Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?

Despite the description, this anime isn't about a damaged man becoming a father figure to a bunch of cute, tragic little girls. It's about a forced romance between the adult male lead and a 15 year old main girl. It's masked as a father/daughter kind of relationship in the beginning, which only fuels my rage about it being turned into a romance that has the chemistry of drinking toothpaste with orange juice.

What I assumed to be the core conflict of the series was the issue of using children as expendable weapons. In the end that didn't seem to be the case as the issue was ... solved in less than an episode, with the main character going "don't do it" and that's pretty much it.

Then there was the conflict of the main girl leaving for battle. It was obvious from the start that they wouldn't kill her off there but the fact that she was brought back not only within the very same episode as the death fake-out, but RIGHT AFTER the main character gets the news of her possible death. Their inability to hold the suspense for at least a single damned episode is cheap to say the very least.

Art style is beautiful and the world-building had potential, all wasted in a story that is unable to focus on the aspects that would have truly been interesting to see develop further. All in all the anime is an unfocused mess that could have been great, had it not been for the whole forced romance plotline.

When a new anime season comes around; consumers of all tastes keep their eyes peeled for new fresh blood that can potentially have an impact on them and become a new favourite. As years have been going by it’s been getting harder and harder to spot potentially good shows as generic titles embracing the mediums current tropes are flooding the seasonal charts and no signs suggest this will stop anytime soon. So when something comes around with a premise that highlights potential, it’s understandable that people would get excited for it, especially if the source material has an existing fan base who are spreading around ... exhilaration for the adaptation. I am also one such consumer who looks out for potentially interesting shows that can stand out. I had my eyes peeled at an anime that I really thought could have been good. The production values were there, the premise was there, the potential was there. But as per normal with a lot of anime nowadays; the execution was not quite there. So this anime gets the honour of a review dedicated to how it missed the mark. And what is this special anime? Enter Sukasuka. A light novel adaptation that could have been good; except it wasn’t.

Sukasuka had a nice set of ideas to become a good light novel adaptation. But the foundations weren’t set right; the characters being the first problem. With a multitude of characters introduced in the first few episodes, the show should have explored them all a little more thoroughly to bring its themes to life. Furthermore, some side characters introduced in the latter half of the show lacked any authenticity and served only as plot devices for information on the plot without playing active roles as proper characters that can serve the themes and story. The setting also had a lot of potential for some exploration on issues such as child soldiers, war, conspiracy and potentially other themes relating to the situation that the anime presented. There were plenty of instances where some side characters had potential to be explored to support the larger narrative and the setting, but the show opted to go for a more passive take on fantasy conflict by attempting to depict a romance between the two protagonists which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It could have given it a unique edge against other anime in its genre that all rely on action as their main appeal to attract an audience, but it’s unfortunate that the romance between the protagonists was poorly illustrated.


From the very first scene in the anime, the main male character Willem conveniently stumbles upon the main female character Chytolly and within an instant they go on a date together. From the beginning of the anime their relationship began on a forced note making it already feel unnatural as both characters fell for each other far too quickly and it could have benefitted the story more had the progression of their love felt natural and realistic. In effect, this makes the development between them not as engaging as it could have been and took away emotional value in later events. What also doesn’t help the case is Chytolly’s overabundance of emotional breakdowns which led to a lot of excessive melodrama that came off as unwarranted and annoying rather than genuine emotion that could also have made for some touching scenes if they weren’t excessive and had the romance being good enough for me to care. The only sort of silver lining the romance between the protagonists has is some of the quirky dialogue the two share that managed to at least put a little smile on my face and it was quite endearing to see, but overall it’s clear to see that the romance could have been portrayed with more care and its clumsiness is clearly visible.


In contrast to the side characters, both of the protagonists as individual characters were fleshed out and developed. Each with their own dilemmas and this is the only worthy praise that I will give sukasuka excluding the audio-visuals. Chytolly’s and Willem’s traumas tied in with the central themes of the show and were also used as a way to reflect their progression to mutual love. As they got closer to conquering their ordeals, the more they fell in love with each other. Also the subject matters of happiness, finding a place to call home, fighting for people you love and loosely family were all present as themes in sukasuka. They were all expanding upon and depicted thoroughly enough to make the backstories of the protagonists engaging. Its execution in this department was rather straight forward but satisfactory enough to get a pass mark. Everything the show aims to accomplish is brought together in a thematic sense and the relationship between the mains hits a surprisingly enjoyable and well produced emotional climax. But once again; its lack of care in the romance department hindered the emotional impact of the ending a little and it could have been far more emotionally gripping had the romance been depicted better.


