Sora Wo Miageru Shoujo No Hitomi Ni Utsuru Sekai

Funny. It was one of those old anime series that just slipped my radar somehow. Did it slip my thoughts too? I heard of Sora Wo Miageru Shoujo No Hitomi Ni Utsuru Sekai for a long time but somehow can’t remember why I never bothered to watch it or even put it on the back burner of my watch list. Not even during those dreaded Corona virus lockdown times. Ugh. Such awkwardness. I might have actually and really forgotten all about it until recently when I accidentally stumbled upon it. Lucky me or what? And I thought it was related to Sora Wo Kakeru Shoujo but I was so wrong. Nothing to do with it 100% except for the very similar title that confused me. No time leaping here. Just probably some dimension hopping. Maybe. Heh.

Episode 1
As narrated, a war over a power known as Akuto rages on. Yumemi Hidaka looks like an ordinary girl. She goes to school with her friends, Ichiko Ono and Suzume Imamura. It seems Yumemi herself can only see floating islands that others couldn’t. Then suddenly out of the blue, this guy with red hair, Munto claims he has found her, the girl of destiny. He wants her to lend her powers but some barrier prevents him. She tries to get her to come with him but time is out as Yumemi returns to reality. Obviously, her friends did not witness all that drama. Munto laments he needs that power as flashback shows Gass, the guardian of time asking him about his plans to save the Magical Kingdom. Because if he is going to break the rules of time, he won’t let him go. However he won’t stop him since the world’s fate has been decided and stopping him won’t change anything. Because Akuto is running out, Gass wonders what Akuto saw since he is going in that darkness filled world. Munto said he dreamt of a girl. Similarly, Ryuely the prophet of the Magical Kingdom told Toche her disciple that Munto’s vision of a girl will save the world (although this prophecy caused Ryuely her sight). It seems this power is needed to open Heaven’s future. Otherwise, it will fall and crash to the lower worlds below, making everything disappear. Thus Munto has left to go get it. Toche remains sceptical if this girl really holds the key. Meanwhile Gass defends Magical Kingdom against the United Army led by Leica. This event is being discussed by the elders at the United Army HQ in Heavens. They are not amused that Gass is an Outsider and he is interfering. The longer this battle lasts, the more Akuto they will lose. Hence they must quickly destroy Magical Kingdom so they can manage the remaining Akuto. When they receive news that Munto has left for the lower world (that is without Akuto – which is Earth, right?), they think Magical Kingdom’s king has gone crazy with this suicide move. However United Army’s commander, Gntarl thinks Munto is scheming something.

In school, Suzume tells her friends that she is going to get married to her boyfriend, Kazuya Takamori tomorrow. WTF?! She is only 13! Is this the legal age of marriage in Japan???!!! Obviously Yumemi and Ichiko worry about her so they think of checking out this Kazuya guy seeing he has a reputation of being a troublemaker. The elders narrate how Heaven was the closest beings to God when Akuto was at its fullest. They could use Akuto as they please but little do they know, it wasn’t going to last forever as they thought. Despite knowing this, Heaven continued to waste Akuto. Then it got too late when they lost their future and hope. They started wars in fear of losing Akuto. But soon they started to realize it wasn’t worth it so they sealed their powers and have up their desires, living frugally and utilizing the remaining Akuto to the fullest. Despite so, Akuto continues to deplete rapidly and there is now fear Heaven is in danger of disappearing. In order to not let all their efforts go to waste, they need to find a solution. They believe Munto and his Magical Kingdom that overuse Akuto are the source and hence must be swiftly eliminated to stop the decline of Akuto. Although word is that Munto still lives, they think in that world he is going that is without Akuto, he will soon disappear. Of course Gntarl it isn’t simple as that and all this could be just a distraction. Just to be safe, he is going to send this ugly motherf*cker automaton to fight him. This will at least wear him out until he dies. Yumemi and Ichiko ask around until they find Kazuya at the river bank.

