Imagine a world full of death; full of destruction and full of despair. Imagine a world where war is destroying cities one by one, until it consumes entire countries. Imagine a world where you could see your best friend one day, and the next, they could be dead. This is reality for the characters in Saikano, one of the most emotionally gripping anime series I’ve ever seen.

As Saikano begins, we meet Chise and Shuji, who have just started dating. Chise had confessed her feelings to Shuji a few days before, and Shuji accepted. Chise is extremely shy and can’t seem to convey things very well to Shuji, so her best friend tells her to start writing in a diary that she can exchange back and forth with Shuji, making it easier to express herself. Shuji declines at first, but sees how much Chise wants to do it, so he accepts. The diary plays an extremely important role throughout the series, as we get to learn a lot about the 2 characters through it.

Unfortunately, not everything going on in the small town Chise and Shuji live in is exactly as cheery as new love. Some sort of war is brewing, and no one exactly knows how serious things are. Fighter jets fly above the city now and again, but no one really seems to worry about it, thinking that the war would never get bad enough to affect them. But it does affect them, on a day Shuji and some of his friends are out and about in the shopping district. As Shuji looks for something to buy his new girlfriend, fighter jets dart across the sky, dropping bombs down onto the city. Shuji and his friends split up looking for cover, but as quickly as the destruction began, it’s over, as a strange aircraft, making an odd noise, destroys the enemy jets within seconds. Shuji reconvenes with his friends, but on is missing. They find him crushed to death under debris. As all of friends begin to freak, Shuji sees a strange light behind a wall of debris. He goes to investigate, and finds Chise, with large robotic wings coming out of her back, and her arm transformed into a cannon. All she can do is cry and tell Shuji, “I’m sorry…My body is like this now”. Chise is the ultimate weapon, built by the government to determine the outcome of the war.

Saikano honestly had an impact on me, and it’s a series that I believe will impact anyone that watches it. The beauty of Saikano is it never does anything extra-ordinary. What I’m getting at is that it doesn’t pull out some miracle to make everything better. It doesn’t leave things unexplained so it can present you with a happy ending with a bow on top. Saikano, even with a human military weapon, is one of the most believable shows I’ve ever seen, since all of the resolutions to the problems are logical. Just like real life. There are some things in life that are permanent, and you can’t change them to make them better. That’s how this show is presented. It’s dark, it’s depressing and it’s real.

For those looking for ultra violence and lots of story centering on Chise as a weapon should look elsewhere. This is first and foremost a love story and a character study, and the writers never stray too much from the path. This is much more about how being what she is affects her and the ones around her more so than focusing on her being “the ultimate weapon”. The show is very, very focused. The technical side of the show is just as well presented, featuring some excellent animation. It’s produced by GONZO, creators of such shows as Hellsing, Basilisk, and Afro Samurai, so it’s no surprise that the animation is top notch. The score is very effective as well, adding to the haunting and depressing nature of the show.

Saikano is a series that aspires to be much more than your average anime. It certainly has elements that are heavily used in the genre, but the sum of its parts equals something much greater. Throw out the war, throw out the weapon, and what you have is a story of what it means to live, and what it means to love; through thick and thin, through better or worse. Some of the images in Saikano will stick with me for a long time. The message will stick with me longer. The show is somber, the show is depressing, the show is unforgiving. But at its core, it’s a show with a message everyone can come out better having experienced.