The setting itself is what showed the most potential in sukasuka out of all its features. World-building is of utmost importance in a fantasy anime. In a story that doesn’t take place in the world we know today, viewers have to be informed through the plot how the world works, how people in the world interact, the lore of the world and more. Sukasuka wasn’t completely devoid of world building. On the surface level it had established an interesting world that set the stage for a tragic story. The tragic backstory of the protagonist Willem was also tied in with the lore of the world to provide some much needed synergy between the characters and the setting, especially in a show that was lacking any sort of connection between the world and its characters. What ultimately let the show down in this department was not using the full potential that its setting provided. It set the stage for some potential theme exploration on controversial topics that would have made for an interesting experience. The group of children Willem has been tasked to care for are all ancient weapons fielded off to face the enemy and misleads the audience into thinking this would be a very important plot point for the anime, but due to the direction the anime took this plot point was sidelined. As a result the show spent time on cheaply telling the audience on the dilemmas faced by the children rather than showing many consequences as a result of them being used as weapons of war.

By far the best element of Sukasuka was the beautiful OST which was used to perfection. Placed in important and impactful scenes to heighten emotional impact and never overused to make the soundtrack feel redundant. Both the OP and ED were a pleasure to listen to and even work well as standalone listeners at any time. Alongside the audio the visuals also thrived. The show had a nice clear and neat colour palette that was exquisite to look at. The character designs were quite generic in appearance but were drawn neatly and attractive. Backgrounds were up to standard and the animation was quite good at times during some of the fight scenes.

This anime certainly isn’t an outright calamity. Compare it to most anime that air today and it will look like a gem to recent catastrophes like Eromanga-sensei. The ideas were all there. Under the hands of a more competent and experienced writer the show could have flourished into a fine fantasy anime. Yet it never set the foundations well enough for all of its ideas to wholly blossom which is a shame considering the show did have good intentions. Under the rubble it still has some merits to take away, and it’s these positives that set this anime apart from the vast majority of light novel adaptations that are pumped out consistently every season. It is fully recommendable to hard core fantasy anime fans or just casual fans looking for an anime that offers some easily digestible entertainment. But it is instantly passible for experienced fans that are demanding more out of the medium than a simple romance story that isn’t competent enough to do a satisfying job and would turn out rather average for those people. Sukasuka is not a bad show. But it simply has far too many shortcomings to be considered a success story.

Alright, a warning: this review will involve minor spoilers, if you want to go in fresh, then I would stop reading this now, but I would argue that this spoiler will help you have a better idea of what you're getting into and will probably help you enjoy it if you choose to watch.

TL;DR Shuumatsu is an anime that tries to do a few things at once and doesn't quite succeed at any of it. While none of the elements are critical failures at an objective level, they contradict each other and create problems. If you are looking for a fluffy show with bright colours ... and a happy story then you will be disappointed. If you are looking for a more action oriented fantasy about struggle then you will be disappointed. If you are looking for a full tragedy then you will be disappointed. I think the best chance one has of enjoying this is to only be in the moment with this show. Ignore the artwork, ignore what other people say what it's about, ignore your expectations and just accept it moment by moment. If you can accomplish that, then you can enjoy this. I think that's how other people did.

I didn't.

From here on are spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.


We get our set up: Willem, the male protagonist, is a lone survivor of the human race in a distant post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. While humans are long extinct and the surface of the world inhabited by apocalyptic doom monsters, the world is still inhabited by beast-races and fantasy races that live on flying islands above the surface. Unfortunately, doom monsters still rise from the surface to attack the islands. To defend themselves, the beast races must use the legendary swords left behind by the Brave Heroes of the human race and the ONLY ones who can wield these swords are young girls called leprechauns which are kept by the military as living weapons.


Oh, and the girls finish off the monsters by blowing themselves up using the swords.

Yeah.

Willem then becomes these girls' caretaker and what follows is a sombre story filled with pops of daily life and harsh battles as we get to know the girls and one by one come to lose them...

...is what you'd think. Instead what we get is a slice of life story. Willem takes care of the younger girls, supports the older girls, cleans, bakes and gets flirted with by the oldest leprechaun and female lead, Ctholly. He also tunes the swords properly. As it turns out he is actually one of the Brave Heroes that used the legendary swords in the past and thus knows how to use them without destroying the wielder. He teaches the girls how to use them as well as fight and the story turns into one of triumph over the odds, peppered with slice of life moments...

...is what you'd think. Instead, we get both of those. Sort of. The result is both bizarre and largely unsatisfying. We get long scenes and stretches of multiple episodes with characters baking and cleaning happily, punctuated by battles that take place either entirely offscreen or only appear for 30 seconds at a time. However, the build up to these battles paints them as though they were major conflicts that would define the series, creating disappointment when one actually gets to them and they are both short and have no lasting impact. The series drips in tragic foreshadowing and time and again it seems as if we're going to to lose one of the characters either to battle, accident, side effect of military maintenance, or degradation of the mind. Yet each time, everyone comes out fine. Not just fine, but perfectly healthy and happy. This happens repeatedly throughout the show: They'll foreshadow a loss or tragedy and constantly have the characters be completely uninhibited. After a time, all the tension loses its charm. Yet, at the same time it keeps the dread in the background so enjoying the slice of life scenes to their fullest becomes tainted.

