Akanesasu Shoujo

The urban legend of the 4:44 ritual consists of using a radio player to produce frequencies in front of the Akeyuki Sacred Tree at exactly 4:44, transporting people to a different dimension.

When Asuka Tsuchimiya and her friends—Nana Nanase, Mia Silverstone, Yuu Tounaka, and Chloe Morisu—decide to perform this ritual as an activity of the Crystal Radio Research Club, they are shocked when the ritual works. The five travel to a parallel world, known as a fragment, where they meet an unsettlingly familiar girl—Asuka's parallel-world self. This Asuka is dubbed as Seriouska due to her serious attitude and capability to fight.

Seriouska tells them about the great danger that faces all the parallel worlds, the Twilight. As it strips the parallel worlds of all of its possibilities, Seriouska seeks the death of the man behind the Twilight, the Twilight King, to stop his onslaught over the multiverse.

Akanesasu Shoujo follows the five girls as they learn to accept their true selves, all the while searching for the Twilight King. However, the solution to the invasive Twilight might be closer than they think.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tsuchimiya, Asuka Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Silverstone, Mia Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Nanase, Nana Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Morisu, Chloe Main

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Tounaka, Yuu Main

Lynn Japanese

Hyouseki, Saro Supporting

Katsuki, Masako Japanese

Makusuda, Annie Supporting

Kubo, Yurika Japanese

Hazama, Jin Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Yamanashi, Mayuki Supporting

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Chinami, Tomoya Supporting

Kawanishi, Kengo Japanese

Nakamura, Shinichi Producer

Matsuda, Hiromi Producer

Kojima, Tsutomu Producer

Takadera, Yuutarou Producer

Reviews

Dec 17, 2018

Rachiba

Recommended

* Please, I ask you to take the trouble to read my point of view on this series . SPOILERS ALERT*

In recent years, the industry has endeavored to make adaptations of fairly cheap works or create their own, also influencing those commercial works, with the purpose of making money. The last thing usually tries to show a premise that was "original", under the concept that these types of works are not directly adapted from other works (But, I emphasize again, they have an influence of other series). There are original series that, if well received by popular opinion, end up becoming a franchise that includes ... adaptation to a manga, light novel, video games, toys, etc.

From the series that I am going to talk about, it is about one that decided to be a franchise from the beginning, taking the risk of being or not received by public opinion.

In mid-May, the launch of an anime called "Akanesasu Shoujo" was announced. When the Previews, I really did not get my attention because I just thought that the premise was quite boring (Secondary Girls doing a ritual, seeing the word "Girls" was evident that the main purpose was to attract the viewer), besides that previously that I had experiences with harem/ecchi series where the cast was dominated mainly by the female sex. I had high expectations that the series was going to have a high content of ecchi and fanservice with the excuse that the main cast were girls (And yet I decided to watch the series on the first day of its premiere).

I was wrong.

Akanesasu Shoujo (The Girl of the Twilight) tells the life of five students in the fictional city of Akeyuki, among them is Asuka Tsuchimiya, a very energetic, extroverted and very positive girl who, after finding an urban legend on the Internet, decides to drag to her four friends to the Sacred Tree of Akeyuki, to do the so-called "Ritual of 4:44", which is said that "Using a player capable of generating frequencies, in front of the Tree, if the ritual is done at 4 o'clock: 44, it can take you to a dimension other than ours. " At first, this fails, but because of things of destiny, the girls decide to do it with a correct frequency until finally they are led by an apocalyptic world of Akeyuki. It is from there that our four girls know the Asuka of the other dimension (Serioasuka), and there begins the adventures of these four students.

At first, the series presents a problem with the start of the frame. Although the first three episodes give you an idea of ​​what the series is basically, are just the first three episodes where the anime is wobble too much and makes the viewer easily bored. The archetypal personalities of the girls and the quality of animation presented put salt to the wound, and it is simply these three factors that make this series seem to go to the lowest of the average quality of the anime.

So, why do I give it such a high score of 9/10?

Although its beginning was quite awkward, Akanesasu Shoujo quickly presented a particular formula that, although it did not work in the first three episodes, when the fourth premiered, the aesthetics of the series began to change at an overwhelming rate. The series began to take lightly of other sorts like the "Comedy" and the "Mahou Shoujo", for example, and began to reinforce a little the sort "Action" and "Sci-fi".

In some things I felt that this formula went with some random things. However, this made the series begin to have a narrative quality quite impressive than expected. The humor of the series, during the first half of the series and the beginning of the other half, made the plot of the series balanced and makes the viewer entertain with the stupidities that arise between the girls and their selves of other dimensions ; at the same time that the plot began to mature and little by little it became as serious as possible.

