Amagi Brilliant Park

“Simply put, we need to go lewder. Miniskirts! Swimsuits! Low-Angle Shots! You need to put in as many of those as possible without breaking the law.”
-Amagi Brilliant Park, Episode 13

Another season, another project by KyoAni unfolded to the masses. However, it seems as though KyoAni’s latest attempt at trying to appeal to the anime demographic that loves cute and sexy girls is now back in full fashion. I want to think of Amagi Brilliant Park as their apology to all the people who were whining about the “gayness” that KyoAni was ostracizing with their recent hit, “Free!”. Hey, they can make whatever they please, and ... we can judge whether it’s worthy of being timeless in their long successful history. In which case, Amagi Brilliant Park will only be seen as just another Kyoukai no Kanata, a filler show.

Whereas Kyoukai no Kanata fell vastly short even of being called a memorable show, a filler show, Amagi Brilliant Park is at least commendable to be called a filler show. In the strictest sense, what made me distinguish while watching this show was how appropriately tame it is with how it portrays the story and setting. For the most part, everything is lighthearted and easy for the mind to sit back and relax in pure escapism. As with every anime comedy, there are cute girls in it. KyoAni indeed hasn’t failed in giving us quality girls as opposed to other aspects of an anime.

The main characters are fueled by their appearances and personalities, which spark up a great deal of charm in their archetypes. Latifa is typically the girly girl part of the cast that is always optimistic and smiling, so we can view her innocence and glamour. She is not necessarily the best character considering her backstory is quite exaggerated in the most apathetic way possible, but nothing terrible either. However, there is Isuzu. The one saving grace of the show is her hilarious stoic demeanor. Hilarious in that when she breaks character and starts showing emotion, you have no choice but to squeal with ultimate delight. You can’t be a true man if you refuse her offer to paizuri you.

Besides our two central girls, our male protagonist, Seiya Kanie, isn’t anything special. He doesn’t offer any nuanced grandeur to make him stand out like any memorable KyoAni protagonists before him. But the real crux of the cast is the supporting cast, and there are a lot of them. The problem with this is how so little of the supporting cast barely have anything to make them seem unique other than just being weird mascot characters that are hardly significant. Sure, some of them, particularly Moffle and Tiramie, have some funny moments, but it's a quick little comedic pick me up before it’s later tossed away by another funny moment.

Amagi Brilliant Park is unique amongst other KyoAni’s projects in how vibrant and colorful they’ve made their art and animation. Earlier in KyoAni’s career, they’ve tried to make their characters seem more realistic despite just relying on the moe-blob formula. They’re still present here, but it is refreshing how they implement the cartoonish aesthetic to the different characters. Besides our human characters, it’s nice to see KyoAni make these adorable animal mascots and give some spark of creativity to how they interact with their bodies and each other.

In closing….oh wait, I forgot about the story. Wait, honestly, what story is there to critique? It’s almost 2nd nature to Amagi Brilliant Park. All there is to service a plot is the characters trying to keep their amusement park from closing down. But the only problem is that they fail even to make that an issue that I should care about since all the fanservice and cute characters drown it out like white noise. It's one of those situations where the show falls flat on the story, but that isn’t the whole point, and even the show itself makes this clear as day. When you first show a girl dressed up as a pirate girl in a bikini, your only response is to clap slowly in amusement and go, “Yeah, okay, I’ll let this be passable in any measure.”

That’s how Amagi Brilliant Park can be described in one word: passable. It's just a bit above mediocre to where it can be labeled decent in the critical spectrum. As far as KyoAni shows, which I’ve become not fond of even when they were in their “golden age,” it will nonetheless entertain with enjoyable comedy to splendor about. Sure it’s another show centered around cute girls, but when you see the sight of Isuzu in a cheerleader bikini outfit, it’s a sight that is more than just moe; it’s life.

Grade: B-

BMW has been known to be manufacturers of German luxury cars. They include manufacturing motorcycles, and owns the Mini and the Rolls-Royce. As much, with all the German engineering under the bonnet and tech-savvy interior, their cars are known to be rear-wheel drive (RWD), in which they handle well on oversteering and horsepower delivery. In 2015, they made a front-wheel drive (FWD) car for the first time, called the 2-series. BMW says it's a revolutionary car with all the commercials on saying how great and awesome and passion and won't be mistaken as your mum's car.

That kind of "revolutionary" approach brings me to Kyoto Animation ... (KyoAni), as they produced Amagi Brilliant Park (Amaburi in short) as the revolutionary anime they have, yet.
And that's the problem, because it's like this: BMW is known for producing RWD cars, it's their trademark. It's the same way as KyoAni is known for the moe trademark they have established since the K-On--or even the Air era. Now, I'm not saying that K-On or Air should be the basis for KyoAni's products, but like BMW producing FWD cars, is KyoAni doing something similar as they seem to be producing something that is...for their own first time, playing fire with the lesser kind of anime where its fantasy genre written only in paper. That's something that KyoAni is not known for.


