Date A Live

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Des alternatives: Japanese: デート・ア・ライブ
Auteur: Tachibana, Koushi
Taper: Manga
Volumes: 22
Chapitres: 146
Statut: Finished
Publier: 2011-03-19 to 2020-03-19

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4.2
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Des alternatives: Japanese: デート・ア・ライブ
Auteur: Tachibana, Koushi
Taper: Manga
Volumes: 22
Chapitres: 146
Statut: Finished
Publier: 2011-03-19 to 2020-03-19
But
4.2
5 Votes
60.00%
20.00%
0.00%
20.00%
0.00%
0 En train de lire
0 Veux lire
0 Lis
Sommaire
Three decades ago, more than a hundred million people fell victim to an unprecedented disaster that came to be known as a "spatial quake." Ever since then, humanity has built countermeasures to mitigate the damage from future catastrophes such as instantaneous evacuation methods and immediate rebuilding of any architectural damage.

At present, 16-year-old Shidou Itsuka lives alone with his sister, Kotori. One day, he gets caught in a spatial quake despite preemptive warnings. Miraculously surviving the blast, he meets a mysterious girl in its wake, who he soon comes to know as a "Spirit"—supernatural beings who are the cause behind these spatial quakes. Coincidentally, he learns of the "Anti-Spirit Team," a specialized military unit tasked with destroying these Spirits with brute force.

As if these revelations weren't shocking enough, Shidou finds himself recruited into working for Ratatoskr, an organization dedicated to peacefully reducing the threat brought by Spirits—with his sister as its commander! As the new weapon of Ratatoskr, Shidou must nullify the Spirits' powers to prevent them from causing more havoc. His line of attack: go on dates with them, sealing the deal with a passionate kiss.

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Date A Live review
par
coop5212
Apr 02, 2021
Tsunako is a pretty good character designer.
Tachibana is a pretty awful writer.

I wonder what the hook was. Every passing volume, I wonder what this series could've been if it was written by someone competent, with the same premise and all. That's a pleasant thought.

After deciding to catch up to the most recent volume, I can pretty much guarantee that the series isn't going to get better. This is a pretty odd series in that it presents itself as a parody of a typical harem genre formula, yet it strives to be one at the same time. At first this seemed like a very subtle form of self parody, but no- It's literally just a generic harem. It had the potential to be not one, but that has been thrown out of the window a while ago.

The first thing to discuss is art- Possibly the only positive trait in the entire series and the only reason people were compelled to read this series. Tsunako is a pretty good character designer (outside of her tendency to draw incredibly similar faces), so the character designs in this series definitely stand out compared to the others in the market. In fact, Tsunako is probably one of the biggest reasons why this series even got popular in the first place after Neptunia's relative success in the niche market. Unfortunately, her art isn't complemented very well because Tachibana can't write.

The premise is as silly as the title- Shidou, the MC, must date Spirits (basically aliens from another dimension with mostly uncontrollable supernatural powers) to prevent them from killing a bunch of people. I had difficulty taking this premise seriously because the latter sounds awfully grim while the former sounds incredibly silly. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) I'm not the only one who's confused by this weird premise because the author is clearly just as confused.

See, Tachibana is pretty good at setting things up- This includes things like making the premise, introducing the characters, introducing a plot arc, but then he always somehow manages to fuck things up, and completely shits on what could've been above standard. This is incredibly annoying because this series does have a potential to be pretty decent, but it's in the hands of a writer who just doesn't know what he's doing.

To get into more detail, let's discuss about the major characters in this series. There will be some minor spoilers, so proceed with some caution.

Shidou, the main protagonist, is just a very, very average protagonist. He's that boring, nice guy who almost always does the right thing. While he is clearly inferior to a protagonist like Keima in terms of having a personality, he isn't actively an annoying excuse of a comic relief like Issei from DxD. It'd be great if he got any actual character development, but 11 volumes into the series, and Shidou still manages to be incredibly boring- His personality never changes, so he stays a static character for all 11 volumes. What a great guy. But you see, there's a reason for that, but more on that later.

