(L) Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto

[BladeEntity]

Epic episode... I have that bad test in my mouth like watching Gundam it ends in space and no real epilogue just the broken Mech and nice background scenery... XD

Keito ended the story as the loveless lovestruck girl that accepts she loses for me that was a bad place to end her character.

I loved how Monochrome creeped into the batte sequence and Wako's monologue basically summed up her character development through the story on the whole great episode and Takuto going "I can still see it" reminds me of Kami Nomi...

Overall Series: 7.5/10
Great Music
Interesting Characters and enough Development individually
Certain areas of character development needed fleshing out

[Aqua Knight]

When does the OST come out?

[Sageblink]

Originally Posted by Murasaki

When does the OST come out?

The first one is already out. It was included in the 2nd DVD.

I too have a question : are they planning to release the other maidens' songs ?

[Jarmel]

Garbage. 7/10 due to the animation and music only.

First major issue, the whole regenerating cybodies was just a way to fluff out a show that the writers had no clue what to do with. First off despite them bringing up the whole danger of regenerating, not a single person was harmed in the multitude of times they used it. Especially considering it was supposed to be 50/50 odds.

Next I love the overuse of deus ex machina in this show. Whenever the protagonist is in any sort of danger, some miraculous BS comes out of nowhere and saves him. In this case the Glitters magically getting the ability to control their mechs. I mean Jesus Takuto even beats Samekh which is just ridiculous at the entire show makes the thing out to be some unbeatable badass and he wipes the deck with it. Really? It's absolutely ridiculous that we didn't see him lose once in the entire show.

Oh how about the complete lack of background on everything the show? They could have spent less time on those worthless mech fights and actually showed some backstory.

Fourth of all, there are no consequences in the show. Even Gurren Lagann atleast had people dying to show the seriousness of the situation as well as there being situations that there isn't a win outcome. Even the villain walks away scotch-free after trying to wipe out humanity. All he got was a punch, hell I doubt he's even going to jail.

Then there is the ending. After all that lead up to Wako making a choice, they of course go the open ended route as its anime. Got to love how writers have to bail out of a choice in these shows and actually show relationship development. Or the complete lack of an epilogue to show the effects of the finale.

The show should have been 13 episodes at max. All flash, no substance.

[ZeroForever]

pretty much the same opinion as Jarmel...
is it fun, at times yes...
does it stand out... not in the slightest.
To many flaws and poor story designs made me stop caring about the characters.

I'll give it a 6/10 as 7 seems a bit to high for all the faults it has, it's more or less average.

[Sekirei07]

Jarmel, you are honestly not a good judge of writing and storytelling.

First major issue, the whole regenerating cybodies was just a way to fluff out a show that the writers had no clue what to do with. First off despite them bringing up the whole danger of regenerating, not a single person was harmed in the multitude of times they used it. Especially considering it was supposed to be 50/50 odds.

Major plot point of it was Head was scared of using the method since he didn't want to risk failing with a "borrowed" mark, thus delaying his plans. Its a important point in the story.

Next I love the overuse of deus ex machina in this show. Whenever the protagonist is in any sort of danger, some miraculous BS comes out of nowhere and saves him. In this case the Glitters magically getting the ability to control their mechs. I mean Jesus Takuto even beats Samekh which is just ridiculous at the entire show makes the thing out to be some unbeatable badass and he wipes the deck with it. Really? It's absolutely ridiculous that we didn't see him lose once in the entire show.

When your fighting, do you honestly show all your moves so that they have the potential of countering later? Hell no, you use weaker moves and hold your truph cards until you absolutely need it. Also, Takuto was not a "unbeatable badass". There were plenty of times he was close to losing but his opponent messed up. The prediction move girl (the nurse who could predict moves) messed up by staring at Takuto's body, the RA messed up by showing Takuto her best move thus letting him counter it later, Suguta helped out/saved Takuto in numberous fights, hell the last fight Takuto would have lost if Crux didn't regain there marks. He also didn't wipe the deck with Samekh, his own mech was practically in pieces after it exploded. Also it was CLEARLY stated that Takuto was trained fore many years to be a Star Driver, unlike his opponents.

Oh how about the complete lack of background on everything the show? They could have spent less time on those worthless mech fights and actually showed some backstory.

