Island

Ever wondered what would be like to wake up and have no memories about yourself? Island takes this traditional trope but instead of translating it into a survival tale, it turns it into a story about rediscovery. It’s a series based on a visual novel but I confess to say that it’s very questionable in terms of presentation. Looking at the show made me wonder how such a simple premise descended into an abomination. The simple premise of Island honestly made me curious about the show at first. Taking place on this island known as “Urashima”, it gives the impression of a setting of isolation. It’saway from cities, civilizations, and the social problems that we have to deal in our everyday lives. In fact, the first few episodes really makes it clear that the islanders there live in a carefree way. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that there’s more than meets the eye about the story’s mystery. A big part of the show is trying to sell its suspenseful plot by connecting the past with the present. Before I actually get into the juicy part of the show, it’s noticeable that Island underwent some changes before the actual premiere. From my understanding, there was dispute over the script so what we see on TV may not be what was originally planned. I have not played the visual novel (even though it’s available now in both Japanese and English) so I came into the show as a fresh newbie. Still, a show like this felt more like a niche designed to target the specific audience. In this case, it’s aimed at people who enjoys the feeling of a dramatic adventure. And to be honest, that’s a tough pill to swallow. The first few episodes flirted with relationships between the main cast. Meanwhile, the story suffers pacing issues from the very start as each episode constantly bounces between cheesy comedy and dramatic sequences. Then, there’s the mystery that tries to carry the plot. What we get instead is more of a wish-fulfillment love story that doesn’t know what it’s trying to do. There’s a lot of pitfalls that hardly puts emphasis on the story. This is evidenced with the sex jokes, ineffective writing, and in general, lack of care in the characterization. Speaking of characters, Setsuna Sanzenkai is what I like to describe as a blank piece of paper. You try to write down facts about him and there’s really nothing. That’s because the guy has a mysterious past but in reality, his personality is just as empty. Through his interactions with the main cast, he doesn’t stand out any more than they do. It doesn't help that his dialogues sounds robotic and often lacks enthuaism. The main cast consists of three girls – Rinne, Karen, and Sara. Each of them seems to have some sort of connection with Setsuna as evidenced through various flashbacks. The show also dedicates a decent amount of screen time by using montages to enhance their relationships. Unfortunately, it fails to cook up any meaningful relationship between Setsuna and these girls. There’s too much generalization on the girls’ personalities and much less on their development. Even Rinne, the girl that Setsuna spends the most time with suffers from this. Sure, there is background storytelling that makes it clear he and Rinne knows more about each other than meets the eye. However, it’s the type of relationship that adheres to wish-fulfillment. These characters are not larger than life and in fact, you can find them in just about any eroge visual novel. It’s a shame really since they look charming on the surface. So is there anything worth watching about the show? To be honest, it’s really comes down to the decision on what you’ll find attractive or not. The comedy is blatantly inauthentic with poor timing between the characters’ dialogues. While the show had potential for its mystery elements, it really doesn’t get the ride going until quite later on. In other words, this anime will test your patience. I’ve honestly struggled to stay awake when watching Island and this show felt like it would be better if you played the game. Perhaps there’s some redeeming quality about the show when it comes to the technical quality. I have to admit, Island does look well designed in terms of its setting. It’s able to convince me of the cultural differences between itself and the outside world. The idea of isolationism also looks credible with the relaxing atmosphere and being away from urban cities. Characters all look like they live the carefree life with their simple clothing and moderate technology. There’s also quite an abundance of fanservice that may sometimes feel uncomfortable. Because let’s face it, some of the girls in the show looks like kids. You be the judge but it’s hard to deny their physical appearances. On the other hand, Front Wing was able to create this series with a very relaxing and atmospheric music. While the montage songs can sound a bit generic, they are also appealing by itself if you just listen to them. Unfortunately, the show definitely takes a step back when it comes to voice acting. I already mentioned Setsuna but his voice really sounds like a cog in a machine when he opens his mouth. The female characters’ voices doesn’t sound any better and often too high pitched to take to heart. I’m glad this show is only 1 cour because any more than that would feel like a chore. To be able to attract an audience towards this show takes more than just a creative setting. The premise had some potential but it’s weathered down by its ineffective plot and one dimensional characters. Perhaps if I watch this without thinking too much, it would’ve been a better experience. The fact is, Island is just another example of a poor story with a budget that it doesn’t deserve.

