Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Middle school student Mirai Onozawa is dissatisfied with her family circumstances and, in a moment of frustration, wishes to tear everything apart. Unfortunately, these destructive thoughts seem to come true in the form of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake just a few moments later.

When summer vacation begins, Mirai reluctantly takes her younger brother Yuuki to Odaiba, where a robot exhibition that he wanted to go to is being held. However, while they are in the exhibition center, the fury of a major earthquake shakes the Kanto region; helpless, both kids witness the devastating power of this natural disaster as it brings the city to its knees.

In its aftermath, they stumble upon Mari Kusakabe, a motorcyclist and single mother who decides to help the young siblings. Aiming to return to their homes and reunite with their families, the group sets off on a long and hard journey through the decimated city.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Onozawa, Yuuki Main

Kobayashi, Yumiko Japanese

Kusakabe, Mari Main

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Onozawa, Mirai Main

Hanamura, Satomi Japanese

Furuichi, Masashi Supporting

Aono, Takeshi Japanese

Nonomiya, Kento Supporting

Hamazoe, Shinya Japanese

Onozawa, Masami Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Kusakabe, Ryuuta Supporting

Hatano, Wataru Japanese

Yuka Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Megu Supporting

Takahira, Narumi Japanese

Risa Supporting

Endou, Aya Japanese

Ozaki, Noriko Producer

Tachibana, Masaki Director, Storyboard

Tanaka, Kazuya Sound Director

Nomura, Kazuya Episode Director, Storyboard, Layout

Reviews

Nov 9, 2024

Zeno_Artaxerxes

Recommended

In my opinion, this is a hidden gem. Would never hear about it if it wasn't for the Awards Winning anime category on this website, and oh boy, was this a journey I was caught without notice.

It is a story that was inspired by multiple simulations of what would happen if an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 would hit Tokyo, as I guess you already understood by the title, and it follows a sister from 7th grade, her little brother from 3rd grade and an initially stranger that also has a daugher (but not with her) trying to go back to their homes which are in ... the same area.

I will start with talking about the characters, as this is what I feel like the anime is big on, besides the tragedy. This story has a LOT of deep things regarding the problems a middle school age kid would have, and even if the girl can be seen as annonying little brat, I personally understood her quite a lot in what she was feeling, and her progress troughout the story felt very real to me. When life really sucks and everything seems to be going against you, at that age, it is very hard not to become like her or share in her vision quite a bit. Her little brother, even if he s younger, seems a lot more mature, with a more optimistic view on life, even though it is childish in quite a lot of situations. The older woman, Mari, which takes the role of a protector for the 2 of them and tries to get them back home from quite a distance, is a rolemodel of a mother as well, knowing exactly how to handle little kids like them and being the kind of understading person the world needs a lot of. These 3 make for quite a trio to watch interact and try to help each other and arrive home safely.

The story is pretty powerful and makes you really think about all the disasters that go in this world and how much it affects people living in those areas. Even if you think you might be able to imagine how it would be, it was still a new experience for me, where I could see different people in different scenarios and how much impact such an event can truly have on a personal level. Maybe deaths becoming a statistic so much truly dehumanizes quite a lot of people...

The setting imo is really well done, as in the walking back home and seeing different areas that each knew before and how much the tragedy has changed them, and the character's multiple views from different ages is making the story feels genuine and teaching you multiple fronts that the people are affected on.

One thing I felt a bit off, were the interactions... Sometimes they felt too... scripted. For me at least. Some action as well. But I can live with that, the messages and overall feelings the story would present were strong enough that I could easily overlook those moments.

Story: 9 -- A story that teaches you about a disaster and its impacts on life, as seen from the character's viewpoints.

Art: 8 -- The art is kinda low quality when it comes to characters. The backgrounds are pretty good though

Music: 9 -- Pretty good soundtrack, can't say there was something very special that I would like to listen outside of the anime, but it fit very nicely in this story.

Characters: 9 -- Some might find a problem with a certain MC, but I didn't, and I really think it adds a new level to the story having that character behaving how it had, especially as the story goes further.

Enjoyment: 10 -- Episodes felt really, really short, even if they were like 22 mins long, they just flew by. Really enjoyed this anime!

Overall: 9

Right now it has 8.00 from 127.188 votes Ranked #648 Popularity #846 Members 302,745 as of 09/11/2024.
Highly recommend this anime to people that want to learn more about what a tragedy like this could mean for the people in the area affected from multiple age perspectives. Also, it will show you that whatever happens in family, as long as it isn't something extreme, family is family, and you should really love it. It isn't a full of happyness story, so be prepared. Really, be prepared.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 28, 2024

bergars

Mixed Feelings

What could've made this one amazing?

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*

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 7, 2024

Ramun_Flame

Not Recommended

It's just so boring. It started out interesting depicting a middle school girl in a rebellious age where she is very cynical about life. She's contantly talking about how she doesn't want to do things, and is on her phone all the time. She has a younger brother who is very positive, making her feel like an asshole for being short with him all the time.

After the earthquake, even after going through so much she keeps the cynical/negative attitude way too long. In addition, the pacing became really slow. This show is only 11 episodes, but it could have been half that from what I ... can tell. Just a lot of side stuff that isn't that interesting/new. I actually dropped it at episode 6, but when reading a review of the special, which is just a shortened recap(maybe worth watching instead), it spoiled a future plot point. So, I powered through just to see how things played out. It for sure had some moments, but it's not worth it in my opinion.

I don't know how accurate the depiction on the earthquake was, but that's not too important for me. I enjoyed the first 2 episodes, and some of the scenes in the last few. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, although I suppose it's at least unique.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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