Alright, let's face it. After the ever famous and successful "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica," a want and increase in demand for dark magical girl shows have been prevalent in the anime community. Now, I'm not going to be comparing this show to Madoka 24/7, because trust me, this show is bad on it's own, but I will be using Madoka as a basis for what a dark magical girl show should try to succeed, and what it shouldn't.
Day Break Illusion is, absolutely, what it shouldn't.
If the promotional art and the opening wasn't a dead giveaway, it should be well-known that this show is going to
...
be pretty dark. And well, it definitely is. The story pretty much revolves on young tarot card users who fight against "Daemonia" - demons created when humans contract with them and eventually succumb into despair after the daemonia pretty much takes over their mind. The Daemonia causes what appears to be natural disasters around it, and its up to the tarot card girls to fight against it.
You know, I wouldn't mind the story. I wouldn't mind it even if it was almost an exact replica of what Madoka did. Here's the thing though -- the story is insanely try-hard. By try-hard, I mean it does so, SO much to try to remind you of how dark it is, of how grim and bloody things get. Let's take how we're flashed back with Akari's dead cousins' bloody corpse at least 5 times throughout the show. Or how when a painter girl becomes jealous that another painter criticized her, she made sure that both her and the boy that the critic liked were KILLED. Or turning the twelve (yes, twelve) year old girl into a wolf demon. Yes, a wolf demon.
I wouldn't mind these story elements either that much if they were, gee, I dunno, foreshadowed? The sudden and grimdark death of Akari's cousin happens within 10 minutes of the first episode. 10 minutes. You hardly know anything about the cousin or why she dies. A revelation that occurs later on that almost guarantees death of major characters just.. happens. Why? To make the plot get gritter and darker. Nothing is ever at least foreshadowed a little bit, not even once. There were no hints whatsoever that a tarot card user could combine with a Daemonia and create some weird demon, nothing.
Basically, the show does whatever it can and goes out of its way to remind you of how dark and edgy and grim it is. You know, I have people that complain about Madoka being dark and edgy, but at least Madoka foreshadowed it. Maybe it had issues with shock value, but just so you know, shock value isn't just tricking the audience. Shock value can be randomly killing off a character in a gorey way in the first episode. Shock value can be deciding at the end of an episode to change one of the characters into a demon wolf. It doesn't matter if the show is already proclaimed as dark, if it happens without foreshadowing, it's shock value.
Now you're probably wondering, well, do the characters at least save the show? Oh, I wish. I really, really wish. Hopeful protagonist, cold girl with dark past, sisterly lesbian, and energetic one. That's really what they all are, and honestly.. they're not that good. Namely our protagonist, Akari. I get it -- I get that she's only twelve years old and couldn't kill things that easily. But you know what? When I see another character go up and kill someone she knew personally and loved to free him out of his misery, I'm going to be annoyed at her actions.
The characters range from cliche to boring to downright DISGUSTING. The main villain, who we know almost nothing about, decides late in the series that he wants to mate (he literally says mate) with Akari. Akari is twelve. Twelve years old. He basically does this sick shit in order to completely destroy her mind and heart so she doesnt care about silly things like consent anymore and, I quote, "becomes a mother."
Playing the rape/sexual card in a story is NEVER a good sign, unless it's absolutely relevant to the plot or was foreshadowed/absolutely needed. But you know what? These girls are twelve/thirteen. We have one girl walk around evil and demonic with her tits literally bouncing out of her chest. We have another one being nearly forced to give into consent with pretty much a demon. Do you see the issue here? I hope so, because none of this is mature, or deep, or good. It's honestly really sick and unnecessary.
In terms of the art.. it's... ehh... I mean, the animation honestly is pretty good. The fight scenes, attacks, all of that look pretty nice. But the show is very obviously lolicon-ish. The girl, all of them, look so stick thin and skinny and tiny that when these terrible things happen to them, it feels so out of place and awkward. It feels honestly awkward seeing a scrawny 12 year old girls' eyes turn into tiny dots and scream at the top of her lungs. It looks awkward, and the artstyle makes it feel awkward too. It really feels like it's trying hard to appeal to the lolicons with its artstyle.
Not only that, but the artstyle and character designs in general aren't all that good. The eyes are all really huge, they're usually misplaced too or sliding off the characters face. The bodies in general look really unproportional and just weird, and the hair seems really choppy and cheaply made. Not really an appealing design, at least for me.
