Based on the eroge of the same name by Navel, Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai (We Without Wings) – Under the Innocent Sky (or OreTsuba as it's more commonly known), follows the daily lives of Haneda Takashi, Chitose Shuusuke and Narita Hayato, three young men living in the city of Yanagihara. Each leads a life that is very different to the other two, and at first they seem to have no connection to one another ...
And that's about as clear as things get for quite a few episodes.
From the outset there's no apparent direction or focus to the plot, and this continues until late in the series, at which point the shape of a storyline begins to appear. Now given the ultimate focus of the narrative one might argue that the somewhat dizzying sequence of events during the first half of OreTsuba are a purposeful attempt to elicit a sympathetic reaction from the audience by making them confused and uncomfortable. Unfortunately that sort of reasoning is a bit too far fetched in the cold light of day as the story appears to have been written by someone with little to no knowledge of mental illness whatsoever. In addition to that one does have to question the sanity of the person who decided an ecchi, harem romantic comedy was the best vehicle for a narrative where the core themes are not only being mentally ill, but also how it affects those around you.
Speaking of harems ...
OreTsuba features an array of characters who are paraded across the screen like pedigrees at a dog show, and the sheer number can initially seem impressive until one realises that the majority of them are nothing more than window dressing. There's little in the way of actual development going on, which wouldn't be a bad thing if some effort had been put into defining the characters from the start, so it's unfortunate that this is yet another anime populated by cardboard cutouts. Even worse is that almost every opportunity for growth or added definition during the first half of the series is wasted on stock events that grace many an ecchi harem tale, and while the latter portion of the story does present a few interesting scenarios, these are not enough to raise the show from mediocrity.
If nothing else, OreTsuba is consistent in that the generic characters and plot tokens are very clearly reflected in the acting, and unrealistic voices abound in this series. The lead roles seem to lose interest in the project after the first episode and appear to perform little more than lines by rote for the rest of the series, but maybe it's not the fault of the seiyuu as the dialogue is sorely lacking in originality and imagination.
This apparent lack of creativity also extends to the music, and many of the background tracks are of the type that one might find in just about every other ecchi harem romantic comedy, including the pieces used in Gretagard. The opening and ending themes are no better, and OreTsuba manages to uphold the best traditions of eroge and dating sim adaptations by finding the most generic J-pop tracks it can for the series OP and ED.
Now given that this is an adaptation there's an inherent limitation placed on design, and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing for some shows, viewers should remember what the source material actually is. The problem is that OreTsuba, like so many other eroge and datings sims, uses a stock set of character designs that have gone beyond a simple stereotype, and are now more of a hallmark for these types of story. In addition to this the animation is workman-like, and that blandness is most prominent when the character are undertaking some sort of frenetic activity.
In all honesty Nomad, like so many studios before them, appear to have been unable to muster the effort to produce a good looking series.
On a side note, one of the most annoying things about OreTsuba is that the visuals sometimes show a few flashes of original thinking, but these moments are often derailed or buried completely by the sudden and pointless introduction of fanservice. There are far too many occasions where events are progressing in an interesting manner when all of a sudden the screen is covered with underwear or jiggling ... things.
So is OreTsuba enjoyable?
Well, the story lacks any real charm or grace and the core theme has been handled in a far more sensitive manner by Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~. In addition to that, the seemingly mindless adherence to the stereotypical production methods of eroge and datings sim adaptations and the overabundance of pointless fanservice actually detract from any efforts to move the plot in a more meaningful direction. The simple fact is that OreTsuba is about as subtle and sensitive as a hammer to the face, and one event in particular highlights this as there's nothing in the series up to that point to justify the sudden revelation that one of the characters had an imaginary little brother.
OreTsuba is a singular example of pretty much everything that's wrong with the anime industry these days, which is actually the only good thing about it. Watching the series is far more work than it should be, and while the source material appears to have been written and designed by people who like to wear jackets with lots of straps and really long sleeves, that's no excuse for a poorly executed adaptation. There are many ways the series could have been handled (as Tears To Tiara proved), but it looks like nobody really cared enough about this anime to make the effort.
So the only question left is why on earth was it made in the first place?
