margarete.cassin - 2016-07-24 04:30:44

The place and time here refers to early 20th Century, when the technology and magic immersed in an Automaton's body, become its core to help it becomes a living being w/ personality. The expansion of Automaton with the intention to be a military weapon then spread all over the world. Here our main hero appears, Raishin Akabane, a puppeteer of his Automaton (Banned Doll) Yaya is joining Royal Academy, the academy full of puppeteer. His desire is to participate in Night Party, which he believes by that way he can find her elder brother who slaughtered other members of family.

    I found the story's intriguing and somehow the Automaton concept and the match was allure me deeper, I wished to disclose how the story end. This show, even if so short (well for me after watched this show, 12 eps was not enough) developing its story and characters well. Gradually the viewers introduced to new characters and other matches, many issues in the academy itself, but all of it still attached to the goal of Raishin. The improvements happened to be so smooth yet tense and mostly get rid by matches, that's how I like it. We will be served with lots of battles full of meaning and also the deep bond of friendships.

    Altho' almost the entire matches here won't do any terrible gore, you'll find blood, scratches, explodes everywhere all in a proper place. The enjoyment of art in every single matches are completed by the Automaton special moves. The character designs makes me interpret it as sweet, mostly uses the thin outer line and lighter colours. Along with new matches and problems, the characters are developed itself nicely, more intense one by one. The shift of their personalities too, are absorbing.

    I think the OP theme song here is a blast, sung by Hitomi Harada "Anicca" has a solid rhythm, kind of pounding heart tempo while the unique and catchy ED song "Maware! Setsugetsuka (回レ！雪月花)" sung by Hitomi Harada, Ai Kayano, and Yui Ogura. Somehow just by listening to the ED song it can lift up my sullen mood yet it's not my favorite song which I'm willing to hear continuously. My favorite is still Anicca ᒄ₍⁽ˆ⁰ˆ⁾₎ᒃ 

Overall, I give 8.5 for the series and it's pretty recommended folks~
Pros:

• Nice animation, its pleases my eyes and brings enjoyment
• Nice theme songs
• The enthralling characters

Cons:

• There's no 2nd season yet (whoopsie)

*) Puppeteer: The one who controls Automaton
*) Banned Doll: An Automaton which made by organic parts and mechanical-magic. An Automaton is supposed to be made only through mechanical-magic.
*) Night Party: The match among puppeteers. The winner will get the title of "Wiseman". In this match, surely allure all of the top puppeteers to fight, and Raishin assumes he will find his elder brother here.

xlebsack - 2015-08-25 14:10:20

How people view ecchi anime, in the anime community, are vastly different. Some people can’t stand it, some people love it, and aren’t afraid to show it, others are fans but aren’t too proud of it, and there are some people who are somewhere in between. With all of these differing opinions on ecchi anime, it’s hard to determine whether an ecchi series is any good or not. How much you like a series riddled with fanservice and that, usually, doesn’t have a very compelling plot is, naturally, entirely dependent on your opinion of fanservice and how much the plot of a series contributes to your personal enjoyment of it. Now, occasionally, like in any other genre you will have shows that will try to break the mold that has been established by so many shows that have been released before it. In the case of ecchi anime, that often is having a really good story line to go along with the inevitable breast and panty shots. That is something that Unbreakable Machine-Doll (Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai) has tried to accomplish. Now was it successful, or didn’t it fall flat on its face?

Story:

Unbreakable Machine-Doll’s story takes place in the 20th century, a time where there have been several technological advancements, especially with the use of magic. During this time period, there was a tremendous discovery. By fusing scientific and magical knowledge, humans were able to create a device that can bring inanimate objects to life, an even give them their own personalities. The militarily use for this technology came in the form of puppets. They would bring puppets to life, and train people to use these puppets for military purposes.

The story revolves around Raishin Akabane, a member of the Akabane clan—a clan that specializes in the use of puppets. One day, a mysterious assailant attacked his clan, and nearly all of them were killed. Raishin wants to avenge his clansmen’s deaths so he joins the Royal Academy, a prestigious school for puppeteers, in order to become the best puppeteer in the world.

The most interesting thing in the story is its setting. As most of you probably have noticed, most anime take place in Japan, with the second most popular setting probably being space. So to have an entire series take place in 20th century England is a nice change of pace. I was also really interested in the story’s premise. Just looking at the plot synopsis got me interested in watching this series. But, unfortunately the story never gets any better than “interesting.”

The first issue that I have with the story is the way that it goes about explaining everything to the viewer. It will introduce a subject, or term, to you without defining exactly what it is or what’s going on. They will have entire conversations about these things without giving you any clues or context to what they are talking about—until the conversation is already over. But, by that point, I was already annoyed. This happens several times throughout the course the series, and it gets even worse at the end, but I’ll get to that later. It’s not like they are being vague, and mysterious. They’re not giving you hints or clues, and trying to let you figure things out on your own. They’re just not telling you anything.

The show also tries to break away from some of the stereotypical ecchi attempts at humor, i.e. the male protagonist “tripping” and grabbing the breasts of a female character or the male protagonist having several nose bleeds because of the female characters. While there are definitely some moments that are fairly cliché in the ecchi genre, for the most part, the humor in Unbreakable Machine-Doll at least a little bit different from what you’d typically see in the genre. The problem is that it uses the same types of jokes and gags over, and over, and over again. And, honestly, they weren’t even that funny in the first place.