Did you honestly even watch the show? Seriously, did you? There was a whole episode dedicated to a play portraying the back story of the Cybodies and the Fish People. Plus the episode on Takuto's mark, oh and the story of his Father and Mother. I don't even think the fights took up 1/3 of the whole shows time. Many episodes had no fights at all as well. You honestly must not have really watched this, or just skimmed it.

Fourth of all, there are no consequences in the show. Even Gurren Lagann atleast had people dying to show the seriousness of the situation as well as there being situations that there isn't a win outcome. Even the villain walks away scotch-free after trying to wipe out humanity. All he got was a punch, hell I doubt he's even going to jail.

How do you know he is going to get off scotch-free? Have you seen an epilogue showing him getting away? I would love to see it. Head lost the woman he loved due to his thrust for power. He has no family or friends now and who knows what will happen to him now.

Then there is the ending. After all that lead up to Wako making a choice, they of course go the open ended route as its anime. Got to love how writers have to bail out of a choice in these shows and actually show relationship development. Or the complete lack of an epilogue to show the effects of the finale.

At the very least Wako admits she does love them. Most of the time its left vague on who is actually really loved. She even said how she almost wished she never met Takuto because of it.

The show should have been 13 episodes at max. All flash, no substance.

Again, how much time was actually dedicated to the fights? Please watch the series first before you make your comments.

[Negi-bozu]

I think there will be a film because we have seen only 11 of 12 star sword, so I think that can explain why in the show there are only 11

[HandofFate]

Epic episode.
Wish they had the fight be two episodes long though. Like 1st episode was the fight in Zero-Time, and 2nd was an entire fight IN SPACE.

I really loved when the other Crux Members took back their Cybodies, and helped Takuto out. Always love when that happens.

I really liked how they started playing the maiden songs during the fight. I felt they should have used all 4 right after the other. But it seemed it only showed 2, and the 3rd kind of just creeped in there.

[Aqua Knight]

Originally Posted by Jarmel

Garbage. 7/10 due to the animation and music only.

Doesn't it contradict itself?Because 7/10 is pretty good for anime overall. If you think that story is garbage and char development is too, but you give 7 , that means that story isn't really important?\

And I guess Samekh was controlled not by Sugata, but by some Cybody evil AI so Takuto was just like fighting a robot not the Cybody piloted by a human . That's why he owned Samekh.

[roriconfan]

Star Driver is a FABULOUS anecdote that will make you laugh hard the first few times you hear it before it becomes repetitive and dull. And you need to endure it 25 times.

One will wonder why is this a full season anime, when the trend became a half season; especially for an anime whose story could easily be summed up in 3 episodes.

Many compare it to Revolutionary Girl Utena for its repetitive format, liberal take on relationships and WTF sceneries but in practice it is nowhere NEAR as good as Utena. It doesn’t really offer symbolisms, allusions, indirect messages towards freedom from taboos; it’s just fooling around aimlessly.

It is also closer to fujoshi fans rather than mecha fans, as the robot action is so far-fetched and repetitive, it loses interest fast. I mean, Tengen Toppa Gurenn Lagann was also far-fetched, but at least it had an on-going plot and stuff would build up along the way. Here, it is nothing.

Even the weird mystery around the maidens and the cybodies and the rest of the whacky S&M Kiraboshi, quickly become unimportant before laughing for the 25th time with the same transformation sequence and wondering which guy will kiss which… guy. And even that is never shown, so what gives?

And who even remembers after awhile that the lead is originally there to look for his father? Not even him apparently.

Kenshiro in Hokuto no Ken is one of the most GAR leads ever but he is far more interesting because there is plot there and because he doesn’t need huge robots or even weapons to turn his opponents into mince-meat. But GALACTIC PRETTY BOY (lol what a ridiculous name) always needs his robot to play it almighty, yet none of the villains attack him when he is away from it even when they know who he is and where he is. It’s as if they don’t even care to win.

There are no redeeming qualities in this show for me; it is brain-dead entertainment that outlasted its welcome by about 22 episodes. There are no memorable characters or battles outside of the protagonist’s name and transformations. The episodic nature ruins any replay value too and it was fun only the first few times you see the same thing happening.

Is it me or does Pokemon offer more plot and story and far more subconscious messages than Star Driver? I mean, really, Utena on one side, Pokemon in the middle and SD in the other side.

[Sekirei07]

Far-fetched?

This anime had one of the most plausible RL mech story in it. Not whole cities getting wasted and pedestrian deaths out the ass like some other ones. It could almost happen in RL somewhere unknown to use because how would we really know? We would all be stopped in time and they fighting in some pocket dimension. But yeah some shots were a bit repetitive, but when he brought something new out it was awesome.

