Categories
October 3rd, 2013
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Anime Relations: C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Okay, first blog entry about an anime...
I thought a lot about which anime I should present first and came to no answer...
I had put it off for later and then I found this anime per random search, and the synopsis made me curious. So I quickly downloaded all 11 episodes and marathoned it in one day. At first I was surprised and thought "what the heck?!" but it turned out to be one of those anime that makes you think about things.
Well, whatever, time for some rating! You'll see, this is very much like the reviews, just a bit more biased. I'll try to avoid spoiler of course.
[The Story] - 9/10
The Story revolves around a boy named Kimimaro, a scholarship student at a financial university. His dream in life is a good job, stable income, a family. Pretty much the everyday happiness of an average life. He works part-time in several konbinis and his life is pretty much what one would call dull. That changes as he is visited by a weird guy, called Masakaki, who offers him a large amount of money and the possibility to earn a theoretically infinite amount more, only condition being that Kimimaro's "future" be held as "collateral". Upon accepting, Kimimaro gains access to another realm, called the "Financial District" where money and connections rule. In order to gain money one must make so-called "deals" where the amount gained or lost is decided via two-on-two matches between an "Entre", humans such as Kimimaro who have gained access to the Financial District, and their "asset", the embodiment of ones captured future, versus another Entre and his asset. If you go bankrupt in one of your deals, it's over. You're banned from the Financial District, and have lost your future, with huge impact on the real life.
In most cases people who go bankrupt commit suicide shortly after.
All this unfolds into a crisis that could destroy very well the entire world.
Well... all this said, the plot development is really good if I may say so, guys you once thought to be good, or bad, turn out the other way, side characters become important. And as the plot progresses more and more questions pop up, some about the storyline, some about life and philosophy... I guess. You start jumping to conclusions, only to be proven wrong or sometimes correct. If you try to predict the plot progression of this anime, you'll fail.
Maybe it's my bad for liking the unusual stuff but the story get's a 9/10 for it's originality.
[The Art] - 7.5/10
The art of this anime is really, really good and contains features, which drastically support the appearance of some characters and locations. The animation and art style of Masakaki for example totally sets him apart, makes him seem like something utterly different and otherwordly, and I think this mood fits him the best. The battle animations are slightly above average I'd say, except for a few scenes.
The overall character design lacks originality at some points, but as for pretty much everything int his anime, there are exceptions (that taxi driver...).
Rating 7.5/10, it's good art, lacking at some points, excelling at some points, in the end it's better than average but not so great that one would jump for joy.
[The Sound] - 6.5/10
The japanese synchro is well-done, nothing to complain. I've not yet watched the english synchro, so I can't say much about that. The overall music setting is fitting and helps to create the mood. The sounds are sometimes lacking.
The opening would be good if it didn't contain one hell of a spoiler...
And the ending... well it's weird... and doesn't fit the mood of the anime... sadly...
Overall rating 6.5/10 but... in this case I should say that it's the fault of the ED and the OP. If it weren't for them it would be a 8/10.
[The Characters] - 9.5/10
The second strong point of this anime, the characters. They are well developed, especially the main protagonists and leading side-characters. Kimimaro is pretty indecisive at first, but the develops a into a very strong character, once he's made his mind up... the main antagonist is understandable and can't be called truly evil, this anime has no real big bad guy. That makes it very interesting to see how things develop. Once again one tends to jump to conclusions concerning the characters only to see that they're pretty unpredictable. Once again it may be that I like characters like those, but rating 9.5/10, because I think there no perfect character that could be rated 10/10.
[The Enjoyment] - 10/10
This is my strongly biased opinion, but I think this is a must-watch. At first I thought this was nothing more than something to kill time with, but it sucked me into marathoning itin one day. I'd watch it again and can only recommend it. It just is very interesting to watch.
[The Overall Rating] - 8.5/10
Setting, Characters, Story, etc. are all very good, but the anime lacks in the sound department and lacks some originality in the character design. Some questions remain unanswered. It lacks logic at some points, and the one or other development isn't explained. Still it's a very original piece of art and I can't say it too much, it certainly is a must-watch.
Well, that's about it, but I'd like to add some last words, but be careful and beware of possible spoiler.
This story contains one question that made me think... and I couldn't find an answer.
What would you do? Sacrifice the future to maintain the present? Or move onward, to the future, even if it would mean sacrificing the safe standing you have in the present? Would you prefer to live a life maintaining your status quo, or seek the future, taking on the risks and possibilities?
This is a conflict that can't be solved easily and the way it was solves in the anime seems a bit like the usual happy ending to me and is certainly not the only way to solve the problem. Everyone has to find his or her own answer to this and some may not be able to find one at all... like me. I just can't decide what is right or wrong here, if these terms can even be applied. If this was to really happen to me, the first problem would be if I should accept the deal, money or my future? The first problem that seems unsolvable, both decisions seem kind of wrong or stupid. It's a situation where one can only lose.
I'd be happy if you'd drop comments or PM's with your own thoughts on this.
See ya next time guys.
