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Jul 4, 2020
Possibly the most underrated anime on this site (at least out of the ones I’ve watched). Of course, I don’t think that this show would impact everyone the same way that it did for me, so I can partly understand why people might not like this. That said, I wonder if people are simply missing the point with this show, especially considering its serious tone.
Just to get it out of the way, I can think of a few reasons why this isn’t as highly rated as I think it should be. One weak point that I saw was the last episode, which felt like it
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was shoving half of a season into a single episode. I won’t go into too much detail into everything that seemed rushed or left out (although there might be more spoilers later in this review), but honestly, I don’t think this ending broke the show. Rather than taking away from the overall experience, I would argue that it’s only the absence of something that could have been. I didn’t know that the anime cut content from the manga when I watched it, so it didn’t bother me too much when I watched the last episode because nothing was out of place or atrociously bad. In fact, as I neared the end I knew that whatever happened the ending would not make or break the show, but I’ll get into that more later. Besides that, the only other flaw that I could point out are characters that needlessly show up for a single episode or even a single scene, but don’t have much of an impact on the plot. Given that the anime would have to cut out a lot of content towards the end anyways, I would have rather them cut out the two episodes featuring Minato and Yuzuhara and move that extra time to the end, but again I didn’t think this was a fatal flaw. It’s not like a filler episode, and these characters do help characterize the main characters they’re connected to, so again this “mistake” doesn’t take away anything from the show.
But I’m sure that the big thing that turned people off was the characters and their interactions with each other, which I actually saw as one of the strongest parts of this show. As I’m sure many of you watching might have noticed, the main cast are (mostly) adults, yet throughout the show they act like prepubescent middle schoolers with their first crush when it comes to love. They are all to some extent clingy, and don’t know the importance of distance when it comes to relationships. Rikuo follows a self-fulfilling prophecy, where by calling himself a loser he becomes one. Shinako is indecisive and can’t move on from someone who died six years ago. Haru is persistent and obnoxious, and her entire character is pretty much consumed by her attraction to Rikuo. And Rou, as the youngest one out of them, acts more like the ten-year-old in Shinako’s memory, expecting Shinako to stay in his life when she has her own to live. On top of which, Rikuo and Shinako only go halfway in rejecting the people who like them, selfishly wanting to keep them close without realizing that it would only hurt them more. Understandably, these personalities and the way they clash with each other can be grating to the viewer, and the maturity level suggests an environment more akin to high school drama than adults braving the real world. But, surprisingly, none of this comes off as criticism to the show.
We all have a perception of how mature adults act, but what if that’s only how they should act? Not everyone behaves the same way all the time, and this show seeks to capture how people act in real life. That is not to say that everyone can relate to these specific characters, but it’s like how Rikuo is able to capture good wedding photos because he knows the people so well—taking shots that other photographers would pass over. An often heard mantra is that for a good story, the audience should sympathize with the characters. Like I said, the characters hardly do anything to deserve our sympathy. But what if their weaknesses and flaws draw us to them? I found myself connecting to Rikuo the most. Not really sure what I want to do in the future, wanting to stay friends with a crush even though it would only make it worse, making self-deprecating remarks because I want the attention and pity. It’s not like the author is supporting the actions that some of these characters take. To the contrary, I felt like some of the advice given was true to said characters was true and pertinent to people in a similar situation. Maybe those that can’t really relate to any of these characters will find it hard to get invested in the characters, and that’s fair. But even for those who don’t, it’s hard to deny that the characters are based more on real people than stereotypes. Even Haru, who embodies an over-the top personality that is prevalent in a lot of anime, shows her human side more often than not. Another part that I appreciated is that, no character out of the main four was elevated above another in terms of screen time, and everyone was given a chance to be fleshed out. To be fair, having everyone involved in a giant love chain is a bit unrealistic, but I think it was necessary both to give everyone enough attention and to really drive home the theme of unrequited love. As someone who has had a crush but never had one realized, I can acknowledge that I may be a bit more biased towards this story than something like tsuki ga kirei. But even in terms of the characters, you don’t get the feeling that everyone else in the group is being left out except for the main couple, which is quite refreshing.
