Yuki Yuna is a Hero manages to create one of the oddest anime genre fusions I have watched while seeming completely natural throughout. The series brings the over-the-top action of LyricalNanoha, the gorgeous animation and emotional trauma of PuellaMagiMadokaMagica, touchy-feely moments reminiscent of Key, and slice of life scenes that would not be out of place in K-On!. Their magical girl outfits look feminine without seeming soft. The girls themselves are simultaneously adorable, naive, scared, brave, badass, and heroic (the series name is definitely not a misnomer). The animation is loaded with ConspicuousCG, but uses it to create some of the most amazing landscapes of any anime I have ever seen. Even the English dub has some postmodern fusion to it where words like "Shinju-sama", "Taisha", and "Jukai" are used without translation and even without much explanation. Speaking as a fan of Madoka, Nanoha, and Mai-HiME, there's a lot to like here.
Yuki Yuna certainly isn't a perfect anime, though. Most of first 7 episodes consist of slice-of-life scenes that don't move the plot forward and generally don't develop the characters (with two exceptions I know of). When things start getting serious, the transition, while appropriately foreshadowed, is very abrupt and each protagonist (except maybe Itsuki) will suddenly behave very differently from how they did before. This is not necessarily a bad thing and I found many of the sad moments of Yuki Yuna quite touching, but it still felt a little off.
Overall, however, Yuki Yuna is a very solid series and I give it an 8/10. Note that the first time I watched Yuki Yuna, I rated it 7/10, but after a second watch a year and a half later, I found myself loving too much of the show to give it anything below an 8. If the fusion of things I listed above sounds interesting, give it a try!
”一人じゃ小さな囁きでしかない” ("When we are alone, we are nothing more than a little whisper.")
-黒沢ともよ - 祈りの歌 (Tomoyo Kurosawa - Prayer Song)
(An insert song and ED from Yuki Yuna. Note that my Japanese isn't very good and I might have transcribed this wrong.)
Yuki Yuna is a Postmodern Magical Girl
Yuki Yuna is a Hero manages to create one of the oddest anime genre fusions I have watched while seeming completely natural throughout. The series brings the over-the-top action of LyricalNanoha, the gorgeous animation and emotional trauma of PuellaMagiMadokaMagica, touchy-feely moments reminiscent of Key, and slice of life scenes that would not be out of place in K-On!. Their magical girl outfits look feminine without seeming soft. The girls themselves are simultaneously adorable, naive, scared, brave, badass, and heroic (the series name is definitely not a misnomer). The animation is loaded with ConspicuousCG, but uses it to create some of the most amazing landscapes of any anime I have ever seen. Even the English dub has some postmodern fusion to it where words like "Shinju-sama", "Taisha", and "Jukai" are used without translation and even without much explanation. Speaking as a fan of Madoka, Nanoha, and Mai-HiME, there's a lot to like here.
Yuki Yuna certainly isn't a perfect anime, though. Most of first 7 episodes consist of slice-of-life scenes that don't move the plot forward and generally don't develop the characters (with two exceptions I know of). When things start getting serious, the transition, while appropriately foreshadowed, is very abrupt and each protagonist (except maybe Itsuki) will suddenly behave very differently from how they did before. This is not necessarily a bad thing and I found many of the sad moments of Yuki Yuna quite touching, but it still felt a little off.
Overall, however, Yuki Yuna is a very solid series and I give it an 8/10. Note that the first time I watched Yuki Yuna, I rated it 7/10, but after a second watch a year and a half later, I found myself loving too much of the show to give it anything below an 8. If the fusion of things I listed above sounds interesting, give it a try!
”一人じゃ小さな囁きでしかない” ("When we are alone, we are nothing more than a little whisper.")
-黒沢ともよ - 祈りの歌 (Tomoyo Kurosawa - Prayer Song)
(An insert song and ED from Yuki Yuna. Note that my Japanese isn't very good and I might have transcribed this wrong.)