Tohka is one of the worst things in this series- Her introduction was pretty decent, though. She's initially very distrusting of everyone, but then in a span of a single chapter, she degenerates into a stupid moeblob who becomes incredibly clingy and manages to be annoying in every scene she's in. There's no character development here- All she needed was a little talk with Shidou and she's suddenly a completely different character. The only real development she goes through the entirety of 7 volumes is her being slightly less clingy so that Shidou can actually progress the plot without her being a complete nuisance, but really- It's a terrible idea to have the main heroine be a complete imbecile. One could also argue that Tohka isn't stupid, but just naive- However, she never actually learns anything and stays stupid, making her mostly a comic relief until she's relevant again so she can help Shidou pull off something he normally can't. Terrible execution of a potentially decent character.

Origami is a prime example of author not knowing what he wants to do with his characters: She's a good comic relief character, and is presented as a character who is supposed to do both comedy and drama. She can't do the latter because she's hilariously incompetent like the rest of her AST (Anti-Spirit Team) squad, despite supposedly being one of the best in her group. She keeps getting involved in multiple plot points, but she herself never manages to actually be a relevant character for the majority of them. Her motivation is also an antithesis to Shidou's in that she constantly goes after Spirits to kill them as opposed to Shidou's peaceful method, but due to her incompetence, this becomes irrelevant like the rest of her character. Another terrible execution. Furthermore, there is a very obvious, sad excuse of a plot twist later in the series that was seen from miles away who bothered to check the characters' names. Not only is the plot twist completely unsuccessful in making her a better written character, but it also manages to take away what relevant trait she had as a character- Meaning, she's completely empty as a character now. Must be a mandatory thing for harem.

Kurumi is one unique character that had the potential to be good. Unfortunately that did not work out very well because the author couldn't decide whether to use this character for pandering or to use her in the original intended purpose. He decided to do both and added another contrived thing in the mix by making her a deus ex machina to resolve yet another contrived plot element later in the series. Despite her overwhelming popularity, no one actually likes this character aside from very shallow reasons like her gothic lolita design and the personality trait she's constantly attributed with (ie yandere) although she's really not one. Apparently fans' interpretation of an insane character who wants to cannibalize a character means they are crazily in love or something. I don't think that's how love works. But I guess those self-insert fans needed something to justify liking this character aside from her character design.

Here's the thing about this particular character: She gets built up as this legitimately creepy character who kills people for a hobby, but the worst she does is killing a bunch of fodders. And they're not even regular fodders- They're unlikeable fodders so people can justify that her actions are totally good when they're not based on her profile. If you're trying to make the character seem dangerous, at least make them actively do something actually evil for a change. The dangerous nature behind her character is only in the profile, not her actions- Yes, she actually even attempted to do something legitimately threatening, but it was just immediately stopped. Can't cross that line, oh no! That would be too spooky! At her introduction, she was the only legitimate malevolent spirit, which could've been a cool way to tell a story by having a spirit that's not "misunderstood" for once. But now due to fan popularity, she seems to be heading towards the whole "totally good guy all along with extreme motives" which is just setting flags for her to be yet another empty harem fodder because there clearly needed more. It also eliminates any and all possibility of a spirit possibly being actually genuinenly evil for once and making all possible future spirits and their characterizations to be incredibly predictable. Honestly, despite the direction this is going, Kurumi is really the only decent character trapped in this shitty series. Send help before it's too late. Someone.

As for the rest of the Spirits I haven't mentioned yet- If the above was any indication, the same applies to the rest. Decent introduction, awful execution. Yoshino's a fragile girl who's emotionally damaged from being hunted down- Understandable premise behind the character. After her arc, her presence completely disappears and any further character interaction between her and Shidou is nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, her character arc is incredibly short and she isn't given much time to interact or develop with Shidou outside of more talking. All I got to know about this character from the entire arc was that she's a frail girl who gets scared a lot, which I already got from her character design. And there's no more to it. If your writing says less than a character design, then you have a problem with your characterizations.

