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Apr 4, 2017
[This review contains major spoilers.]
I slightly regret watching this.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
Although visual character design is peculiar, the art backing it up is good.
Each character gets good quality art, except for Hardgore Alice's dress. The art quality is notable because of the wide variety of costumes drawn.
...
Snow White stays a pacifist.
She claims that she won't hurt anyone and she doesn't at any point in the series. Pacifist characters in Death Game series too often claim pacifism at the start only to make exceptions later on. Pacifism isn't a "sometimes" thing.
Cranberry was voiced well.
Voice acting all around is decent. Cranberry stands out as well-voiced.
---- Negatives ----
Overarching Negative : unguided Death Game disguised as Magical Girl genre.
The root negative of this series is that, under the guise of being a Magical Girl series, it's a Death Game series that isn't guided by any author-level planning and is lacking any strong overarching themes. We get a situation, and we get some characters. Nothing is explored deeply and, instead, we watch the characters arbitrarily act after having wrenches thrown in their environment.
Opportunity for cancel: No. An unguided series fails as a story on a fundamental level. This series needed at least one strong theme, but didn't have one.
The violence is bloody and sharply differs from other scenes in the series.
One moment there are magical girls, the next there are magical girls sent flying into concrete walls bleeding profusely from having their faces smashed. There are many such examples.
Opportunity for cancel: No. I didn't understand the contrast here.
Character backstories are almost entirely given too late.
Backstories are mostly either given after the character has died or just before they die. We aren't given enough chance to care about many of the characters before they're killed off.
Opportunity for cancel: Partially. At the rate that characters are focused on and then killed off, it makes the backstory a sort of poetic memorial, especially since they all lived differently - though if that's what this series was intentionally going for, that should have been made clearer by focusing on an overarching theme mentioning that these girls are all going to die.
The characters are apparently-normal children in real life, but are somehow unremorseful when they kill.
In particular, Swim Swim seems to be a grade-schooler in real life, yet she goes around killing the other magical girls without it seeming to bother her at all. She even participates in killing the magical girl that she admires (even after her death), on more-or-less of a whim fed to her in a dream by Nemurin.
Opportunity for cancel: No. This personality distinction isn't explored in the series.
The magical girls are almost all excessively bizarre (visual character design).
Few of them actually look like magical girls. The rest are excessively bizarre, such as a girl in a dog costume and a girl with a large tail. There's a scantily-clad ninja and a robot too...
Opportunity for cancel: No. I don't see what the motivation was behind the quirky character design. To some degree, their designs fit their personalities, but design still faltered.
The series genre-hops before settling on an unfitting genre.
It starts off as "Become A Magical Girl" and "Trapped Inside A Game" (with a twist, because it's a layered over the real world and they can transform back to normal - although they can never fully return to being normal people), then abruptly slides into "Unwitting Death Game" (sub-genre "Nonsensical Bloodbath").
Opportunity for cancel: No. The characters don't spend enough actual effort talking about and coping with the genre changes. They just superficially try to talk things out before kicking the bucket (Sister Nana especially), or too readily resort to killing, in which case they haven't examined the genre changes.
It turned into "So Who's Going To Die Today?".
Once the series gets rolling, we have characters dying left and right, sometimes multiple characters per episode. At some point I had to stop mentally following any of the characters because I figured they were going to be murdered in another episode or two.
Opportunity for cancel: No. The story doesn't initially present itself as this - Fav just keeps lowering the survival maximum, each time to the surprise of the participants. Without mental preparation, this makes it seem that characters are being killed off arbitrarily by the author.
The final moments of the series attempt to bring back a weakly-explored theme.
After everything that happens, the series ends with Snow White talking about becoming a strong magical girl, since that's always been her dream - even though it's been branded as childish. She seems to somehow avoid mentioning the bloodbath that just occurred - and that was pretty important to the story.
Opportunity for cancel: No. The author just brushed aside the chaos and tried to pretend that it was all about a light-hearted, innocent theme all along.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 2, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I would recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I probably won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The theme is interesting, although it sometimes fades into the background.
