Phrase: "The Story Flows So Nicely"
Actually, it doesn't, but it makes you want to suspend your logic in the ocean and believe it does or it's hard to finish.
Genre: Romance, School Life, Supernatural
Summary: A boy moves to the countryside to recover from his blindness where he meets the town outcast, the town idol, and several other girls as he struggles to make sense of his past.
Characters: The side characters are more developed than the main character.
Art: Only tolerable art. The character style annoyed me for some inexplicable reason... Perhaps it was too typical... or perhaps because it oddly felt like I was watching Higurashi. Many times, I literally expected someone to come out with an axe...
This is a 12-episode long series which leaves several questions in the mind of the viewer akin to "What the heck!?" or "Are you serious!?" and continues on to find the most absurd conclusion. I'd give you some examples, but due to the short length of this series, those examples are equivalent to spoilers.
Anyway, each story arc ends the way the viewer wants without any logic behind how that arc began. Nevertheless, the viewer mindlessly and happily watches, quickly abandoning questions like "How the heck did ____ happen if the character ______? Isn't that impossible?" in order to enjoy the series. If you are a person who doesn't mind going brainless to watch a series, you will enjoy this, but be left with a storyline that pleases you with pathos (emotion) and throws logos (logic) out to sea. If you care to logically understand your anime, skip this one.
Well, this was one of those half great half horrid ones. I loved what happened to the characters from a pathos side (as a viewer, I got everything I wanted in the end), but there was no reason for any of this to happen at all. Really, there was no reason for the whole story to happen and the world slipped so illogically from supernatural to "actual" reality that it literally forced me to abandon logic to like it. The more I think about it, the more that actually wasn't satisfying... Do I really want everything that I wish to happen to just happen? The reason to watch a movie is never to find out how it will end since we all know that in a Chick Flick 99/100 times the dude gets the girl and in action flicks, good triumphs over evil (though it is short lived as good has to prepare to fight again...), but rather to see how that comes about... This anime skips that. It takes away the very thing people look for when they watch media: the journey.
At first, I gave it a 5 because despite everything, I don't feel like I wasted my time watching it. It overall did nothing for me, but somehow I don't regret seeing it. It was unique in its own way. Put together poorly and illogically, sure... but still an anime with an amount of unique aspects. But, thanks to my conversation with my friend Kelly, "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone". From a television standpoint, it destroys what a story is... You know you'll hear "And they lived happily ever after", but how? What happened? This anime skips over giving the viewer a sense of logic so that they can stand the causes, effects, emotions, motivations... it is hard to sympathize with most... scratch that... ANY of these characters...
Spoiler and Rant Alert: (Highlight to read, though if you like this anime, I recommend you don't...)
The reason this whole story happens in the first place is because this girls ancestors didn't provide medical support to the sick townspeople. So, the town revolted, killed all but their daughter, and burned down her house. So, the whole darn time, I'm prepared for something interesting, like when the town idol tells the main character not to cross the bridge because a monster lives there, I'm thinking, "Woah! I hope that girl is the monster!" (Like, a "REAL" monster!) But no... she is a "monster" because of what her family did while she was too young to understand. T.T (Mass disappointment).
And there is so much supernatural whatnot in this anime! The dead sister becomes this spirit that her sister drew in a storybook and finishing the storybook is the key to making the life in the town better and all this stuff... And the "monster" is not a monster!? Why are the behind-the-scenes characters so much more dynamic than the main ones?!
And that's another thing... who the heck is the main character? Even in the end, no one knows. We know more about EVERYBODY else than the main character...
Ya know, I need to just end this rant... I thought this was a terrible anime... An insult to television and story...
I know my clarification of reviews calls for at least a 3 if I finish it, but this anime must be graded on its own scale. I can't see how it should get a 3 for abandoning the very basics of the "cause effect" rule. Therefore, 1.5 Sugar Cubes. (Why 1.5? Because I liked the soundtrack ^.^)
Disclaimer: Strictly logical people will utterly detest this anime.
No comments:
Post a Comment