Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon S2 Review — F

Naked Japanese people fight against the Spanish Armada in spaceships.

I’ll quote what I wrote about the first season:

Normally in a review I give a brief summary of the show. Here I’m not going to bother trying, because Horizon is utterly incomprehensible. Apparently the light novel series even has a thousand page prequel, which couldn’t be covered in the anime.

 

I read a lot of people saying that this means Horizon has a great setting, with a ton of detail. But they have it completely backwards. This means that Horizon has a terrible setting, that takes a thousand pages to understand! We could compare Horizon’s setting to Lord of the Rings, which Tolkien also wrote thousands of pages of background material for. The difference is that to read the Hobbit, you don’t need to be fluent in Elvish or understand Middle Earth’s cosmology. This is what Horizon seems to expect from its viewers in order for them to achieve the barest minimum of understanding.

The second season has the exact same problem.

So what else does Horizon offer, aside from too many characters and a senseless plot?

Well, we have some “comedy”. Generally this consists of people running around naked, groping breasts, and making breast jokes. We also have “fanservice” which consists of disgustingly large breasts jiggling. You’ll note that the world of Horizon has two sizes of breasts: ginormous and loli.

This was so bad I could hardly bring myself to make fun of it in our colloquium. Queen’s Blade was a meaningful, intelligent anime. This show? Not so much.

  • Storytelling – F – Awful.
  • Voice – F – Has the creativity and consistency of a ten year old writing their own fantasy epic.
  • Characters – F – Who are these people? I have no idea.
  • Attention Grab – F – Goes at a pace fast enough to kill people, but I have no idea what’s happening and don’t care.
  • Production – F – Does it matter, when everything else is so awful?
  • Overall – F

Recommendations – The Silmarillion

54 thoughts on “Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon S2 Review — F

  1. I love the world of Horizon because they blend in everything from angels, mechs, ninjas and magic users! Sure the story is garbage for the most part but the setting and characters are always fun to watch when they are fighting, but I don’t really care for any of the characters at all…

    Just like SAO, Accel World, Guilty Crown and Horizon I love the settings/ideas they just fail on story building of course my list is kind of random >.>;

    1. Yeah… I’m not a fan of the world. They blend a lot of things in, but it’s in a completely incomprehensible way. There’s no thought put into it. In Guilty Crown at least, given certain assumptions, the world itself was more or less reasonable. But in Horizon it’s ridiculous. I don’t understand a single iota of what’s going on in this world.

  2. This rating really strongly shows how most score subdivisions are near useless. Many who use things like “voice” and “production” to rate don’t know much about them, and I’d find it hard to believe anyone’s claim that they know more about visual production values than they do about good storytelling. This ends up having one or two factors – the watcher’s enjoyment and the complexity of the story, plus or minus the moral messages or questions it raises, aka its depth – dragging all the others, no matter their actual, realistic value. As with now: You may dislike Horizon, but that’s no reason to give a show with more characters than episodes an F for “characters”. Hell, in my book, having so many characters, and managing to give development to as many as Horizon did, is A at the least, maybe even S rank. Similar with other sections – F in voice means terrible audio quality, no voice acting or voice actors shared among multiple characters, etc.

    I understand you’re rating based on a hatred for the show, aka the scores aren’t actually real as far as those secondary elements are concerned. I see it all the time in more serious reviews though, and as this is the most extreme and obvious example there could be, I wanted to point it out.

    1. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know squat about visual production.

      But characters? Horizon’s characters are awful. Development? How can they have development when I can’t even distinguish them from one other? Quantity does not equal quality. Consider the main character. What has his “development” consisted of? Running around naked and groping people. To pick another random example, let’s pick the shy girl. What has she done in this show? Be shy. There’s not much else. Or maybe there was more, but I had no idea what was going on and completely forgot. The production and voice categories may not be the most accurate, but I do feel that an “F” in characters is certainly deserved.

