Tengoku Daimakyou

Quote:

---

Within the safety of the walls, youths are raised in a nursery-style setting by robots. While life there may appear stale on the surface, the children are full of potential and curiosity. In many ways it is like a slice of heaven. The outside world is a hell-scape. It is almost entirely void of anything mechanical and is now inhabited by bizarre, yet powerful super-natural beings.

Maru, with the aid of Kiruko, is out there crisscrossing what was once Tokyo for heaven. But after searching for so long, maybe heaven is more of an untenable dream than a potential reality.

---

----------------------
----------------------

Episode 1:

Yeah, that's an anime deserving of a thread. Don't need to see more to know that this is one of THE anime of the season. Good first episode, some mystery, some action, intriguing characters. The animation looks like its CG, but with very well done shading, so it doesn't look bad at all.

Looking forward to more.

1-3

Off to a really good start. Amazing animation mixes with the... sometimes vintage character designs (I forgot good ol' anime buck-teeth) and some good mystery makes exploring this outside world a pleasure. No hand holding lets the audience naturally absorb the world building while our two MCs explore on their own nebulous journeys. The slow peeling back of the intrigue is measured just right with a satisfying ratio of questions and answers each episode.

The story of the kids in the protection zone is backseated mostly so far, but I just hope it isn't revealed that these kids are what become the 'man-eaters'... its been done to death and I'd like a more fresh twist down the line. They are suitably 'off', and ominous. I like it.

This feels like anime from 25 years ago with modern production values. Don't sleep on this!

Episode 4:

I gotta say this anime keeps getting worse for me. Did we really need 4 episodes to tell us that there's something off with the orphanage? It was clear from episode 1. The main issue here is that the anime treats us as if we don't know there's something wrong, when really it just withholds information from us. So many unexplained things that aren't mysterious, but just need someone tell us what's going on. Why can that one girl climb walls? Why do they start kissing? Why are there adults monitoring all that? And what's the timeline and location of Kiru and Maru? it's not exciting, it's just that we're forced to wait for crucial information and that's frustrating, especially when four episodes in the episode uses the "something is off here" as a big cliffhanger - duh, we know.

I also must admit that this whole "children growing up in a fake world not knowing shit" is kinda old after having played Xenoblade Chronicles 3. And I'm infinitely more hyped for Xenoblade 3's story-DLC that releases next week.

episode 6:

this anime is weird, and in a not so good way. It feels like the twist is gonna be some woke "gotcha!" moment with all the gender shenanigans that's going on.

Tbh I was totally out of this episode from the beginning when she fired two shots at the column instead of directly shooting at the bear once. Why? :/

This show is really doing its own thing, and I'm diggin' it.

More adventure, a little awkward horny, and some more strangeness in the facility that we're waiting to tie into the main duo's story. I'm in no hurry to the answers at this point, but I remain hungry for them.

I also like how laid back everyone is (and has been) about the fall of civilization. No hard feelings about trying to trap and rob us! You can't stay depressed about your dead gang boss forever!

episode 8:

This show is fundamentally flawed in how it tries to create a certain atmosphere. This episode itself had 2-3 truly emotional, serious scenes. But then it also feels way too goofy. The scene where the white robes killed the first guy and then their reaction ... what was that? Felt like comedy. And the 2 heroes also are way too carefree. This is a post-apocalyptic world with monsters that only a few chosen people can kill, everyone else will be eaten. I wish the atmosphere was more serious more of the time.

Still, overall good episode.

episode 10:

Almost a good episode. But the end AGAIN showed the tonal incompetence of this show: We see 2 of the guys come running, apparently having found their friend's murderedd corpse. But the WAY they react looks and sounds like it's supposed to be a gag/comedy scene.

I cannot be the only one who notices that. The way serious scenes and people reacting to them are depicted in this anime are extremely off and unnatural. A bummer.

episode 11:

The problem persists: Everything is way too vague. Instead of answering some questions, it only gets worse. So the director is an evil cunt who takes over younger bodies, ok. But who are the monsters? What about the robots? What about the sunglasses kid and the sharp tools that attack someone? What about the bunny ears of the other girl? Why doesn't the assistant warn the female colleague who he clearly likes about the director taking her over? Why would technicians accept "to build heaven" as an answer for what they're building a giant machine for?

And then there's still the tonal dissonance, although the artstyle itself is in the way of the mood the show is trying to create.

I hope this doesn't get another season, I want to be over with it.

Just caught up with the last 4 episodes.

People's reaction to death isn't inappropriate, because most of these communities are strangers living together from some communal protection. Mostly transient. In ep 10, those other 'breeding pigs' probably knew that he had been the one to call the alarm and maybe figured he deserved the revenge (or at least wouldn't oppose it) it if blonde guy could remember it. Yes, you can be sad if someone dies, but what can you do about it? When that sinks in from a bunch of people dying, you can begin to skip the regret/anger/bitterness, and move straight to acceptance. In that whole arc, I'm more confused about how the kid began freezing when they were at the school and nowhere near, or if he somehow got the same power as the spider?

I like the vagueness of the overall story; teasing a story while giving crumbs is a delicate art. The intrigue, while simple, is working well and I'm genuinely interested for whatever they've got in store. I just hope it isn't metaphysical or overly sentimental, as original anime tend to be in their climax. Aside from the obvious implication that these kids become the Hiruko (even calling them by that name), the powers seem new (but not surprising?) to the kids. The most interesting thing now is the catalyst for them to transform.

I also hope they can wrap this up in a couple more episodes, or do the whole story in a 2 cour, because I don't want to have to remember what all has happened a year or two from now with another season.

episode 12:

THe most random rape scene, lol. Sorry, but this is sooo tonally off that the gravity of it falls entirely flat on me. Why tf did they present it in such a comedic way earlier when the wheelchair director suddenly stood up and started running by herself? It was supposed to be a serious scene :/

Also, I don't believe how helpless Haruki suddenly became. How did Robin even handcuffs on her?

Oh well.

Haruki was in love with Robin. He has always liked guys (only or too, who knows) based on his feelings, longing, and actions towards Robin. Suddenly seeing how much of a creep and manipulator Robin is shocked and confused him, leading to the apparent lack of resistance. Even if Haruki did resist after the true colors came out, the size of Robin and their position would've made it very hard to escape or defeat Robin, not that was even a thing in Haruki's mind because of the shock.

Robin needed to be truly evil in order for Haruki to have the chance to like Fatal Diver. If he had died, Haruki would still mourn and miss him. If he is a good guy, Haruki would focus on Robin and ignore Fatal Diver. If he is a scumbag, Haruki can move on and get with Fatal Diver.

episode 13 - final:

I got whiplash from the non-reaction to her having been raped. WTF

Glad it's over, but i guess there'll be another season?

People cope in different ways, and she could have well been in in shock, still. She was struggling with who she even is, philosophically speaking, by merging body, memories, personalities, data, and assumption.

Interesting that Robin was still doing some sort of research on the monsters (and is still at large), and the incongruity of the timelines are all but certain now when the kids escaped. This has been a perfectly watchable show so far, so I hope they can keep things making sense as the story progresses. Looks like the big reveals will lie with the older photo guy, wherever he is (hope he's not dead).

Is this the end of the season, or is it still going another cour?