Another criticism I might see is with the plot, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Throughout the show, you have a lot of tension between the characters, with silence and awkward conversations abound (especially in any scene with just Rikuo and Shinoka). But rather than being annoying or tedious, I would say that it is another example of being a “snapshot” of real life. And even just for entertainment value, I didn’t find these scenes to be tedious or annoying, as the conversations and monologues are easy enough to follow along and often serve to develop a plot point or a character. On that note, having a bubbly, almost preposterous personality such as Haru was a wise decision to act as a foil to the more reserved, overthinking Rikuo. This is not a depressing show, but even so her antics and dialogue add a splash of color to an otherwise completely serious story. I would also add that rather than being a mundane experience where watching each episode seems like a chore (the bane of many slice-of-life shows), there is definitely enough drama going on to make you want to watch the next episode. The lack of any progress in terms of romance until the very end may be frustrating to some, but I don’t think this experience would have been the same any other way. Because you don’t always get what you get in life, and sometimes the struggle is more interesting than the reward. Although in most shows you tend to start rooting for a certain ship, I think this show is unique in that by the time I got to the last two episodes, I knew that I would enjoy the ending no matter who did or didn’t get together. Because these characters are all flawed, but share a commonality in the desire to be loved and cared for. Maybe one episode romances aren’t your thing (going back to the pacing of the last episode), but even though I had been supporting Rikuo and Shinoka’s relationship in the previous episode, I was pleasantly surprised with how they handled the break-up. More often than not, relationships don’t work out despite the underrepresentation of break-ups in stories, and this is just another facet of reality that the story captures so well. To be fair, the way that Rikuo went back to Haru when he had clearly treated her much worse than Shinoka in the past was selfish and inconsiderate, and Haru should not have accepted him so easily after all that he had done to her. But it’s not like he was proud of it, and Haru can make her own choices.
Besides that, art and music were amazing, and just icing on top of the cake that is a deeply meaningful story. I would disagree that this show tries to be what it isn’t, and recommend that anybody approach it with an open mind without looking at all of the negative reviews.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 22, 2019
Review applies to both the manga and the anime, as both are well-made.
Note: I’m probably going to sound like a pretentious asshole.
This work is one that I have no qualms about calling it art. This is what they should be teaching in literature class, not the half-baked book called The Stranger by Albert Camus. Although I won’t claim to be the expert on post-apocalyptic settings or philosophical stories (what even is that?), I will say that I was both captivated and mentally engaged by this experience.
Firstly, I’m not saying that this will blow your mind or anything. I liked it, and some parts felt a
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bit sluggish to me. For someone who doesn’t like it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they felt it was boring or tedious and dropped it. But it’s far from conversation filled with pointless meandering or a “slice-of-life” lacking substance. Compared to other shows lacking an overarching plot (although I liked mushishi, it took me about six months to finish), there’s an actual sense of a journey and progression here. Sure, there were some parts that I felt were weaker than others, but if you actually think while you’re watching/reading then you can tell that an actual themes and messages are being presented to you.
Another positive is that nothing is random, that everything is intentional and the author’s choice (sorry if I’m sounding like your high school english teacher). For example: two moe girls in a bleak, post-apocalyptic world. It’s not that the author couldn’t draw anything anything else, it’s to emphasize the contrast between society’s definition of cuteness, and the bleak after-effects of war (though I do admit the sales probably wouldn’t have been as good if it was some old dude with a beard travelling around the world). Additionally, the themes and symbols aren’t exactly convoluted or confusing, such as the importance of companionship in troubling times and the reality of broken expectations as well as recovering from them. You have Chito’s journals (the importance of living in the present over memories of the past), the temples and the stone statues (people want to substitute flashy “fakes” over harsh reality), the symbolism of the “highest level”, and many more that I won’t list.
However, the beauty is that you are meant to experience these messages rather than having it force-fed to you. Taking from one of the manga chapters, a photograph can accurately convey a scene, but art can convey a person’s feelings. Even if you don’t understand everything the author had in mind, you are allowed to take your time and slowly experience the journey as the characters experienced it.
Tldr for the previous two paragraphs: Shoujo shuumatsu ryokou gives an intelligent look into the purpose for its creation without devolving into meaningless fluff or pseudo-intellectual drivel.
While the two main characters weren’t amazingly original or unique, I felt they served their purpose well in the story. They weren’t annoying for being children, they had honestly adorable character interactions, and although the comedy wasn’t the best I don’t think that was the main point. More importantly, they act like real children—and real friends: playing in the snow, hitting each other, making music with the rain. Most importantly, they love each other. You can really sympathize with their struggles, and I was rooting for them the whole way through.
Finally, the artwork was amazing, for both the anime and the manga. It made me feel a little bad to scroll through the chapters so quickly, because I felt like I should spend my time on each individual panel. As for the anime, the soundtrack was also quite good, enough for me to note it in this review.
I’ll end it by saying I only wish I could analyze this for my lit paper.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 22, 2019
Beautiful.
There’s just no other way to describe it. To be honest this series hasn’t been as impacting (at least emotionally) as some of the other high-rated shows that I watched, but what it loses in the wow factor it makes up for with its consistent, and well articulated writing.