That one punch against the the little rich girl was my favorite.

[TeaAnyOne]

Epic Punch ep 25

Spoiler:

[Alchemist007]

Takuto earned the oxymoronic title of 'badass bishounen.'

[monir]

Originally Posted by Sekirei07

Far-fetched?

Why yes. Stoppage of time to fight in pocket dimension is far more "far-fetched" than whole cities' getting wasted and pedestrian deaths. I know I can relate to the latter than the former. The show does not give anything to a casual viewer as far as plot is concerned. As harsh as it sounds, this show was nothing more than eyecandy which featured polished bishoujo/bishounen who were buffed in extra coating of wax. Everyone needed to be so kira-kira and pica-pica that there were no time for any plot development. No wonder episode 1 pretty much served the layout for the next 24 episodes to follow. Rinse and repeat.

Yeah, a 7 is too high of a rating for this show which tried to mask a pretentious plot with visual aesthetic. Even the visual was nothing more than the reuse of a few stock footage that were done earlier in the series.

[roriconfan]

I personally rated the show with 4.5 / 10

Say, does anyone remember X-tv and its pocket dimensions there? The story was equally simplistic but at least we had CHARACTER COLORIZATION! That alone makes that old series better than Star Driver. And it's not like it didn't have bijins; it was a CLAMP work!

[cyoti]

Originally Posted by Negi-bozu

I think there will be a film because we have seen only 11 of 12 star sword, so I think that can explain why in the show there are only 11

The 12th probably belonged to Wako's Cybody, the one that was the female version of Reshbal and Tauburn. Since she never was trained, she probably couldn't use it.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Haak

It's not the greatest anime but I did enjoy it. I didn't really see it as an anime that was supposed to be plot driven, but more of a story about a lot of characters and their motivations and I think that's where it succeeds. I found each character very interesting and complex and their interactions were great. I'm going to miss this show.

Overall: 7/10

Seriously? Cause I find pretty much the exact opposite. At the end I did not understand a single characters motivation that was in that final episode, not one of them. I think if they hadn't wasted so much time on characters that weren't even going to be in the final episode way back when, (looking directly at Mizuno, Marino and Fish Girl) and so much time on the wacky hijinks at the school (Kissing through the glass...... ) and instead devoted more time to actually fleshing out characters like Takuto, Sugata, Wako, Keito and Head then I would be singing a totally different tune. Instead what we got for their character development was a cryptic mesh of cliches and dropped or underexposed subplots.

I'm actually more or less completely in tune with roriconfan for a change. Gotta write this one down as something like a 5/10. Had the major characters been fleshed out just a little more and the show maintained more of a clear focus we'd easily be looking at as high up as 8/10....whatever that means to people. Having a really flashy final battle just isn't going to cut it for me at this point because I basically more or less expected that along with at least some form of closure. I got one of the two...

Ughhhhh Star Driver.......so hugely disappointing and frankly a little insulting. Thank god I had Tiger & Bunny to wash that bitter aftertaste out of my mouth immediately afterward. Star Driver will have a legacy in terms of my anime watching habits though. From now on I'm going to be extremely cautious of mecha-anime and anime in general that take place in a school because it always seems to result in shows ending up feeling like huge wastes of time when they should instead be hitting all the right buttons with me. Calling it the "Star Driver Alert".

Originally Posted by creb

Plot doesn't have anything on simply being FABULOUS. Ah, Bones. How far you've fallen.

It really is unfortunate. I hope this isn't any sort of sign of what's to come from Bones and that they manage to pick up the pieces after this. From the looks of it it's bombing pretty hard on the Blu-Ray charts too....at least compared to where you would expect it to be.....like say first or second place per volume. Instead it looks like it's destined to be a perennial 4th placer behind the likes of Strike Witches, Index and OreImo. Indeed, how far you have fallen Bones.

[Haak]

To be honest I was rather surprised to hear people saying that they didn't find the characters had much depth myself since i thought the characters were the whole point of the story.

I didn't really find Marino, Mizuno or the Fish Girl all that pointless. Like I said I didn't really see Star Driver in terms of plot development so i didn't really care if they weren't in the final episode. There were many characters that I thought had a lot of depth to them and considered memorable. But maybe I'm just confusing depth for potential...