      And my voice category actually has nothing to do with audio. It’s more does the show have a distinctive vibe or feel to it.

      1. I also rate voice (or rather would, if I knew anything about it, more than minor facts like “Kugumiya makes my ears bleed”, “Wakamoto is awesome”) based on VA performance. However, I tend to reserve the lowest scores in anything for the worst scenario I can imagine, or even better, find.There’s been exactly one show that failed at basic stuff like audio quality, mostly because it was old, but being aware of it I personally can’t give a “2” on audio to a show that doesn’t approach similar levels of fail. And I still reserve the “1” for worse cases, for example bad audio (as with 2) combined with one VA across the entire cast or no VA at all.

        As for characters, quantity does equal quality. Some development across many characters is as good or better than development focused on a small cast. Gundam, and to a lesser extent LotGH are great at this.

        1. Yeah, I include VA performance in my “production” category along with the visuals. Not that I’m really an expert on it though.

          For characters, I find that shows with a good quantity, like Simoun, Hourou Musuko, Turn A Gundam or Gigantic Formula , can have excellent characterizations. Or shows like Gundam SEED or 00 can have lots of characters that have terrible characterizations. Shows with only a few characters— Asatte no Houko and Princess Tutu come to mind— can have superb characterizations as well. I suppose when there are a lot of characters it is more impressive though.

  3. I liked the first season, but haven’t gotten around to watching season 2. But oh my god the character designs in this show are so terrible!! In particular those things attached to the female’s chest…just what are those? They can’t be tits right? Cause those are the most disgusting cowtits I’ve ever seen…Yozora from Haganai would have a field day making fun of them. Season 1 was good, albeit very fast paced, but the character designs are just abysmal and probably the main reason I’m not going to watch season 2. Call it a dumb reason, but it’s hard to focus on what’s going on when these large boulders are staring you in the face.

  4. I won’t say much except for this: Horizon (the anime and novels both) really divides opinion. Those who hate it absolutely hate it with a passion producing reviews with scores like above. On the other hand those who love it absolutely love it to death, and grow to appreciate everything about the show. Despite the best efforts of the latter to point out why they think Horizon is good, very few of the former ever understand these points and get converted to the latter camp. Hard to think of another show that show that evokes the same intensity of responses.

    1. Yeah, I will never understand how people could like this show. And I’m sure others will never understand how I could hate it so much…

  5. I hate to say I told you so! But I told you so!! Kyoukai Senjou no horizon deserves to be exterminated before its nonsense would spread like a virus. Period. End of Story.

    1. Such a succinct response to an incredibly rich and nuanced topic. One might take ten thousand words to explain their love for Horizon, and their loath for its haters, yet you have boiled yours down to two. Amazing. You are amazing. Truly an epic response befitting an epic series.

  6. My Friend Jack Slate was maybe a fanatic of this show but….i have to agree with him for some reason,when horizon is too absurdic then the real history was too boring!

      1. Oh Yeah? Now Explain Why There were some people who worship horizon and….why there always at least one student asleep at history lesson and….why your review sucks?,you only need to answer the two first question because everybody already know that you are fucked up enough to give A+ for an unfunny and boring show like Eureka Seven AO…..

        1. 1. Probably you would have a better explanation of that than me.
          2. This probably also explains why you think history is boring and partially answers question #1.

        1. Because they lack motivation and are incapable of paying attention? Which probably explains why your other comments are written in such poor English (yes, of course I realize they’re all by the same person)

    1. The story was completely incomprehensible, it gets an F. The unique voice this aniem had was shiny plastic boobs and asses, along with random crap they pulled out of thin air whenever they felt like it. Also massacring history and Shakespeare.

  7. Horizon Is Motherfuckingly Awfully Hatefully Disregardabely Inloveabely………..
    THE BEST SHOW EVER
    Problem?

    1. Problem? Not really. I don’t have a problem with other people liking Horizon. I’m not sure why you have a problem with other people disliking it.

