Let's quickly get to the good parts;
- Characterization is very strong. We know exactly what the motivations of each character is and how they got to their current situation, the interpersonal relationships are clear and concise. This is one of the best parts of the show; Every character is written very well.
- The set-up for the show is one of the best set-ups I've ever seen, without revealing any major spoilers (This is shown literally within the first few minutes of the show), humanity suffers a type of "Apocalypse" and a hidden force appears to pick up the pieces. In a lesser show, this would be the focal point of the entire show but in this one, it is simply a backdrop for what is truly important; The characters. So A+ for knowing how to write a great show.
- The action sequences, when they want to, are quite good. Not great, but good... and unfortunately this leads me to the negative parts.
Bad parts;
- The show starts off with great art and animation but starts to slide more and more until they are straight-up pulling a Berserk (anime) .... they start to take massive animation shortcuts and this gets worse over time. You can almost pin-point precisely where they went overbudget and how everything that follows after that is extremely subdued and flimsy. This is not because of the tone, it is because they ran out of money, it is because the director didn't know what to do.
- The story quality takes a MASSIVE plunge towards the middle and more so towards the end. It sets up the pathos of the two central characters, establishing a contrast and a tragic scenario where both are made to suffer, feeling guilt, shame and a set of choices of which none lead to a good outcome. It is brilliant... but then they start to take the easy way out and absolve them of a lot of what they do, using DEUS EX MACHINA and cheap "Get out of ethical dilemma" free card over and over. Let me make this simple; if you don't care about complex/deep storytelling, you will not even notice this... if all you want is action and shounen antics, then this downside is irrelevant to you.
If you became invested at all in the gradually rising stakes, the character interactions and the lore built by the show, you *Will* be disappointed when they lose all restraint and straight-up jump the shark. They were doing so well ... and you WILL know what I am talking about when you get there. From a very subdued and restrained first half of the series, it suddenly takes a turn for the cheesy, incomprehensible, nonsensical shounen style BS. It is very disappointing.
- The story ends on a cliffhanger. Very little is explained too, which is fine because there is a second season... but judging this season ("Series" as Europeans call it) on its own, it is an incomplete story that was both too slow and too rushed. It could have been great , it started so strong but slipped up half way through, never to recover again.
Concise;
If you want a deep, complex, restrained and even mature story, the first half is highly recommended. The second half destroys what the first half built.
If you want action; There is a surprisingly low amount of action in this series, but for the most part the action *means* something, so the bursts of action while more rare than you'd expect, are (almost) always important rather than becoming white noise like in other shows.
If you want comedy, I thought a couple of the comedic moments worked fine but the comedy relief is very sparse ... which is good for this kind of story.
High summary;
If you want constant raw action, this is NOT for you.
If you want constant comedy, this is NOT for you.
If you want pathos, a deep story and well developed characters, check this out. The first half is 10/10.
If you want a story that starts good and remains good, this is NOT for you.
That being said, it is a good show, just not 'great' .
gg