The theme of Being X's involvement in the world via believers is used well all the way through the last minutes of the series. The rest of this point is a negative though, listed in the Negatives section.
...
The main character keeps their characterization.
Degurechaff keeps their life views throughout the series, despite the difficult situations that they're subjected to. Because there was enough to potentially change their ways, the fact that they didn't change was almost a form of character development in a way.
The main character never discusses their past life.
Degurechaff never directly brings attention to the fact that they've been reincarnated nor to the heavily-made implication that they come from a timeline in the future and they have knowledge of the historical war that's taking place. This actually works well in the series because it avoids the risk of devolving into a time traveler series, which usually aren't done in a very fresh manner [time travel back, explain future event, no one believes, go through struggles to get them to believe, everything works out, the end].
The art is great when it wants to be.
Background art and side character art is great, and Degurechaff and Serebryakova sometimes get great art [though they sometimes don't, see Negatives section].
There's one good use of 3D in the series.
During one animated sequence near the beginning of the series, it seems that 3D is used very well in a 2D-3D distance-movement blend. When the characters are far away, it looks like 3D animation, and at the perfect point as they approach the camera, they switch to being animated in 2D.
Sound effects are good, one musical theme is good.
Sound effects overall were good, especially the magic-related sound effects. A good example of background music is in the first few minutes of the final episode. The OP and ED were good overall.
The series sort of ends.
Even though the series ends in somewhat of a "Now, go read the source material!" way, it also does somewhat come to a conclusion, not particularly being a cliffhanger.
---- Negatives ----
The 2D art falters occasionally.
There are two styles used for moderate close ups: artistic and bland. This problem largely affects Serebryakova. For characters moderately far away from the camera, art can, at times, be somewhat low quality.
Opportunity for cancel: No. Although the art style is sometimes great, it too frequently dips low.
The 3D art falters often.
Except for the one time when 3D is used well [mentioned in the Positives section], it looks jarringly bad.
Opportunity for cancel: No, although most 3D art used in anime series in this era looks jarringly bad, so this is par for the course.
Being X doesn't intervene enough.
The middle of the series is devoid of Being X's involvement. Even when it possesses the pilot to talk to Degurechaff, the reveal is lackluster. It seemed that Being X didn't do enough to attempt to convert Degurechaff. For the main part of the series, it actually helps her out [even with the curse, it seemed too generous].
Opportunity for cancel: Maybe. Being X does state that it's being overworked, so there's a good in-world reason why it doesn't intervene too much and why it doesn't seem to think its plan out a little better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 16, 2017
[This review contains very minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I would definitely recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled.
I will probably watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The art is great.
Much of the art has a rough paper texture background. Backgrounds look like watercolor while characters are more solid. This made it pleasantly easy to distinguish focus-elements from background-elements, while both types of art looked good.
...
Each episode successfully introduces new characters, tells a story, and wraps up.
Each episode progresses well. I liked the decision to have each episode be a separate story. The alternative, trying to tell a long story over multiple short episodes, is challenging, though that doesn't stop other series from trying.
The episode topics were nice.
The four episode topics were all about partings and encounters, but were different enough to make each episode interesting.
The third episode was amazing.
Won't write more on that because the first-time effect would be diminished.
---- Negatives ----
If you like having everything explained in detail, this may not be enjoyable for you.
Because the episodes are short, it helps if you're able to recognize character/story patterns, or if you can relate to the characters' positions. If you watch the first episode and aren't familiar with the "I'll go on a journey and come back even greater than my mentor/master/teacher" pattern nor the "I'll be waiting here for your return" pattern, and you're neither interested in cooking nor the value of amazing food, you may not find the episode interesting. The episodes in this series seem to expect some basic relatability or pattern recognition from the viewer, possibly because there isn't enough time to explain things fully [though also possibly as a deliberate artistic choice].
Opportunity for cancel: Maybe, depending on who you are. I enjoy not being fed all the details, so for me this series was enjoyable.
The movement frame count is very low.
