Final Impressions: Hidan no Aria / 緋弾のアリア

Yes, its a Hidan no Aria review again!
This means we are finally writing off final reviews for spring 2011!

As you all know from the famous light novels and manga, that this anime has a pretty good plot, as well as being very original in content.

Ok, to be frank, i'm not the kind that watch a lot of action animes. (The only ones being "To Aru Majutsu no Index I & II" , "To Aru Kagaku no Railgun" and "Sekirei S1 & 2") However, this does not mean i'm not going to give an informed review.

So Hysteria...

So Hidan no Aria / 緋弾のアリア is an action anime, where there is a school that specially trains students, called "Butei". People nationally qualified to use weapons to catch criminals. It was established to counter the worsening crime situation. However, there are many complications and people like the "Butei Murder" show up.
The main character, Kinji Toyama, is one of these Butei, but is an E grade (lowest rank) Butei, because he skipped one of the final examinations. Weirdly, (but sorta expected), he has a unique and powerful ability, which he calls "Hysteria Mode", where his cognitive and physical attributes suddenly spike around 30 times his normal state, when he is.... yes... sexually aroused.

"Hysteria Mode" allows Kinji to feats that are near impossible in reality, such as dodging a spray of bullets, and shooting into the muzzle of guns.

Kanzaki Holmes Aria IV

He meets the second main character, Aria Holmes Kanzaki, by a chance encounter when he is attacked by the "Butei Murderer". Aria is a S grade (highest rank) Butei. Her skill of being able to wield two guns or two swords (katanas) at the same time, gives her the title of Quandra. And as you can see from her name, she is the direct descendent of the famous Sherlock Holmes.

Oh my gosh....

The two adventure out on their first case, which is to solve the mystery or the Butei Murderer. The Butei Murderer has already destroyed a cruise liner, attempted to assassinate Kinji on his bike, hijacked a bus, and in the latest episode, hijacked a plane, all for the sake of killing Buteis... Or is it?

I hate to say it again three in a row, but SHES SO CUTE! First Ohana, then Victorique, and now Aria! It's times like this when the anime producers love to show those cute faces, even though she's like, a super assassin... Lol.

You are WARNED, it contains ecchi!

And i forgotten to mention who is Riko. Riko Mine is one of the main charcters in HNA. Suffering a cruel upbringing, her only mission was to defeat Holmes, for she is ARSENE LUPIN'S descendent! By defeating holmes, she will have done something no other Lupin has done for generations. She has a cool aura and can fight good, but her character is... quite provocative.

And who is the blade wielding girl? Well she is Hotogi Shirayuki. One of the last few Hotogi Shrine girls, she is also Kinji's childhood friend and "self-proclaimed" girlfriend. All you need to know is she is very protective, and she always has a double personality.

On a final note, Hidan no Aria's main strength is its action, awesome final action scene in episode 12. Once enemies for generations combining forces for a greater good. HOWEVER, after i finished watching it, THERE ARE TOO MANY ECCHI SCENES.

Do be warned that Riko appears so many times in... ahem.. (Yes you get the idea)
and everytime Kinji goes Histeria, it gets worse, and worse in degree, especially the last few.

Still, it wasn't very satisfying. The only time I managed to see cool action shots were in episode 1 and 12.

And here are the scores:

You can get fansubs from Chihiro, Doki, gg and UTW. Hidan no Aria has 12 episodes, with 1 special, and premiered from April 15 to July 1


Please note that there is also a light novel & manga for Hidan no Aria, which i presume contains more content than the anime.


Also, the Hidan no Aria Opening Credits managed 2nd PLACE for the OP & ED positions. Its an awesome song by May'n...



Have fun watching!

DarrenW
wwhcurrent@gmail.com