Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai

I was already a fan of the Munto series before this series was released so I was quite interested in seeing the conclusion. While I was originally very excited Kyoto Animation was giving Munto a TV adaptation, I was a bit disappointed to learn that it would contain a remake of the original material already released before. Still all Munto fans should not miss this series.

As mentioned this is a retelling of the original series with new footage. So the first 6 episodes are pretty much entirely identical to the two original OVA. There may have been a few new scenes ... intermingled in but there are basically no changes. This also means that it is not necessary for anyone to have any prior knowledge of the series in order to start this. The original series has been at times hard to find so if you have been curious about this show then you can dive right into this version without worry.

Overall I found the plot to be interesting and enjoyable but it does have some annoying flaws. Namely being that it seems to jump around to much and leaves you feeling a bit confused as to what’s going on. Things tend to be adequately explained eventually but there were quite a few head scratching moments for me. Exacerbating this is the schizophrenic way the story jumps from action packed battle scenes back to slow paced school life. In addition the dialogue at times is incredibly silly and pompous. Its possible translator did a poor job with it but I feel it probably sounded just as bad to someone fluent in Japanese.

The story, while it feels like it’s over still doesn’t feel done. I am not going to rant and rave about yet another piss poor anime conclusion because this isn’t one. However there are several key plot elements that are left intentionally vague, whether to either set the stage for a future series or just to avoid having to explain things the plot didn’t tell adequately in the first place.

Munto's main protagonist Yumemi was an interesting character. We get to delve into her personality rather deeply and most of the story is told through her perspective. I think she will be a relatable heroine to viewers as she struggles with just normal teenage girl issues and with her special ability to see the sky in a way nobody else is able to. She grows up a lot as well and discovers things about herself and learns to be more confident.

Munto himself has his own back story and motivations well fleshed out in a series of flashbacks. Though even with this I never really felt that I really got to know him all that well. Most of his screen time seems to involve him grunting and yelling, blowing stuff up in spectacular magical attacks, or pleading with Yumemi to help save the world. I can’t really say I cared much for him.

The only other character with any real depth is Ichiko. She is Yumemi's best friend and struggles to understand her and protect her from all the mysterious things happening around them. I got the feeling that she felt love for Yumemi in more than a friend kind of way but this was never pursued nor did I feel that this love was returned in kind from Yumemi, other than her own deep feelings of friendship.

The rest of the cast is mostly forgettable. Mostly because there are just too damn many of them. Many of them take up way too much story time that should have been focused on the main characters. Other than Suzume your unlikely to even remember the names of any of the others. The series would have been a lot better with half as many. Even the villains are weak and don’t have much depth. If you don’t know the bad guys name or why he is fighting against the hero then how can you care about anything they do? It basically breaks down to, I’m bad so I fight you or I’m a pompous ass who thinks only I have all the answers.

KyoAni is well known and respected for their exceptional animation work. With Munto it’s a bit of a mixed bag. They took the original OVA material and basically just touched it up but the quality of the animation as a whole feels very inconsistent. However the last few episodes which were mostly new material looked quite stunning. So even though I didn’t find it quite lived up to the high standards they have set for themselves it was still pretty good.

The music and acting are solid. Though there was a lot of screaming dialogue and a couple annoying characters who grated on my nerves. The music was good and both the OP/EN sequences were beautifully performed.

I ended up enjoying Munto quite a bit though despite my complaints. As a fantasy-adventure story it makes for an entertaining experience. While it won’t go down as a classic, I think it will be mostly liked by those who view it.

Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai (or Munto TV for short), is the "sequel" to Kyoto Animation's original series Munto. Before you wtf and ask yourself wtf happens to the animation throughout the anime please take into consideration that most of the series consists of the recycled original OVAs that were produced a couple of years ago already.

Story: The story revolves around Yumemi, a normal girl who has a secret power in her which allows her to see the world of the magical beings who live in the sky. In that world Munto, the King of the Magical Kingdom, is in a ... constant struggle in order to save his people from various different crisis who mostly revolves around the world's energy source, the Akuto. Munto seeks Yumemi for help to save both worlds who are in danger. The premise of the story is an interesting one, however lazy writing and a constant problem of leaving plot holes unexplained can leave the viewer confused and disappointed in the story. It is a shame since the story could've felt so much more complete if better explained, and why is it only 9 episodes? extra episodes could've helped get your story pieced together better. Despite all that the story is still rather enjoyable and is definitely not the worst you'll see.

