The Asterisk War

Episodes 13-15

Note: Since I reviewed episode 13 in the Preview Guide, this review will focus entirely on episodes 14 and 15.

Amongst common anime tropes, one of my biggest pet peeves is the Student Council President who seems old beyond their years and wields virtual life-or-death power. Hence it probably goes without saying that I am definitely not a fan of Dirk Eberwein, the president of Le Wolfe Academy. However, his prominent presence in episode 14 is far less annoying than the prattle of newcomer Flora, an orphan and maid trainee for Lieseltania's Royal Family. That's less because of her character or reason for being there (basically, some of Julis's family want dirt on the romance they presume is going on with Ayato) and more because her seiyuu Chitose Morinaga (Karen in Shomin Sample) pitches Flora's cutesy voice up to a thoroughly irritating level; I cringed whenever I heard her talk. Fortunately, Flora doesn't appear at all in episode 15, though Dirk's odd interest in her wearing a maid uniform suggests that she could play an important role later on.

The entirety of episode 14 and first half of episode 15 cover the break before the quarterfinals match, but it isn't all downtime and frivolity. After meeting Flora, Ayato arranges a meeting with Dirk via Irene, where Dirk learns that Ayato really doesn't know why Mesa Madiath, the Chairman of the Festival Steering Committee, gave him a meaningful look a few episodes back, and Ayato learns that his sister was, as has long been implied, beaten in an illegal underground Festa before she disappeared. This badly shakes up Ayato, to the point that Julis calls Saya in to speak with him as his longtime friend. Thankfully, the writing plays that scene straight, which is one of the reasons why I favor this series over a lot of its competitors; there is a sincerity to some of its character interactions that you just don't see in most other anime of this type. Even though Julis acts like your typical tsundere, she is actually genuinely concerned about Ayato and serious about being his teammate. And even though she intimates being Julis's love rival, Saya takes her responsibility to reorient Ayato seriously, using their past connection involving his sister. It's content like that where the series shines brightest.

The second half of episode 15 becomes the battle (or at least the first part of the battle) against the Li twins. Their one-note personalities are also a little irritating, but they know their tactics well, which puts Julis and Ayato on the ropes for a while. The episode ends with Ayato, after exhausting his five minute limit and missing an opportunity to catch their opponents off guard, declaring to Julis that he has “awakened.” Can we assume that means he has finally broken his seal? If so, then the build-up leaves a bit to be desired. In fact, the battle as a whole is less exciting than it should be, something which has been a frequent problem for the series. I still think that an uninspired musical score is the culprit here, though perhaps not the only one. Whatever the case, that too-regular lack of punch to the fights is the series' biggest barrier to getting better.

So I'm still giving these two episodes a mildly positive grade as a sign of appreciation for what it's doing right with its characters, but the show still has yet to step up its overall game.

Rating: B-

The Asterisk War is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.