The Fall anime schedule is in full swing now with some truly excellent new shows but in this segment we look back at some of the top anime series released this past Summer, giving our thoughts as we review them. As always with our reviews we look and consider the most important factors that make up a good anime in our eyes, the animation, the story and characters, before giving our final thoughts. After we’ve looked at all these factors and after our final thoughts we score the anime based on a 5 star rating system.
This time we look at the Netflix Original Japan Sinks 2020, the series is based off of a Japanese Novel originally published in 1973 (1976 for the English translation) the original novel was written by Sakyo Komastu. The book has had two movies based on it, one released in 1973 and the other in 2004, from 1974-1975 the book had a Live action TV adaption and most recently it received its own Netflix original Anime. The anime was produced by Science Saru animation studio and the story was adapted by Toshio Yoshitaka and Naoya Wada designed the characters,
Story
The Story was adapted and updated by Toshio Yoshitaka with the help of Sakyo Komastu. It centres around the Mutou siblings, Ayumu and her younger brother Gou. Ayumu is a middle school student and track and field athlete, the start of story sees her training at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village. Gou is an elementary school student and video game enthusiast, he loves tech and spends a lot of time on the internet. A giant Volcano eruption threatens to sink all of Japan, now the two siblings, along with their family and other survivors they meet along the way, must find their way off of the sinking Japan and to safety.
I really enjoyed the story, I feel the it was the best part of this series, it sets the tone early for a disaster film definitely letting you know that no character is safe. The script is really well thought out as well as with the series making some poignant real life, social and economical issues regarding the Japanese way of life.
Animation
The animation is almost a tale of two stories because the background and scenery are absolutely stunning at times. However the character design and animation felt a little uninspired very basic and some times expressionless with regards to facial animation. I will argue it’s case here though as I feel this was an optional choice to make the characters look like normal everyday people rather than typical over the top features. Although this doesn’t excuse the expressionless facial features.
Characters
I’m not going sit here and say I loved the female protagonist Ayumu, in fact at times her character is out right annoying, however the directors and writers did an excellent job of conveying her growth as a character who grows stronger each episode. The little brother Gou on the other hand is absolute brilliant dude from the start and once again the growth of the character across the series is evident. On top of these two characters were a whole host of excellent characters who just add so much more depth to really establish a real world feel.
Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this series as it’s really well thought out and written, Ayuma did frustrate me slightly as a protagonist but her little brother makes up for that. The animation although not my favourite for its some what boring designs but I did feel it worked in making the characters feel much more real, so I’m a little torn on how it affects the final score. Overall this is a great disaster action series that will have you on the edge of your seat, as well as shocking you with a couple of twists you won’t see coming.
3.75 stars out of 5
As always I hope you enjoy the anime and don’t forget to check out our next summer anime review as well as our brand new Twist or Stick Reviews.
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