High Guardian Spice / YMMV

Adorkable: Slime Boy has disheveled hair, stutters a lot, and sounds like he's a constant stoner due to his Dull Surprise. But at the same time, it makes him an endearing character.
Anvilicious: People tend to agree that some of the messages are hammered in to the point of repetitiveness, particularly with the Appeal to Tradition conflict theme throughout the series getting explained every single time it's brought up. And if it's not being repeated, the message is often delivered via the characters effectively giving a blatant textbook explanation for the themes or the morals of the episode. This is likely explained by the messages and themes being meant to be simple so as to be understood by children; the series was originally intended for younger audiences before Crunchyroll demanded it be retooled to be more mature. By this point it was impractical to completely rewrite the show, so the delivery comes off as heavy-handed to older viewers.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Slime Boy's viewer reception is split in half. Some love him for his stilted performance and, even ironically, for the dubious quality of his recorded dialogue, but others use Slime Boy as one example of the show's faults by pointing out the same traits that made him an Ensemble Dark Horse in the first place.
- Professor Redbud. Some enjoy her antics due to Barbara Goodson going all out in portraying her as the pernicious character she is, who enjoys terrorizing her students in creative ways but still being a source of guidance for the students when needed, while others dislike her for said traits making her seem either over the top in a way that breaks immersion, while also finding it hard to get past how dangerous many of her actions are to the students, which is never really addressed in the story.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
- Near the end of Episode 7, a decomposing dragon that the girls hitched a ride on to escape the cave explodes into a bunch of stars in the night sky. Even the girls are somewhat perplexed at what just happened, with Rosemary and Sage trying to make sense of it by discussing if that's how stars are made.
- At the start of Episode 11, Caraway does an Arrow Catch from a random student who apologizes shortly after. What clinches it is Caraway's nonchalance and the student's posture and focused gaze implying that the attack may or may not have been accidental.
Bile Fascination: Due to the show's very controversial nature within Crunchyroll's community, many people checked it out to see what people were getting in such an uproar over. But those expecting (hoping?) to see an epic disaster were instead disappointed to find a show that's merely thoroughly mediocre… which arguably makes it worse since an outright disaster would at least be somewhat entertaining with how terrible it was. It's often cited as the quintessential Exhibit A of how not to write a show as it does everything wrong in such an inoffensive way and has so few defenders that anyone can openly criticize any aspect of it without fearing much, if any, fan retaliation — critics and the like heavily encourage anyone interested in storytelling or creating media to watch this show to learn from its mistakes and discuss them among their peers.
Cliché Storm: Many of the criticisms stem from the premise being very similar to several other shows, as a plucky girl with a missing parent going to a fantasy school, a mean girl who bullies the protagonists, and an aloof ally who turns nice are all common character archetypes that frequently get used together (such as in RWBY, and Little Witch Academia (2017)). The setting is also a typical Standard Fantasy Setting that doesn't do much to stand out from others like it. Further playing on the Little Witch Academia cliches, the show also presents both anti-Traditionalism as an overarching message and the swap between a lighthearted Slice of Life first half and a much darker, dramatic second half where a heavy overarching plot kicks off.
Complete Monster ("Attack on High Guardian Academy"): Mandrake is an unhinged shapeshifter who revels in wanton destruction and death. After Olive fails in her mission to kill Rosemary and her three friends, Mandrake is appointed to take care of the girls for her. Posing as a teacher within High Guardian Academy, Mandrake drugs the other teachers and lures most of the academy's students into a locked room and sets it and the rest of the school on fire, nearly burning all the students and teachers alive. Once he finally confronts Rosemary and her companions, Mandrake almost kills the four of them, and even targets Olive once she turns against him.
Critical Backlash: A lot of people who watched the show because they heard what a trainwreck it supposedly was have found that while it's not exactly good, it's not as terrible as some made it out to be; while it has a lot of flaws in terms of writing and animation, many viewers find it to be mediocre rather than flat-out awful and believe it had some good points and potential for improvement if it had more than just one season. A big reason it got so heavily criticized is it is essentially a microcosm of bad media, because it makes every possible mistake an animated series could make — no one element of it is horrible and it does little to offend, but nothing is done well either and there is no fear of backlash since very few people are willing or able to defend it. This made it an attractive "Exhibit A" for pretty much anyone who wants to discuss how to, and how not to, make an animated series, or even anyone who is passionate about world-building, character development, lore, etc.
