Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle

The world is divided into two kingdoms: the Kingdom of White, which floats in the heavens and is ruled by their queen Iris, and the Kingdom of Black, which stands upon desolate land below and houses the King of Darkness as its ruler. As of late, forces of evil have amassed great power, posing a threat to the entire world. Being the main representative of the Light, it is Iris' duty to maintain the balance of the world and fight off the darkness in her kingdom.

Meanwhile in the Kingdom of Black, rampaging monsters annihilate a certain boy's village, leaving him the sole survivor. As he grieves in hopelessness, an armored man named Skeer notices the child and comforts him. Soon after, Skeer recognizes the boy's potential to change the kingdom's status quo and makes him his heir before passing away. The boy then vows to become the Prince of Darkness—the one who will replace the King—to bring the world back to its rightful path.

As Iris and Prince of Darkness each challenge the impending doom the world faces in their own respective ways, their destinies will converge with each other, and perhaps, their bond will decide the fate of the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Prince of Darkness Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Iris Main

Horie, Yui Japanese

Groza Supporting

Nagisa, Una Japanese

Sima Supporting

Nakamura, Chise Japanese

Bal Supporting

Iizuka, Shouzou Japanese

Skears Supporting

Miyazaki, Atsuyoshi Japanese

Adelle Supporting

Takanashi, Kengo Japanese

King of Darkness Supporting

Akagi, Susumu Japanese

Teo Supporting

Iwabata, Takuya Japanese

Alantia Supporting

Matsui, Kensuke Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Yamaoka, Yuuki Producer

Koutani, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Jun 24, 2020

Balsamina

Recommended

Note: I watched this with no previous knowledge of the game that it is adapted from, only knew its adapted from a game. I am also judging this show as a 12 episode anime -- this means keeping in mind what 12 episodes can accomplish, and not expecting the depth, character development, writing and literary techniques that can be employed with 24 episode, or, what some people have shown to do, expect the standards of a 50 episode piece in 12 episodes.

Art: 6/10
It's nothing special. It isn't horrific, I've seen anime where the art was just bad. It isn't a masterpiece for its time, its ... just ok. The cast could have been color themed better.

Sound: 7/10
TM Revolution/Takanori Nishikawa helping with the OP theme is nice and all, but there isn't really any pieces from this show that I would really miss. It's on the good side just because of a few good fitting pieces music scores at the end really fit the scene they were with.

Character: 7/10
The biggest downside of this show is that it is full of cliches. 12 episodes gives very little time to explore or grow characters. I've seen other 12 or 24 episode anime try to do it, and sadly it just looks half-assed when you try to squeeze in character development that needs more time to do than what the show has to draw on (I know someone will misinterpret this sentence so for clarity, I'll note that there are 12-24 episode anime that do it well too!). On this note, I'm glad this show didn't try too hard at character depth. Most of them won't be memorable for the next decades, but the characters played their role well. Obviously this won't propel a show's character writing to god tier levels, but I find this better than trying and ending up with a literary spilled trash can.

Story: 8/10
Again, this show's biggest downfall is the cliches. And again, that's ok, especially since it's literally a 12 episode gig, meant to be short and sweet, and in this case act as a promo for the bigger franchise (games). The reason I gave this an 8 is because it did its tropes well, no matter how common or well known (cliche) the trope is. What makes a story enjoyable is not how novel it is; this can be good but only if done right. This show's story is pretty much a budget Romeo and Juliet -- and THAT'S ALRIGHT!

Enjoyment --
So did I enjoy these 12 episodes? Sure. This isn't meant to be the next Code Geass, this isn't meant to be the Greek tragedy that was Fate/Zero. Heck, this show was created for the purpose of promoting some games and giving the existing fanbase of the games some fanservice. Did they keep this simple? Yes. Did they get me, someone completely new to the franchise, interested in checking out the games? Yes. My overall rating? 8/10. It did it's designated job well.

Who this is for:
-people who don't have a lot of time and just want to watch something longer than a standard movie, but not a full blown 24+ episode thing
-romance genre fans
-star-crossed lovers fans
-fantasy fans

Who this is not for:
-people looking for the plot twists and inter-trope weaving that was Code Geass in 12 episodes
-people looking for the ideological/philosophical deconstruction that made Fate/Zero and Psycho-Pass good in 12 episodes
-people who only enjoy serious works aimed at being an intellectual discussion
-people looking for a shounen adventure story, of which this is not

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 22, 2020

Alaroki

Mixed Feelings

THIS ANIME WAS PRETTY.... Fine... I guess?

Ok lets start off with Story. For this ill split this part into two the story building(+the first half) and the end(the second half).

The story building was pretty good as someone who likes to dream about living in immersive worlds I could enjoy the world the author originally made. I also really enjoyed the plot of both sides coming together to work and defeat Bal, the generic evil for fun character. I also really appreciated the story behind the Prince of Darkness in which he was born in a ... small village which ended up being destroyed. I HOWEVER disliked the story of Iris. They didnt go much on her background and I disliked that.

