CALIGULA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL DramaCaligula EPISODE: Marie Mizuguchi ~Kanojo no Mita Sekai~

REVIEWS

• 

  MinTsubasa

  65/100
  Never dying plot idea provides twist and thoughts but never dying bad execution also exists as major problem.

  Caligula has receive a lot of critics from anime fans about their pacing and character development and all kinds of stuff. Sure it is not the worst anime to air in Spring 2018, it isn't near decent as far as I know.

  The plot idea of trapping inside digital world had started long before Sword Art Online and whatever comes after that. However such idea still exist, mainly because of the psychological effect it creates upon the trapped characters and also the audience. We, as the audience who are psychological horror are interested to find out why are the characters being trapped in a digital world and how do they come out from it or will they? And that's why people are giving Caligula a chance. However, there are also people who fear it will disappoint them because the anime is adapted from a game and most of them do not end up well.

  Personally, I find myself getting bored about the anime, I had stopped halfway to wait for the series to end (same goes with Darling in the FranXX). And I had read one of the episode review about ANN, well it is not as bad as it is said for the anime overall but looking at it episodically, sure it does. Only the last two episodes had me sit through the anime and think that, "it isn't that bad after all." Provided you complete it in one go.

  Two most important things they have gone wrong in this anime that had it landed between 6-6.5/10 for me.

  Characters
  In a psychological anime, characters development is the most important thing as the anime has to display what, how, why causes the characters to be depressed and to fall to another side.

  The most boring but useful way is to introduce each character for their background story one by one from the least priority to the most priority (especially for protagonist on the last episode) and link all the characters together along the way. However, the information are not given besides their surface level of suffering from pain in real life before escaping to Mobius.

  During the fights launch from the antagonists, there are flashback about the characters but due to episodes constrain, even though I understand the situation, I don't find myself feeling sympathetic about their suffering.

  And for the protagonist side? They sit around a room and start the healing session by talking out their darkest inner part of them. Again, due to limitation of screen time for each of them in a fairly big cast, I don't feel sad at all. More like I kinda forget what's going on.

  And did I mention the missing linkage between each episode except the last 3 or 4 episodes?

  Plot
  Continuing from last sentence, skips and bad pace are the ones which affects an anime quality. Nobody had the time or patience to sit through every anime, especially when the genre is not their most favorite or they have not play the game, read the manga/novel beforehand?

  First two episodes are the good to start the plot and attract people to continue but getting further, the skips are getting worst. New characters pop up randomly, no linkage between episodes and basically it feels like some characters gone through a complete change in personality compare to few episodes ago.

  Last 2 episodes are the best and probably the most enjoyable to watch hand in hand, the things character go through in Mobius, realizing even though reality pains them, living in digital world does not necessary means happiness. But I appreciates not everyone think this way and still decide to stay in Mobius. This is what makes people think. What is real happiness, the anime brings out the most important question. Myu though that happiness is happiness but what if someone's happiness meaning other people suffering? What is a person's happiness is to bully and destroy a person's sanity and Myu can fulfill that wish, is that real happiness for everyone?

  There is one more reason to watch the last 2 episodes, it's about real Ritsu. Watch and you will know.

  By the way, OP/ED are good so here's a 0.5 add-on, total 6.5/10

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• 

  CodeBlazeFate

  53/100
  If only it was as worth the recommendation I wish to give it as it was certainly entertaining in its madness and ideals

  Everyone has a different form of perception, how they see reality, and everything in it. We can see a show or movie and have different reactions to it and notice different things in it. We can have different political opinions, views on society, or subject preferences. Once you think of it, it's quite fascinating, and in many cases, outright chaotic.

  After dressing itself up in psychology and philosophy Caligula is a fascinating and musically endearing, if awkward, convoluted, and questionably executed foray into just how fucked perceptions are. It jumps off from its premise to deliver a unique experience in the name of establishing the credibility to tell you something: don't get too attached to escapism, and accept reality.