However, something that really should be considered spectacular and wonderful are the last episodes of the series. I will not say much because it would be spoilers:

After having about 5 episodes full of humor and youthful fun, the series little by little becomes darker, taking basic elements of "Suspense" and "Drama", which makes the spectator stay alert of what is going to happen. The narrative presented in these last episodes is perfect and generates a big blow to the heart of what you expected. To complement this, the genre "Romance" goes surreptitiously between these last two genres, even if you are a person quite critical of anime, it is impossible for you not to feel that cliffhanger that is gradually generating the series.

As for the cast, I said from the beginning that they maintain an archetypal stance. This, in part, is true. Both in appearance and in the way you behave, it is nothing different compared to other series clichés. We have a protagonist who is hyperactive and full of optimism; to the "student of honor" who tries to stop the stupidities of the protagonist; a shy girl whose personality makes her look cute; a girl with mad hormones; and a girl with a cold and lonely character.

However, as the series progresses, the one-dimensional character of the cast begins to move away from them, and we can witness how little by little their history and personality begin to be quite detailed. Naturally, who would receive more development would be Asuka Tsuchimiya. However, this does not mean that the rest of the cast is left behind. In each arc a brief history is dedicated to each girl, her past and the reason for which they met Asuka; The evolution of girls is also a way of criticizing the most common personalities in anime stereotypes. Nana, the girl must have been the crazy hormones, wants to be an independent woman and not be submitted to any man; Mia, who is supposed to be the beautiful and shy girl, wants to be a person who fights for justice; and Chloe, cold and lonely, wants to be more with her friends. As for Yuu, this character who seems to be Asuka's annoyance during the whole series, also shows a very interesting evolution, which involves her relationship with the other girls and their feelings. The proof of this is in alternate I, which Asuka calls "Ero-Yuu", due to her daring personality with the original Asuka and at the same time something corrupted.

However, of all of them, from which I take off my hat is Mia Silverstone. I will just tell you that she is one of the reasons why Akanesasu Shoujo began to improve in narrative quality. On the other hand, I was a little surprised by who makes the voice of Chloe Morisu is from Inoue Marine.

One of the most surprising details of this anime is that although Akanesasu Shoujo presents a premise that gives us many obvious ideas of what is going to happen, in reality these break with all the expectations we thought of this series. I'm not saying that the cliché is not present, on the contrary, Akanesasu Shoujo takes advantage of this resource to make us believe an idea of ​​how predictable the plot can be, and then ends up executing the plot in a way that we could never think of in this series. What I'm saying is that the series uses the cliché to make fun of it, and make fun of us, which we have already experimented with certain series of this theme, such as Mahou Shoujo, for example. The execution of the script is masterful and, I repeat the above, do not neglect any of the main cast. Except that the series presents a gag to Asuka's ass and a beach episode Akanesasu Shoujo does not depend much on the fanservice as we thought; And still, these details do not hinder the plot, instead, it gives them an unexpectedly humorous touch.

The arcs of the series are interesting to see and connect with the personality of each protagonist, respectively, making the series show a small critique of the archetypal personality that these girls initially presented. Additionally, Akanesasu Shoujo also uses references of Western films and series to give him a satirical approach, doing parody to it either through some quotes said by the protagonists, or the way they are expressed in general.

To finish this section, I will say that labeling them as "Three-dimensional" would be an exaggeration for the girls. But they comply with all the traits of being "Bidimensional", and practically comes close to being "Three-Dimensional" if not because the series has only twelve episodes. Amazing.

Let's talk about the animation: Both Jumonji, who just debuted as his first production, and DanDelion, which the latter are also responsible for the CGI used in this series, leave much to be desired. No, I do not say that the animation is a mess, it is simply that the graphic portrayed in the characters has great ups and downs. Although the design of the protagonists are good, there are moments when the artistic quality falls to the lowest, be it in the way in which it focuses on the girls, like the details given to them when they are near or far from the viewer, and even There are some movements of the girls that seemed abnormal to me.

The good thing is that the series presents a palette of pretty good colors. The most recurrent scenarios of Akeyuki were very detailed and colorful, in contrast to the way in which the characters were drawn. Personally, I liked the Twilight scene, although it seemed simple, the saturation of yellow, and the almost destroyed buildings, complemented by those yellow snowflakes, gave it a rather apocalyptic approach.