The character-movement-related animation in this series consists of dissolves.
Opportunity for cancel: Yes. I thought this was fine. Actions and emotions were still conveyed very well, especially when complemented by the great use of sound effects and great voice acting.
There are pauses.
Characters will sometimes pause for a decent amount of time during a conversation.
Opportunity for cancel: Yes. The pacing of the conversations fits the overall feel of the series. Also, resisting the temptation to rush a short-length episode series pays off, I think, in masking just how short the episodes are. When series rush their short-length episodes, it only draws attention to their short length, even though the intention is assumedly to fit more scenes into the limited time - in other words, it backfires.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 6, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I would probably recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I probably won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The series covers most of the characters well enough, and gives a higher amount of focus to Akane.
This series has nine siblings to focus on, which is understandably difficult. Akane gets more focus than the other characters, which makes the series easier to follow. All of the siblings get decent coverage. However, coverage is partially a negative, covered in the Negatives section below.
...
The characters are upbeat.
Even though the main focus of this series is on the upcoming royal election, the characters gather support solely through positive efforts. They don't pull each other down.
Special powers are lightly explained as they're used.
This series doesn't go into too much detail on the special powers of the royal siblings. Instead, they use their powers to varying degrees without limitations being the focus [a few events actually do focus on limitations, though]. This is listed as a positive because the series worked well without limitations being the focus.
It actually ends.
The final episode actually wraps the series up.
A good romantic couple.
This series has a confession and a positive reply, and the relationship makes sense and works throughout the series. It also gets a fair bit of indirect focus.
Akane's voice.
Akane is voiced particularly well for her role.
---- Negatives ----
The ending wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
Someone actually does win the royal election, but the way that they win it, and who the winner is could have been done better. There are a few hints about the chosen ending, but it still feels like the writers chose the winner without giving enough characterization to any of the royal siblings.
Opportunity for cancel: Maybe. The actual focus of the series seemed to be about the royal siblings growing as people, with the election just being a reason for doing it. After the election winner is announced, everyone seems to go along with result without any objections, and things conclude on a high note.
There are a lot of main characters, so some don't get much coverage.
It felt like Akane, Kanade, Shuu, and Hikari got the most focus. Teru, Shiori, Misaki, Haruka, and Aoi seemed to get less focus. This estimate isn't by time, but by direct focus and prominence throughout the series, by the impression that I got after my first watch. [note : Aoi got a high amount of time spent on her, but those sections were comparatively tame]
Opportunity for cancel: Yes. Giving more focus to certain characters when dealing with a large cast is a good strategy. If characters get too even of a focus, there's a risk of the series being difficult to casually follow. All characters got a good base level of focus, just some acceptably more than others.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 4, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I would recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I may watch this again.
---- Positives ----
Motorcycles get a decent amount of focus.
This series incorporates motorcycles into the story well. It's not just a detail.
...
Time is well spent.
Pacing was great throughout. The club members actually go out and do things, as opposed to just sitting in their clubroom.
A new character is introduced toward the end of the series, and this is done well.
Near the end of the series, the club gets a new member, and episodes after this point still focus a good amount on all members.
Sakura is voiced well.
Her voice stands out and fits her character well.
---- Negatives ----
Kawasaki's backstory is a little peculiar.
After hearing more of her backstory, the series felt a little weird to me.
Opportunity for cancel: No. I don't know if she's covered better in the manga series, but it feels like there are a few details missing from her past that would have helped explain her situation so that it didn't seem so strange.
Suzunoki seems to get a disproportionately high amount of fan service.
This series is actually fairly tame, except for one scene where the club members are washing their motorcycles ... and quite a few scenes involving Suzunoki.
Opportunity for cancel: Maybe. I initially had the impression that this was some lewd series from some video clips I saw before watching this series. I was glad to discover that this actually wasn't that type of series. That one motorcycle scene doesn't represent the series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 12, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I slightly regret watching this.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled.
I won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The first part of the series is superb, assuming you enjoy fast-paced fantastical adventures.
