Strange Dawn

If you've watched or read kingdom, this is the complete opposite. All of the characters are complete muppets. They have no motivation or reason for existing. Briefly, some grasp at the old, shriveled up and dry remains of a goal or motive, however the plot takes them, ties them to a string and makes them dance butt naked in a huge circle. That is what this show felt like to me.


As far as being randomly dropped in another world, it's good. The main characters aren't in a videogame and they do not have cheat skills or knowledge of the far future. Literally their only ... power is to scream like lost puppies and go home.

I'd like to mention that the writing is atrocious. Never before have I thought that whole episodes of a show sound like the demented monologues of the author(usually all it takes is a little effort to suspend my disbelief, but this time I didn't even feel like trying). Maybe it was only because of the terrible sub with spelling mistakes, but alas, even if that was true I fell like it would somehow make the tiny characters even more insufferable.



The best part is that, at the end I thought they would make a "look how much we grew as people" and "the true adventure was the friends we made along the way" bullshit turn. but all I got was a black screen and credits. It positively shocked and startled me, seeing as I already had no expectations.

As far as isekai goes it was very refreshing. So bad that I actually enjoyed some parts(that isn't to say that it didn't get painfully boring towards the second half).(To specify, I liked the setting and the main characters weren't bad as well. This premise could, by a better writer, be turned into legitimately good material)

There are plenty of far better received shows that commit worse sins than this one. All in all I prefer a show that is not great through and through, Than one that could be seen as a masterpiece, but shits its pants halfway through. I have been watching so many good anime recently that, for a second, I lost my appreciation for the bad stuff.

In conclusion, this story moved me so much, that I felt compelled to write a review and rate it as at least a 7, if not more.

Strange dawn, the name is oddly fitting.

It's a show which has it's own take on fantasy stories, and invokes memories of shows similar to "Made in abyss", but perhaps without the story to back it up.

In modern lingo this would be named an "Isekai", or "in another world", as the show follows the meandering adventures of two high-school girls trapped in a medieval, low-magic world. It's shows like these which I aspire for their to be a "world building" category on MAL.

I can also appreciate this for how untainted it is by the modern anime industry, the characters are far from the ... stereotypical Isekai power fantasy cast. For my tastes, I thoroughly enjoyed the world and have been sufficiently engaged by it's whimsy, as well as realism, to give it a re-watch.

To be clear though, the story is unfortunately poor and comes to a truly unsatisfying end. If you're seeking out a little gem to immerse yourself in the world building, this is for you, but don't expect riveting storytelling.

Was quite surprised to find the overall rating to be on the lower side of the scale. This was the first anime I watched that actually sparked my interest. Despite there being so many alternative world-themed anime out there, this one managed to keep me interested and left me at the edge of my seat every single time.

I didn't understand this anime when I first watched it as a primary schooler, but I picked it up again during my middle school years and I was so happy that I did. I gained a lot more understanding how they use the two main characters as a ... vessel/vehicle to understand better the culture and what happened in the world that they were summoned to. There were a lot of both subtle and straightforward criticisms on taboos and cultural expectations, and it was a great choice to pick the tension during the war to develop the characters and the love story in it.

I'm very picky when it comes to giving a 10 to any kind of series, but this Anime touched my psyche in some ways that others don't. I think some doesn't like the choice of using little people (chibis) and dismiss it as an Anime directed towards children, but it can't be further than that. It wraps itself well around serious themes like war, rape, survival, and death, and they do it well in the span of 13 episodes.

Not to mention it is accompanied by great OSTs too, the opening and ending song for this match very well to the Anime and the main characters. The opening score is still one of the best song I have ever encountered and it is still in my playlist of songs I love the most. I strongly recommend audiences who watched this during their younger years to pick it up again, I think they may get something more now that they're older and are more experienced with nuances.