Art: This one is tricky to judge. As previously said the first couple of episodes consists of pretty much copy/pasting scenes from their original OVAs and then just giving it a color adjustment. This is a real letdown since this creates big inconsistencies in the animation as the show progresses. The first 3 episodes are OVA 1, which was produced 6 years ago, which if compared to today's animation it will certainly look inferior. The next 3 episodes are OVA 2, which where made 4 years ago, the animation is greatly improved from the first 3 episodes but the sudden change in styles may not get on people's good sides. The final 3 episodes are completely brand new Kyoto Animation animations and as expected it looks great with very fluid motion, however the sudden changes in art style might not please some people. The end result however was not a bad one and I really did enjoy the visuals for most of the show.

Sound: Something the original OVAs lacked greatly was a good OST, and this anime gives you a rather awesome one. A lot of the scores in the anime sound very impressive and gives a sense of epicness to some of the great action that this anime brings. I was really pleased with this soundtrack and it really made the show much more enjoyable.

Character: Another one of the animes rather weak points were the characters. Aside from Yumemi and Munto the anime just kinda throws characters at you whose roles end up being insignificant in the end. The main villain of the show was not that interesting, and was rather unimpressive to say the least.

Enjoyment: Despite having some issues, I really enjoyed this show, it was quite an interesting thing to see KyoAni tackle a more action oriented show and I was not disappointed by the end result. However it does feel like the production got lazy for reusing 6 year old animation instead of just remaking it from scratch in the beginning.

Overall: Munto TV was a pretty enjoyable show. If you like seeing great action accompanied with good music in a magical/fantasy setting. Then I recommend you check it out.

Story:
On one side you have the peaceful humans and on the other side are the magic-using, war-hungry "Heavenly Beings". Friends trusting each other seems to be a recurring theme in the plot. It's not your standard fantasy story with demons and rescuing a maiden though! The story requires you to pay attention. Not all concepts were explained properly, but that was okay with me since it didn't stand in the way of fun.

I didn't really have any big issues with the story. One of the characters, Suzume, gets her own little side-story early on which I thought had no relevance to the main plot. ... The only reason I can see why is because she would have had no depth at all otherwise.

Art:
You've probably seen by now that this is made by Kyoto Animation who also animated Suzumiya Haruhi, Clannad, K-On! and several other extremely popular shows. The animation may not be state of the art, but it's still pleasing to the eye and very colorful. I didn't notice any scenes where the characters looked awkward if there were any. Definitely be on the lookout for small little details you might have missed on your first time watching if you're watching it a second time like I did.

Sound:
Not much to complain about here. The opening song is by Eufonius, best known for remixing Mag Mell for the first Clannad season. The ending song is by Ceui, who also made the ending song for the anime "sola". Personally, I liked both songs. The background music throughout the show helps set the mood and raise the tension where needed.

Character:
Yumemi, the main character, has great character development throughout the show. It's a nice change to see a girl character who isn't a total doormat for once. She is actually the one who saves the day instead of being saved every time. Her friends are there to support her which makes me like them and Yumemi more.

The other main character, Munto, who the series is named after also gets some good back-story and development. He starts out rather impatient but slowly learns to trust Yumemi. His back-story was understandable but it could've gotten more attention in my opinion.

The rest of the characters are not so developed but that's understandable due to the shortness of the series. One thing that bugs me is that they could've explained the motivation behind the main bad guy better.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed this anime even more the second time I watched it. What I enjoyed the most is how I got sucked into the Munto universe for awhile (no pun intended). It's original fantasy fun.

Overall:
This show is a mix of several genres like fantasy, romance, action and slice of life all put into a short nine episode show. If you like any of those then why not try it? I wish there were more episodes.

Well, I figured I ought to weigh in on the opposite side of the scale, with a less positive review of the series. I'm probably going to end up comparing (i.e. contrasting) this more than I really should with Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, which is (was?) my current benchmark in bad fantasy anime.

Story: 3/10

Munto TV is a rerelease and continuation of two OVAs from KyoAni in 2003 and 2005, if I recall correctly. The story itself (go check the synopsis) is fairly generic, although that's not a problem if the storytelling is excellent. Of course, therein lies the rub; Munto TV's ... storytelling is anything but excellent. When I say "rerelease," I mean it almost literally; Munto TV feels like it's cobbled together, lacking a proper flow between OVA segments. Additionally, it turns out that not a whole lot actually happens. It doesn't even have a melodramatic and focused (although still cliched as hell) finale, unlike in Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora.

Art: 9/10

What can I say? KyoAni is good. Really good. If you want high production values, they'll give 'em to you. The art is crystal clear, and the animation is fluid. Backgrounds are detailed, designs are fitting, both for the environments and for characters. I can dock one point only for the fact that they're not animating very many really awesome sequences, therefore wasting the extraordinary fluidity.

