Jan 18, 2016
Criminally underrated; with beautiful scenery, a gorgeous score and an absolutely wonderful story.
First, the plot. The best reason to watch this show. It is impeccably paced, using the first two episodes to introduce us to our protagonist Saki, her friends and the life she knows. Only once we're familiar with this does the show drop the exposition bomb (be prepared for episode 4, I will admit.) This story has two main arcs, one when Saki is a child-teenager and one when the other when she is an adult. The first arc is mainly worldbuilding, and is usually what most synopses of SSY describe. The
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second arc is, in my opinion, where the real meat of the show comes in. Especially the ending. Good lord, the ending is one of the most perfect endings I've seen in any anime. It's understated, it makes sense in the context of the characters and it ends on a phrase that so wonderfully sums up the series as a whole. I won't dare spoil the ending, go see for yourself.
The characters aren't at all bland or uninteresting, but some got a lot more development than others. I put the score as high as I did for two reasons: Saki and {The Antagonist}.
Saki is a wonderful protagonist. As a child she's brash but she's not a universal leader, she's cheerful but can have bad days, she can sometimes do catty teenage things (but then again, they all do). She's a very well-written young character. And as she grows, you see how she changes and she is able to live in this world and have her personal fortitude see her through.
{The Antagonist}, without giving anything away, is one of the best written and fully dimensional characters I have ever seen. They're a tragic character: they want to do what they think is best but they go about it in the wrong way. They start out trying to be kind and negotiable but in the end feel they can only resort to doing horrible horrible things. The fanbase is mixed about this character and whether they were actually the "good" guy, but just the fact that the fanbase is so divided and each side can find hundreds of things to justify their argument is a testament to just how complex and interesting they are.
The art is a little hit or miss at times, which makes sense as it's animated by the often hit or miss A-1 Pictures. However, while the characters' movements aren't as fluid as other more recent A-1 anime (this came out in late 2012) the backgrounds and scenery are lovely. Also, special shout-out to the costume design. Saki's mom's gardening onesie notwithstanding, the majority of the outfits are very interesting and nice to look at.
The music is gorgeous. I don't have much else to say about it other than shout-out to the main theme, the Kage no Denshouka suite. Chills every time.
SSY is based on the novel of the same name by Yusuke Kishi. Having read most of the novel via online translation, I can testify that this is a direct and faithful adaptation. It doesn't go quite as in-depth as the novel does, but that does not mean by any stretch that the anime is lacking. Consider reading them in this order: anime first, novel as an expansion.
Overall, I can safely say the SSY is likely my favourite anime of all time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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