sethjohnson

Just finished episode 9 of IS; ratings are based purely on what's been released so far.  I may update this review after the show is finished or dropped.

People are calling IS a mecha anime, which is misleading: it is really a harem anime where the characters occasionally do mecha cosplay.  When viewed in this context, IS is a solid piece of genre work.  It is a bit playful -- though certainly not daring -- with its genre conventions.  For instance, there are TWO childhood friends, and at one point the MC actually calls them First Childhood Friend and Second Childhood Friend (well, give me the gory details, Son Number One).  Also, since the hardsuits are all portably miniaturized, Harem Punch is generally a shot of a partially-manifested hardsuit arm or leg.

As usual for harem, the male MC is a bit tabula rasa, and most of the development is focused on the haremettes.  We have tsundere and genki osananajimi, haughty blonde, dire tsundere, and clumsy bigtitted teacher.  There's also the [extremely obvious] reverse trap who manages to be far more likeable than her competition, by virtue of actually appearing to have some motivations beyond finding p0nos (though I'm sure she'll forget all of them eventually).  To top it all off, the MC seems to have a bit of a complex for his reliable older sister and head instructor.  Then there are the other girls who either weren't introduced or they are so random I forgot their introductions.

This is one of the harem settings that is extra-contrived to the point where it's actually impossible for there to be any other men in his position, by virtue of ... science or ... something.  It is also of the variety where the MC is totally oblivlous rather than extremely pervy.

IS looks absolutely fantastic in 720p.  Really clean lines, and a lot of detail in the fight animation.  Unfortunately so far there hasn't been much tension to push into fight scenes, and the show has focused on harem tropes instead.  The comedy has built up to a pretty decent level (relative to the extremely mediocre harem humor baseline), but I think they will need to get into some actual-stakes conflict to drive past more than three or four more episodes retaining any entertainment value.