Kyoukai Senki

There aren't a lot of reviews for this show so I thought I'd share my take on it as well.

The anime is nothing great, but also nothing really bad. Japan is occupied and it's up to our heroes to save it by working together. The premise is a bit strange, positioning essentially the rest of the world against Japan, but that's just an attempt to raise the stakes.

From a writing perspective, quality varies. You'd see a buildup to a climax, only for it to be resolved summarily. Characters are introduced just to be killed off in the next scene. Even the heroes have very little backstory.

The animation is cheap. Panning shots to give the sense of motion, characters talking with their backs to the camera, reusing action sequences.

There is very little actual violence or it is off screen. Most Mecha are AI controlled, so destroying them is like playing a game. There are command units which are piloted though. Kind of felt sometimes like it's an ad for a video game.

There are some nice episodes in there though. Especially "Anniversary" is a great "slice of life" intermezzo.

All in all, it seems like a run of the mill show geared towards kids or teenagers with very little substance. Not bad, not great.