Trinity Seven

One day, the bright red sun stopped shining, causing the "Breakdown Phenomenon"—the destruction of Arata Kasuga's town and the disappearance of the people inhabiting it. All, however, is not yet lost; by utilizing the magical grimoire given to him by his childhood friend and cousin Hijiri Kasuga, Arata's world gets artificially reconstructed.

In order to investigate the phenomenon, Lilith Asami appears before Arata, whose artificial world suddenly disintegrates. He is given two choices: hand over the book, or die. However, Arata chooses the third option—enrolling in the top-secret magic school Royal Biblia Academy, where six other magical users await him. Together with Lilith, these six form the Trinity Seven, the elite of the school who each bolster their own power and skill.

With the ambition to save Hijiri and the help of his newfound friends, Arata stops at nothing to prevent the destruction of his beloved hometown and to bring his best friend back.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kasuga, Arata Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Kazama, Levi Main

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Asami, Lilith Main

Hara, Yumi Japanese

Sherlock, Lieselotte Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Kurata, Yui Main

Murakawa, Rie Japanese

Kannazuki, Arin Main

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Yamana, Mira Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Fudou, Akio Main

Yuzuki, Ryouka Japanese

Sora Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Biblia Gakuenchou Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Naya, Ryousuke Producer, Planning

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Yasumura, Ryou Producer

Tajima, Hiroyuki Producer

Reviews

Dec 27, 2024

SSJ-SUP3RM4N

Recommended

In the early-to-mid 2010s, ecchi stories, both romance and otherwise, faced a sort of renaissance, with stories at that time introducing heavy doses of action beats and set pieces. It is an era nowadays headlined by classics, like High School DxD (2012) and Kill La Kill (2013). Trinity Seven, released in 2014, is one title that was a part of that run that stuck to the romance route and enjoys decent popularity. It is also the focus of this review. Let's begin.

Upon reading the synopsis, the first things that may come to mind are grand magical battles and the uncovering of conflicts that change the ... course of the world. Unfortunately, this is not really the case and also this show’s foundational flaw. For how big the scale of the preface feels at the start, the events throughout the anime often feel much smaller in comparison. Even in the face of supposedly earth-shattering events, the viewer only ever sees the impacts from the perspective of our cast and the immediate setting. A lot of the conflicts here are mainly character-driven, which is not in itself a bad thing as the character conflicts here do have some real weight to them. That said, it also feels like the action going on would be at its best if conducted at a bigger scale or with noticeably higher stakes. Though viewers are basically dropped right in at the start with no chance to understand what is going on, the first few episodes do lay down a decent amount of groundwork, helping with world building early on. In terms of the conflicts presented across the 12 episodes, though the conflicts presented do feel relatively superficial, they are at least wrapped up in a satisfying way that also leaves room for intrigue as to what comes next.

Most of the key moments in this show occur during action set pieces, which, by and large, are fine. They are enough to entertain but not enough to amaze or excite. Most of the fights are magic-based so there usually is not too much going on the screen at a time apart from the visual effects of the magic themselves. The magic system is interesting, though it is generic in terms of the seven deadly sins’ influence (not the show, the actual seven deadly sins). There are many ‘hot words’ and mechanics that give it a unique feel. Unfortunately, most of these mechanics could have still benefited from additional explanations in the later phases. The entire system is not inherently intuitive and as the fights ramp up and powers get more complex, it gets a bit hard to keep up.

Arata, the MC, is a parody of the prototypical dense-as-rock harem MCs, with his straightforward perversion and unfiltered clapbacks. As for other parts of his character, he is generic but likable for the most part. For how rambunctious he comes off as, he has a good sense of when things get serious. Though this is a fantasy story, his broader motives are meaningful and relatable. As for how he comes across the Trinity Seven themselves, the main dynamic is laid out as a harem right from the onset, leaving no room for misunderstandings or petty conflicts. This show does away with any of the drama that comes with harems in favor of getting to the action quicker, and any single impression of such drama is instead dismissed as comedic relief. It feels somewhat tacky but is also a welcome change of pace in a way. All of the girls’ relationships with Arata are mostly wholesome, though they don't all warm up to him at the same time. He genuinely respects all of them a great deal and values the knowledge they give him. As for the girls, they are a pretty fun bunch and none of them feel too generic, though some of them do feel quite trope-y. Balancing all seven is a pretty difficult balancing act to make sure everyone gets screen time, but it works out well for the most part. Every girl gets decent contributions to the story, even after their introductions and key moments of relevance. As already mentioned, how the group gets tied into each other's conflicts is what moves the story forward, giving their interactions with each other and Arata decent depth. Between the more serious moments and the times in between, the interactions never feel too stale. The ecchi actually helped in this regard as well. Arata himself is not afraid of acting flirtatious and the reactions across the girls actually have a lot of variance. Some partake in the “expected” reaction of being grossed out, some dismiss it nonchalantly, some get a laugh out of it, and some even actively join in with it.

