Qualidea Code

The positive thing about this show is that even though it looks like it is just a bunch of tropes about special individuals fighting against unknown aliens, the anime's creators avoided a lot of distasteful stuff. They avoided the stuff that could be  embarrassing or cliche, like boobie grabbing, a blonde tsundere, and an uninteresting main male protagonist. Sure, the main male protagonist (Ichiya Suzaku) is arrogant, and even though it is still better than, say, another version of some boring Takeshi, not everyone will put up with him. The world's destruction in the opening was quite nice. It is just a pity the animation was not much more impressive because this part could have been nice (I guess I am still under the influence of my last visit to the cinema - I saw new Independence Day). So, in general, the animation is not great, which is a bit surprising for A-1 Pictures animation studio. On the other hand, it is balanced by the soundtrack, which is very pleasing. The enemy, who they call the "Unknown" (seriously?!), did not impress me at all; the design of his ships is not that great, although at least it is not an embarrassing CGI mess, and I was left wondering why they are all pink. In general, this show is rather weak. However, in the context of similar concepts, it is a respectable and above-average show thanks to the absence of the most embarrassing tropes, plus the ending of the first episode, which suggests that everything might not be as it seems at first glance, got me intrigued. I got thinking about what point the narrative might have. Well, if I get it right, and if something surprising is hidden in there, then perhaps I am once again going to give this concept more than two stars. EDIT after the sixth episode: it did go its own way, and it had a pretty interesting narrative and got all serious despite all the usual nonsense and tropes! I am shocked that the atmosphere in the last few episodes is quite good, especially since I have no idea where it will go next. There are a bunch of tropes for sure, even though unpredictable things happen, and suddenly this anime series that I was not expecting anything from can be watched with a new interest. Plus, some of the tropes are handled quite well, and so I have to give a shout-out to the sixth episode, which I would call "heroic sacrifice". It also stirred up a bit of emotion in me, and I did not expect to be so moved by Qualidea Code. So, there is no fan service, however, there is a serious and surprising narrative. There are also some decent characters and many tropes that do not always end up the way they normally would. There are also some average action scenes, strange and even mysterious enemies, a lot of stuff that does not make any sense, and many other contradictory aspects. All this leads to the fact that I think it is a respectably average show halfway through. EDIT after the last episode: Not only did it hold up, it was pretty decent. There were some interesting twists, and the characters were not entirely black and white, which was beautiful, and even the conclusion, while pretty much a trope, was well handled. As a result, Qualidea Code is probably the best "trope-filled magical school" fantasy anime series I have seen for a few years (probably since The Irregular at Magic High School), which is saying something. Plus, I liked a few characters, among which the Chigusa siblings - Kasumi and Asuha stand out the most. Anyway, I am hesitating, however, in the end, even though it is one of the few gems in the "magical school" category compared to other anime series, it is not that great, although the narrative and its twists were okay. So, in general, I see it as a slightly above-average show and another reason to give "magical schools" for "extraordinary kids" a chance, because sometimes you can find a decent show in that genre. 6.3/10. (07/09/2016) (less) (more)