Common Name: Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism
Alternative Names: Armed Girl's Machiavellianism
Score: 6/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Action, Shounen, Comedy, Ecchi
Summary: After getting into a massive brawl at his old school, Nomura Fudou was expelled as a delinquent and was assigned to Aichi Academy to finish his education. As he tells the story though, Nomura is just a free spirit who was backed into a corner and had to fight. So, in keeping with that idea, he claims that all he wants is to be free and easy life. Unfortunately, Aichi Academy isn't a place that will grant him that wish easily. At this academy, all the girls are permitted to carry weapons for their own protection while the elite "Five Swords" of the campus enforce the peace and harmony the school desires and "correct" any undesirable influences. Because of this policy, any and all delinquents, like Nomura, are sent to this academy to be reeducated at sword point.
Review: For a show that claims to deal with a topic as rich as Machiavellianism Busou Shoujo only seems to be interested in using the concept for the pettiest things possible, but I guess that's just what this member of the "dark triad of personalities" has been reduced to. Christ, calling something part of "the dark triad of personalities" sounds chuunibyou as hell but, then again, so does name dropping the -ism associated with Niccolò Machiavelli in an anime. Alright, I guess I should offer something of a crash course on Machiavellianism to show how dumb this show sounds right off the bat. Machiavellianism is the type of personality outlined in Niccolò Machiavelli's discourse on political tactics and etiquette known as "The Prince." To be considered Machiavellian, a person must be socially adept, cunning, and cruel while maintaining a personality that one's people and political allies will love and one's opponents will hate and fear. It has been described simply as "the art of tyranny." In psychology, Machiavellianism can be described as a person who displays these same traits purely for their own benefit--distilling the larger political concept down to a more personal level. To pare it down even further, modern literature typically describes anyone who "uses" others for their personal gain, regardless of how mcuh the person used is harmed in the process, as being Machiavellian. Now, to bring it down to the common vernacular, if someone is Machiavellian then they might be described as "a manipulative son of a bitch." That being said, the question that stands before us now is what branch of Machiavellism is this show claiming to feature?
Huh. Tyrannical sexism. Well, they've got the despicable tyranny part down nicely.
As an organization, I can definitely see an argument for Aichi Academy being inherently Machiavellian. After all, it is made clear upon his arrival that people like Nomura, i.e. people who would break or ignore the rules of the institution, aren't exactly considered desirable. In this place, it's either fall into line and respect the authority of the school's "Five Swords" or being forcefully corrected in the name of peace. What this "correction" entails and how it is enforced, though, is what makes it particularly Machiavellian in the psychological sense since the school's female students are permitted to attack any negative influence in the name of self-defense. The Five Swords, however, are given absolute free reign in this assignment, self-defense or no, making their permission to carry swords, rather than the non-lethal objects the other girls use, all the more threatening. Up until the arrival Nomura and the mysterious woman known simply as "The Empress" or Amou, that cruel and manipulative policy seemed to work pretty well.
After all, there are no men at Aichi Academy. I repeat, there are no men at Aichi Academy.
Past that establishing information, though, any presence of something distinctly Machiavellian kinda falls apart, leaving a pretty standard shounen battle anime in its wake. As the rules of the school state, no male at the academy may leave the premises until all the members of the Five Swords agree that the man in question poses no threat to the school's reputation. Of course, Nomura could also just beat their approval stamps out them to earn his freedom. In fact, that's what all the Five Swords seem to suspect anyway since the entirety of the show is dedicated to them fighting Nomura for little reason other than he exists and isn't acting like a woman. Of course, this active aggression towards Nomura also gives him the chance to show off his hand-to-hand skills against sword wielders and show he's not that bad a guy since he doesn't try to curb stomp them or anything once the fight's over. Of course, since this is a shounen anime, not curb stomping young girls also means they have reason to fall in love with him or something.
To be fair, Nomura actually puts in some effort to be friends with Onigawara Rin.
The other girls though...yeah, that's just harem logic.
For a show that is called Armed Girl's Machiavellianism, there is a distinct lack of Armed Girls showing Machiavellian tendencies outside of a willingness to enforce school policy. Maybe that's part and parcel of the "I beat you and now you're my friend" logic typical in most shounen and magical girl animes, but that concept in this show does it no favors. The closest we ever get to there being a true Machiavellian character is the existence of Amou, "The Empress," but the logic behind her psychological brand of Machiavellianism pales in comparison to that of the school's. To put it simply without overgeneralizing, Amou is only Machiavellian in that her character can be boiled down to being little more than a closet yandere. A super deadly yandere, mind you, but that's still a pretty weak character motivation. So, I'll admit there is definitely some Machiavellian ideas present in this show, but only in the same sense that any evil or manipulative person in anime, of which there are more than I care to count, can be called "Machiavellian." Honestly, it might have been more honest to call it Armed Girl's High School Machiavellianism, considering how much more compelling the Machiavellian concept is in show's background and premise than in the show itself.
That little tirade out of the way, though, I'll honestly admit that I didn't actually dislike this show, despite its very...controversial subject matter. It was a solid shounen battle anime that didn't make its main character too strong or too weak and kept a solid, measured pace until its story was done. The characters were fun and interesting in their own rights, except for the French girl who probably encapsulated everything wrong with this show's idea of romance. Things might have been a bit heavy-handed and nonsensical from time to time, but I still kind of respect this show in spite of itself. The art and animation were nothing exceptional but definitely passable. The music was also just kinda solid, nothing unique but not bad either. Would I recommend it? Definitely not. But I'll openly admit I had some fun with this dumb as hell anime.