Lycoris Recoil is an anime original show released in Summer Anime Season 2022 and produced by A1 Pictures. Lycoris Recoil proved that it is one of the best shows released that season, but what makes this show truly special?

Lycoris Recoil is not an anime you watch because you want to think about stuff. It does not mean that this anime does not give you things to think about. This anime is actually sharply written.

Gun Action and Slice-of-Life element

Lycoris Recoil has a good twisty plot, and deep connections with its characters but all of that comes second to its action. The basic idea of this show is to take two extremely fun and marketable things and combine them together to make something more fun and marketable, but that’s easier said than done. You can not just put them together and call it a day, but rather you have to shape the show precisely. You can not just put two things together you have to find two things that are good together. Find a way to combine those things together.

And Lycoris Recoil does that better than any other show. When you have to combine John-Wick style violence with cute girls doing cute things then you really have a lot of work to do. Lycoris Recoil combines Gun action with cute girls very precisely. It absolutely nails it.

Lycoris Recoil takes a break from its action and shows us the daily life of the characters. This slice-of-life element helps us to better connect with the character. Lycoris Recoil finds a way to make us care about their characters.

Eye Catching Show

Lycoris Recoil is one of those shows that you can not look away from once it has your attention. A-1 Pictures did a great job with Lycoris Recoil. Lycoris Recoil kicks ass and takes breaks for snacks and jokes.

The Lore

Lycoris Recoil takes place in the near future where Tokyo maintains its image as the cleanest and safest city in the entire world thanks to the tirelessly working secret agency DA(Direct Attack) to stop crime before it even happens. DA trains orphan teenage girls, make them assassins, known as Lycoris and uses them to keep the city safe while keeping the citizens in dark. Lycoris works round the clock to ruthlessly eliminate terrorists, hackers, murderers, gun smugglers, and anyone who is a threat to the city.

Characters

Takina Inoue is a rookie Lycoris whose dead-eye aim and ruthless efficiency make her the mark for the promising future with this agency. That is until her career track is derailed by some unfortunate coincidences. During a mission to stop the gun smugglers, one of her squad members is captured while her squad leader is proved incapable of picking up the slack. Her allies are paralyzed because their connection with the DA is cut off due to some hacker’s interference knowing hesitation is death on the battlefield she uses a machine gun and shoots a barrage of bullets killing smugglers.

But still, she is kicked from DA because she was not following the squad captain’s orders. DA sends her to a LycoReco Cafe because of her reckless behavior so that she can learn from an elite Lycoris named Chisato Nishikige. Chisato Nishikige is this universe’s John Wick capable of dodging bullets and kicking ass. But even though she is a Lycoris she uses Rubber bullets so that no one dies even her enemies. Chisato Nishikige values life even if they are criminals or murderers. She is a pure-hearted girl who uses her skill on the battlefield to stop criminals while also keeping them safe. She does all that without staining her own heart.

There is so much more to Takina Inoue and Chisato Nishikige than their top-tier waifu designs. Takina and Chisato are extremely motivated and dynamic characters who certainly fit into appealing and marketable archetypes of Kuderei and Genki girl respectively. They are both girls raised by a secret organization to kill. Of course, this is going to fuck up the kid somewhat and they both responses the situation in different ways. Takina submits to the organization to excel in it while Chisato rebels against it because she values life and chooses to only fight non-lethally while taking part in community projects.

Something to lose, Something to protect, and something to smile about

Chisato is not the ruthless Lycoris who kills people. Seeing that Takina takes a perspective shift and starts to see the value of life. Chisato helps Takina develop a fashion sense and helps her to live a happy teenage life. This deep connection between the characters warms the heart.

Chisato despite being capable of dodging bullets is far from invincible. This show puts Chisato at great risk. Chisato has something to lose, something to protect, and something to smile about.

Conclusion

The most remarkable thing about this show is how it puts two polar opposite themes together. Lycoris Recoil combines violence with moe-moe cute things together in a brilliant way.