15 Apr 2007
Posted by Martin [Tags: Gainax, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]
Okay, I bought this DVD because I'm a GAINAX nut. Normally this sort of show would scarcely catch my interest but I have some sort of blind faith that it's going to take a formulaic premise to places it's never been before...because that's what GAINAX do. For
TUYBW I hope to hell that this is what's going to happen. There are a few signs that it will turn things on their heads in a big way, although it's not yet obvious; for now, the fanservice is cranked up into the stratosphere and it's the ecchi-flavoured saccharine stuff that I normally sit through with gritted teeth. On the other hand, there are dark undercurrents that bubble to the surface on occasion, so the show has potential in my eyes.
The premise really is thoroughly formulaic. A teenage boy sees a falling star that takes the form a beautiful (naked) girl who coincidentally is the picture of his ideal woman. After somehow acquiring momentary super powers (that are not seen for the remainder of the volume, I might add) he rescues her from a vicious monster and she ends up living in his house...with predictable results. That's pretty brief I know, but it's very difficult to discern what's significant and what's part of the normal run of things. Being part of the studio's 20th Anniversary (along with
Gunbuster 2), it's visually impressive at least - the colours are bright and vibrant, and the animation quality is pretty good too.
The show shares a lot of the production staff with
Mahoromatic, another sci-fi romance that hid a darker streak amongst the fanservice and the fluff. That series was surprisingly enjoyable, and I have similar hopes for
TUYBW; it also shares
Mahoromatic's high quota of fan service - there are plenty of breast shots and the like here but it's (mostly) in context. You see a girl half-naked but that's because she's just fallen to Earth or is taking a shower: the nudity isn't exactly essential for the story but it doesn't feel forced either. There are one or two moments of excess, mind - the show could do without the character of Jennifer Portman altogether - but overall it comes across as GAINAX twisting the tried and tested again. Let's face it, what other studio has this much practice with the fanservice genre anyway?
That said, my moe tolerance levels are very low so the characterisation is going to be the main thing that will keep me following the series. Takeru is an engaging lead and it's novel having but not one but two 'mysterious' girls turning up, in the form of Hikari and Akari; the dynamics between the members of the cast are impressive considering how we are introduced to a relatively large number of them very quickly. The character designer allegedly worked hard to pull off the feat of making them individual and interesting while keeping to the 'cute' template and I have to say it shows; I'm still not convinced that they need to fit this 'cutesy' archetype but that's the course the writers have decided on so I'll just have to live with it.
There are some inconsistencies or rather moments that feel out-of-place, though. The initial meeting between Ryou and Akari for instance feels like it was thrown in a bit suddenly, and everyone seems quick to accept that Hikari is an entity from outer space; this all feels like sloppy plotting but it could just as easily be the first signs of something very unusual going on.
Summary
The first episodes of
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World show much promise, provided the sugary and moe-laden aesthetic doesn't put you off first. There are hints of darker and angstier times ahead though, so I suspect it's going to live up to its title and deliver a satisfyingly hard-hitting tale as the series progresses. At least, I hope so.
[Filed under Anime Reviews] [Tags: Gainax, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]
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Posted on April 15th, 2007 @ 1:23 am
Hmm, should I ruin your hopes? Then again, if you enjoyed Mahoromatic I suppose you should be able to enjoy this as well. I wasn’t a fan of Mahoromatic or this show. It’s mostly fanservice and then it tries to cram a story into the last 2 episodes with a, well, not-so-GAINAXY ending (and I’m one of the seemingly rare few that love GAINAX’s “WTF” endings, so long as I can make sense of them)… It really made me feel like I wasted my time with it, since I’m not into fanservice anime and I was only “putting up with it” to get to something with more substance. Though perhaps our opinions will differ in this case.
Posted on April 15th, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
Yeah, I have a suspicion that it won’t pick up until partway through the second volume at the earliest, which may be pretty frustrating! It seems a bit strange that they’d make a show that’s intended for one type of audience, but left the ’substance’ until the end and marketed it as a show intended for another type of fan. If they’re not careful they’ll end up with a series that appeals to neither!
Posted on April 15th, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
I have episodes 9-12 left to watch and so far it’s been a big disappointment…I tried to keep my hopes low after hearing it called mediocre but even so it’s turned out worse than I imagined. The only thing I really like are Hikari and Akari’s character designs, the OP animation and the cat that appeared in episode three.
Posted on April 20th, 2007 @ 1:19 am
There’s a certain je ne sais quoi to KonoMini, another one of those animes I couldn’t walk away from without finishing every episode I had on hand, a certain something even the fanservice and the moe and actually being lukewarm about Takeru and Hikari (I personally prefer Ryou and Akari) couldn’t eliminate.
But then again, it’s GAINAX and sometimes, that’s enough for me.
(Am I making sense? All I wanted to say is that I stayed with the series till the end and hundreds of other anime episodes hence, I can still remember it, if not with fondness, then with a clarity other series can’t even hope to attain.)