It feels like that I am going against the goals that I have set myself for this year as I keep ignoring every opportunity I get to make an episode reaction. To make up for it, here’s a dump of all episode reactions in compact form for the Violet Evergarden anime series.
As I write this article, I have come to realize that our group has come a really long way in comparison to the previous year. New members have come and are gracing us with their wonderful writings on various prompts. Although I haven’t really been a part of OWLS for a very long time, I feel very proud to be a part of this wonderful, growing group of creators.
It has been almost a year since the anime film, Your Name, released on theaters worldwide and the fame its generating is not slowing down. In Japan, the movie became a huge hit and grossed over 190 million US Dollars. It was ranked second among well-heard films like Spirited Away.
REACTION – Alice to Zouroku focuses on an old man named Zouroku and a girl named Sana, who has the ability to create any thing she imagines out of thin air.
The episode starts with Sana’s escape from the research facility she was detained in. An unknown lady, who wields the same power, helps her out by giving protection as she escapes to Shizuoka.
Here, she meets old man Zouroku in a convenience store and decides to acquaint herself with him since, after reading his mind, she has deemed her as a nice person.
After a couple of accidents and encounters with other detainees of the research facility, Zouroku finds himself stuck with Sana, much to his displeasure.
The episode was pretty much confusing to me since it was basically just a fight with some “summoning sh*t from thin air” being used. I couldn’t help but notice J.C. Staff’s usage of CGI when it comes to vehicles – although it’s not the best, it works and that’s pretty much great for any anime series.
Some anime use CGI too much that they don’t really know how to balance the traditional 2D animation with CGI. You mix CGI and 2D too much, it becomes really odd to look at.
Ah, J.C. Staff – you never fail to mix up a magical, fantasy show with some good ol’ moe.
Zouroku, as a character, can be easily described as your doting grandpa. He doesn’t like being bothered by too much disruptions or big problems and just simply wants to lay low. The situation’s pretty much changed after he meets Sana.
Sana is the one brat that will probably annoy you if she was your child or your grandchild, for this matter. You, as a man of old age, don’t want no youngsters disrupting your “old man time” – no f*cking way, sir.
The way the story is being presented, I can’t help but bring up a similarity to the anime series, Brynhildr in the Darkness. Same thing but teenage characters: a group of girls escape a research facility that were conducting tests on them for their special powers and a guy who’s caught up in the whole fiasco since one of the witches resemble closely with his childhood friend who died many years ago.
But the thing that I like about this show is that it’s not much on the magic powers are being focused so far but about the two characters, Sana and Zouroku, who develop some sort of fatherly-daughter bond. At least, that’s how I feel it is going for. Pretty cute, moe stuff going around here.
You can compare it with like the movie, Thor, where the god Thor is banished to Earth and he has to adapt living with humans – something like that. But this time, it’s a girl who’s going to the outside world and an old man is her guide, something like that.
This anime series is not really something I’d urge someone to watch but if you want some good ol’ cute interactions between a doting grandpa and a child he just took in who has special powers, then be my guest.
Miandro's Side