Miku is surprisingly a pretty well-written character with fairly descriptive past that explains her trauma and her current personality, and she stays pretty consistent with her profile. She actually feels like a legitimate threat compared to the rest, where everything is resolved by people evacuating and Shidou talking to the spirit until they feel bored enough to let him kiss them to resolve the arc. But then she fawns over the MC after her arc and she stays that way. Her past trauma is never really brought up again, and Shidou is all she needs. The problem doesn't even seem legitimately solved- The idea behind the arc and the character was good, but why the half-assed conclusion? What's with the pacing?

And more importantly, why keep these characters around when they might as well not exist after their respective arcs? I get it from the pandering standpoint just to maintain the harem quota, but it really doesn't make sense to me from the writing standpoint. Wouldn't it be better to just have the MC fail at times so that the audience can't predict what will happen to the Spirits at the end of their arcs? The author just shows that he can't do actual drama, and always has to write an ending where everyone just lives happily ever after. I completely understand that this is half-comedy, but if you're trying to include drama in there, at least stick with it until the end. I'm not arguing that a character must die/disappear to make a drama good, but there is not even a single form of consequence/risk present here. Even in the 7th volume, when all seems completely hopeless, everything just sort of works out and everyone pretends as if nothing happened. No lasting impact whatsoever. 10th/11st volume, deus ex machina comes to save the day. Sure, the method had presented itself in previous volumes, but the character capable of using the said method never showed the intent (or even hinted at it) of using that particular method in that particular manner, especially considering the resources it takes for that character to make it happen in the first place.

Without any failures on MC's part (excluding Kurumi), there is completely no sense of accomplishment from Shidou succeeding his "missions" either. That being said, since Shidou always manages to succeed, he never really develops as a character- He remains the character he was in the first volume, and he will constantly repeat what he always did. In fact, there is not a single significant character development for Shidou eleven volumes in. This poor writing can all be attributed to the awful fanbase the author constantly tries to please via pandering. Right now, the only thing these supposed fans are looking forward to are "oh when will this new girl join the harem omg she's so qt i cant wait to self-insert! why isnt kurumi saved yet???" instead of actively wondering whether Shidou will succeed or not. Of course they wouldn't. He always succeeds. Good writing? What's that?

Overall, this series is a huge disappointment from start to end. The comedy is pretty decent, but it sometimes feels very inappropriate and out-of-place when some half-assed drama gets thrown in the mix. And the drama can't really be good either since Tachibana just can't write anything but a typical happy ending, so there's no anticipation. The author is trying to do both, yet fails to do both. Even the whole "choose your action/say something" comedy gimmick got old 3 volumes in, so that's yet another example for highly formulaic everything this series offers. While pandering doesn't bother me that much, when those get in the way of potentially decent plot and consistent character development, then it's actively annoying. It's like writing a fanfiction of a series (since the author is pandering to popularity based polls by fans), except that you have the authority to make it canon because it's your own. The proper way to handle it would be to just settle it with side stor- Oh, the author already does that but apparently it's not enough, so it gets shoved into the main plot anyways.

I had my doubts for this series- In fact, I thought that maybe this was all just a clever parody deep down, but then I realized that was giving this series way too much credit. The most disappointing thing, surely, is that it had the potential to be a clever parody- But then it fell on itself and became the exact thing it was supposed to be parodying, and in the most generic way possible. Furthermore, even if it's generic- It could've been good with some creative writing, but even that wasn't the case here.

A lot of people defend this series with some hilarious claims like "You're taking this way too seriously/You have really high expectations." But here's the thing: If a series presents a drama, how am I supposed to take it? Not seriously? Half-seriously? If I have to selectively ignore a series' shortcomings until I can get rid of all the flaws to finally conclude that a series is "good," then the series as a whole isn't good. This is no different. You can't cherry-pick only what you like and artificially lower your standards to come to an incomplete conclusion to justify a series. You're not defending it- You're just ignoring its flaws. It's not an argument, it's an excuse. The only time when that excuse would be viable is involving a series targeted for children, and this isn't one. Some people claim that you'd need to "turn off your brain" to enjoy a series, but would you really be considered enjoying it if you actually have to do that? Or is that considered just being willfully ignorant?