If one thing can be said good about Day Break Illusion, it's the soundtrack. I have to admit, aside from Akari's seiyuu, the voices are pretty good and solid. Not to mention the OP and ED themes are pretty great and catchy too. The OST isn't honestly all that stand out, but I can definitely say that the sound is a really concrete part about the show.
And here's where I talk about dark magical girl shows in general. You can skip the next three paragraphs if you don't wanna hear it, I just feel it's kind of needed.
Look, what I believe made Madoka successful in it's darkness wasn't that a girl got her head chopped off or another had to watch her friends die again and again. That's not where I saw success. I saw success in how the show dealt with the psychological breakdown of the things that happened to these characters, and even how their issues could be applied to real life. I feel, personally, that it did an excellent job with showing many different character archetypes in these situations and pretty much breaking them down, showing the affects that it has on them. But that's for another day.
I feel like studios seem to think that if they just add in some death and gore, that it'll be a success. But that's not how it works. It really isn't. I hate to break it to you, but just showing characters die doesn't guarantee success! It really, really doesn't. A solid story, solid characters, good foreshadowing and writing, and a good breakdown of these things are what make it so great. I don't think the show being open about its dark nature is what makes it unpopular either. There are plenty of shows that were shown to be dark from the very beginning that were successful. (Psycho-Pass, Attack on Titan) I'm not calling these objectively good, but they were overall well-received. Essentially, the fault for Day Break Illusion of not being a big hit despite having cute girls in grim situations isn't really because it was already dark from the beginning, but it just does a very bad job at doing what it tries to do, which is, again, be dark.
I guess I enjoy this anime, I mean, it doesn't bore me or put me to sleep like other shows, but the enjoyment is really just mediocre for me. It's enjoyable to watch weekly I guess, but not something that I can say I actually "like" watching, you know? I guess it can be fun for people who like watching anorexic lolis kill things and get killed though.
Overall, Day Break Illusion is a prime example, in my opinion, of how people SHOULDN'T be trying to make dark magical girl shows. Go ahead, make more! It's what people want! But making them so grimdark, adding in things like wanting a 12 year old to give birth to pretty much a demon child, killing off side characters like there's no tomorrow -- that's not what we want. A good story, a solid one with good character that happens to have a darker or more serious twist on the genre, is what would be good, really. But this? Not this, please no this.
Magical girls are about cute girls doing cute magical things, not awkward lolis being slaughtered in blood.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou, Il Sole Penetra le Illusioni, The Sun Penetrates the Illusions
Japanese: 幻影ヲ駆ケル太陽
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
13
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 6, 2013 to Sep 28, 2013
Premiered:
Summer 2013
Broadcast:
Saturdays at 23:30 (JST)
Licensors:
Aniplex of America
Studios:
AIC
Source:
Original
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#73402
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#2983
Members:
54,880
Favorites:
192
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 29 / 30
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Your Feelings Categories May 27, 2014
Alright, let's face it. After the ever famous and successful "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica," a want and increase in demand for dark magical girl shows have been prevalent in the anime community. Now, I'm not going to be comparing this show to Madoka 24/7, because trust me, this show is bad on it's own, but I will be using Madoka as a basis for what a dark magical girl show should try to succeed, and what it shouldn't.
Day Break Illusion is, absolutely, what it shouldn't. If the promotional art and the opening wasn't a dead giveaway, it should be well-known that this show is going to ... Sep 24, 2013
FEW SPOILERS AHEAD.
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. Many people consider this to be an almost blatant rip off of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Which, lets be honest here, it's easy to see; there's malevolent animal beings that seem to not give a rats ass about the people who they work with, physically or emotionally. Lapalace and Kyubey seem really similar in that sense. There's 4 girls who turn into stronger versions of themselves and fight in an interdimensional space against evil beings, one nice one, one bad ass one, one that's more set in their own goals, etc. ... Jan 12, 2014
At first, I was skeptical about this anime. It received mixed ratings. Some were 9, while others were 4. The ones who rated this anime to be low were mostly those that kept comparing it to Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Critique the show, not compare! It's not a perfect anime, but it doesn't mean it cannot be enjoyable.
