The Asterisk War is based on the light novel series, with the first season at 12 episodes long. It it set in the future where the countries of Earth have disbanded. Certain humans have gained powers and they are called the Ganestella. Their powers include being able to control the elements and summoning them to use as projectiles. Their weapons are luxes, which are objects that can expand to form a variety of weapons, such as swords, axes and guns. The city of Asterisk has six academies where they participate in tournaments called Festas.
The story is set in Seidoukan Academy, where their performance during the Festas has been steadily declining. A transfer student by the name of Amagiri Ayato arrives at the school and is promptly challenged by the foreign princess Julis Alexia von Riessfeld for a duel due to Ayato accidentally seeing her changing. Julis is powerful but she also distances herself from everyone at school. She has developed a reputation for being cold. However, Ayato slowly gets on her good side and everyone is surprised when Julis actually responds to Ayato instead of ignoring him. Julis is an obvious love interest for Ayato.
The backstory for Ayato is that his sister apparently also attended Seidoukan Academy and participated in the Festas. However, all her records have been scrubbed. Her weapon lays in storage and Ayato arrives to claim it as his own. Ayato himself is very strong but we don't get to see his powers until a bit into the series. The first season chronicles the lead up to the first festa, the Phoenix Festa. Despite the slow build up, there are some intriguing elements to Ayato's powers such as it appearing to be shackled, and the reasons on why are only being teased.
On the other hand, while Julis is supposed to be powerful, she seems to play the damsel in distress role quite a bit, with Ayato saving her. These situations are quite disappointing. The anime is a cliche storm and Ayato often gets himself into situations where he sees the undergarments of Julis or some other female character. The way this is done isn't clever or original, which has the effect of making you roll your eyes at the predictable events. The fan service is too obvious and cliched, which combined with everyone's reactions, makes it cringeworthy.
It takes the better part of the season before the Phoenix Festa actually starts. Before that, battles were brief and disappointing. When the Festa starts, the battles don't get any better and apart from the final battle, they were all curbstomp ones where one side just completely obliterated the other within a minute. The battles, just like the rest of the series, are all style and no substance. It tries too hard to be flashy, resulting in unsatisfying clashes. As the season goes on, it is revealed that their weapons each have their own personality and each will demand something from their wielder. It's kind of a perverse idea, especially with the burden it places on their wielders. Like the rest of the concepts introduced, it isn't developed well within the story.
To sum up, The Asterisk War is predictable. No scene or event within the season will surprise you, everything is predictable from a mile away. By the time the ending comes, you get the feeling that they really dragged the series out. It has a good concept and huge potential but unfortunately, while far from being bad, it doesn't deliver and feels very average and bland as a result.
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