Another issue I have with the story is the way that they magically create and insert actions, conversations, and random knowledge whenever it’s convenient for Raishin. He’ll be in the middle of a battle, in which he’s getting beaten pretty badly, and all of a sudden he’ll turn the tables on his opponent and gain the upper hand. How does he do this? Apparently, he had it all planned out all along. Some random bystander will start commentating about how Raishin must’ve known about such and such all along (or “deduced” it right before hand), and had already had a plan in his mind to counter act such and such by doing such and such off screen. They don’t even show you flashbacks of when he did whatever they said he did, they just flash a picture on the screen, there will be more on that in the animation section of this review, and say that he had planned it all along.

Now my biggest problem with the series is the way that it ended, because, it really didn’t. Remember what I said about the series picking and choosing when to explain things that they mention in their character’s dialogue? During the last two episodes they say things that were never mentioned in the series before hand, and must’ve planned on explaining things during the second season. The problem is that there is not second season, and there will probably never be one at this point. The unanswered questions are compounded because the season finale didn’t conclude the two main storylines during the course of the season: Raishin getting his revenge and becoming the best puppeteer. The only things were solved by the last episode were a few side character’s stories, and it felt like the main story was put on hold. All of this added up to a very unsatisfying conclusion, to an underwhelming story.

Animation:

Overall, the animation in Unbreakable Machine-Doll is solid. The characters are all distinctive and nicely animated, and the background scenery is well done. The fight scenes in this series are also well done, even though I do have a problem with the way they chose integrate still images into them. Instead of seeing a fight scene with every frame being animated, you’ll see quick flashes of still images, which are supposed to supplement the animation for those particular actions. This happens fairly frequently, and it’s not only jarring, but it’s also disappointing. Several of the moments that were reduced to only still images would’ve looked much better if they were animated, and they would’ve made the fight scenes that much better.

Another thing I liked about the animation was that there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of fanservice. Was it there, and perfectly noticeable? Certainly, but it didn’t happen anywhere near as often as I expected it to. In fact, there were several episodes were there was little to no fanservice, and I thought that was refreshing.

It also should be noted that there seems to be some brightness issues with the lighter colors used in the series. Some of the whites, in particular, look extremely bright, and even a little blurry, on screen.

Sound:

Unbreakable Machine-Doll’s soundtrack (OST) is fairly large, and pretty varied. There are definitely plenty of songs to fit every single moment in this series. Most of the OST is split between two song types: soft, airy, and melodic, and epic and grand. The softer songs usually rely on different string instruments and a piano to produce a lighter sound that just feels like it belongs in a fantasy show, which isn’t a bad thing considering that that is pretty much was Unbreakable Machine-Doll is. The other songs use a lot more instruments, and that big orchestral sound is perfect for the fight scenes in this series. The series only has one opening and ending, and I didn’t find either of them particularly special. While I didn’t find anything that I’d be compelled to re-listen to after this review, Unbreakable Machine-Doll’s OST was really good.

Characters:

There are two main characters in this series, Raishin and his puppet Yaya. There are also several side characters that you’ll see over the course of the series. I’ll just get this out of the way right now—there is little to no character development for any of the characters in this series. Every character in this series is pretty much the same at the end of the series, as they were at the beginning, with a few very minor exceptions. Thankfully, we do get some background information about most of them, but there are still some characters that we don’t know a whole lot about.

But, the characters are decently likable and enjoyable to watch. There relationships with one another do actually go through some development over the course of the series. It’s nothing substantial, but it’s definitely noticeable.

Enjoyment:

As I mentioned earlier, this series never got past just interesting for me. The annoying methods of story telling, repetitive comedy, and lack of an ending didn’t really add to my overall enjoyment of this series. While I was decently entertained by Unbreakable Machine-Doll it’s not something that I’d consider watching again.

Verdict & Breakdown:

Story: 2.5/5

Animation: 3.8/5

Sound: 3.7/5

Characters: 2.7/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Verdict: 3.1/5

While Unbreakable Machine-Doll isn’t bad, it’s far from being the, “Ecchi anime with a fantastic story,” that some claim it to be.

nbartell - 2015-06-29 03:39:27

Each season there are several anime that air only to promote their source material. These often end on a cliffhanger or the end of one of the earlier arcs of their source material typically referred to as a read the manga ending. Most of these series fade into obscurity however there are a few stand out titles such as Noragami and No Game No Life. Unbreakable Machine Doll is yet another of these series.

Story - 3/10

The story takes place in a world where people have discovered how to use magic through science and have built robots called automatons to use magic in combat. Those who wield these automatons are called puppeteers. Given the time is the early 20th century, Machine Doll lends itself to a steampunk setting rather well. The first episode capitalizes on this setting by introducing the main character Raishin and his automaton Yaya by having them stop a runaway train. The first episode was executed very well and did its job to capture my attention with it’s unique setting and fast paced action in stopping a runaway train.

Unfortunately the plot fell off a cliff and died. Raishin entered a school where normal school fight anime things happened. Female characters were introduced. They don’t like MC. MC saves them. They fawn over MC. The supporting cast had character arcs where the writers desperately tried to make a very generic character arc look significantly more complicated than it actually was. For a while it worked, but it just leaves a salty feeling behind when alls said and done as it almost seems as if the writer was trying to pull one over on the viewer. Beyond that, nothing special really happened.