Episode 2
Gntarl demonstrates the automaton’s power. Destructive. Meanwhile Kazuya confirms he will be marrying Suzume here. He explains about his life. Basically forever alone. Eventually he felt useless and not needed by his family or society and wanted to kill himself. It was Suzume who saved him. It helped open his eyes. There is a wall before him that he cannot overcome and he needs Suzume for it. Hence the marriage is just symbolic and a starting point for them to move on. The friends sympathize with him but don’t drag Yumemi into this mess. Kazuya believes in Suzume and her capacity since her hand pulled him out from his miserable life filled with trouble. So for him to move forward into the future, there is something he needs to get past and Suzume told him a place he needed to go. So tomorrow their new future begins from here. He assures them he truly loves Suzume. As the friends return, Yumemi experiences another vision from Munto. He is getting desperate for her to lend her powers to save their worlds. She is brought back to reality with Ichiko’s intervention. Yeah, looks like now she is going to have to worry about Yumemi’s mental state of health.

Back home, Yumemi asks mom her opinions should she marry tomorrow. Why? Does she love somebody? Not really. In that case she isn’t ready and should only think about that once she is an adult with responsibilities. This only further confuses Yumemi because since she is a child, does not have any responsibilities? Oh right. Do your homework! After all, she doesn’t have the capacity to live on her own yet. As Yumemi ponders mom’s words in bet, yet another pesky visit from Munto. I get he is desperate but does he have to sound very rude and pushy? No wonder Yumemi is reluctant since heck, she doesn’t even understand what is going on? I mean, he wants her to lend her power but HOW?! WHAT POWER AND HOW TO LEND?! But I guess the buzzword for her is future and responsibilities so she wants to know how to fulfil that. Too bad time is up as Yumemi returns to reality. Next day at school, Kazuya comes in as Suzume elopes with him. Oh damn, the entire teaching faculty go into panic mode as they scramble! Yumemi and Ichiko try to tail them but along the way, oh no it’s that damn Munto again. Once more, PLEASE LEND ME YOUR POWER! I keep telling you, HOW THE F*CK IS SHE GOING TO DO THAT?! She doesn’t even understand what the f*ck Akuto is?! Another interruption breaks this. Of course this is thanks to the automaton attacking as Munto is forced to deal with this first. Kazuya and Suzume are seen swimming across the river. I hope they’re not going to drown themselves!!!

Episode 3
Some teachers are trying to stop them but hell, they can’t even swim?! Yumemi and Ichiko seeing this, they cheer on the duo to keep pushing forward. Yumemi remembers the things Suzume has done for her when she was in trouble. Because she has never lost faith, they too need to believe in her as she has never doubted them. At this point, all the other classmates have also arrived and start cheering on for them. The duo arrive safely on the other side. The teachers reprimand them although the rest continue to give their support at how amazing their feat was. Meanwhile there is only 1 pillar left holding up Magical Kingdom. It won’t do much as the floating island starts to fall. It is at this point that this island becomes visible to the Earthlings below. Wow. Must be a plane?! Oh God, is a plane that big?! Seeing all this, Yumemi now believes it is her turn to protect her world and future. Not sure where she is running to but in the end she ends up to where Munto is. He defeated to automaton but at a great cost. He is now going to disappear. Yumemi wants to help him so he tells her to believe in her own power. Because he does. Yumemi tries to reach him but a barrier stops her. She doesn’t give up and fights against the force. This shocks the watching elders and the Magical Kingdom’s prophets because she is an ordinary girl with no Akuto or even any equipment and yet she is breaking through this barrier. Eventually their hands touch and causes a great explosion. Actually, the break in the barrier causes Akuto trapped in both worlds to flow into the other. So in short, everything returns to normal. Yumemi wakes up in Ichiko’s hands. So now you believe about the floating islands? Yes, everybody saw it and the whole world is now abuzz trying to figure out what it is. Yumemi is unsure of Munto’s fate and his world. But at that moment where everybody saw the same sky as she always did, this is why she believes one day they will meet again.

