Ai Astin is the perfect character to take us through the world of the series. Rather than simply acting as a catalyst, Sunday Without God does an incredible job fleshing out her personality and capturing that child-like innocence. Props to the dialogue, because whether Ai’s disapprovingly questioning the morals the current world has adopted or claiming the obvious, everything that comes out of her mouth feels so real.
But with a brilliantly imaginative setting and a loveable female lead, Sunday Without God is not free from flaws. Its problems lie with its execution.
Rushed and hasty to get from arc to arc, emotional attachment is nearly void. A certain character’s death put a nice, unexpected twist to the experience, but preceding scenes were too glazed over to evoke any emotions from me when the actual scene occurred.
Side characters that accompany Ai on her journey are well-characterized but any development feels stilted, especially romantic relationships such as the one between Juliet and Scar.
This leads to another problem where yes, the ideas presented are brilliant but because of the rushed pacing, it’s bound to leave many confused and inevitably frustrated. As much as I loved the setting, there are some major elements that the series pulls right out of its ass, even leaving me staring at the screen asking what the Hell I’m suppose of make of it.
The series ends on a rather unsatisfactory note, putting a halt to everything after a rather so-so arc. A whimper rather than a bang, a final lasting impression didn’t come through to me. Rather I was left irritated.
So yeah, whose decision was it to set this for one cour instead of two?
Final Verdict:
Story – Formatted in story-arcs and with no definite story was a good idea, but the execution is weak and rushed, causing a lack of the emotional punch that the series aims for
Characters – Ai Astin is a fantastic female lead, and the rest of the cast is likeable enough, but due to rushed pacing. Development and relationships feel stilted, causing emotional attachment to be nearly void.
Setting – It’s imaginative and immersive, chocked full of brilliant ideas and symbolism that work for the most part, but would have been far more effective with stronger execution.
Production Values – Solid throughout. The music is qutie nice, but the gorgeous background art is the strongest factor
Final Thoughts: Most people dislike this series and for good reason. Its execution is weak and the series is rushed, but for me at least, it was still quite an enjoyable experience.
Rating: 7/10 (Good)