Barring a few exceptions, the ecchi does not really intrude on the more serious moments or overstay its welcome often. Scenes in between fights and those more tense moments are usually where the ecchi make their home, but it does come up in fight scenes somewhat as well. Some of the more expository world-building scenes also try squeezing in some fanservice moments to mixed results. Most of the devices themselves used here are the usual horny jail suspects: panty shots, sex jokes, awkwardly exaggerated moaning, feels being copped, and, let's not forget the tried and true, spontaneous explosive disrobing. The girls’ designs show a decent amount of skin as well. It all resembles the usual stomping grounds for degeneracy without crossing the border into hentai-lite territory. Some more acclimated viewers may feel blue-balled by more not being shown, but others may find that it strikes a decent balance. There are some exceptions, but only one or two in particular occurred during major climaxes that actually detracted in that aspect.

The art is pretty good for the time. Seven Arcs is a small studio, and as of time of review, about 5 years ago, the subsidiary that worked on this anime was merged with other divisions to create the Seven Arcs of the present day (Tonikawa, Blue Period, Chained Soldier). Given those circumstances, the fidelity and detail are higher than expected. Most of the backdrops are under-saturated and mostly generic in design, but the high level of detail makes up for it. The Victorian-era magic school backdrop is as generic as it gets, but looks fine. The under-saturation does hurt the character designs somewhat, but are fine otherwise. There are little inconsistencies that appear every now and again, but that is also a typical circumstance of anime handled by small studios. Most of the other backdrops take on high fantasy motifs, which also are very familiar. The visual effects are also relatively plain, though they got the job done. There is a lot of black as well as other subdued shades of gray and blue that visually complement the magic system. There are not really any moments where things straight up look bad, but there is not much that will really ‘wow’ the viewer either.

Like the art, the sound is passable. ZAQ churns out recognizable and catchy OPs like hotcakes and the one here is no exception. There are a few different endings rotated throughout the show sung by the VA cast, which is a nice touch. The electronic OST design generally fits the show well, but does not really impress. Like the visuals, sound effects are also pretty generic. The whooshes and warbles ubiquitously present across action fantasy anime are present, but they get the job done nonetheless. The voice acting is good. All the girls sound distinct, a deceivingly easy thing to mess up with a harem of this size. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, the harem king himself, makes an expected appearance here. His performance of Arata is a high point of this series. As for the girls, there are some listings that have since evolved into household names (Ayane Sakura, Nao Touyama, Youko Hikasa) as well as some that though a bit more under the radar, did garner a few big roles in later anime (Ryouka Yuzuki, Rie Murakawa, Yumi Hara). There is not any particular performance there that really stands above the rest, but they are all solid.

In the end, while this show appears to be ambitious with its premise and characters, the meat of it feels like just any other magic-academy action show. The art and sound are good enough, but lack any elements that elevate the physical watching experience. The strong desire to immerse into the world presented is diluted by the convoluted magic system and slower style of story that juxtaposes what seems to actually go on. That said, this is still a solid entry. The characters are fun and lively and that tone carries strongly into the story. The ecchi makes its presence known consistently but does a good job of not being too overbearing too often. If you want more horny in your life, this is a good one to pick up. If not, you’re not missing out on much otherwise, but you may still find some enjoyment in it nonetheless.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 11, 2022

Wrathful_Chicken

Mixed Feelings

One of the Harem titans of the old era. The 7 in Trinity Seven means the seven harem girls which glomp on the MC. The main reason you'd want to watch it is general attitude of the characters that are clearly aware that this is a harem anime. The male MC, Kasuga Arata, and many of the female ones being very upfront with sexual attraction. In fact this show is so clearly aware of its harem status, that within the first 30 seconds beyond the intro, our MC is literally groping boobs already.