This series had a “read-the-manga” ending of the type where it just ran out of episodes. After the last character arc of the series ended, so did the series. There is an overarching story to Machine Doll that I will not get into as the series ended before that went anywhere. Machine Doll did serve it’s purpose of making the overarching story appear interesting to sell more of the source material. The setting was remarkably interesting and I would have loved the show if it explored the world more, but it fell on its face in spectacular fashion.

Characters - 4/10

These characters were painfully tropey, more so than normal. Raishin is the classic revenge-fueled main character. His family was killed and now he seeks revenge. On top of this he scored at the very bottom of his classes when taking the entrance exam despite being an immensely powerful puppeteer. He is the usual lead who can’t do anything bad towards a good guy but has no problem taking out the bad guys. He’s a very stale and tropey lead.

Raishin’s self proclaimed strongest automaton Yaya is one of the better yandere characters in recent years. She achieves all the major points of the trope without being incredibly creepy or downright insane. She’s actually pretty cute most of the time. She makes the usual yandere advances on Raihin in a more comedic way then they normally are portrayed. Instead of creepily planning on decapitating Raishin, she just starts attacking him for no real reason… in a comedic way. That works surprisingly well. By twisting the usually creepy yandere in a comedic fashion Machine Doll created a unique character that prevents the show from becoming overly tense without breaking the atmosphere as a usual comedic relief character does. There’s no real explanation as to why she acts this way or any insight into her character, but she achieved her goal of being likable with finesse.

Charlotte Belew is the third most prominent character in the series and is the generic female character without any friends as well as the tsundere. And as with Raishin she is the trope incarnate. Charlotte begins the series as the proud and powerful female character and ends it as a damsel in distress in a similar way to how Sword Art Online treated Asuna in the first season. She also has a younger sister who looks exactly the same. Her sister is not a tsundere so that’s how you can tell them apart.

The remaining cast falls into various tropes with little screen time to break them out of said tropes. While Machine Doll does suffer greatly from excessive tropes, the tropes are used rather well. No where did I find myself slamming my head on my desk at the painful tsundere or retarded protagonist. The cast was fairly likeable despite the tropes.

Art - 2/10

(Just wait until the smoke effects start up)

The animation was not bad. In fact, it was quite clean throughout the series and highly consistent plus Machine Doll had some of the best uses of CGI for an anime of its time. Despite how frequently the CGI appeared it never came across as painfully out of place as it usually does. In regards to the use of CGI, Machine Doll deserves the utmost praise.

Unfortunately the art direction was downright awful, especially the lighting. When watching anything, the characters and events on screen should be visible, right? Machine Doll elected to stylize itself with a peculiar type of lighting that made it extremely difficult to follow what was occurring on screen. Even under a high definition it is nearly impossible to figure out what is going on at the most crucial times. The lighting was especially bad during the night scenes, and about 80% of the anime took place at night. Sometimes peculiar stylization pays off, but Machine Doll just shot itself in the foot.

Admittedly part of the reason for the success of the CGI was the poor visibility during the times it was used. This was a risk that did not pay off. On one end the CGI looked far less worse than it otherwise would have. On the other you can’t see what’s happening. You can even see what’s going on in Inferno Cop. Not in Machine Doll.

The character designs were fairly average. Raishin had good clothing design that felt very fitting for the environment he was in and was by far the most memorable character off design even if you can’t really recognize him by his face. Yaya was also well designed but nothing particularly special. Unfortunately the Belew siblings have nearly identical appearances which really makes it hard to tell them apart during those night scenes.

I should also mention that there is fan service in this series. While it isn't nearly as in-your-face about it as an ecchi show, there are a few short topless scenes and the like. If that's not your cup of tea, Machine Doll isn't worth the effort.

Sound - 4/10[SUB] 6/10[DUB]

The best thing about Machine Doll is the ending. All I can say is Mare! Mare! Mare! Mare! Maware!

The remainder of the soundtrack was rather forgettable. Most tracks felt like stock dramatic music with lots of drums and strings. Nothing was particularly notable in a good or bad way.

The voice acting was average for the most part. In the original Japanese dub the only standout performance came from Yaya, but not in a good way. Yaya was annoying to say the least. Her constant screaming of “Raishin” became painful to listen to. I’m sure most people are familiar with how annoying Navi in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time can be. Now picture an anime with a character whose vocabulary is just as spammy and voice is just as obnoxious. Those 12 episodes were not pleasant on the ears.

On the English side everything was pleasantly surprising. While it’s by no means the best dub ever, it was certainly good, one of the extremely rare dubs that surpasses the original. As the setting took place in England many of the characters had british accents which added a lot to the feeling of the whole environment. Especially when Raishin and Yaya have American English accents. It genuinely helps establish their position as foreigners for a native English speaker such as myself. Also, Yaya was less annoying.

Conclusion

Unbreakable Machine Doll had everything it needed to be successful. Visuals that initially appear attractive. A unique and impressive setting. And characters who initially give off good vibes. Yet despite these things it manages to fail. And that failure can almost entirely be contributed to direction. It was very difficult to tell what Machine Doll wanted to do. The stock back stories and overuse of tropes coupled with the overall lack of a consistent plot line led to a complete mess. A plot-less show works if it’s driven by characters. A tropey cast works if it’s driven by plot. Machine Doll tried to have both a tropey cast and content-less plot, and it didn’t work.

