Quick Final Thoughts – Just Because!

This was a little disappointing. It wasn’t bad enough for me to drop it, but it didn’t live up to one of the most promising premieres of the season.

Let’s start with the production, the most easily identifiable issue. Based on the design and direction, I think that this show really wanted to be Sound! Euphonium, but didn’t have the KyoAni talent and passion required to really pull it off. The background work is gorgeous throughout, often to the point that if you told me they were pulled from a Shinkai movie, I’d probably believe you, but no other aspect of the artwork or direction comes close to matching it, as the often poorly-drawn characters very rarely look like part of their environment. Frequent animation issues lead to walk cycles not syncing properly to the background so it ends up looking like characters are walking on top of paintings, and attempts at rapid movement fall apart because of a lack of in-between animation. The art design tries for realism but mostly comes across as boring, with the color palette being dull and desaturated, like none of these characters own clothing in primary colors.

The story fares a little better but isn’t quite the dramatic tale I was hoping for. It’s certainly trying for that route but ends up going in too many directions. The main romance isn’t as understandable as it should be and it’s just not satisfying that the two main characters refuse to communicate with each other properly even though they definitely know that their feelings are mutual. The last episode has a few really powerful moments and a great echo of the premiere, but it just doesn’t go anywhere at all.

I will admit that a few sakuga cuts are peppered throughout, but overall the show is just really uneven, and the ending was a total cop out.

5/10, the bad side of average.