The Summer 2018 season is wrapping up slowly and it's that time again. Today, I will be reviewing Island, an anime with time travel, romance and lolis! Story (1/10) Island had a really terrible story. The writing immediately suffers from absurd pacing where it either goes too slow with nothing happening at all, or goes too fast with major plot twists and elements failing to work due to being rushed to hell.And whatever content that was given, was super boring and for a guy that loves SciFi shows a lot, this did not interest me one bit. It felt like they were writing this anime but it had no soul to it, since shit just occured with no real heart put into it. Overall, a very boring, lackluster and terribly paced story that had to be one of the most boring SciFi stories I have ever witnessed. Characters (1/10) Setsuna was not the worst character ever. He ain't annoying nor a dick. He was just a guy. Didn't feel anything for him but he isn't bad. And the girls also feel very generic and the relationships between Setsuna and all the girls lack a lot of depth to it, with poor writing to blame. Rinne looks cute but was nowhere engaging for me as a character and Karen & Sara were just there too. Art & Animation (7/10) feel. did not make this look as good as Hinamatsuri last season, but the art looks very good with some nice character designs. Sound (6/10) The OP and ED songs weren't that great but the OST was really nice and fitting for this show, especially its calm songs. However, the voice acting was not good for me. Rinne and Karen's voices felt off for me as they sound too striking for their characters. Enjoyment (1/10) Yawn. Island was a massive letdown and a poorly written show from the get go. One of the weakest shows of this season and year for sure. Score 1/10

This anime is a serious problem onto itself: promising us with the light-hearted romance turned dark-esque story with the time travel mechanics, but converting about 30 to 50 hours of play into a 12 episode series (which is honestly a no-go for VN fans and anime-onlys who has watched numerous VNs like myself). With it, this is a in-depth look on the controversial series called Island, and this review will be long as molasses (don't worry there's a TL;DR summary): The VN was created by Frontwing, who has done the Grisaia series, with 8-bit's adaptation in 2014 raking in massive success. This is the 2nd attempt thatthe company has done this (for their 15th anniversary) to promote the Eng Sub game by using the anime adaptation from studio Feel. Unfortunately, people who have played the Japanese version saw emerging red-flags from the get-go, with similar resonance and dissuasive implications with anime-onlys that this is a bad-ass poor adaptation of the game. The most obvious would be that its gameplay is based on narratives and dialogues, but somehow even the anime adaptation could screw that. So yeah, a game that the company advertises Island as a "momentary and eternal fairy tale"? There are few scenes here and there, but I don't really think so. So, going through the story background (and indeed from the game itself): The "Island" of Urashima, one that has been heavily under suspicion on the tales of the 3 main girls (Rinne, Karen, Sara) and their family traditions in the span of 5 years. Oppressed under misfortune and cut from the mainland in order not to spread the curse around, in comes a guy who is aptly named Setsuna Sanzenkai. Formerly a nameless guy who comes from the future to kill and save someone, that is washed up ashore naked and questioned about his motives, but everything else to him is satisfactory. His main mission is to not let the recurring memories happen, and save everyone from the misery of the curse by doing some time-traveling on his way. From there, criticism level 1: The story exists on 3 platforms (SPOILER WARNING): The initial start but quickly dull and boring "Stage" (Ep 1-7); The seriously rushed "Recursion" (Ep 8-10); and the quickly made "to feel like the ending" "Jump" (Ep 11 and 12). Aside from information that was cut out from the VN, don't bother to use the 3-episode rule because the story gets stranger every proceeding episode. The cheaply-made time-travel mechanism just made the whole series look like utter crap with confusion on the progression and beyond...and that's not all. An example would be when the time-traveling scenes came, the timeline was confusing. Only those who are able to discern the events within that period, were able to understand and enjoy/hate the predictability of the series going forward. The characters...all are strikingly similar (at least the girls), so the point that looking at them reminded me of shows like Kodomo no Jikan: An adult-looking guy wanting to get dirty with the children pedophile lolis. And don't you dare try to sneak away by the thought that the characters have something unique to them, because they don't. They solely exist to fulfill the narratives and plot points from the game, and seemingly similar to the anime adaptation. Think about it: Karen wants to leave Urashima to find out what really happened to her biological mom; Sara is like a psychologist with all the charts, diagrams and whatnot, and questioning of past and future events; Rinne has Soot Blight Syndrome (cannot stand under sunlight, it's a premontioned curse) and is like an owl, only active at night, and searching for the TRUE Setsuna, the one who has been with her before "his" disappearance 5 years ago; Setsuna is there for the 3 girls to fill in the plot "holes" for them and get theirs and Urashima's problems solved, while working as a servant for Rinne. So...criticism level 2: None of the characters, yet alone the MC guy or loli girls are engaging nor interesting to follow. All of them are "walking" cliches. Their dialogue just made it seem like there's a narrative leading to plot points located around the strange Island, and the "going about everyday issues" thing don't really click all that well, accounting