Hagane Orchestra

Hi, this is my first review since there not any for this anime. Hope you'll like it.

So, fisrt I want to say that this anime should be watch by more people ! I just randomly found it on Crunchyroll and was not expecting anything out of the first episode, but I found it to be one of the most hilarious show of the season.

Story : 10/10
The story in a nutshell is "an anime made for the promotion of a mobile game but not like your expect it to be", cause in Hagane Orchestra, the characters actually know that this anime is for that purpose so ... they act to advertise the game and I find it to be such a cool idea ! I feel like with this anime I now really want to try the game rather than a game which the anime adaptation would have been a poorly written thing or something that only the people who had played the game would understand and really like (yeah Im talking about you Touken Ranbu Hanamaru). More than a parody, I see this anime as a critic of other casual mobile game that have an anime adaptation and even mobile games in general as a commercial product.

Art : 8/10
For a little mobile game adaptation the art is quite nice, not something outstanding but you can feel that effort have been put into this part.

Sound 6/10
the "opening" song is nice but except that I find that the other are forgettable

Character 9/10
The second biggest strengh of the anime after the story is how the characters are all hilarious, they are at time stereotype of your classic shonen anime characters but they also break through the 4th wall as I descirbed before which make an epic mix.

Enjoyment 9/10
Like I said earlier, I expected nothing from this anime at first, but man now Im glad that I randomly found it, it was so much fun. I enjoyed every episodes, did not laugh to all of them but had a smile all the way through.

Overall : 8/10
To conclude, I hope you understood my love for this short anime, just watch it it will take you less than an hour. And something I didn't mentioned earlierbut there is a lot of references in the show to other anime (like the Fate franchise, Madoka Magica, Hibike Euphomium and even Re:Zero at some point), games and japanese culture in a whole.
So what are you waiting ? Let's go !

You might think this is the usual 12 episode anime series with 4 minute episodes to try and promote some sort of mobile game, but it really is so much more.

It blatantly throws in things saying that it's a mobile game advertisement which is pretty funny. Even without this "break of the 4th wall" it is actually a very funny series to watch. The characters and things they do in each episode are very fun to watch. Now to get a little more in depth.

Story: 6/10
It is indeed a game advertisement so no real story to follow through the series. Just the short "advertising attempts" ... from episode to episode.

Art: 8/10
The art was quite interesting, I wouldn't say it's super detailed and that the backgrounds are well done but the style of art fits this very well. I quite liked it.

Sound: 6/10
Nothing spectacular here. Neither good or bad.

Characters: 7/10
The characters interacted with each other very well and they all had their own things that I liked. I didn't hate any of them, they were all great and enjoyable to watch.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Each episode was hilarious. The situations they went through each episode were fun to watch and how they interacted with one another was funny haha.

Overall: 7.2
This should be seen by more people to be honest. Almost every week when I went to watch a new episode I was like "why do I keep watching this, it can't be that good" but after I watch that week's episode I was happy I did. It's just hilarious and has a certain something that makes it more than what it first appears to be. It's only 4 minute episodes so it won't take forever to watch. Definitely an enjoyable short little series that isn't a game advertisement *wink wink nudge nudge*

Hagane orchestra the anime was an advertisement for a mobile game released alongside it in 2016 which has been shut down since 2018

With the knowledge of the games failure and doing what research I could on it (finding information on the actual game is a challenge) watching the characters desperately try to convince people to play has a sense of tragic dramatic irony that adds to the joke. It critics the games industry and places a focus on how genuinely intriguing game ideas can be snuffed out no matter the effort of the creators due to the undeniable fact that game development is a ... business and business means war. The humour is quite funny if you ask me and had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions, it is clear effort was put into this with a distinct art style and the inclusions of latte portraits of characters in the end credits. If you are a gamer or someone making or interested in creating games you will relate to the struggles of players watching their hidden gem die and the developers losing their lovechild to the harsh reality of consumers. If anybody who worked on the game or anime or the Hagane orchestra franchise at all is reading this, despite not being present to help with the game during its short lifespan you have touched and inspired me in my own projects. Wish you the best, and to whoever reads this I hope you enjoy the last piece of content from Hagane orchestra.