In short, it's a show that keeps promising that if you just watch a liiiiiittle more, something big is going to happen, and then it almost never does. This is compounded by the fact that when serious situations occur, people don't treat them as they should. Willem has a complex about saving people. At the same time, another character is - without going into too many details - struck ill. There is a ticking clock counting down on the character until the illness progresses so much that the character is destroyed. There is one item that Willem thinks of that can halt this process. He figures out where it is but instead of he and the character attempting to get it as soon as possible, they encounter a roadblock...and then they all proceed to wait patiently for the roadblock to pass and have a cute Christmas celebration.

That's it.

No one attempts to think of another solution. No one really chomps at the bit. Nothing. It gives the audience a mixed message: Is this a big deal or not? It becomes hard to tell, which means it becomes hard to engage with the major events of the plot. This happens repeatedly and then compounds until, by the time episode 12 rolls around and things DO become tragic, any investment in the show has a good chance of being long since evaporated.

Finally, in terms of pacing, the entire thing feels chaotic, with cute scenes of baking, cleaning or ecchi massages coming during tense build ups to life and death situations. As I said, the effect is bizarre.


Of course, your mileage will vary.

Story gets a 3/10. The elements are THERE to make it good but they are put together so chaotically that all of the shows themes and powerful elements end up muted and confused. Sometimes even agitating.

Art gets a 7/10. It was pretty, but not in any fashion that set it apart from most modern bright shows.

Sound gets a 7/10. The music often fades into the background but can sometimes enhance a scene very well. The use of Scarborough Fair is excellent both times it is used and the OP is not my cup of tea for the most part. Oddly enough, the OP is a good summary of the show: For the most part it is this J-Poppy song but for a brief period it just ROCKS OUT which is kinda like how the show has a tiny bursts of action floating in this endless soup of other stuff.

Characters gets a 6/10. Over the course of the show I felt that they had the bones of good characters but I only felt I got to know them in the latter parts of episode 12, and by then it was far too late. I feel that if more time had been spent on diving into the characters, their pasts and their actions rather than the slice of life stuff earlier, then the characters would have been better realized. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Enjoyment gets a 1/10. This show made me very salty (yeah, I know) and I was agitated for most of the time I watched it passed a certain point. Essentially nothing happened for the longest period of time. That was the problem. It kept hinting that something would happen, only for the story to continue plodding along with no urgency or changes.

Overall 4/10. It had good moments and good ideas, but put together in such a fashion that only served to weaken them.

And there's Shuumatsu. It had the makings of a great tragedy. It had the makings of an post-apocalyptic action fantasy. It had the makings of a sweet romance and it had the makings of a cute slice of life. However, by doing all of these elements at once and put together so chaotically? I found it weakened them all.

That being said, if you stick to it and ignore ANY expectations you have and just enjoy it by a scene by scene basis until you get to the end? You might have a good time.

I didn't, but I hope you do.

SukaSuka, to my mind, is an anime that lacks a personality. Both its writing and execution lazily follow hackneyed recipes, which prevents it from being anything else than a juxtaposition of dull tropes and plot devices.

This review will delve into the main reasons why I found it very difficult to get immersed in SukaSuka's story, or even to simply take it seriously.
The most evident one, which I mentioned a bit already, pervades every level of the anime; it is the fact that the plot, worldbuilding and characters of the show all correspond to commonplaces of generic light novel adaptations. For instance, all the members ... of the main cast strictly follow archetypes like the tragic tsundere, the outgoing neko girl, or the overpowered protagonist most female characters end up in love with. The characters' personalities are justified by the plot, though not always very convincingly, but they cruelly lack something that would humanize them. Their actions, designs, and their voice acting, which is especially trite, are so clichéd that they make it nearly impossible to suspend one's disbelief and see those characters as anything else than mere plot devices. The often out of place otaku-bait that are the couple of borderline hentai scenes and Ithea's metatextual jokes undermine any suspension of disbelief even more, and are representative of another one of SukaSuka's writing issues: its lack of coherence.

Indeed, the anime's plot is both full of holes and extremely unequally distributed between the episodes. It generally is developed through some unclear and heavy exposition scenes, and most of it is only explained in the penultimate episode. Consequently, during most of the anime, it is impossible for viewers to really grasp what is happening to the characters, as they don't yet know the rules that govern their world. Therefore, each new plot point feels like it comes out of left field and lacks a logical explanation, which damages the sense of continuity and the solidity of the narrative. The main female character, Chtolly, also acts and thinks very inconsistently; her personality changes from scene to scene in a way that is jarring and hard to believe.