for the many issues that made this series much less enjoyable to begin with. You want some romance? It's minimalistic at best. Typical VNs will have sorta-based harems, but this one made the troupe seem far too conventional, like it is the last thing the producers want the characters to end up with. One issue I would like to address (if that ever calms your displeasing qualms about the show): The VAs however...through they remain the same as is with the game, Sara's in-game VA Rie Murakawa has been changed to Hibiku Yamamura for the anime due to disputes between her parent agency against the production committee. The full bio's on ANN if you want to check it out (because it seems like a big issue to fans of the VN). The criticism though: All of them felt very muted and out of character, as much as they reprised their characters from the game, the exact feeling is barely fleshed out in the anime, and that is literally quite sad. Now, let's get on with the good stuff: The art and animation by studio Feel is bright, gorgeous and beautiful to look at, and no, I'm not saying that Feel is a studio that you can count on for VN adaptations. Just take a look at Yosuga no Sora in 2010 and you can see why (same type of adaptation but much enjoyable to watch). Such stuff like the scenes of reflecting water upon the beach and the soft touché background made this watchable to a degree, your mileage may vary. But for Island, striking art and good animation just doesn't do justice to warrant a series that's worth watching. With that said, I applaud the producers for good effort done to get the anime as close to the VN source as possible. Easily the best part about Island, is undoubtedly the music, or the OST rather, and it's rare that we get a double-take of both the OP and ED for a 1-cour show. Since the events of Island happen within different timelines, it's considerable that the OST has to be confined to the overall presentation, and what we're given makes it for one of the best OSTs this season has to offer: the voice talent of Yukari Tamura (from Last Song) for the OPs and Asaka's amazing rhythmic-feeling EDs. Honestly, I would be much better just listening to the OST alone than watching this show (and you should, too). In the end, the million-dollar question is: Should you watch Island? Granted, most people's criticisms with this show are far more or less than what I can cover here, and that's to an insane degree. If you like the Kodomo no Jikan feels of "big" guy and loli sex-induced fanservice, I'm sorry but you're not gonna find it here. If you want the TL;DR though: again, it's a poor adaptation of the VN with a whole lot of nothing. I was certainly looking forward to watch this, but ended up burning myself at the 3-episode rule and giving this another shot (after prelim review)...and yeap, I don't wanna come back again. This is just another shot at making VN adaptations the cream of the crap ton of anime, and doesn't bode well either. The more deep the progress, the more insane those let-it-be ideas come and gradually, all sense is lost altogether. Skip this and just proceed onto better VNs like Clannad and the such. But yeah, I'd much rather watch sex shows like Yosuga no Sora more.

This anime, I daresay, is the BEST ANIME EVER. If you're reading this review, you have been most likely guided by fate. After all, this gem is hidden in the vast sea of hidden gems, as if you're trying to find a certain hydrogen atom in the vast universe. Sometimes, there are anime that people recommend to me. They were nice, I enjoyed them, and I gave them the usual 10. There are also anime that I randomly come upon which I enjoy more than those recommended to me. Island is one of those anime, but the feeling it left me is more than just enjoyment—more thanjust what any word can describe. Thrill? Pleasure? Entertainment? Amusement? I can't really say. Like I said before, it's the best anime ever. A score as low as a 10 will not suffice. Before I continue, this review will not include spoilers, but some plot points will be inferred based on how I'm going to describe them. Rest easy, though—I'm doing this to make anyone reading this very, very interested, sharing my ideas and feelings, supporting my statement above. The story begins with a man who washed ashore Urashima, a habited island far from the mainland. He doesn't remember anything, not even his name, aside from his claims that he is a time traveler from the future who has a mission to save the world and a certain girl from harm. Nightfall comes and he meets Rinne Ohara, a girl singing a tune familiar to him, making him remember a specific name, which is Setsuna. Believing that to be his name, he adopts it. Rinne, however, knows another "Setsuna." Hoping the man she just met is that same Setsuna in her memories, she took him home as a servant. Setsuna, in the meantime, while trying to regain his memories, soon discovers the mysterious past and legends the island of Urashima has, and soon enough, it begins to delve into something more complicated as time goes by. The story is very, very interesting. What happens in the early episodes is nothing like how the story progresses over time, and this story is the foremost reason why I say that this anime is the utter best. The execution at first is poor, and the pacing is very slow. However, it's not really stretched because Island does have a very magnificent development. If one were to analyze how the story goes, the "slow pace" is necessary, especially that when talking about plots where the main character's memories are gone, something like remembering it all afterwards is not something you rush into. This kind of development required the long episodes of preparation as to signify the better things that this anime has to offer. Do you plan to drop it on episode 8? Sure, it may seem that the plot should have been finally developed at that stage, but for this anime, it is still too early. Try to think of it as a lengthy exposition—you're