When I say old era of harem, I mean the era where harem ... was all show-as-much-skin-as-possible, but not yet at the stage of doing extremely sexually suggestive actions. The farthest the MC goes being the classic slip-and-grope and flashing nudity. Nipples don't exist here though. Trinity Seven first and foremost is a harem anime and any motivation for watching it should start with that.

As for the underlying element of a plot beyond 'plot,' Trinity Seven takes on an apocalyptic Date a Live vibes with a magic academy focus. The motivations are extremely clear, but the plot progression is not at all. It leads to a very strange dilemma where Arata has a very clear objective in mind, but the story seems to stumble into random plot points instead of a clear path of progress towards his objective. A large part of it being because the concept of seven female MCs means that they must all be accounted for quickly. As such, you can summarize the plot as being rushed, and being a 12 episode anime most certainly doesn't help.

The single biggest sacrifice to this rushing is the magic system. It is not explained, nor fleshed out well at all. Being the very fundamental action element of this anime, you'd think that it would be simple and clear. Yet it pans out as a complicated system that has processes which are literally skipped over, all because Arata is an overpowered MC. It makes any form of combat in this anime a complete joke since it ends up being a bunch of random superpowers that manifest out of nowhere.

That being said though, can't go ranting on how shitty the action is without talking about the most important aspect of the show: tiddies ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). The fanservice on this show is on a different wavelength. While it doesn't reach the levels of degeneracy as the notorious To Love-Ru and Shinmai Maou no Testament, and definitely not at the levels of borderline hentai from Ishuzoku Reviewers and Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo, the aforementioned attitude really switches up the reaction dynamic. While there most certainly is the classic "KYAAA-" *shoot male-MC with a rocket launcher* kind of reaction (practically the identity of Asami Lilith), there is also the reactions that go along the lines of: "ooh~ you like that ( >w*)", "damn right, I do." That kind of upfront and honest degeneracy won't be seen in any other harems. The only one that comes remotely close is Highschool DxD, when Issei makes heroic speeches. Yet this goes through that has the confidence to go even farther beyond.

As far as characters go, half the cast are cliches while the other half has a bit of roundness. Though, some of the cliches make up for it with another kind of "roundness."
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
They are all pretty slim, so no big-booty-bitches here. Lieselotte Sherlock is a bit thicker than the rest of the cast, but not dummy THICC like you see in characters like Akeno from Highschool DxD. Then there are some characters have cliched themes, but a distinct personality. For example, Kazama Levi definitely has the ninja theme, but here sexual honesty is very distinct as a personality in spite of some kunoichi being known for sexual assassination.

Arata, our determined male MC, is a proud degenerate who has a strong sibling bond which serves as the primary purpose of his every action. His love for his cousin, Hijiri, is so great that he accepted his fate as a potential Demon Lord to save his cousin. His trust in Hijiri is so strong that he is willing to overlook at all the transgressions of things related to her, in absolute faith that she is acting with good intent. That fierce determination to find and save his cousin is very clear and easy to get behind, which is sorely lacking in many harem anime. It's one of the great positives of this show that makes it stand out in comparison to other harem anime. Many times, harem animes tend to have aimless male MCs who get strung all over the place without any real purpose. Arata has a very clear purpose and a very good reason for why he wants to take risks to achieve it. Familial bond is a simple, but extremely effective way to express motivation. Starting right out the gate with it makes Arata a very good character.

The Trinity Seven are a conglomerate of quirky magic students. Lilith is the commando tsundere. Levi is the shameless kunoichi. Yui is the childish sleeping beauty. Arin is the kuudere cultist. Akio is the confident delinquent-senpai. Mira is the crusader tsundere. Finally, Lieselotte is the seductive witch. The school is lead by a degenerate overpowered headmaster and the bulk of the show involves their interactions. Which makes sense since that's also their opportunity for fanservice.