Draco in Leather Pants:
- Olive before her Heel–Face Turn has earned a lot of fans when her cat girl form is revealed for the first time due to her cute black cat aesthetic.
- Mandrake may be a blood-thirsty shapeshifter with a penchant for senseless violence, but his over-the-top performance and admittedly appealing design makes him enjoyable to watch, so much so that some people are Rooting for the Empire since he overshadows the rather generic four heroines.
- People have ironically taken a shine on Aster either for his looks alone or the part where he calls Rosemary "stuck-up" for refusing to take a compliment.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Some of the people who don't like the show as a whole have been ironically inclined towards Slime Boy and his... odd voice acting, and to an extent even unironically for his laid-back stoner attitude.
- Zinnia is also well known for her scene outside the cave, even though she is never seen again afterwards.
- Amaryllis is many people's favorite character, due to her being a bit unhinged and being the only character with an entertaining personality, as it also helps that she becomes a bit less mean while the show goes on.
Evil Is Cool: As Ax-Crazy as Mandrake is, he does look really badass doing it. He's a shapeshifter, has a sinister tone of voice, is able to summon multiple blades via magic while wielding an actual sword, and most of all, is able to put up a good fight all by himself against four girls and Olive despite getting stabbed by the latter just recently.
Growing the Beard: People tend to agree that the last third of the series is somewhat better than the first, with the plot beginning to pick up more, dropping some of the Cliché Storm side the first half had, and having some neat fight scenes to fit with the plot as well. It's because of the latter half of the show that many people, even some detractors, lament that there is a very low chance of the show ever getting another season and not being able to see the show really show its potential.
Heartwarming Moments: Snapdragon's talk with Amaryllis at the end of Episode 11 pretty much sums up the duo's friendship and care for each other, as Amaryllis is perfectly fine with and encouraging her best friend's suggestion of getting into more girl-based things like fingernail painting, and Amaryllis comforts Snapdragon as they're struggling with the confusion of their situation.
Informed Wrongness:
- Zinnia's panic over entering a deadly cave then quitting is seen as an over-dramatic reaction by her classmates, even being mocked by Amaryllis (though that's hardly out of character for her), despite the fact that being forced to go on a mission where there's a chance of death is a legitimate concern.
- A minor one with Snapdragon's father who appears in a flashback. While his hyper-masculine thinking is rather flawed, especially with the suggestion that Snapdragon should spend more time sparring with their brothers and encouraging the use of brute force, the father's lesson to Snapdragon boils down to standing up for oneself when someone takes what's theirs. Overall a reasonable thing for a father to tell their child when dealing with people harassing them and taking their stuff, but instead it's portrayed as an example of uncomplicated toxic masculinity and how it relates to Snapdragon violently blowing up on Cal earlier.
It's Short, So It Sucks!: An issue some people have with the show is how each episode tries to pack different subplots into its story. Due to this, each subplot barely gets any time to develop due to having to share time with each other and the show cutting away between them, both crashing the mood of the currently showing subplot, and causing each story to feel more rushed with their themes.
Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Sage gets more flak for her behavior than anyone else. Characters like Aster, Cal, and Mandrake were always meant to be jerkasses or a villain in the latter's case, and even Redbud's sadistic traits are too exaggerated to be taken seriously. But Sage's worst moments are focused at length, such as her jealousy over Rosemary's crush, how she dismisses Snapdragon's say on the matter because they're a "guy", and her argument with Rosemary at the festival which she holds a grudge on for a week before deciding to make up with her best friend. As a result, viewers have noted how eerily her behavior mirrors that of real-life friends with similar issues or, much less charitably how similar it is to the behavior of a domestic abuser.
Just Here for Godzilla: If there is one thing both fans and detractors can agree on it's that Snapdragon was a good character and generally considered more interesting and likable than the rather bland main characters. As such some viewers (especially of the latter camp) only watch the show for them.
