*I included as few spoilers as possible
There are few anime who, after I finish watching them, I have to scratch my head. Even fewer make me simultaneously want to review the story itself and post it online. Sunday Without God is one of those irksome shows.
Story 4 (This show really is a cute girl doing cute things)
I picked this series up because its premise sounded amazing. I am a sucker for religiously-inclined series, and this one seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The show's two opening arcs were nothing short of amazing, if a bit campy. The series explained the setting while also bringing to
...
light the conflicting views of safety and security in this new world, and how each person seeks to attain them. It was beautifully done with the only issue being the complete campy-ness of everything. This show is slice of life, make no mistake, it is not extremely dark like the opening or themes would have you believe.
My problem comes in two forms; one is the tone, and the other is the ending. The tone of this, as I said is very slice of life, but its concept is much less than so. The slice of life aspect of this show ruins many of the themes because it is like the show itself is not taking itself seriously. I could not tell who this story is for. The people who like slice-of-life will be off-put by the random and graphic violence, but those who like darker themes will be put off by the storytelling that is reminiscent of bubblegum, cotton candy, and rainbows. Maybe there is someone out thee who this show is perfect for, but the tone, to me especially, seemed way too varied to really take it seriously.
The ending... is another matter. This is one of those shows where everything literally stops mid-story without any resolution. Unlike similar shows such as Kino's Journey, the series doesn't even give you any final words. It. Just. Stops. This would be okay, if the viewer were not left with a dozen questions. The show does not explain the nature of the wishes God gives the world or how what happened at the end of the final episode, even happened. I could have ignored the tonal shifts, but the horrible ending and the fact that the final two arcs were so similar to one another (same settings and themes) dragged this score down at least 3 points.
One last thing to note is its poor execution of Chekhov's gun. I can't give specifics, but there are events and things that happen that do not come up again, even though a big deal was made of them to begin with. It happened more than six times in this series, and really brought down the overall message, as well as the characters.
Art 9
The artwork in this is gorgeous, in that hyper stylized moe kind of way. I don't have many complaints save for the fact that there were awful uses of CG and the characters often did not quite blend with the gorgeous backgrounds provided. Otherwise, I thought it was great.
Sound 6
The sound is usually really good. The opening sequence is ear-catching with its swelling choir and snippets of English phrases and the ending is one of my favorites of all time. But other than those two, nothing really stands out. None of it is bad, but it's not great either. The music is also not very versatile. It tells you exactly how to feel and when to feel it- with no interpretation left to the viewer. If it's sad, you're supposed to be curled up into the fetal position bawling. If it's happy, you're supposed to be skipping and laughing. Etc.
Characters 5
Sunday Without God is a mixed bag when it comes to its characters. Sure each of them have well-thought out motivations and solid interactions between one another, but those interactions and motivations do not match up most of the time. A character's backstory will be presented and a few personality quirks alongside that, then, the character just goes off and does random things that have nothing to do with their personality in the first place. I'm talking about the fact that the village that raised our main character is brutally murdered, and what does she (the caring and loyal Ai) do? She of course goes with the man who killed her village. Makes perfect sense! There are numerous instances of this, and it got very annoying very quickly.
The biggest travesty to the characters is that they all act so happy all the time. I get that the main character is that way, I will not complain there. But many of the others are just happy for happiness' sake. It's unreasonable to think that in a post-apocalyptic future that no one would be experiencing extreme depression or despair- that's just not possible. This campy feel added with the slice of life tone, just ruins much of the interactions of the characters.
Enjoyment 5
Overall 6
Overall, I don't regret purchasing this series. It's not terrible. It has many very touching moments and the colors and animation are very pleasing to the eye. I just didn't like it from a technical standpoint. Despite my negativity, this show is not awful. It definitely has some problems in it, but for what it is, it's not bad. I just hoped for more out of a series with such amazing animation, a great premise, and an opening sequence that was inventive.
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Apr 17, 2017
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
(Anime)
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*I included as few spoilers as possible
There are few anime who, after I finish watching them, I have to scratch my head. Even fewer make me simultaneously want to review the story itself and post it online. Sunday Without God is one of those irksome shows. Story 4 (This show really is a cute girl doing cute things) I picked this series up because its premise sounded amazing. I am a sucker for religiously-inclined series, and this one seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The show's two opening arcs were nothing short of amazing, if a bit campy. The series explained the setting while also bringing to ... |
