r/AnteikuAnimeReviews

I always wanted to but was too lazy, but luckily I forced myself, Frieren grabs you in a way that's indescribable.

I don't ever remember seeing an anime so emotionally packed. The density of scenes packed with open emotional expression is insane, which is great. The best two things anime does are emotionality and character relationships and dynamics.

And while I'd have liked to say our anime here nailed it with these two, I really can't because they aren't backed with a solid story, which is super frustrating. You have all these unfathomably beautiful scenes and voice acting, but when this emotionality isn't substantiated plot-wise, it really leaves a bitter aftertaste that keeps nagging you.

To list my concerns in this regard:

There's simply too much we don't know about how the agents operate. In the anime, the phrase 'this country's agent' is mentioned a lot. So, how many countries do we have? Does each country have an agent, or what?

Are the agents' residences/powers public knowledge or not? From what we see, I'd guess not, but how exactly did the insurgents get to each and every one of them? Why don't they relocate?

How exactly does the succession work? For example, at the end, are Ayame and Ruri BOTH summer agents, or did Ruri just return upon being resurrected? They said the successor is chosen from the Four Season Clans in general. So, what if all these clans are wiped out? And to begin with, how were they determined?

How exactly could the insurgents get a FREAKING missile? Isn't this a super-millitary grade weapon? Can it be smuggled and launched without the government knowing ANYTHING about it? Doesn't the government offer ANY kind of protection to the agents?

Finally and most importantly, Nadeshiko has the power to resurrect the dead? That's insane. All the other agents' powers don't even begin to compare. And from what we saw, there's no cost or downside whatsoever. Like how is she NOT the one most targeted? Among all other human ambitions, does anything beat bringing back the dead? Even if it's limited to only a short time after death, that's still unbelievably powerful. Manipulating life and death like that. And even if you make the argument she's the most dangerous, she's still the most valuable. So, are these insurgents stupid or what?

This takes us to the next point: Characters and World

As someone who was most interested in the Hazakura sisters, I really wanted to see MORE of them. The very few scenes they show up in are very impactful, which is exactly why you'd wanna see them more. So, why this unequal distribution among characters? I don't know about the source material, but 14 eps certainly wouldn't be enough to explore 8-10 characters. Naturally. So, why don't we extend the anime 10 more eps? The story deserves better. Ugh, I really wish great stories got the space they needed in this industry. Also, if it's the same in the original material, I just don't get it. Why make a story about FOUR agents only to focus on one and sideline the others?

So many episodes are almost entirely dedicated for Hinagiku, and barely two episodes for the sisters. And not even entirely. And Nadeshiko comes at the very end, which makes her feel like an afterthought. She was just there as a Hinagiku replacement and an ex machina. So, it made me wonder: instead of affixing two traumatic storylines on Hinagiku, why not save one of those for Nadeshiko? Or even if you don't give them to Nadeshiko, it was enough to have the abduction backstory. Was the illicit child thing really necessary? That reminds me. Where the heck are the parents in this anime? We needed to have at least one proper parent in this story, like, come on. Anyway, all of this inevitably makes you feel Hinagiku is being glorified too much here.

As for the world, the glimpse we get is just too vague. Like what are the details of the shaping that occurred due to the existence of the four agents? Is the agency that manages them international or what? Also, why are there soooo many people who hate the agents? We need details. Even the backstory we got for the main villain was way too vague. Like why? Also, it's a pretty valid point that the agents could actually help people more with their powers. So, why just immediately dismiss it and make the main villains so irredeemable that this point gets thrown into oblivion? We could very much have this as a main conflict and dilemma. These are just children who never chose to have these powers, and they have the right to their own lives. So are we supposed to sacrifice them and rob them of everything for the world? A pretty great and heavy conflict.

In short, we REALLY needed a better equal distribution between characters. The Hazakura sisters really stand out for me because I don't remember caring so much about anime characters before. I was genuinely happy they got a happy ending. Yet, I can't help but feel it all happened too fast. Like the whole anime felt rushed, but especially this part. Ruri gets killed and then brought back almost immediately. So, the emotionality in this scene comes to feel unsubstantiated, which really bothers me. This could very well have been their storyline, where Ruri gets killed, Ayame replaces her. Then hears about Nadeshiko's power and tries to bring her back. And instead of making this happen in an ex machina way, she discovers there's some kind of condition or cost to do so. I'd have wanted to see that. Maybe even make the summer agent's power related to time travel somehow; I dunno. Anyways, there was so much potential here. So, it's all just unfortunate.

And even though I'm not bothered much about the whole ordeal here due to the sheer emotional greatness we see, which is a pretty great accomplishment, I still wish things were different.