During ~most~ of the series [ignoring the final few episodes], the characters go on fantastical adventures that are made even more interesting through the series's great art style. Viewers learn close to the minimal amount possible in order to still be able to follow along, and this is great because by the time you're starting to understand one aspect of the series, clues about other aspects appear,
...
keeping the experience exciting and fresh. The character types are played well and consistently, with each being unique enough to have its place in the series. There aren't any monologues - everything is figured out by the viewers and by Cocona along the way. We're never stopped and forcibly pointed at an explanation point - the degree with which things make sense depends on how much effort you put in while watching the series, also meaning that you can chose what to care about and focus on, and simply ignore other aspects of the series, all while still enjoying it overall.
The art is very good in almost all instances.
I liked the drawing style, which stayed consistent through most of the series. Character and camera movement during battles was also well done. In the final few episodes, quality fell a little, but was still good, since the baseline for this series was pretty high.
The ED is great.
The ending song and ending visuals are great. I got worried at first that the scenes depicted hinted at future events, but thankfully they didn't seem to imply what I thought they were implying.
---- Negatives ----
The series shifts for the worse near the end.
The feelings of wonder and superb stated-vs-implied balance that were so well-executed in the first part of the series are lost in the final few episodes. This shift is very abrupt and the problem persists through the end of the series, ending on a bad note. We suddenly get a marathon of previously-seen environments - previously, all environments were new and interesting, only appearing once. We see foes come back and be tossed aside again without any depth being added. Any sense of relative power levels are gotten rid of and replaced with the in-poor-taste model of combat exchanges merely for effect. The viewer, for the first time, is forced to focus on plot aspects that get mundane quickly [and won't be mentioned because spoilers]. The fantastical scenes in the end are suddenly tacky and predictable instead of imaginative and wonderful. There was a hint of something deep at the very end, when they return to the real world, but other than that, the series just trips over itself and ends - even that final gimmick was done too hastily to have any profound effect.
Opportunity for cancel: No. I was surprised and saddened to see this series start off so great and then just fall over at the end. There are multiple ways this series could have ended, and I don't understand why ~that~ way was chosen. In addition to overall story planning falling, visual planning fell too. It was frustrating to experience because this series was close to being one of my favorites. Instead, I'm just left with a mixed, uncomfortable opinion about this series now that it's over.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 24, 2017
[This review contains relatively major spoilers.]
I am sort of glad that I watched this.
I probably wouldn't recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I probably won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The events of the first few episodes are interesting.
This series is a situation/happenings based school life series. The first several sections of the series are interesting. I initially had an extremely positive impression of this series. [Unfortunately, that impression didn't last through the end]
...
A 2D-loving character who never falters.
I've found that the 2D-loving character type is usually just an excuse to attract members of the opposite gender under false pretenses - once a group had gathered, the 2D-loving character reveals that they are actually 3D-loving as well. Such is not the case here - Uchimaki never shows any interest in 3D in the series, even to the point of it possibly being a negative [detailed in the Negatives section].
The ending is actually nice [though not on the surface].
The way this series ends would usually be mediocre to negative for me, but when combined with how the entire series up until that point played out, I would consider the ending to be a positive. More details in the Negatives section regarding how Usami isn't treated well by the story.
The series ties in supporting characters without much of an introduction.
Yes, this is a positive. Supporting characters are important to the story throughout, and when they show up, you're expected to remember who they are or just play along until you can figure out who they must be. This actually has a nice feeling to it, whereas many other series hit you over the head with who supporting characters are and spend too much time getting the viewer familiar with the characters before using them in meaningful ways.
Usami's "na--!".
Whenever she's flustered, her reaction is interesting.
Usami's dance at the end of episode 4.
I think this scene showed a lot despite being so short and potentially missable since it was mostly background music - the fact that this short scene wasn't voiced added to its value.
---- Negatives ----
We lose Collette to Imari.
I thought that Collette was one of the best characters in the series, but partway through, she essentially gets tied to Imari and both of them get less-important roles from that point onward.