STORY = 7
It's a story of reviving an amusement park (eponymous as it is), filled with magic elements, packed with reasons of how important the Amaburi amusement park is for the magical creatures, and plot and characterization ignites from there.
Being magical, logic is excused here as most of the characters are the usual teens (Kanie-kun and Sento Isuzu are both 16) with their hands full of trying to revive the Amaburi itself. I mean, talk about legalities and debits and credits, net profits, taxes--put them in a box and throw 'em out the window. Rather than logic, you'd better just focus on these: there's the fanservice team, a perfectionist-- rather narcissistic kind of male character, a princess who must be Dekomori's cousin, and a soldier from the magical land, and oh--living mascots, and supporting characters. All of them are tasked to attract 250,000 visitors for the Amaburi in a span of 3 months. At first glance, it has a huge potential, but somehow if it's KyoAni we're talking, we're demanding it to be KYOANI, the same way as if you'd get a BMW and you're demanding it ofc to be a BMW (and not something from let's say, Hyundai).
What actually happened was like, we expected KyoAni, and we got something that resembles JC Staff. Because even if I'm not using K-On as the yardstick of this all, and I dunno if the Amaburi magic worked in your senses a little bit too well, but we're expecting KyoAni itself to be as moe-music-friendly as K-On, or sublime as Hyouka, or light-hearted slice-of-life as Tamako Market, or romcom as Chuunibyou, or flaring as Kyoukai no Kanata; perhaps even as memorable-dramatic as Clannad, and as emotional as Air. I could go on to be as wacky as Nichijou, or otaku-approved as Lucky Star, or as demanding as Haruhi Suzumiya.
In Amagi Brilliant Park, what did we get exactly? We get "revolution". We get the "new KyoAni". See, this is just like how BMW made RWD cars for so long and suddenly started building FWD's.


CHARACTER = 6
They're as memorable as a shopping list: you remember them as you know what to do with it. It also has the KyoAni prowess of somehow, at least somehow, exercising character development.
Again, as I've said earlier, the story itself has a huge, and I mean very huge potential. KyoAni has made 23- or 24-eps back in the past, perhaps longer episodes can do well as to give enough space for the development, in which the plot will be delivered with characters that transcended as the number of episodes progressed.
Kanie-kun was rigged from the start to be complex but unchanging 'til the end. Sento Isuzu is the "best hot heroine" according to otakus and fandoms and those from the magical doujin-land; I don't see why--except that she's the new fantasy material with her physical hot body and fanservice--but character-wise, she's the KyoAni's version of what a kuudere is, but that's it: she was predictable and nothing new or magical or developmental that happened to her. There's also Dekomori's seeming cousin, Latifa-sama, seems to be good enough as the foil character, but flat. The K-On look-alike fanservice team of Sylphy (resembling Mugi), Muse (resembling Yui), Kobori (resembling Mio), and Salama (resembling Ritsu) did well on their fanservice role, had a one-episode dedication for their development and was leave-able after.
Then there's the trio of mascots: Moffle, Macaron, and Tiramie, whose main purpose was maybe, to become comic reliefs. Though Moffle is more of serving as a complex character to help junction the plot and explain the reasons. The other two, you will find them funny, that is, if you're a goober.


SOUND = 8
Usual J-pop songs with KyoAni-esque trademark in them since Hyouka, so I really don't need to complain. Picking the right seiyuus for the right roles have also been important, and with Ayako Kawasumi's performance as Moffle--and she's renowned as Saber--that's already a plus.


ENJOYMENT = 5
It's like enjoying what you can do with a tap water. You can put juice powder on it, ice, and stir.
Amagi does that very well as you're hoping to get KyoAni elements but every episode seemed like it's convincing you on how "new and revolutionary" this is. Really, it's like BMW convincing you of their new and revolutionary 2-series.
This is like convincing yourself that you're watching KyoAni's Amagi Brillaint Park and not Kagaku-railgun.
If you've gone to BMW and saw the 2-series yourself, it's pretty much like that: you're expecting a BMW, and it is revolutionary only because you've never heard a front-driven BMW before.

Somehow, people love Amaburi in a way that it's more sexy that you're seeing more skin, more Sento Isuzu, more of those fanservice fairy team which means more eyecandy, then less on moe-ness, more on read-between-the-line jokes, less on KyoAni trademark and feel in the end.



OVERALL = 6

If KyoAni defined this as their new quality, their new trademark "flagship" anime where from here on, they're going to be making more anime this way, then more otakus will rejoice. The minority here ain't otaku: we enjoy KyoAni as we like enjoying good quality shows that won't waste our time. But majority wins, I reckon.

Ultimately, my review seems, as I want to say it, I derived it and wrote it thinking to be the KyoAni that I know, or used to know. It's like missing a friend who died or went away, and you know, you can't put this into exact words.
What I can say is that, despite giving this as a rating of 6 because it's still a generally good anime to watch, but somehow it doesn't look like KyoAni at all. Really, it just looks like JC-Staff material. Revolution is a good thing, but a lot of times it's difficult. Acceptance is not the issue, because there's trademark in every namebrand: whether BMW, or Coke, or Marvel, or McDonalds, or Levi's, once you've attached yourself to a namebrand, you'll ultimately know and feel it with its trademark. Amaburi just kind of lost the touches there--or if they haven't then they're the new trademark of KyoAni. It's still KyoAni by namebrand, but like the BMW 2-series, finding that out to be 3-cylinder front-drive is Hyundai material--when we're expecting for a BMW.

Verdict: The majority screams for Amagi Brilliant Park is the new KyoAni. But I kind of miss the old KyoAni.

