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Sep 25, 2014
“Only one glass of water brightens the world” – Voice on Radio
There are times, sadly rare, when an anime will transcend the medium. Leaving behind the plucky, odd coloured hair hero or the somber anti-hero, these series inevitably leave their mark on anyone who watches them. They might be good, bad or somewhere in between; in the end it is irrelevant. They are different, they are weird and they are impossible to look away from.
Texhnolyze is one such series.
It begins with an episode oozing with symbolism. Blink and you’re apt to miss something, some crucial piece of a puzzle you’re never given all the pieces
...
to anyway. It’s an episode that, or so I’ve heard, was specifically designed to drive casual viewers away and in that it succeeds. It almost turned me away, if I’m being honest. Dialogue is at a premium, whoever wrote the script hoarding words like they were priceless jewels. Without this crucial aspect of human interaction you’re forced to watch and judge for yourself; why are they doing these things? What is s/he thinking? What, exactly, is going on?
I have yet to see anything like it. But I’ll freely admit it isn’t for everyone. As I said, it nearly turned me off and so I can certainly understand why some might abandon this series. But if you can push through an odd first episode and a slow start, you’ll find something unique.
The story is set in Lux, a city caught in a tense stalemate between gangs. There’s vague references to the “Class”, a group of elite people living on a nearby hilltop. Mechanical limbs, the process of grafting them to a body dubbed texhnolyzation, are also present and quite widespread through society. Unfortunately, that is about all you get in regards to the world.
As I alluded to above, everything in this anime depends on your own interpretation. Nothing is spoonfed to the audience and while it works well with the characters, it fell flat when it came to the general world. Even after finishing it I have no real idea what Lux is, or who the Class are. It ultimately makes the anime purely character driven, which isn’t a bad thing, but a solid explanation by the end of the series would have been nice.
Speaking of the characters, they really do drive the story. Ichise’s search for meaning to his life is an interesting one, as is watching Oonishi fight for what he believes is the right thing to do. Others, such as Ran and the Doc, help to round out the cast and provide their own unique look at different topics. Change in them is subtle and slow, just like real people, and while I couldn’t predict their actions (or maybe more correctly they didn’t fit into roles I’d come to expect) they never felt like they betrayed who they were. Even if I didn’t agree with or understand their actions entirely, they never felt wrong. That was something Ichise would do, or that is something Ran would say.
The actual story itself shares this unpredictability, more so than the characters. I had no idea where it was headed for most of the series, and I mean that in a good way. It kept me wanting to watch, wanting to see what happened next. There aren’t many anime that pull this off and it felt…refreshing.
Moving on to the technical aspects, the sound is great. Whether it’s the opening song, a new personal favourite, or the strangely alien sounds of the texhnolyze vision (you’ll understand what I mean when you watch), it all just fits. Nothing seems out of place and it’s all good quality.
The art style is a little different, however, and might take some getting used to. It feels…old, I suppose? I’m not quite sure how to describe it. Sort of similar to how shows like Bebop and Outlaw Star were drawn way back when, but with a facelift and some more modern design choices, like less harsh edges. It might take getting used to by some, but it’s not all that bad and suits the kind of depressing tone the show seems to go for.
In the end, I’d recommend this for anyone looking for something different. If you’re not into that sort of thing, however, I’d give it a miss.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 6, 2014
This is one of my favourite animes of all time. Now, I'm not naive. This isn't a must watch show like Bebop or GitS and I know romantic comedies/harem shows aren't for everyone. But if you give it a chance you'll be more than pleasantly surprised.
