Shinsei Galverse

This Shinsei Galverse OVA was really fun to watch, and left me curious for more. Before watching the anime I didn't really know what expectations to have, as this is artist Ayaka Ohira's first big project as a director and there was very few reference material of the Shinsei Galverse artwork in motion, aside from the Tove Lo - I Like U music video, and the trailer itself. However, the recent revealing of the high-profile voice actor cast and the behind the scenes footage on their YouTube channel really got me excited to watch this. Watching Shinsei Galverse, the art didn't disappoint: the characters look crispand vibrant, with some beautiful background shots in there as well. Obviously the anime was made to please 90's anime fans, but it does so while looking modern at the same time. The action scenes were great too, with the laser guns, swords and gadgets all looking and sounding crisp and impactful. Overall I really like the positive yet serious tone of the Galverse universe, which makes it easy to watch but at the same time handles interesting, meaningful topics. Because the episode was quite short we didn't get to see a whole lot of individual character progression, but D.D stood out to me as the most interesting one. She looks badass, and Ai Fairouz did a great job voicing her. I would love to see more of her story. Without spoiling too much, the final scene adds an interesting extra layer that really left me wanting more!

Shinsei Galverse is a turbo-charged blast of 90s nostalgia that somehow feels both lovingly familiar and radically new. It aspires to do a lot in one episode, maybe a bit too much, but you're left with a piece that owns a bold visual identity, an intriguing world, and a cast of gals you immediately want to spend more time with. The visuals are extremely opinionated, leaning hard into retro anime aesthetics-bold lines, saturated colors, a near-perfect mix of shoujo flair and shonen energy-and nails the tone with confidence. You can see the team was opting for this to be a self-contained pilot, but the final scene alsoleaves the door open to something much bigger, teasing a larger galactic mythology that could easily support a full series. The voice cast is kind of insane for an indie project-like, how did they even pull this off? You've got legends in the booth: the voices behind Sailor Moon, Pikachu, Solid Snake, and Misato, all showing up for a twenty-minute pilot. Just hearing that lineup in one place is reason enough to watch. If you're fluent in Japanese, the layers of gyaru slang are an extra treat, but even with subtitles, the energy and attitude shine through. There's an authenticity to the whole thing-this isn't some slick corporate nostalgia bait; it's clearly a love letter made by gyaru who get it. Ultimately, what really set Galverse apart for me is the how and who behind it. This wasn't churned out by a studio giant. It was built by a self-funded indie team over 3 years. That it's free to watch on YouTube is wild-no paywall, just pure galactic gals beamed straight into your brain. The potential is massive. Here's hoping this pilot is just the beginning.

Before I begin my review - yes, this anime was initially crowdfunded with NFTs. The anime itself never mentions NFTs, crypto, or blockchain. If an association with NFTs is a dealbreaker for you, please don't watch it. The modern trend of hatewatching needs to die already. This is pretty clearly a proof-of-concept/pilot, so my review is from the standpoint of this not being a finalized, fully polished work. For what it is though, I'm impressed. By far the best part of the Galverse is the art - it's simply gorgeous. It has a distinctly late 90's/Y2K aesthetic that I personally love. The art style, while being heavilyreminiscent of late 90's anime, is also distinctive in its own way - it's impossible to mistake it for anything else, and is a refreshing change from an industry that leans toward stylistic homogenization based on current trends. The backgrounds are pure eye candy. Considering how small of a team was working on this, I was initially concerned about how the quality of the animation would turn out, but it's perfectly fine - not the greatest of all time, but certainly more than passable. I've seen other NFT-based animation before, and was left... very underwhelmed, to put it mildly. That's not the case here, thankfully. I'm actually very impressed that this looks as good as it does, considering a lot of the shady history with NFT projects. The voice acting is excellent. I have no idea what black magic they pulled to get an all-star cast on this. The story is... well, there's just way too much introduced in a 22-minute runtime. There's not enough time to really flesh out the characters, but what we do get is fine for an introduction into the ideas Galverse is trying to convey, which is all I can really ask of a pilot. Unfortunately, the short runtime dampens the impact of moments that are supposed to be deeply emotional. There is a sacrifice that is heroic and clearly meant to be moving, but we as an audience barely got to know the character in question. But the story sets up everything it needs to for a pilot - we know what the Galverse is, why it exists, we're introduced to the bad guys, we have a conflict brewing, and we get some tantalizing mysteries. The story did successfully leave me curious and wanting more. What exactly happened to DD, and what is UVO's connection to her? What's the deal with Ring's comrades at the end? Who is the mysterious woman at the end? I want answers, dangit! All in all, it's not perfect, but I had a good time and I definitely want to see more.

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