I honestly wasn't sure what to make of Amagi Brilliant Park when I learned of its existence. It was the Full Metal Panic team coming back for the first time in almost a decade to adapt a Shoji Gatoh light novel about some dude saving an amusement park. It was called a "slapstick drama", whatever the hell that means. It had the rat with a hat from Fumoffu. I wanted it to be Fumoffu, but I read a bit of the manga beforehand and knew it wasn't going to be like that. As such, I went into the show with cautious expectations.

Then I discovered that ... the main character was Kanye West as a Japanese high schooler. Then I found out that the cast included a bunch of weirdos like a perverted pink dog, a tough-talking sheep, a shark who turned into Jaws when splashed with water, a masked wrestler who acted as security, and a triceratops who does not hide his desires well. Then I realized that despite taking place in "reality", the show was about as unreal as could be. Then the show started parodying old classics like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rambo, and...um...KISS? And it finally clicked with me around the halfway point: I was watching a Takahashi sitcom except made by today's standards.

Let's look at this a bit further: Amagi is about a teenage boy getting roped into saving an amusement park because the employees are magical beings who need the energy generated by customers in order to survive in the real world. The one in particular who needs said park to survive is the princess, because of a curse placed on her due to her dad reneging on a deal he made (in other words, her dad was a dick). It turns out that the boy met the princess once as a child and swore to make her smile, thus establishing a connection between the two that will pay off now that the boy has grown up. From that description alone, you'd probably expect some sort of sappy Disney-esque love story where the main character uses his charisma and such to save the princess, and indeed you wouldn't be far off the mark.

But then things take a darkly comedic turn once you realize why the park is shutting down in the first place: because the management is f*cking terrible. The employees are a bunch of lazy assholes who have pride in their jobs, but they have no work ethic. They close the park on Fridays. They take unscheduled breaks when they're not in the mood. And no, there is no outside interference causing this to happen. The park simply sucks because the employees are a joke who don't evolve with the times, and now they're paying the price by having their very existence threatened. You know, just like real companies and the people who make them that don't evolve, except greatly exaggerated because the employees are live animal mascots or humans who might as well be mascots
And as time went on from that realization, I became more and more convinced in my claim. Yes there is a plot, and the show does work towards it throughout its entire runtime. But whilst shows like Arakawa and Zvezda use the comedy to tell a touching story, Amagi simply uses its plot as an excuse to tell jokes related to its wacky cast and company management in general. Even when the show dips into the serious territory, it's just so that they can setup punchlines for later, sometimes in the same episode. Kanye has a past as a child-actor, but it's never really used more than as an excuse to justify why he's so good at managing things. Fiddy Cent (Sento Izuzu to all you plebians) has a fight with Kanye over her behavior, but all that comes out of it is her gaining a crush on our hero, as well as for a later episode to use the results of said drama as a springboard for its comedic story (that admittedly, wasn't all that funny). I've heard people complain about the princess drama, and yeah it wasn't very good. But at the end of the day, it's just an excuse to add necessary tension to the show's end goal (whilst adding a man-eating plant chomping on the three stooges), as well as a reason for the show to continue in the future. It didn't change the game like Chuunibyou's tonal shift did. Hell, the actual resolution of the "save the park" plot was mostly just an excuse to have the characters suffer for our delight.

That's exactly the same sort of structure that Ranma and Urusei Yatsura had, isn't it? Each show set up a plot in its opening episodes - the males getting engaged to the females - and there is some progress regarding that throughout each show until it reaches its end (well, not really the Ranma anime) but most of the time, it's just used as a high-concept justification for all sorts of wacky adventures that add to its large cast whilst causing said cast to suffer for our delight. And what differentiates it from other LN trash that try something similar like Kore Zombie is that the situations, including the ones that aren't very good, have imagination to them and are supported by a cast of hilarious idiots whose saccharine appearance betrays their gritty personalities (again, like a real amusement park employee). Not everyone works of course - looking at you, Dornell - but the final piece of the puzzle that makes me love Takahashi's sitcoms as much as I do is because the majority of the cast is f*cking hilarious. From Kanye to Tiramie to Macaron to Okuro, these characters never failed to put a smile on my face with their antics.

So if Amagi is so much like my favorite anime sitcoms of all-time, does that mean that Amagi itself is one of my favorite anime comedies of all-time? Um...no.

One thing I don't like about Takahashi is that she can't really do serious very well, and it doesn't help that KyoAni has a reputation for mishandling that sort of tone at a worse level than her, themselves. Even if it's necessary for future laughs to land and it only takes up an episode at most, it's still not that fun to sit through unless you turn it into a joke by the end of the episode. And whilst KyoAni do turn serious situations into humor more often than you'd expect from them in this series, there are times where they slip into their old habits. Episode 4 may been necessary to give Fiddy and Kanye more of a personal relationship, as well as show the weaknesses in Kanye's business strategies, but it still wasn't very fun to watch because the dramatic tone felt over-reaching and the resolution was quick and sappy. It's the second-worst episode (worst being Episode 9 with the focus on the Elementario) IMO, so thankfully the show doesn't really slip into that territory again.

But then we get into the princess's stuff. I won't go into detail regarding it, but whilst I didn't hate it as much as some of my colleagues since it worked fine as a plot device and never really got in the way of what really went on, that didn't change the fact that the resolution to her problems was lame, played entirely straight, and was poorly built-up to the point of Deus Ex. Yeah, I know she's still cursed and all - because otherwise, she'd be able to leave the park - but c'mon!

