First episode was borderline. Liked the comedy, liked the visual design, disliked a bunch of the mysterious stuff. For some reason I have a good feeling about this show.
Episode 2
5:18 – I kinda like the gravekeepers essentially being computers thing, but once again it’s the loli getting smacked that actually gets my attention. This show has issues
6:19 – “I can never forget!” That’s nice, actually. They tie her identity as a gravekeeper to her keeping the memories of her time in this place. That certainly justifies the job being important to her
9:35 – “The dead should go back to the earth after they die.” The show hasn’t really offered a compelling reason why, though. Obviously it knows this – so far all the dead people have been warm and honorable, and Humpnie’s been setting himself up as an asshole. I wonder where they’ll go with this?
11:20 – “You just don’t want to live anymore. But instead of killing yourself, you want to die for something.” Okay, so it looks like they actually are interested in this value of life stuff. I’m still not a fan of Humpnie being so mustache-twirlingly evil, though
14:22 – These backgrounds [RES ignored duplicate image][1] do a lot of work. Soundtrack’s pretty solid too. It seems like Humpnie (god that name is ridiculous to type… I might just stick with Dark Flame Master) might act dickish to force people towards their own resolve. But his affect is just… I dunno, it might just be the VA hamming it up too much for what this character is supposed to be, or something
16:15 – I like them using DFM’s immortality in kinda silly, kinda practical ways like this cliff-jumping
18:20 – “Being defective isn’t a bad thing.” Looks like we’re reaching the point where he drops his defensive act. I’m all in favor, that particular character arc is pretty tired
20:12 – “He got bored, so he decided to grant people’s wishes in the end.” More stuff about treasuring a limited lifespan, but we still haven’t seen any arguments for this not being a sweet wish, aside from the attached no-children thing
21:40 – “Half-dead fever.” Okay, here’s a hint of a downside. So there’ll probably be an actual threat of the undead, but the thematic point will be that life is precious because it is brief. At least, that’s what the evidence so far seems to point to
And Done
“They cling more desperately to life, and become selfish.” Hm. That’s an interesting idea.
Anyway, this episode didn’t really strongly change my impression of the show, but it does seem like it has some actual ideas, and DFM dropping his sneering antihero act was a very welcome shift. It’s also not overplaying its hand – it’s keeping the fantastical elements of the world sharply grounded in the way they affect the central characters, which is critical for investment in a story like this. I’m definitely still on board.
I’m out. I know I’m being fairly harsh on this show, but with several other summer titles I’ll almost certainly be watching all the way through, I don’t really want to stick with something that’s only average. It’s a shame because I think the plot itself has a lot of potential, but I just don’t see this series living up to it (even if those backgrounds are quite lovely).
Yeah, it still hasn’t actually grabbed me, and there are a LOT of good shows in my backlog. I’ll probably be putting it on hold myself after next week and checking back depending on buzz.