Line #2 YMMV/TheAsteriskWar


1	* {{Anvilicious}}: The [[CapitalismIsBad anti-big business political themes]] in the series are not subtle: the [[MegaCorp integrated enterprise foundations]] are viewed as the source of nearly all the world's ills, especially rampant poverty such that the orphanage had to sell Ophelia to an IEF to pay down some of its debt (whereupon she was [[PlayingWithSyringes used as a guinea pig]] by [[MadScientist Hilda Jane Rowlands]]). Julis's goal in the Gryps arc is to force the [=IEFs=] to give some actual power back to her government so it can start fighting back.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3	** The anime opening theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE6o0FMewTE Brand New World]]. Also the ending song to the anime, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2XFqcyAun4 "Waiting for the Rain"]].
4	** Then there's the second opening theme, simply titled [[TitleDrop "The Asterisk War"]].
5	** The second ending theme "Ai no Uta (Words of Love)", was a major breakthrough for Haruka Chisuga's career.
6	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
7	** Julis. Some dislike her for being a generic {{Tsundere}} that steals screentime from the other girls, others like her for actually treating Ayato like an equal instead of putting him on a pedestal and want her to win Ayato's heart in the end.
8	** Ayato, too. He can either be hated for being [[FollowTheLeader another]] bland, generic, [[InvincibleHero invincible]], or even totally perfect, [[HeroesPreferSwords sword-wielding hero]] from a [[HaremGenre Harem]] light novel adaptation, or liked [[ShowyInvincibleHero BECAUSE]] of said invincibility.
9	* BetterOnDVD: Unless you have an exceptional memory, watching the show in a single go will make it easier on you to keep track of the story.
10	* ClicheStorm: There are many people that view Asterisk War as a completely unoriginal series that doesn't use tropes familiar to its demographic in an interesting way.
11	* CompleteMonster: [[PsychoForHire Gustave Malraux]] is a former member of a terrorist organization of Asterisk that in the past carried out the "Jade Twilight" plan. Hired by Nicolas Enfield to stop his daughter, Claudia, from participating in a tournament known as Gryps Festa, Gustave wasted no time attacking Claudia's best friends, Ayato and Julis, with his chimera when they visited the capital city of Julis's home country, Lieseltania, resulting in Julis tighten up the security. Returning in Volume 6--episode 24 of the anime--Gustave sends his chimera to attack the capital city in order to distract the police forces, and plans to [[WouldHurtAChild attack the orphanage]] in order to lure the heroes out. After he successfully lures them out, he then attacks them with his hydra, leaving the hydra to cause destruction in the poor district of Lieseltania's capital city.
12	* FanNickname: On [[Website/FourChan /a/]], Julis is referred to as Pink [[Literature/InfiniteStratos Houki]].
13	* HarsherInHindsight: Koichiro's behavior towards Kirin becomes worse when you realize that he deeply resented his Genestella brother Seijiro for being the heir to the Toudou clan. His inner bitterness over it and potentially losing his promotion at Galaxy reflects all the hard work he had to do to make his way to the top.
14	* HilariousInHindsight:
15	** Ayato is very similar to a certain hero from [[Literature/SwordArtOnline another, rather similar, anime]] from Creator/A1Pictures. With the dub of this anime out, [[Creator/ErikKimerer Ayato]] is now the [[WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations rival]] of [[Creator/BrycePapenbrook Kirito]] (although the latter only spoke in [[Anime/PokemonOrigins a different installment]] in which his rival sounds [[Creator/LucienDodge different]]).
16	** The fandom rivalry with ''Literature/ChivalryOfAFailedKnight'' becomes even funnier when you consider that both TV series respectively feature the voices of Creator/NaoTouyama, Chinatsu Akasaki, Creator/YuuKobayashi and Creator/ShintaroAsanuma. Bonus points for the series airing around the same time in Japan.
17	** Creator/AtsushiTamaru (Ayato) went on to voice the MasterSwordsman protagonist of another WizardingSchool LightNovel adaptation who walks in a partially clothed LoveInterest in the first episode, namely Oliver Horn from ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades''. [[spoiler:Amusingly, Julis's voice actress Creator/AiKakuma plays the StarterVillain, who once makes a pass at Oliver in the original novels (the anime leaves this out).]] Also like ''Asterisk War'', ''Spellblades'' prominently features a TragicVillain named Ophelia.
18	* IronWoobie: Kirin, ''Kirin'', '''Kirin'''. Her father Seijiro goes to jail, she goes to live with her EvilUncle Koichiro, who is using her as a pawn to increase his political influence, and that doesn't stop her from enjoying life with her friends.
19	* JerkassWoobie: Let's face it, Irene can be a real bitch to anyone who isn't her sister; but considering the horrors she had to endure to protect said sister, it's hard not to feel sorry for her.
20	* {{Narm}}:
21	** The first episode has students forming to watch the fight between Ayato and Julis except that they're all [[OffModel horribly animated]] and in [[SpecialEffectsFailure obvious CGI]]. It's just outright hilariously bad.
22	** Any scene involving Flora in Japanese can come off as this, due to the fact that she sounds like she has a cold.
23	* SoBadItsGood: The OffModel scenes are just hilarious to watch.
24	* SoOkayItsAverage: General consensus is that the series is not anything special but it's not a disaster either. It all depends whether the series' merits outweigh its flaws or vice versa.
25	* StoicWoobie: Orphelia, Julis' friend, was just a sweet and kind-hearted girl who loved gardening until Hilda Jane Rowlands kidnapped her and used her in her experiments to create an artificial Strega. What Orphelia gained in power, she lost in emotion. Now, Orphelia constantly puts up a sad face and has become a fatalist.
26	* UnexpectedCharacter: Koichiro Toudou makes a surprise appearance in the 11th volume after being absent for 9 previous volumes. This time around, [[spoiler:he's working for his own family after leaving the IEF]].
27	* ValuesDissonance: In Volume 7, Sylvia Lynneheym's musical and [[TournamentArc fighting circuit]] rivals, the GirlGroup Rusalka, plot to ruin her by starting the rumor that she has a boyfriend. While the plan is not exactly intended to be sensible in context (Rusalka's OnlySaneWoman objects to it as a waste of time), why this could seem like a worthwhile plan to ''anyone'' is potentially incomprehensible to Western viewers. It has to do with the extreme ContractualPurity culture around Japanese {{Idol Singer}}s: talent agencies exercise ''very'' tight control over their lives to produce a particular sound and image, to say nothing of the behavior of idol {{otaku}} if there's ever the ''slightest hint'' that their favorite idol might be in a relationship with someone. However, author Yuu Miyazaki seems to have [[CreatorsCultureCarryover inferred Japanese mores for (apparently) non-Japanese singers who have a worldwide fanbase]]: if anything, relationship rumors would make Sylvia ''more'' popular in the West, since Western media outlets and fans love celebrity relationship drama.

Context YMMV / TheAsteriskWar