Japanese literature, especially anime recently, have a tendency for bloated monologues that sound smart and mean nothing, and which you promptly forget about five seconds later. I won’t name any examples here, but I used to think I just wasn’t smart enough to “get” it, though I now realize that it’s just bad writing that detracts from
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the flow of natural conversation. Of course, this show isn’t entirely faultless in this front, but where other japanese writers trip and fall in their faces, the scenes in this show keeps cruising through, at a pace that is both poignant and human.
Where this show really shines is with its characters. With a cast of 10 main characters (or 9, because let’s be honest: the twins were pretty much the same for 90% of the episodes), I grew a bit worried that it would end up like the countless other anime across nearly every genre in which all of the character development are focused on the protagonist, and the side characters are left in the dust. Not so, not so. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the closest that fictional beings have seemed real people so far. I think the key here lies in character development and longevity, because it’s not the only show with a cast of unique characters. It’s easy to see how much the characters have changed when you compare the introduction in the first episode to each individual’s leg of the run in Hakone. This guy likes manga, this guy smokes, this guy is an African transfer student: it’s easy to label characters this way in order to differentiate between them, but that’s not what’s done here. For the length of time that it had and the amount of characters that it contained, this show did a relatively amazing job at exploring each of the characters in a genuine and believable way. Again, it’s not entirely perfect. Some of the characters, such as King and Shindo, I felt were a bit weaker than others. There’s also the fact that it’s highly unrealistic for a group of ten random college students to suddenly become so devoted to running. But hey, this is fiction, and sometimes being too realistic makes it boring.
There’s also the fact that these people have relationships, however cheesy it may be, and not the artificial love triangles (quadrilaterals? Pentagons?) or shallow romance/best friend type stuff that plagues a lot of other anime. You can really see that these characters form relationships within the group based on their age and personality, just like in real life, whereas in most other stories everyone would only be friends with the main character and that’s the only thing that mattered.
Then we get Kakeru, who has got to be the best male protagonist I’ve seen in years. In most anime you would see this cool guy that doesn’t stand out too much other than for having a harem of girls follow his cardboard cutout personality. But Kakeru is defined by himself, not what others think of him. He struggles to make friends, he is easily irritable, and he is rather arrogant. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good person. He just needed the right group of people, people who could understand him for what he is. His character growth was enormous, from a narrow-minded goal of speed and more speed, to realizing that running was about people, not numbers.
That brings me to my final point. In reality, I think this show is not about running, even though it is a sports anime. What is remarkable about this show is that’s it about the people doing the running. However cliche it may be at times, it breathes new air into an industry which has become somewhat stale in recent years, focusing more on plot and excitement than characters you can relate to.
The only, if minor, flaw I see with this show is that there’s always a good ending. Everyone reaches an official record, kansei just makes it to the qualifiers, they also just make the seeded spot, and kakeru beats the record by one second. It’s true that these characters persevere through adversity to reach that point, but it would be interesting to see how these characters react to working for their goal but falling short.
All in all, this wasn’t the most memorable or emotional show that I’ve watched, but it’s certainly polished. You can tell that the source material came from an author who cared about writing a good story, and even. If it’s not all fireworks, at least it feels like running in the wind.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 22, 2019
Just by the premise I could tell that this wouldn’t be a masterpiece for me, but it actually wasn’t all that disappointing. Complicated love relationships as the main theme are inherently unstable, as not only are they unrealistic in real life, but they often lead to over-dramatification that is obviously meant to target a specific demographic of viewers. However, I would say it was done as well as it could have here.
As expected with a show of this premise, the romance between characters not involving the main protagonist tends to be underplayed and resolved quicker, as is the case with Haruto and Hazuki, but
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they’re never left behind in the dust. Instead, the spotlight is on them for the beginning, while it shifts over to Eita later on for the climax. Rather than overlooking Haruto and Hazuki, it feels like a deliberate choice rather than a mistake, which I appreciate.
Ena was also well done here. Avoiding the typical stereotypes of a fifth wheel as is often the case in groups of friends like this, Ena has clearly defined character traits, and somewhat contrasts with Eita’s rather mellow mood. At times she is contradictory, such as saying that she will support Eita and his relationship, but then becoming the biggest obstacle to letting their romance blossom. However, her being able to be so open to Eita about her feelings is a refresher considering how awkward everyone else is about their love.
Then there’s the unbelievable amount of coincidences. Everything from the group’s initial founding (Eita and Mio happened to reunite at the same place that Haruto confesses to Hazuki) to the whole ordeal with the entrance exams (everyone in the group knew about either Eita or Mio’s secret decision, but no one knew about both of them) happened by chance, making the whole show seem detached from real life. The entrance exam especially was painful, with it stretching for two episodes longer than it should have just to drive the point home that Eita and Mio secretly like each other but can’t say it outright. But in spite of that, I decided to look at all of these coincidences as a single mistake, rather than deducting points for each one, since realism isn’t necessary for a romance drama like this and the whole show is built on chance happenings anyways.
