Directed by the Bebop bloke and the other bloke from One Punch Man and Tatami Galaxy and the ghost of the bloke who directed Texhnolyze (the art style is quite reminiscent of that, but inverted).
My advice? Read wider before you watch this show -- Orwell's 1984, Shakespeare, Vonnegut, Catcher in the Rye, Sawyer, Finn, Strangelove (Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb), Lord of the flies, Hamasaki's Texhnolyze/Steins Gate -- everything from world history to the hidden depths of self are explored in this brilliant work of art.
I encourage everyone to read the interview with the director to see exactly what he intended (SPOILERS: https://letsdiscoverthingsthataregood.wordpress.com/2022/06/30/sonny-boy-final-episodes-interview-with-shingo-natsume/)
Like the format of Monster but not dragged on incessantly,
or the format of Space Dandy but episodes are actually coherent,
or the format of Steins Gate 1's glorious signature directing and music --
or the format of Texhnolyze but not crushingly nihilistic and borderline unwatchable --
and the vivd but unique art of Your Name and Ghibli Studios;
This bloke has clearly borrowed Hamasaki's directing style and begs to disagree on his vision for the meaning of life. Every close up of Nozomi's eyes is like a close up of Ran's from Texhnolyze.
One must stop and heed what he has to say - for in just 12 short episodes, he says a lot -- and every idea and question will fight for your attention in the depths of your memory long after the show concludes.
He's possibly seen another madhouse production, Texhnolyze - you'll know what I mean if you see the scene where someone gets shot with a perfect circle hole formed in the body -- by a raygun, nonetheless. Maybe it even references the remote control in Steins Gate 1. The art style is eerily familiar with the same core team that probably made Texhnolyze from Madhouse studio;
- Instead of an oracle like Ran, reading the future from precognition and foresight -- thereby solidifying fate,
We have Nozomi, who is an affront to any concept of predetermination -- but that every moment is in itself something to be made and earned from the actions of the self
- Instead of Ichise, a dogged determinist for pure survival hammered by the brutality of his environment and his only source of income,
We have Nagara, an apathetic and solipsist nearly to the core, insulated by the very nature of his upbringing as a neglected child keeping it together for the next day, where nothing once again happens because he simply avoids all events.
- Instead of Onishi, the compromising upholding of the status quo, be it lie or not,
We have Mizuho, who demands only truth and the right thing be done at all costs.
- Instead of Doc, the idealist, perfectionist and unabashedly self centered,
We have Rajdhani, a pragmatic scientist who works selflessly towards whatever helps everyone the most given what he has,
Nagara starts out effectively already dead. He's useless, does nothing, and disconnects from the very fabric of reality to entertain his abstinence from any semblance of stress. It's only through the experiences that he crafts with the hands of others that he's finally able to break out of the shell that he's crafted for himself - a prison without bars.
It's only through the actions of Mizuho, Nozomi, Rajdhani that he comes into his own as the crafter of his own fate.
Instead of the crushing nihilism that being stranded in a deserted island with only 35 other people should conclude, or the Lord of the Flies like premise and 'ending' (not the ending but one of the 'endings' nonetheless {killing of the will itself} that we aren't shown), we're left with a series of open ended tales that we know the start of, but rarely the end. The cast is as broad as your standard do-nothing-probably-you MC, to someone who is literally Satan -- and surprisingly does not develop the way you'd expect to see; that surprise in itself is not one for the sake of surprise, but to develop the story into itself fully.
There's many times you'll feel like you want to tear up, but you just can't. Love, Life, Betrayal, War, Infinity, Manipulation, and Death are just a handful of examples I can give that this show tears through with flying colors and a cohesive plotline. It's concrete despite being abstract. It's good despite being absurd. It finds meaning in nothingness, and a limit to infinity.
It's the conclusivity of uncertainty that really speaks volumes in this show. Beautiful and full of potential -- like it's art, unheld back by the characters and design. It's not designed for the mass market.
This is unabashed arthouse anime at a time where I'd thought arthouse was extinct by 2011 -- maybe now I'll check out some other 7/10 shows and see what gems lie hidden amongst reviews from people far too out of their depth to understand.
And to be crystal clear - This is NOT a confusing anime. It's crystal clear so long as you have some basic literary understanding. It doesn't need to pretend when it really is what it says on the tin.
This is a show that will change you once you understand. This is an assault on global solipsism -- an example of how one can seek to overcome self-inaction. A far more subtle telling of 1984 without the darker themes within -- the effect is the same. It is the challenge to the ideas of Texhnolyze -- finding meaning and progress when there was never one to begin with.
We build the world around us -- do not wait and see what will happen if we let things slide unchecked, and opportunity left untouched
Art - 10
Story - 9
Direction - 11
Character Development - 10
Character Acting - 10
Believability - Absurd, but a 10 within the rules of 'this' world
