# Saikano (2002)

> A high school boy's first love turns catastrophic when his girlfriend is revealed to be a living military super weapon.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/32001

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 13
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, drama, science fiction
- Network: CBC
- Cast: Shirô Ishimoda, Fumiko Orikasa, Yuu Sugimoto, Atsushi Ⅱ, Hiroki Shimowada, Hiromi Konno, Kazuhiko Inoue, Kisho Taniyama
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373605/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: melancholic, tender, tense, harrowing, bittersweet

## What critics say

Viewers broadly praise Saikano as a emotionally devastating romance whose intimate teen love story is undercut by its military and apocalyptic backdrop, though its audience rating is mixed.

## Synopsis

Saikano (2002) is a Japanese anime romance series created by Shin Takahashi and produced by GONZO, adapted from his manga serialized in Big Comic Spirits. Its thirteen episodes follow Shuji, an ordinary high school student, and his shy classmate Chise, whose gentle first love is shadowed by a secret: she is a living military super weapon. Shuji's ambition is simply to keep the relationship intact while the world closes in around them, and every episode balances schoolyard awkwardness with mounting dread about what Chise is and who wants to control her. Voice actors Shirô Ishimoda as Shuji and Fumiko Orikasa as Chise anchor the tender core, while Yuu Sugimoto's Akemi adds a complicating presence. The series moves between quiet small-town days and sudden bursts of military violence. Set in a present-day provincial Japanese city that closely resembles Otaru, it is a single season of thirteen twenty-five-minute episodes with a melancholic, emotionally raw register. Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Clannad and Kimi no Na wa. will find its blend of teenage romance and apocalyptic stakes familiar.

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