  Just think about it. It's antagonists -Mu and mediocre cronies services mostly for their themes- are well-intentioned extremists who have indulged far too deeply into escapism. We get to see everyone be subjected to the most disgusting and aggressive versions of what we do to take a break on our daily life, as characters confront their true feelings and unravel themselves to us. People getting so lost into their music that they go ham on people, people engaging so hard in tea parties that they actually eat the fake silverware and stuff themselves so obscenely, people wishing so hard to become someone else that they end up living a fake life? This shit and more is all here! The presentation of this, coupled with the presentation of how off and disturbing the events are, is all directed strikingly. Even though the writing effectively has to handwaive potentially awkward shit about not perceiving explosions and managing to perforce yourself in a completely different body and life, it manages to work without much explanation. It’s such as shame that some revelations are so detrimental and that there are several asspulls and unexplained actions/circumstances -most of which are concerns with the second half-. Let’s not even mention how the final quarter falls apart until the final 13 minutes, as the way it opens certain cans of worms ranges from interesting to devastating, even more so than the second half already began doing.

  However, while the narrative was mostly well-presented, the characters are in the exact opposite scenario. There are a lot of them, both on the protagonist and antagonist side. None of them have distinctly interesting personalities or motivations sans Mu, and the sheer amount means that we have to juggle a bunch of largely uninteresting characters, several of whom don't get explored in interesting ways. Even the ones that do such as Mifune, are not very memorable despite their intriguing dilemmas and breakdowns. The protagonist (Ritsu) is the second closest thing to a real character, and aside from him enthusiastically getting into psychology and sociology terminology whilst presenting them to the characters and audience, there isn't really much to him either. Even seemingly important side/characters take forever to even be introduced beyond what the opening and closing credits show us. I guess it makes it hard to write them inconsistently, as most of them are more like vessels with singular, often abandoned traits. Good writing that does make, and even with the one good character they have, its counterbalanced brutally towards the end with a certain twist villain who’s basically Seryuu from Akame ga Kill.

  The dialogue is also sometimes clumsy enough to remind me that the person writing the story with the message likely hasn't entirely escaped the damages a sheltered or escaped reality has on one’s writing, perception of real people, and how they talk. Perhaps some time to iron things out and spend time with these characters experiencing the type of pain and escapism integral to their stories would make them a bit more interesting. Then again, the show is so blunt, even hamfisted about its messages that it almost hurts despite how good they are to hear, and how plentiful the themes used for it are.

  Studio Satelight had about as much trouble as the writing, it seems. The character designs -sans Mu- are all a tad awkward and it feels like they had to limit the animation for the sake of keeping the sharp yet awkward (and incredibly pale) character models perfectly in check. Flashbacks galore and some occasionally jarring CGI only worsen the deal, especially when the presentation makes odd decisions like occasionally reducing characters to white or other colored silhouettes, or having them not move during their walking animations sometimes. The fight scenes are pretty terrible too, with Akame ga Kill sound effects and jank as hell animation, when there is any. It all temporarily comes crashing down in the finale -along with the writing-. Shame given that the directing and presentation by Junichi Wada makes several sequences engaging, using static to really sell how off things feel, while constantly showing different visual perspectives and changing up the lighting and colors when things go insane. It's like the direction is doing its damndest to obfuscate the terrible production and only barely succeeding. The visuals for the opening are pretty captivating though, with a more unique filter and overall darker and more mind-bending style.

  Speaking of the opening, "Paradigm Box" by Ritsu Shikishima (Chiharu Sawashiro), Shougo Satake (Shunsuke Takeuchi), is one of the better openings of the season, with nice vocals and a somewhat unique feel in places (notably right before the chorus). The ending theme "HYPNO" by Kotono Kashiwaba (Rie Murakawa), Naruko Morita (Ari Ozawa), Mifue Shinohara (Rie Takahashi), Suzuna Kagura (Minami Tanaka) is also a worthwhile listen, even if it feels like forcing it to be 90 seconds stretches it. The vocal tracks performed by Mu are even more fun to listen to, and the lyrics are pretty good at reflecting the overall themes of each song that relate to the show (as well as the RPG game the show adapts). Sure, some get replayed quite often, and the rest of the OST is mostly just decent with the exception of the track "The Fairy of Dreams", but that doesn't stop me from listening to this OST on my own time.

  It’s a shame this show isn't as well-received or as great as it could be, since its messages are beneficial, even important for the anime community and Japan at large to hear. If only it was as worth the recommendation I wish to give it, as it was certainly entertaining in its madness and ideals. Regardless, it isn’t bad, so if you prefer the message to anything else, or want something out of the ordinary, perhaps this isn’t a bad choice to consider.

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