Story: The first episode took me by surprise,with me thinking that it escalated pretty quickly with very little background to the story. It made me prepare myself for the upcoming episodes, as there were more grim. The tarot cards were a cool component of this anime; I ... Aug 18, 2013
Two years ago studio SHAFT gave to the anime watching world Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a show which cleverly blended the conventions of magical girl anime with dark horror themes, subversive storytelling and striking visual style to create one of the most perfect and memorable anime that I've certainly ever seen. Madoka Magica was a game changer and achieved acclaim and popularity that has proven persistent. Given all that, it's really no surprise at all that other anime studios would want to try and repeat that success. So it is anime studio AIC has decided to present us with an original dark magical girl series
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Oct 3, 2013
It’s been a while since I last reviewed something, and that’s mostly because there wasn’t anything I finished that I felt like reviewing.
Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou though is one show I wanted to review since episode one. So I sat down, watched the remaining 5 episodes that I haven’t watched yet and marathoned them. And what should I say? Meh. It saddens me that this show clearly had potential but had two main issues that ruined all potential it had. First - The pacing. This show was just waaaaaaaaay too rushed. Sometimes they squeezed in so much stuff into one episode it couldn’t build up any impact for the things ... Sep 5, 2013
UPDATE: Completed it now. And everything in this review still stands.
The review contains some spoilers, past the first two paragraphs. Let me start of by saying that this series is quite bad. Let me explain why. In short, it's a series that tries really, really hard to be Madoka, but doesn't really understand what made Madoka really good, and thus only imitates it on a surface level - namely, the artstyle and overall dark tone. However, it's story and characters are painfully shallow and succumb to all the Mahou Shoujo clichés that Madoka managed to avert. The characters are all Mahou Shoujo stereotypes, through and through. All of ... Mar 12, 2015
I'm going to be sincere, i heard of this anime because everyone on the internet kept saying that it was a "Madoka Rip-off". But as i believe you can't judge before watching it yourself, i went on and watch it.
My conclusion: people really exaggerate, it definitely isn't a rip-off. It does have some common grounds, but Genei Wo Kakeru Taiyou has proved to me that it stands as it's own series. Genei Wo Kakeru follows the same formula that most Magical Girl shows have, the only difference it's that, apart from the grim factor, it handles very mature topics. Each character that is infected by the ... Nov 12, 2013
A failed attempt at an interesting concept.
Day Break Illusion (avoiding the tedious title) is a show that started off with potential but a prime example of dropping the ball halfway through. The story synopsis is above, so I'll just give my perspective on it. Basically, it is unique at first but does not explore its total potential by the end. There are many loose ends not tied up by the end and many things introduced lack clarification (such as the Daemonia). I found the story to be a bear to watch as it quickly became redundant, focusing on several things only and not answering ... Sep 28, 2013
Daybreak Illusion is a magical girl anime that follows more in the footsteps of the darker “Madoka Magica” than the usual shoujo-oriented ones like “Sailor Moon.” It begins with Taiyou Akari, a young girl with dreams of becoming a fortune teller just like her mother and the other adults around her. She is a bright and cheerful girl with a room full of plants who lives with her cousin Fuyuna’s family since her mother passed away and her father is no longer around either. What she does not realize is that Fuyuna has been building up a burning hatred of Akari and her cheerfulness. One
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Oct 9, 2013
thoroughly terrible anime. It's only saving graces were, character designs, tarot, ED, and transvestites.
The story seems incredibly forced, has pacing issues, unresolved plot points and more. The character designs are extremely tryhard, but it was in a way I quite appreciate. All of the battles were incredibly uninspired, usually revolving around someone getting grabbed suddenly The characters had little depth, but they did a half decent job with branching off into some of them ... Oct 1, 2013
Okay now, here we have a Persona series clone, merged with some Venus Versus Virus… well, that seemed interesting for me, so I’ve decided to watch this (especially after reading some good reviews, telling me not to think it has connections to Madoka).
Story – 5 The actual story begins on the eighth episode, and all I can say is it’s pretty twisted and has LOTS of loose ends in it, like the opposite tarot cards having no actual meaning (it it present as something really important and dangerous in the series, but it resulted just in a lost possibility of making cool explanation); I really did ... Feb 20, 2015
Oh, DayBreak Illusion.