Opportunity for cancel: Partially. Given that I don't recall ever seeing Collette paint, I should have known that she would eventually have less focus. --but I think that more scenes with her included would have been more interesting than the Usami-Uchimaki scenes that we got.
Usami isn't treated very well by the story.
By her measures [and the club president's measures], she's making progress, but Uchimaki never genuinely hints at reciprocal feelings. Two hints, when he says that he can just barely tolerate her modeling for a painting even though she's 3D, and possibly his gaze in the final episode, are given toward this romance, but that's all. Imari comes along and it seems like there's going to be a moment where she and Usami have a confrontation regarding Uchimaki, but that doesn't happen and, instead, Imari [takes Collette and] sort of fades into the background. That included, there are moments when the story could have given her a chance, but instead she just gets completely blocked at every turn.
Opportunity for cancel: Yes, actually. The scene at the end is actually deep. Instead of the usual hinting at a romance at the end of a series, here we see Usami not compromising even through the mean story that she's had to fight against. She seems to be saying that she's willing to wait and become closer to Uchimaki when he's ready, rather than forcing it. Although the meanness of the story and the blocked-ness of the ending would usually be negatives, since they happen together, they're actually a positive for the series.
The series feels a little loose, even for a school life series.
The later episodes are missing interesting developments and situations. The first few episodes were packed sufficiently with material, but the later episodes seemed deficient at times.
Opportunity for cancel: No, the series attempted to throw in Imari, but even that didn't last for too long. The later episodes could have had more-interesting scenarios and/or developments.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 21, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I probably wouldn't recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime. I have only watched this season.
I won't watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The series starts off well.
The first few episodes are fast-paced and interesting with a lot of information being thrown at the viewer. I was propelled through watching the series entirely off of the energy from the first few episodes, even though the later episodes dragged.
...
Hazama has a way of pleasantly resolving issues.
Especially in the earlier episodes, Hazama works miracles and find clever ways of dealing with surgical problems. With his perfect success rate, it's entertaining to see how he deals with the issues he faces - there's still tension even though you know things are going to work out in the end.
Hazama is a male protagonist with backbone.
He boldly takes action even when not in the operating room. He'll speak his mind to other characters even when it's something they don't want to hear. He almost has too much backbone in some cases, like when he shoves Okamoto out of the way because she's not performing first aid on a patient quickly enough.
---- Negatives ----
Hazama almost seems proud that he doesn't have a license.
Throughout the series, the fact that Hazama is still just an unlicensed student comes up multiple times. At first, I saw it neutrally - "okay, he doesn't have a license, he's working on acquiring one, and he's just doing surgeries under special circumstances". However, after this became a refrain of the series, I stopped understanding why we find out so little about his progress to obtain his license, and what the requirements even are. Eventually, it seemed like the author was using the "genius without credentials" subject, painting the romanticized picture of someone who is so smart that they, for some reason, shun standard procedures. This plot aspect only works in certain cases - and it doesn't work too well here.
Opportunity for cancel: Probably, partially. I haven't seen the main series, Black Jack, so this aspect of the story was probably a necessity given that this is a prequel. However, the series would have done better to spend just a few minutes explaining what he has to do to obtain his license and when he can expect to obtain it.
The surgeries are entertaining, but overly fancy.
When the surgeons play around with their scalpels and other tools, it makes for entertaining anime scenes, but to some point, I sure wouldn't want to be on the operating table with these circus acts going on.
Opportunity for cancel: Yeah, sure. Without any of the fancy movements, the surgeries would probably be boring to watch.
Later episodes drag.
While the first few episodes were really interesting and fact-paced, later episodes took longer to get to the point, in comparison. There was also a diminished focus on surgeries and more of a focus on the politics of the medical profession and on war and protests.
Opportunity for cancel: Probably. I haven't seen the main series, Black Jack, so the last few episodes of Young Black Jack probably provide a smooth transition to the main series, where I would expect similar themes regarding the darkness of the medical field that exists in-series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 15, 2017
[This review contains very minor spoilers.]