Karmic Overkill: While Aster does indeed act incredibly patronizing to Rosemary, a lot of his actions are caused more or less by his stupidity and ego rather than any actual malice on his part. It makes him getting his toes crushed by Parsley's hammer seem a little too excessive along with everyone (including the professor) laughing it off, on top of that.
LGBT Fanbase: Thanks to the show's LGBT representation, the LGBT viewer base has more or less formed the bulk of the show's fandom.
Lost in Medias Res: The show seems to begin on what should have been the second episode rather than the first, with Rosemary and Sage already about to leave for High Guardian Academy without taking any time to establish their characterization or the setting. Due to this, some viewers felt lost and confused by the show's pacing. A specific issue many viewers have pointed out is that the show never clearly defines what a Guardian is beyond being a magic-wielding warrior/healer/blacksmith and some platitudes about honour and chivalry. Even the show's wiki entry on Guardians is a bit vague about their exact role in the setting; at best, it can be inferred they're intended to be something like Jedi Knights. Considering the main protagonists aspire to become Guardians and the main setting is an academy that trains Guardians, the fact it's not made clear what this even means can cause headscratching amongst viewers; it's not the only bit of worldbuilding that feels underdeveloped or vague, but it stands out considering how central it is to the plot and characters.
Memetic Mutation:
- "The content is intended for mature audiences only."^Explanation
- Rosemary's sketch.^Explanation
- "Wow. Son, we need to have a word."^Explanation
- Snapdragon snaps.^Explanation
Mis-blamed:
- While the crew often gets blamed for creating the infamous initial announcement trailer, story editor Amalia Levari claimed this was out of their control; according to Levari, Crunchyroll had asked the crew isolated behind-the-scenes questions, which they answered not knowing that those questions would be repurposed into an announcement trailer. As confirmed by Sofia Alexander, the creator of Onyx Equinox, the production staff don't have any input as to how their shows are marketed by Crunchyroll.
- The series' staff are also accused of diverting funds from subscribers' money into this series' creation. However, not only is this claim unfounded but what has been confirmed runs contrary to it. In 2015, Crunchyroll had specifically received funding from companies like Sumitomo Corporation and Otter Media to invest in co-productions and original programming, including the Crunchyroll Originals program in general.
Moe: Quite a lot of characters surprisingly qualify, a few examples include Parsley and Amaryllis for being the shortest girls and their personalities, Zinnia for being an adorable scaredy cat that makes many viewers want to protect her, Olive for being a cat girl, and as a rare male example, Slime Boy
Narm:
- During the Fall Festival, Thyme runs into someone who's dressed as a tree. This causes her to freak out and imagine the tree covered in rot. While it's meant to indicate her trauma over her home being covered in rot, it can come across as hilarious to some viewers due to how over-the-top it looks for a main character to panic over a tree.
- When Sage accidentally directs her magic attack towards the Scypith resulting in a fatal wound, it lets out a literal pig squeal as a cry of pain, momentarily breaking the heretofore intensity of the moment. It's definitely the last sound you would associate with a ferocious sea dragon.
Narm Charm: As much as Slime Boy's voice actor sounds like he's in desperate need of a better mic or is high during recording, Slime Boy's rather awkward way of talking fits with his character.
Never Live It Down: Sage's rather sexist statements about guys not understanding and talking about feelings compared to girls to Snapdragon in the sixth episode. While it was incredibly sexist and Innocently Insensitive due to Snapdragon's internal struggles with their gender identity, people tend to overlook that she did apologize for the statements after Snapdragon gives her a good What the Hell, Hero? talk.
Offending the Creator's Own: How offensive depends on who you talk to, but it's generally agreed that the show's portrayal of its transgender characters is heavily flawed. For starters, there's Professor Caraway; the most common criticism is that Caraway has very little personality outside of being a trans character, alongside the fact that him revealing himself to be trans comes out of nowhere with no actual relevancy to the plot, making his character come across more like queer pandering rather than sincere representation. There's also the show's portrayal of Snapdragon, who, while nowhere near as controversial, was accused of falling under the stereotype that feminine men are automatically trans. All this despite series creator and producer Raye Rodriguez, who also voiced Caraway, being trans himself. Snapdragon's voice actress, Julia Kaye, is also trans.
