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eternaldivahello and welcome to First Impressions, where i dip my toes into anime that i'm not sure i'll end up liking but am curious enough to watch at least the first episode of. today we are investigating two anime which i have seen offhand tumblr posts about and, from a cursory glance, am a bit intrigued by.
Vanitas no Carte
the art style looks pretty cool, and i love me some evil magic books (and vampires? i guess? or was Shiki a fluke?). also airships??? i have to take off points for it being apparently set in France (bleh, disgusting) but just by looking at it, i want to see more.
but. let us see what the first episode has to say about this.
so the music is good. really good. holy crap. i could listen to the soundtrack from this show by itself with no problem. it almost sounds like yuki kajiura...? i need to look up the composer later. ALSO THE OPENING THEME SLAPS? the opening itself is...eh. nothing special. looks gay though.
......SQUARE ENIX?
ok. ok. anyway. the cinematography is very good. i'm not super impressed by the writing or the characters. maybe i'm just spoiled by the masterful crafting of like...my top 5 anime (which i will make a post about later, don't worry), but it's just like...yaaawn. also, steampunk isn't really my thing, so unless the characters/writing blow me away...eh. it's just eh.
like, the premise is interesting enough. the dynamic between Vanitas and Noe is pretty cute i guess. and i like that Noe is brown and also a huge nerd. but something about it feels...off to me? or shallow? the jokes aren't really hitting. you know what? it feels like Genshin Impact to me. like, this whole thing. it has the same vibe as Genshin Impact. like it's Trying to do something but you can tell no one on this team had Any fun with it. it lacks fun. it lacks soul. that's what i'm looking for.
also i'm violently repulsed by the French.
will i continue watching? eh. probably not. however, i WILL be looking up and listening to the soundtrack in a bit.
note from future me: YES. THE COMPOSER IS YUKI KAJIURA. i love her work so much holy shit...i think this soundtrack is LEAGUES better than anything else she's ever written tbh, so...improvement is real. ALSO THE ANIMATION IS GOOD BECAUSE IT'S STUDIO BONES. GOD. NO WONDER. it's a shame art and music can't make me watch the rest of it, because, like...i would if i could. this anime has everything going for it.
Re:Zero
this is one i've heard a lot about, and i am squicked by it a little bit just because i see Ram and Rem everywhere, the poster children of all waifus everywhere. i don't like the isekai genre, but i do know this one subverts it on purpose. also, i see it come up next to Steins;Gate a lot, which i was originally apprehensive about but ended up loving, so who knows?
jesus christ, the first episode is FIFTY MINUTES? if i don't like it i'm going to like, stop watching it halfway through. i am not investing an hour in this if it's not good.
okay, so...immediately i already like this first episode more than Vanitas. i can tell this anime has a soul. i'm not sure what i'm looking for when i'm looking for "soul," but...you know? it's something you Feel. it's something you Can see, even if you can't describe it. and god, i never thought i'd miss it so much.
somehow these characters are all better AND worse than the ones in Vanitas. they're tropier, but i think that's on purpose. they're kind of annoying, but that might be setting up for a character arc later, idk. the male gaze is strong in this one. -_- but at least it's better than the disingenuous queerbaiting i sensed from watching one episode of Vanitas. (i didn't mean to compare the two, but here we are. Vanitas was painful for me KJGNDFGJKN)
ok, i'm bored now. i'm gonna stop watching halfway through like i said i would <3
will i continue watching? MAYBE, if i'm desperate. there's a greater chance of me watching this than Vanitas, that's for sure. i'm not actively interested or hooked or anything, but...yknow. it's not absolutely terrible.
okay. so. definitely going to jam to Yuki Kajiura's latest creations once the OST is released (Vanitas is still an ongoing series, so i have to wait...sigh). you MIGHT see me talk about Re:Zero again later. Vanitas is my new least favorite anime from first episode alone. and...now i have to go watch episode 18 of LWA again to cleanse my palate. see ya
Vanitas no Carte
the art style looks pretty cool, and i love me some evil magic books (and vampires? i guess? or was Shiki a fluke?). also airships??? i have to take off points for it being apparently set in France (bleh, disgusting) but just by looking at it, i want to see more.
but. let us see what the first episode has to say about this.
so the music is good. really good. holy crap. i could listen to the soundtrack from this show by itself with no problem. it almost sounds like yuki kajiura...? i need to look up the composer later. ALSO THE OPENING THEME SLAPS? the opening itself is...eh. nothing special. looks gay though.
......SQUARE ENIX?
ok. ok. anyway. the cinematography is very good. i'm not super impressed by the writing or the characters. maybe i'm just spoiled by the masterful crafting of like...my top 5 anime (which i will make a post about later, don't worry), but it's just like...yaaawn. also, steampunk isn't really my thing, so unless the characters/writing blow me away...eh. it's just eh.
like, the premise is interesting enough. the dynamic between Vanitas and Noe is pretty cute i guess. and i like that Noe is brown and also a huge nerd. but something about it feels...off to me? or shallow? the jokes aren't really hitting. you know what? it feels like Genshin Impact to me. like, this whole thing. it has the same vibe as Genshin Impact. like it's Trying to do something but you can tell no one on this team had Any fun with it. it lacks fun. it lacks soul. that's what i'm looking for.
also i'm violently repulsed by the French.
will i continue watching? eh. probably not. however, i WILL be looking up and listening to the soundtrack in a bit.
note from future me: YES. THE COMPOSER IS YUKI KAJIURA. i love her work so much holy shit...i think this soundtrack is LEAGUES better than anything else she's ever written tbh, so...improvement is real. ALSO THE ANIMATION IS GOOD BECAUSE IT'S STUDIO BONES. GOD. NO WONDER. it's a shame art and music can't make me watch the rest of it, because, like...i would if i could. this anime has everything going for it.
Re:Zero
this is one i've heard a lot about, and i am squicked by it a little bit just because i see Ram and Rem everywhere, the poster children of all waifus everywhere. i don't like the isekai genre, but i do know this one subverts it on purpose. also, i see it come up next to Steins;Gate a lot, which i was originally apprehensive about but ended up loving, so who knows?
jesus christ, the first episode is FIFTY MINUTES? if i don't like it i'm going to like, stop watching it halfway through. i am not investing an hour in this if it's not good.
okay, so...immediately i already like this first episode more than Vanitas. i can tell this anime has a soul. i'm not sure what i'm looking for when i'm looking for "soul," but...you know? it's something you Feel. it's something you Can see, even if you can't describe it. and god, i never thought i'd miss it so much.
somehow these characters are all better AND worse than the ones in Vanitas. they're tropier, but i think that's on purpose. they're kind of annoying, but that might be setting up for a character arc later, idk. the male gaze is strong in this one. -_- but at least it's better than the disingenuous queerbaiting i sensed from watching one episode of Vanitas. (i didn't mean to compare the two, but here we are. Vanitas was painful for me KJGNDFGJKN)
ok, i'm bored now. i'm gonna stop watching halfway through like i said i would <3
will i continue watching? MAYBE, if i'm desperate. there's a greater chance of me watching this than Vanitas, that's for sure. i'm not actively interested or hooked or anything, but...yknow. it's not absolutely terrible.
okay. so. definitely going to jam to Yuki Kajiura's latest creations once the OST is released (Vanitas is still an ongoing series, so i have to wait...sigh). you MIGHT see me talk about Re:Zero again later. Vanitas is my new least favorite anime from first episode alone. and...now i have to go watch episode 18 of LWA again to cleanse my palate. see ya