[This is a review of both seasons, together.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I would definitely recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I will watch this again.
---- Positives ----
The art is extremely good [when it wants to be].
Many scenes have superb art. The characters look amazing, and their emotions come across in their facial expressions and body language. The close-ups are handled extremely well. The series successfully, infrequently changes to a comedic art style to express certain character emotions. The instruments look accurate and the reflections coming off of the brass instruments
...
look great. The instruments seem to have their appropriate weights taken into consideration with regard to how their players handle them. The blinding lights on the stage are just how blinding stage lights can actually be.
The solos sound great.
When a single instrumentalist is playing, it's easier for me to focus on how they sound. Whenever there was a single person playing their instrument, it sounded great - not necessarily needing to be highly-skilled performances, but just needing to feel real. Certain solo performances in the series were imperfect on purpose, so those also get credit. I still have that one great trumpet solo stuck in my head.
It gives a good representation of what concert band is like.
There's a focus on how daily practices are managed, with the students sometimes breaking off into sectionals instead of always practicing together as the entire band. Details like that made the environment they were in feel genuine. Also of note, the way the students conduct themselves while waiting in the wings [literally, not the phrase] seemed particularly realistic, and various parts of being at a competition, like waiting to go onstage, were shown, which was nice.
It gives a good representation of what high school concert band is like, while staying uplifting in the end.
There's a focus on the political side of being in high school concert band, such as seniority dictating who gets the better parts. This isn't just another detail of the environment though - it gets a decent amount of focus in the series as something to consider, since the concert band set a high bar for themselves and they can't afford to sit back and settle on the usual ways of doing things. Throughout the series, there is also a focus on how players can sometimes just not care about being competitive and how it changes the mood of the entire band. I won't mention more here, but there are more ways that the story does a good job portraying high school concert band life.
Characters have good, meaningful ties that change during the series.
We learn about individual characters in the series in a deep way through Oumae. The character interactions aren't just limited to her, though, which is what makes this positive stand out. Also, beyond the person-to-person level, we learn about the previous third-years and how they had a profound effect on the current members. We learn something about every attitude and remark throughout the series in an interesting way. Even though I disliked a few characters initially, as I learned more about them, I ended up liking and understanding all the characters by the end of the series.
The soundtrack is great.
I only took note of the soundtrack during important moments in the series, but all those times had fitting songs that enhanced those moments.
The band performances were great [though maybe not for the reason you'd expect].
In my experience, concert band compositions are dull and predictable. The compositions in this series did not disappoint [and that's actually a good thing]. Unlike Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso [which seemed to focus on entertaining compositions being better than technically challenging ones], Hibike! Euphonium's competition performances focus on the actual way those events are judged - by how challenging the chosen piece is and by how well the band performs the chosen piece, down to an almost nitpicky level. Your band can go play the most fun, bubbly song ever, but the judges will have no qualms about giving your band low marks if the piece wasn't challenging and/or the band's execution was poor. The result is mildly interesting compositions that have challenging sections that the band hopes to play excellently in order to earn gold in the competition, and those were the types of pieces in Hibike! Euphonium.
The voice acting is good all around.
The voice acting is fitting for every character in the series. As a slight oddity, Oumae was voiced extremely uniquely, but I feel that her character animations never quite matched her voice.
The characters pleasantly understand boundaries and work well to progress.
When characters don't understand boundaries, it's nice, but the series can never be emotionally deep. When characters over-respect boundaries [which happens a lot in series], you get spineless characters who juggle the entire series around miscommunications or lack of communications that never or poorly get resolved. The characters in Hibike! Euphonium understand boundaries and don't want to unnecessarily make a misstep ... they are just hesitant enough that we understand their problem and where all involved parties are coming from, but they eventually resolve their issues in good, wholesome ways that make me think that their past hesitant behavior was justified.
The series ends amazingly well.
Without saying more, I think that the series, overall [both seasons] ends particularly well. It's bold and handled very well, on multiple levels that all get a focus in the final episodes.