The biggest reason why this show doesn't sit amongst my favorite comedies though is that despite getting all the fundamentals right, I didn't find Amagi Brilliant Park to be gut-bustingly funny. Its quality is more akin to the later seasons of Ranma in that there's a few laugh-out-loud gems buried under a bunch of mildly interesting stories that are more weird than hilarious. Or to put it in more modern anime terms, Amagi Brilliant Park is to KyoAni what Ouran Host Club is to Bones: A decent show overall and much more preferable to the studio's usual - and more popular - output, but not something I'd consider a must-watch because the laughs are mostly moderate and it dips into the serious territory a bit too much for my liking. I can't really explain why the laughs didn't come as often as I wanted other than some awkward timing, focus on a character I didn't enjoy, and so on and so forth, but the bottom-line is you can't force yourself to laugh and Amagi just didn't cut it in regards to what I prefer from my humor.

If they do make a sequel to Amagi Brilliant Park sometime down the road, hopefully it's in the vein of Fumoffu where you can just forget the plot, focus entirely on the laughs, and the laughs will actually produce, well, laughs. Because as is, this property isn't a good enough indicator that KyoAni has recovered from the hole they dug themselves into with, well, everything not directed by Takemoto, post-Clannad. It's a fun show overall. It's nice to see that the Takahashi formula can still exist by today's standards. But it could have been so much more.

I've only watched 5 episodes of this show... and already, I'm really starting to lose interest.

I love the originality of the story, but I've been completely bored with each episode. I keep coming back to give each episode another chance, but I get more and more put off by the male MC, Kanie Seiya. He's just a straight up douche bag. At times, he shows glimmers of potential in his actions, but he seemingly partakes in such actions for the sake of his own interests and furthering as a narcissistic individual.

I may be making a grave mistake in putting this show on hold. ... I see a fairly universal consensus of the gem that this show is within the genre of romantic comedy. Yet being a HUGE fan of romantic comedy, I've found this show to be a complete dirge thus far. It's been hard to watch, yet even so, I want to keep trying. I feel as if I'm missing something. I'm so detached from most of the characters and struggle with relating to them in their various facets that I'm tempted to drop it and probably will, at least for the time being.

This reaction is puzzling to me, as I'm usually not picky with anime. As a genre and means of story telling, I admire many of the ideas that are offered within the entire sphere of this art. Yet this series has been a real bore, a real pain and an immense chore to continually watch. I'll give it some more tries though, as I am hoping that the episodes to come will have more to offer.

As far as positives for this show, the originality of the story is a plus. Yet given different characters or different character qualities, I feel like so much more could be done with this series. While Kanie Seiya holds no interest to me whatsoever, his secretary Isuzu has been an interesting character who adds a level of humanity and intrigue to this plethora of otherwise mediocre to bad characters. Knowing just a bit of her backstory provides a great deal of understanding as to who she is, why she is the way she is and how she feels a great deal more than she ever lets on. Thus far, she seemingly takes an interest in Seiya, even as he addresses her tactlessly with little remorse. I hope in continuing with this anime, that their relational dichotomy can provide a grounds for Seiya to get off of his high horse. But hey, I didn't write this story. I can only hope though...

After exhausting my personal feelings regarding the story and characters, I suppose I'll briefly sum up some of the other aspects of the show...

Art- The artwork is gorgeous, vibrant and colorful. Definitely a perk to this series.

Sound/Music- Sound quality is great, music is meh. I still haven't taken a liking to the theme song at all. The vocalist sounds like a Japanese Katy Perry, and I can only handle so much American Katy Perry.

Enjoyment- I really haven't enjoyed it all that much. That aside, I think the series is well made and probably holds a treasure trove of character development and interest that I have yet to behold. I really hope that I'm wrong about this series and that it turns out to be the rom/com gem that people have told me that it is.

Overall- 5.

I went into this not knowing anything about the genre or plot, and was pleasantly surprised by the anime in general. I feel on a whole this anime has several strong points for those who like very specific slice of life type shows, with a little fantasy thrown in, but there were a few concerning points.
Mainly my issue with this anime is the pacing, for an anime that is only thirteen episodes some episodes felt so slow and long I almost began doing other things waiting for things to pick up. It's a fairly standard plot, fairly normal anime guy gets ... put in with a bunch of weirdos and solves their problem, said normal guy also has some dark secret (aka his past), and finally fairly normal guy begrudgingly states that his life is more interesting and fulfilling with this crazy rag tag group.
For some reason however, some of the episodes felt so long and drawn out, and you never get a really good explanation as to why the main character was chosen for the job. He also has a pretty complicated (for a A type main character) backstory that never gets delved into (---spoilers--- fear of heights, something with his mom?). It feels as though the animators had a pretty funny concept, and instead of making every episode crazy and hilarious, there were these minor attempts to make it more 'deep' then it needed to be. I thought on a whole it was funny, and the last episode was very suspenseful, but in the end I wish there would have been more filler episodes about the characters rather than non-plot episodes with just the main character. I'm still on the fence about how it should be changed, but as it stands I don't see it getting a second season or drawing a huge range of fans.

Wholesome, funny (especially as the series progresses) and overall enjoyable if you are into comedy/drama animes.

