Overall I definitely considered it a good time. Flying Circus was a nice way to introduce a new type of fictional sport, keep it interesting without infodumping a lot, and finding ways to have twists around it.
I suppose some people call it a moege cuz it's lighthearted but I thought there was enough character development and plot/goal consistency to definitely have an edge over other moege, to the point where you can make an argument this is NOT a moege.
I'd say the characters were mostly likable, and it helps characters outside the MC + main girls actually mattered to a decent extent. That said, some jokes and some of the timing of them got a bit overdone which hurt a few characters for me.
But I liked each route, they brought something unique to the table and I was more than fine with some being FC focused vs romance focused. I suppose there were some weird route detail inconsistencies but I've just gotten used to it due to different writers and stuff.
Visuals were obviously very good, and BGM was solid with a handful of standout songs. Can't complain too much on the presentation aspect.
But here's the fun part, route/character rankings... Funnily enough I'd say they're exactly the same.
Asuka > Rika > Misaki > Mashiro
Asuka- Her route felt like it branched from the common most naturally based on how things were going. But more importantly, it was the FC route that focused on the future of FC and many characters' futures and was just a lot of fun. It was also the route that had the involvement of almost every major character compared to every other route consistently, which I liked. This was the cheesy battle shounen route as expected, but I eat that shit up if done well and I definitely think it was done well. I've seen slight complaints of Asuka's romance/first H-scene being rushed but I thought it was... fine? Like the route writing the romance was very cheesy diabeetus inducing but I thought there was just enough to have me satisfied. Though it helps Asuka clearly was in love with the beginning so that helped smooth things. Speaking of Asuka, she's clearly the most simple character but I'm fine with that since she was built to be the unpredictable but innocent and honest deredere type which I enjoy well.
Rika- Outside a few details, I legit don't see what's wrong with her route. Were those details really enough to ruin a solid character oriented route? Both Rika and her route were nice and comfy and relatable and I like that. She had a goal, and while the villain was a bit edgey and probably got off too easy, I thought the way it was built up with how Rika was training was nice. The romance was decent enough.
Misaki- It's unfortunate, cuz I really see where the love of this route comes from. It's very unique, and develops the 'dark side' of a few characters in the most interesting way by far. The route has by far the most 1 on 1 time, which works out for 2 mains to develop more. However, I thought the romance was by far the most rushed, even with Misaki's 'chad' confession. Also having lots of 1 on 1 time with Misaki meant.... a lot more of her obnoxious joking which was very hit or miss for me.
Mashiro- God I really did not like Mashiro outside her route much... which sucks because part of why I like her route is that they made her so much better, especially when you get halfway through Ch 7. I wish this Mashiro was more of her standard personality in more of common/other routes. As it stands she's probably below a bunch of minor characters on my ranking. Anyway, her route was the most romance focused which made sense her liking Masaya made the least sense so they had to develop it the most so it worked out. Involving the development of more characters besides her was nice and she had some nice feelsy moments.
If I had to rank the minor characters since enough of them are relevant
Madoka > Minamo > Shindou > Satouin > Saki > Aoi > Shion/Prez > Masaya > Shirase > Arika > Irina > Minori
So yeah I generally enjoyed myself. I didn't consider this something that blew me as like king of moege potential or something but I did enjoy it.
I suppose some people call it a moege cuz it's lighthearted but I thought there was enough character development and plot/goal consistency to definitely have an edge over other moege, to the point where you can make an argument this is NOT a moege.
I'd say the characters were mostly likable, and it helps characters outside the MC + main girls actually mattered to a decent extent. That said, some jokes and some of the timing of them got a bit overdone which hurt a few characters for me.
But I liked each route, they brought something unique to the table and I was more than fine with some being FC focused vs romance focused. I suppose there were some weird route detail inconsistencies but I've just gotten used to it due to different writers and stuff.
Visuals were obviously very good, and BGM was solid with a handful of standout songs. Can't complain too much on the presentation aspect.
But here's the fun part, route/character rankings... Funnily enough I'd say they're exactly the same.
Asuka > Rika > Misaki > Mashiro
Asuka- Her route felt like it branched from the common most naturally based on how things were going. But more importantly, it was the FC route that focused on the future of FC and many characters' futures and was just a lot of fun. It was also the route that had the involvement of almost every major character compared to every other route consistently, which I liked. This was the cheesy battle shounen route as expected, but I eat that shit up if done well and I definitely think it was done well. I've seen slight complaints of Asuka's romance/first H-scene being rushed but I thought it was... fine? Like the route writing the romance was very cheesy diabeetus inducing but I thought there was just enough to have me satisfied. Though it helps Asuka clearly was in love with the beginning so that helped smooth things. Speaking of Asuka, she's clearly the most simple character but I'm fine with that since she was built to be the unpredictable but innocent and honest deredere type which I enjoy well.
Rika- Outside a few details, I legit don't see what's wrong with her route. Were those details really enough to ruin a solid character oriented route? Both Rika and her route were nice and comfy and relatable and I like that. She had a goal, and while the villain was a bit edgey and probably got off too easy, I thought the way it was built up with how Rika was training was nice. The romance was decent enough.
Misaki- It's unfortunate, cuz I really see where the love of this route comes from. It's very unique, and develops the 'dark side' of a few characters in the most interesting way by far. The route has by far the most 1 on 1 time, which works out for 2 mains to develop more. However, I thought the romance was by far the most rushed, even with Misaki's 'chad' confession. Also having lots of 1 on 1 time with Misaki meant.... a lot more of her obnoxious joking which was very hit or miss for me.
Mashiro- God I really did not like Mashiro outside her route much... which sucks because part of why I like her route is that they made her so much better, especially when you get halfway through Ch 7. I wish this Mashiro was more of her standard personality in more of common/other routes. As it stands she's probably below a bunch of minor characters on my ranking. Anyway, her route was the most romance focused which made sense her liking Masaya made the least sense so they had to develop it the most so it worked out. Involving the development of more characters besides her was nice and she had some nice feelsy moments.
If I had to rank the minor characters since enough of them are relevant
Madoka > Minamo > Shindou > Satouin > Saki > Aoi > Shion/Prez > Masaya > Shirase > Arika > Irina > Minori
So yeah I generally enjoyed myself. I didn't consider this something that blew me as like king of moege potential or something but I did enjoy it.