[Sekirei07]

Originally Posted by cyoti

The 12th probably belonged to Wako's Cybody, the one that was the female version of Reshbal and Tauburn. Since she never was trained, she probably couldn't use it.

Naw it would make more sense if Samekh had a Star Sword. It is the King after all. One maiden having a sword and not the other three seems odd

Why yes. Stoppage of time to fight in pocket dimension is far more "far-fetched" than whole cities' getting wasted and pedestrian deaths. I know I can relate to the latter than the former. The show does not give anything to a casual viewer as far as plot is concerned. As harsh as it sounds, this show was nothing more than eyecandy which featured polished bishoujo/bishounen who were buffed in extra coating of wax. Everyone needed to be so kira-kira and pica-pica that there were no time for any plot development. No wonder episode 1 pretty much served the layout for the next 24 episodes to follow. Rinse and repeat.

Wait, so most people can't relate to living a school life and hanging with friends while dealing with love problems? No plot development? God watch the series please! Stop making such comments if you don't watch it. There are whole episodes dedicated on analyzing characters and furthering the plot behind whats going on in this series.

What about the episode about Sugata always carrying a knife around when we know that all the former mark bearers are destined to die. It at first made it seem like he would kill himself if he has to, but we learn it was all actually for Waka.

What about when Takuto saw the parallel between his old friend who knew he was dying and Sugata?

What about the play that gave subtle messages of the history of the Cybodies and Fish people?

Or how about the reason why Sugata suddenly decided to join the Crux, did you notice what he was doing before that happened?

There is plenty of depth and character development if you just LOOK and watch. Analyze what they want and are trying to do.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Sekirei07

Wait, so most people can't relate to living a school life and hanging with friends while dealing with love problems? No plot development? God watch the series please! Stop making such comments if you don't watch it. There are whole episodes dedicated on analyzing characters and furthering the plot behind whats going on in this series.

On that front I think it's just sheer exhaustion from that sort of storyline. School life has been done TOO DEATH in anime lately so I think that the people who are in tune with me were probably expecting a lot more than that to come out of a high production value show from a studio with a reputation like BONES. Especially since they bothered to add the whole glittering crux and mecha fight conspiracy and mecha fight aspect to the show.

Basically I sort of agree with you, they spent plenty of time fleshing out the school life aspect of things, but it was at the expense of pretty much everything else going on in the show. I personally find that a little unacceptable for a 25 episode long show.

What about the episode about Sugata always carrying a knife around when we know that all the former mark bearers are destined to die. It at first made it seem like he would kill himself if he has to, but we learn it was all actually for Wako.

Okay, but what did that ultimately end up having to do with anything that happens in the show? Considering how easily he appears to betray Wako for Keito and how the reason for his decision to do so along with what exactly Keito's motivations were were never fleshed out. This whole plot point basically ends up being nothing but fluff and is dropped from relevance pretty much the moment after it comes up.

What about when Takuto saw the parallel between his old friend who knew he was dying and Sugata?

Again though, what if anything did that end up having to do with what happens in the current timeline of the show? Not a whole lot really because again it's dropped from relevance pretty much the moment after it comes up. Another example of something that comes up that looks like it's going to be a huge influence on the characters and is never mentioned again.

What about the play that gave subtle messages of the history of the Cybodies and Fish people?

This was nice as it's about the only back story we ever get on the Cybodies, but again does it have any relevance on what happens in the show? Takuto was fighting the Cybodies before he heard this story and he was still fighting them after he heard it. Also the fact that Sarina doesn't even appear in the final episode to have a reaction to what is going on makes this plot point pretty much dead and unfinished. Like you'd think she'd at least get a line or two to tie the events of the final episode back to what she seemed so earnest about in the play episode, but nope.

Or how about the reason why Sugata suddenly decided to join the Crux, did you notice what he was doing before that happened?

Not sure what you are referring to specifically.

There is plenty of depth and character development if you just LOOK and watch. Analyze what they want and are trying to do.

I'd argue that there were subtle attempts at character development here and there, but that the show drops them from relevance as it sees fit and they have little bearing on what actually happens in the show save maybe for the episode that they are specifically relevant too. Basically all attempts at character development in Star Driver ultimately lead to a dead end. The show could have easily picked up from where it left off on any of those points that you mentioned and fleshed out the characters a little more, but always seemed to go a different direction with a different focus the very next episode. I suppose that could mean I could blame this shows lack of focus for my dissatisfaction over it's lackluster character development, but I'd rather highlight both issues.