Yuki Yuna Is A Hero is a show that initially advertises itself as a harmless show about the cute lives of five middle-school mahou shoujo (much like a certain popular series). And as a matter of fact, that's a large part of Yuki Yuna; much of the series devotes itself to exploring the girls' daily lives and their relationships to each other, while its battle scenes tend to take a backseat. The strong focus on Slice of Life in the first half leads to a rather slow pace, but it also does a great job of making you care about the girls of the Hero Club, who are all extremely likable.
This becomes important in the second half of the series, where things become more serious. Without spoiling anything, the show begins to explore the question of what it truly means to be a "Hero," and whether the sacrifices that the girls make are worth it. When the revelations finally surface, their emotional impact is strengthened greatly thanks to how good Yuki Yuna is at making you attached to the characters. Episode 9 in particular is incredibly emotional and is executed flawlessly.
Although the show has a limited budget, Studio Gokumi manages to make a whole lot out of a little; the heavy use of pastel colors and a consistent Flower Motif, combined with a fantastic soundtrack from MONACA, gives the setting an almost dreamy atmosphere. There are a few cases of Conspicuous CG, but it's nothing that really detracts from the experience.
If the show has one notable flaw, it's that it sometimes falls victim to its own pace. The actual conflict with the "Vertex" moves very fast, and sometimes feels a bit weightless for the first few episodes. This becomes rather painfully apparent in the final episode, which wraps things up rather quickly while leaving several questions behind. The show also has a slew of supplementary material, some of which does explain the ending, but some viewers may not want to go through all that trouble for something which admittedly could've been explained with a thirteenth episode.
Regardless of a slightly weak conclusion, the show manages to stand up on its own feet out of Madoka's shadow and be very enjoyable in its own right. You truly come to care about these girls, and in that Yuki Yuna accomplishes its job superbly.
A Slice of Magical Girl Life
Yuki Yuna Is A Hero is a show that initially advertises itself as a harmless show about the cute lives of five middle-school mahou shoujo (much like a certain popular series). And as a matter of fact, that's a large part of Yuki Yuna; much of the series devotes itself to exploring the girls' daily lives and their relationships to each other, while its battle scenes tend to take a backseat. The strong focus on Slice of Life in the first half leads to a rather slow pace, but it also does a great job of making you care about the girls of the Hero Club, who are all extremely likable.
This becomes important in the second half of the series, where things become more serious. Without spoiling anything, the show begins to explore the question of what it truly means to be a "Hero," and whether the sacrifices that the girls make are worth it. When the revelations finally surface, their emotional impact is strengthened greatly thanks to how good Yuki Yuna is at making you attached to the characters. Episode 9 in particular is incredibly emotional and is executed flawlessly.
Although the show has a limited budget, Studio Gokumi manages to make a whole lot out of a little; the heavy use of pastel colors and a consistent Flower Motif, combined with a fantastic soundtrack from MONACA, gives the setting an almost dreamy atmosphere. There are a few cases of Conspicuous CG, but it's nothing that really detracts from the experience.
If the show has one notable flaw, it's that it sometimes falls victim to its own pace. The actual conflict with the "Vertex" moves very fast, and sometimes feels a bit weightless for the first few episodes. This becomes rather painfully apparent in the final episode, which wraps things up rather quickly while leaving several questions behind. The show also has a slew of supplementary material, some of which does explain the ending, but some viewers may not want to go through all that trouble for something which admittedly could've been explained with a thirteenth episode.
Regardless of a slightly weak conclusion, the show manages to stand up on its own feet out of Madoka's shadow and be very enjoyable in its own right. You truly come to care about these girls, and in that Yuki Yuna accomplishes its job superbly.
Grade: A-