After a series of complex calculations and constant spinning I award Unbreakable Machine Doll with a score of 3.5/10 I can't honestly recommend Machine Doll to anyone but it isn't a painful experience. It's perfectly watchable and who knows you might find something enjoyable out of it.

Maybe it's just me but that art really bothers me.

ubechtelar - 2014-10-17 15:18:47

Short and Sweet version: NOT a memorable Anime.

Longer Version: (No spoilers, although this is such a run of the mill anime, You can predict the story without watching a single episode)
What I like :
The art style I liked, the character designs (art-wise) seems pretty good (very general-looking in terms of most present anime, but I won't call it bad by any means),
The drawing of the eye is somewhat different from most other anime - But I liked it.
A beautiful colour palette.

 Ecchi
For those coming in only for the ecchi, note that you can make out the nipple in 1-2 scenes (1 in main arc, another in Special Episode 2). Note that the Ecchi in general isn't particularly striking though.

The Opening Theme is nice. Not very good per say, but you can listen to it a couple of times and not be bored.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Thats the end of everything that i liked.

What I did not like:
There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that you can call great about this anime. Completely generic. From the Rom-Com (w/ Ecchi) animes that I've seen, if I stereotyped the different attributes, this anime would get Check marks on all of them, adding NOTHING NEW to the mixture.

There is a classic "HERO" to whom serious injury is a non-existant concept. If there were atom Bombs (there aren't), he could explode one in his mouth and he'd probably go "Ah my tooth hurts". he gets shot couple of times,broken bones/ribs etc which all get fixed in less than a day, Magic or not, thats just a ton of bull.
The main "HEROINE" is actually not your everyday concept, since in this she is head over heals over the main protagonist and wants to do nothing but get in his pants. They sadly spoil it by adding a very bad voice artist to do her lines.
The "Secondary HEROINE"  your average every anime Tsundere. nothing new. move on.

The anime is GENERIC.

There are no major plot twists (You could technically say there is one near the start, but I know I predicted that very very early on).

They didn't even bother to change the character design for another character in the story (not even a tiny bit except her bust-size) which makes watching the anime kinda confusing near the later portion of the anime.

They've not explained the magic type, limitations (excluding that the dolls require a magical "heart" through which all magic runs through),  origins, NOTHING. Basically magic= squiggly lines. Zero explanation.

The tech(excluding of the magical variety) is supposed to be late 1800s ish. They could have used that for something, but NOPE. The only big change that they do in regard to this is the fact that they've changed some words to some Old-English styled ones. (Technically its Japanese, but I assume u get the picture).

The background work given is completely static. Whine what you wan tabout low- budget, but it was pretty darn boring.

The background music was close to non-existant, with them trying to manage with some very few works. none of which were good.

They rehashed/reused multiple scenes.

The character designs (although they are good), resembles many popular anime such as K-ON, Kannagi etc.

Now lets go by ratings (out of 5) shall we?

Story : 1
Story adds nothing new to the table. I give it 2, because its still understandable (having no good story whatsoever helps in this regard, but MEH). Too many plot-holes to list, and even then they didn't come up with anything good.

Animation : 3
The animation was pretty decent, although they changed the styles a bit here and there, animation I regard as decent.

Sound : 1.5
Due to the Opening Theme song, i give it 3.5. Voice-acting was not good. background music was non-existant.

Character :1
I'll say it was bad. They didnt do anything new, they had zero ideas, and the character development that they did show was pretty shallow.

Enjoyment: 1.5
I honestly wanted to give it just 2, but I did go through without too much hassle, Although i know for certain i didn't like it.

Overall : 1.5
This anime brought nothing worth mentioning other than the fact that it was completely generic. Zero good ideas, (Although they could have improved on that fron quite a bit, they didn't). You can watch it to pass time, but you won't really get particularly excited from watching this particular anime.

mheller - 2013-12-31 12:15:32

Impression

To be honest, it’s not all that much of a surprise, especially given her status as a heroine (if we can call her that). It certainly lends more credit to Raishin’s claim that she’s the “best automaton in the world”, although at this stage it’s more like Yaya’s hidden potential is locked away as of now, only to be released in times of danger or apprehension. While Shouko’s personal agenda is as dubious as ever, it’s further testament to her ability that she’s able to successfully create machine-dolls (not only in Yaya, but probably in Irori and Komurasaki as well). It’s something even Magnus failed to do – it seems like the objective he alluded to of “creating God” is in fact his goal to create a machine-doll of his own, presumably using Nadeshiko’s body (it’s still a pretty scant reason for deciding to massacre your family). But yeah, I never would have thought the six automatons he had were in fact failures who ended up as mere Ban Dolls, powerful though they may be. Succeeding can’t be easy – the result would be just shy of what an actual human would be, plus the power of an automaton. In light of all the flesh parts Yaya has though, I’d say Magnus’ attempts are along the right lines.</p><p> I sorta expected our protagonists to defeat Sin with their strength in numbers, although in hindsight that might have been slightly too optimistic. Sin took a magnificent beating from Yaya both before and after she went berserk – he was definitely feeling the pressure until his master saved him in the nick of time. Or is it his mistress? From the way he properly introduced himself as a Bernstein butler once they were alone, I’m pretty sure Alice is masquerading as Cedric Granville rather than the other way round… or maybe she and Cedric are one and the same. Who knows? That girl seems like she’s devious enough to do a lot of things, including manipulating the government to have them subsidise the cost of a new Clock Tower. She even got herself in the Evening Party as the elusive #87 – no way should she have such a crappy ranking in reality. While she might have trouble against Magnus, Alice is Rounds-level at least.