Sound: 7/10

The soundtrack is decent, although it doesn't always manage to create the perfect mood, unlike Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. That series wasn't salvageable either, unsurprisingly, as it's from the fantasy genre too. Instrumentation seems to be of high quality. OP and ED are disposable, as usual.

Character: 6/10

Munto TV had a neat thing going with Yumemi as a realistically reluctant and skeptical heroine, but this was wrecked by sudden character shifts required by the OVA timeframe. Lord Munto was pretty cool, but he was also affected by the timeframe. Suzune got way more characterization than she should have, given the timeframe, although I understand that her section of the story was metaphoric. Ichiko was...meh. All other characters might as well not have had names or faces. Really, Yumemi from the first third of the series netted an extra 2 points.

Enjoyment: 4/10

It was honestly painful to watch this. This was mainly due to my hopes shattering, with the shards subsequently working their way deeper and deeper into my skin. Maybe that's unfair, but that's the only basis I have for a rating of enjoyment. Episode eight made me want to stop watching, but I was so close to the end that I just sucked it up. It didn't even give me the satisfaction of terribly amusing (and amusingly terrible) screenshots, unlike Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora.

Overall: 4/10

Go watch Vision of Escaflowne if you want good fantasy anime. Or go play a fantasy adventure RPG. You really have better things to do with your time than watch this. KyoAni needs to stick to adapting pre-existing material if this is the pinnacle of its story-writing ability.

If this is the first time you're going to watch Munto, I'd suggest to skip the Ovas and come directly to the anime, because the first episodes are practicaly the same as the ovas.

Story: At first the story seems to fall in many cliches, yet, it's a rather original and enjoyable chosen-one story. I'd say it's a bit slicy-of-life convined with a bit of fantasy and a growing themed-anime, with a lot of tenderness and loyalty involved.

Art: The art is quite enjoyable, the characters are very cartoony, but fit with the fantasy story very well. The only thing is..., well, the art by itself seems ... to change through the anime, not sure if I missed the explanation, but Munto seems to change constantly =P

Sound: Most of the music was too pop for me, but I must say I'll give it a 10 just for this sole song: Hikari to Yami to Toki no Hate, that has this fantasy/medieval feeling and has great lyrics that cover perfectly the feelings of this anime.

Enjoyment: As it is a very short anime is hard to get bored, although it might be a bit slow for action lovers, fights are not the main focus here.

Overal: If you enjoy stories that leave you with a bittersweet after taste and are willing to deal with the fact that the plot will develop quite fast without much explanation as long animes, I think you'll enjoy it.

Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai or Munto TV is basically an adaptation of the two original OAVs, although adaption is used loosley as they didn't exactly adapt it but rather just used what was there and added a bit at the end. It is a story of a magical world that is being destroyed and the King of said world goes down to the human world to find the girl seen in the visions to hold a tremendous amount of power (Akuto) that is enough to save both worlds from iminent destruction.

There are two worlds, the human world is well just ... normal but does suther a few after effects like earthquakes, the magical world floats above and is quite a stereotypical fantasy world with people having pointy ears and lots of greenery and opening settings.

This isn't a comedy its a straight up fantasy adventure but it does include a few little scene such as Ichikos father in episode 5 to add a little light heartedness into the mix. I feel as a TV series it fails, it basically copy and pasted the OAVs without even adding everything, i do feel they added and subtracted a little but nothing major which is a cop out on their part as this could have been a lot better, you can tell episodes seven through nine had better artwork and was more enjoyable for it.

The art and animation were ok, nothing great but it did an ok job but for a fantasy series you want huge scenes with gorgeous scenery and smooth animation. The biggest disapointement as i have already stated is the fact that they used the old art and never remade it so its like watching a 2009 series made in 2003. There are a few nicely animated scenes and cool smoke and explosion effects. The backgrounds could have been better for a fantasy series but they were acceptable and helped create a difference between the greeness of one world and the concreteness of the other.

Voice actors all seemed ok, a couple characters had annoying high pitched voices as the enhance their characters cuteness or a childish nature compared to other characters but they all did a decent job and was only let down by a few poorly written lines. The opening is an unoriginal J-Pop song but is still a fairly nice song and enjoyable to listen to. Background music always fitted the mood of each scene but never stood out and make you say wow. Ending theme song is a slow calming song that is beutiful but again is nothing new that we haven;t heard before.

