenly fall in love with Ichika for no bloody reason at all. In the case of Kanzashi, all Ichika ever had to do was smile a lot and play the white knight role once for her to be head over heels for him. There are so many damn members to his harem that you may as well just throw in the entire school at this point. What do they even see in Ichika, anyway? He is one of the most insipid protagonists ever created, absent of any personality. The animators should have just drawn a rock instead - at least that way there would be one less thing to infuriate the audience.

Aside from having the intellect of a toddler, Ichika has the maturity of one, too. He is so adverse to any female contact (even visibly cringing in one scene where a girl's breasts rub against his arm) that you would ordinarily assume he is a homosexual. The fact that he has seven girls blatantly chasing after him and does not recognise it is a testament to how dreadful his characterisation is. A decent harem series would have the protagonist aware long before this point, if not already actively pursuing one of the girls. Future harem anime should take notes from Sora no Otoshimono and HenNeko, and treat Infinite Stratos like the plague that it is.

Unsurprisingly, the female characters are just as bad. Even the two with a brain (Houki and Charlotte) inevitably fall victim to the show's abysmal writing. The most obnoxious is by far Cecilia, her voice so excruciating that it would be more appropriate in the 9 Circles of Hell. Lin on the other hand has about as much presence as a shadow while Kanzashi lacks any sort of personality or defining feature except "has glasses".

Infinite Stratos 2 is terrible even from a technical perspective. All of the action scenes are rendered in low-budget CG and many times the characters' faces will look as if they were drawn by a 10-year-old with a cheap "How to Draw Manga" textbook. The soundtrack is also rubbish and comprises mainly of elevator music and a tuba endlessly making the same two-three notes. During the action scenes, the music is so turgid and over-dramatic that it almost becomes hilarious when combined with the infantile dialogue.

It is rare to find an anime as bad as Infinite Stratos. It is the exact kind of tripe that gives anime such a bad image in mainstream society. Regardless of whether you enjoy the harem genre or despise it, absolutely nothing of value will be found here. Even as mindless entertainment it fails miserably. Avoid it like the plague, or better yet, convince yourself that it doesn't even exist. You will save yourself some sanity that way.

If this is the future of the anime industry, then god help us.