That being said, this series held a lot of promises- But that is no longer the case. The series devolved into what is possibly one of the most generic harem series I've ever read, and I can't really see it coming back from it. If you want a quality writing and/or actual comedy that doesn't rely on boring gags involving women's tit sizes and asses, look somewhere else and stay far, far away from this.
Date A Live review
par
Aschleeep3
Apr 02, 2021
DAL (Date a Live) has a very silly premise, we all have to agree that the concept is fairly unrealistic and dumb if you force yourself to compare it to reality, BUT I m expecting that anyone already knowledgeable of the harem genre can bypass such trivial matters.
I have read my fair share of harem light novels, what I expect the most out of them is pure enjoyment, silly comedy and the wish fulfillement from being surround by so many cuties!
If one wants to write a sucessfull harem series, the criteria above has to be meet, the plot can suffer a bit here and there, but as long you have a interesting cast of girls (aka harem) and alot scenes that just put a smile on your face, helping you forget that rough day we all have from time to time, checkmate, you have a good harem and you are set for some fun.

I dont reccomend reading harems or seeing harem series, to anyone looking for something serious, it is common sense, you need to turn of your brain while enjoying harem, otherwise you may end criticizing alot of the weird situations the creators came with.

DAL is the definition of a great harem! Now I will go over and explain why such praise in a minute, but first I want so shed some context.
I have seen both seasons in 2014 and at the time I deeply enjoyed them but never regarded the series as anything more than great art design and some really cute moments (Tohka <3), I had almost no hype coming towards the series and my only hyped was based on some spoilers I had for volumes 10-11 & 16-18, season 2 ended at volume 7 btw.
And before I forget, this has to be the LN with some of the best designs for each character, it fits right in terms of charm, cuteness, moe but also really cool/sexy designs like D. Tokha and Nia. Art and illustrations are to be praised on DAL, seeing the newer covers and illustrations as you progress is absolute eye candy.

Currently there are 18 volumes out, 17 (fan) translated in english, with vol18 only having some short summary on facebook.
The basis of which I m writting this review is having read all the 17 volumes and spoiling myself with the summary of volume 18.

I only came to the series expecting to have some fun time, I expected to have also to go through some more tedious moments, and while they exist, as the plot further progressed, the harem got bigger, I would find myself having more and more fun reading it! The cast was only enjoyable at first, but soon enough, it started to grown on me, I found myself surprised with how good the harem cast came to be and this carried me over for the most part, it made me care for each Spirit enough, and it made me want to keep reading more, discovering new spirits, and finding the source of everything... I can now surely confide that the plot on DAL is far from what I expected, what begins in a "generic range" later on growns to scales you couldnt previously foresee, some hints where there from the beginning (mainly Kurumi's goals), the plot gets very tense later on. The creator done his work, from the beggining he had this idea, the more you read the more you catch up to what is really going on, yet anyone going onto this series with mindset of reading some fun harem will get shocked by later developments!
This is a clear example of a writter that evolves with his writting and while still in the range of what is an harem, manages improve the story overtime.