The fantasy elements are never really explained and that is good because is never something necessary for the development of the plot nor the resolution of problems and when they are important, are usually used and explained in sensible and reasonable ways, but I must warn, there is a certain moment of the story where the problematics are resolve trough pure luck and shameless "deus ex machina" moments (If you already saw it you know what I mean). Despite this, it usually makes sense and the ways the plot advance ... is by the effort and work of the cast, that almost never acts out of characters, they are pretty consistent. Also, the moments where luck is what resolve the issue, its used as a comedic element, so is hard to be harsh on it since it's made on purpose and of personal opinion.

The main characters have decent development, you really get to know their personality and a bit of their backstory, but just what is important so this series doesn't fill you with dumb and unnecessary data that is not relevant. The side characters aren't just for filling, they have their role on the story and good personalities.

The art style is bland and generic, really generic anime style, is goodly animated and consistent but boring afterall. The desings on the other hand are better, but still not that impressive. The different mascots and clothes the characters use are okay, detailed in some moments but generic anyways, still better than the art style but just not enough to stand out.

The comedy is good, is not hilarious but some situations are really funny, some instances and tropes are actually burned and have been used to many times in the past to be fun anymore, but as I said before, it becames better as the series progresses and you get to know the characters better.

Overall, yeah is fun, you could see this if you have nothing to do, if you want to see something light with your friends or partner or if you are doing a challenge. Is better than wasting your time.

I'm not going to really say that much for this anime. I like the premise a lot, basically it had a lot of potential for drama and an intriguing plot. What it mostly ends up being is like a sort of slice of life about managing a magical amusement park. Sure, that's fine. Except the slice of life or comedy just isn't that funny or compelling. A lot of the same jokes hurled over and over, few enough interesting characters to carry a comedy, and not particularly interesting enough scenarios to create a memorable situation comedy.

Amagi Brilliant Park, in my opinion, just seems to ... fall short. It has a lot of potential. Like the main character, Kanie Seiya, and Isuzu Sento, are potentially good characters. It's just... nothing is done with them. And their romantic relationship for that matter really doesn't go anywhere either.

Music is fine, I love the opening.

Art is FANTASTIC.

But honestly, walking away from it, I'd just say I was pretty disappointed with basically how little they had to work with despite how much potential the premise held.

Amagi Brilliant Park is an anime that brands itself as a dramatic comedy. I was recommended this anime because it apparently shared some similarities with Konosuba (and I can see how some people might reach that conclusion). I think it fails to accomplish some of its goals, i'll try to go over each factor in detail.

(some spoilers)

The plot of this anime is pretty straightforward. The protagonist is immediately approached by a girl and told that he needs to help her save a theme park from being shut down (for some reason - it's never really made clear why some random high schooler is chosen for ... this purpose). This comedy brands itself as a comedy, and while it does have plenty of humor mixed in, I think it lacks soul. Some comedies, like Konosuba, do a great job of making the comedy a part of the story itself. It doesn't feel forced or tacked on. This anime, by comparison, takes itself way too seriously at times and tends to abruptly inject its comedy where you least expect it. It felt like the writers couldn't decide on whether they wanted a lighthearted comedy or a super serious drama. There were plenty of scenes that would have benefited from some comedy but instead all you get is some boring interactions between characters that you really don't care all that much about.

Speaking of characters, I have beef with the character writing in this anime. The protagonist is somewhat poorly written. He's a narcissist, which tends to be a rarity when it comes to MCs. Giving the MC a character flaw that isn't "introverted" or "awkward with girls" is always nice. Other than that he's kind of a gary stu at times. Somehow this random high school teen knows how to manage a damn amusement park, which is kind of wacky in my opinion. They could have at least tried to write in some details into his character that would make it a bit more believable. Or failing that, try to write the anime in a more comedic fashion and poke fun at how a teenager is managing an amusement park. There are many approaches they could have taken that would have made more sense.

Isuzu is also kind of poorly written. There's a weak romance subplot between her and the MC (for some stupid reason) that mostly just irritated me. It's like the writers couldn't decide whether they wanted this anime to be a romance or not, so they half-assed this romance between her and the MC. At the 12th episode the MC almost confesses his love for her but ends up running away instead. What a waste of time. Isuzu is also kind of a typical busty heroine and it feels like she's mostly kept around as eye candy. Occasionally she shoots someone with her rifle or gets embarrassed when someone points out she has a crush on the MC. That's basically the extent of her character.

A lot of the other characters are so tertiary that the anime barely goes into much detail on them. There's Moffle and his other sidekicks that act as comedic relief and a bunch of other staff members that don't get enough screen time to really be worth mentioning.

Art and music were fine. Nothing awful but nothing exceptional.

Ultimately this anime feels like it can't decide on what it wants to be. It has comedic moments, but not frequently enough to be consistently funny like other comparable comedies. It has moments of drama, but the strange setting and weak character building in this anime makes it hard to take seriously as a drama. It has moments of romance, but they are so sparse that you could barely call this anime a romance. Like I said earlier, it feels like this anime lacks soul. All the makings of a decent anime are there but they couldn't be assembled in a satisfying way. I give it a weak 6.

Although, I have been aware for a while that "Amagi Brilliant Park" exists, I have only now got around to actually watching it. Truthfully, I had actually decided not to watch it to begin with, as it didn't seem like something that I would particularly enjoy. The only reason that I ended up giving it a chance anyway was that I saw that Shoji Gatoh, who is the creator of the original content for one of my favourite anime, "Full Metal Panic!", was, in fact, the creator of the original story behind this anime as well. However, I knew going in that I probably shouldn't ... expect this one to be quite as good - and that was wise, because it definitely wasn't.