Overshadowed by Controversy: The disastrous reveal trailer, followed by Crunchyroll going mum about it for two years, then essentially washing their hands of it immediately after release is constantly brought up whenever the show is being discussed or reviewed. Even those who don't mind the show admit that the two years of silence gave that unflattering first impression time to sink in.
Romantic Plot Tumor: The ongoing plot line between the Rosemary/Sage/Snapdragon Love Triangle got a bit tedious after 6 episodes, especially with the brief plot with Rosemary crushing on Aster before being resolved as soon as it came up.
Ron the Death Eater: To some viewers, the main four can come off as blood-thirsty mercenaries due to having no qualms about killing monsters that get in their way. Thyme especially gets this treatment after unflinchingly killing a demon she had summoned with an arrow to the skull.
The Scrappy: The elder of the Triad is often singled out for being too cantankerous for her quips to be seen as funny, and a lot of her dialogue involves interjecting the Triad's speech just to snark. Combined with repeatedly kvetching about the student body, people immediately tire of her every time she makes a brief appearance.
Slow-Paced Beginning: The first half is fairly episodic, mostly focusing on introducing the main four characters, exploring their dynamic with each other, Slice of Life hijinks, and typical high school drama. It's not until the eighth and ninth episodes, the "Festival of Fall" two-parter, where main conflict arises with the appearance of Olive and her attempts to lure the girls to meet the Triumvirate, presumably to their doom, after the healing water used to cure the rot actually works. By the time the finale comes around, the girls become the target of an assassination by Mandrake, a psychopathic shapeshifter tasked by the Triumvirate to do the deed, leading to a rather intense fight scene and High Guardian Academy facing heavy damages as a result.
So Okay, It's Average: Controversy aside, the prevailing opinion is that the show is perfectly competent (save some animation errors), but lacks innovation and does nothing to stand out from the extensive crowd of similar shows aimed at a similar demographic.
Special Effect Failure: If there are three main areas that the show has trouble within terms of animation, they're characters being Off-Model, layering issues (characters phasing through plants that are supposed to be in the foreground, or a character that's supposed to be in the foreground walking behind everyone else, resulting in them looking like a giant), and characters standing completely still (especially background characters).
Squick:
- In Episode 11, Sage accidentally but fatally injures the Scypith, forcing itself to retreat to the shore where we get a close-up shot of its open wound.
- In Episode 12, Mandrake attempts to cauterize a stab wound he sustained from Olive's treachery with the heated blade of a sword. His whimpering makes it very clear that it's as painful as it looks.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The Ending Theme's intro and chorus sounds an awful lot like the intro and chorus of "Zzz", the first Ending Theme of Nichijou's anime adaptation, nearly using the same rhythm but with enough alterations to the melody, as well as using a different key signature to differentiate between the two.
Sweetness Aversion: Despite trying to aim for an older audience and even having a Content Warning, the show's simple dialogue and cute, brightly colored art style tends to be too cutesy for some viewers. The opening and ending themes fall especially hard into this:
- The opening song almost sounds like something you would hear in a Barbie animated film.
- The ending theme has been compared to something you would hear in a preschool show about friendship, with lyrics like "finding who I am, you by my side" and "so happy to be with you, you make me happy too."
Tainted by the Preview: The first trailer showed little to nothing of the show itself, instead focusing on the staff and emphasizing that it was being made mostly by women, as well as their hopes for a work that is diverse In-Universe and out. This soured opinions towards the project, with many accusing the creators of trying to gather sympathy and goodwill by appealing to the diversity of the staff and the work without actually having to deliver a good story. It was also pointed out that the "diverse" group of writers shown all happened to be white women, which just added to the backlash.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: One criticism is that a majority of episodes are focused on the main four and their antics that affect others but rarely give the spotlight to any of the other characters outside them. There are a few subplots on occasion (Snapdragon’s crush on Sage and the Love Triangle between them and Rosemary for one), but they hardly pop up in the later episodes.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- Sage almost killing the Scypith is treated as a major plot point for her character due to her losing control of her magic for a moment. Despite it initially being treated as a huge moment, it largely has no impact on her or the plot after the moment, and it goes unmentioned after like it never happened.
