Shadow’s First Impression
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting going into this series, but it definitely wasn’t what I got lol. I only watched one PV for this series and I was a little worried that the visuals would make me uncomfortable. But so far, that isn’t the case and I was able to enjoy… hmmm, maybe enjoy wasn’t quite the right word for this first episode, but you get the point. I only say that because this series started off depressing and then it got more depressing. Maybe not to the extent of Attack on Titan because A LOT of people died in that first episode, but it was still pretty depressing.
The set up was fairly interesting if not slightly predictable with how the rich and poor sections of the city are separated. I really like the contrast between the two sides of how the rich side is so clean and pristine, but are extremely wasteful with their stuff. While on the poor side, we see the main character take what was thrown away and make them usable or even better in some cases despite how downtrodden and slum-like their part of town is. Though it is weird how the rich side won’t even let the poor side use what they’ve “thrown away.” Almost like they don’t even want to let the poor side have a taste of what they have despite them not even using it. And then they also essentially force the poor side to watch “executions” of criminals being thrown into “The Pit.” Which is a whole sort of messed up. There are still a lot of questions I have, but they did a good job creating a lot of intrigue as I do want to know what the heck is going on in this world.
Our main protagonist is Rudo who is an outcast who is looked down on because his dad was a murderer. Who also breaks into the waste management to collect “trash” that is still usable. Just like the world, I am fairly interested to learn more about him and why he has this weird injury on his hands. At first I thought his dad burned him or something, but it looks like something more akin to a curse. Especially with the phrasing of how his father “left him with those injuries.” Despite his very rough and solemn exterior, he still has moments that show he’s still a kid at heart. And I think it helps that despite his circumstances, he actually had two pillars of support in his life. One of them being Chiwa who seemed to accept him despite all the other kids and adults looking down at him. She’s the typical “childhood friend” character that sees the misunderstood protag as more than what everyone said about him. Though his crush on her was very cute. To which, how can you even blame him since she was literally the only person his age that seemed interested in his hobbies and enjoyed being around and talking to him. And the scene of him finally gaining the courage to give her the rabbit doll he patched up was really cute
However, his biggest support had to be his seemingly adopted father, Regto. Especially since he was the one to give him gloves that seemingly suppressed the pain of his curse-like injury and take him in while he was being shunned by everyone else. I feel like it if weren’t for him, Rudo probably wouldn’t have had any room to act like a kid. Regto probably meant the world to Rudo, especially since Regto treated him like he was his own kid with how he teased him, dressed his wounds often if not every day and constantly supported him with his crush on Chiwa.
Seeing how happy things were, I knew something absolutely terrible was about to happen in the next few minutes. And lo and behold, that creepy masked guy from the beginning of the episode decided to ruin the happy atmosphere by completely ruining Rudo’s life by killing Regto. For a moment I thought that something bad was going to happen to Chiwa, but then as soon as Rudo opened the door, I knew the bad thing was in there. If I had to harbor a guess on who the creepy mask guy is, my immediate thought that it was Rudo’s dad but we’ll have to wait and see if my guess is correct or it’s a completely different character we haven’t met yet. Initially I didn’t know why Regto was yelling at Rudo to run, only for the answer to literally slap me across the face when the guys in white showed up and arrested Rudo. And man, it’s always so frustrating to see people not listen to others when they are trying to explain themselves, even though the evidence looked incredibly incriminating. Things go from bad to worse when they hang Rudo up to be thrown into the Pit. Especially when the entire town is all for throwing Rudo “away.” And when Rudo searches the crowd for Chiwa, I knew she was going to turn away from him. And just like that, Rudo’s two main pillars of support were yanked away from him. At that moment, I just felt so bad for him since he lost two of his closest allies in that moment considering everyone else was against him from the getgo. Rudo essentially lost everything in this first episode and I can hardly blame him for wanting revenge on everyone.
For some reason, I expected the plot to revolve around the clash between rich and poor areas and was surprised when we ended up in the Pit instead. This was strong opening and built so much intrigue from the getgo. I have so many questions, such as why were the guys in white even patrolling the slums literally the same day as Regto’s murder? Who is the creepy mask guy? What is the true meaning behind Rudo’s hand injuries? Who even is Regto and what was he writing in his book? Why was he so desperate for Rudo to change how the world is? I’m eager to see what happens in this series now that it has caught my interest and my friend had informed me that it’s actually pretty good. So I may just stick with this series and blog about it. Great set up so far and I want to see how things play out. All I know is that things are gonna go down and I am here for the ride.
Possibility of Blogging: High
Possibility of Watching: High