I thought a lot about which anime I should present first and came to no answer...
I had put it off for later and then I found this anime per random search, and the synopsis made me curious. So I quickly downloaded all 11 episodes and marathoned it in one day. At first I was surprised and thought "what the heck?!" but it turned out to be one of those anime that makes you think about things.
Well, whatever, time for some rating! You'll see, this is very much like the reviews, just a bit more biased. I'll try to avoid spoiler of course.
[The Story] - 9/10
The Story revolves around a boy named Kimimaro, a scholarship student at a financial university. His dream in life is a good job, stable income, a family. Pretty much the everyday happiness of an average life. He works part-time in several konbinis and his life is pretty much what one would call dull. That changes as he is visited by a weird guy, called Masakaki, who offers him a large amount of money and the possibility to earn a theoretically infinite amount more, only condition being that Kimimaro's "future" be held as "collateral". Upon accepting, Kimimaro gains access to another realm, called the "Financial District" where money and connections rule. In order to gain money one must make so-called "deals" where the amount gained or lost is decided via two-on-two matches between an "Entre", humans such as Kimimaro who have gained access to the Financial District, and their "asset", the embodiment of ones captured future, versus another Entre and his asset. If you go bankrupt in one of your deals, it's over. You're banned from the Financial District, and have lost your future, with huge impact on the real life.
In most cases people who go bankrupt commit suicide shortly after.
All this unfolds into a crisis that could destroy very well the entire world.
Well... all this said, the plot development is really good if I may say so, guys you once thought to be good, or bad, turn out the other way, side characters become important. And as the plot progresses more and more questions pop up, some about the storyline, some about life and philosophy... I guess. You start jumping to conclusions, only to be proven wrong or sometimes correct. If you try to predict the plot progression of this anime, you'll fail.
Maybe it's my bad for liking the unusual stuff but the story get's a 9/10 for it's originality.
[The Art] - 7.5/10
The art of this anime is really, really good and contains features, which drastically support the appearance of some characters and locations. The animation and art style of Masakaki for example totally sets him apart, makes him seem like something utterly different and otherwordly, and I think this mood fits him the best. The battle animations are slightly above average I'd say, except for a few scenes.
The overall character design lacks originality at some points, but as for pretty much everything int his anime, there are exceptions (that taxi driver...).
Rating 7.5/10, it's good art, lacking at some points, excelling at some points, in the end it's better than average but not so great that one would jump for joy.
[The Sound] - 6.5/10
The japanese synchro is well-done, nothing to complain. I've not yet watched the english synchro, so I can't say much about that. The overall music setting is fitting and helps to create the mood. The sounds are sometimes lacking.
The opening would be good if it didn't contain one hell of a spoiler...
And the ending... well it's weird... and doesn't fit the mood of the anime... sadly...
Overall rating 6.5/10 but... in this case I should say that it's the fault of the ED and the OP. If it weren't for them it would be a 8/10.
[The Characters] - 9.5/10
The second strong point of this anime, the characters. They are well developed, especially the main protagonists and leading side-characters. Kimimaro is pretty indecisive at first, but the develops a into a very strong character, once he's made his mind up... the main antagonist is understandable and can't be called truly evil, this anime has no real big bad guy. That makes it very interesting to see how things develop. Once again one tends to jump to conclusions concerning the characters only to see that they're pretty unpredictable. Once again it may be that I like characters like those, but rating 9.5/10, because I think there no perfect character that could be rated 10/10.
[The Enjoyment] - 10/10
This is my strongly biased opinion, but I think this is a must-watch. At first I thought this was nothing more than something to kill time with, but it sucked me into marathoning itin one day. I'd watch it again and can only recommend it. It just is very interesting to watch.
[The Overall Rating] - 8.5/10
Setting, Characters, Story, etc. are all very good, but the anime lacks in the sound department and lacks some originality in the character design. Some questions remain unanswered. It lacks logic at some points, and the one or other development isn't explained. Still it's a very original piece of art and I can't say it too much, it certainly is a must-watch.
Well, that's about it, but I'd like to add some last words, but be careful and beware of possible spoiler.
This story contains one question that made me think... and I couldn't find an answer.
What would you do? Sacrifice the future to maintain the present? Or move onward, to the future, even if it would mean sacrificing the safe standing you have in the present? Would you prefer to live a life maintaining your status quo, or seek the future, taking on the risks and possibilities?
This is a conflict that can't be solved easily and the way it was solves in the anime seems a bit like the usual happy ending to me and is certainly not the only way to solve the problem. Everyone has to find his or her own answer to this and some may not be able to find one at all... like me. I just can't decide what is right or wrong here, if these terms can even be applied. If this was to really happen to me, the first problem would be if I should accept the deal, money or my future? The first problem that seems unsolvable, both decisions seem kind of wrong or stupid. It's a situation where one can only lose.
I'd be happy if you'd drop comments or PM's with your own thoughts on this.
See ya next time guys.
Posted by Ithaqhua | Oct 3, 2013 11:18 AM | 0 comments