- It's hinted that there's a connection between the use of new magic and the rot, which the suppliers of new magic devices are implied to be aware of but are covering up so it doesn't cut into their profits, to the point of hiring assassins to kill teenage girls who might be onto them (some viewers have theorised that excessive use of new magic outright causes the rot, though it's not confirmed in-universe). This is one of the show's more original ideas with heaps of story potential and huge ramifications for the world (especially given High Guardian Academy's emphasis on teaching new magic), but unfortunately the show barely scratches the surface of the rot's origins and whether new magic can really be used with no cost. The Season 1 finale indicates this storyline would be expanded upon in future seasons, but due to the show's lacklustre reception and the studio closing it's highly unlikely we'll get a second season. Some reviewers have noted the first season may have been improved if this plotline was given more focus, providing more depth and higher stakes.
Trapped by Mountain Lions: Episode 11 focuses on the girls' mission to capture a sea dragon that has gone berserk in an underwater mermaid school, which then gets sidetracked several times by Snapdragon's Trans Tribulations, and never ties into the main story.
Ugly Cute: The grogs are weird creatures with the build of a frog and the external features of a goat, yet their big mouths and goofy smiles make them simply adorable.
Uncertain Audience: High Guardian Spice was picked up by anime distributor Crunchyroll and is marked as being for mature audiences, but it has practically no resemblance to a mature anime. Instead, we are treated to a cutesy art style, simple dialogue, and young protagonists going to school in a very basic Standard Fantasy Setting... but the show does use its mature rating for occasional swearing and (inconsistently) bloody violence (and not in a self-aware Subverted Kids' Show way), making it technically inappropriate for a young audience, but still feeling too much like a kids' show for anyone older.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Aster was obviously meant to be seen as bad for his ego and rude attitude, but a few people felt sympathy for him due to Karmic Overkill of him having a hammer dropped on his foot just because he was being a bit of a jerk, which some felt was too extreme of a punishment for it.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- While Professor Hakone's actions do seem to help his students, the means of doing so left some viewers raising an eyebrow in suspicion as he simply has Snapdragon and Amaryllis swap weapons after seeing the former struggling to use a handed down axe. While both sides do benefit from this, one has to wonder how odd it is that he doesn't try to teach them how to use their weapons before suggesting they swap. That and with him approving of Parsley dropping her hammer on the (while well-deserved) sexist Aster's foot, some find it rather off-putting that the teacher is fine with a student hurting another to teach them a lesson.
- Sage can be very insensitive when it comes to the things she believes in. She says that Old Magic is sacred but never explains why, only expecting people to accept it and becomes emotional when someone else doesn't automatically agree with her. Then there are her comments to Snapdragon on how boys can never understand girls' feelings, which rubbed many people the wrong way. Some viewers have also pointed out that she can come off as possessive, controlling and emotionally manipulative towards Rosemary (e.g. she gets angry and takes it personally when Rose wants to hang out with other people or do things Sage isn't interested in), and generally deals with conflict between them by blaming everything on Rose or being passive-aggressive. A lot of her behavior is supposed to stem from her anxieties over losing her best friend and her inner conflict over the magic system, but many viewers find she tends to use this an excuse to be unkind when she can't have everything her way.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Parnelle is sometimes mistaken for a girl due to his long eyelashes, high-pitched voice, and having softer features when compared to other male characters.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: A variation, in any case. Despite having a Content Warning, this show's use of strong language and blood is really tame compared to other mature cartoons, much less adult-oriented anime fare, and the "sexual content" never really surpasses what would otherwise be Demographically Inappropriate Humour territory, aside from Olive saying the word "dong" twice. Word of God is that it was originally intended to be a kids' show, but Crunchyroll higher-ups pushed to add mature content into the final product, resulting in a few gratuitous adult elements being tacked onto the otherwise kid-friendly series.
WTH, Costuming Department?: Anise's purple undercut, dress shirt with ripped sleeves, and multiple ear piercings do succeed in giving the impression that she's the butch to Aloe's femme, but stick out like a sore thumb in the show's otherwise medieval-inspired setting, making it seem like she was plucked straight out of the late 2010s.

YMMV / High Guardian Spice

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