Many of the volumes end in cliffhangers that make you excited to pick the next volume and start reading, across all the LNs I have read I think it is safe to assume DAL is the one with the most cliffhangers, and they are used rather alot.
You heard it, DAL is a great harem, but it also has a great plot if you stick with it long enough! (there is even time travel arcs done right)
Be prepared for some really genuine moving moments, a good number of plot-twists and a bunch of mindfucks that will leave you nuts, not believing the plot got that good... it gets rather dark way more than you would at first believe, and this last vol18 out, only fuels the despair further. O.O


Reading Vol 1 was alot of fun, it is the first volume so are in way experiencing it for the first time, at this point I wanted to read the LN as fast as possible so I could get over to vol7 and beyond (enjoyed that arc alot in S2), what I considered the "juicy" stuff, the new content yet to adapt!
While reading this series is far from boring, it has to be said that it starts slowly, as most plots, in the beggining since the harem isnt that big yet and the plot has yet to shed its true colors, you wont see the synergy between all the girls until later on.
I myself started to really enjoy DAL alot with vol.6, vol.3 was a nice tease though, but if I have to pick favorites, definitly vol.7, 11, 15 & 16-17 are my choices.
Wont go further on each of those in the review, that would be spoilers and I actually given alot of my toughts for each of them on the forums.

For this last segment I m going to focus on the cast, mainly the harem.
First the bad, the protagonist is easily average at best and while you can at many points be in sync with him, by how good this harem gets in time, my only complain for characters would be that Shidou did deserved to be a bit more likeable. He does grow a bit in development, and there are more than enough secrets to be unveiled about him, but and being honest and subjective here, I will have to compare across the medium and in other mediums, Issei from DxD and Arata from Trinity Seven are harem MCs that broke the mold and at many times you can just enjoy these series alot already solely from the enjoyment from seeing both of these dudes going in their pervert ways.

I m not giving Shidou the shits, he has alot of cool moments, but he isnt far from the most generic harem MCs.
What makes this series so great (aside the surprising plotline first ocurring on the backstage) is the harem cast itself, mostly composed of Spirits.
Suffice to say a good harem has something to suit all kinds of tastes, and DAL delivers over and over again.
My favorites (no order) are, Tohka, Origami, Miku, Natsumi and Kurumi.

I adore Tokha's innocent side, she is a big eater, far aware of her own charms, which leads to some very cute moments, and some very Tohka's like moments too. (I wouldnt mind being stepped over by Dark Tohka!)
Yoshino she that cute shy little girl that wants to try her best an be happy everyone (probably my less favorable but still held in high regards).

Kotori the main tsundere imouto delivers some rather high quality moments here and there (always got some good laughs whenever she has to somehow punish Kannazuki, which is by no means a solution since he is major masochist and could stand all day long being Kotori's living chair, basked only in the purest of the pleasures, in short he is the biggest pervert on the series).
Mana is the other imouto, avoiding spoilers, while not exactly in the harem herself she was at the time a great addiction to the cast and seeing her, Kotori and Shidou bickering about makes for some of the most tender family moments by far!
I just wish she stopped decapitating best girl, worst spirit ojou-sama everytime they both meet eachother..

Kurumi... she was always that character that marked for being different vs the others, but I never fancied her as much as alot of the fanbase seems to do. Reading the LN (and specially later volumes) reveals alot of stuff about her that easily make her the most complex character in the series, disguised as a cold murder/avenger that also likes to tease alot, the truth is that this actually refined ojou-sama has a alot of cute points about her, being the worst spirit, and still surprisingly, the most gente one... her goals are at the core of the series plot.
According to the writter, the first character he envisioned for the series was Kurumi, and it makes sense.
If you can read volume 16 and not truly fall in love for such best girl material, then you are being heartless.

Miku is the realization of some really pervy yet pure desires of mine, I love yuri... this girl goes straight for Shidou without reserve and in the process tries to lewd out the whole female cast!! (also she is a Diva, and Shidou is her "Darling")
While tsun-tsun Miku was my favorite part, she still doesnt disappoint (found her more honest and eager/childish side also very adorable), if I was Shidou, I would tremble (but in joy) by the ultimate triple tag team that is Miku/Origami/Nia ready to hatch some plot to get Shidou's chastity for good! A much in each harem, but a female MC going for both sides?! Shameless and very enjoyable, does it exist a more powerfull team combo?! These girls will strip you of your panties in a heartbeat, much to the dismay of the rest of the harem,

