Kagerou Daze: In a Day's

Who else /tohocinemasshinjuku/ here?

It would be more accurate to think of this as a thirty-minute preview for Mekakucity Reload than a movie. Jumonji is basically using this to try and convince people that they can do the Kagerou Project better than Shaft. And for the most part, I believe them.

Every aspect of this movie points to the fact that Jumonji is trying to perform a hard reset on the idea of a Kagerou Project anime. The character designs, for one thing, are notably different from how they were in Mekakucity Actors. There's the already-infamous Dorito chins, but Momo's hairstyle has changed completely, Konoha's hair is ... longer, Shintaro looks a bit older, Marry is now Mary, and everyone has narrower eyes. The voice actors are also different (I think), but most of the new ones are good. Seto's will take some getting used to, though.

As for the story, this is basically a reimagining of Jinzou Enemy/Mekakushi Chord. The basic premise of "Mekakushi-dan saves a department store from terrorists" hasn't changed, but the details of the Mekakushi-dan's counterattack are completely different. For one thing, Seto is there. Also, Hibiya, Hiyori, and Konoha are hanging around, and Shintaro takes a more active role in working with the Mekakushi-dan. Everyone gets a healthy amount of screentime, using their powers often.

Which brings me to my next point: this movie is for dedicated KagePro fans only. It expects you to know who the characters are and what their powers are. Newcomers, beware! This movie came off as an apology by Jumonji on Shaft's behalf for the abomination known as Mekakucity Actors. This new studio recognizes that fans didn't like seeing the exact same story as the songs for the majority of Actors, and their edits to Jinzou Enemy/Mekakushi Chord show that Reload is going to take the story in a different direction. Earlier I said that Jumonji is using this movie as a proving ground, and I think they succeeded. It's by no means an outstanding movie, but its animation shows that the studio has the technical skill to produce a competent KagePro anime. Jumonji's rewrites of the story show that they know how to breathe new life into the series, making me look forward to Mekakucity Reload.

As such, I give this movie a six out of ten.

It's nothing magnificent, but it's still good. Is it worth the 1800 yen it costs to see it? Uh... I don't know. That's kind of a lot for half an hour of content. Still, though, I enjoyed the experience.

Well I think this will be my shortest review (normal, it's just an "ova"), so let's get to the point.

I like Kagerou Project, I don't know if I could consider myself a "fan", but I really like it, the thing is that, despite that, it really hurt to see this ova (I will talk all the time, not like in the other reviews where I separate and analyze more deeply aspects of the ova).

First; the redesign of the characters is good, I could say that it is a way to mark distance from the original anime (Mekakucity Actors) and thus attract more attention, the colors ... are still distinguishable in the characters (not as much as in the original anime), but beyond that all good, does not change the essence of the character at all.

The point that falls most on this ova is the fact that; it is unnecessary and it makes no sense (or simply the events generate almost nothing of the plot's development), this is noticeable because they use the fact earlier in the plot to introduce more drama to a scene that, in the original series, It lasts 1 chapter and that is also set aside, so it can be deduced from the first moment that the events are irrelevant and just want to give more "flavor" to a normal moment in the anime.

Also the introduction is very abrupt and the animation does not accompany at all, in fact at the beginning the animation is quite clumsy when it tries to "play" to add more emotion or fluidity to the intrusion of terrorists in the mall, the animation also It falters throughout the ova, there was no great effort in truth (a special mention to the fact that apparently the Seiyus had a bad day, that would explain their demotivation and little effort to double the characters, also the fact that in some scenes the character's voice is heard, but his mouth does not move).

They tried to divide the prominence across the entire ova, resulting in a lot of nonsense throughout the ova, silly and illogical actions (such as when Seto and Hibiya try to save Hiyori), making the ova look much more silly than what in principle could be (oh and, as is the terrorist attack, the scenarios are very muted, all the scenarios seem the same and that makes it very boring, obviously the colors too).

The enemy seemed to have red eyes just like the protagonists, which in itself makes no sense, in the original plot makes it clear that there are only 10 snakes and breaks all logic and credibility the fact that a character appears with another snake.

The final scene was interesting, the fact that it is understood that the characters die in the explosion at the end complements the revelation of the reboot of the universe in the original series, at least there they made a good move.