still nowhere near the climax, and dropping it at that stage makes you miss something you should have invested more time for. I could argue that I could have been bored while watching it, but in total honesty, I sacrificed sleep just to watch it. I don't need sleep, I need answers! When is Setsuna going to remember everything? Is Setsuna the same Setsuna who Rinne knows? What happens if he's going to remember it all? It was a rollercoaster of emotions throughout and it helped me see to it that I finish the anime. I admit that it was kind of a loli bait, but the story is not a mere CGDCT (cute girl doing cute things) or a slice of life. Like what I have been saying earlier, it has a plot—one of the best ones I have ever seen in my entire life. Considering this was directed by Keiichirou Kawaguchi who also directed Mayo Chiki, I expected some sort of ecchi scenes, but even if there was none, I am fully impressed. The characters' personalities were as well-written as the story as well. Each of the four main characters—Rinne, Setsuna, Sara, and Karen—had their own character developments which developed quite nicely. For example, Setsuna is a kind man and continues to be kind as time passes. However, this doesn't mean that he's a flat character. What he goes through as the anime goes on is just one of the proofs that he is more than just a man with amnesia. Each of the characters have their own backgrounds that, while I admit is not that unique, blends in with the story as a whole. Think of it as ingredients for a well-cooked cuisine. The ingredients can be used on another serving, but it doesn't mean that the food will be equally delicious as the previous one—even if they share the exact same amount. Not because Setsuna is amnesiac means that he's the same as other anime amnesiacs. Karen may be your usual child with parental issues, but it doesn't mean that she's the same as other children with the exact same issues as well. That's how Island's characters blend so well together. Once again, I admit that I was baited by the cute girls in the illustrations. That's why I say that the art is good. Not only that—the sceneries one can see on the lush and tropical island of Urashima gives off that rural aura that makes you want to take a vacation there or whatnot. The character designs are really good as well, and I must note that the studio that adapted this was very faithful to the visual novel design. Just look at Garandou Sara's large hair that resembles a tumbleweed. Is it ridiculous? Yes! But it's also has its charms that I actually loved it so much. Setsuna's character design reminds me of Kamijou Touma from Toaru Majutsu no Index, and with their similarity in personality, I don't mind it. Rinne kind of looks like a child version of Enterprise from Azur Lane and remembering Enty's famous line "OWARI DA!" hits too hard once the plot kicks in. Karen is Karen. She's also cute. That's all there is to it. The musical themes were quite splendid as well. The opening themes and ending themes were so melodic and pleasing to the ear that I have a folder dedicated to them, and I listen to all of them on loop while doing something, because I always want to sing alongside those themes. The songs really symbolize where the plot is going. If you can understand Japanese, the better you'll understand that the songs are very meaningful and it's not just there for show. For example, the opening theme entitled "Eien no Hitotsu" and its chorus that goes in English as: "As if you're hugging me, under the summer's light, (Natsu no hikari dakishimeru you ni) Wherever you may be, I want you to look for me. (Doko ni itemo, watashi dake wo mitsukete) I don't want to let go both of our hearts so true, (Hanaretakunai futatsu no kokoro ni) Anytime this truth will always be the one that's true and that will never fade!" (Itsumade mo shinjitsu wa sou yo hitotsu dakara) This is just my independent translation and might not be accurate because I worded it so anyone can sing it word for word, but the essence of the song is still there. It's very amazing how this song resonated the anime as a whole and still preserves the feelings one can feel about it. The enjoyment factors I felt from this anime is not just mere enjoyment. Like how I worded my previous paragraphs, no word can describe how I felt. I am not just happy nor sad about the development, and I am really far from disappointment. I found it really enjoyable, but I can't stop crying as to how amazingly executed the scenes were. Of course, I didn't really cry like a baby, but there is something you call "post-anime depression," where I felt like any other anime became subpar as soon as I finished it. I even went as far as scoring all my anime as 9 in MAL afterwards due to how good the anime really is. But then I realized, rating 9 on anything is not me. However, even if all anime in my list is a 10, the 10 I gave Island as a score really just doesn't suit it, considering how excellent it is. I have felt post-anime depression before, such as from Shinchou Yuusha and Da Capo, but this one takes the cake. I could write an entire term paper about the amazing characteristics of this anime, and if this goes on, I feel like I'm going to create a paradox, and that's just scratching the surface of this great and wonderful masterpiece. After this anime, I don't think anything will be as satisfactory as an anime as this one. I can continue giving 10s, but my most special 10 is for this anime, and by watching it you can understand why. Its charm is not something one could fully experience when watching episodically, but by binging it in one go. If you ever find this review, please consider this as my recommendation on how to watch it. Watch it in one go—do not let anything distract you. Finish it even if you think it's boring. After all, time will tell all secrets. Oh yes, I haven't played the visual novel. I'm quite scared, to be perfectly honest.

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