What did Yea Forums think of Hidan no Aria and/or its spinoff Hidan no Aria AA?
I watched Hidan no Aria and its spinoff series Hidan no Aria AA. Thoughts on both series provided below.
Hidan no Aria: I remember some of the action scenes were kind of cool. Art style was bland but the animation was okay. The OP and ED songs were both great.
Otherwise it was complete trash. I mean literally textbook garbage as far as the medium goes. All the things that people say they hate about anime? This series exemplifies most of them. It's an action harem series where the main character gets power ups by becoming sexually aroused. I can enjoy/tolerate a ton of otaku pandering, but this show was trash even by my very low standards. The plot was also completely ridiculous and involved one of the female characters being the descendant of Sherlock Holmes or something. The characters were 'elite' crime-fighting high school students (of course) with bulletproof school uniforms. I have nothing against ridiculous stories/premises either, don't get the wrong idea; this anime was just simply terrible.
Anyway, I somehow watched every episode. When I was finished I rated it 2/10.
It should be noted that I watched the original series sometime around 4 years ago, so it's possible that, unbeknownst to me, I'm forgetting important details or that my tastes have changed over time (this is why I write my thoughts down now). That said though, I distinctly remember this particular anime as being one of the most ridiculously bad shows I ever actually watched to completion.
Hidan no Aria AA: This is basically a yuri spinoff with a girl replacing the self-insert male MC of the original series. I will watch pretty much anything with yuri in it and this is no exception. This spinoff is made by Doga Kobo instead of J.C. Staff who made the original series.
This spinoff is just as cheesy as the original, albeit in a more endearing way due to the all-female cast and softer tone. Again, the art style is bland but the animation is okay. I like both the OP and ED songs, although the actual OST is totally forgettable. Both this and the original series have a yandere character whose antics are kind of funny. There are plenty of cute girl-girl moments. This spinoff is cuter than the comparatively more ecchi original series.
Despite the negativity expressed thus far, this spinoff wasn't completely awful. The plot is totally (endearingly?) corny, and at least it is coherent and not rushed. The characters aren't great, but they're not unlikable either. Actually, I would say character interaction is a (relatively) strong aspect of this anime. The senpai-kouhai relations are super cute. Additionally, the yuri elements combined with the combat action theme is at least somewhat unique and at times enjoyable.
For me, the spinoff is within the threshold of 'so bad it's good' territory, whereas the original series is beyond any kind of redemption.
Actually, this spinoff is pretty funny as well. There are a lot of comedic scenes, mostly revolving around yuri fanservice.
I like Aria's hairstyle. Twintails are pretty! I liked Aria's personality a lot more in the spinoff too. Wow Aria is such a cool senpai!!
Rating for the spinoff Hidan no Aria AA: 5/10 It was adequate shut-my-brain-off-and-drool-at-the-screen material.
Austin Rodriguez
I remember it being shit but the main girl was kinda cute and the OP was nice.
>main girl was kinda cute Which is why the spin-off is better. It utilises the good parts of the base series and keeps the annoyance of main MC to a minimum level.
"Powered by history" series like this and Nobunagun are good dumb fun. I mean one of the biggest media franchises from Japan is exactly on that banner as well so it's definitely a working formula. As for HnA, I don't think the needing to get turned on to draw power gimmick of the MC is any good if the viewer isn't getting the same stimulation so cut it out or give more service.
Elijah Rivera
I watched AA because it was yuri, but I only remember it being unremarkable.
Luke Hernandez
It's funny that you say this because I'm actually watching Drifters right now
premise is dumb but enjoyable. probably the weakest when compared to shana / taiga / nagi
Blake Thompson
The light novels are fun. It's extremely predictable (Kinji will always invent some move to win whenever he's in trouble) but it never got boring for me since the author always tries to raise the stakes in each new arc. The only downside though is Aria, the main heroine. She's easily the worst thing about the series. The small moments where she is somewhat decent are outweighed by her horrible temper tantrums that are always excessively violent.
Christian Green
Should have done more with the action movies/buddy cops settings.
Jason Thompson
AA was decent. Just further proof that we don't need men in anime.
