About

Lycoris Recoil is an anime series created by Spider Lily, writer Asaura and director Shingo Adachi. The anime takes place in an alternative version of the present where peace in Japan is kept thanks to a secret organization of schoolgirl-aged assassins called Lycoris. The show follows two top-level Lycoris, bright and peppy Chisato Nishikigi and reserved, stoic Takina Inoue, as they form a buddy-cop relationship and work to thwart a potential terrorist plot. The show became a fast internet favorite thanks to its blend of action, tight plotting, and Moe aesthetics.

History

Lycoris Recoil was announced in December of 2021.^[1] The first trailer debuted on April 29th, 2022 (shown below). The first episode of the series' 13-episode first season premiered on July 2nd, 2022.

Reception

After some mixed initial reviews,^[2] the series became a hit among fans and critics as it progressed. The series has a community rating of 8.3/10 and 82% on MyAnimeList^[3] and AniList,^[4] respectively. In a mid-season review, YouTuber Mother's Basement gushed about the series, comparing its action-genre elements to John Wick while praising how the show wove those in with more slice-of-life, moe scenes. The video gained over 310,000 views in 2 weeks (shown below).

Notably, the series received unexpected praise from Hideo Kojima, who said in a series of tweets that the show caught his eye while he was scrolling Amazon Prime, and was confused, thinking it was the film Licorice Pizza (shown below).^[5] However, after checking it out, he was hooked, and agreed to write an endorsement for the series' light novel spinoff.

Related Memes

Chisato Handstand

Chisato Handstand refers to a scene from Lycoris Recoil in which the character Chisato Nishikigi does a handstand, using one of her hands to prevent her skirt from revealing her undergarments. The scene has been used as redraw fan art reference for characters from various franchises.

Chisato and Takina Kicking Each Other's Butt

Chisato and Takina Kicking Each Other's Butt is a scene from the opening of Lycoris Recoil that shows the characters Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue walking and kicking each other's butts with their feet. In mid-2022, the scene was used in redraw and fan art memes across platforms like Twitter.

Search Interest

External References