I think I am one of those very very very few people who actually loved the first episode of this new series.The visuals and the music were the main complain of the majority. Well, I am more of a story > art person, and this one had a very intriguing and interesting story. Many stuff here are things that I'm fond of! I'm totally following this~[ ART/ANIMATION ]The biggest complain in this series is the CG. They were horribly animated that it had been an eyesore to a lot of people.I admit it wasn't that fantastic but . . . .I've seen worse. The CG here is very very tolerable. And besides, this is a new production company; I don't think they'll be getting the best talents easily.It's not exactly visually appealing, and it doesn't aim to be. It's like the characters are saying: "Don't watch this series by just looking at my pretty face! You should understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it!" In other words, you have to focus on the story, not the prettiness.The art isn't the usual pretty, so it didn't appeal to a lot of people who are used to very wonderful animation and pretty characters. I admit I find the art style pretty weird, but it didn't take me too long to get used to it. Ah well, it's easy for me to get used to unusual/peculiar art.Though I have to admit, character design is just BAD. The main characters are so colorful and they each have a costume that though it may suit them, it's just . . .weird. How do I explain this . . .I mean, take Hamyuts for example. WHAT'S WITH THE BOW? It just doesn't suit her main outfit. She also has this sexy shirt with her cleavage exposed and there's some bunny design on the side. That's just . . .WHUT? Maybe it's for crack . . . and it's part of her personality . . . but for some reason it just didn't suit the setting . . . too out of place. Ah well, just my feeling.As for the animation of the OP and ED themes, I LOVE the OP's animation. It was really creative and cool~ I like it!But the ED . . . errr . . . Bantorra girls in some poses and there's even a naked version of one of them. Errr . . . is this for fanservice? Whatever it was for, those scenes just bore the hell out of me.[ MUSIC/SOUND ]Now as for the music of the OP and ED themes, the beginning of the OP was pretty cool at first but later it's the usual ALI Project tune. Guuuhh . . . I actually would've liked it if I hadn't heard their other songs. They're just so the same. And I'm the type who gets sick of hearing too much of the same thing. No way. It hurt my ears. Only at times like those that make me wish I can go temporarily deaf.As for the ED, it's not that I don't like slow music, but this one is one of the boring ones. *yawns*For the background music, they do fit the series but I didn't hear any parts that seem exceptional.Okay, it had not been fantastic on the music part, but on the voice acting part . . . ohmygod . . . I'm no seiyuu bias but the staff sure had picked the good seiyuus with voices that really suit the characters.For seiyuu bias . . . I LOVE PAKU ROMI'S FEMALE VOICE!!!! JUST SO SMEXY!!! SMEXY!!!!!!! AND KYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! OF COURSE I RECOGNIZE MIYU IRINO AND YUUICHI NAKAMURA!!!! THOSE TWO HAVE EVEN VOICED THE BISHIES!!! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!![ STORY/GENRE/THEME/CONCEPT ]I admit that some parts are still vague or not clear to me in this episode, but I think this is a mystery series! The fun part is understanding and figuring them out! I see several subplots and twists coming~ We have to wait for later episodes to figure them out or have it revealed to us. I think the first episode just shocked us with so many events but they get explained little by little. Reminds me of Baccano. One of my top favorite series. Since it reminds me of a top favorite anime, the more promising it becomes to me~ Ohohohoho!Anyway, so far, what I understand is that there are two opposing groups in this series: Armed Librarians (protagonists) and Shindeki Church (antagonists). The Armed Librarians are those that protect books of the dead people (those books aren't actually books that we know of now. They're more like stone tablets. People turn into such when they die); while the Shindeki Church people has this obsession of serving and pleasing god, and human beings are nothing but tools. Humans that were used as bombs are called "Meats". That term emphasizes so much on how inhumane the people were being treated . . . Anyway, it is not yet clear why they exactly fight each other (I mean, I don't see any event of the church stealing the books. There's this issue about a disease and a cure, and it will be troublesome if the church got both.)This may be a little biased, but I really love the church involvement in this series. Moreso that they're the bad guys. It's not that I think of the church as bad, I just hate the overly religious fanatics. Heck, terrorists are usually that kind of people. And they're so sick. So sick. They really make despicable villains. And they sure are despicable in this series for treating humans that way.Aside from the religious stuff, it brought some interesting ideas/views/insights/whatever. You see, it had been mentioned here that humans are born to be happy and to be loved; if they're not like that, then they're not human. Or something like that. I find it interesting.I really really love the genre mix in this series by the way~ We have fantasy, historical, and action~ Some action scenes were flashy . . . in a wrong/weird way (my reaction to some dude that suddenly become oh-so-muscular: o_O) but some had been really really cool~ (FLOATING VOLKEN ON A SPINNING RING FTW!) And of course, this series seems to have a mystery vibe~ And it has violence too . . . oh the bloodsheds~ *morbid* Ah! From spoilers, there's also going to be some romance in this series!!! And the love story is really unique and interesting!!!! I guess I'll go fangurl about that on a spoiler post~[ CHARACTERS ]HELLO THERE ZWEI CLONE!!!!!!!! *hugs**ehem* Ignoring the character designs, the characters themselves are an interesting bunch of individuals. I see none of them as stereotypes (referring to main ones. . . except those that have extremely few lines) because there's always something about them that make them a little different from characters from other series. Okay, it's true that we don't know much about them much to say that, but just watching those few scenes that they have acted and interacted so far, they really seem different. Or maybe it's just my gut feeling . . .Anyway, I find majority of the characters interesting and likeable, but I have a feeling I'm going to despise the ponytail girl. I can't remember when I actually had a favorite female character who is . . .clumsy.[ FANGURLING ]My favorite portion in episode posts . . . Ohohohohoho! Well, my top favorites are these two:And no, I don't ship them. They just happen to be my top two favorites so seeing my top favorites in one scene, and one of them helping the other, is such a fanservice to me~ Hehehe~Volken is your serious-all-the-time dude and a very kindhearted person that he wants to save as much people as possible. He also seems to have some excellent battle skills~ It's also easy to frustrate or tease him however; that's why he's having a hard time getting along with the director! Hahaha! And it looks like he has a pretty cute and childish side . . . for everyone knows that he can't drink tea without honey. So he likes seet things~ Oh you adorable bishie *pokes him*As for Colio, he's a dude with no memory, no emotion, no life; but after seeing someone's book he suddenly had an urge to live somehow (though it's a mystery how the hell he survived from drowning that low). He doesn't exactly have any special ability, but he's an interesting character~My other favorites are Mirepocu (she's a nice girl!), Hamyuts (smexy carefree leader), Mattalast (his outfit's just so cool), and Shiron (she's a babe with a dark past).As for favorite couples, Mattalast x Hamyutz seem a cool combination~ There's another one with Colio, but it might be spoilery if I tell who I pair him with. As for my numero uno OTP in this series:VOLKEN x MIREPOCH!!!!!!!!!!That last scene with the two of them made me ship them in high levels~ She tries to comfort/calm him when he gets frustrated, while Volken apologizes to her for it WITH A SMILE!!!! KYAAAAAAAAAA~From spoilers I've heard they're canon . . . canon in a way they do like each other. However, none are making a move!!! WHY MUST MY OTP'S TORTURE ME LIKE THIS????!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!Okay, that's it for this episode. I'm so excited for the next one~ Lotsa blood . . . yes~
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