Musaigen no Phantom World
Alternate Titles: Myriad Colors Phantom World
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anime reviews
Plastic Memories
Alternate Titles: Pla-Mo
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Captain Earth
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Zankyou no Terror
Alternate Titles: Terror in Resonance
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Black Bullet
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Free!: Eternal Summer
Reviewed Free! season 1 in Episode 195, it got a 3.
Plot:
The Iwatobi swim club is in its second year but as two of its founding members, Haruka and Makoto are in their third years the club has a shadow of the future lingering over it. In their last summer of swimming together, along with their friend Rin at a neighboring school, they will figure out what they swim for and what they want for their futures.
Director: Hiroko Utsumi
Utsumi directed the first free, in fact, most of the staff is the same between the two seasons of anime. Utsumi has worked on a number of projects as a key animator and episode director, but he is fairly new to just directing. His debut was just before the original Free! back in 2013 with Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!:Karameki no… Slapstick Noel, the special 13th episode of an anime with the same name.
Animation Studio: Kyoto Animation
Free!: Eternal Summer is PRETTY, and I don’t just mean the boys. The animation for this show is immaculate. The colors are vibrant and the framing on the shots is done well with glow, shadow, and blurring imitating real cameras. When they swim the characters movements are detailed and natural. While I’m sure there is some CG rendering in here none stood out. One of the most amazing things is how well the water flows around the characters as they swim. There is nothing negative to say about this show’s look.
Music: Tatsuya Kato
The music in Free!: Eternal Summer I would put solidly above average. There aren’t really sweeping orchestral or astounding arrangements. But there are themes that provoke emotion and really complement the show.
Kato has done the music for many high-profile shows, as well as the first Free! anime. He has done the music for Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Gingitsune, Mirai Nikki, and a lot more.
Review:
This anime has one major thing going for it, everything. It has the success of a first season giving the studio confidence in investing in it. It has hype and merchandise sales. It has a tested staff, great animation, and a director who seems determined to grow. The stars aligned in just the right way and Free! was what we got.
I say all of that, because this anime is SO much better than it has any right to be. This is a show about pretty boy swim club. Come on, even the fans have to admit that. There is no reason why it should make you laugh, cry, or be on the edge of your seat. But Free! does just that.
If you haven’t seen the first Free! anime it is recommended. Not absolutely necessary, but you’ll likely get more from Free!: Eternal Summer.
At it’s core, Free! isn’t really an anime about swimming. It’s about the people who swim and their reasons to do so. In Eternal Summer the boys start out at regional tournaments and shoot for nationals. But, the training and swim practices are only a vessel for their character development.
Each of the main characters has some type of arc that shows their character type. They’re all dealing with a central struggle of what they want to do with their future and how their time invested in swimming does, or doesn’t, influence that. Nagisa, the energetic happy kid, has an arc where he confronts his parents about doing what makes him happy. Rei has an arc where he perseveres with swimming, even if he’s naturally more gifted at track. Makoto and Rin discover/decide what they want their futures to be. And, in line with this theme, the main story surrounds the protagonist Haruka and what he will ultimately decide to do.
That’s likely the weakest part of the show. Haruka is fairly blank, intentionally so. He kind of has zero presence when compared to the other characters. Maybe, it’s intentional, so that way the viewer can use him as a blank canvas. But I found it really hard to relate.
The other downside of the show is its extreme simplicity. Now, what they do, as I’ve said, they do it really well. But, it really isn’t that much. This show doesn’t set out to change the world and it doesn’t. Solidly above average, but if you look back on it there’s just the bones of a story idea.
This show is enjoyable though, a lot more so than shows that try to bite off more than they can chew. And, ladies, do I have to state the obvious? Pretty, pretty boys. It’s a little over-dramatic, and sure it doesn’t have much to say, but it’s definitely worth checking out.
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Ping Pong the Animation
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Isshuukan Friends
Plot Summary:
Kaori Fujimiya is a high school student who gives off a cold and aloof appearance in class. She has no friends and she is uninterested in making any more. Yuuki Hase decides he is going to break the ice and become her friend. As he succeeds in doing so he finds out that Fujimiya has a form of short-term memory loss where she loses her memories of her friends every monday morning. Because of this she doesn’t see herself as being able to make friends. Hase works hard to become her friend and she begins keeping a diary so that each Monday she goes to school knowing who he is. As time goes on she makes more friends and the mysteries surrounding the source of her memory loss are slowly revealed.
Production and Technical Information:
Based on the manga by Matcha Hazuki published by Square Enix
The manga was published in January 2012 and is still ongoing with 6 volumes.
The television anime series is produced by Brains Base and originally ran from April-June 2014 with 12 episodes.
The director Iwasaki, Tarou was very involved in the project as Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, and Key Animation. He has worked as an Episode Director on a lot of projects but was director of Memories Off 5 and Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaki Jikenbo.
Suga, Shoutarou did the script and series composition. He has worked on scripts for Darker than Black, FMA Brotherhood, Ghost in the Shell: SAC, and a good number of other shows.
The anime is very simplistic with thin lines and a clean style. I wouldn’t call it a “traditional” anime style. Characters are more muted and the colors are natural. At some points they use picture montages to save some money, but being a slice of life anime it’s not jarring to action or flow of the series.
Music is done by Toda, Nobuko and this is her debut working on anime music. The music I would say is simple, but well done, just above average. It fits the feel of the anime but a few themes can be repetitive.
Review:
Isshuukan Friends, or One Week Friends, starts out really charming. Memory loss isn’t anything new but Hase-kun’s earnest feelings and clear romantic interest makes the viewer interested in going along for the ride. Over the first three episodes the pacing is near perfection. He makes reasonable progress with Kaori and you can see their relationship really beginning to blossom.
Shifting into episodes 4-6 Fujimiya begins making more friends and you see her growing. These are also strong and the viewer is satiated with a few hints and clues to whatever the reason may be behind Fujimiya’s memory loss. At this point in the anime it’s being painted as the ultimate crux and reveal with what may be the climax of the series.
This is when the anime began to drag for me. The reasons behind Fujimiya’s memory loss seem very superficial and thrown in almost as an afterthought. It ends up revolving around something that you end up thinking “really, this was the reason?” After having so many episodes where you feel such strong emotions for the characters and have it steeped in mystery to have it be revealed and it be trivial.
As a result, I began to feel distant from the characters. When one thing begins to feel superficial it all does, including the romance between Hase and Fujimiya, which ends up going nowhere.
In all this series had a lot of potential and I was really hopeful, but it ended up disappointing.
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Episode 242 – Japan, Get It Right
The anime addicts anonymous podcast has a unique perspective on Japan. With one host still there and two having recently moved back to the states we hear all kinds of misconceptions and get even more well-intended but misplaced questions. We talk about some of the most common, or the funniest, on this podcast.
Review: Mushishi Zoku Shou
Mushishi Zoku Shou
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