Natsumi, I disliked her a bit at first, but she does grown on you (ALOT), I personally think she and Yoshino have a great vibe together. She has quite some inferioty complex, and a really vivid imagination, when she goes full negative, it is fun to read and you just want to hug her! I can understand Miku's favorite aside Darling being Natsumi, sadly for Natsumi, Miku batteries needs lots of recharging~~
Kaguya and Yuzuru at first seemed those 2 characters that I would end up liking the less out of the harem, but they do complement eachother rather very very well, their shenanigans never get old, I love their way of talking and their fierce nature.
Complement. You couldn't ask for better twins in an harem setting (also one of the most arousing scenes involves both licking an ice cream together >//<).

Origami was the dull character for me at first, that I hated at parts (in particular volume 4) but that totally "inversed" itself for me, talking about her in detail would be full spoilers, you just need to know she is the protagonist of one of the better arcs (10-11).
Her past will come clear for you, she undergoes ALOT of plot development and I just ended up cheering for her alot later on, always a leecher, she is very smart but also holder of some rather dubious skills, you will she her coming, same face expression, like a doll, and in a heartbeat she will push you down and be ready for baby making!
Disgard all kind of common sense and you will come to accept her quite well, the most divine and devilish girl, and when drunk her cuteness growns to really really dangerous levels. Thread carefull with this girl on the block, you are food, the prey, the stalking predator will soon come, kiss your innocent goodbye~~

Mukuro is Mukuro, at the point she is introduced you cant just have that much feedback about her versus others, but she didnt fail at making me care for her, "Mukuro Family" so sweet, if there are times DAL can give you some rather pure and fuzzy feels... I also came to like alot her rather oldish way of speaking, even if it made it harder to understand, she has alot of charms, like all. Having her proclaim she wanted to enter into a flesh slave covenant with Nushi-sama, was the point I dropped my guard (LMAOed lots) and fully accepted Muku's papers to officially enrol into the harem!

Last but also rather unique is Nia, she dresses like a Sister in her Astral Dress form, yet this beautifull onee-sama (despite being washboard like) behaves mostly like an old man would, and so the boy suffers quite alot at the end to this (in)mature lady. Her arc had also one of the most shocking bone-shattering torture descriptions...

I think I covered everyone I should, I didnt the main villain, I leave that yourself to find out, let me just tell, everything is solely a game, when he gets serious, say goodbye to those peaceful times, you either go to war or you die, over and over again. You will never be able to understand the villain, he exists outside common sense and that just makes him more unpreditable.
(sometimes I genuinly enjoy Ellen, others I just want her to go burn in hell, also this is me trying to avoid extreme language on the review)

That should speak volumes for the quality and diversity of the main cast here.
If you want to chill out, have some good time, watch a series grown on you, surprise you over and over, with some rather drastic tone shifts that leave you speechless, Date a Live is more than recomended, it was a surprise for me but I can easily call it one of all time's best harem series. (I read all 17 volumes in 42 days)
Just hope the anime adapts enough for people to see more of its rather epic scope.
While I gave 9 in enjoyment, at times it can be considered a 10, same for plot and cast. Only way art could be 11 was if this LN packed 5x more pics, but it is the standard flair in LNs, with the added quality in drawing you rarely see.

Warning for all Kurumi lovers, if you are an anime watcher, you havent seen the full charms on display, real Kurumi later on, is best girl material.
Unlike the anime versions so far, the number of girls I could call best girls is far too high, and for me, on an harem that is a major plus, and signals that you are indeed in the presence of a great harem (currently at the climax also, will be missed).

9.2/10 = 9
Date A Live review
par
anime_manga4life15
Apr 02, 2021
This is my first review, so I hope it you can take it as an idea of how this novel ranks!

Originally I got into the Date A Live series starting with the Dubbed Anime release in 2013 when Funimation released the DVD set. Since then because of curiously I wanted to keep up with the story from reading the Novel.

It should be noted that there are 11 Volumes in this series with more coming in the future, however if you wish to watch the anime, know that...

