It was really hard for me to tell what to expect from this show as I started to watch. It was also hard to come into the show WITHOUT having K-ON in the back of my mind as I looked at the art style of the characters (and I apologize in advance as I’m probably going to be doing comparisons to that show, but mainly to show that this is not K-ON). The synopsis on this site is quite vague, and with this being part of the Anime no Chikara project, there's no knowledge of the full story as there was no prior manga
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that it was based on (though a simple search can find you the details you need at this point). Yet despite all these, I took the plunge into the series and came out satisfied overall.
Basically we have a moe slice of life show applied on a military skin with a musical influence with the brass being the focus (mainly trumpet, but also bugle). The Yui-look-a-like Kanata comes in with a similar musical knack about her, though not of natural musical skill, but instead regarding her uncanny perfect pitch in how she can identify notes in just about everything around her. With regards to the level of moe, it's nowhere near as extreme as something like K-ON is, but is rather a more natural fit to the setting and the characters in comparison. There aren’t any moments where it goes into chibi-mode with silly music and colorful bubbly backgrounds. It maintains the same art style with your standard portrayal of the emotional palate.
As for the setting, most of the story takes place in the town and the fortress. From the first episode onward, they do a good job portraying the livelihood and the colorful traditions of the townsfolk. They do give tastes of the post-war world when they show various crumbling structures, ruins, the vast barrens of Nomansland, and through character flashbacks. The various themes that this show has provide an interesting angle. There’s a bit of a supernatural theme as we get tastes of ghosts, spirits, and legends of angels and demons and whatnot. There’s even a bit of mafia-like action, surprisingly. As for the military aspect, and in particular with events towards the end of the show, we get to see a much more serious side of things with the drama between Rome and Helvetia as well as with the characters themselves. When you step back and take a look at all these parts, it is quite a strange mixture of elements. Some aspects of this concoction work while others, not quite so much.
The core to this anime I feel ultimately revolves around the relationships between the characters. Between the townspeople, the church (if you want to call it that), and the military, they do a good job to show the varying interactions they have, such as some townspeople’s dealings with the military, the role of the military in the town, and the hardships of post-war orphans and their caretakers to name some examples. Most importantly is the relationship that the five girls share with each other and how their personalities sometimes clash but ultimately mesh together.
Story – 7: I’d have to say the backdrop of the story is quite interesting and that the ultimate direction, though it takes long to develop into anything, is decent. My main complaint was that it seemed to take a long time for stuff to happen, with a lot of episodes spent on character development and slice of life moments. The main plot elements only showed their face in the last few eps.
Art – 8: Sure it’s hard not to associate the character art-style with K-ON, but they are drawn well, animations are fluid, and the backgrounds and settings are well done, such as the landscape, the rolling clouds in the skies, the rain, and the snowfall. Oh, and the Takemicaduchi is pretty sweet.
Sound – 10: The seiyuus fit the roles well with regards to the personalities of the characters, but where it shines is the soundtrack. The music goes great with the mood and setting, and the OP and ED I think both show what the show is about with the ED showing the lighter side and the OP showing the more deep side (thumbs up for Kalafina). The use of French in some of the background songs and the style of music really gave me the feeling of the small remote town of Seize.
Character – 7: I think that the characters were developed decently and they gave enough time showing the background information on each one of the major players, though not so much with Kureha. The mains may have fit certain standard archetypes, such as clumsy, tsundere, and so forth, but I think their personalities are interesting enough, especially Rio, maybe Felicia a little, and Noel as well. They did well in showing the bond that the girls share with each other as well.
Enjoyment – 7: Like I said, main downside for me was the pace, but it wasn’t like it was difficult to sit through or anything. There were some fairly emotional moments and such, but then again I’ll admit that I’m easily moved in that sense.
Overall – 8 (7.8): It surpassed my initial expectations which weren’t that high to begin with and was a decent watch. Not bad by any means, but not superb either. I think your view will really depend on how you approach it. It touched on several things, but I don’t think it was trying to really excel at anything in particular. I think it’s a story of friendship, hope, and humanity, with the military aspect simply being part of the setting.
(I’m curious to see how the next Anime no Chikara project will turn out, as that looks to be a bit more interesting and deeper in terms of the story.)
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Mar 23, 2010
So Ra No Wo To
(Anime)
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It was really hard for me to tell what to expect from this show as I started to watch. It was also hard to come into the show WITHOUT having K-ON in the back of my mind as I looked at the art style of the characters (and I apologize in advance as I’m probably going to be doing comparisons to that show, but mainly to show that this is not K-ON). The synopsis on this site is quite vague, and with this being part of the Anime no Chikara project, there's no knowledge of the full story as there was no prior manga
...
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