Episode 4
Munto returns to Magical Kingdom and his subjects celebrate his victory and his promises kept. However as Ryuely puts it, he might have restored Akuto to Heaven and prevented its destruction but is this the future he wants? 1.5 years have passed as Yumemi and her friends are doing fine. But now we see Munto leading his warriors against the country of Horguze. Heck, in fact ever since the restoration of Akuto, the countries have started to fear losing it and trying to wage war on everybody. Yes, it’s a civil war right now in Heaven. The elders can do no sh*t as their advice has fallen on deaf ears. So their only hope is to rely on Gntarl? Speaking of which, he is trying to get Yumemi for himself but Gass confronts him. Noting the marks on his body, it seems Gass has been relieved from his position. Because of that, he is cursed and his body will soon be destroyed. He is no longer an Outsider. Gntarl theorizes he helped Munto by breaking the taboo and let him go to that world because it was the only way to save Heaven. He assures he won’t make the same mistake as Munto and will bring eternal prosperity to Heaven. Unfortunately Gass doesn’t see it that way and is here to stop Gntarl. Gass is weakened although he takes out many of Gntarl’s ships. Though, that won’t stop this guy from advancing his plans. Munto once again leads his men against the persistent Horguze. Ryuely is worried about him because ever since his contact with Yumemi, he seems to be afraid to reach out to her again. When they first touched, all her memories poured into him and became afraid of her fleeting existence. As he fights their king, Gridori, surprisingly Leica (from Ender nation) is here to help him. She suggests a truce and form an alliance since their enemy is the same. But looks like Gass won’t let Munto do that. He will handle this war for him as he throws Munto down to the lower world. He wants to see his dream.

Episode 5
Yumemi continues to space out into the sky and this worries Ichiko. Despite everyone coming to a conclusion that floating island was a mirage, maybe it hasn’t ended yet for Yumemi as she can still see them. Then as the friends work part time at a shrine belonging to their classmate, Takashi Tobe, when Yumemi goes near a sacred rock, she felt the same sensation when she contacted Munto. As she tries to further touch it, she is shocked to see a vision of an unconscious Munto. What is he doing in this world? Vision snaps so she calls it a day. Back home, she continues to feel sad and uneasy. Like Munto, she too has received his life memories during the contact. We see Munto being born during the Akuto crisis. His parents sacrificed himself to stem it and viewed their child as their future who will bring order back. However the elders viewed it differently and called him a cursed child who took the life of his parents. Because of that, they blamed him for bringing danger to Heaven. Hence the United Army will not obey Magical Kingdom anymore. Munto was enraged although he never gave up hope. Not even when Gass and Ryuely told him how they saw the sealed fate of Heaven. Because Munto vowed to continue to search for that ray of hope, Ryuely needed to see beyond her limited prophecy and hence sacrificed her sight so that she could become his eyes. Ichiko calls Yumemi to soothe her. She talks about how Yumemi could see the floating islands since young but Ichiko wanted to see it so much and when she couldn’t, she cried. Hence Yumemi was being considerate each time the friends go out, she always brought an umbrella no matter the weather. Last year she got her wish by seeing it although it was just for a short while. Ichiko believes her world is too far from hers. It’s not a place they can go. Also, she thinks thinking too much of it won’t make her happy. What she is trying to say is that her friends are reachable and will be there for her rather than those floating islands. So please stay with them. But Ichiko is still uneasy. She still keeps hearing voices and seeing things over and over again. Was it not over? She pleads for Ichiko to save her. So as the friends and other classmates hang out at the park, all is fine and normal until Yumemi starts to go into that usual trance mode again. Ichiko tries to snap her out of it but this time Yumemi claims she needs to go somewhere and won’t run away. Suzume vouches for that. Let’s run away together like we did before. Suddenly a huge blast rocks the place. Yumemi senses it is Munto.