Volumes 1-4 Cover the first season
Volumes 5-7 Cover the second season
Volumes 8-9 and 10-11 cover unique arcs, however the novel is still on-going and is not yet complete with a volume 12 announced at the end of Volume 11.

The main summary of the plot involves a boy named Shido Itsuka, a 16 year old high schooler living in a city named Tenguu in Japan. There are "natural" disasters called spacial quakes that have destroyed certain parts of the world. These are caused by creatures known as Spirits, beings that do not belong to the human world.

It is later found out that Shido will meet a Spirit which he names, Tokha Yatogami. Through his interactions with this girl, he learns from his adoptive sister that works for a private company that helps to save the world from spirits that Shido can seal their powers by making them fall in love with him.

Before you ask, yes, I was skeptical at first, but this is where Date A Live shows it's uniqueness when it comes to other novels or mangas in its genre.

First of all the writing is decent for an English translation, only Volumes 1-4 have been localised. There will be some grammar issues if you choose to use a third party.

The story is what one of the two reasons that makes Date A Live enjoyable for me and potentially for other readers. The story starts off as a borderline harem, with a lot of adult themes. Shido will get himself into situations not deemed normal by modern standards, however it is incredibly enjoyable at the same time. Later volumes after 4 began to become more serious adding themes like gore and blood into the mix. The result is a story that tries to fit in a lot different themes and at the end it succeeds in adding them making the reader curious about what is to happen in the next page of the next volume.

The characters are the second reason why Date A Live is enjoyable for me as well. Before I get into this, I have an idea of how these characters look because of the anime, the novels do not showcase much art since it is not a manga, however the art shown looks stunning and only gets better in quality as the series progresses. The Astral Dresses, spirit armours, look incredible and only serves for more beautiful imagery.

Shido Itsuka as the main character starts off a defence-less child as he is only human against trying to help the spirits, and relies on Tohka for help. Later volumes only improve this as the sealed powers of the spirits allow for light access to his powers, for example he can wield a sword like Tokha, or heal gouges and wounds thanks to other spirit powers he has sealed. Further volumes show his courage that he is one that will always protect his friends and people he cares about while wishing that spirits and humans can live peacefully.

Tohka Yatogami is the main female character, she is the first spirit shown in the novel and is known for wielding a sword, she can easily be referenced as Saber from the Fate series. She adores Shido to point of where she'll sacrifice her life to save his, since he gave her a change to live in the human world with him. Aside from being a spirit, as a human, she enjoys food a lot and has a more jealous personality to anyone who tries to hit on Shido. Overall as a female protagonist she fits her role very well.

Kurumi Tokisaki is the unique character of the Date a Live series and is to me one of the best characters of all time. She is considered to be the worst of the spirits known to have killed over 10,000 people. She is both a gun wielder and can manipulate time to heal herself and revive clones of herself from her past. She is unique because of her dual personality, she first appears to be a girl with long black hair and is known for wearing a black dress that shows her innocent looks, however deep down she is a cold-blooded killer. Similar to Light Yamato from Death Note, her power to absorb the life energy (time) from humans allowed her to play the role of a justice bringer as she has killed criminals, animal abusers and rapists. However she became an evil spirit with the lack of positive response. It cannot be confirmed whether she is a protagonist or antagonist. However during the events with Shido protecting her from death, she is obliged like Tokha to protect Shido. She will constantly tease him when she is around him and at one point she wanted to marry him. Kurumi is one of my favourite characters of all time and given the events at the end of volume 11 I can only hope for the best for her.

There are other spirits that Shido encounters but that is where reading the novel helps.

Overall, this was a series I was unsure I was going to enjoy, I felt is would be a typical harem, however this novel has shown me that first impressions may not be the most reliable aspect. It is an excellent read provided you purchase the localisations, read a third party translation (like I have) or can understand Japanese text. Out of all the light novels and mangas, this ranks in my top 10. If you want a series that covers a wide range of genres but does so successfully I recommend this!
Date A Live review
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myabandonedacc1
Apr 02, 2021
This is the series that hooked me into light novel, literally both the adaptions and the original works. I used to be dazed and amazed of it, and hell yeah that I have had overcome that period, because I can now write a review of its true self.

