Assault Lily (Japanese: アサルトリリィ, Hepburn: Asaruto Rirī) is a Japanese mixed-media franchise created by Azone International and Acus. It mainly consists of two lines of toy figurines titled Assault Lily and Custom Lily.[3] The series takes a theme of combining "girls" and "weapons" and revolves around teenaged girls called "Lily" who have to fight against monsters called "Huge" using their weapon called "Charm".[4] Two novels have been published; the first, titled Assault Lily ~Hitotsuyanagi-tai, Shutsugeki Shimasu!~ (アサルトリリィ～一柳隊、出撃します！～), was released in June 2015, and the second, titled Assault Lily Arms (アサルトリリィ アームズ), was released in July 2017. Three stage plays based on the series have also been performed.
An anime television series adaptation by Shaft, titled Assault Lily Bouquet (アサルトリリィ BOUQUET, Asaruto Rirī Būke), aired from October to December 2020. A spin-off mini anime, titled Assault Lily Fruits, aired from July 2021 to January 2022.
Plot
In a near future, humanity is threatened by the existence of monsters they call "Huge" (ヒュージ). To anticipate this, the whole world unites against Huge and succeeds in developing a decisive weapon called "Charm" (チャーム) that brings together the power of science and magic. Since Charm shows high synchronization to teenage girls, these girls are called "Lily" (リリィ) and are regarded as heroes. To train them, the Lily training institution called "Garden" (ガーデン) was established all over the world to counter Huge, and became a "sanctuary" to protect and guide people.
A well respected sophomore at Yurigaoka Academy. She always fights alone. She is greatly affected by the death of her partner Misuzu, who died prior to the events of the anime.
A first year student and a daughter of the chairman of the top Charm manufacturer company Grand Guinol. She is hailed from a mixed Franco-Japanese family.
A girl who has a very dark past due to being betrayed and abused despite her attempt to demonstrate kindness, and she distrusts many people, including her Lily teammates.
A girl of Chinese descent who was born in Iceland,[12] and attended a Swedish middle school before transferring to Yurigaoka. She is a friend of Shenlin Kuo. She is quiet and self-confident, but she isn't great at showing emotion.
Miriam Hildegard von Gropius (ミリアム・ヒルデガルド・v・グロピウス, Miriamu Hirudegarudo fon Guropiusu)
A friendly girl who is from Germany. She is seen as cute and genius, but is also a game addict, troublemaker and always curious about something news. She easily gets shunned by serious people.
A mysterious girl discovered by Team Hitotsuyanagi under investigation on the beach. Yuyu and Riri take care of her, but she later dies after fighting a Huge.
An excellent Lily with a cheerful personality and a combat power based on high physical ability. It was Kusumi Egawa who persuaded her to not give up being a Lily after her Legion was disbanded.
A calm, quiet yet excellent and powerful Lily, which earns her a nickname "Child of God". But she loses trust of everyone due to an unknown incident in the past.
A careless and gentle girl but with a strong determination. She is the last surviving member of her clan and loses the feeling of left arm due to past injuries.
An anime television series adaptation titled Assault Lily Bouquet was announced on October 13, 2019. The series was produced by Shaft, directed by Shouji Saeki, and chief directed by Hajime Ootani, with Mieko Hosoi designing the characters.[5][36] Akito Matsuda composed the music, and both Saeki and Shaft, under the pseudonym Fuyashi Tō, are credited for series composition, with Saeki himself writing the scripts for all of the episodes. Kazuya Shiotsuki (Shaft), Sayuri Sakimoto, and Kentarou Tokiwa were the chief animation directors; and following episode 8, Akihisa Takano (Shaft) joined as a fourth chief animation director.