The story begins with Nagasumi, a seemingly average Japanese high schooler, drowning in the ocean. He's saved by a mermaid, Sun, but unfortunately for both of them the merfolk have very strong laws against being seen by humans. Complicating the matter is that Sun is the only daughter of the leader of a Yakuza group, meaning these laws can't just
...
be overlooked. And what is the punishment for breaking these laws? Death, for either the human or the mermaid. Luckily there's a 3rd option that you can guess from the anime's title; marriage. If Sun and Nagasumi are married, they'll be family and the laws won't apply. And so begins their bumpy road to a relationship, as Sun's overprotective father and his Yakuza attempt at every turn to kill Nagasumi, Sun moves in with him, they struggle to adjust to both of their respective worlds and Nagasumi desperately tries to keep Sun's secret a secret from others like his odd "friend" Chimp or his police officer aspiring childhood friend Mawari.
It's a unique set up for a rather typical romcom storyline. Mermaids don't get much exposure in any kind of media these days so it feels fresh despite using a creature we're all familiar with at this point and they've got some interesting takes on mermaid culture in modern society.
Ultimately however it's never the setting that makes a romcom, it's the characters. And this show does a great job with them. Nagasumi is a fairly typical lead, a decent guy that you occasionally feel sorry for considering the stress he has to go through because of his new situation. But he's not perfect; there are times when he's a dick, or lazy, or inconsiderate. Basically he's human and, sadly, that's a breath of fresh air for this genre. If you're tired of seeing the typical white knight that stumbles into "perverted" scenarios every episode, then you'll enjoy Nagasumi.
Sun, as his opposite, is the true star. As I said above, she's a ditz, maybe even stupid at times, but she's got a heart of gold and legitimately cares about Nagasumi. It's tough not to like her. And...that's really all I need to say about her. She was my favourite character and considering she's a lead, that's great.
There's a handful of other characters, all fleshed out and feeling like actual people even if some are a little...eccentric. Sun's dad is a bonafide psychopath, but at his heart he just loves his only daughter. Chimp is, well, Chimp and Lunar, despite seeming to be mentally unstable, really just wants to be loved. There's more, but I'll leave it here since most of the fun is in discovering and experiencing these characters for yourself.
It's at this point too that I want to say I feel this is a harem anime done right. That might be an odd thing to say, since all a harem would need to be "right" is a guy and a bunch of girls obsessed with him, but its always too unrealistic for me to suspend my disbelief. The girls are shells, filling one trope or another and existing purely to populate the harem. This isn't the case in My Bride Is A Mermaid. All of the girls, despite having and/or developing feelings for Nagasumi, are characters in their own right. They're not defined by their feelings for Nagasumi and it's an important distinction. You can imagine them existing without him, which isn't the case in other harems like, say, Rosario to Vampire. I hate to keep using this term but it's just a breath of fresh air.
The animation is good, if nothing special. It's typical of what you expect of a modern anime without standing out. The music fits, keeping the tone upbeat and generally working to keep in line with the light hearted comedic half of the show. The VAs are at the top of their game as well, with Lunar's VA sounding like she had a bunch of fun with the role.
Overall, this is a must see for romcom fans and I feel you should give it a try even if you're not into the genre. There's few, if any, better examples that you could find.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 2, 2014
Sword Art Online sucks. I could stop here and that'd be all you needed to know, but I won't. I'll explain why this thing is terrible and in no way deserves the hype/scores/praise/fanboyism it gets.
Sword Art Online tells the story of Kirito, a gamer that gets stuck in a virtual reality MMO along with thousands of others. Their only way of escaping is to completely clear 100 levels of a tower, each progressively harder than the last. Oh, and if you die in the game your virtual reality gear in real life microwaves your brain. Interesting, no? Well, surprise, I'm actually going to say yes.
...
Despite my opening sentence, the premise behind this anime is great. The stakes are high, it's a cool, unique setting and there were the beginnings of interesting characters. So what happened?
Nothing. And that's the problem.
Let's talk about the story, or the lack thereof. You might think, from both my brief summary and the synopsis above, that this anime would deal with clearing the floors, the epic struggle to finish the game. Spoiler! It does not. When the timeline isn't having an epileptic fit you get, at most, a brief summary of what floor is currently being cleared. That's it. Cool battles? Nope. Heart breaking loss? Hell no. How about filler episodes in what amounts to a 12-13 episode anime? No fu-oh wait.
