Jul 15, 2016
I think when a lot of people, myself included, started watching this show they expected it to be a lot more like Another. Another being a show where, spoiler alert, practically everyone dies at the end except for a couple of the main characters. This was due to the large cast, the ominous atmosphere presented in the first couple episodes and the fact that it was actually directed by the same guy as Another. I mean the obvious direction for this show would be to slowly kill off side characters until a couple were remaining.
However this is not the direction Mayoiga took. Instead it started
...
to delve into themes of trauma and psychological scars. It slowly became apparent that this was not going to be horror, it was turning into a drama.
And did this direction work?
Well yes and no.
One of the problems with this anime was that it tried to do way too much in such a short period of time. There were far too many characters and simply not enough time to develop them properly. Backstories were presented and then never brought up again. We learn the stories behind Nyanta, Mikage and Lovepon and these stories are never brought up again. These characters do not change and don’t get any closure.
Now this isn’t true for everyone. Mitsumune, Hayato, Masaki and the bus driver (who really needed a name by the way, what was up with that?) all developed as characters and this was done well.
The plot itself also left a lot to be desired. I mean it made no sense at some points. The Koharun twist at the end came out of nowhere. The pacing was horrendous, I mean it took forever to get to point and a lot of information was presented within the last three episodes.
Overall when you really look at it this show was pretty terrible.
However it had its moments. There were some pretty funny moments with a lot of the side characters like Lovepon and Nyanta. The puns were great. There were some genuinely touching moments like with the bus driver and his daughter. I personally found Hayato’s development to be interesting. Even Masaki, who I didn’t like at all when I started this show, ended up being kind of interesting. Even the main character, Misumune, turned out to be good.
And it’s definitely not a bad concept. The idea of facing psychological scars and acknowledging trauma and not just running away from problems is a great theme. The execution wasn’t the best but it was a good theme.
Mayoiga may not hold up from a critical standpoint but it definitely was fun to watch and I’m glad I stuck with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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