The CGI is more decent, and was used mostly in fight scenes. I liked the choreography used in the combats between the protagonists and the so-called "Clutters", as also the designs of their costumes when they were transformed were striking. The special effects used when the characters used their weapons were good. The only thing is that these fight scenes hardly lasted two minutes, however, they were still quite entertaining in the eyes of the viewer. Anyway, the fights were something subjective.

As for soundtrack, Akanesasu Shoujo presents a varied OST, where J-Pop is dominant. The way in which the music was performed in the great majority of the scenes was well done, and it fit with the duration of the scene. However, at first I felt that the anime repeated the same series of songs in very specific scenes; however, as it progressed, the musical quality began to resonate and vary in different environments.

Between those that we can emphasize we have "444 ~ Four Forty-Four ~" interpreted by MiChi, that previously had been the interpreter of the Opening of Dagashi Kashi, used frequently in the scenes of the battle, be with the voice of the singer or only the instrumental, and, as the name suggests, refers to the "Ritual of 4:44", with a series of violins taking the melody of the song, giving it a focus of hope and motivation in the battles of the girls.

Regarding the opening theme, we have "Soranetarium" played by the same singer. A J-Pop song that mixes moved elements of electronic music, plus a series of violins playing dramatically, complemented by the singer's thick tone, gives it a very serious and powerful approach contrasted with the theme, for the most part comic, of the series. As for the ending, we have "Kowarekake no Radio" played by Ami Wajima, a pop ballad that takes a relaxed and somewhat nostalgic rhythm, personally.

CONCLUSION

"Are you looking for a series on parallel worlds and / or time travel?"
"Are you looking for a group of girls who live rare adventures and stupid situations?"
"Are you looking for a series that manages comedy and drama together?"

Well, maybe I'm not the right person to recommend this series. His story is simple, his characters are cliché, art is regular and music is a decent j-pop. All Akanesasu Shoujo is merely a cliche. However, it is a cliche that the series knew how to take advantage of from beginning to end; It was maturing narratively and we see how these characters begin to have a great relevance. Despite the setback he had at the beginning, Akanesasu Shoujo knew to go back to a pace too fast, and failed to neglect any detail in the plot (If so, it will only be an open end).

I, personally, enjoyed this series too much. Although most of the plot was not taken very seriously, there were times when the anime left you with the heart beating sharply due to the strongest scenes, sentimentally, or those that left you in uncertainty of what was going to happen.

Akanesasu Shoujo is far from being a masterpiece, but I'm sure it's the biggest surprise of this season. Outside the comedy, this series takes into account the thoughts and feelings of the protagonists, probably the message they want to give us this series is how we should move forward, towards the future, thanking that we have friends and family in whom we can tell if We are going through a personal problem. It is what I think.

I'm probably giving a high note to a series full of eccentricities and a potential rarity, but I really congratulate the seiyuu for being able to properly manage their characters; to the direction to resolutely resolve the script of the series and the good OST shown throughout the series. Pretty spectacular.

And, ending here, I invite you to witness that sky tinged with intertwined veins of resplendent gold and jet black, which we call Twilight.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 17, 2018

LegendAqua

Mixed Feelings

To be honest, LA picked up Akanesasu Shoujo because Nao Touyama was in it. But even so, is Akanesasu Shoujo any good?..well...

Akanesasu Shoujo has a quirky premise to it, that of the Crystal Radio Club that Asuka Tsuchimiya viced by Tomoyo Kurosawa started. They do a ritual every now and again of chanting some gibberish with a cassette player and random frequencies and expect things to happen, however one time they do and they are transported to a parallel world but is plagued by yellow bunnies...that bite. From then on, Asuka and the Radio Club becomes intrigued and goes to other parallel worlds where a ... bigger plot lies, that of the King of Twilight that destroys worlds using those yellow bunnies or Noizies and humanoid version known as "Clutter".

Now Akanesasu Shoujo for the better part of half the anime, Akanesasu Shoujo follows a character focused arc as it were with the members of the Radio Club. Like Nana Nanase voiced by Ami Koshimizu and her dilemma and problems with her stepfather and what that does to her as a person, Mia Silverstone voiced by Nao Touyama, wanting to have the courage and be a hero but she's always been painted as a shy girl that can't do action because of her surface-level personality barring her, Chloe Morisu voiced by Marina Inoue known for being a loner and thinking that's her most efficient yet actually longs for friends once Chloe came into contact with Asuka and finally Yuu Tounaka voiced by Lynn who puts on a facade and yet one of her alternate self is anything but that. Oh yeah there's alternative versions of the characters, being an anime setting with parallels worlds it's to be expected. There are only two however due to this, Sexy Yuu and Seriousuka based on an alternative Asuka who's able to fight the Twilight.

