Fairy Gone
Short Synopsis: A handful of fairy summoners must reenter society in the wake of a large-scale supernatural war.
Wooper’s review:
Getting into specifics about your fantasy world before fleshing out your characters is typically a bad idea. If you needed any more evidence to support this principle, Fairy Gone has you covered. Though its characters are all set against the backdrop of a recent war, they’re sorely lacking in personality or individuality. You might assume the show would hint at the psychological toll the war took on them, or their religious or spiritual lives (since fairies are so important to the story), or anything apart from their general stoicism, but it doesn’t. One of the characters, Marlya, is obsessed with meeting a friend from her past, but that’s about all we’ve got in terms of motivation. We’re sure to learn more as the story progresses, but this premiere doesn’t have a hook for propelling audiences toward those later episodes. Fairy Gone fares better on the technical front, sporting some decent action and P.A. Works’ pretty background art (the backstage room at the auction is especially noteworthy). Still, the show is grayer and grainier than their output has been in the past, marking something of a departure from their house style – even last year’s Sirius the Jaeger wasn’t this grim, despite its similar premise and tone. Director Kenichi Suzuki might be responsible for the change, but given his link to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and this show’s use of CG fairies as “Stands,” his involvement is likely to be remembered as a meme more than anything else. That’s kind of a shame, as there’s a decent show in here somewhere, but what came together in the premiere isn’t the best version of these ingredients.
Potential: 40%
Lenlo’s review:
3 minutes in and we have gone through 2 text crawls, 3 countries, 3 cities, and probably a time skip/flashback or 2. It’s hard to tell. Whew, is that not a good sign. Wooper hits the nail on the head when he says Fairy Gone cares more for its history/world than its actual characters. I hardly know or care about any of them, partly because the central goal is thrust on us so quickly. Marlya’s goal is to find Ver apparently, and she does so in the first damn episode. I don’t know these characters, am I supposed to care? As for production, the fights were… weird? There are elements of greatness there, the backgrounds and kinda CGI JoJo Stands. But once everything starts moving together and playing in the same scene, you start to notice a lot of jank. My read is, Fairy Gone clearly has someone who cares about it in PA Works, someone is passionate about it. But the actual production doesn’t really come together, all its separate parts just sorta… falling into place instead of being carefully placed there. If you can get past the jank, and not get bored to death after the exposition stops, then you might find something interesting here. But I wouldn’t expect it to be anything amazing.
Potential: 35%
Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin
Short Synopsis: A public servant in Shinjuku ward suddenly gets the ability to interact with supernatural beings.
Mario’s review:
Well, if you think tengu and angels eloping isn’t absurd enough, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what Occult can offer. As the title suggests, it takes place at night, in Shinjuku ward. The show doesn’t really make this unique setting distinguishable enough, sadly. Most of it is because the visuals look unremarkable, and there’s no stand out element that could highlight the settings. The same can be said for its busy plot. The show introduces the main guy, establish its supernatural world before revealing, in the span of 10 minutes, that the protagonist has “special power” no one else has. It’s often the case that when the plot goes so fast, it has a harder time to let the events sink in. All in all, this is an alright but unremarkable entry. And be sure to check out the OP as it is one of the better moments out of the entire episode.
Potential: 20%
Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine
Short Synopsis: A bunch of girls participate in their school’s baseball club.
Mario’s review:
This one turns out to be a nice surprise. While it’s in essence a CGDCT show, it’s charming enough and the execution is solid enough to make it an enjoyable ride. The visuals sometimes remind me of a lesser-KyoAni inputs, or more on point – Love Live’s level of visuals presentation, with cute character designs and bright backgrounds. The animation, however, is limited and there’s one point during the practice match the show is filled with powerpoint screenshots hovering up and down. The cast so far made up of girls with different individuality who come from different ground regarding baseball and so far I enjoy them well enough. This show won’t be a sport drama (hence lacks the competitive thrills), but if you regard it as a show where dozen girls with different traits join up for the same hobby in an Idol-anime fashion, you will have lots to enjoy here.
Potential: 40%
