When filling out our impressions for the Spring season, this show stuck in my mind. The reason, because it actually looked really cool, but the problem is that it’s an adaptation of a video game. Anime adaptations of video games are almost usually horrible, whether I’ve played the game or not. Even when I don’t know anything about the game, I can tell when the anime screwed it up because I always end up confused, a la Devil Survivor 2. Well…I’m confused again.
And maybe I’m purposely supposed to be confused, since this is the first episode. I mean Tohru’s other self, yeah that’s pretty confusing. Tohru and Kyoka falling and entering some other world? Okay, that’s weird. I felt like this episode was rushed and just went straight into the action just because they wanted to get things started. Tohru has another self, and they already introduce him? Sheesh, so much for mystery.
The world they live in confused me as well, and Tohru went to explain it sort of. It’s a very futuristic city with hover cars, people with some sort of…device in their wrists. The kids in gym class played some super hardcore game of laser tag or something. They’re living in sometime in the future, I think on Japan’s land, but it’s not Japan, it’s called something else. Everyone is given a rank, and according to their rank, they can have certain occupations. It sort of reminded me of Psycho Pass, with a certain system deciding your fate. But they didn’t go much into that, so I can’t say anything else.
We get introduced to Tohru waking up from a nightmare. There’s a little girl running towards him, looking like she’s saying something, and she disappears. Then someone shoots him, which we later find out is his other self. We get one mystery out of the way, but the main focus is the little girl. Who is she, why did he dream of her, and why did she appear and lead him into the warehouse where he fell? When Tohru and Kyoka, Tohru’s friend, walk home from school, they see the little girl, and she runs off. With a piece of chalk, she scribbled some complex things down, and also wrote “HELP ME”. So they both chase after her. She’s the reason why they went to that other world, but we ask ourselves, why.
Tohru is the typical orphan character, with blue hair, random rival, a little bland, and strong. Kyoka is pretty cool though. She’s shown she’s pretty strong, being the strongest in gym class. But what bothered me about them was their calm reactions when they fell into the other world. Of course they asked themselves where they were when landing into the modern-looking Japan, but the fighting and everything. Like…they go down some floors in the building, find a dead body with blood splattered everywhere:
Kyoka: Oh, is he dead?
Tohru: He’s been shot.
Kyoka: Ah, okay. We should carry weapons.
Tohru: Yeah.
Wouldn’t they be freaking out more? THERE’S A DEAD BODY WITH A LOT OF BLOOD. Then the other Tohru appears, starts shooting at them, and they both start shooting and doing backflips. Like? Okay? But what I also want to know what exactly their gym class was? Are they regular high schoolers or not? Why are they practicing combat? What kind of world do they live in? Who knows.
If I’m already confused with this stuff, I feel like I’m going to just get confused more. I think I’m just going to pass when it comes to blogging because I just won’t have the patience for it., but I guess I should tune in for a couple more episodes to see just which direction this show is going to go. I wasn’t left with a “WOW!” impression, I was just perplexed.
Watching: Moderate
Blogging: No thanks
Oki’s Impression
Oddly enough I found this episode a bit more engaging than Berry. I knew from the feel of the show immediately that I liked it and that it was something I wanted to watch, I just didn’t anticipate that I’d like the show as much on a feeling as I do. As you might be aware as a blogger my luck falls flat half of the time, either I’m watching something incredibly bland the first episode and I know it will turn around and it absolutely does, or I call a dud and get another Blood C. I am a hopeful first episode watcher. Hell, the most fun you could have is to take a first episode of any anime and sit me down, for a bad anime it’s like watching the light fade from someone’s eyes.
I kind of love all the confusing amazing gun slinging and epic stuff going on. It made the otherwise bland first episode really interesting, and I love the morbid feel of it all. I yearn for this confusion in my life and since Berry doesn’t want it I’m happy to talk about all the crazy shenanigans. Nothing was as cool as the sudden world change near the end where we literally see the main character fall into another world of gun totting crazy business.
Argh, how can I not love a show with LASEERRZZ?!!? GUNS?!?!!!!! ACTIOONN?!! WEIRD PLOT REVELATIONS IN THE FIRST EPISODE WHERE DIMENSIONS AND SHIT HAPPEN SHIT!!!! I MUST HAVE THIS SHOW!!! WATCH MY HOPES MY DASHED OR COME TO LAAIFFFFF
Watching: Absolutely
Blogging: Guaranteed
Oki
I tried interpreting what could be going on:
People are assigned places in society according to genetic potential or wealth. Tohru apparently has GREAT potential, but doesn’t like to stand out.
He’s fallen into a “bubble” under the city and met… Tohru? It’s possible that people with great potential who rebel/don’t fit in are cast out of the city, but they are cloned so as not to waste their potential. Of course, there are bound to be people that are viewed as “worthless” and that may be where the little girl comes into play.
If Tohru is a sheep, his other self is a wolf. He may not want to stand out, but he will HAVE to stand up to survive in the “underworld”! Good thing Kyoka’s by his side ^_^
This could turn out to be a pretty good anime, or a really bad one. So far, it is very confusing, but I like the idea of it (ranking, futuristic, alternate universe/self, laser tag, dodging skills) and we’ll just have to keep watching to see how it turns out. I thought the OP was pretty good. I didn’t love the animation though, the backgrounds were nicely done, but some of the character designs and motions were a bit iffy for me (they could have made the loli/little girl cuter right? I just thought she seemed a little at some times, maybe blocky or something, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like they didn’t spend enough time on her or maybe not a fantastic budget? Maybe the animation style just isn’t my type) I’m probably just being really picky though, or perhaps it’s because I just watched a lot of animes with animation styles I really liked. The other thing I didn’t like besides the rushing was as you mentioned, the clearly lacking reaction to the dead body. I mean come on, really? I doubt they’ve ever seen a dead body and realistically no one with a soul could have cared so little.
My favorite part of this episode:
“I’m fine with being a sheep. I hope I’m one of the fluffy ones.”
I really enjoyed that line too! Although, aside from all the ominous tones that were caused by the abundance of crows (since a group is called a murder), that line was especially ominous to me.
I mean, it’s the fluffy ones who end up having everything precious to them except for their lives taken away, but it’s just so they can be used again. I suppose it’s apt considering he’s in a society that essentially wants to take control of his life and exploit him for the potential in his genes again and again.