Each of the character arcs follows with their character development but it always ends in the character focused in the arc in question to fight and defeat a Clutter that is plaguing their alternative worlds before that Clutter swallows that world in Twilight rinse and repeat...it's formulaic but it makes sense as each of the main cast and their dilemma's in the real world taken a different form in an alternative world and once they awaken their "Twilight Selves" they not only get superpowers that reflect their problems but they also self-improve as a result due to how the Clutter links with the character in question's dilemma and thus the character in question defeating the Clutter has a narrative meaning. LA's favourite character however did become Mia by default, however LA did have a bit of relatablity with Chloe by the end of the series, while Asuka probably gotten the longest and most development of all the main cast but that is both because of her screentime and being the main protagonist.

The bigger plot of Akanesasu Shoujo hits near the final 3 episodes and changes from it's usual character focused arcs (in a ways) and really digs deep into some plot twists and spoilers of what and who the King of Twilight is and how this links to both Asuka as well as Asuka's lost brother to all this and it gets crazy yet sane in a ways, yes sure alternative worlds, alternative selves and whatnot but it still makes sense by the end of it. Overall the plot is decent, slightly formulaic but the character development helps ALOT to all this to the bigger picture of Akanesasu Shoujo.

In terms of animation by DandeLion Animation Studio and Jumonji. See DandeLion Animation Studio are the one sin charge of the 3D CGI, YUP , this anime implements it in, mostly when the girls transform into their twilight selves and it's janky yet fluid. Janky through how clashing to the background the 3DCGI is, BUT the action and fighting is oddly fluid, it's a weird balance but it kinda works. The character designs and backgrounding for the anime was actually pretty decent, both DandeLion and Jumonoji were in the animation for this and being a joint venture...well it worked out. Overall, the animation of Akanesasu Shoujo was decent enough if you can stomach the 3DCGI, it'll grow on you...

Now the voice acting, well we have a good cast if anything and no it's not just because of Nao Touyama. Tomoyo Kurosawa shows her extremely wide range of cadences as different alternative version of Asuka, this also applies to Lynn with her alternative Yuu's as well. Ami Koshimzu, Nao Touyama and Marina Inoue also does well even if they don't have their alternative selves, as their character focused arcs helps with their voice work in that respect. If anything the voice casting for Akanesasu Shoujo was good.

The finale at the very least resolves Asuka's situation with her missing brother. How the final episode itself takes itself with an introspective look at Asuka as a character and her journey through multiple Fragments and meeting the "King of Twilight" and how this entity links to both Asuka and her little brother is resolved though felt like the resolution was done too quickly, trying to cram in Asuka's development all into one episode but to it's defense, we do get most of Asuka's development helped by the rest of the main cast's arcs as well so the "rushed" flaw becomes only slightly detrimented. The finale was nonetheless all Asuka but nicely tied itself together, giving us hints as to other characters' fate as well.

So was Akanesasu Shoujo good?...well Akanesasu Shoujo is a decent venture with some interesting and in-depth character development from the majority of the cast while Asuka herself being a bigger link to the bigger plot of Akanesasu Shoujo tying things together. Sure the plot is pretty formulaic for the bulk of the anime but many of the plot twists were actually pretty unexpected BUT the 3DCGI was altogether meh to balance things out. Akanesasu Shoujo's strengths and weaknesses all and all just made Akanesasu Shoujo and what LA watched as LA experienced it was that it was "ok", nothing too great but nothing too awful either...it goes right down the middle and that is completely fine as middling as it was...it was a fun and decent experience in all it's quirkiness.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 27, 2018

Mywifesson

Not Recommended

Preliminary (4/12 eps)

Ooof where to start with this one? The concept is decent, a multiverse scenario that is just ruined by an amateur studio taking the reigns. The frame will obviously stay on the same picture for 3-10 seconds at a time with slight alterations. The art is so bad and inconsistent that it completely takes you out of the experience. Because of the amateur studio the pacing is off balance as well, clearly they failed to meet their deadlines and the story suffers for it. The problem here is that the director had some amazing ideas, something like Stein's gate with alterations to the main timeline ... via leaps to a different trajectory, but he was chipping away at it until the last minute resulting in a poorly shot fizzling pile of shit. It's a shame as one of this studios first original anime that it went so bad. I feel sorry for the voice actors and the staff that split off to form a subsidiary company that was not ready to produce an anime that shat this nightmare out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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