Seasons 1-3 of Date a Live were riddled with a slew of quality issues. From pacing and cut content, to subpar animation and art, major quality of life improvements were needed. While on the surface DAL may seem like a generic harem romcom, there’s actually a pretty interesting story beneath the surface that a lot of people did not get to experience properly because of how poor the previous adaptations were. After the job that Geektoys did on Date a Bullet, the Kurumi based spin-off, I was cautiously optimistic they’d bring that same level of dedication and care to season 4 and they absolutely did.
For me the biggest and most noticeable improvement over previous seasons and my largest source of enjoyment was the pacing. The two new girls that get introduced in this season both got adequate screen time and development during their arcs. It really felt like the staff wanted you to accept these girls as unique members of the cast and actually give them unique personalities. In previous seasons, you’d get a harem member introduced for an episode or 2 and then they’d fade into obscurity. 4-5 episodes for the new girls this time around was really a breath of fresh air. I will never understand the need to rush things like we often see in this medium. I think the overall story benefitted from the pacing improvement too. I actually was able to get invested in and care about the arc(s) this season. It’s hard to do that when things are just brushed over like in seasons 1-3.
The artstyle is probably going to be the biggest change people notice at a glance. For me, I loved it. I think the colours in this season are very bright and attractive, the character designs are IMO much better than seasons 1-3 and although there was some Tohka Boob nerfage, I am largely fine with the changes. I think it feels like DAL for a modern audience.
The bottom line is if you hate DAL, season 4 isn’t going to make you like it. While there are massive quality improvements, it’s unlikely to be enough to drawback people who dropped the series years ago. It’s still Date a Live after-all. This feels like a treat for those of us who stuck it out. The dedicated fans who were looking forward to Kurumi refrain and peak DAL. We sat thru the awful animation and rushed story to be rewarded with this gem. As someone who loves DAL and these characters, that’s all I can ask for. Hopefully season 5 continues the trend.
DAL S4 gets 9 dates out of 10.
