tl;dr: The show left me feeling like I just watched a whole lot of nothing.
CHARACTERS:
Surprisingly, I didn't really find the female protagonist Tamaki that whiny or annoying. Sure, she did seem naive sometimes (and some lines were cringe), but it's not her fault no one told her anything? One day, she's suddenly sent to live with her grandmother, and out of nowhere, she's told she's a descendant of some Tamayori princess and has to save the world? Honestly, I felt bad because she was just thrown all this responsibility on top of having to adapt to a new environment. She tries to do what she
...
can, but her grandmother refuses to tell her anything or even meet her. Which is honestly baffling? Like why? I get that the grandmother has grown old and her powers are weakening and whatnot, but what's the point of getting Tamaki over if you're just going to leave her powerless and struggling to find out how to "awaken" her powers practically the entire show... To let her "realise" something herself? Yeah this didn't make any sense to me and I didn't like the grandmother.
As for the Guardians, I can only say they all felt super bland, maybe except Mahiro at times. Didn't find anyone particularly charming, felt no real connection between the characters, even till the end it seemed kind of forced. We don't really get to learn much about who the characters are beyond their roles as Guardians, they just keep harping on how they're "not human" and only "tools" that have to obey the Tamayori princess. They don't even know much about the artifacts or their own origins, because they were told they didn't have to know? Okay... Now, Mahiro. He's the one character who seems more relatable at least. He gets frustrated and pissy at Tamaki (who didn't do anything wrong, who's in the same boat being thrust into a role she never asked for btw), but eventually acknowledges his weakness. Watching him go off on Tamaki and sulk wasn't very nice, but I guess there was some character growth? Compared to Takuma, who followed Mahiro when he got upset and then suddenly is okay with Tamaki again? Did I miss something? Then we have Shinji. This guy's powers didn't manifest but he chose to leave to train and get stronger (happens before the show) instead of whining. But alongside Suguru and Yuichi: Didn't get much time to explore their personalities beyond archetypes, so I don't have much to comment.
Overall, the characters felt flat, which I think is the main reason I couldn't enjoy the show. None of them were really likeable to me, the romance/build-up was just not there.
PLOT:
Sigh. So there are 5 artifacts and the enemy, Logos, is trying to steal these, breaking the seal and unleashing Onikirimaru - a sword apparently so powerful it's going to destroy the world unless Tamaki can keep it sealed. If you're expecting any explanation about Tamaki's powers, the Guardians' powers, their link, Logos' power, what kind of organisation Logos is, or what Logos is even after, you get none. You get a bit of backstory about the first Tamayori princess and the sword towards the end (+ some revelations?), but that's it. The whole show is just them battling Logos each time they try to steal an artifact, and in the meantime trying to learn more by reading books in the warehouse since grandmother dearest refuses to say anything. The government official and Kutani? - again, leads to nothing. The characters find out nothing, we know nothing. Nothing. Do they try to get stronger? No. Let's just patrol around the artifacts, whine about our circumstances, and wait for Tamaki's powers to awaken.
ART/ANIMATION:
The art is okay to me, considering it's a bit of a dated anime. The animation isn't much, but I wasn't expecting a lot after seeing episode 1 + Mahiro's backflip off the roof.
Honestly, I'm still going to watch Season 2 to see if I get any answers, but I doubt it'd be worth the time.
EDIT: Finished watching S2. It's marginally better and the male characters get more personality and some backstory (not a lot though), but the world and plot is still poorly explained. It's like when the situation calls for it, they just conveniently know what to do, how to use their power, and don't question anything. At the end, still have no idea what Logos is or how the members get to be so strong with magical powers. The drama feels like it's just for the sake of having drama. The romance develops, but it's so clichéd and cheesy, and to me it feels unnatural and abrupt how they just fall so deeply in love with each other. Don't get me wrong, I like clichés - when done well. But this just left me rolling my eyes and saying "lol, of course...". Throw in a hint of incest (not involving Tamaki, and there's no explicit mention of a romantic relationship between the two parties, but the thought is uncomfortable enough). The ending had me going "What...? That's it??", but at the same time I feel glad there's nothing more. If you're a fan of the post-credit scenes, then this show might not be bad for you, but if you cringe at them then I'd say let this one go lmao. There are better shows.
Dec 28, 2024
Hiiro no Kakera
(Anime)
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tl;dr: The show left me feeling like I just watched a whole lot of nothing.
CHARACTERS: Surprisingly, I didn't really find the female protagonist Tamaki that whiny or annoying. Sure, she did seem naive sometimes (and some lines were cringe), but it's not her fault no one told her anything? One day, she's suddenly sent to live with her grandmother, and out of nowhere, she's told she's a descendant of some Tamayori princess and has to save the world? Honestly, I felt bad because she was just thrown all this responsibility on top of having to adapt to a new environment. She tries to do what she ... |