Yumemi the girl that is destined to save the worlds and is the only human who can see the magical world and was often teased as a child. she starts the first half of the show rather reluctant to jump inot things and start believing all this nonsense she's being told which is a nice change from the usually power to save everyone type series. Munto is the King of the magical world and throughout the series seemed to hold as much power as the plot needed, whether it was just transversing worlds, destroying multiple enemies at once or biding time by holding the world together, whatever was needed he was capable of doing. Yumemi has two close friends; Suzume and Ichiko, Suzume is a rather childish naive girl who is dating a slightly older guy and does have a moment with him in an early episode just so the series doesn't focus everything on one point. Ichiko is a tomboyish girl who seems to have more of an impact with Yumemi as she is constantly trying to be there for her and protect her but because she can't see the magical world is constantly in pain over not being able to fully help. Gntarl is the main bad guy but to behonest he isn't much of a threat as he is a dick head, he shares the same goal as everyone else, to save the heavens but can he cooperate? No, can he trust Munto? No, he is never developed so you don't know why he is like that.

As a short fantasy series it is a decent watch, its only nine episodes long and could have been better had there been more character development for some characters. If you dislike the OAVs quite a bit then this isn't really worth checking out but if you did enjoy them its a great series to see what happens after.

Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai (2009) is the remake of Mundo (2003), Munto: Toki no Kabe wo Koete (2005) and goes a little further in the story.

Story: 8 out of 10

I think that Kyoto Animation learned with first Munto and in the 3 episodes where they make the remake of the first OVA, they improved the story a lot.
The story now doesn't have any more meaningless parts, now every part of the story is explained and connects to the following development.

Art: 8 out of 10

The Kyoto Animation choose to keep the art style from their previous Munto works and polish that ... kind of art. They could have change the art to the style of Clannad but i respect the fact that they wanted to keep the original style.

Sound: 8 out of 10

On the first Munto the background music has too poor, now the background music feels natural and fits the scene. I also have to admit that the japonese voice actors are much better then the english in this series.

Characters: 8 out of 10

Finally they develop Mundo and the two friends of the heroine.

Enjoyment:9 out of 10

I really liked to see this anime, it is way better than the original, more complete and more enjoyable. What i enjoyed the most is to compare the diferences between the first KyoAni work, Mundo (2003), and this remake (2009)

Overall: 8 out of 10

I don't write many reviews, but I really wanted to write one for Munto tv (Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai).

Story: 8
The main protagonists in this anime are Yumemi and Munto. Yumemi can see the islands of another world: the Heavens. Everyone else cannot see these islands, and Yumemi hates the fact that she does not see the same sky as them. Munto,on the other hand, is the king of the heavens and he is aware that the heaven's life energy, Akuto, is running out and sets off to find another source of energy in the normal world where Yumemi lives. The ... story isn't too complicated, but when war breaks out between the magical kingdom and the heavens, it becomes more complicated and sometimes hard to follow.

Art: 7
I expected the art to be much better in the tv series as the ova was made a few years back, but was disappointed. The close up shots of character's faces are drawn well, but otherwise, it was crudely drawn. The art didn't live up to my expectations of kyoto animation (clannad, air, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu).

Sound: 8
The music fitted the anime quite well and I quite enjoyed the calmness some of them brought when Yumemi was taken to the heavens. The battle music is also fitting and reflects the desperatness of the situation.

Character: 9
The characters were memorable, although they weren't explored as much as I had wanted. Yumemi's character changes slightly as the series goes on and I could see that she becomes a much stronger character, which is to be expected of a protagonist. Munto's character is proud and responsible, which I cound easily tell the first time I saw him and you can tell what he would do anything in his power to restore the Akuto to its normal state. The characters were easy to love and it wasn't long before I wished Munto and Yumemi were a couple.

Enjoyment: 9
Overall, I thought the anime was quite enjoyable. The story wasn't so complicated that I had to rewatch it a couple of times to understand it and the characters were very loveable.Theres a bit for everyone in this anime\; action, romance, humour, fantasy etc.

Overall: 8
Overall, the anime was worth watching and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. Its an enjoyable anime and one which you'll rmember for times to come. Its story is slightly similar to Neo Angelique Abyss, in which the female protagonist is the key to saving the world and although the art could be better, is of high quality.

Meet the three friends.
The big red guy.
The lolicon Tasuya... Tatsuya... Ta-ta-ta-something.
Oh and not to forget the really cool tall lady.

The only bad thing is that characters but the main characters are only useful for like 1-2 episodes. And, it's pretty hard to follow the explanations. However, that might just be me being stupid.

This is an anime, like most "other world" kinds, that you need to rewatch to understand. It's pretty good for a 2009 anime.

Other than that, there are some cool fighting scenes, and some cute moments.
I think it's alright.