What I would consider a more serious issue is the shallowness of the love involved. What I mean by that is that characters seem to fall in love for the most mundane reasons, and although I know that school crushes often work like that in real life, Mio’s sudden change of interest from Haruto (who she only liked because he picked up an eraser for her) to Eita feels a bit… rushed. I’m not doubting that feelings could arise even for those in their last semester of high school, but there just isn’t enough screen time with all of them to make it feel genuine. Even at the end, I looked at the group more as friends, which is an achievement in itself, due to the times they spent hanging out together.
Yet, despite all of these weaknesses, I can’t argue that Just Because didn’t accomplish what it set out to do. Sure, it seems a bit unrealistic and the romances too sudden, but it could also be argued that that was the effect it was trying to achieve. All of the main characters had some merit in them existing, so that the show wouldn’t be the same if one of them was gone. And if you’re into this type of romance, I’m sure you would enjoy this.
Also, as a final note, the music here is great. Honestly, I think it has one of the best osts tied with nagi asu.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 22, 2019
Spoilers ahead.
Unfortunately, a decently good premise was never enjoyable for me due to a lack of focus and good pacing.
The problem begins with the plot, starting off the first five episodes as a slice of life in a school setting where a group of kids goes around finding others with special powers. It’s fairly vanilla, but even as someone who enjoys this type of genre I found myself getting a little bored with it. It felt more like filler episodes than anything, as most of the time there’s hardly any development or meaningful characterization other than emphasizing the stereotype that each of the characters
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fit into.
And then it takes a dramatic shift for the next seven episodes with two major events: Ayu’s death and the whole ordeal with Shunsuke’s group and the overseas terrorists. Although by itself it may be tense and exciting, there a few problems with it. One of them is that the amount of plot and eventfulness is unevenly spaced, with episodes 7 and 12 in particularly lacking much substance. Episode 7 could have been fine by itself to showcase the effects of Ayumi’s death on Yu, but it doesn’t work well when it seems that Yu has mostly forgotten about his depression by the next episode. Meanwhile episode 12 takes away from the climax of the previous episode with a series of hospital visits to Yu that really don’t add anything other than for Tomori’s.
The other problem is that there isn’t enough buildup to the major episodes such as 6 and 11 and therefore the major deaths don’t have that much impact, at least for me personally. Like I get Ayumi is cute and all, but up until then she was a character in the background, not someone that the viewer spends time with such as Yu or Tomori. Instead, she becomes a mere device to progress the plot, as it is revealed later that you can just “time leap”. Later, a whole new cast of characters with Shunsuke’s group is introduced in a single episode flashback, and because they are so poorly developed it’s hard to sympathize with the death of their friend.
The whole concept of travelling back in time is overused in media, but it can sometimes be used to great effect. Here it mostly muddles up the plot. Besides the flashbacks, its only real use is to revive Ayumi, as it is later shown that Shunsuke is blind and Yu lost his right eye. There are also a few plot holes, such as if the overseas terrorists took action after Yu saved Ayumi, then why didn’t they do anything the first time when Ayumi died, as well as why Yu is able to use his mind control ability with one eye, but not his time leap ability.
Most of the characters are rather flat and insignificant, and in the end only Yu and Tomori have any real development. The other two students in the student council only do anything in the slice of life segment and are only distant memories after episode 6 except for the one time they bring food to Yu in the hospital.
And now I’ll talk about the last episode. After covering the space of a few hours in the hospital bed during the previous episode, the last one takes Yu on a global expedition where he fights off corrupt organizations, braves through the sweltering desert, and deflects an RPG before he meets his ultimate demise through a random guy in China with a dinky crossbow. Looking past the fact that he managed to fend off literally thousands of bullets but not a measly arrow, Yu definitely got a new side to him shown in this episode. Throughout the series, Yu is interesting, but is also prone to extreme mood swings. In the beginning he is shown as defiant and egotistical, but following Ayumi’s death and Tomori’s help he is shown to be more agreeable and sympathetic to other people’s worries. Now in the end he is mentally exhausted and unstable. It’s not necessarily bad that a character has this many facets to him, but at times it is hard to follow such an inconsistent character. However, Tomori goes from being a blunt, independent girl who I liked in the beginning, to a damsel in distress and eventually completely falls for Yu by the end of his trip. In this case I think it would be better off to not have any romance, or at least put in more of a buildup, as the disparity between Tomori’s attitude before and after Yu’s trip is a bit jarring.