Episode 6
Several blasts occur around the place. Can’t imagine the casualty rate… Yumemi runs in search of Munto while her friends go after her. It seems the blasts are actually pillars from Gntarl’s ship. Munto realizes Gntarl’s plan to use this to kidnap Yumemi. However he notes this incident will cause Yumemi’s heart to reject it and create some collision in the barrier. Not sure what it means but I’m guessing it’s bad! Yumemi finally finds Munto and wants to help although the latter claims she can do nothing now. She calls out to his lies because she can tell both worlds are in danger and if she doesn’t help, both worlds will be destroyed. Her friends now call out to Yumemi and wants her to come back. However Yumemi insists on going so as to protect their future. She hopes to have fun with them when she gets back. Yumemi goes with Munto as their contact causes both their times to merge, dealing a great damage to Gntarl’s ship. This impact also causes some shock through Heaven. Munto then shows Yumemi this beam of light that they must return to before it closes. That light represents the bond connecting their worlds. They need to turn it into an entity and doing so will restore the cycle of Akuto. Hence she must believe in her own strength to achieve this. As long as they yearn for tomorrow, the future will never close. Essentially, don’t give up. Because Gridori is not amused with this farce, he attacks Munto. Munto leaves Yumemi in the care of his magician comrades while he goes face off with that madman. Gridori has also summoned his golems to try and take Yumemi but the magicians do all they can to protect her. Gridori is vexed that the previous king left everything to Munto whom he claims is weak. Munto accuses Gridori he is weak because he has nothing to protect. Gridori rubbishes that thought because as one of Heaven, they take whatever they want from weaklings and let none of it go. He will be the only ruler of Heaven. Meanwhile Leica and others are trying to save Gass but Gass has some tricks up his sleeve. Don’t tell me he is going to sacrifice himself.

Episode 7
Gridori seems to be winning but of course, Yumemi unleashes a great power to overturn that. Furthermore, Gass is going to take down Gridori with him and entrusts the future of Heaven to Munto. Gass disappears with Gridori, war is over, Munto lets out a frustrated scream. However Heaven is still in danger of being destroyed. Yumemi wakes up in Magical Kingdom. To make preparations, Munto takes her to see Ryuely who then has Toche give her a tour around their land. She learns more about Akuto and how her heroic acts last year saved Heavens. She’ll try her best again this time. Meanwhile the elders have seen Yumemi’s amazing power and realize they must not attack Magical Kingdom and only watch over Munto. However Gntarl rejects that idea because they should be capturing that girl and crystalize her to stabilize her power and save Heaven. The elders reject that so Gntarl scoffs at them their non-action means Heaven has no future. The elders soon forbid him to take action on behalf of United Army so Gntarl screws them and takes actions into his own hands. He will not let Heaven’s future be left in Munto’s hands. Munto now shows Yumemi memories of Heaven’s past. The origins of how this advanced human civilization created and controlled powers known as Akuto that is composed of feelings, dreams and wishes. Absolute power corrupts so they got too indulged and intoxicated in it and even killed off breeders of Akuto. They even went so far to cross time into other dimensions to steal it. This led to the creation of Heaven which is basically formed from the ugliness of pillaging Akuto from other planets. The rebels/slaves waited for the day to attack them to regain their future. To prevent this, the then king of Heaven sealed off space and time and burnt the lower worlds, cutting off all communications too. He also created a guardian of time who are actually cursed deities with greater powers but no interactions to the outside world (hence their nickname Outsiders) to protect themselves. Ironically, it became an obstacle to saving Heaven later on. Gass realized this and went against his fate and Heaven so as to bring back Akuto’s circulation to Heaven. Now this light is the connection he left behind. If successful, both their worlds will restore the cycle of Akuto. Yumemi is in shock after hearing this but wonders if this is the right thing to do. Munto replies they cannot undo the sins of the past but they can create a new future to make up for it.

Episode 8
While Munto tries to buy time at the light pillar, Yumemi goes to see Ryuely for her preparations. Ryuely mentions that they need to give form to that light. What exactly is that form, Yumemi must look into this mirror and her spirit will be reflected in it. She must face and accept it. Only then the preparations will be completed. Yumemi sees her own world being destroyed. Oh boy, it’s turning into a disaster flick! Jokes aside, she also sees her friends trying to save her. Uhm, how the f*ck do they know how to do that?! Anyway, she hears Ichiko blaming herself for not believing in Yumemi and because of that, she went alone and shoulder all the burden by herself. Then Ichiko and Suzume lose their balance and plunge to their death. Yumemi in distraught as she starts to face her own inner darkness. She is about to succumb to it until she hears Munto’s voice to believe in herself like she always did. Open up your future! Just like that, Yumemi turns into some spirit to save her friends and bring them back up to Magical Kingdom. The friends are happily reunited as Ryuely notes she didn’t even see this future. She hopes Yumemi can give shape to the future she wishes for. Ichiko tries to apologize to Yumemi for not trusting her and wants to come along till the end of the world. At this point, is there a reason to reject her? Now they’re going to head to that light. Uhm, are they going to fly there? Apparently yes. I believe I can fly! Before that, Munto’s subjects come to admire the new princesses and also hope they can save Munto who is doing all the work to save everything but of course reality is he can’t keep this up forever. The girls soon take it to the skies.

