The first thing that comes to mind when I see a show about flags is The God Only Knows, where the protagonist often proclaims that he can see flags and conclusions in relationships as if life were a dating-sim game. Well here in Kanojo ga Flag, the protagonist can literally see flags that appear above people's head. These tiny flags range from the ominous yet simple death flag to ridiculously detailed variations of romantic intention. But really, this show boils down to an instant girlfriend er... harem show where girls practically fall into the protagonist's lap episode after episode. With typical harems, each harem member is slowly brought into the fold. Here, it's like a massive, ridiculous sale; buy one in the episode two and get 2 free in episode 3! Combine this with an atrocious, almost plagiarist final twist and you end up with a jumble of a work that really isn't worth your time.
Animation:
The show is drawn with a reasonable level of detail with average backgrounds and shading. The show uses a fairly under-saturated color palette despite being very light and comical at times. The character styling is fairly good; all the heroines, despite the plethora of members, are distinguishable. Like traditionalist, kimono girls? Check. Like older sister types that bring a ladle with them literally everywhere? Check. Like rich ojous who want to be treated like a "normal girl"? Check. Like slightly crazy, outgoing girls in weird armor? Check. They really went out of their way to cram in as many stereotypes as they could.
This isn't much of an action show, until the very last few episodes where the genre kind of turns upside down in a weird twist that would be spoiler-ish in nature to explore further. Don't expect it to sate an appetite for action though as other shows in this genre, such as Infinite Stratos, do a much better job. This also isn't an ecchi-driven show so don't expect much more than the innocent mysterious girl in bed type of situation.
Sound:
The show opens with a unique OP that sounds like the background of a cheesy air conditioner commercial. It's not a particularly catchy melody, though the animation sequence does show the ridiculous number of girls in the harem. The ED is a much more traditional piece that fits with the light, playful tonality of the show. The BGM is standard fare with supportive but forgettable pieces.
The VA cast is a mix of veterans and fairly new voices. While there's a lot of energy and passion from many of the heroine VAs, their characters are often, sadly, very shallow. The series seems to reinforce particular personality types through character line suffixes such as "dearimasu" or repeating "Desu, desu!". Also of note is a weird "ahahahaha" girl chant (reminds me of a much darker version of Sayuri Kurata's laugh from Kanon).
Story:
Souta Hayate suffered a traumatic experience as a kid and has since gone through life with the ability to see other people's flags, and instantly know how to destroy the respective flags (and thus alter a person's "destiny"). One day, a tsundere girl named Nanami realizes his ability and his life soon turns upside down as he ends up helping girl after girl, all of whom end up joining his residence. Underneath this supposedly enviable harem is a mysterious subplot about finding people who match stereotypical pieces (think the warrior classes in Fate/Stay Night) to unlock something. This subplot remains confusing and unimportant until the last few episodes, where it is explained in such a horrible way that I was reminded of the train wreck that was Chaos; Head- certain things are just better unexplained.
The story progresses linearly as more girls incrementally join the harem, with little fanfare and brief moments of humor and mystery to spice up the underlying slice of life story. There is little rising action until the viewer is suddenly launched up in an Atlas V rocket three quarters through the series to a place that no one wants to go. The climax had such an incredulous aura that I wanted to throw up mentally, the jolting journey no doubt contributing to this.
In addition to the uneven execution and climax, the story is also riddled with unanswered questions, gaping plot holes, and an inconsistent image. The first two are spoiler-ish so let me focus on the last of the three. The light, comedic harem aspects are mixed with dark, mysterious scenes that just don't mesh well; it's hard to believe the protagonist is trying to address a serious matter when girls keep popping up in his bed.
Character:
The huge harem size only detracts further from the believability of the show. Keeping track of the girls soon becomes a chore and it doesn't help that most of the characters don't have much in the way of background and/or explanation of why they're even in the harem. While many of the girls have unique traits, they are only superficial traits that aren't explored in any depth; the traits are mostly utilized for comedic effect.
Don't expect much in terms of character development as this is a light, comedic harem. Some characters are somewhat dynamic, but it doesn't really feel natural (i.e. their romantic interest flag just suddenly flips). While interactions are fair overall, I can only handle a certain amount of tsun. And a dozen girls with different levels of tsun is just a handful too many.
Value:
I sometimes like to wait a while after finishing a show to see how much it sticks in my noggin. Well in this case, this show is Teflon. There is hardly anything worth remembering in this show, rather there are plenty of aspects that I'd rather want to forget. Unless you are set on viewing all harems in known existence, I'd recommend you not set your watch flag for this show.