Well, I said it was going to be short and so it was, I think it is clear my discontent in all aspects, thankfully I can still enjoy the other material, but without a doubt this is the worst related to Kagerou Project, if you want to complement or add something to the original anime, at least do it right, and if you don't intend to do it right (which is what I believe after seeing this ova) then do nothing, please

(Spoiler warning)
Hey! So to start this review off I wanna quickly talk about the misunderstandings of Kagerou Daze: In a Day's, This OVA is really misunderstood for what it is.

This isnt a 'Reboot' of Mekakucity actors, This isn't a set up for the next anime Mekakucity Reload, and no the villain isn't a new person with an eye ability.


Kagerou Daze: In a Day's is an OVA that is meant to be
1. More content for fans
2. A fun OVA that doesn't take itself as seriously as the other media of the Kagerou project however it is still connected to the project as just a ... separate route like any of the other media.
And to quickly clear up the misunderstanding of who the 'Villain' is, its still Clearing Eyes its just this time he's taken over a random terrorists body instead of Tateyama or Konoha.

Now that's out of the way!

In a day's is a 23 Minute long OVA that is the Terrorist attack scene from the
start of the story with some things changed, for one Hibya and Hiyori aren't dead yet meaning the 'Kagerou daze' events never happen and neither of them have eye ability's, All of the Mekakushi Dan are here unlike other telling's of this part of the story and finally the terrorists they fight aren't the normal ones like before, This time Clearing Eyes has taken one of them over.

Animation/Art style - To start of the animation is a bit odd with one of the first scenes looking really off, however other than that the animation is fine and doesn't take anything away from the story, The art style however is interesting. The Mekakushi Dan are all redesigned and I really like how they all look! They're all different and unique but you can tell who everyone is and they're still the same Mekakushi Dan as before just with a little redesign which isn't new for the Kagerou project as its gone through many art styles.

Story- As I said before its basically just the Terrorist attack scene but with some changes and it fits well in a 20min OVA, it's got its fair share of Kagerou project Easter eggs. Ene sings Yuukei yesterday which is cool and at the end of the OVA as they're all walking out of the mall and Shintaro's eyes start to glow bright red which of course is a tease/reference to his eye ability
'The Retaining Eyes'

Comedy: This OVA is really funny, The Mekakushi Dan's dynamic is still present and is as funny as ever and has its fair share of scenes that made me giggle and laugh. Konoha, Hibiya and Shin are the standouts in this OVA for overalls laughs however its more physical comedy and The Mekakushi Dan being the character they are more than actually cracking jokes.

Music- The music of course is still as amazing as ever, The main Theme of the OVA is named RED plays at the end of the OVA, The music overall really fits the OVA. The OST that plays at the start when the terrorist's start to attack is also really good and cuts at the perfect time.

Voice acting - The Voice acting is perfect, all the voices match the characters. I don't know if this is the same Voice cast as Mekakucity actors as I cannot find the voice cast for In a days at all however the voice acting amazing and they all sound perfect.

Overall- In a days is a bunch of fun, however this is coming from a person who's seen the entire Kagerou project. This OVA isn't a good start to the project nor is it a follow up to Mekakucity actors, If you already know the characters and story of the Kagerou project and just want something fun that doesn't take itself to seriously then you'll adore In a days. If you go into In a days expecting it to be more than it actually is you'll be disappointed.

9/10

I've watched Mekakucity Actors back in 2015 and I liked it. I gave it a 7/10.
This short film is a waste of 20 minutes that I will try to help you avoid.


Animation:
1) When there's no "camera" movement, everything is okay. Not good but okay. However, when it simulates movement, it fails spectacular at it. It looks horrible.


Sound:
1) the soundtrack is nice
... 2) the seiyuus are the same and they're perfect at what they do


Story:
1) Stuff happens at a mall and there's no chance to get immersed and enjoy the characters or the action because the visuals are terrible and not a single bad guy acts in a believable way, even if they're under the influence of another person.


Stay away, don't bothter with this film. Go watch Mekakucity Actors if you haven't already and don't let those memories get stained by this poor excuse of a movie. 3/10