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This past weekend, fans worldwide enjoyed the season finale of Lycoris Recoil, one of the most popular and beloved anime of Summer 2022, due to its charming characters, engaging plot, and deep-rooted morals. Many fans consider it one of the best anime released in the last couple of years.
While not as popular as household names like My Hero Academia or One Piece, the series has the potential to become one of the most popular anime of its genre. But the question remains, what makes Lycoris Recoil such an amazing series? Are fans wrong in calling it one of the best series of Summer 2022? Continue reading to learn more about the issue.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Lycoris Recoil.
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Chisato and Majima’s relationship is one of the factors in favor of Lycoris Recoil being amongst the best anime of the past season
The plot of the series is simple and alluring at the same time. In this universe, Japan stands atop the ranking of the safest countries in the world thanks to the job of the Lycoris. The members of this elite squad are high-school-aged girls who have been trained since childhood to be the deadliest soldiers possible. They are tasked with eliminating any threat to Japan’s peace discretely.
Takina, one of the most ruthless Lycoris in the agency, is sent to the Lyco Reco café after proving to be too volatile on the battlefield. There, she meets Chisato, a former Lycoris who now acts as an independent contractor helping anyone who needs it. While at first, Takina is reluctant to join the café, she ends up falling in love with the lifestyle as the series progresses.
The story may sound generic and even boring to some, yet the show knows how to make each episode as exciting and enjoyable as possible. Behind the girls-with-guns façade, the series hides a deeply emotional story about a girl who just wants to make the world better. Despite everyone telling her she needs to be a killing machine, Chisato refuses till the very end.
The series has an overarching message of how one can control their destiny. Chisato was molded into the perfect soldier who could kill entire squads as a toddler. However, she never once used these skills to kill, preferring to use rubber bullets. Takina, the girl who does want to kill, slowly learns that there is more to life than fighting.
Chisato’s arc
Besides the plot and the lessons to be learned from the series, Chisato’s journey in Lycoris Recoil is one of the show’s biggest strengths. When the series starts, the blonde girl is presented as a bubbly, light-hearted individual who wants to enjoy life. No matter how much the D.A. wants her to return to the Lycoris program, Chisato is happy where she is.
Initially, Takina judges and resents her for this, as she wants to return to the agency more than anything. Nevertheless, the longer she stays by Chisato’s side, the more the black-haired girl begins to understand there is a lot more to her friend. During the first half of the series, Chisato’s past is barely ever mentioned.
As the series nears its end, everything, from Chisato's superhuman vision to the fact that she is living on borrowed time, is revealed. As a child, Chisato was diagnosed with a terminal illness that would kill her before her teenage years. She was too much of an asset for the D.A. to lose, so she was implanted with an artificial heart that would keep her alive longer.
Being saved had the opposite effect on Chisato, as she decided to become a savior for others, the same way the person who operated on her was. Sadly, this was not the purpose of the surgery, and the man who saved her, Yoshimatsu, made it his life mission to force her to kill. No matter what anyone tried, Chisato stayed true to her beliefs until the very end of Lycoris Recoil.
The Lyco Reco café staff
While Chisato may be the main focus of the series, she is not the only interesting and charming character in Lycoris Recoil. Each of the other members of the café has their own charm, motives, and a unique personality that helps them stand out.
Takina, the deuteragonist for the series, starts as the perfect soldier. She is a girl who was raised to follow instructions without question and only cares about her mission. Spending time with Chisato helps her break from her chains to the point where she does not even want to be a Lycoris when the show ends. She learns that life is not about what others tell you to be but what you choose.
Mika, Chisato’s father figure, used to be a heartless soldier who was willing to use a little girl as a weapon. As Chisato grew older, Mika started treating her less like a weapon and more like a daughter. When Lycoris Recoil ends, the love Mika feels for Chisato is so big that he can kill the love of his life for the girl.
Kurumi and Mizuki are both loners who often act as if nothing truly mattered to them. Yet, when the time comes, they would move heaven and earth to protect the people special to them. All of these characters were inspired by Chisato’s optimism and love of life, something the show expects to happen to fans as well.
Majima vs Chisato
The green-haired terrorist Majima is another major character we need to talk about. When Lycoris Recoil started, the man seemed to be nothing more than an episodic villain that the girls defeated. Nevertheless, as the series progressed, the man became increasingly important to the plot.
By the end, his story was directly tied with Chisato’s, as fans learned that the two were related in more than one way. Majima is like the reflection of the blonde girl, mirroring everything from her abilities to her motives. While Chisato is a proficient fighter, Majima is a sharpshooter. If the girl wants to keep the world safe and happy, Majima wants it to learn the meaning of chaos and destruction.
Their relationship has been one of the best rivalries in anime over the past few years. Instead of mortal enemies, they are like bickering friends who want to prove the other wrong. Most of the time, they do not even fight and instead engage in philosophical conversations or chat about movies.
Final Thoughts
Lycoris Recoil is an amazing experience that fans of the series will not likely forget anytime soon. The show caught fans’ attention from the moment it first aired and kept it until the very end. The characters, plot, twists, and art style combined into one of the best anime of the year.
Fans who have not seen the series and want to give it a chance will not be disappointed. The ending of the show hinted at the possibility of a sequel series being made in the future. This is the best time to get into the series before another season is announced.