First, the story. I could say that the author had done well. He set the chain of events in the most precise order, and the explosive moments in each volume were so enjoyable to me. Maybe that was why I had been really hyped for it.

However, like every other novel complicated in its contents, his characters met the same fate. School, Slice of Life, Mecha, Action, Harem, Romance, Supernatural, Comedy, Sci-Fi. Those maybe not all of the concept, but still fugazy/confusing (The Wolf of Wall Street) enough, you know. And among the swamp the author created, each character had their own stage. I can say that their debuts were marvelous, because like I said, Koushi Tachibana knew the right time to throw a rock in the puddle. But like a natural complexity of every Harem, they couldn't be developed tenderly and purposedly enough, because there were so many of them. In addition, the characters wouldn't change themselves much until the author had to put an end to his series with something dramatic. That's why, when I overcame that session, I was like, 'Wow, people did say something right about a series.' Shidou Itsuka didn't fall far from his tree, neither did the girls, except Kurumi Tokisaki and Reine Murasame/Mio. Tokisaki is an impactful character, but I still couldn't endure her personality. Still said I, that the storytelling was well prepared enough to cover for it to a certain extend. Nevertheless, Tachibana has wasted such potential of them.

I only like some fragments of the end, like those of Yoshino and Natsumi. And the closing ceremony is what I hate, because it was too forceful. Well, I can't get the interests of Japaneses, anyway.

This is a really 'easy' one to read in the sea of written works. If the thrilling action part is what you are searching for, then this way of storytelling'll be the thing suitable for it. Still this series is just one honoured mention of me.
Date A Live review
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Melike5
Apr 02, 2021
Well first lets say this, This light novel should only be read if you at least enjoyed some of Date A Live the anime. If you didn’t enjoy the anime it will be hard to read something based off of something you didn’t enjoy. Of course this review is assuming that you are a viewer of the anime and you want to see how the light novel is compared to the anime. If you are a light novel only type of guy, be sure to read this, otherwise you will be missing out.

Date A Live seems to have a silly idea in the beginning, a premise where you would have to shut down your brain to enjoy BUT there is a whole ton more to this series than first meets the eye. The author, in an interview stated that he had the main plot, antagonists and climax planned out from the beginning. Now, you may be wondering why the fuck that matters but it really does. This series has an immense quantity of foreshadowing and world building. Though the main character doesn’t develop much through out the series (one problem of the series you will have to accept), the other characters and world building are great. The world building is great because all of it was planned from the beginning and it shows. The series is a basic have fun harem UNTIL volume 10. Volume 10 shows for the first time what the series is capable of, it is capable of making things come full circle, making events from the beginning of the series make sense and contain plot twists that will blow your mind. Volumes 10-12 are extraordinary, then volumes 13-15 returns to the normal Date A Live formula where it’s “Date the Girls to save the girls”. However, Volume 15 is the last time Date A Live is about just dating a new spirit.


Now comes there part where we talk about volumes 16-22. These volumes completely break off from the Date A Live formula and are completely unique. The series takes a darker turn of seriousness, and it explains the origins of the main character and has more plot twists than it did earlier. We can say that everything before volume 16 was just build up for the next few volumes. Volumes 16-22 have a mix of tragedy, depression, and intense plot twists that were clearly planned from the beginning of the series. I know i’ve mentioned “plot twists” a lot but these really are plot twists that you wouldn’t see coming at all. Honestly, YOU should just read it. Many people will negatively critique this series before reaching the intense parts, which is understandable because a series should not take this long to actually go from mediocre to great. However, I still believe if someone wants to judge a series they should read the entire work first and this is one that fits the situation perfectly. This series is amazing, give it a read.

Btw.. Tohka best girl.