A lot of these inconsistencies can be attributed to a wish from the writer to create dramatic tension at all costs. As a matter of fact, none of the anime's ideas and themes are really explored, as it limits itself to scenes that aim at causing an emotional reaction in the viewers. Even when one looks at it in hindsight, SukaSuka's story doesn't make much sense: its historical context and its magic system seem like they exist only to justify the fact that children are used as weapons, that the main characters are special and that they find themselves in tear-jerking situations despite being overpowered. The romance between the two protagonists is as banal and mawkish as it is unrealistic, and only adds to the impression that the show's writing is deplorably superficial.

On top of having a weak plot, SukaSuka suffers from inept execution. In particular, the arrangement of its different scenes doesn't allow for the building of a harmonious atmosphere. In addition to the fact that the scenes that contain essential information for the story are often given less attention than insignificant ones, they follow one another extremely abruptly without there being a sense of cohesion between them. The exposition, whose role is crucial in any story to establish a sort of author-reader contract, is by far the worse part of the series: it haphazardly mixes tones and juxtaposes different commonplaces and techniques, which for the majority of them never reappear again. This tendency to clumsily blend different kinds of atmosphere is a recurring feature of the anime, which is at its worst at the end of episode two, when a scene which is supposed to be sad and emotional is immediately followed by an especially distasteful fan service moment. The presence of fillers even though the series is only twelve episodes long goes to show how badly its screen time was allocated.

From a presentation standpoint, SukaSuka is not the worst of series, but it doesn't really shine either. Its cinematography varies from generic mediocrity to incompetence, its average OST is used in a cheesy manner that participates in its poor handling of ambiance, and most of its designs are uninspired. Those of the animal-people, evil beasts and flying boats are awful, but those of the main characters as well as the setting are about passable.

As for the dialogues, they are dreadfully bad: not only are they stereotypical and devoid of any aesthetic concern, but they also waste an incredible amount of time making references to things both the characters and the viewers already know, without elaborating on them. Sometimes, they also do the opposite by hinting at things or mentioning subjects so vaguely that one only ends up equally if not more confused after the dialogue than before.

To put it in a nutshell, SukaSuka is not an interesting anime. It doesn't seem to truly understand the codes and tropes it is made of and handles them in an amateurish manner, to such an extent that it sometimes feel insulting. It has no soul, no depth, no originality, there is no reason to watch it.

This anime has great visuals and a good story too but it lacks so much in the character development these characters are like pieces of paper that's how bad they are. as well as the fact your sitting there waiting for the main character Male to actually do something they talk about how he was a human brave and such but never show him fight ever he is one of the stereotypical beta MC's. He is said to be a bad ass before he was Frozen but no he isn't hes a big puss. Don't watch if you want a MC that actually isn't a ... pussy.

Is the earth really flat? Is this worth my time? Should light novels have really long titles?

Lame story.

Art could be better.

Didn't really enjoy it.

40% (Extra Generosity Included).

... This is a personal opinion.

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Story was lame, only thing interesting is the guy and his old friends. Other than that, It was highly predictable and kinda boring.

Art was near acceptable, a couple of tunes here and there could give it a 6.5, especially the colors.

Worse than the story characters are beyond boring -and predictable- I mean could they have a bit more personality? And not just be like boring anime characters.

As for enjoyment, I liked the setting, other than that I fell asleep half way watching.

WorldEnd had so much potential to be great. However, it suffered from being rushed and failing to fully flesh out characters and the world in a sensible manner. This prevented me from ever actually feeling emotionally connected with the characters. Supposedly the Light Novel is much better so I would suggest reading that FIRST as it actually explains everything without gaping plot holes. The anime is better served as eye candy for the people who understand the author's original vision.

The anime wasn't so bad that I dropped it, I actually quite enjoyed what made sense in the story, some of the characters were likable, there ... was some really wonderful dialogue, and the animation and sound quality were decent. However, because I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, many parts, especially the ending, felt forced and awkward. Hopefully one day they remake this into the dramatic masterpiece it could have been.

Overall summary
From storytelling prespectives, it is great at the start but I do not appreciate any form of cliffhanger in any story. I understand this anime just a promo for LN but at least put some teaser or breaker episode at the end.

Story
The story is quite good.It keeps me entertained enough untill horrible cliffhanger at the end. Thats is my only problem with the anime.

Character
Typical weak and cringey male MC that past his best time paired with OP waifus.

Art
I dont worry too much about art when it comes to anime except kid type stuff.