  8. My Cranky historical teacher is a fanatic catholic and she doesn’t like catholic people be the enemy so she rate this review 10 and give horizon 0,Me? Just swap it up,horizon rocks,real history boring and sucks,problem?

  9. My Brother Bill O Doughty make me see this page,he maybe little overatted but,i do like horizon,i do slept as historical class and….YOUR REVIEW DO SUCK!

  10. Your review ironically makes me want to watch all horizon’s episode,and my conclusion were: Its not that all bad,You were overeacting!

    1. Your comments ironically makes me want to remember watching all of Horizon’s episode, and my conclusion were: it is all bad, You were overeacting! (fyi, overeacting isn’t a word)

  11. After finishing watching this sequel series of the original Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, I took a deep breath. A breath of refreshment. A breath of coolness. A breath of that feeling of “what the fuck did I just watch”. But what I got from this series is what I expected. Yes, that’s right. Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II is one of those series that I found so bad that it’s that damn good.

    Like season 1, this sequel takes place in a fantasy world, a world of politics, war, and excitement. The cast is still there with Tori who plays the usual fool. He’s the guy who is naked nearly the entire series but finds himself at ease especially with his friends and the person he cares about the most, Horizon. But let’s not forget the other characters in the series. Take for example, Tenzou Crossunite, the guy with the strange hat of a personality. Tenzou has a perverted personality but a heart of gold as he puts his life at risk for the well being of others. He gets a ton of screen time in this sequel and for a big breasted woman that he falls in love with. It’s the greatest romance story ever told. Well, that’s an exaggeration but it does have its flavors.

    At any rate, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II (also known as Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon II) is the direct sequel of the original series. If you never seen the prequel, then you might get a lot of WTF moments and I mean that literally.

    Right from the beginning, there is a battle between the main ship’s crew and a bunch of baseball player wannabees. The main cast returns to battle against many of these enemies particularly four elites who executes their powers in their own rights. Many characters participates in the thrilling action that results in a dramatic yet entertaining fight. It doesn’t really make much sense at times especially with some of the most egoistic speeches coming from some of the cast characters. Yet, I find it entertaining because Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere does what it does best: delivering entertainment.

    Despite all the humor going around (more than just Tori’s nakedness), there is some emotions as well. Tenzou struggles throughout the latter half of the series not only physically but mentally as he attempts to save a woman that he loves. The romance is very peculiar as it’s not the usual shoujo type or the “love at first sight” but rather based on mutual respect, affection, and a sprout that bloomed into love.

    The other characters that are part of the cast seems to be everywhere. Some of them doing the battles, others finding time to regroup, while a certain individual questions about the meaning of “sex”. Speaking of which, the female characters retain their appealing designs with those melon-sized boobs and mechanical structures. The unusual designs of the maid costumes, military uniforms, and some of the nakedness are presented throughout the series. In fact, Tori is naked nearly every episode except some final moments when he realizes that the show is about to end.

    The artwork of the series still retains its generic design. It looks like more of the modern computer generated graphics than hand drawn but otherwise looks just so-so. There isn’t much to say on the art itself since everything remains the same from the prequel. The science fiction aura that it gives off is there with its architectures, space vehicles, and mecha warfare. The backgrounds still has its natural feeling of the futuristic style courtesy of Horizon.

    On the other hand, music is what made this series epic. By epic, I mean it’s like sound vibrations having sex with your ears. Well, that’s a bit exaggerating but it gets the point through. The soundtrack of the prequel and this sequel, Horizon II, presents a catchy score that mixes in techno, emotional, and those action ost you can only listen to in this series. The OP song, “ZONE//ALONE” is executed well that shows many of the montages of the cast of characters and their excitement of lusting for battles. Minori Chihara (Horizon of the Middle of Nowhere I, Busou Shinki, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu) performs the opening song once again that presents some thrilling sound vibes.