Overall Thoughts

So, we’ve come to the conclusion ofUnbreakable Machine-Doll! Thanks for staying till the end. Going in, this was one of the series I had fairly high hopes for – and on the whole I wasn’t disappointed. I felt it was a fairly innovative take on the “magic high school” concept that seems to be very popular in light novels these days (we have Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei in Spring) – it had fun characters, wasn’t too predictable and kept a good balance between action and comedy. Though then again, I really should question whether it’s a story about sexual banter (with action just fitting around it) or vice versa. Mind you, it helps that the banter is carried out between likeable characters – Charl will always be best girl, and Raishin (who is arguably a harem lead) is actually aware of the girls around him but is too asexual to do anything with them. Yaya has drawn in a lot of mixed opinions – I even know people who dropped the show just because they didn’t like her. Personally I’m fine with her… sexually aggressive tendencies – while perhaps a bit obsessive, it’s affectionate, and I’m okay with that. At the very least she’s better than Kouko (ofGolden Time) whose clinginess I find to be far worse than Yaya’s.

This show ended on a decent note – it’s answered enough questions for now, but there’s lots to expand on. I wouldn’t have minded a second cour to be honest, especially as there are 12+ LN volumes out in Japan!

Dat Maware,Dat Nurse Outfit!

lfarrell - 2013-12-24 06:16:18

This has been an interesting show for a variety of reasons that have little to do with the story being told. The show has a distinctive art style which attempt to blend with CGI more naturally, to varied results, and that caught my eye at first. While the CGI looks nice most of the time, sometimes it was very off. Like when characters normally presented in 2D animation inexplicitly switch to CGI for a brief moment. That’s kind of awkward, no?

Anyway this is the story of book-dumb-but-smarter-than-he-looks-hero-guy Raishin and his hilariously-clingy-but-never-quite-crosses-the-yandere-line-sidekick Yaya, as they attempt to beat the shit out of all the other characters, become something called “the Wiseman” and maybe possibly get revenge for an unclear crime if they have the time to spare. If that sounded a bit unclear it’s because it is. I don’t know if some of these details were better explained in the original light novels or not, but sometimes this plot can become hard to follow. Almost as difficult to comprehend as the magic system which they never bother explaining at all.

Okay, I take that back. They do explain things… a lot of things, but it’s completely without context. As far as I’m concerned, Raishin can just mumble some random words and a number and Yaya does what the plot needs her to do. That’s some magic right there. And this is probably my biggest complaint. The show doesn’t care about its audience, it just does its own thing and hardly ever stops to fill you in. It just don’t give a fuck, really.

The anime adapts the first 3 light novels, and divides them into nice little 4-episode each chunks so it is easy to identify when one arc ends and another begins. Don’t ask how accurate the adaptation was, I never read the novels nor could I even if I wanted to. I would presume the adaptation is slightly rushed though, as it leaves out many details that I can’t imagine any writer worth his salt would willingly neglect. It makes me wonder what exactly is the right number of episodes to spend per novel? I remember Accel World gave each of the four novels it adapted six whole episodes and thus was pretty damn accurate. But moving along.

The character interactions can be quite humorous, which is one of the saving graces of the show really. They’re all walking cliches but they are entertaining, though I do wonder if I’ll remember any of them in six months (maybe Yaya, but that’s probably it). I personally found the comedy pretty good, though the show’s balance of silly and serious is a bit wonky overall. There’s some jarring tone shifts, lemme tell ya.

The show can sometimes come off as a bit pretentious because it thinks it’s smarter than it really is. A lot of the mystery and intrigue have simpler explanations than the show would like to think. In fact, most of the mystery comes from how hard the show can be the follow, particularly in the middle section (novel #2), where I almost dropped the show because I couldn’t follow where shit was heading, but I pressed on. I appreciate the machiavellian-style scheming over typical all-out brawls but I feel it could’ve been done better.

The OP and ED are decent but nothing amazing, and the soundtrack is barely even noticeable. Not much to say on that front, it does its job and nothing else.

Overall, this is just an average show really. It’s pretty hard to recommend because it doesn’t do anything particularly notable. It passes the time if you’re bored, and probably won’t irritate you too much since it isn’t really bad… just lacking. Meh all around.

Rewatch Value: No (On a Yes/Maybe/No scale)

erica.conn - 2013-12-24 04:33:24

This anime is in MY opinion the biggest let-down. It could have been so much more, It has its moments but its utterly incapable of keeping things fresh, interesting, or intelligent. Its a 5.5/10 because it could not decide whether to be serious or not serious, now let us continue.

