In a world ruled by a being named, Shinju-sama, Yuki Yuna and the Hero club help out the community. The Hero Club is chose by the Shinju-sama to fight off 12 monsters called vertexs. And so, the Hero Club ensembles with the power of cellphones and friendship and protect their everyday life. Though as their lives go on they learn of the truth of their duties. The brutal truth that make them question the world around them, and ask the most important question of all, why are they even fighting.
Yuyu is centered around a concept that is rather overused in the media, known as the power of friendship. While I do enjoy the concept; usually I find media to handle that concept horribly, due to fact that many shows don't exploit the actual friendship in question. Yuki Yuna does the exact opposite of that. Yuyu gets that friendship is about sticking up for your friends, but that what makes them so strong is being with them. Yuyu understands character interaction. The way the characters interact feels like how my group of friends act together, we just be ourselves. The conversations the characters feel like they do strengthen the bond between the Hero Club. It's because of those silly moments in the show that the serious moments have real impact. You feel the tension and the risk of their everyday lives, and their moments of happiness fading away.
The show is very character driven, and it’s a refreshing break from the plot and world driven show that is Madoka. The characters for the most part are likable and I really don’t think any of them are badly written. While I wouldn't call any of them complex; their simplicity is really what sells them to me. Everything about them is clear cut and simple. Even with huge explosions and fighting going on, their conflicts are understandable. Though admittedly I am a bit disappointed by the lack of inner conflicts. Yes, while I could understand what a character is going through, none of the conflicts in the characters are really personal. In short, a lot of the characters are missing the big flaw. The thing that makes them a bit more relatable. With the exception of a few, I feel that the cast is really lacking a human element. Even so, they are likable enough and I do care when something happens to one of them. By the end I felt that all of them went through some kind of character arc, and that they have grown as a person at the end.
Though...except for one... Yuki Yuna herself...Yuki Yuna is admittedly a very undeveloped character. She really doesn't have a character arc no matter how much I think about it. Yuna is kind of the same person she is at the end. She's heroic and selfless from beginning to end. So she kind of just exists for the sake of the plot and Togo as a character...Though she's not a complete Mary Sue, almost but she does have those moments when she's weak. She's not a perfect little flower, almost but no. Though despite all of that, I still cared for her at the end. For awhile I couldn't think of why I would like such an undeveloped character. Though it kind of just hit me when Yuna was fighting in the last episode. She was really similar to Hikaru Shidou, a childhood hero of mine. While Hikaru is a much better character, their personalities are similar; their outgoing and positive attitude and their I will never give up frame of mind. Yes, a bit of a shallow reason even for me, but yes I don't find Yuna to be a negative factor even though she should.
So I was pretty satisfied with the character work, even if it was nothing too complex, and it did disappointed me in some aspects.
The show’s biggest weak point is no doubt is the dialogue. I don’t think any of the dialogue is too bad, but it’s just that..some of it was bordering on cheesy due to the way the characters delivered their lines. (Both Languages) I mean someone times it worked, because it fitted some of the characters. Example, whenever Yuki screams shit about the Hero Club’s rules during battle, it fits because Yuna is a huge fan of those rules and it fits her outgoing and positive personality. Though in a case where things don’t work is when Togo screams her heart out. Yes while those lines are okay and aren’t something to complain about, what I mean is that Suzuko Mimori, while a great actress I felt like the direction given was basically: “Uhhh try to sound like you’re suffering, but...keep it cool some how...”.
The ending was a bit disappointing, I was hoping the show could go out with a bang and end with a bittersweet end, but I felt like it was a cop out. Though after re-watching the show, I have to say it fitted. The writers wanted to give the girls a happy ending, and they did it in the best way possible. While I'm disappointed, I can't say that it came out of nowhere.
Yuyu is a great treat, it's story is a spin on what is now a Madoka inspired landscape. The script and the lore is interesting enough for me even though it's simple and grabs things from Madoka. Though it really is the simpler things that make the story and characters so likable. No matter no messed up a situation is, I could always understand, emotionally what is going on. Since the show sets up its characters to be endearing and relatable.
Technically, Yuyu is quite impressive and performs well. Which is unexpected from a relatively young, Studio Gokumi. The color palate is light and fluffy, which gives the show a nice light hearted tone, but because of impressive lighting effects. The show got what it wanted across.