    All in all, Horizon II is one of the strangest series I’ve ever seen such like the original. It gave me more of those “wtf” moments than nearly every show that I’ve watched so far this year. And by “what the fuck”, there is no question mark to it because the reaction is exciting. The flaw I do see in Horizon and this sequel is that perhaps the story is a bit too blend, nonexistent, and just thrown into pieces scattered across…everywhere. The story is naked (blend) like Tori and still “in the middle of nowhere” that has a weak exposition. If you can ignore that part though, this sequel is an exciting watch especially those looking for an action packed adventure.

    1. At least you finally admit it’s bad.

      He gets a ton of screen time in this sequel and for a big breasted woman that he falls in love with. It’s the greatest romance story ever told.

      Exactly, this is why I hate Horizon. There is absolutely nothing to this women except big breasts. And yes, this “romance” was the best part of the show.

      I saw the original series, and I still had a lot of WTF moments. In both seasons.

      It doesn’t really make much sense at times

      Yes. I don’t really find random stuff like this entertaining though. If you want something random and entertaining, why not watch Milky Holmes, which is funny?

      Humor? Emotions? Hahahaha.

      The cast is definitely everywhere. But they’re shells. I don’t care about any of these characters. They’re nothing more than the uniforms (or lack of uniforms) that they wear.

      The music was decent.

      You know, after reading your explanation, I don’t think we actually disagree much after all. The flaw you mention in your last paragraph is my biggest complaint, and I was unable to ignore that like you were.

  12. Your review makes me dont want to watch horizon,but then i watched it,and i regreted it,nah,just kidding,I LIKE IT SO MUCH!,problem?

  13. I never like Horizon…
    I thought because it looks like harem, but then the show proof itself isn’t a harem (not focus at harem at least), so no…
    Maybe a lot of genre? Certainly not, in fact if a lot of genre is sole point in review, Horizon will get S for me…

    But then I realize, it because Horizon is TOO BIG for a 12 EPISODES series…
    Who the hell have the idea of putting a series that comparable to LOTR and put it in 12 EPISODES !!?

    I mean, I try to like it (it has a lot of genre, action, and YURI 😀 ) but I can’t…
    It is rushed, a lot of detail that blur in to background which most of the time require you to learn history and after you learn many of them comes out to be useless, SO WHAT THE POINT!!?

    Not counting that these ‘details’ are being hailed by fans as the strong point of otherwise ‘Explosive-RuleofCool-Nonsense’ series…
    It is GAR and for that alone it is liked by it’s fan…

    I mean, say this is a good series is acceptable (as I turn off much of my brain), but to say this is materpiece is a LIE or at least EXAGERATION, a HUGE one at that…

    Though probably, the fans like it because ‘Yay! My favorite book is now a moving object!’…
    I mean, I never read the LN to know how ‘good’ it is…

    1. Horizon’s definitely too small for 12 episodes, even with more episodes I expect it would have the same problems. There’s just too much going on, it has too little coherence, and the characters are pretty poor.

      Horizon fandom is one thing I can’t understand either.

  14. Oh my, you can’t even give an “E” for effort. I do agree that the anime gives you an impression that you have to think about regarding its story (which I like) but it is NOT incomprehensible. You probably don’t have a brain or you do have one but doesn’t use it. I admire how diverse the characters are and the setting is amazing (somewhat parallel world like Celestia and Inferia in the game Tales of Eternia). The voice acting is good and not as plain and boring like some anime are.

    And those things on their chests? Geez you haven’t seen worse.
    I say this review is F for fcked up review.

    The number of people who actually liked the anime proves your points otherwise.

    1. That people liked this anime proves absolutely nothing. Things people have liked include: 50 Shades of Grey, Sara Palin, Hitler, and buying jeans with pre-ripped holes in them.

      An impression that you have to think about the story? No, you have to suppress your brain from thinking about the story or else it makes no bloody sense. It’s a diverse setting, but diverse in the sense that the creators continually pull the most random crap they can find out of their asses. There’s nothing to tie things together.

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