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Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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Unevaluated | Devil Doll | [series:2959#752] | ||||||
Last updated Tuesday, October 14 2014. Created Monday, October 13 2014. |
I can only echo Stretch's first impression: The scenario isn't that special, the archery skills are hugely exaggerated, but the lead characters appear to be interesting and may have plausible motives for their actions.
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Unevaluated | Stretch | [series:2959#628] | ||||||
Sometimes it's good to have very low expectations for a new show, because it may actually turn out to contain a little quality and will therefore pleasantly surprise you. I had heard that Vanadis was terrible, and sword-and-sorcery anime don't exactly have a stellar record. But somehow this show took the topic of medieval-like nobility and their part in warfare seriously enough to interest me. For instance, including the common practice of holding captured noblemen for ransom. This show paid enough attention to details like that for the plot to make some sense and interest me. I can't imagine it being any higher than a Watch, but for a show of this tired genre, that's actually doing pretty good. The battle in question being a rout rather than a serious contest was good as well--not every battle is between evenly matched armies and has an outcome that is in question until the last minute. Some elements, like Vorn's skill as an archer, are thoroughly impossible and ridiculous, but I found that I could tolerate those; if a show hasn't made much discernible effort to be good, I probably wouldn't. Perhaps most important, the characters don't seem to be of the usual lame and bankrupt sort. Their 'coolness' isn't being overplayed, which I appreciate. One thing that makes me a little uncomfortable is the use of fanservice, because in my experience that is usually a cheap substitute for quality writing and humor. But there seems to be some sort of fairly interesting story underway here. It might still fold up abruptly, and even if it doesn't it certainly won't be brilliant. If I had time to burn I wouldn't mind watching episode two, but ultimately I decided that this was an average show and I don't have time for those. Last updated Saturday, March 28 2015. Created Monday, October 06 2014. |
(One episode watched):||||||||