Raise A Suilen performed the opening theme "Sacred world".[37] Hitotsuyanagi-tai, a unit consisting of the main characters, performed the first ending theme "Edel Lilie" from Episodes 1–4, 6–7, and 10–12,[37] while Hikaru Akao and Yūko Natsuyoshi performed the second ending theme "Heart + Heart" for Episode 5 as their characters Riri Hitotsuyanagi and Yuyu Shirai, respectively,[38] Hitotsuyanagi-tai performed the third ending theme "GROWING*" for Episode 8,[39] and Miku Itō performed the fourth ending theme "Mabataki" (まばたき, "Blink") for Episode 9 as her character Yuri Hitotsuyanagi.[40]
The series was originally scheduled for a July 2020 debut,[41] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it aired from October 2 to December 25, 2020 on TBS and BS-TBS.[42][43][d]Funimation licensed the series and streamed it on its website in North America and the British Isles.[44] On October 29, 2020, Funimation announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day.[6]
On January 12, 2021, it was announced that the series would be getting a spin-off mini-anime, titled Assault Lily Fruits (アサルトリリィ ふるーつ), which was released from July 20, 2021 to January 4, 2022.[45][46] Shouji Saeki returned to direct the series with Akito Matsuda's music; Yumi Shimizu designed the series' chibi characters; and Shaft producer Miku Ooshima wrote the screenplay. Hikaru Akao, Yūko Natsuyoshi, Ayaka Fujii, and Kaori Maeda performed the series' theme "Can't Stop Fruity" as their respective characters.[47]
A light novel adaptation, titled Assault Lily ~Hitotsuyanagi-tai, Shutsugeki Shimasu!~ (アサルトリリィ～一柳隊、出撃します！～), was published by Micro Magazine under their imprint GC Novels. It written by Kasama Hiroyuki and illustrated by Yaegashi Nan and Mieko Hosoi.[76]
A second light novel, titled Assault Lily Arms (アサルトリリィ アームズ), was published by Azone International in July 2017.[76]
A manga adaptation by Kousuke Tsukinami, titled Assault Lily League of Gardens -full bloom- (アサルトリリィ League of Gardens -full bloom-), began serialization in Bushiroad's Monthly Bushiroad magazine on July 8, 2020.[79]
A spin-off manga illustrated by Minori Chigusa, titled Assault Lily Last Bullet: Secret Garden Sweet Memoria, began serialization on the Manga Ōkoku website on June 30, 2022.[80]
A stage play, titled Assault Lily: League of Gardens, ran at the Shinjuku Face venue in Tokyo from January 9 to January 15, 2020.[5] A second stage play, titled Assault Lily: The Fateful Gift, ran at the Tokyo Tatemono Brillia Hall from September 3 to September 13, 2020.[84] A third stage play, titled Assault Lily: Lost Memories, ran at the Sunshine Theatre in Tokyo from January 20 to January 30, 2022.[85]
Mobile game
An RPG of the series titled Assault Lily: Last Bullet was released on January 20, 2021 for the Android and iOS platforms.[86]
Reception
In a review on Erica Friedman's Okazu, Kristin called its "yuri undertones" a trap for yuri fans, saying she "highly [doubts] it will be worth it unless you're really into the skin and bouncing boobs of teenage girls."[87] James Beckett of Anime News Network called Kaede's confession of love to Riri a good sign for those fans tired of having lesbian characters "doomed to the Wasteland of Subtext."[88]
Notes
^Credited as Chief Director (チーフ演出, Chīfu Enshutsu).
^Credited as Fuyashi Tō, the collective pseudonym for Shaft's staff.[2]
^Funimation and Amazon's credits incorrectly romanize the name as "Azuma Fuyako."
^ abTBS listed the series premiere at 25:28 on October 1, 2020, which is October 2 at 1:28 a.m.
^English translated titles are taken from Funimation.
^Pokelabo, Inc. (January 20, 2021). アサルトリリィ Last Bullet [Assault Lily: Last Bullet] (in Japanese). Bushiroad Inc. Scene: 雨嘉の自己紹介. 雨嘉: '出身はアイスランド......。名前からわかるとおり、ルーツは中国です......。'
^#12 ブーケ. anime.assaultlily.pj.com (in Japanese). 18 December 2020. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^"Asaruto Rirī Furūtsu" アサルトリリィ ふるーつ [Assault Lily Fruits]. anime.assaultlily-pj.com (in Japanese). 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
^"Asaruto Rirī Furūtsu" アサルトリリィ ふるーつ [Assault Lily Fruits]. anime.assaultlily-pj.com (in Japanese). 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