---- Negatives ----
The art is mediocre [when it doesn't want to be excellent].
First of all, yes, when models are farther from the camera, they rightfully get downgraded artwork. This is fine. But because the excellent scenes just look so outstandingly good, and because there doesn't seem to be a definite cut-off point between the excellent art and the mediocre art, it degrades the experience of watching the series. Usually, the cut-off points for downgrading art happen by distance, total time in the scene, and/or importance of the characters/objects being drawn. Unfortunately, in Hibike! Euphonium, it seems that scenes involving main characters from the waist up can receive varying levels of quality and detail. There's no cut-off point because there are some mediocre close scenes and then there are some excellent scenes that are farther away.
Opportunity for cancel: No, but the art in excellent scenes was just so great that I'm going to irresponsibly state that the art overall is still amazing and this negative can be ignored if you spend enough effort while watching the series.
It seems like there are infrequent 3D scenes [the bad sort of 3D present in this age].
I really want to say that some of the whole-band scenes and podium-and-chairs-on-stage scenes used 3D models [as a negative]. I can't picture Kyoto Animation doing this though, so I assume that those scenes were just bizarrely drawn and bizarrely animated for some reason. What makes a scene appear to be 3D for me: when far-away minor characters suddenly get way more animation frames than normal | when animation frames seem to be a robotic, non-human interpolation | when mostly solid, sometimes unnatural colors are used | when [lighting] shade looks too sharp and/or too-frequently updated | when people/objects have extremely thin drawn outlines | when people/objects look too perfect, accurate between frames, and/or symmetrical. In particular, scenes from the conductors point of view or farther back or higher up seemed to have this style, which led me to believe it was 3D animation.
Opportunity for cancel: Yes, because, although I wasn't counting, I feel that there were less than ten such scenes over the entirety of both seasons, and I'm just sensitive to 3D usage in anime series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 2, 2017
[This review contains minor spoilers.]
I am glad that I watched this.
I wouldn't recommend this to others.
I have watched this once, subtitled. I have only watched the anime.
I may watch this again.
---- Positives ----
This series interestingly ties together technology and magic.
When dealing with technology and magic, I'm used to series deciding that the two are, for bizarre reasons, at odds with each other, often resulting in battles between users of technology and users of magic. Thankfully, that doesn't happen here. In this series, technology is used to amplify magic. Specifically, computers can be used to collectively cast spells, whereas gathering thousands of human mages to do
...
the same thing would be impractical. Also, we see how computers can store spells for later use, making them even more useful for magical purposes. This concept of technology being used to improve on classical magic was interesting and done well.
Morishita keeps the series entertaining.
She has a try-your-best attitude even though she isn't proficient in magic, and her only spell is amusing not only for what it is, but how other characters take it so seriously while Morishita herself doesn't. In key instances, she resolves the current issue in the story with her try-your-best attitude and/or her signature spell. She's a rare instance of an earnest yet amusingly untalented character who is able to still make the series so good.
The series maintains a great pace throughout.
No part of the series is slow. Because the story lost me in a few places, I might actually characterize the pacing as a tad fast.
---- Negatives ----
The characters seem to only ever use sword-summoning spells.
During battles, I only remember ever seeing sword-summoning spells being used. Some of the summoned swords were physical, some were mana-based, but that was the only memorable variant. The series doesn't talk about other spell options suited for battle, so I don't know whether this is literally the only spell they have available to them or if it's just the best choice for most situations.
Opportunity for cancel: No. There should have been explanations on what other spells there are and why they all chose sword-summoning spells.
The story is difficult to understand at times.
I actually like it when series don't spoon-feed its viewers and instead requires them to think about both shown and speculated-to-have-taken-place events. However, this series just lost me in a few spots. It took a moderate amount of imagination to understand the initially-unexplained gimmick of the first few episodes before the series explained itself. Then, toward the end of the series, there's a battle that I couldn't figure out the purpose of. Some things that happen after that point also left me confused.
Opportunity for cancel: No. I think the series could have given different sets of clues to help make certain events easier to follow.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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