"Amagi Briliant Park" follows high school student, Seiya Kanie (white Kanye West), who is forced at gun-point to go on a date to a run-down amusement park by the mysterious girl, Isuzu Sento (female 50 Cent). At the park, Sento explains to Kanie that the park is actually the home of magical creatures from a place called Maple Land, who run it in order to accumulate the customer's happiness, which is what keeps them alive. Unfortunately, the park hasn't been doing very well recently, and unless that changes, it will be closed down, which will take away the life support from the magical creatures, who will then cease to exist. To Kanie's surprise, Sento then asks him to become the new manager and help her keep it open and all of the magical creatures alive. Although, Kanie at first refuses Sento's request, he eventually comes around, partly because of the park's current manager, Princess Latifah (tiny Queen Latifah), who for some unknown reason grants him a special mind-reading power that may or may not help him in his new mission to help save the park - and which seems to be forgotten about most of the time...

I can honestly say that this is the most ridiculous premise for an anime that I have come across so far - and there are a lot of silly ones out there. This anime can overall be be described as wacky as hell - and it knows it. I mean, it is a story of Kanye West being asked by 50 Cent to get some oversized plushies in order so that they can save Queen Latifah. There is no explanation whatsoever for why each of these characters are named after these people, other than to add to the absurdity of it all. It pushes every single aspect of the story to the very edge of ludicrousy and beyond, and the viewer is left with the choice to either accept all the craziness or step away. I have to say, I was tempted to just back away on more than one occasion.

The first two episodes were interesting enough, but then it was pretty much downhill from there. I was bored with more episodes than I enjoyed, and I had to push myself to sit through most of them. The opening scene with Sento pinning Kanie to the wall with her gun and bluntly asking him to go to the amusement park with her was pretty good in that it caught my interest, and the initial scenes with the two of them at the park were pretty good as well, but after that my interest quickly waned. The only episode that I actually fully enjoyed (please note, this is not a spoiler!) was the one where the other park employees had to dress up as Kanie in a ridiculous outfit and pretend to be him, so he wouldn't lose his attendence at school, which ensued in some funny moments.

The story as a whole is mostly made up of what seems like random situations relating to the park employees, who are all magical creatures in the form of animal mascots, especially a hot-headed mouse more or less identical to the one seen in "Full Metal Panic!", a drunken, inappropriate sheep, and a perverted, pink kitten. There is also a bipolar shark, an autistic ferret, a level-headed dinosaur with glasses, a bunch of disfigured moles, a dragon for some reason, and some underwater pirates used as a some sort of halfway-point plot device. However, these characters are just not all the interesting, and their jokes get old very soon, so the parts of the story that focuses on them - which is, unfortunately, the main part - is, despite being completely wacko, rather trite.

Kanie and Sento are not that great characters, either, but I would much rather follow them and other human characters than I would the ludicrous mascots. Or, actually, I take that back, as it really is only Sento that I would rather follow. She might actually be the only decent character there is (although, it is kind of like being the best house in a terrible neighbourhood - not that wonderful, when you really think about it).

Also, I have no idea why Kanie actually had to be a high school student. It would make much more sense for him to be older, since he effectively takes on a full-time job. Plus, we don't really follow his school life at all. But apparently, every anime character out there just has to be a high school student, whether or not it makes any sense for the plot.

The best thing about this anime is, in my opinion, the artwork, which is (as expected from Kyoto Animation) superb. The character designs are great, the backgrounds are neat, and the colour sceme is fitting, lively and vibrant. The character designs of the human characters, namely Kanie and Sento, are especially well-done. In addition to being the only decent character, Sento is most certainly also the most appealing one. If you're into hot anime girls, she is almost reason enough on her own for you to pick up this anime. The designs of the mascot characters are pretty good as well and probably what made them at least tolerable. The sound is fine, but not great. The opening theme is pretty catchy, but other than that, there was nothing really special about the music or voice acting.

Overall, I wasn't very impressed with this anime, but I didn't hate it, either. I suppose this kind of weird mix of an attempt of a story of an arrogant high school kid trying to manage a park filled with inappropriate magical creatures just isn't my cup of tea. Watch this, if you want an anime that is in no way serious, has a silly premise, great art, and a hot heroine, and if you aren't bothered by a nonsensical story line, bad jokes, or a myriad of ludicrous mascot characters that take up most of the screen time with their anger, alcohol, and harassment problems. There are some good elements in this anime, but if you don't want to sit through a whole lot of wacky stuff, you'd probably be better off finding those good elements somewhere else.

I give this anime a 5/10 - it's watchable and had a few positive elements to it, but not much more than that.

Story about a high school guy who is drafted by the magical staff of a nearby amusement park to rescue it from financial ruin. I had high hopes for this story but it left me disappointed in so many ways. Very little of the premise makes sense. Few of the characters are very likeable, even the main character and his assistant. There is ample opportunity for romantic sub-plot to launch off, but it never happens. Instead the story laboriously plods on trying to make a ridiculous and boring plot work through 12 episodes. The one good thing about this ... story -- there is some very good humorous moments with the three mascots.

This is an anime you have to be in the right mood to watch. It has a unique story and interesting characters, although at times, the characters are a bit "too" unique. The comedy is overpowered by ecchi at times, but the plot is able to survive. It can get predictable at times, but that's the nature of anime like this. The animal characters are able to nail the comedy most of the time, but they make surprising and seemingly random perverse actions every now and then.

