MEKAKUCITY ACTORS

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIMEMEKAKUCITY RELOAD
MOVIE ComedyKagerou Daze: in a days
MUSICChildren Record
MUSIC PsychologicalOtsukimi Recital
MUSICdays (2014)
MUSICDaze
MUSICRED
NOVEL ComedyKagerou Daze
MUSIC PsychologicalMekakucity Records
MUSIC PsychologicalMekakucity Days
MUSIC RomanceMekakucity V's
MUSICAdditional Memory
MUSICShissou Word
Not AvailableKAGEROU DAZE No.9
MUSICChildren Record (Re:boot)

REVIEWS

• 

  LoqiKai

  70/100
  Kagerou Project's unsatisfactory adaptation. MCA's Pros and Cons.

  If I want to do an explanation for my opinions on Kagerou Project's anime adaptation, first, I'll have to start with something basic. Where did this enthusiastic and interesting story come from? I'll make this quick and short as many of you should already be familiarised with its origins.

  Kagerou Project is a series of Vocaloid songs made by the Japanese creator Jin that tells a story inside each one of them from the point of view of different characters of its cast and different endings or "routes", sometimes getting those mixed in the same song too through parallelism (for the case of "Lost Time Memory"). Later on, the story that these songs tell us got translated into a series of light novels that explained the situation even better and let us understand better what was going on, as well as filling up blank gaps.

  The story that was told was one really resemblant to the anime's story. A story that was original and unique, that presented us with a really deep philosophy about life in itself and different ways to face it, even if this story mostly ended in the continuation of a cycle in which the protagonists have been trapped in.

  And now, when it came to the anime, one could agree that their original plan would be a really successful one, with Akiyuki Shinbou, as well as the rest of Shaft's staff, taking part developing it. However, we ended up with beautiful visuals (as expected from Shaft) but with an unorganized way of telling the original story. This bad organization can be understood when seeing the anime for the first time with or without knowledge of the songs. This series ended up in 1 season and 12 episodes, in which they had to divide 7 volumes of the novel (or, at least, those who told only one route), so it isn't too hard to understand how the anime can be so difficult to understand for newcomers to the series.

  But, if I had to defend this anime, I would say that "it is suitable for those with, at least, the minimum knowledge about the project and the series". Its visuals are truly what one could expect from an anime from Shaft and they suit the Kagerou Project perfectly, as well as telling us a route with a new ending to it in which everyone can continue their lives in peace. The soundtrack (setting the Vocaloid songs, now sung by real Japanese singers, aside) is beautiful and calming and, all in all, it could have been an excellent anime.

  So, concluding this review, I have to say that even if I was disappointed with the anime's outcome, it wasn't completely bad for me. Perhaps for being a Kagerou Project's fan or for just being an anime fan in general, while this anime could have really ended up infinitely worse because of the story's complexity, that luckily wasn't the case. As a last warning, I recommend that, before watching this anime, you listen to Jin's songs, as they can all be found on YouTube (either sung by IA or in the format of covers).

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• 

  CaninnTurtle

  80/100
  Mekakucity Actors plays out like Monogatari lite, but distinguishes itself with its lovable cast.

  Mekakucity Actors was a bizarre show for me to sit through. Most of the time, I as wondering if I had accidentally gone to an alternate universe where Monogatari and Kiznaiver are mashed together into one show, but without some key characteristics. Kiznaiver without the melodrama that bogged it down and Monogatari without the witty dialogue and brilliant storytelling through said dialogue. This isn't to say that Mekakucity Actors lacked any of these things completely, but it certainly dialed it way back in those aspects for a more artistic and simple approach to story and conversation between characters. These distinctions feel extremely important because of how similarly the stories of Monogatari Second Season, specifically Nadeko Medusa, and Mekakucity Actors really play out. There's many of the same themes and some story beats even completely mirror each other, which isn't a bad thing in any way, but it just makes Mekakucity Actors feel tough to put on its own pedestal without unfair comparisons.

  On an artistic level, I love how Shaft brings the world of Mekakucity Actors to life. The color theming of the characters, while it admittedly isn't a new concept by any means, is really satisfying and helps one keep each individual character straight and distinct in the beginning where many characters and ideas are getting thrown at you from all directions. Beyond just that, the show just oozes that classic Shaft style, with countless quick cuts, odd camera angles, and, of course, the Shaft head tilt. This is another reason why the Monogatari comparisons will never leave this show alone, because the even look the same.

  

  The character designs are another obvious positive for Mekakucity Actors. Along with the color coding of the characters, each one feels so distinct and the way they're drawn and dressed shows so much personality without them even opening their mouths.

  On the music front, Mekakucity Actors has some fantastic insert songs, all arranged by Jin with various accompanying singers. My favorites were the ones made for episode 6, Headphone Actor, but that's for a more personal reason I think, which I'll get to more later on. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot more to say in the sound department. The voice acting is good, the soundtrack is passable, everything checks out as average to good.

  Favorite Character: Takane Enomoto

  

  Specifically, before she was Ene, which is something that should be clarified before I go on with my reasons, other than that she is best girl with close competition from Kido. I adore Takane. Her and Haruka's episode, Headphone Actor, may be one of my favorite standalone episodes of all time. I couldn't tell you why it struck me as so amazing, other than that it was one of the most well written self-contained stories I've ever watched. From displaying Takane and Haruka's dynamic together and with their teacher, to their crushes on each other, to showing their personalities and ideals, to showing their connection with the other cast, to the realized love from Takane, to the tragedy at the end. It's such a great episode that I want to rewatch it again just thinking recalling it now. I will have to admit that I didn't like her nearly as much while she was in her Ene form, which was an entirely different personality and just didn't jive with me the same way.

  If we're boiling down Mekakucity Actors to its greatest strength, it lies in its aforementioned ensemble cast. Every character is lovable in its own way and the way that they all interact with each other is so fun and makes them seem like actual friends. The real tragedy is that we don't have more episodes to spend with the gang just being friends and bantering with each other. While Mekakucity's dialogue isn't genius level like Monogatari, its more real and relatable, which may be strange for those who come from Monogatari expecting similar mind bending conversations to find them not really present. Another thing I really enjoyed about Mekakucity Actors was the story after the credits on most episodes. It was beautifully drawn and an absolute genius stroke of storytelling to tell the context of the story in a way that didn't break the flow of the overall plot.

  On the less great side, the story was somewhat convoluted, especially towards the end, where it felt like the storytelling skipped a few major points just the get to the finale, where everything just kinda....happened. Then everything is fixed and everyone lives happily ever after. It just didn't feel like the setup and the climax got the time it deserved to really make an impact after you spent like ten episodes just learning about the cast, their backstories and how they ended up where they were. I've already mentioned it, but I wish that there had been a few more episodes to really make the cast feel as if they were bonded together and really fighting because they were friends and not just because.

  Overall, I feel as if the overarching plot could have been told a lot more tightly and certain characters could have benefited from interacting with other characters, but otherwise, I thought that the story was told about as well as it possibly could have been with the way that it was laid out and put together in the first place. I loved the atmosphere that Mekakucity Actors exuded and really wished that there could have been more of it, that it had played to the creepiness of its setup more and taken more risks to separate itself from Monogatari's shadow, because the unfortunate fact of Mekakucity Actors is that it will forever be living in that shadow through no real fault of its own. Despite that, I give Mekakucity Actors a huge recommend, especially if you're a fan of Monogatari and the Shaft style.

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