Date A Live III

It's Origami's time to shine! Date A Live III was unexpected for LA let alone it now being taken over by JC Staff for animation, but aside from that, this season looks at Natsumi and Origami's arc and boy are they good, especially Origami's. LA will note before going on that besides Kurumi being the best character in the entire show bar none, LA actually liked Origami VERY early on for being such an interesting character, of being the deadpan stoic character yet not a shy one but a trickster one and she just runs with that personality that not only slips up Shidou but nearly theentire cast due to how strange her behavior is and for the better and now due to this third season, we finally get her proper backstory and her reasoning of her hatred of Sprits and it's not pretty. So Natsumi's arc isn't that bad as if anything it's gives us the entire cast in some crazy situations made from Natsumi and Shidou trying to seal her, of course since this is her arc we get her base personality and her powers and by the end of it, she just becomes like Yoshino but a tsundere instead once she's sealed. Nonetheless the situations Natsumi gets Shidou in was....comedically funny to say the least, from the arc with a "spot who the imposter is" that gets lethal to uhhh....half the cast turning into loli's (no seriously). Natsumi later on gets some more screentime during Origami's arc but nonetheless LA does see that she had some merit and her character wasn't wasted either...unlike Yoshino for LA. Origami's arc was the climax of the entire anime and really we finally see after 2 seasons why she has beef with Spirits in the first place and after knowing all this LA can sympathize with her of course but it's her actions that causes the majority of the predicaments in her own arc and it's up to Shidou and weirdly enough Kurumi to stop Origami spiraling out of control. Like Natsumi's arc, Origami gives us an interesting perspective on the cast as yeah..since Kurumi is involved...time travel of course comes into a factor and LA will say the time travel is dealt with rather well. But seeing Origami actually be a complex character deep down her deadpan stoicism was great for a fan of Origami and bonus for Kurumi being in on the action as well at that. Westcott from the second season is also brought up much more prominently now in this season and he had a hand in both of Natsumi and Origami's arc and his forces are in action to his enacted plans for a new world order. he like his company name is a Deux Ex Machina in the worst of times just to make it even harder for Shidou and co. The animation done by aforementioned JC Staff was done "ok" in all respects, from the character designs, fights and background work, yes the animation does tend to dip at times and struggles in some fight scenes but nonetheless, LA can forgive it for the plot. Spotty but not horrible is all LA will say about the animation. Voice acting, well we have all the returning voice actors again. The only thing LA will talk about is the MVP's and that easily goes to Misuzu Togashi as Origami and Asami Sanada as Kurumi. If there were any flaws towards this season, then it'll squarely go to Shidou as she's pretty much static, sure he gets upgrades from bonding with the newer Spirits and he's the textbook definition of a white knight trying to protect everyone at the cost of himself and he's much more reactionary in this season than any other, this might be due to this season dedicating itself to Natsumi and Origami but LA can give Shidou some leeway as both their arcs kinda gets intense so Shidou as a character is pushed aside because of it. Date A Live III for LA is a great step in the right direction, from the near aimless second season and in line with the original first season. Sure the change in animation studio is a detriment, but if it's for the plot and all the tense stuff and backstories from character that NEEDED it then Date A Live III is great in this regards.

