I found this show to have a lot of similarities to Demon slayer so if you didn't like demon slayer, I don't recommend this show.
As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to judge a show after watching the first 3 episodes; however, I was thoroughly invested in the plot of the story and the mystery island that I watched all the episodes in just two days. And though I binged this show like crazy, it wasn't because of how good it was, or for better terms how life changing it was watching this show. There's quite a lot of both good and bad
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elements in this show, so let me get the positives out of the way first:
1. The animation. Studio Mappa is quite Reputable when it comes to their animation. Good action scenes and more realism in fights is always refreshing to see. In ep.2 we see the contestants with their hands tied together. In this episode we see people throwing rocks and ripping each other's throats in order to be one of the many few privileged to arrive on the island. I find these darker more gruesome fights to be quite uncommon in anime, so it was quite refreshing.
2. Plot. Although I have seen other shonen anime that follow the same "cookie cutter" tropes I found that the story was a part of the charm this anime brought. Every episode they reveal a little at a time, revealing the world our characters reside in. Not too little that you lose interest or too much that the show practically holds your hand and explains everything right away, and I can appreciate this a lot. This leaves you wanting more answers each episode. the only thing that wasn't really a mystery was who was going to die. If you pay close attention there are subtle clues before a character's death that give it away.
3. The Music. The opening theme for this show is one of the best I've heard in a long ass time. I wouldn't skip this intro, and sometimes I even listened to it multiple times before watching the episode. It's been a couple of days since I watched the show, and I still have it stuck in my head. Thats how influential the music really is.
And now the Cons:
3. The characters. This show hardly developed these characters. The only character I genuinely cared for was the main character only because he had the most screentime and he had a cool design. a lot of things in this show were basically forced onto the person watching. For example, we have a fight in ep.6 where Sagiri and Gabimaru are fighting Rokurota. Sagiri has a couple flashbacks and all the sudden she is able to perform in the face of death. This could've been better executed by showing some previous training or anything else honestly.
Then in ep.3 Gabimaru initially wants to kill Sagiri, but her words remind him of his wife. And so, he starts tearing up. I will admit it was a nice wholesome scene between these two characters, but just the timing of a flashback right before his swing, is just next level cliche and it hurts. (I guess I could've had a separate category for the use of flashbacks)
4. Cliff hangers. This show does not do a good job at putting breaks in good spots, especially the ending of the show, since it ends on a cliff hanger. Every episode will either leave you wanting more or you'll suddenly become disinterested because of how loosely intertwined each episode is.
5. "The Shonen Trope." Almost every shonen I've seen follows the same kind of trope that its honestly starting to get boring to watch. A lot of it is predictable such as how every shonen needs to have something horrible happen to them then they train to get stronger and when they fight an opponent who is stronger than them it usually ends in a few deaths with the main character yelling their hearts out. then proceeds 3+ episodes of inner conflict between our characters (usually supported with MANY flashbacks, in the middle of a fight, nonetheless. These improperly placed flashbacks can ruin the mood of a good fight scene) I get the lot of studios do this in order to meet the run time but sometimes I would love to just enjoy a fight scene that was beautifully animated.
The reason I said this show is similar to demon slayer is because they both follow the same shonen tropes, then in episode 6 we get the first REAL fight against Rokurota. He is killed by Sagiri who utilizes the same calm state of the ocean that Tanjiro does. then she sympathizes with the villain, and we get a flashback for the villain. This is essentially how it goes for every upper moon and lower moon in demon slayer to get you to at least sympathize a bit more with them. The 7 Tensen reminds me of the upper moons in demon slayer and evevn the lower moons in the earlier seasons, the villain always seems to play a trump card over and over again. Then lastly the fact they both have breathing techniques that both increase stamina and Tao
My final verdict: I will continue watching when season 2 drops, but I might drop the show mid-way. I'm honestly kind of sick of these studios dragging long fights with unnecessary amounts of flashbacks just thrown at the person watching moments before disaster. The world is very cool though and I love the way they built it up. Animation is top notch (don't expect demon slayer level good though for the animation) Also, weird creatures in anime will always get a thumbs up with me. And maybe it's just because I'm fatigued watching the same shonen cliches in anime and the fact I had better expectations going in (especially since the beginning of the show is amazing).
By all means this show is not bad, but not all that good. I found the beginning of the show to be more compelling than the later episodes. Maybe if you go into this show with lower or no expectations at all you will have a different experience than mine.
There was so much left unsaid, because I had a lot of stuff to process, watching this show in such a short time so I am sorry if I missed something, I'm just trying to rant and get everything out there on the page. If there is something I'm missing or something that doesn't make sense feel free to let me know.
Nov 26, 2024
Jigokuraku
(Anime)
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I found this show to have a lot of similarities to Demon slayer so if you didn't like demon slayer, I don't recommend this show.
As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to judge a show after watching the first 3 episodes; however, I was thoroughly invested in the plot of the story and the mystery island that I watched all the episodes in just two days. And though I binged this show like crazy, it wasn't because of how good it was, or for better terms how life changing it was watching this show. There's quite a lot of both good and bad ... |
