Jul 13, 2020
(WARNING: spoilers about characters' deaths and some more minor spoilers)
I watched all 10 episodes yesterday and was really, really surprised to find out that Japan Sinks is hated by nearly everyone here.
Not gonna say anything about the animation, I never cared about it, but this is my second Yuasa's work (after Eizouken ni Te wo Dasu na) and I really liked the style. This roughness and imperfection are what makes it good.
Pros:
- A lot of people are writing about unrealistic characters and their reactions. I can't agree with that at all. It's really common to be seemingly in high spirits after a death of
...
a person close to you, to joke and smile a lot etc., especially when you're in such a stressful situation. It's just a protective mechanism, you know, so you don't lose your mind with grief immediately. Scenes like the one where mom was cutting Ayumu's hair show that in such situations people deal with grief later.
- The same can be said about characters. Yeah, people IRL are often annoying, cheesy, cringey, they make stupid jokes all the time, insult each other, are being insufferable weaboos like Go, get into unnecessary arguments with their parents or children, show their worst side when faced with extreme situations and so on. But they also help each other, genuinely love each other, overcome the difficulties and grow. I think the show mostly managed to portray both of these sides well.
- I'm pretty empathetic and can sympathize with characters even in really generic shows, but the impact is not the same every time. Some deaths in this anime were a bit forced or didn't happen at the right moment to have the necessary impact, some made me really sad, and Mari's death actually made me cry a lot. I don't cry at every even remotely sad scene in every anime I watch, but I can't just shrug off children trying to save their mother with all their strength, and I don't give a crap about the fact that it's generic, has been done a thousand times everywhere, cheesy, badly animated etc.
Cons:
- A lot of plot conveniences, not going to argue about this one. But as long as I still cared about the characters, it's fine. I guess I could describe the characters as mostly realistic and the plot as mostly unrealistic (excluding sudden stupid deaths, that's not really unrealistic, you could expect that in every disaster).
- Yeah, it's really predictable most of the time, like the moment Ayumu's leg was infected you could guess that she would have it amputated and then perform at the Olympics with a prosthetic in the last episode. Or you could easily predict how Haruo will die. It's not necessarily a bad thing. A good show doesn't have to be completely unpredictable, it could be just good old predictable things that are done right and still have impact.
- Some things felt like they were really just there for shock value, like the scene where seagulls are eating the fisherman's body was good and emotional enough, but the shark after that was really unnecessary. It broke the mood sometimes, but as I said most of the deaths ranged from okay to really strong and emotional to me.
Overall: solid 8/10 for me. It's fairly predictable show about simple people and simple things. Yeah, Japanese culture like any other culture deserves to be protected and remembered. Yeah, people often have conflicting beliefs and world views but they can achieve great things if they overcome it. Yeah, we go through a lot of sadness and pain in our lives, but if we live through it all, it will probably help us grow. So what is so bad about the anime that tells about these things in kinda generic but emotional and impactful way? Ah, yeah, "ugly animation", lol.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