The show is worth a viewing, but again, if you're not in the right mood ... -for absurdity, comedy, and fan service- you won't make it past episode 1. The 13th episode is more like an OVA about "a day in the life."

Summary
Amagi Brilliant Park is an enjoyable and well structured, but unusual, slice of life show. With a diverse set of characters and some humorous moments, it tells a story well without cliches but never really a mounts to anything special or memorable.


Overview
The story kicks off at rapid pace and should have roped you in by the first episode. Seiya Kanie is an intelligent, but arrogant and narcissistic high achiever. Sento Izumi a somewhat cold and brash girl, who's interpersonal skills involve winning people over with violence. Izumu convinces Seiya to become the manager of the a failing amusement park - which is the home to ... many magical beings that live off peoples happiness.

Overall the plot, just revolves around Seiya making decisions to get the park back on track. This more often than not involves unexpected issues and how the characters learn to deal with this. Unfortunately the journey to success isn't remarkable by itself - in fact more note worthy is just the interactions between the charterers and dealing with the mild drama between themselves.

There are some brief moments where you think you will be given insight in to the backgrounds of the characters (aside from the two leads), but these are quickly glossed over in favour of melodrama - which is always conveniently wrapped in an episode meaning there is no time given to developing bigger story arcs or contributing depth to the story.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, and what you do get is still a well made and watchable show.

The show never really sets out to have a romantic element, however you are shown some moments shared by Seiya and Izumi, and it's a shame this never really amounts to anything more other than awkward glances or "things left unsaid", as both are genuinely interesting but under-developed characters. In fact, both are arguably great in what they do, but are flawed deeply on a personal level and this would've actually have a good premise to actually explore a relationship.

The end of the show has a pleasant lead into a series 2, but that seems unlikely to occur. The show however does end in a satisfying way

Conclusion
This is a straight forward, watchable slice of life anime about magical creatures trying to make a life for themselves in amusement park with the help of a self-centred, smart high school boy. It never really wows, or astounds, or leaves any memorable moments - but it doesn't falter either, and doesn't leave you feeling unfulfilled.

Note: The characterisations vary differently from the Light Novels and Manga, and

"Hey you, imma kidnap you now and force you to become a manager at mah Theme park i'm runnin' , it's so beat up not even a retarded child would come, you can't say no cuz imma shoot up yo face with this rifle i just pulled out of nowhere" You get all that?

Amagi brilliant park suffers tremendously from what you call cliches, OP protagonist, 'trigger happy girl who is a friend but has an interest on the protagonist', magic and friendship saves all. Yeah those kinds of cliches, the thing about this anime is that without the 3 hilarious mascots, it would be a ... terrible unwatchable anime, but thank god they exist!

Not really amazing, with the linear plot and story, but hey, it's a comedy. Comedy always gets away with everything, that's fine by me. In conclusion, this anime is worth the watch for the 3 animal mascots of the show, which are just gut-wrenching humorous. Everything else, eh........

***SPOILERS BELOW - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED***

Sōzen nariyamanu Music! tozashite ita kokoro hibiku

There’s exactly one way to tell if you’ve seen this anime before, and it’s if you know exactly where in the above line is the correct place to clap your hands. Amagi Brilliant Park is another one of Kyoani’s self-aware-almost-to-a-fault anime that laughs in the face of the fourth wall, and its absolutely shameless pop culture references such as the OP above are reminiscent of the studio’s earlier self-aware works such as K-On! and particularly Lucky Star. It also happens to be the studio’s second adaptation of a Shoji Gatoh work, the ... first being Full Metal Panic.

With that line already established at the beginning of the review, it’s only sensible to talk first about the show’s music. Like many other Kyoani works, the opening is fantastic and absolutely iconic: this is one of the few shows I’ve seen where skipping the OP is never an option. The ED is quite a bit more forgettable, but still above average, while the rest of the show’s soundtrack does not particularly standout but is never intrusively bad either.

Next let’s take a look at the art. To say that Kyoani has come a long way since their earlier Gatoh adaptations would be an understatement. Amagi suffers from none of the occasional animation quality lapses that afflicted Full Metal Panic, and it’s very clear to me that Takemoto really developed his more modern “color and light galore” style in Amagi that his work trended to toward the end of his life. Amagi has a few really brilliant frames, and in general the anime breezes through the art quality checklists. Even some of the frequent action scenes – such as Kanie and Moffle’s fistfights – lend themselves well to the comedic side of the show without being too jarring.

