Mar 3, 2018
So I’ll break this down as much as I can...
Story
This is pretty hard because 2 plots were going on during the entire anime and while they made it perfectly clear how they intertwined, it was completely unnecessary. We had plot 1, the mystery behind Keith Flick and his sisters death. Plot 2, Koku and the legend of of the black wing king. It’s my personal opinion that neither plot truly needed the other to be good. In fact if both were separate animes I think it would have turned out better. The organization the backed up the doctors murder didn't need to be
...
supernatural, in fact they could have twisted it a bit and made him a donor at an orphanage that influenced kids to worship him and take the fall for him. A long shot, but it’s fiction so not entirely out of the norm. Koku’s story obviously needed Keith to fill in the blanks as far as finding the legend, but again I don’t think it had to be him. It was told the way it was told, I just feel these two plots would have been great if perhaps made into movies and separate from one another. Either way, I can see why the anime was released all at once on netflix as opposed to week by week. No one would have kept up with it.
Animation
This is what honestly got me into the anime to be perfectly honest. I saw it and thought “Huh... I wonder why Howl has a sword for an arm?” It felt so... Miyazaki-esque. Brilliant, beautiful, thrilling, and overall well done. There’s a feeling of nostalgia and suspenseful thrill in just about every episode.
Sound:
Theres a lot going on to fully immerse you in the world at the start of each scene. It’s perfectly... whelming(not underwhelming or overwhelming). Nothing too exciting to make me want to replay a scene over and over like i do with so many other animes. But nothing that was so annoying I needed to just skip through it or make a “WTF” note.
Characters:
I loved the characters in Keith’s plot, all colorful and unique. just the right amount of odd, reliability, outbursts, intelligence, cleverness and and dash of playful evil. Even the antagonist was interesting. I don’t know about likable, but I didn’t hate him. Koku’s plot... I mean everyone just died one after another, enough said. You got to know Koku to artisic-ish, homicidal, one track minded, and clever. When I say homicidal, i am not just referring to him going around killing living weapons. I am also referring to when a dying old man that he probably looked up to as a father leaves him notes to cut up the other kids he has grown up with and attach their body parts to himself. I would have really liked to know that he struggled with that for at least a day or two.
Enjoyment:
Like i said before, the animation and art style is what drew me in so I had high hopes of seeing something truly entertaining. After Keith’s plot and relation to Killer B was revealed, I enjoyed that part of the anime more and looked forward to the fights in Koku’s endeavors. I love a good mystery, so that part I enjoyed. But overall no, I found myself dissecting the anime out of sheer boredom so that I could wonder “was this at all necessary to this plot? was there another way to retell it?” If i could cut out Koku’s story, I would re watch it.
Overall 6.0
Seems rather high for how hard i was bashing on it I know, but its not like I wasn’t entertained. I was able to sit through it without stopping for more than eating something and never took my eyes off it. However I couldn’t see the anime as a whole and that’s what really bothered me. I don’t think I would tell someone to “not watch it” but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. Rather I’d like to see their reaction to it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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