Japan Sinks: 2020 (Japanese audio) - Episodes 1-10 (Completed)
So I finally got the opportunity to watch this entire series from Yuasa & Science SARU. First of the concept is great and it's a new iteration of a decades old novel about Japan sinking. The start is really good and it gets to the point that you have no idea how it'll turn out. Then the second act starts and it felt like I had seen the direction before, but fortunately it doesn't overstay its welcome and gets back to the point with the third act. The third act I felt is where things start to crumble a bit and while I liked the ending, there's a lot of rough pacing issues and "oh **** we forgot the story is coming to a close soon so let's kill off some characters by giving them a spotlight moment first".
There's also a number of weird black screen moments which are quite jarring but the worst part is the animation itself. It's very rough and unpolished and at times looked like it came from Adobe Flash which is not a compliment. I know SARU & Yuasa love to go experimental with animation and that worked really well with Devilman Crybaby due to that show's fantastical elements blending really well with its art style but that idea doesn't translate well with what is supposed to be a serious realistic type disaster series. The characters are also a bit hit or miss at times with a lot of weird Engrish mixed into the mix, and honestly my favourite is KITE (he's basically a light hearted version of DC's Ryo lol).
Overall it's a good watch but I recommend you check out Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 instead for a better version of a Japan disaster series.
So I finally got the opportunity to watch this entire series from Yuasa & Science SARU. First of the concept is great and it's a new iteration of a decades old novel about Japan sinking. The start is really good and it gets to the point that you have no idea how it'll turn out. Then the second act starts and it felt like I had seen the direction before, but fortunately it doesn't overstay its welcome and gets back to the point with the third act. The third act I felt is where things start to crumble a bit and while I liked the ending, there's a lot of rough pacing issues and "oh **** we forgot the story is coming to a close soon so let's kill off some characters by giving them a spotlight moment first".
There's also a number of weird black screen moments which are quite jarring but the worst part is the animation itself. It's very rough and unpolished and at times looked like it came from Adobe Flash which is not a compliment. I know SARU & Yuasa love to go experimental with animation and that worked really well with Devilman Crybaby due to that show's fantastical elements blending really well with its art style but that idea doesn't translate well with what is supposed to be a serious realistic type disaster series. The characters are also a bit hit or miss at times with a lot of weird Engrish mixed into the mix, and honestly my favourite is KITE (he's basically a light hearted version of DC's Ryo lol).
Overall it's a good watch but I recommend you check out Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 instead for a better version of a Japan disaster series.
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