Winter 2016 First Impressions

- WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS -

This season I'm watching a total of two anime. Get ready for a wild and crazy ride.

MyAnimeList

Winter 2016 Final Thoughts (will update)

This Season:
Boku dake ga Inai Machi
Musaigen no Phantom World

Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ongoing, 4/12)

I Rate: 9.4/10.0
One Sentence: Watch it.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi, aka Erased, has had an insane amount of success and popularity since its very first episode. In only four episodes, the anime has already soared up to rank 11 on MaL. The episodes are extremely high quality on a consistent basis, and A-1 Pictures has shown no flaws in one of their latest productions.

Erased has a hell of a first episode, and the consecutive episodes have not dropped in quality. Our main character is Satoru Fujinuma, a young adult who has lost his passion of becoming a manga artist and now delivers pizzas to get by. What makes Fujinuma special however, is his strange phenomenon (he calls it Revival) of being whipped back a short period in time whenever an large accident occurs. Despite his nature, he always gets involved, typically injuring himself in the process.

The story begins when he comes home to discover that his mother has been murdered by a serial killer (never caught) who was also responsible for a string of disappearances when Fujinuma was in elementary school. As you may have guessed, Revival takes place, however this time it takes him back all the way to his days in elementary school, and one month before the disappearances. With this new chance, Fujinuma takes on the task of attempting to change the future, and prevent the disappearances (along with his mother's death) from happening.

All of the characters have a certain complexity to them. Naturally our main characters are the most detailed and fleshed out, but they are accompanied by other very promising and interesting characters. Fujinuma fits into the category of "pessimistic, dreary, methodical main characters", however he shows a more compassionate and soft side to him, which is glaringly obvious when he goes back in time. Hinazuki, one of the girls who disappears, shares many of the old-Fujinuma characteristics, including a surprisingly kind-hearted and caring side. We see Hinazuki in a very different light, as Fujinuma is aware that she will disappear, and that puts a nice twist on things.

The soundtracks have been very fitting for their scenes, and the opening and ending both sound above average. Voice actors have played their roles masterfully and it's nice to hear a fresh voice actors for our main character, Fujinuma. While the art isn't anything spectacularly pretty or flashy, the animation and style are very solid and work well with Erased.

It is an understatement to say that Erased has already stolen the hearts of many. With only four episodes released, it is already a strong candidate for the best anime of the year. If A-1 Pictures continually has a strong showing from Erased and keeps up with the quality, there is no doubt that they will have a masterpiece by the end of it.

Best Girl: Kayo Hinazuki


Musaigen no Phantom World (ongoing, 4/?)

I Rate: 6.7/10.0
One Sentence: Low quality production coming out from KyoAni, filled with lots of pandering to the fans.

Musaigen no Phantom World is a surprisingly terrible production, considering that it is coming from the Kyoto Animation. By the standards of KyoAni, there is a lot of "fanservice", which is the sole reason why I cannot enjoy something like Musaigen no Phantom World.

Putting aside the blatant pandering to viewers, there is a relatively compelling premise that involves spiritual entities, called Phantoms, that humans can see after a viral outbreak of some sort. Really, there is an interesting universe with the Phantoms, but it is hard to appreciate when viewed in a comedic light. How the anime has played out so far is the team of Haruhiko, Mai, and Reina adventure off to defeat various phantoms and typically there is some sort of moral message behind it. I expect the anime to continue this way, in an episodic format.

Generic characters are straight out of a mould, and aren't captivating. There has been some development with Reina's backstory, however I can't tell if that will be an isolated event or if the history of every character will be revealed.

Can't say I hate or love the opening and ending themes, seeing as I rarely pay attention to them. Soundtrack doesn't seem to be present, but I'm sure that if you listen enough you'll find it somewhere. The one thing that I will always praise KyoAni for is their animation and art, and I hate to say it, but Musaigen no Phantom World looks great (as expected).

Definitely recommend to skip rather than spend time watching (unless you're into mindless content and cute girls doing and wearing suggestive things). Time to hole up and wait for the next KyoAni production.

Best Girl: Reina Izumi (same VA as Ayase, so I've got that going for me)