Episode 9
The flight didn’t last long as they free fall. So did they stop believing in themselves?! Thanks to Toche’s winged golem familiar, it catches them and brings them to where Munto is. Before Yumemi could help him, her friends are kidnapped by Gntarl. He is amazed her friends have the same power as her and thus a huge source to help restore and save Heaven. He calls out to foolish Munto that his methods will not save Heaven and that he is just wasting his time. Munto’s hands are tied. He can’t stop whatever he is doing because doing so will cause this light pillar to break and both worlds to crash. Yumemi won’t abandon her friends either but she knows what to do. Believe in her. As she walks towards Gntarl, he uses his power to crystalize her. However the process stops halfway as Yumemi tells him that even if he does this, trapping a person’s heart and feelings will do the whole thing no good. She vows to protect everything she loves and breaks out of it. Gntarl looking shock. So I take it he is out of tricks, huh? He is going to crystalize her friends instead but Yumemi lets out one huge blast to free them. Then she lectures him about protecting his own spirit and those important to him. Must be embarrassing for an old fart to get lectured by a young girl and just like that, he gives up! Well, maybe it is too late as the light disappears. Munto meets Yumemi’s friends for the first time. She assures him the future he wants to protect is still here. Some innuendo that trolls us about each other’s feelings but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. With the light out, how are they going to fix the worlds that are crashing? From the memories, Yumemi has figured out that everything in the world was built out of spirits. So they have to create back that light using the spirits. Yeah, so simple that nobody even thought about it. And so the quartet join hands and some great magic happens. Uhm, did both worlds collide?! In the aftermath, we see everyone returning to their normal lives. It seems Heaven now exist in the same plane as Earth. So yeah, there are floating islands and too bad for the islands that crashed onto land! My condolences whoever’s houses were sitting there! Also, there is going to be a first conference between representatives of both sides. However Munto who is Heaven’s representative is missing. Hope he didn’t get cold feet. Ryuely could sense Akuto flowing normally between both worlds although much time and understanding is needed as Akuto from both sides still need to solidify as one. This is the next challenge Munto must undertake and that is why it is important he completes that preparation. Until then, they shall wait for his return.

Let Akuto Be Done Though The Heavens Fall
Well, I have to be honest, I wasn’t really impressed with everything. I just thought the whole thing felt mediocre from start to finish and nothing that spectacular. Obviously this is me watching this retro at this point in time and having watched so many anime series throughout the years, this one that came out way back in 2009 just wouldn’t quite cut it by today’s standards. After all, it’s your standard anime affair with magic and fantasy elements and obviously a young protagonist shouldering the burden that would change and save the fate of not only her world but another. So are you impressed with that? Good for you if you do. But for me, nah.

You see, there were a couple of OVAs released a few years prior to the TV series and I did contemplate to watch that first. However it was a good thing I read a few reviews and comments that the TV series was really nothing new except a rehash of those OVAs. Yup, recycled scenes and the likes. Safe to say, if one has not watched those OVAs (the first one coming out in 2003 followed by its sequel in 2005), you wouldn’t lose much. They added a few extra scenes when they compiled it into a TV series. So yeah, that at least saved me some time instead of watching a rehash of something. And get this, after this TV series ended, there was a movie sequel finale! Say what?! However it was supposed to be some director’s cut and added new footages in addition to the strange and somewhat incomplete ending of the TV series. Well, thank goodness I read the reviews again and basically they lied about the new scenes. Basically none. More recycled content and even if there were new scenes, it was just for a few seconds and not towards the ending. So yeah, more time wasting just to milk your money. Heh. No wonder there were no more follow ups or sequels of this original story (whatever Munto needs to prepare) and I take it they run out of ideas on how to dupe viewers. Heh. But of course I can’t be 100% sure about the recycled bits as I did not watched those prior OVAs and movie so I’m just taking their word for it. I believe in them! Saves me time and energy and I don’t have to crap and talk trash on this series again! Phew!

