July 15th, 2017
Made in Abyss: Strong world building!
Anime Relations: Made in Abyss
The second episode of Made in Abyss really sells me on the world our characters are apart of. Hearing the story of Riko's mother and how she has been a legend for all the Abyss Explorers (Idk what they are called but the people who go into the abyss) along with talks of other civilizations that explore the Abyss, the hidden truth of Reg and much more! I won't say much more about it and highly advise that you see this splendid anime (as of now) for yourself. I am heavily invested and I know for sure I will see this anime to it's end. As of now, this anime and Kakegurui are neck and neck to being my favorite for Summer 2017.
Posted by Marakai | Jul 15, 2017 12:05 AM | 0 comments
July 13th, 2017
Koi to Uso: Current Impressions
Anime Relations: Koi to Uso
With Summer 2017 animes ready and ripe for the picking, I couldn't help but find myself lost in people's various opinions on upcoming animes. Koi to Uso has been quite the subject of discussion recently. Garnering a 7.59 score on MAL, it should be interesting, right? It's received a lot of positivity too. It's also a romance. I'm a sucker for the romance genre so it looks like it will be for me. Eh... not quite. I dreaded this anime. From characters to animation, I was severely unimpressed with it.
Let's set our eyes upon the premise itself. To fix Japan's declining birth rate, the government designs a match making system for people when they turn 16. When they turn 16, that person will receive papers of who they will marry. Meetings are also arranged for the two to meet. So far this system has solve a rather problematic situation in Japan. It's a strong premise yet many questions are unanswered about it. For example, what are to become of those who are Homosexual? Perhaps that is an easy fix but what of those who don't desire a romantic partner? Well it's really too early to complain about the lack of information regarding the match making system seeing as we are only two episodes in but I'm hoping those lingering questions will be answered. This is only a minor complaint.
My major complaint and the thing that bothered me the most was how our star crossed lovers confessed their feelings. Our main protagonist, Nejima has fallen in love with with a girl by the name of Misaki. They met when Nejima saw that Misaki was in need of an eraser during class. Nejima gave Misaki a part of his eraser which caused Misaki to whisper to Nejima "thank you". (Quick minor complaint) Is it just me or is this scene uninspired. Seriously... why does this sound so familiar? Ooh, it's because I've seen a similar scene like this in CardCaptor Sakura. Sakura gives Tomoyo an eraser which makes for a precious possession as it was that interaction that begun the friendship of Sakura and Tomoyo. The same is done in Koi to Uso, Nejima and Misaki keep their parts of the eraser because it makes for a precious possession as it is a reminder of their first interaction. I felt like I've seen the scenario 1000 times. So Nejima finally gets the balls to ask Misaki to meet in an area where he will confess his feelings to Misaki. Misaki then confesses that she has been in love with Nejima this whole time- wait what? So the two met in elementary, never interacted with each other till now and they are in love with each other!? (They are currently in high school) Why does this seem so unrealistic and to me? I can't exactly fathom the idea of being in love with someone and not interacting with them throughout middle school and high school. That's a long time to hold feelings in. So this is suppose to be a plot device to further idea of forbidden love. You see, despite Misaki's love for Nejima, she is hesitant on getting into a relationship with Nejima because of the marriage system. I find that if the Nejima and Misaki had a stronger history with each other and Misaki was not reluctant in getting in a relationship with Nejima, then this would make for interesting story of forbidden love. Watching the two working together to find a way to get pass the system would make for interesting story and the fact they had a strong relationship in the past would make it all the more endearing.
The animation and art style is kinda bad. It's hard to look at and no shot in this anime looks impressive. The whole confession scene looked ok but the rest of it just did not look particularly well. Also the character designs feel a little lack luster. Speaking of the characters, they all felt weak. I couldn't get invested with the characters and their struggles. There was literally nothing unique about them. Just like their designs, their personalities are very bland and generic.
My final thoughts about this anime is, I am not impressed with it at all despite the positives I hear about it but, i am going to continue watching it because I feel like there may be an interesting scenario that might play out later. We never got an explanation as to why Nejima's phone was glitching upon receiving the message saying Misaki was the girl he'd married. Perhaps something interesting will play out but as of now, I will be keeping my expectations low
Let's set our eyes upon the premise itself. To fix Japan's declining birth rate, the government designs a match making system for people when they turn 16. When they turn 16, that person will receive papers of who they will marry. Meetings are also arranged for the two to meet. So far this system has solve a rather problematic situation in Japan. It's a strong premise yet many questions are unanswered about it. For example, what are to become of those who are Homosexual? Perhaps that is an easy fix but what of those who don't desire a romantic partner? Well it's really too early to complain about the lack of information regarding the match making system seeing as we are only two episodes in but I'm hoping those lingering questions will be answered. This is only a minor complaint.
My major complaint and the thing that bothered me the most was how our star crossed lovers confessed their feelings. Our main protagonist, Nejima has fallen in love with with a girl by the name of Misaki. They met when Nejima saw that Misaki was in need of an eraser during class. Nejima gave Misaki a part of his eraser which caused Misaki to whisper to Nejima "thank you". (Quick minor complaint) Is it just me or is this scene uninspired. Seriously... why does this sound so familiar? Ooh, it's because I've seen a similar scene like this in CardCaptor Sakura. Sakura gives Tomoyo an eraser which makes for a precious possession as it was that interaction that begun the friendship of Sakura and Tomoyo. The same is done in Koi to Uso, Nejima and Misaki keep their parts of the eraser because it makes for a precious possession as it is a reminder of their first interaction. I felt like I've seen the scenario 1000 times. So Nejima finally gets the balls to ask Misaki to meet in an area where he will confess his feelings to Misaki. Misaki then confesses that she has been in love with Nejima this whole time- wait what? So the two met in elementary, never interacted with each other till now and they are in love with each other!? (They are currently in high school) Why does this seem so unrealistic and to me? I can't exactly fathom the idea of being in love with someone and not interacting with them throughout middle school and high school. That's a long time to hold feelings in. So this is suppose to be a plot device to further idea of forbidden love. You see, despite Misaki's love for Nejima, she is hesitant on getting into a relationship with Nejima because of the marriage system. I find that if the Nejima and Misaki had a stronger history with each other and Misaki was not reluctant in getting in a relationship with Nejima, then this would make for interesting story of forbidden love. Watching the two working together to find a way to get pass the system would make for interesting story and the fact they had a strong relationship in the past would make it all the more endearing.
The animation and art style is kinda bad. It's hard to look at and no shot in this anime looks impressive. The whole confession scene looked ok but the rest of it just did not look particularly well. Also the character designs feel a little lack luster. Speaking of the characters, they all felt weak. I couldn't get invested with the characters and their struggles. There was literally nothing unique about them. Just like their designs, their personalities are very bland and generic.
My final thoughts about this anime is, I am not impressed with it at all despite the positives I hear about it but, i am going to continue watching it because I feel like there may be an interesting scenario that might play out later. We never got an explanation as to why Nejima's phone was glitching upon receiving the message saying Misaki was the girl he'd married. Perhaps something interesting will play out but as of now, I will be keeping my expectations low
Posted by Marakai | Jul 13, 2017 8:04 PM | 0 comments