*Oh*, DayBreak Illusion, you poor, poor, poor, soul. Why did it have to turn out like this? Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is the prime example of how not to do a dark magical girl anime- No scratch that. Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is the prime example of how not to do anime collectively. It's not absolutely dreadful, but it should have never turned out how it is. The anime has a collection of six actually good episodes, where there's emotions and development that seem realistic. And then there's the rest of the anime, which is unable to decide what it wants to do with ... Oct 2, 2013
Well, I'll try to review one of the most discussed anime of the last season, at least for the hype that this apparently dark majokko created in who was expecting another Madoka.
Story: 6/10 Personally, I didn't find it quite entracing; magical girls who receive their power from Tarots and fight against evil creatures, the Daemonias, that invade weak human beings feeding from their inner fears and hatred, it's not what I can call original. All the magical girls who discovered to be a power connected to a card from the Tarot deck are gathered in a fake Divination School, in which they are trained to ... Oct 7, 2013
Just finished watching this. My thoughts gravitate toward different ends of the opinion spectrum. Hmm. Well, I’ll begin by saying that I did enjoy this series for what it was: in essence, a magical girl series with dark elements and an interesting take on tarot cards. The characters are colorful (figuratively and literally) and develop in their own ways throughout the span of 13 episodes. The scenery and overall art of the show is colorful and vibrant. The general idea of the story is kind of cool with a few interesting concepts. The show has no problems with setting an atmosphere with an overall serious
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Oct 4, 2019
Ah, another one of those dark mahou shoujo that try to cash in from the fad Madoka Magica created with its hype and financial success. Although it does a fine job at having polarized imagery of happy moeblobs on one hand and creepy murderous monsters on the other, it still fails to accomplish the thing that actually made Madoka Magica such a hit. Which one is that you may wonder? Could it be the deep characterization? The elaborate storytelling? The amazing analysis of its various themes? HELL NO, that show sucked in all that.
… It was the production values, ok? AIC is no SHAFT. They can’t ... Apr 17, 2020
Don't ever trust the MAL rating. A 6 for others may mean a 10 for you.
Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is one of the biggest hiddem gems I've ever discovered. Despite its low rating on MAL, the anime was actually fucking lit and I couldn't find any flaws in it except from the mediocre voice acting. It has Yuri. Its dark and edgy. What else could you possibly want? I can't explain the story. My brain doesn't work anymore. But I'll tell you something. It's all about emotions and choosing to move forward. Something along that line. Incredible OP, great story, kawaii, edgy. Recommended to ... Mar 30, 2014
STORY:
Daybreak Illusion has a fairly unique basis, being based around tarot cards, something I have never seen in an anime before; however DBI turns into your typical magical girl anime with a group of young girls being able to turn into magic girls, in a sense, with their powers being based off their personal tarot card. I thought the story was slightly interesting, there wasn't alot of development except the story being centered around the main character being able to hear the voices of the "daemonia" and the girls fighting these daemonia. Although I initially found the story interesting, it turned a little repetitive and ... Nov 10, 2013
Day Break Illusion is a series that could of joined Madoka Magica in building the dark magical girl sub-genre, instead it simply copied it with little originality. What little originality this series does contain comes from its Tarot Card Reading theme which doesn't effect the progression of the series as much as you might think. Day Break Illusion can be exciting at times and deliver emotional scenes here and there but overall, it's a disappointment. Not a failure but a disappointment. Everything is actually really predictable except for what happens to Luna or the information dump in episode eleven. Day Break Illusion's story is centered
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Mar 3, 2018
Horror comes from inside and is directed inside. People who want to kill us are quite scary, but they’re a very specific problem. True horror is in realizing that we can be the killers, that we can be what we hate. It throws a big wrench in our grand narrative and shatters it to pieces. That’s why we limit our consciousness, assume the patriarchy or the media or the government is to blame for it all. Negative feelings are bad, but the true problem must be outside us.
Obvious comparisons to Madoka spring up, but these are superficial comparisons. The latter is more existential and philosophical, ... May 25, 2021
Being a fan of Madoka Magica, I was looking for another dark mahou shoujo anime to get into. When I came across Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou it was described as a very dark mahou shoujo that hit hard and had no reservations. I was a little skeptical that it might just be an attempt to jump on the hype of Madoka Magica but I gave it a try. What I didn't expect was for the first episode to hit me like a semi truck with the grim nature of the magical girls and their fight against the Daemonia. As I watched, I was drawn in
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