I quit in the middle of the first episode because of my overall negative impression, and although this wasn’t what I expected I wouldn’t say it’s far from the truth either.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 22, 2019
A neat little show with a slightly misleading premise. To be sure, there are some Kondou and Akari moments near the beginning, but it’s main purpose is for entertainment and not necessarily for any plot development. That said, although I was internally cringing at the thought of a romance blossoming between a high school girl and the man (45, divorced once, has a kid) who is her manager, I have to say that it’s played out as well as it could be. Although realistically it’s unlikely that a high school would develop such as unnatural crush and that a middle aged man would even begin
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to take her seriously instead of directing her towards some counselling, at least it’s dealt with in a light-hearted manner without any serious implications. It would definitely ruin the show if Kondou turned out to be sex crazed pedophile).
In fact, I enjoyed seeing their relationship unfold. The sparkly eyes and the rosy bubbles around Akari may have been a bit cheesy and overdone, but it’s not bad either. It was obviously meant to target the fancies of the demographics of this manga, and it does the job. Other than that, Kondou is actually more of a mentor figure to Akari despite her obsession with him. One of the aspects that this show is able to nail is making a sympathetic character in Kondou. Usually in shoujo genre works I end up becoming frustrated at the male character, who doesn’t seem to deserve the female lead’s love and is perfect at everything because he just is. In contrast, Kondou is so kind that it’s a little annoying, and his has own internal struggles with his past youth and aspirations. Rather than the popular, athletic stereotype of a girl’s crush, he is just a normal person if you look past the fact that he once went on a date somebody nearly a third of his age. There are some awkward romantic moments in there that are clearly meant to please the viewers, such as Akari being trapped in a hot closet in Kondou’s house, but at least it’s not taken to the extreme that it could have.
And then we get to the main point of the show, which is only hinted at the beginning and explored later on: the seemingly failed dreams of Akari to be a runner and Kondou to be a writer. The trope of following your dreams may be a bit overdone, but then again what theme isn’t. In here, it’s portrayed realistically, with parallels between Akari’s and Kondou’s situations. They both used to have a friend who was interested in the same things as they were, but later grew distant and left behind their passions. For Akari it was her foot injury and attraction to Kondou, and for Kondou it was his growing older and his marriage and subsequent divorce of his ex-wife. Rather than being depicted idealistically has characters who would give in their all for what they want to pursue, Akari and Kondou have since become disillusioned with their original goals.
But aside from the aspects related to Akari and Kondou’s development, the other characters didn’t seem to get as much love. Most of them are either one-dimensional and insignificant, and in the end I really only cared about the two main ones. But it’s understandable that it’s hard to fit in character development for the whole cast in a mere twelve episodes, and even just developing two is a feat in itself.
The visuals and audio were surprisingly fitting, and there were some parts that really shined as well.
Overall, this was an enjoyable experience for me, but it’s definitely going to vary according to the viewer. If you’re into slice-of-life or romance, then give this unique show a try.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 22, 2019
Very major spoilers ahead.
Let me preface this by saying that the score above is merely an indication of the quality of the anime as a whole, rather than the enjoyment. In fact, I would have given it a 10 for enjoyment if *spoiler* Miuna got the recognition she deserves (still a 9 though). It’s probably within the top five anime that I’ve watched so far that made me wish I could experience it again.
Nagi no Asu has one of the most dramatic twists I’ve ever seen, essentially shifting genres from a slice of life/school romance deal to a darker in a single episode.
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This all pivots around the time skip in the middle of the series, but more on that later. In fact, I feel like this show should have two separate parts, before and after the timeskip, so that’s how I’ll organize my commentary.
The premise is interesting, but misleading. It’s also painfully average, and I’m glad it didn’t stay this way. Basically, a group of four friends who go to school in the sea are now forced to move to school on the surface. You would think after the first few episodes that it would be about the tensions between the sea kids and the surface kids, but that conflict is resolved within a single episode. There’s also the side-plot of Akari and the elementary girls, and the freedom of love, but that similarly fizzles away. Looking at just the first few episodes, this show could have easily drawn parallels to the real world through racial tensions, right to love, and traditionalists (the old guys from the sea village). But it doesn’t
The more major and lasting conflict reveals itself as the romance between the characters, which at times seems excessively overblown (at this point I don’t know whether it’s a love triangle or a love pentaginoid or a love septimihexagon). I know this is exactly what the show was trying to target with the romance and drama tag, but this is probably one of the weaker points due to how out of proportion it is. Literally everyone in the group of five middle schoolers (including Tsumugu) has someone they like or someone who likes them, and even if this is not meant to be realistic there is a limit to how far it can go. At the center of all this is Hikari and Manaka, who I won’t say are the worst I’ve ever seen but they could definitely be better. Hikari suffers from chronic male protagonist syndrome (CMPS, which I made up on the spot btw) as he doesn’t have many memorable character traits other than he has a crush on Manaka and Chisaki has a crush on him. Sure, he’s brash, ambitious, and cares for his friends (especially Manaka), but these are so unbelievably flat and stereotypical that it actually makes him worse off than if he was emotionless. He’s also borderline obsessive with Manaka, which often comes off as annoying. But keep in mind that this is just about the first half, which I would probably rate at about a 4.
