Short Synopsis: Yumemi’s friend and her new boyfriend try to cross a river.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10 (Good)
How awesome: the animation quality hasn’t decreased at all since the first episode: it’s still as solid as ever. This promises lots of nice things for the future of this series. Anyway, this episode finishes the introduction of this series, where Yumemi decides to help Munto. It seems that she just needed a bit of time to sort out her thoughts, and the creators made use of this time by showing why she ended up deciding to help an unknown elf-guy in a weird outfit in the first place. After all, it would have been weird if she immediately decided to help this guy without ever questioning where he came from.
This episode really succeeded in portraying the strong sense of community in Yumemi and the town in which she lives. It showed that the world in which she lives isn’t some empty cardboard world that’s only good as a plot-hole, but instead it’s about people who care about each other. Yumemi doesn’t want to lose this community, and this episode did well in convincing the viewer (well, me at least) how and why she feels that way.
I wonder about the length that this series is going to get. I think that the 24-episode format would really be best for this series, so that it can fully develop its setting, and there’s actually a pretty good chance that this is going to be the case. Anime News Network lists 13 episodes already, with the thirteenth episode airing at April 7th, which is quite a strange date to end your series.
So the story isn’t anything special yet, but the potential is definitely there. I also really like the show’s style of graphics: they’re a great combination of ten-year-old-styled character-designs and creative use of modern CG. The character-designs are also among the best I’ve seen from Kyoani: sure, the outfits are a bit silly at times, but especially the characters from Yumemi’s world are simplistic yet expressive, and for once they don’t try to be overly moe, like nearly every other Kyoani series (or at least: not as much).
Of course the animation quality wouldn’t have dropped yet-they’re still mostly re-using old stuff. The CG should mostly be old, too. (Kyoani could always do good animation when they tried.) Compare the current character designs to the way-short skirted uniform in the op and the moeblobs in the ED, though. My guess as to why they’re doing a Munto TV now is because the original never made it big enough to be popular, and they figured they could get some cash out of making a new series without having to spend quite as much on new animation.
Complaints about industry aside, I do like how the style’s been in these episodes, and I hope they really do try harder with the fantasy setting.
I think the scene where she tried to break through the space-time barrier was freaking awesome. This show makes me reminiscence over Escaflowne, which is one of my all time favourite anime.
I’m also really warming up to the story of the this anime. I really want to know more about the world and it’s lore and history. I hope they don’t focus to much on the school-life setting.
have you seen the original? the “remake” is still a blatant copy-paste (and cropped for “widescreen”). here’s to hoping they will add more content in these 13 eps then they already had in the two OVAs.
Woah, we are already here. Hmm, seems like the OVA parts will only last for three episodes more if the other part lasts as long as this.
I can’t help but be a little disturbed by the new voice acting, even though in a way this feels better but in a way the original feels better. 😛 There is just something about the old one that you can’t help but love.
Yumemi’s braking through the wall is always an amazing scene, and there were parts again that weren’t in the OVA. ;^_^
I saw somewhere that this was listed for 24 episodes, but when I saw ANN’s site listing only 13 episodes I wasn’t sure anymore, so I’m just going to watch and see.
I really don’t understand why they made the skirts shorter for the opening when they really are longer in the actual show. What’s with that…it couldn’t have hurt them to make them longer for the new art as well. Oh well, it isn’t that ground crashing though.
Thanks for blogging again. 😀