Story 6/10

I believe I am being generous here when I give it this score, but here is why. The story follows Raishin and his "Doll" Yaya, Raishin is trying to exact revenge for what happened to his family and he knows who committed this crime. After making shady deals he obtains Yaya, he then ventures to the Royal Academy in search of obtaining a spot to fight the said bad guy. Along the way he meets some interesting characters, by interesting I mean girls-well he does meet one man. The then proceed to build friendships, which i mean your an enemy, no now your a friend, no no no, now your an enemy, or is it friend. Those are some of the acts that bothered me but now let me detail my big problem

The Big Problem

This anime, again in my own opinion, believes itself to be Socrates with its questioning, however its more like the guy at wafflehouse asking the server if they serve pancakes and if yes can you stack them to the sky. It is so stupid, for example, the magic carpet butler! I mean every twist is easy to see and is honestly trying to be too smart and is very silly. Every time their is a moment it gets ruined with trivial nonsense. Apparently Raishin is a detective for about 2-4 episodes and guess what, it was all a big joke. Wait it gets better, that BIG JOKE actually turns out to be a "critical" moment in the story (I guess i didnt get the memo) it eventually shapes how the series will end because of this, when it was little more than revenge+Detective arch+revenge+stupid+OP flying FUCKING butler+psychical appearance change+doubt= One of the biggest let downs ever. I cant stress enough that it is so silly nothing is interesting, its not intelligent, its not deep, its just MEH. While it tries to be serious it then goes PFF j/k guys lmao right, yea lol. NO, breaking up the serious tone is the stupidest misunderstandings that remind me of a bad ecchi anime. example, the guy does something heroic saves somebody or whatever, then a touching relief moment happens then his automaton says "you just like big boobs" it is totally out of place and should be killed by fire. ok, im starting to rant.

Animation 8/10

After being let down by the incompetent story, the animation i must say is good. They had some flare when it needed, the character designs (Human) were good and detailed, most of the Dolls were great, some were un-creative but they were nice. The fights were fine not great but above average, not too much blur and skipping with the animation. Overall the animation was probably the best thing in my opinon, not bad at all.

Sound 6/10

I cannot stress my inability to gauge the prominence or importance of sound assets. I dont focus on the music unless it really grabs me and pulls me in a direction for better or worse. So your mileage may vary but nothing stood out to me, the OP or ED, the fighting had some reused sound assets but every anime does, like the grunts and punching noises. I give it a 6/10 because nothing pissed me off and nothing stood out, it just did what it needed to do and that was it.

Character(s) 7/10

Again i felt that the character design for the most part was good, the people looked like people no uber clannad eyes. There were some big boobs but only the pair on the meek girl. I found the main character to be decent, he was not a total pansy but as mentioned before he thought he was smarter than he was. The female characters were overall lacking, were some adorable, yes, were some annoying, yes. Did all the female characters make me laugh and pissed, yes. There is no detail behind them other than Yaya and Charlotte to some degree. the personality switches that happen throughout really annoy me and ruin certain character (Charlotte's sister is a waist) and generally the characters were enjoyable to a degree but were swatted down frequently only to rise half way in the end. The Doll characters were so average it hurts, They could have done so much more with what they had, and endless imagination to create unique dolls but do they do it NO! The most seen Dolls were human looking, a dragon, and a waling sword. This is the creativity that was shown all through the anime, just a giant let down.

Enjoyment 5/10

It was so glaringly stupid that it ruined any dumb fun I could have had, it did not commit to being a serious anime or a not serious anime. Doing this made its self awareness fall making everything just bitter. Triumphant moments gets shot down instantly with boob jokes and its usually Yaya doing this, its over done to death in this anime and should not be smiled upon, they do the same jokes every episode. They were not even good to begin with and they do it over and over. I would ratrher type this rant again and again then hear those stupid jokes again.

Overall 5.5/10

Overall a 5.5/10 because this ^ im done, merry f***ing christmas. The anime was a big disappointment and wasted potential. It could have been so much more...

carlos.conn - 2013-12-24 01:55:10

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS. NOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN WARNED, IT'S UP TO YOU WHETHER YOU WANT TO PROCEED READING FURTHER OR NOT.

Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai, or in English, Unbreakable Machine-Doll, is an anime from 2013. This anime was adapted from a light novel written by Reiji Kaitō. Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai is an action, fantasy, school, ecchi anime that focuses on the adventures of the main characters, Raishin Akabane, and his partner, Yaya.

Story

During the early 20th century, along with technological advancements, scientists were able to develop sophisticated magic. The combination of science and sorcery was called Makinot, circuits made from spells that were put into objects to bring them to life and even gain a personality. It was developed as a military weapon and has now spread throughout the world. Akabane Raishin is now attending the Royal Academy to become the best in the world. Accompanied by the lovely teenage girl Yaya, who is actually Raishin’s puppet weapon, he plans on rocketing to the top of the class. However, his test scores come nearly dead last although his combat skills and determination are second to none. Raishin has to compete with the deadliest of classmates if he wants to come out as the king.

The anime has adapted the first three volumes from the light novel, and it's four episodes per arc.

Arc 1: Facing "Cannibal Candy"

Arc 2: Facing "Sword Angel"

Arc 3: Facing "Elf Speeder"

Story: 8/10

Animation

The animation is not the best, but it's still pretty good. Some people might get turned off because the anime uses CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery). And yeah, I know it looks weird sometimes because I was turned off by the CGI too, but you'll get used to it. Trust me.