There isn’t really a deep storyline now that I look deeper into it and I felt that the TV series just dragged out whatever drama. That is why it is so odd with only 9 episodes. Yeah, can’t even stretch it to a dozen because that will be just wasting money. I made that up. But anyway, the first half is all about trying to get Yumemi’s mysterious power to flow through Heaven but that stupid barrier just keeps getting in the way. Obviously a girl like Yumemi who has been having weird visions and seeing floating islands stuffs since young, she would be doubting herself if she has been going crazy all the while. Hence the hesitation. Even more so that distraction story about Kazuya symbolically marrying Suzume, I wonder what the heck was that for?! It did not actually contribute anything to the main story and after it was done, the whole thing was kinda forgettable. It just served as a small stepping stone to boost Yumemi’s self-confidence. That is all. Because seeing kooky Suzume doing strange things that defied society with Kazuya, this had Yumemi make a decision to do what needs to be done. She is after all the main character. So yeah, that was what this whole side distraction was about. Because now that she believes in herself, she can go save both worlds.

And then for the second half, everything has gone mad in Heaven and everybody fighting some sort of stupid civil war because they’re the chosen one or something. And thus the power of Yumemi is once again needed to end this mindless bloodshed and of course save both worlds from being destroyed. It is all about the future, right? That’s basically it. So believe in yourself and protect the things you love. That is all the prerequisites needed to secure your future and your world. Thank goodness it works in anime because in real life, not so. Yeah, better stop being pessimistic since this is all fantasy and that’s what we’re here for, right? To run away from the dregs of reality and revel in the marvel of fantasy freedom! Wohoo! Anyway… With the convenient memory-cum-story of the world’s origins, it is good to know that those people up in their high horse have now come crashing to the ground and be grounded in reality. Time to move on and mingle with the lower castes. Sorry, Heaven supremacists are so yesterday’s philosophy.

I suppose they want to hint to us that absolute power corrupts and that is why selfish people in Heaven continued to be drunk on whatever this power was supposed to be even though it was dwindling. Yeah, once you get a taste and hold of that power, you never want to let it go. Forever. So it was kinda dumb but also aptly named that this source of power is called Akuto. Oh you know, ‘aku’ meaning evil in Japanese but I doubt people in Heaven know Japanese and could be just a coincidence. A very huge coincidence. People fighting to control over this root of evil (sorry, it’s not money in this case) and preserve whatever it is in Heaven, it was just funny to note that. So now that the ‘evil’ spirits are flowing freely in both worlds, I surmise it will give rise to evil hauntings and supernatural incidents, hence forming exorcism squads and purification models to rid of these evil spirits that plague the worlds. Sorry, got ahead of myself. Thank goodness I wasn’t hired to be the scriptwriter of the sequel.

The characters are mostly a miss with me. Yumemi being your typical heroine being thrust into deciding the fate of her world and thus the entire series sees her being turned from a meek girl with low self-confidence into one who begins to take hold of her destiny. All she needs to do is to believe in herself. Then there is Munto whom I have a feeling is bad in communicating with others. Like in the first half, he sounded very pushy in trying to force Yumemi to come over to his side to help. Sure, desperate and short of time. But the way he says it all, it is just scaring her away. He isn’t such a bad person once you get to know him but he isn’t much of a talker to begin with. He tries to shoulder everything by himself seeing he is king of Magical Kingdom so he takes it upon himself to do what is necessary. He didn’t read the script that he needs some girl power to save the day. Sure, he got scared after using her the first time. So shouldn’t he be taking responsibility of her instead of trying out methods that don’t work by himself? Glad things turn out nicely. Otherwise… Who knows? Munto might be marrying Yumemi to keep the future. They’re both the same, right? After all, Ichiko has Takashi and Suzume married to Kazuya, guess which pair is left?

