A girl and her brother are stuck far away from their home, while an 8.0 series of earthquakes hits Japan. It's such a simple premise, but instantly something I gravitate towards. Think on the potential for a survival story, for a real questioning of people's morals, and a true analysis of the state of society upon a true, natural cataclysm. However, the series chose to be too hopeful.
I'm not one to desire only horrors unleashed on a series that attempts to be hopeful. It's okay if what it wants to tell, is about the good in people, in how petty problems don't matter much in the midst of a natural disaster, or bigger problems than a sibling's fight. Sadly, I couldn't buy into the story that much. Most of the concerns come from the pacing, and how dragged out some episodes are. For an 11-episode story, it could've been a million times better by removing 2–3 episodes, put that budget into bettering the animation, that intrusive music? Cut that stuff out. Let the silence reign free in a realistic story.
There's SO MUCH emotional manipulation with the music. Not to a point where a song enhances the scene, but it feels like the creators didn't trust a scene, and put the song so it filled out the emotion needed. There were tense scenes, filled with atmosphere, or a sense of sadness… and the song cut in, and I was out. It's like an intrusive reminder to “be sad”, “be tense”. Maybe the music was just not that good. Animation I can forgive a little more, since I get it. It isn't a super-inflated budget. It's an anime series that tries its best at what it can.
I do like the characters, though. Plotholes aside (Like the Mari abandoning a massive priority because “I'm human”), everybody is the embodiment of people wanting the best for each other in the middle of horrible times. It's a nice message, and every single person carries it effectively. The dialogue works, even if they repeat the names of each other so many times that it's exhausting. I'd blame that on the presentation again, since you can tell they're stretching the budget as thin as possible.
Every problem comes from the presentation, and the lack of a proper pacing. It feels like a flawed, 2000s little gem, and that sentiment happens a lot with series of that time. I can't dabble too much on other issues, when they all come from the same place. As a story, it worked, it did tug at my heartstrings, and it almost made me cry at times. Those moments save this from being mediocre, since the emotional core, and the themes on the ending make much more sense. It's a good ending, that's got enough boldness to stand out a little more.
6.8/10. Even if I liked the ending, a touch of more hopeful bleakness would've made this one a banger to remember.
*SPOILER (Not obligatory to read the next part)*
Imagine if Mari and Mirai were the last ones left. Damned to be together, since that's all they can do at this point. A mother with no children, and a child with no family. Fantastic ending if that'd been it.
*END OF SPOILER*