YES, finally after 5 years, we're seeing the light of Date A Live once again...thank you Tachibana-sensei (the author of the series)! NO, to production woes, the J.C.Staff that could do no wrong, proceeded to trash this series! Where are you ENGI??? I'll admit, being a long-time DAL fan ever since its inception in 2013 has its benefits and drawbacks. For one, we get a fairly generic harem story and action that was somewhat interesting and intriguing for its time, its lineup of character Spirits and the MC harem "Master" that is Shido Itsuki, that left us wanting for more of them ever since Season 2's endin 2014. But finally, and with a very long wait, the original LN writer Koushi Tachibana has green-lit Season 3 for long-time fans like us to once again, MILK on the success that is the past 2 seasons. AND...you all saw how that fared out in 3 months. And that's a massive disappointment. *Spoilers be warned* Let's start with the story, which continues the events from past DAL series into Volumes 8 to 12 of the Light Novel: The 7th and 8th Spirits Natsumi and the resurrected Tobiichi Origami in her Spirit form, along with the (rushed and story-squished) Itsuka Disaster arc. For the majority of the series, we go through the life and happenings of the transformation queen that is Natsumi, being able to shapeshift into people with almost perfect results. And this time, Shido is left with a very daunting task of finding out Natsumi's real intentions while covering her true chibi-kid form (which makes her embarrassed and is a real pain-in-the-butt), at the expense of using Tohka and Co. and exterminating them should Shido fail to solve her puzzle. Everything totally felt like how the main series was intended to be, and that's always very welcome. Next, new revelations about the friend-cum-enemy Tobiichi Origami, whom for the longest time that we've been searching her long-awaited answers since the start of Season 1: The reasoning behind her hatred for Spirits. And this arc being animated is a true taste of the "how many questions" we all have at the end of both seasons, finally giving us the action-solutions and resolution to Origami's antagonistic purposes, with her history being rewritten at long last, for the better. Last but not least, the Itsuka Disaster arc, where in true DAL fashion, Shido does not become the initiator, but becomes the instigated for the girls to date him! Of course, trouble ensues but as always the girls will do anything to save his life *kisses*. Once again, open hearts, open minds: The story is a love/hate relationship with those of us who grew up with this series, so whether you love or hate it, I respect all opinions. The characters, or should I mention, the NEW ones brought forth to this season: Natsumi, Origami's new Spirit form and of course the mysterious Spirit that is Phantom. Natsumi, aside from her Halloween costume, she is a force to be reckoned with, with her shapeshifting disguises into people similar being the standout that really causes a whole lot of issues. Once she is brought down to her tsundere loli form, she is pretty much like Yoshino in terms of care and sensitivity. With Origami's position this time, she is finally vindicated of her past that has her holding back for very long, siding with DEM Industries all the while until this issue is resolved. Good for you Origami! And Phantom's presence which we didn't see a lot of, that is sadly left for another time to pursue more information about her (in the future...?). Of course, Tohka and Co. still acts like their usual selves. The elephant in the room, you've guessed it, is the art and animation, which by all accounts, factoring in both Season 1 and 2, is the worst looking of them all. With the relevant production studio changes (AIC Plus+ for Season 1, the recently-bankrupt Production IMS for Season 2), it's no surprise that this is an (industry-wide) issue, but honestly I didn't find the average art-animation combi to be off-putting, at least not by a mile. With J.C.Staff however, even before the anime aired, the PV and posters were the red flags that long-time fans were trashing it, saying: "This isn't the DAL that I remember!" And...it doesn;t get any better than this. Character models have that superifical J.C.Staff generic model, instead of the ever-so-memorable DAL aesthetics. Art and animation is decent, but action scenes were rife with mediocrity all around, with many people were complaining that this series took a turn for the worse with overall animation, and my opinions are no different. Sure, ENGI came back to help out with the production woes that J.C.Staff faced (that's evident on the episodes he worked on if you checked the ED credits), but overall, it definitely left a very sour taste in my mouth. Music-wise, I'm very glad and happy that the all-female group "sweet ARMS" is back once again to deliver another stellar song, titled "I Swear" (by the moon and the stars and the sky...oops sorry, wrong song!). Probably out of the 3 OP songs in the series, this may just be my favourite "sweet ARMS" song yet, with Season 1's "Date A Live" in 2nd place. Such a heartwarming and cute, small action-pumping song. New and upcoming female artist Eri Yamazaki shows her new song for the ED, and it's also quite good (as expected from Shichisei no Subaru's ED song). OST wise, it's largely the same assortment of tracks from previous series to stoke nostalgia, and it works for the better. Production woes aside, as predictable and obvious as much as past seasons are, this is still a somewhat worthy (but worse) sequel entry to the series, with the story still holding up just as decent with many hiccups in the storytelling. But, apologies to long-time DAL fans both old and new, this isn't recommended unless it's for the story alone. Pass this up. Now if only there was ever a chance of a Season 4 (which is highly unlikely), we the audience highly implore the future production staff: "Please get the series QC-checked first before showing it to us!"

Yeah definitely the worst season. Pretty much the only good thing here is Origami's arc and the opening which I regard as the best in the whole series. The art was a huge downgrade, the animation is meh, the soundtrack pretty much the same but with some that are bad. And the adaptation is where it's worst. Natsumi arc is ok overall but one of the things made it better is how Natsumi thinks. This season doesn't show that. And then we have the final episode which crammed the whole Volume 12. It's so bad that even Season 4 even have to adjust things andis still damaged because of this ep. The mysteries, the developments, gone into the fanservice of an episode. Just bad. 4/10

Actually the best season this show has to offer yet. It catched my heart in the first 5 episodes and got me into an unexpected feeling of excitement. The third season features a lot of intense thrilling happenings. Now it doesn't rely much on the talk-no-jutsu of the show but it actually takes actions and strats now. In the first few episodes, we are featured with something that has an entirely unique approach of the show. The bunch now has a intense, thrilling challenges, and complicated trials have fallen unto the MCs responsibilities. This gives the show its need for entertainment since there was notmuch to offer last season. But During the last parts is where the excitement starts to come forth. The later episodes hit me hard because there is a concept that many dating sims feature which are save files. These files are very useful since you can just load one if you need to; change a decision that may affect the story entirely, to see past dialogue you've missed, and just to see different scenes you've gone past to. The show corporates this in a way that the story actually now progresses and makes sense though I won't talk about much here. Nonetheless it is very well done. Though the only downfall of this season is the sudden drift of animation. Bruh it downgraded hard man. Somehow the past seasons have better animation then 4 years later you give us this? Man it's just so bad. Not saying that the studio didn't put effort in this one but they could've done better. I'm surprisingly liking the show as it is right now and please, don't disappoint me season 4.

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