Sorry for the post delay; I wasn't really paying attention during my first watch, so here it is. For me, it's pretty much obligatory to try any anime that's in the Noitamina timeslot. Although I honestly wasn't very interested in this title prior to its airing, the first episode left me wanting to know more.
As far as the technical aspects of the show goes, the animation is pretty high quality, the visuals are pleasing, and the music is quite good, as well. As for the setting, I'm getting vibes of a combination between George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four and Ergo Proxy. I'm usually not too fond of these post-disaster dystopian settings, but I didn't mind too much for this one.
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| Who else thought of Cross Game? |
The characters are quite interesting as well, with a bonus that they aren't very stereotypical. To me, Shion seems a lot more curious than intelligent. When he remarked that the typhoon is the best birthday present he could have, I felt that he just wanted to look for things that don't usually occur in his mundane life in No. 6, which he finds when he meets Nezumi. Nezumi is initially very guarded, and rightfully so, but feels quite confortable with Shion. He seems to know a lot more about the secrets of No. 6 than he lets on. Shion and Nezumi complement each other quite well, despite one being an "elite" and the other literally from the sewers.
Safu works pretty well has the geeky friend, too. I laughed at her "physical symbolism of the manifestation of reproductive desire" comment. As for the adults of the series, more specifically Safu's grandma and Shion's mom, they seem to be really bored, not being able to do anything out of their given roles. I hope this will be explored more in future episodes.
There were some strong bromance undertones in Shion's interactions with Nezumi. Personally, I don't really mind it, and I hope others aren't dropping the show simply because of these BL moments. I understand that everyone has different tastes, but this show isn't full-blown shounen-ai/yaoi; it's more about how these characters act and probably escape from this given setting.
So, at the end of the episode, Nezumi was gone and it seems like Shion was going to get into trouble for sheltering a fugitive. The fact that the ED suggests that there will be a a timeskip certainly piqued my interest. I'll definitely keep up with this show for at least a few more episodes.
-Bern