Other characters felt forgettable. Their roles are mostly minimal like Ryuely who is supposed to have clairvoyance but it felt like a rip-off seeing there are futures she can’t see. So did she waste her vision? Oh wait, is it me or does Ryuely in the second half looked like she has her sights back? She doesn’t look as blind. What’s this Toche for? Somebody who exists to give Yumemi a brief tour of the Magical Kingdom. Magical mystery tour… Sorry, bad pun. Yumemi’s friends also exist so as to have her something to protect and this makes a character stronger, right? Yes people, always believe in your friends. Gass felt like some plot convenience because whenever Munto is in a pinch, this guy intervenes to save the day. So they got rid of him so as not to troll us once more with this tactic but by this time, the show’s over. I believe Gass even had a young apprentice that I think is supposed to succeed him. Yeah, she looks like a discount Shantae but whatever. Good thing or not, Gass ended this cursed position by breaking all the taboos. The price to pay for being a fan boy of Munto. Heh. Munto has also a bunch of loyal subordinates, but they felt more like Disney supporting characters than anything else. Yeah. That. Tell me what is Leica’s role again? Gntarl feels like the series’ much needed antagonist and while it is unfair to label him so because all he wants is to save Heaven, which is basically trying to preserve those holier-than-thou sacredness, which is basically being the bad guy. Trying to kidnap young girls for their power even if the cause is supposedly noble, is a big red flag so I guess we’ll just condemn him to being a baddie. Too bad no big epic fight in the end. Just restoring the light rather than young magic king and old fart strategist having some MMA slugfest showdown. Heh.

I have to note something about the animation quality. It really sucks! Okay, that is me being an extremist but to tell the truth, I wasn’t actually impressed. This anime was done by the legendary Kyoto Animation and they brought us a lot of great retro hits like Kanon, Clannad, Air, K-ON! and of course the (once) super popular Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu. It is no surprise to see some of the character designs like Yumemi having that similar trademark looks like female characters in Clannad or Air, so much so I thought she was a reincarnation of that character in this series! But anyway, the overall animation quality is bad just to say the least. In fact, it is quite inconsistent and in many scenes, it felt like the visuals were simple and lacking in details. Like as though they wanted to do a fast job and just skipped QC. Hence a lot of downgraded quality in a lot of scenes that look way too simple than they should. I am not sure if this was the quality in the prior OVAs but I can tell you the TV series was disappointing in this department and it really showed. Yikes.

They also used a whole different set of seiyuus in the TV series compared to the OVA. Good for me to hear the voices of old veterans once more like Daisuke Ono as Munto, Norio Wakamoto as Gntarl, Tetsu Inada as Gass and Kikuko Inoue as Yumemi’s mom. (What’s this I read Rie Kugimiya and Sayaka Ohara were voices of Suzume and Ryuely respectively in the previous OVA?). The rest of the casts include Mai Aizawa as Yumemi (Ayano in Lucky Star), Chika Horikawa as Ichiko (Izumi in Itsuka Tenma No Kurousagi), Hiromi Konno as Suzume (Sae in Amagami SS), Ryouko Tanaka as Ryuely (Hikari in School Days), Megumi Matsumoto as Toche (Kunikida in Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu), Fuko Saito as Leica (Hazama in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) and Shinya Takahashi as Kazuya (Kouhei in Rokudou No Onna-tachi). The opening theme, Anemoi by Eufonius sounds pretty much like the songs they sing in other animes like Clannad and True Tears. Yeah, I thought I was hearing the same song… The ending theme, Hikari To Yami To Toki No Hate by Ceui is a slow dramatic piece and she also sings the special ending song for the final episode, Kokoro No Tsubasa which has almost similar vibes.

Overall, this TV series is rather just mediocre and not one of Kyoto Animation’s best works. In fact, it is so forgettable that perhaps it was a good thing that their other hits have overshadowed this disappointment. This means no remakes or rehash in the foreseeable future. So far so good! Hope they keep it that way. Let the flow of Akuto circulate within those worlds alone and let it not seep through to ours! Or maybe we lack such great creative power and juice and that is why current animes are all so bad and crappy. Will somebody take hold of destiny and break through the barrier and let those creative concepts and ideas flow and permeate the industry once more and save anime as a whole?! Anybody?! Oh well, I guess we’ll be happy and satisfied to watch more garbage series in the future.