Animation: 8/10

Sound

I have no problems with the sound. The voice acting is excellent and it fits the characters. The soundtracks fits well with the show. I love the Opening and Ending from the show. The Ending is extremely addictive.

Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai Opening: "Anicca" by Hitomi Harada

Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai Ending: "Maware! Setsugetsuka" by Hitomi Harada, Ai Kayano, and Yui Ogura

Sound: 10/10

Characters

This show has likable characters, well, at least to me they're likable. But in general, I say you either love them or hate them. In my opinion, the characters are what made this show fun to watch.

Raishin Akabane: Raishin is the main protagonist of the series. He is a calm, cool-type of character. He is very protective of his partner and automaton, Yaya. He is called "Second Last" by other people. His goal is to become the "Wiseman" and to avenge his deceased family that he suspected one of the students in Walpurgis Machinart Academy to be the culprit. As a running gag, he always ends up in the hospital after a battle with the antagonist.

Yaya: She is the main heroine of the series. She is Raishin's partner and automaton. She is the second sister of the Setsugetsuka Trilogy. She is infatuated with Raishin and she gets extremely jealous when other girls go near Raishin. As a running gag, she always tries to trick Raishin into marrying her. I fucking love Yaya, but others might hate her. That's why I stated earlier, that "you'll either love them or hate them."

Charlotte Belew: She is Raishin's friend. Charlotte is ranked sixth in Walpurgis Machinart Academy. Her nickname is "Tyrant Rex". She is your typical tsundere in this show.

Sigmund: He is Charlotte's partner and her automaton. He cares about Charlotte deeply.

Frey: Frey is a clumsy girl with big boobs and she's Loki's older twin sister. She is Raishin's friend and she has a crush on him.

Loki: Loki is Frey's younger twin brother and Raishin's rival. He is ranked seventh in Walpurgis Machinart Academy. His automaton is Cherubim. Damn, this guy is fucking badass. I love his quote: "I'm a benevolent and tolerant guy, but there are three things I simply can't stand. People who order me around, people who oppose me, and... impertinent shitheads who try to steal my prey!"

Characters: 9/10

Enjoyment

I really enjoyed this show. It's a pretty good show to watch. Unlike other ecchi shows, this one doesn't go overboard with a fuck load of fan service or pantie shots. I say this show did the ecchi right and I like it.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Overall

Overall, this show is not bad. It has pretty good music, likable characters, and average animation. I say give it a shot.

Did I like the show? Yup!

Is it worth watching? Yup!

Should you watch it? Up to you.

Overall: 9/10

Guys, thanks for reading. If you have any questions or concerns, let me know. I know this review isn't the best, so if you guys have any ideas of how I could improve, let me know. Thanks!

stanton60 - 2013-12-23 23:47:25

NOTE: Take any review with a grain of salt. Neutral reviews don't exist. No review is without bias, which is why my final ratings are solely based on personal enjoyment only. They can be completely subjective and should not be taken as a representation of your own views. Always watch the anime for yourself and use others' reviews as a guideline or reference point. I respect your opinions and I hope you will also do so in return.

Hello and Welcome to my first ever review! Today we will be looking at my favorite anime of the Fall 2013 season: Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai, or Unbreakable Machine-Doll. Directed by Kinji Yoshimoto and animated at Studio Lerche, Machine-Doll may seem like your typical fan service harem ecchi anime. In other words: an anime some of you are unlikely to take a second glance at. These is where I knock down the doors and after a fanboy-fueled beating (just kidding), say that there is more to this anime than meets the eye, and how the anime as a whole does not solely rely on the harem ecchi factor as its main crutch to amass popularity.

Story (Potential spoilers)

The story revolves our main protagonist Raishin Akabane and his automation doll, Yaya. Together, they attend the Royal Academy of Machine Arts in England to study Machinart: a place where magic+technology = big boom. Automation dolls are basically specially constructed dolls that aid their puppeteer owner for whatever task they wish to accomplish or serve. These dolls are powered and can be manipulated via mana given from their owners.

Aside from the regular dolls, Yaya and several others are exceptions. Known as Bandolls ("banned dolls"), they are special automations are capable of freely moving on their own accord and will without a master. These dolls are usually frowned upon in society because they use real human body parts to create them (you see...murder is bad). Together Raishin and Yaya form a dual relationship that is comparable to the Master/Servant combo in the Fate series. The goal is also very similar: to compete against other masters/puppeteers in order to obtain the Holy Gr...*cough*...the title of "Wiseman".

Like many stories out there, Raishin wants to become the best of the best. Being "second last" (yay he doesn’t COMPLETELY suck), he isn’t exactly the strongest character in the story, and he gets his butt kicked enough times to make you question what he does for his personal hobbies. But it all seems justified due to his motivation to avenge his slaughtered family, and only by becoming the new Wiseman can he get his answers, since the current Wiseman was the one who massacred his family.

Like I mentioned before the story is not heavily reliant on the ecchi factor to appeal to the audience. Breast and nude shots are not just randomly thrown in there just for the heck of it (*Waves at Kill la Kill*...not that I have a problem with that...), but usually stems from receiving battle damage or from scenes with Yaya wanting Raishin's babies (and believe me, she REALLY wants his babies).

Yandere mode ON!

