A very rough cut gem that will appeal to some, and not to others.
This series is the imperfect attempt at a magnum opus of one Kazuki Akane, someone who has been involved extensively with many fantastic and well known works, essentially a who's-who list of big name titles for anyone of a certain generation of anime enthusiast. However, his involvement has often been one of medium-to-high-impact but low-visibility, with the exception of his involvement with 'Escaflowne' in which he was deeply and somewhat more visibly involved. This series, however, is one of only two of Akane's work on which he can be said to have
...
his shot at becoming a true auteur (the other being Heat Guy J, which I am yet to see).
It is impossible to evaluate Noein without this kind of meta awareness of Akane's career trajectory I believe. Right down to his frequent credits as a storyboard artist, which clearly influenced the odd, but effective way that the series blends disparate and incompatible animation styles in a very self-conscious and intentional way. Much of the action involves animation that seems more like detailed colourings of storyboards somebody left out (think a less experimental version of 'Kid's Story' from 'The Animatrix'), while effective use of 3D animation is made to accentuate the weird and alien quality of certain settings, characters and objects. Rather than attempt the kind of blending that was typical of this time period, which neither looked particularly good to contemporary eyes, nor aged well, Akane's use of various animation styles ages all the better in not attempting to fool the viewer, but rather achieve artistic and thematic effect. I spend so much time on this minor point because the inconsistency in the animation is something which I have seen repeatedly mentioned in negative reviews here, and I so I feel this is worth spending some times emphasising.
That being said, the animation does have its issues. The more orthodox animated segments can be.... rough. The style between characters is inconsistent in a way that never quite stopped feeling jarring and uncanny. I don't know if this was an intentional choice, as the character of Haruka, around whom every character and the entire storyline revolve, for better or for worse, is obviously the greatest example of odd and inconsistent character design and animation. But if it is intentional, it is hard for me to understand its exact purpose.
More broadly, the narrative and characters really make you work very hard... This series feels like panning for gold, and although you do find it with some regularity, it can feel like labouring under a hot sun without any guarantees at times. Partly, I stuck with the series simply because it was a series which somebody with whom I am close with emphasised its personal importance to them so strongly, however there were also moments when after some teeth pulling, the series really did pay off in such a way that I felt my investment was being rewarded. This kind of pattern covers everything from understanding or caring about the narrative, character development, interactions, and relationships, and action sequences. This is most definitely an exemplar of the classic trope of the anime your friend tells you to just watch 6 more episodes and they promise it will get good.
It is only a certain kind of person I think who will enjoy or be glad to have watched this series, and that is, returning to my initial point, the type of person for whom experiencing a glimpse inside the mind of a great craftsman who never managed to fully become an artist is something they will appreciate. Someone who likes to see the imperfection of someone trying and just about succeeding, to do something different and fully their own.
The series ultimately explores some interesting themes, and returning to my panning for gold metaphor, the hard work of enduring some of the more insufferable character moments are precisely set ups for important and far more interesting character development later down the line. The character of Yuu for example is an utter misery for at least the first half of the series if not more, but it is precisely this total unlikeability that pays off so well at the 11th hour in understanding both the motivation for the entire plot, and delivering a core part of the series' philosophical reflection.
I've written a lot here that can honestly be summed up succinctly by the very first sentence of this review, and so I will not belabour the point too much further, however to reiterate, this series is one for those who want to watch something imperfect, but sincere, and genuinely unique. While there are clear influences from works like 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', 'Rahxephon', 'Escaflowne', and perhaps even 'Serial Experiments Lain', this series is definitely something not quite like anything I've seen before. However it will test your patience at times, even if you're the kind of person who gets a kick out of the off-kilter. Yet there was something that kept me coming back, and I am in fact glad to have experienced everything it had to offer. It truly was something different, and by the end of the series I found myself surprisingly attached to some of the characters and the outcome of the story, not to mention the very interesting way it explored SciFi concepts like quantum entanglement and instability, multi-universe theories and such.
If you haven't been turned off by this review, I really do suggest giving this series a shot, I promise it gets good after just like 8 more episodes bro, please bro, just trust me bro I mean it!
Dec 4, 2024
Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e
(Anime)
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A very rough cut gem that will appeal to some, and not to others.
This series is the imperfect attempt at a magnum opus of one Kazuki Akane, someone who has been involved extensively with many fantastic and well known works, essentially a who's-who list of big name titles for anyone of a certain generation of anime enthusiast. However, his involvement has often been one of medium-to-high-impact but low-visibility, with the exception of his involvement with 'Escaflowne' in which he was deeply and somewhat more visibly involved. This series, however, is one of only two of Akane's work on which he can be said to have ... |