I went into this expecting so much and it was a total let down.

There was no huge character development. Like how did she even get her powers, why is she able to do the things she can. That was never explained. They didn't even elaborate on Mundo's dream. Seriously what the hell was his dream. What happened to Gass. Why did Mundo's parents disappear?

There was no real romance. I am pretty sure Ichiko has a crush on Yumemi...

I was confused the whole time as to what I was really watching. I mean the art was fantastic but everything else was so confusing. I ... don't understand the end at all! Where did Munto go. Why does the world think this is perfectly normal like the government should be freaking out. This was a sad waste of time. *sigh* But the animation art was worth it.

Recommendation: An incoherent mess that wastes an interesting premise. Skip it.

Story: The plot of this series follows a middle school girl named Yumemi who sees floating islands in the skies and eventually a godlike figure named Munto who tells her that he needs her help to save both her world and his. This is because the flow of "Akuto", a sort of magical resource or energy made from the hopes and dreams of humans that Munto's people (known as the Heavenly Beings) need to live and use magic, has dried up after an eternity of wasteful overuse by Heavenly Beings drunk on their ... own power. Yumemi is the only one who can restore the flow of Akuto, but any questions about how or why she can do this are simply ignored. Yumemi can do it because she's The Chosen One and that's that. You will never get a more satisfying explanation than that.

The plot itself is a disaster. This series was a near shot-for-shot remake and continuation of a 2 part OVA series and they didn't bother trying to change the structure for a 9 episode series as opposed to 2 movies. The result is horrendous pacing, irrelevant subplots that are dropped cold when that particular movie's arc is finished, and an awkward break in the series after episode 3 (where the 1st movie ends) where it looks like everything has been resolved, only to suddenly pick back up and keep going for 6 more episodes. The romance parts feel like they were tacked on as an afterthought, and the "you can do anything if you believe in your dreams" ending was corny and far too vague. In general, the story relies far too much on characters overcoming their struggles purely through the power of self-belief, which allows them to simply do whatever they want with magic to achieve the desired result. It's almost childish in a way how the show explicitly rejects (through a Yumemi monologue late in the series) the idea that you would ever need to make tradeoffs or sacrifice something to achieve a goal. The overall message of the show seems to be that you just need to believe in yourself and you'll magically achieve the perfect outcome every time.

Audio/Visual: Can best be described as "inconsistent". The voice acting is just okay, some of the VAs have the annoyingly high pitched child voice going, and Yumemi's VA occasionally has problems where she slips into a normal woman's speaking voice instead of her usual helium-filled schoolgirl voice. But for the most part, it's fine. Likewise with the visuals. They look fine, if a bit dated to my eyes in 2021, but it varies widely throughout the course of an episode. The backgrounds look gorgeous and the fight scenes bring out the style and visual creativity that you'd expect from Kyoto Animation, but other parts look shockingly unfinished, especially characters that aren't in the foreground of a shot. Character design can also be an issue at times. Most of the characters suffer from Code Geass syndrome and are far too long and skinny, especially the Heavenly Beings. The worst offender is Munto's character design, looking like a red-haired Goku that's 6'+ tall and maybe 90 pounds at most

Characters: In writing this part of the review, I am trying to think of a single interesting or good character in this show, and Ichiko might be the only one. Yumemi and Munto, despite being the main characters of the series, have very little in the way of interior lives and zero romantic chemistry with each other. Yumemi's friend Ichiko has the most compelling storyline of the human characters, struggling to support Yumemi as she deals with something Ichiko can't see or understand. Suzume gets the worst of it, shoved into a deeply uncomfortable and completely irrelevant romance subplot where she, a 13 year old girl who looks and acts only slightly older than a toddler, gets married to a college student named Kazuya, and this is presented as a heartwarming story of how her innocence and support healed him, rather than child grooming. Fortunately this subplot is dropped and barely even referenced again after episode 3, but it never should have been included in the first place. Part way through the series, they attempt to shoehorn a male character named Takashi into the group of 3 girls and act like he was always one of their group, but he too doesn't matter even a little bit to the story, and has even less personality than the others. Outsider Gass has a compelling story and personality, but the series leaves it entirely up to you to figure it out on your own rather than delving into the actually interesting questions about why he sacrificed his status as Outsider. As a whole, the characters are mostly uninteresting, and the few that have potential are mostly sidelined with their stories left untold.

Overall, this is a series with an interesting concept and very poor execution, badly marred by terrible pacing, dead-end subplots, and boring characters. You could probably reassemble the pieces here to tell a really good story, but what they actually released is a total trainwreck. Don't waste your time with this series.