天下制覇

…Mondays are not going to be a good day this season, are they?

As I mentioned, this doesn’t actually air until tomorrow (KBS’s site listing it tomorrow too), so… kudos on the schedule awareness there, Crunchyroll. Well, I guess posting shows before they air is slightly better than posting them four days later and calling them simultaneous.

Impressions:

Christ, could this show be trying any harder? I guess they got the music pretty much right, but everything else is so hamhanded that there is no way in hell it can build up ny kind of real atmosphere that shows like this need. "There are dark secrets here." "What are they?" "Well, you see, they’re… DRAMATIC STOP" Seriously? "This school is DEATH." "Huh?" "You will find out… SOON!" Really? "A girl named Misaki died." "I am a girl named Misaki. Where is my missing half?" This is the kind of subtlty I expect from Goosebumps. I feel like I say this a lot, but you don’t just come out and tell the audience how to feel. You are not Jedi. That is only going to work on the simplest minded. …Well, I think I just shot my own argument in the kneecap.

I suppose that they had to tell the audience everything though because the production is pretty piss-poor, which is surprising for PA Works. I think all their money went to backgrounds and music… which admittedly are quite good… but the direction and animation are awful. Use some shading and coloring to set the mood, damn it. No, throwing a couple images up of dolls as a transition does not create atmosphere. It just makes me laugh at you for having no clue what to do and defaulting to "Dolls are creepy, right? How about a doll with its brain exposed? That’ll really scare them." At least be consistent. When the useless lead was introduced to the class, they all just stared at him blankly. Okay, slightly creepy. 15 seconds later, he’s surrounded by what seems like every single one of them chattering brainlessly at him like the room was gassed with nitrous oxide. As for technically production, well… Let’s put it this way. Do you like this shot? I sure hope you do, because it comprises nearly 5% of the episode in a one-minute long still.

So, no. It did not create the atmosphere it was going for and I think it would have given itself a hernia if it was clumsily trying any harder to be creepy. The lead is the usual bland and sickly sack of uselessness that these kinds of shows have for some bizarre reason, so characters sure as hell aren’t a reason to watch it either. I guess at least he doesn’t emit a smell that attracts pedophile werewolves… yet… but I can’t think that would hurt the show. I’m not sure what that leaves though, besides the usual annoying Ali Project OP. I missed not having to hear them.