I rate shows based on enjoyment, and my instinct is to give this an 8/10. I really liked many things about this anime, but at the same time I have many gripes. I see some people saying this could have been shortened by a lot. While I understand where they're coming from; I actually think the opposite. I wish it was significantly longer.
Starting with the main relationship... Haruka is quite cute. She's strong and spunky, and you can't help but root for her. Sadly this aspect of the show really drags its feet, despite Yuu realizing his feelings halfway through. There's basically no further development after that. It really hurts Yuu's character.
A lot of shows have couples where one person primarily does the saving, but the other person usually repays the favor a few times or at least tries to do so. It's not really Yuu's fault, since he's just a regular kid, but this dynamic forever cucks him to his future self. He rushes in bravely, gets beaten down immediately, and has to look to Karasu for help. I kept waiting for opportunities for Yuu to man up and show Haruka just how much he cared about her, but they never really panned out. It's also quite strange for Haruka to realize how much Karasu loves her, but not put two and two together about the present Yuu.
They really don't explore Yuu's jealousy very much. That element is dropped rather quickly. Despite consistent messages to Yuu to get stronger and protect Haruka himself, he never grows in that direction. There's also the constant threat of Karasu unraveling, but that never materializes either. I was really hoping Karasu would die at some point, leaving Yuu to pick up the mantle. Their relationship doesn't really have much promise.
It was strange how quickly Yuu's mother had a change of heart, and particularly how that realization occurred after echoing the sentiments she'd already expressed many times. I don't think this should have even happened. I think her abuse should have continued escalating until he permanently left the house or hurt her. She could have even started calling him Emi and talking to her dead sister.
It feels like a waste for Yuu to choose the Tokyo route anyway. I understand that he wanted to better himself and was looking for his purpose in life, but realizing his feelings for Haruka should have given him that meaning and direction. It would have been way more satisfying if he stayed, and the extra distance only increases the odds that Haruka won't get over Karasu.
Ai and Fujiwara were also cute. I honestly liked their ship more, and I was disappointed we didn't get to see more of it. At least they opened up to each other and held hands in the end. We didn't get to see enough of Lacrima or the other dragon knights either. Honestly, I didn't care about the crippled guy or the throwaway characters, but I really wanted more scenes with Kasugu and the future Ai, Miho, and Fujiwara. More threads that died before they had a chance to go anywhere. I don't think we needed much more time with present Miho, but I definitely wanted scenes with Yukie. It would have been funny to see Fujiwara follow her around like a puppy while Ai fumes.
The plotline with Haruka's dad was the worst one. I almost feel like the plot had gotten so convoluted by the end, that the writers just forgot certain elements. They completely ignored the threats against his family in the Magic Circle experiment. I would have much preferred if her father was the Time Drifter, and didn't even work in the real world anymore. If the experiment had already happened and failed, we could have also gotten interesting developments on why Haruka's childhood missed a few years, why she couldn't remember her grandmother, and why her friend in Tokyo didn't remember her at all. They didn't explain why her parents' divorced either. Uchida ended up completely irrelevant in the show too.
The show definitely could have gone deeper into the parallel worlds concept and shown all sorts of possibilities. Different characters getting together. Different outcomes from the present timeline's events. Even a teaser where Haruka and Karasu get together.
This show could easily have cut some of the more repetitive bits, focused a bit more on Uchida's investigation, and added in a lot more character development. At least 6 more episodes would have been nice. We didn't get to see how the dimensions were "fixed." Lacrima seemed doomed regardless, since so many people already died. At the very least we needed an entire episode dedicated as an epilogue.
The technobabble got really annoying after a while. It felt like an excuse to use the word "quantum" every 5 seconds, but at no point did they ever even use the branching path analogy. Most of the explanations for things didn't make sense. Haruka got her powers because the universe chose her to be the "Absolute Observer," but also every human is an "Absolute Observer." Despite that Lacrima lost the ability to observe itself without Haruka, although it already didn't beforehand (it had a dedicated team of Astronaut observers), and used a computer made of human bodies. At first I thought they were all Harukas from different dimensions, but there was only the one. But they had hunted many Harukas down before. If they all shared similar pasts and powers, why did this one change Karasu? If this dimension was a simulation, does that mean Lacrima gave her those powers? Why didn't they give them to someone else. But it's also not a simulation because it already existed before they even had the chance to observe it.
How did Noein get his powers and giant machines in a world without anyone else? How exactly does Yuu defeat Noein with a promise? 15 years is a long time. Why can't one of the infinite other Yuus become Noein? Why isn't there a parallel world where Noein lives? If Noein dies because no humans can observe him, then why are remnants of his consciousness still there? Why didn't Noein just kill Haruka when his plan failed and continue slowly merging dimensions the way he did before? Surely he'd eventually be powerful enough to perform similar feats. How can his touch instantly kill things except in the last episode? There's plot armor, and then there's just forgetting all of the rules and world-building you did before.
I really did love this show, but I am upset Yuu didn't get a chance to shine. I am convinced that the writers got ahead of their skis and had no idea what to do around 18 episodes in. The end feels very rushed. Weakened characters are taking on armies of robots they nearly died fighting 3 on 1. They don't actually try to stop the experiment or shoot the bad guy. It's like they just needed an ending, and they needed certain things to happen for the one they chose, so things just happened.
If I had a magic wand, this show would have completely changed course after the fight with Fukuro. Yuu would have stepped up and shown brightly in Haruka's eyes. Ai's couple would have blossomed. The investigation would have led to the father's failed experiment that resulted in Haruka being the first quantum being. And Yuu would have defeated Noein by hugging Haruka tightly and declaring that no dimension had only suffering if she was in it because her very existence made him happy. He would have recalled the smile he fell in love with and swore to do everything in his power to thwart the bad futures. Yuu would callupon the power of every parallel Karasu to kick Noein's butt. A kiss would awaken the Dragon Torque's true power, the dimensions would be restored, and ShangriLa would disappear. And we'd get a nice epilogue showing all of the characters happy. Maybe even Uchida letting the cop have a pity date, or the remnants of the Haruka's father brushing her mother's cheek alongside a loving whisper. |
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