The anime doesn't overuse ecchi shots. Where it does occur though, it actually bolsters the comedic moments, which are very cleverly placed to relax the mood. You’ll find yourself smiling at these moments (especially when there are misunderstandings), and it usually alleviates the tense atmospheres.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PET DOGS HERE! I SWEAR!

Along his journey, he meets new faces. Although not all friendly encounters, their continued interactions made Raishin realize that they had troubles of their own. As if it were his duty, Raishin puts himself in perilous positions for the sake of these new people, and eventually his dedication and heart befriends them (which brings a harem-y feel to it). These are the times where the story digresses heavily from the original plot and instead focuses on the history of the side characters. Not only do you learn more about the side characters, but you also learn more about the history of the automations themselves (soo those that wonder if there were needless filler episodes in this anime, there really isn’t). The pacing of these side stories are done quite well, coupling dramatic and comedic moments.

But overall, when it boils down, it’s just a typical story of revenge and assisting others/gaining accomplices (this may put off those who want innovation or something “extraordinary”). It's not a story that'll impress elitists. As of now, only 12 episodes have aired, with no sequel announced; there are still many questions left unanswered and/or could use some backbone. The main revenge plotline does not even get visited during the latter half of the anime and instead focuses on a separate story arc. Unless there is a sequel (fingers crossed!), Unbreakable Machine-Doll's story is unresolved and incomplete.

Sound

The sound gets the job done. Moods are very well portrayed via changing tempos, dynamics, and instrumentation. Battle scenes sound nice with all the weapon clashes, explosions, machines, and magic. Voice acting is spectacular. You can hear the frustration in Raishin's voice as he desperately tries to stand up in battle. You can tell the tsundere-ish voice of Charlotte. You can hear the malicious intent of the automations. You can hear Yaya's desire for Raishin's di......*cough*. There was nothing wrong with the sound. The opening song "Anicca" was also beautifully performed by Hitomi Harada.

What else is there? Oh yea...

DAT.

ENDING.

SONG.

Animation

Done by Studio Lerche, just like their previous works such as Danganronpa and Majikoi, the characters have a round-esque appearance to them, making them appear younger and rounder. This bodes extremely well with kawaii characters (and I like kawaii characters......alot...don't judge). This anime also utilizes CGI, and while some may be turned off by this, I find it very refreshing from the norm and nice-looking. It just enhances the kawaii and moe factor of the characters.

SO KAWAII!

The lighting and shading were there. The battle scenes were nice to watch as well. Explosions and magic effects served their purpose for the eye. Everything seems to have a shiny glossy texture to them and it looks like something that would be in a snow-globe...or a bag of marbles. It also helps that the ending song had 3 different variants as well! Thrice the kawaii-ness! This animation style just makes the characters look like plush dolls.

I mean...

Just look at her...Kawaii as can be!

It is obviously not on par with some of the higher caliber animes, but it’s far from bad and it offers something new for the eye.

Characters

I thought the characters were quite well done. For only 12 episodes, they portrayed a lot about each character’s motives and history. The many conversations between the characters provide more insight on how they are like. It was also pleasant to see the automations have their own personalities and longings as well (plus it’s just hilarious how jealous Yaya gets). Having a weak main protagonist means that there is a lot of failure that greets him, and that helps build Raishin’s character as a whole. Showing that he is strong willed and kind-hearted, he is willing to go extended lengths in order to prove his worth in order to avenge his family. Couple that with the Yaya’s sheer power, and you have an imposing tag team force fueled by their own will and passion. You can see that his character grows as the story progresses and how his determination won’t allow his low rank be a representation of his potential. It’s like an underdog rags-to-riches character. It’s also nice that Raishin is not exactly a blunt doorknob when it comes to battle tactics.

The side characters had their fair share of development as well. From destroying bonds to destroying family lineages, the supporting cast show their own distinct motivations and personalities. Their interactions with each other also give us more insight on their perspectives. They could definitely use more development, but the show is limited to 12 episodes, and there is only so much development you can fit into a 12 episode action-y anime before it becomes dragged out and boring. This can easily be remedied with a second season.

The villains are probably the weakest aspect though. They just do bad things because they can. You may grow to hate them or you may not give two sh*ts about them. But overall, it doesn't distract me at all, since the antagonists of the show aren't the spotlight characters.

Enjoyment (my overall rating)

There is nothing that gets my enjoyment rating up more than cliffhanger episodes, and this anime certainly delivered. For an anime to have the impression of not being so serious, it ended every episode on a dramatic note. Leave me wanting more episodes and you are guaranteed to get a high enjoyment (and therefore overall) rating from me. This anime was the perfect combination of action, drama, ecchi, and comedy for me. It never really overdid anything and it had minimal boring moments. I absolutely loved every bit of it. The character designs, background, and overall visuals were very unique and appealing. I found myself looking forward to this anime every week! And THIS is what ultimately decides my rating for this show.

Oh and Frey is BEST GIRL!

Recommendations

For animes with a similar "compete for glory" or the whole master/servant fighting together combo, I point you to the very well done Fate/Zero.

For those who like ecchi (more like a buffet of ecchi) but also want a bit of plot (yes REAL plot), I recommend the boobalicious show known as High School DxD New (which is the second season, but it has more emphasis on story than the first season). *Warning! Do NOT watch this during your office breaks!*

And there we have it! My first review! Thank you very much for reading and hopefully you are still awake from this giant wall of text. Until my next review (maybe)...

Maware on!