The majority of the episodes in the Sword Art Online arc (the last, roughly, half of the anime is set in a different MMO entirely, which has its own problems but I'll get to that later) are completely pointless. A handful of them are devoted to Kirito helping, in one way or another, one of the few actual girls in the game world. When the episode is over, they've fallen in love with him and they play no further role in the story. I'm not even kidding. The entire episode feels like a gigantic waste of time and this happens MULTIPLE TIMES. Then there's an odd CSI-esque murder mystery that's based around an MMO term. It kind of works but it feels forced, like they just wanted the murder then scrambled to find an MMO reason for it to happen. Further, this goes for 2 episodes when it could easily have been wrapped up in one and, like everything else in this anime, amounts to nothing. And the few episodes before the end, which I won't spoil, are the worst. This is supposed to be an action fantasy anime, not a boring slice of life...I was going to say comedy, but it's not comedy. Or drama. It's just slice of life. You watch two people live their life together. Exciting!
If the SAO arc went for the full 24 episodes I could tolerate this kind of thing. A lot of animes have these "filler" episodes that give a break from the main story, maybe throwing in some character development or world building. I don't mind this. But in the case of a shortened arc, like SAO, they take away what precious little time the main story already has. You can't do this and expect to have anything resembling a respectable story. And since SAO did it, it's main storyline feels rushed and, frankly, stupid.
I glossed over the second half of this anime to be honest. It's set in a world with fairies and elves and the main villain looks like a closest butterfly, who also screams like a girl. He's one of the least threatening villains I've ever seen, which only adds to the lack of tension that comes with the life or death stakes disappearing. See, the new MMO doesn't trap Kirito, or anyone really, so if they die they can just log back in later. I believe Asuna is in some kind of danger but it's not enough, especially when I don't like her anyway.
Which is a nice segue to start talking about the characters. Kirito himself, when not being a Stu, is a bland and empty shell existing purely for wish fulfillment. He's a loner badass that all the girls instantly fall in love with and is insanely powerful and is the hero who saves the day because he's the speshul. That is really all there is to him and that's all there ever was. There is no character development whatsoever for him throughout the entire series. There's a half hearted attempt at a tragic backstory, but it never resonates and, like so many other plot points in this anime, falls apart when confronted with logic.
Asuna is the other main and I hate her. Aside from beginning as the literal definition of a tsundere, she eventually ends up as another useless female incapable of doing anything without Kirito. This does not a good character create. Further, the romance between the two feels so weird and oddly forced that it feels like it was written by someone who had never actually been in a relationship. It amounts to they spend some time together, eventually she cooks for him and then they're in forever love. There aren't any specific events that you can point to nor does it ever feel that their relationship is growing. They just end up being a couple because the writer says they are.
Aside from them there's a handful of girls that make one or two episode cameos and are never seen or heard from again (a slight exaggeration, I'll admit, but not far off either). Oh, and there's Klein, a caring but kind of goofy guy. He's my favourite by far but only gets limited screen time, likely because he's an actual character and would shine a light on everything Kirito lacks. But when he is around he easily steals the show. I thought they might play him as the comic relief, which I would have accepted if for no other reason than to see more of him, but that's just one more wasted opportunity this anime has.
Animation is fine and actually impressive in some instances, the boss battles standing out. Audio is also good, with no complaints from me. I'll say here that there's nothing technically wrong with this anime; in my opinion the production values come off as fairly high.
Unfortunately it's everything else that comes up short. Impressive visuals can only get you so far and when you lack any good characters, development or even a good overarching storyline, you're bound for failure. How this gets so much praise is beyond me, but perhaps you can get some mindless enjoyment from it if your expectations are low.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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