Disappointingly, the characters are more of a mixed bag and probably one of the show’s weakest points. Interestingly, I find both of the MCs to be quite strong: Kanie in particular avoids several of the industry’s most banal tropes by being neither a character your identify with nor a character you aspire to be. He is a narcissist, self-absorbed individual who unfortunately possess the smarts and aptitude to back up his egotistical person. Unlike so many other run-of-the-mill male protagonists, Kanie is unique in his unlikability, and that’s why I like him so much as a character. Next comes the other MC, Sento, who fortunately possesses the same sort of unlikeable uniqueness that behooves Kanie’s character. She is aggressive and unpersonable, and like her male counterpart comes off as self-seeking, going so far as to threaten Kanie at gunpoint and instill him with magical powers in a last-ditch effort to save her park. Yes, before you object, I know that both characters exhibit stereotypical tsundere qualities, and I’m not denying it, but I’m impressed with how nicely the pairing of two characters who literally only care about their own interests works in this show, particularly in the earlier episodes. And even though it is a comedy, the legitimate growth that both of the MCs experience throughout the course of the show when learning to respect and leverage each other’s unique strengths make it seem almost like the premise for a successful and uplifting drama. Almost, were it not for…

…the remainder of the cast. As much as I appreciate the uniqueness of the two main characters, I find the rest of the show’s figures lackluster. Princess Latifa is technically the third MC but possesses none of the unique qualities that set Kanie and Sento apart. She’s a typical “afflicted by some vague curse that grants her eternal youth” type of character, and unfortunately little more beyond that. Part of me wants to think that she only exists to create a weak love triangle, but the sheer absence of her character from any important parts of the already-almost-nonexistent plot make this a shaky assumption. I almost suspect her character exists entirely to give the series the typical “curse is broken yay” and further push the writer’s already-impressive self-criticism of the very genre they adapt in their fairy tale story, but as a character Latifa has relatively little to offer to the show.

The rest of the characters are perhaps worse. First of all – there takes a lot of people to run a theme park, and there’s a lot of them, ranging from the actual humans to the Maple Landers. And in somewhat uncharacteristic-of-Kyoani fashion, they are almost without exception flat, showing little in terms of character development. Again, perhaps this is a tribute back to the oh-so-true Lucky Star motif of the side characters fading into the background, but that purpose isn’t as obvious here. The rest of the cast is either only funny or only a bunch of perverts, without a whole lot of room in-between. And to expound some more on the second category would require its own section: the fanservice.

If you’ve seen my other reviews it’s pretty much clear that I’m not a fan of sexualization in anime for the sake of pleasing the audience. Now Kyoani has used it for more noble purposes in the past, such as to drive character development (see: Haruhi), or is mock the motif in anime as a media (see: Lucky Star), but such doesn’t seem to be the case in Amagi. Devoting not one but two (with several more sporadically) of the more prominent side characters to the sole purpose of making crude jokes and statements gets stale quickly. Amagi suffers from the same curse that afflicted the studio’s first adaptation of a Gatoh work in Fumoffu, with both Bonta-kun works showing so much comedic promise without the need to constantly sexualize its characters. It’s honestly kind of gross, and drops my rating (and watch-time…) of this show by a considerable amount.

Amagi Brilliant Park is first and foremost a comedy, and thankfully one that none of the show’s writers attempt to disguise as another mediocre drama or romance. And, when the show isn’t suffering from its typical “how do we pervert this” tendencies, it’s really funny. Perhaps a better way of phrasing it would be to say that Amagi is a fun anime to watch. Will you gain anything redemptive from its mainly-episodic storylines? A little – there’s a few episodes where the character development-thirsty side of the writers can’t help but show, and those are wonderful. But will you laugh? You better. And will you clap on-time during every OP? You don’t have a choice.

Introduction:
The wonderful animation Amagi Brilliant Park transports viewers to a fantasy amusement park that is overflowing with charm and wonder. Based on the light novel by Shoji Gatoh, this delightful anime combines aspects of comedy, fantasy, and romance to provide an unforgettable and engrossing experience.

Animations and Visuals:
Amagi Brilliant Park has excellent animation that beautifully depicts its vivid universe. From the vibrant and creative character designs to the exquisitely depicted amusement park scenery, the attention to detail is admirable. The park itself is a visual delight because to its imaginative attractions and surreal surroundings. The enchantment and wonder that permeate every picture draws viewers farther into ... the captivating world.

Characters:
The wide and endearing group of people in Amagi Brilliant Park is one of the show's finest points. Seiya Kanie, the mysterious protagonist, serves as the unifying force behind a cast of well-rounded, distinctive characters. Every character in the ensemble, from the adorable and determined Latifah Fleuranza to the cheeky and flamboyant Isuzu Sento, adds to the appeal of the anime. The character interactions are delightful to see since they build a strong sense of camaraderie and real emotional ties.

Stories and Themes:
Amagi Brilliant Park expertly combines drama, fantasy, and comedy to create engrossing plotlines. Seiya's attempts to prevent the amusement park from closing are at the center of the main narrative, which sets off a number of amusing and frequently unexpected occurrences. The anime addresses the concepts of friendship, cooperation, and the influence of dreams while doing it in a fun but thought-provoking way. The narrative has depth because to the combination of funny and touching scenes, which enables viewers to connect emotionally with the plot and the characters.

Sounds and Music:
The acoustic design in Amagi Brilliant Park is excellent and perfectly enhances the visual extravaganza. The superb voice acting portrayals perfectly capture the distinctive qualities of each character. A wonderful music for the anime also contributes to the overall ambiance. The background music and memorable opening and closing themes heighten the emotional impact of significant scenes and create an air of wonder and excitement.

Conclusion:
Amagi Brilliant Park is an anime that masterfully weaves fantasy, humor, and emotional storytelling into an engrossing experience. It provides a lovely escape into a realm of enchantment and entertainment with its gorgeous graphics, appealing characters, interesting narratives, and catchy music. Whether you enjoy humor, romance, or fantasy, you're guaranteed to enjoy this anime and walk away smiling. Let your imagination run wild as you enter the enchanted world of Amagi Brilliant Park.