Going back to conflict, the central conflict is always unpredictable for the first half, and keeps you guessing. But it becomes obvious as the saltflake snow and cold weather arrives. As the world around gets literally and metaphorically the characters, the mood also gets noticeably darker. The show reaches a definitive climax at episode 13, when everyone confesses their feelings to each other, and when three of the main characters gets lost at sea. The next episode, five years have passed and the remaining characters have to deal with the repercussions of the disappearances. Not only does the setting shift from a sunny coastal village to a dead winter landscape reminiscent of the arctic circle, but I would argue that the POV changes to some extent. Before, the story focused heavily on Hikari and Manaka, and the people around them. But in the beginning both of them are gone and Manaka doesn’t even become significant until halfway through the second half. Instead, Miuna, who seemed to be just another minor character, receives the spotlight.
Miuna’s definitely one of the most interesting and unique character that I’ve seen when put into context with everything else, and I’ll admit that I had some feelings for her after a certain point. Even before the timeskip, Miuna was interesting because of her relationship with Akari and her own insecurities. She experiences meaningful character growth, a sign of good characterization. In the timeskip, she’s one of the characters that receives the most attention as she competes with Manaka for Hikari’s affection now that Chisaki’s out of the running. Maybe I might be a little biased because I never liked Manaka’s character from the start, but I’m sure that the intent was for the viewers to sympathize mostly with Miuna. On top of being drawn to be attractive, she is the underdog with feelings that she is afraid to confess, yet tries her best to win over Hikari. Not to mention that she used to be five years younger than Hikari but is now the same age as her step-uncle. In hindsight it’s unrealistic that nine year old falls in love with her stepmom’s brother, and carries that love for five whole years. She could also be seen as just as bad as Hikari since her obsession with him dominates her character just like Hikari’s obsessions with Manaka dominates his. But for what it’s worth, it works.
Chisaki gets similarly special treatment, as she is the only one in the original four that ages. She has a lot of potential as a character, as realistically she’s the one who suffered the most, having to live five years with just herself and Tsumugu while her friends lay sleeping in the ocean. But since the beginning she was doomed to be absorbed in romance, tying Hikari for being attracted to or attracting three other people (basically every boy in the main cast). That is not to say that she has a few redeeming qualities, such as caring for her adoptive grandfather and the relative maturity she possesses.
However, Hikari and Manaka only get worse. Hikari goes from mildly annoying to frustrating with his preoccupation with Manaka and ignorance of Miuna. 90% of the time that Miuna hears him Hikari is reaffirming his devotion to Manaka. Meanwhile Manaka degrades from a mildly underdeveloped character to a plot device: for the second half she is either missing, asleep, or has her ability to love taken away so that Hikari becomes disheartened and desperate to “revert” her. Kaname and Sayu fared better. At first, I thought of them as one of the two worst characters: Kaname embodies the third wheel trope and is overall the most useless member of the group, while Sayu has an attraction for Kaname that is even more unreasonable than Miuna’s (at least Hikari saves Miuna for drowning, meanwhile the most significant thing Kaname did is pat Sayu’s head). However, they receive a conclusion to their uncertain feelings, with the only regret that it is not explored enough afterwards.
However, there is another aspect to the show, which is unique setting of people living in the ocean. Other than numerous laws of physics that the characters break with a convenient plot device called Ena, the art is wonderful. The soundtrack is also one of the best I’ve ever heard for an anime, and it really brings out the contrasting moods throughout the series.
Although I am critical of the characters and the excessive [insert awkward romantic scenes here] moments, there is something about this show that sets it apart from the competition. That is, the story of a group of friends learning to deal with the hardships they face. And although the romance may be a bit cringy for some viewers, in terms of pure entertainment value I can’t say it’s anything bad. What I think would have really elevated this to 9 or a 10 would be to just make it longer, and explore the plot more. Although I don’t think the ending makes or break the show (I was actually pretty satisfied with it), it leaves off on two many loose ends and missed opportunities. Within a single episode it is not easy to resolve the single biggest plot driver of the second half, which is Miuna’s crush on Hikari. But what really needs more coverage is the period in between the time skips. I get that time skips are there for a reason, and are meant to move the plot along while opening up interesting ideas. But I feel that the change of genre is too abrupt from the first half to the second half to be covered only in flashbacks. But maybe that’s just me.