Directed by Seiji Kishi, Yuyu is what I'd like to say is his directing skills in one show. Yuyu has his dramatic and emotional direction tactics as well as his comedic ones. Ala Angel Beats and Carnival Phantasm. The show's comedic scenes have the familiar quick editing and goofy shots. It strangely works, despite the type of comedy this show works with is different than something like Carnival Phantasm or Persona 4. Whole those shows have comedy that relies on anime tropes greatly, Yuyu uses the familiarly of the characters and certain situations to get across it's comedy. I still found it strange that his comedic direction still works well, even though I think the style is more suited to silly anime comedy.
Kishi's dramatic directing also exists, pulling off a lot of emotion through character expressions, and dramatic shots. Though to be honest, I could have used more subtly. For example, in Togo's emotional climax, the shot is positioned right at her face. Yes, while it's okay for her to cry and scream, I felt like the scene could have been more effective if they just kept a back shot and the background being quiet. The expression while didn't bother me too much, I feel like it's a tad over the top. So I feel like the scene should have let the admittedly great acting shine through by itself. Though the scenes still come off as emotional and it still hit me. It's just my wishful thinking. The lighting is also a great factor. I noticed that in the most emotional scenes Kishi uses the darkest variations on the already existing colors. Which is nice since it shows how straining and heart breaking a scene is.
On to the music aspect, the music is composed by KEIICHI OKABE, the man responsible for my favorite video game osts. I’m was honestly surprised when I saw him on the staff list. Didn’t know he did anime osts. I found this sound track of his in particular to be a rather interesting work of his..Throughout the show I always had a lingering feeling that the music was at least inspired by Okabe, as the arrangement of instruments and vocals were similar (and actually is) his style. So when I found out that he was the composer I was kinda surprised. Surprised that it wasn’t inspired, I began to see the OST in a different manner since it was composed by someone who has impressed me before.
I began to listen and compare my impressions to his past work. After listening to the OST a few times in it’s entirety. I feel that with a lot of his work, this soundtrack, was different. That’s why I like Okabe, with each soundtrack he does for a piece of work, he does something different. Even with his style being prominent, I always felt that the music he composed was fresh each time. That is the same for the score here. Since Yuki Yuna is a show very different in terms of tone compared to Nier and Drakengard 3, the soundtrack reflects this. There are a lot of calm and more simple pieces, but there are pieces with more intensity because this is an anime. Because it is an anime, the pieces can be short and not have a loop, unlike Nier and Drakengard 3, which are video games.
And really, that's the reason why Yuki Yuna's soundtrack is my favorite anime OST of all time. It's refreshing. It's style of music is refreshing from the bombastic and SUPER DRAMATIC osts from Madoka. (Still love the Madoka OST to death tho) The action pieces uses a combo of the violins and choir, but the way the drums were used made the scenes have more of an impact on me. The emotional pieces, with the exception of one are simple and contain the right amount of punch to get emotion across. You don't have to have an arsenal of violins to make a piece emotional. All it takes is one vocal and a guitar, then maybe a bit of violin. While this isn't Okabe's best work critically, it's an OST that I honestly liked because of the context I had while listening to it.
In terms of voice acting, the cast consist of mostly new people. Which is something I adore the producers deciding, since the acting also felt fresh and different than the usual Kana Hanazawa performance. (She's in the show too by the way, she does the job like always). Though the cast do have their fair moments where they mess up. While I do think the acting is solid for the most part, there are few times where I felt like some lines could have been delivered better. Sometimes I felt like it was the director's fault (the Togo scene previously mentioned), and sometimes I just felt like the actress could have put more into it. (Yuna mostly) Still, those moments when the acting falters, they are few and far between. Plus when I was watching the show without a critical eye, I was sucked in enough to not care about the acting.
In terms of the dub, which currently only has 4 episodes out at the time of this review. I like the fact the the dub also opted for newer voice actresses. They perform well, and is about the same level of the Japanese performances, for now. Though the script is mostly faithful, I do feel like the script does changes how a few characters feel. For example, Itsuki is less reserved, calling out on her sister's crap a bit more harshly. Fu is a bit more soft, with her tone of voice slightly less...Senpai like. I actually like these slight changes. Fu comes off a bit more relatable and Itsuki is quite nice as well. Though these changes don't make the two different characters. They still are the same Fu and Itsuki we know.
Overall even with the minor hiccups, Yuki Yuna performs amazingly. Certainly one of the better shows of the 2014 fall season. Yuki Yuna is a Hero was an enjoyable experience that is everything I wanted in a show. It reminded me of the times I had as a child as well as the special moments of friendship I have now. So even if it's flawed I'll always remember it as something more than a Madoka rip off.