Lilith carries that common beat the crap out of a guy for being silly that you see from characters like Tachibana Misato from Nichijou or Chidori Kaname from Full Metal Panic, the guns blazing variant. She's supposed to be a teacher, who is about the same age as Arata, but she ends up being a sexy body joke from being teased by the rest of the cast. She is one of the voices of reason in the stream of ecchi personalities clashing about. Her character ultimately amounts to being a tour guide for Arata with a splash of ecchi jokes getting forced onto her. Ends up feeling very tropey, leaning heavily on the guns blazing punishment for Arata.

Levi is a kunoichi, which you don't really see that often as a character in general unless it is an explicitly ninja focused anime. As such she makes a lot of ecchi jokes while doing ninja stuff and fighting using the ninja way. She likes to pop out of the roof to join in on conversations and is usually the kicker for Arata's degenerate honesty. While her role is quite simple, she actively dives into one of the main motivations to watch the show, which is that unabashed self-awareness of being a harem anime.

Yui is a sleeper OP character who uses dreams for magic and support. She's stuck with a childish mentality since she was secluded for a long time and only had an opportunity to wake up when Arata came along. She instantly glomped onto our male MC as soon as she woke up and is also another contributor to the ecchi talks since she has no hesitation to get down and dirty with Arata after his intervention.

Arin is a silly kuudere who tries her darn best to act on tropes, but flops due to her emotionless reactions. She instantly glomps onto Arata for a seemingly random reason of being destined to be the Demon Lord's waifu. She draws many parallels from Tobiichi Origami from Date a Live for this reason, with the exclusion of the fierce vengeance factor Origami has. Also flies into ecchi talks with Arata in the same way as Origami. At odds with her feelings with witnessing the degeneracy Arata falls into while being his self proclaimed wife.

Akio walks like a delinquent and clobbers fools like a delinquent, but doesn't have that ferociously aggressive attitude of one. Akio is rather lax and instead exudes confidence and care. Doesn't contribute much to the ecchi talks, but she doesn't really care when she gets stripped naked which adds to her confidence. Force of will is her magic and she's a devout believer in the power of friendship. Lots of good vibes all around.

Mira is the disciplinary council president kind of tsundere. For the most part, has a lot of aggression toward Arata due to his Demon Lord potential being a threat. Mira tries to be the mature stoic disciplinarian. Yet when exposed to her childlike choices from the inevitable fanservice, that side of her breaks down completely and she devolves into an embarrassed brat. She's the last one to glomp onto Arata due to her wariness of his overpowered Demon Lord magic.

Lieselotte is a sexy bad girl who is mostly debuted by her twin sister, Selina, the newspaper reporter. Being the bigger boob variant and the only character to actively try to charm enemies, she has the most dynamic fanservice and tries to be a sexy little devil to mask her abandonment insecurities. Gets intimidated very easily. Aggressively glomps on Arata for his Demon Lord power at first. Lovingly glomps on him later for his determination to save her from the dark side.

All in all, about what I expected from a harem anime. When you look at it as a harem anime, it has distinctly good story points going for it in the form of self awareness and clear motivations. Though if you look at it as a fantasy action anime, it's got a lot of problems explaining its magic system and rushing through without properly carrying forward progress for our male MCs motivations. In the fanservice department, they do a good job of showing off all the girl's figures and even the Arata's at times. Though it stops at full nudity with things like light beam censoring and small patches of clothes, it is appropriate for that harem era and shows off their curves particularly well--especially Lieselotte's scenes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 31, 2023

RazerBlade69

Not Recommended

Just as bad as a magical anime could get. Don't me wrong, i can understand where the appeal comes from but the story itself and the concept feels very blurry and not very explained. I have watched a handful amount of anime, and yet this stood out to be horribly bad. Even the the plot was to find his cousin sister, the story felt very regressive towards the plot. Even though the anime had a finishing point, it just felt bland throughout the whole series. And the concept of magic was very confusing and weird, where I still don't understand the concept of what a ... d*mn thema is. The characters are very forgettable and boring and had a very classic ecchi and harem concept like any other generic harem manhwa I've read. To me this anime was horrible and this is just my opinion.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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