On its face the multiple POVs is a good way to differentiate this iteration. Haruko is as fun as ever, thanks to Wahlgren who never phones it in. I liked how despite being a prequel this brings no new major revelations to her. This was literally just what she did to get to Earth in the original. She will likely never think about any of these people again. In comparison to the other three series, they are a blip, and she’s just a whirlwind of chaos that facilitates an opportunity of change for them. And Shinori was surprisingly compelling, and a few shots somehow eke through to being nice to look at.
That’s the good stuff. The boy I can’t bother to remember the name of is a retread of Naoto right down to the penis jokes courtesy of his forehead. The humor is tired and desperate, especially in an animation style that can’t sustain it, at least not with this studio at the helm. It’s just not nice to look at in motion. Orinoko isn’t bad- and her performance is great- but she’s not exactly the kind of character who wins you over so hard you don’t mind the others deciding they’re good here, on this planet they hate, actually. They just announce that they are. There’s no reason for it, outside of the most depressing interpretation of Shinori being trapped in this cycle of violence and resigning himself to being a brutish thug. It’s a downer of a finish that Orinoko’s escape and robo mom can’t lift to bittersweet.
Why didn’t her dad or the robo mom just. Tell her it was her mom by the way. They never say why they wouldn’t just tell her.
And even the Pillows soundtrack feels obligatory, just shoved in as an easy way to get unearned hype and catharsis. I rolled my eyes when I Think I Can dropped, it was so transparent.
There’s just nothing to this one, plain and simple.
Review by JCVIP 4BlockedParentSpoilers2023-09-26T06:32:27Z
On its face the multiple POVs is a good way to differentiate this iteration. Haruko is as fun as ever, thanks to Wahlgren who never phones it in. I liked how despite being a prequel this brings no new major revelations to her. This was literally just what she did to get to Earth in the original. She will likely never think about any of these people again. In comparison to the other three series, they are a blip, and she’s just a whirlwind of chaos that facilitates an opportunity of change for them. And Shinori was surprisingly compelling, and a few shots somehow eke through to being nice to look at.
That’s the good stuff. The boy I can’t bother to remember the name of is a retread of Naoto right down to the penis jokes courtesy of his forehead. The humor is tired and desperate, especially in an animation style that can’t sustain it, at least not with this studio at the helm. It’s just not nice to look at in motion. Orinoko isn’t bad- and her performance is great- but she’s not exactly the kind of character who wins you over so hard you don’t mind the others deciding they’re good here, on this planet they hate, actually. They just announce that they are. There’s no reason for it, outside of the most depressing interpretation of Shinori being trapped in this cycle of violence and resigning himself to being a brutish thug. It’s a downer of a finish that Orinoko’s escape and robo mom can’t lift to bittersweet.
Why didn’t her dad or the robo mom just. Tell her it was her mom by the way. They never say why they wouldn’t just tell her.
And even the Pillows soundtrack feels obligatory, just shoved in as an easy way to get unearned hype and catharsis. I rolled my eyes when I Think I Can dropped, it was so transparent.
There’s just nothing to this one, plain and simple.