This review may contain spoilers
Burn society down
So when I started this show, I didn't have really high expectations. In the end I don't hate my time with the show, but there's many glaring things that I had issues with.
After the ending was fully revealed and the culprit unmasked, I realized all the small things that made the entire reveal make sense. For that I applaud the director. The first initial episodes also had a good flow of suspense. It had all the makings of a good story.
However where I had my issue was in hindsight the overall plot was kinda dumb because of the ending. When it is revealed that Shinji was the actual culprit, it makes the whole campaign with Kiichi and Anzu against Makiko look like a dumb waste of time. Then there's the amount of back peddling with the amount that the show keeps resetting the stakes to day one where it looks like Makiko is getting away with it again. It gets frustrating how many times the show was like "IT WAS A LIE! THIS IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPENNED! " I mean I don't think many would even think it was Shinji the whole time. But the time the reveal happened I was dumbfounded with how silly the plot had gotten. It felt like it was just trying to one up every surprise.
Character wise, many of the endings were fine. I just don't like the overall feel of the endings however. The relationship thing with Anzu and Kiichi felt really kind of silly and abrupt. The ending with him angst demanding Kiichi felt like they were passing a dog around. Thematically Anzu took away almost everything from Makiko but like Makiko kinda did it to herself. Makiko and Anzu carried heavily for this show. I think overall Makiko had the best characterization due to her seething line delivery and facial expressions. Everyone else just felt sorta one dimensional.
The dad was a completely useless character. He could of been not in the show and I don't think it would of overall affected the plot that much as he barely got any affects from the story. His betrayal also barely affected the larger overall story as well I thought. They were just there to set up more swerve. His story never got resolved with any of his original family or his new one. We are just to assume he is living alone now. It really irked me how they could of really made his character matter when it comes to the overall relationships but decided not to. Especially considering how he was mentioned a few times about abandoning Yuzu and Anzu.
Yuzu had a good arc from being protected to proactive. It mirrored Kiichi somewhat. Shinji had good intentions but made poor choices based on impulse and burdens.Satsuki was just over there having magical memory changes all over the place. She felt like the most stereotypical drama character. I never really felt that strong connection between the daughters and her. Shout outs to Nanami for her two face 180.
The music was nothing to really write about. By the end I was actually so sick of the piano sad theme. It was really out of place in the story's atmosphere. It broke the tension and almost became comical. Especially with the reuse of the Damn stargazing scene. At that point it was like a comedy sketch. Ending song was also kinda lacking.
The cinematography was just fine for what it was. There were some good blocking and framing for some of the pivotal scenes but either then that nothing really stood out. I think the only good scene I can think of is when Kiichi and Anzu have their confrontation in the hallway and the light filters in from the setting sun. There was also good lighting for the scene where Makiko is speaking to the police and the light changes on her face showing her shifting lies.
I think this could of been much better with a few tweaks here and there to the story and pacing overall. Still watchable I guess.
After the ending was fully revealed and the culprit unmasked, I realized all the small things that made the entire reveal make sense. For that I applaud the director. The first initial episodes also had a good flow of suspense. It had all the makings of a good story.
However where I had my issue was in hindsight the overall plot was kinda dumb because of the ending. When it is revealed that Shinji was the actual culprit, it makes the whole campaign with Kiichi and Anzu against Makiko look like a dumb waste of time. Then there's the amount of back peddling with the amount that the show keeps resetting the stakes to day one where it looks like Makiko is getting away with it again. It gets frustrating how many times the show was like "IT WAS A LIE! THIS IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPENNED! " I mean I don't think many would even think it was Shinji the whole time. But the time the reveal happened I was dumbfounded with how silly the plot had gotten. It felt like it was just trying to one up every surprise.
Character wise, many of the endings were fine. I just don't like the overall feel of the endings however. The relationship thing with Anzu and Kiichi felt really kind of silly and abrupt. The ending with him angst demanding Kiichi felt like they were passing a dog around. Thematically Anzu took away almost everything from Makiko but like Makiko kinda did it to herself. Makiko and Anzu carried heavily for this show. I think overall Makiko had the best characterization due to her seething line delivery and facial expressions. Everyone else just felt sorta one dimensional.
The dad was a completely useless character. He could of been not in the show and I don't think it would of overall affected the plot that much as he barely got any affects from the story. His betrayal also barely affected the larger overall story as well I thought. They were just there to set up more swerve. His story never got resolved with any of his original family or his new one. We are just to assume he is living alone now. It really irked me how they could of really made his character matter when it comes to the overall relationships but decided not to. Especially considering how he was mentioned a few times about abandoning Yuzu and Anzu.
Yuzu had a good arc from being protected to proactive. It mirrored Kiichi somewhat. Shinji had good intentions but made poor choices based on impulse and burdens.Satsuki was just over there having magical memory changes all over the place. She felt like the most stereotypical drama character. I never really felt that strong connection between the daughters and her. Shout outs to Nanami for her two face 180.
The music was nothing to really write about. By the end I was actually so sick of the piano sad theme. It was really out of place in the story's atmosphere. It broke the tension and almost became comical. Especially with the reuse of the Damn stargazing scene. At that point it was like a comedy sketch. Ending song was also kinda lacking.
The cinematography was just fine for what it was. There were some good blocking and framing for some of the pivotal scenes but either then that nothing really stood out. I think the only good scene I can think of is when Kiichi and Anzu have their confrontation in the hallway and the light filters in from the setting sun. There was also good lighting for the scene where Makiko is speaking to the police and the light changes on her face showing her shifting lies.
I think this could of been much better with a few tweaks here and there to the story and pacing overall. Still watchable I guess.
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