Despite my score, I highly recommend anybody to watch it. It may not be your type of show, but if it is it could end up as a favorite.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 22, 2019
This is one of those wonderful anime that sets a reasonable goal for itself, and executes it splendidly. Over the course of 26 episodes, nothing too unusuals; It’s just a 16 year old girl who moves in with her grandma, who happens to be the manager of an inn. But in those episodes it really offers a lens into the lives of Ohana and the characters around her.
One of the strongest points of this show is its characters, and the characterization of those characters. At first, everyone seems to be either an a-hole or callous to Ohana’s problems. Until the end of the third episode
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the only character I could sympathize with was Ohana. However, as time goes on, each of the characters are explored quite thoroughly, with at least a whole episode dedicated to each major character, and the inn because a warm place of fond memories for Ohana. Yet even as their relationship with each of them grows, the character’s who seemed so cold in the beginning never lose their personality traits in a way that seems un
realistic. When Minko, Tohru, and the manager are first introduced, they seem highly antagonistic towards Ohana, yet later it is revealed that how they initially treat her is not actually how they actually view her.
Adding on to that, in the main cast there is no character that seems useless or dependent on somebody else, or in other words, every character has unique traits about them that would allow to function as stand-alone characters instead of being solely focused on one aspect. There are no girls that are only consumed with their crush, nor is there the perfect male protagonist that is perfect in everything.
This is a slice-of-life so at times it may seem like the plot is progressing too slowly, as for the most part each episode is its own mini-story fitting into the bigger picture. But it was never too boring that I wouldn’t want to continue, as the characters and the experiences they had carry on throughout the series. Adding on to that there is also the romance between some of the major characters. Although at times it may seem a bit unrealistic, I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The art is high quality, and the music fit the scenes, but didn’t stand out too much. Not much to say here.
Overall this was an enjoyable experience for sure, especially if you like exploring the psyches of different characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 22, 2019
Honestly, I shouldn’t have liked this show as much as I did. But I think this is one of the most underrated anime just going by the rating. Sure, it doesn’t aim to do much, and what little overarching plot development it had just fizzles out by the end. But that doesn’t make each episode less enjoyable.
The plot is rather insubstantial in here, but that’s probably intentional. Other than the characters, each episode is not very connected to the next, and the only thing that carries across from episodes is Dera and his island friends. But even then it’s later revealed that it was all
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a mistake, and the flowers from the flower shop only reminded Choi of the prince. However, within each episode there is always an entertaining mini story that is told, oftentimes focusing on a specific characteror event. Over all the plot doesn’t really take anything away from the rating, as this anime is not meant to be an epic saga, but rather your standard slice of life. It’s especially impressive how the show is able to take a concept so ordinary as an average girl’s life into a relatively entertaining experience.
The characters, however, are great. Granted, most of the characters are relatively one-dimensional and by the end they reflect little development, but that doesn’t take away from the originality from them. Dera was by far my favorite, just because of how funny and over the top he was. Every other character has their own little quirks too, which is impressive considering the number of people involved. The only critique would be that some characters have the start of something greater, but are never fully resolved, such as Midori and Mochizo. Even Tamako’s dad I felt could use a little more back story with the mom.
The art is definitely one of the selling points. All of the characters are drawn to be cute, and it works. The music sometimes stands out a little in some of the scenes, but overall I liked the sound of it.
The enjoyment is where this show shines. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend it to people who can’t get past the first few episodes, as it doesn’t really change that much from the beginning. But as a relatively casual viewer, it was just enjoyable to watch the events unfold.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 22, 2019
Some minor spoilers ahead, but I wouldn’t say it’s anything that would ruin your experience.
I would really give this a 9.5 if I could. I’ve noticed that themes of parental love and specifically mothers really get to me, especially since I have been on the receiving end of such love for my whole life. It’s probably the strongest bond humans can have with each other. And yes, it did make me cry. Not the little better-wipe-it-off-with-my-sleeve type but more of a whimpering.
First of all, the world-building was amazing, almost reminiscent of studio ghibli movies. It’s one of the few rare cases where you wouldn’t
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be able to put it into a book, because describing the scenery with such detail would take so many pages that no one would want to read it. Whether it’s in the home of the Iorphs, the fields of Helm, the capital of Mezarte, or the ironworking factories of the industrial zone, it really transports you to a new place along with the characters.