Next the end. it was just bad. like really bad. The author or the creator of the anime just rushed it and it ruined it. Id like to not however the end is not the end since it seems like a season 2 will occur with the last blooper. I went and searched further and it seems like the anime may have been based of the game "Shinriko Project" or "White Cat Project".

Next the art. The expressions the landscape and the people in general were REALLY REALLY nice, HOWEVER THE SHADING WAS WEIRD. The animators would constantly shade incorrectly from where the light source would be and it constantly distracted me from the show. The fight scenes were also ok but lacked clarity causing it to be less of a stand point in the show. THIS IS WHY IM GIVING THE ART A 7.

Now the Sound design. It was Ok... Just really Ok I have nothing to say of it. I think their was some depth and that was good I hate it when anime's dont have depth in their sound. Im giving it a 6.

For the characters im not gonna say much. Its goods that it isn't light=good and dark=bad but the characters weren't noticeably amazing. I did like the fight of willpower Iris had in the show even though it could be worked on. Many of the interesting characters didn't really get enough screen time. I giving it a 3. I also really disliked the love dynamic

the enjoyment was a 5. I enjoyed the slow and steady parts of the show more than the other parts. For example if I were to choose a episode to be my favorite it would be episode 7. I did not like the ending at all and would ruin the show for me.

Overall the show was a 5.6 (I rounded to a 6) It was not that bad but it was not that good.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 22, 2020

KANLen09

Not Recommended

When you see the words "GAME adaptation", there are a list of catalysts in mind: decent story plot and characters from the game (that's if you ever played the game before), decent visuals and generally good music (because if you cannot sell the show, at least sell the music to make up the profit). And that's Shironeko Project in a nutshell, but with a sharp decline in almost every category. And unfortunately, most of what's here is total garbage and a waste of time and money (which the anime industry STILL hasn't learnt their lesson and kept it that way), unlike the boisterous amount of ... game adaptations in this season (5 to be exact, including this one). And before you ask, the game's no better too, just a very generic tactical RPG.

First of all, who'd think that the cliché "Light vs. Darkness / Black vs. White" Romeo and Juliet-esque" would sell the show? I'd give you a clap if you generally enjoyed this despite the lack of content, but for such a "story", it was squandered of its potentials and squeezed of almost every trope you can think of. Heck, the only thing that I can say was unique is on the side of darkness, something like an underdog story of sorts. That is fine and all, but the rest was a total misfire. The two kingdoms being forced into war is a given, but the sequence of events that conspired and transformed the "forces of nature" was just so dumb a.k.a "the war started because of somebody's ill-fated conflict". Needless to say, this was one of the worst and boring stories I've watched so far, much from a low-expected game adaptation anyways.

Secondly, the characters, much of the weight on their shoulders, playing the "Balance of Power" trope. It's "fantasy fiction" I geddit, but in the right hands, is a power play and crucial plot onto itself (sans One Piece, Beezlebub etc.). But Shironeko Project just managed to have a very lackluster character cast that are nothing more than "support" positions (I don't really care if that character is playing the king/queen, it's one and the same), much less its vibe going for it being "I must uphold the balance between my kingdom and yours, to acquire peace no matter the hardship between the two kingdoms." That just about turns most people off.

But same like the story, I do commend the underdog story of the Prince of Darkness, first a regular commoner and fighting to be in the position that he's in now through thick and thin, a battle against other people that could be in his position that of the one who's to be in the position, will uphold responsibility for peace-sake. But the aftermath of like guides trying to control his every move, that part I didn't really like (which begs the question: if you're gonna be the protagonist, be a man/woman of your word and don't be a parrot to others). Similar to the story, bland and boring characters (which I always miss who's who, so that's a consolation).

And the animation, sorely lackluster as expected of the low-budget standards of Project No. 9. It's not as bad when compared to some other shows that use a mix of 2D and 3DCG for action and such, but it was just eerily missing its punches and kicks the whole time treading around. Generic character designs don't really help much to get invested right off the bat, as to be expected. I never had high expectations for game adaptations to shine, but this did in the worst of levels possible (which after watching so many boring anime based on game adaptations, I've grown completely numb to it).

What's the "silver lining in the clouds", is the music. I've said it before time and time again: if the show flops, the music sells. And this is kinda the best of the bunch though. An alright banger of an OP (by T.M.Revolution Takaniro Nishikawa and ASCA), plus a really good ED by Rei Yasuda, both which are solid songs in my opinion to get through the pumping and emotional feels for the somewhat un-inspiration of the overall narrative of the show. Plus, even with high-profile VAs (such as Yui Horie and KajiKaji), their voice talents lent to this show was decent, or at worse mediocre. Alas, the music is only the highlight and nothing more.

I think I needn't say more if my ranting is to persuade people to stay away from this BS of a "game adaptation", because it is just that and nothing more: a hollow shell with a decrepited plot so bad I just want to completely shut down and finish the show for good (and finish it I did). To the uphill at the start, but to the downhill at the end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle Episode 4 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 27, 2020	28 replies	by Tsukasa_Rio »» Nov 5, 9:08 PM
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