The story was also amazing. It’s not the first to be about a struggling mother in a new place, and it’s not the first to be about mystical legends being used as political weapons, but as far as I can tell it’s one of the first to combine the two. As a result, tensions and emotions always run high, especially when Maquia finds herself stranded in a new, unknown place. The climax reaches a fever pitch in the end as it is split between Ariel in the war and Maquia with Dita. But unlike so many movies out there, there are so many “pause” scenes where there is no action happening. But rather than making it feel long and drawn-out, these scenes serve to immerse you in the character’s lives and the tribulations they face through their dialogue. It’s also a way for the viewer to catch up with the numerous time skips (the main story takes us from Ariel’s infancy to adulthood in under two hours). In a way these two elements--”still” scenes and time skips--try to balance each other out by making it fast-paced while building up an emotional attachment to the character’s lives. Although it may not be perfect this is done effectively enough so that I couldn’t pick up on any flaws as I was watching it. Maybe the one thing I would have liked would have been to have more time to experience the stories of all the characters outside of the constraints of a movie. Although realistically it would made more viewers detached from the main story, It’s so good that I would have liked to stay in that world a bit longer.
Due to the natural time constraints, only two characters get developed beyond ten minutes of screen time: Maquia and Ariel. I wouldn’t necessarily fault it on the creators, but the sub-plot with Leillia, Krim, and Medmel was a bit confusing. The only time it worked was when Maquia tried to convince Leillia to escape before her marriage, because it gave growth to Maquia’s character. However, when the story remained largely separate from Maquia, such as during the battle at the end, it’s confusing why they are even mentioned in the first place, such as why a character like Medmel exists. But that’s nitpicking. Most of the other minor characters serve to enhance Maquia, Ariel, or both. Mido and her family is the first example of a family to Maquia, which in turn helps her learn how to be a mother to Ariel. Dita feels a little overwhelmed by Maquia, who is literally an otherworldly mother compared to a woman like her. But although each character is very interesting, the time that they have seems to short. The minor characters are the main reason why I would want a medium longer than a movie, because I would like to explore the lives of the characters in Helm, especially Lang and Dita. However, it’s something to take points off for, as to effectively develop a relationship between Maquia and Ariel within two hours it’s necessary to stay with each minor character for only a brief period.
Of course, there’s the premise of the entire movie: the fact that Maquia almost never ages while Ariel and everyone else around her grows older. Although it’s not uncommon to see immortal beings falling in love with mortals and later regretting that everyone they love will die (Hohenheim from FMA is a prime example), This story uses it in probably the most unique way so far. As a mother Maquia is supposed to be “grown-up” around Ariel. In the beginning it’s not as much of a problem, with Ariel being too young to understand the implications of his mother being an Iorph. Yet from the very beginning the movie convincingly portrays the bond of motherhood that Maquia has for Ariel, starting from when she found him abandoned at a settlement to the frustrations she faces as she is basically stranded in Mezarte with no work or money. Of course, as the years goes on and Ariel goes from childhood to adolescence their relationship gets more complicated. I mean, who can blame the guy when his supposed mother looks like she could be his beautiful teenage girlfriend. But it doesn’t devolve into unnecessary fanservice with a romantic love between Maquia and Ariel (which is what I expected). Instead, it handles the matter in a mature way by showing Ariel’s frustration at feeling helplessly unable to protect Maquia. I only wish that this part would be extended, specifically between when Maquia and Ariel start working in the city to before the battle happens. They kind shoved all of the complexities of adolescence into a single scene, then had Maquia become captive so that it could skip over to Ariel’s adulthood. I sound like a broken record at this point, but time constraints seem to be the only gripe I have. Otherwise, the “epilogue” at the end was very satisfying. It’s something that everyone expects to happen and is even explicitly mentioned in the very beginning, but actually experiencing it makes the emotions (and the tears) come to life.
The art is some of the best I’ve seen in any animated show. It’s something that you have to see for yourself. It kind of ties back to worldbuilding, as the vast fantasy landscapes that the characters live in wouldn’t nearly be as immersing if it hadn’t been for the high-end art. Light is particularly beautiful here. In once scene where the characters are standing in front of a window, as they walk and pass over the sun it’s amazing how the light gradually dims and lights up again, as if it’s a video from real life. I found the people and especially Iorphs well-drawn as well. Although Maquia in particularly looks slightly different from the average anime character (I think it’s the eyes, but I’m not sure), it only highlights her feeling out of place in Mezarte. Similarly the music is also amazing. Not only does it establish the mood of the setting, but it helps immerse you into this fantasy world. I would even say that the silence was a deliberate creative decision. There are many scenes where there’s no music at all and just dialogue so that the raw emotions remain undiluted.
Overall this is a very enjoyable experience. I feel like the themes were tailor-made to my preferences, but there’s so much to like here that most everyone will come out feeling satisfied.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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