KONO YO NO HATE DE KOI WO UTAU SHOUJO YU-NO

DESCRIPTION

CAST

OVA HentaiYu-No
OVA ActionKono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO: Mugen no Heiretsu Sekai
MANGA ActionKono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO

REVIEWS

• 

  MangaMonger

  75/100
  The YU-NO anime makes changes to the source's story, some welcome and others less so. A good fit for Steins;Gate fans.

  Kono Yo no Hate de Koi o Utau Shoujo YU-NO is an anime that adapts a classic visual novel. I read the VN before I watched the anime, but I will avoid spoilers beyond the first episode, aside from talking about the tone and such.

  For a little background, the VN first came out in 1996. At the time, it was extremely innovative. Many other famous VNs could be said to have been deeply inspired by it. An English fan translation patch came out in 2011, and that's the one I played. The rights were eventually transferred to 5pb (now called Mages) which went on to publish a graphically updated remake in 2017, which just had an English localization released on Steam today (yes, they timed it with the last episode!). This anime is an adaptation of the modern remake, but reportedly both the 1996 version and the 2017 version have the exact same script and system, it's just the audiovisual elements that differ.

  Now, to talk about what the story is like. I'll put it this way: if you're a major fan of Steins;Gate, this is a must-watch anime (or alternatively, must-play VN). The basic premise of YU-NO, evident from the first episode, is that the protagonist's consciousness travels through time. A lot. And that has various interesting implications. In VN terms, it's a "multi-route mystery" in which the protagonist makes difference choices that let him see more of the truth, until the bigger picture finally becomes clear. The plot is extremely intricate, focusing on the same places and the same cast, who adopt different roles and show different sides of themselves in each arc. It's a tight and intricate time leap-based plot.

  The first episode crams in too many events, but after that they're well-paced. The animation is not especially impressive; it's just average. The music, on the other hand, is wonderful, and helps add impact to many scenes; it's borrowed from the VN. What made the anime especially enjoyable is how they fixed one of the VN's major flaws. In the VN, the protagonist doesn't remember what happened in previous time leaps. This was surely the case due to technical limitations inherent in having the protagonist react differently to all the little details. But since the anime cuts out or speeds past repeated content, and tells the story in the most efficient way possible without the protagonist wandering around trying to find clues, it can afford to tweak the protagonist's reactions and provide him with character development.

  The bottom line is that watching the anime felt like a completely fresh take on the story, in which the protagonist acts rationally and pieces together the truth himself without wasting time. Furthermore, around halfway into the anime, they added an episode or two of filler content oriented around one of the heroines that also builds up the relationship between some of the central characters. I thought this was awesome, because she didn't have enough development in the original story, and the characters didn't interact with one another as much. It felt very satisfying to see this kind of character development.

  Anyway, what I've talked about so far is the initial style of YU-NO's story. But after a number of such arcs, the story experiences a genre shift. I won't say exactly which episode, but it's about 2/3 of the way through the anime. The first few post-shift episodes are fairly true to the VN, and while unconventional and full of revelations, they still feel very grounded, and are even emotionally moving. But later on in the anime, especially the last half dozen or so episodes, the anime has a heavy amount of filler, and significantly changed some events. The anime staff clearly wanted to try to bring in more of the side characters and incorporate more action elements, in order to spice up the VN's more "direct" conclusion. However, the additions fell a bit flat, coming off as a series of cliches. And I'll be blunt: there are too many plot holes to count. (I'm not the kind of person who uses the term "plot hole" lightly.) I respect the anime staff's ambition, though. In any case, the overall structure of the story stays true to the VN, and the end is the same. But even in the case of the VN, people typically think the final arc was weaker than the earlier parts of the story... with the addition of these anime original developments, the contrast was even starker. Still, most viewers ought to be entertained and want to see how the story concludes.

  Wondering if you should watch the anime or read the VN? They each have their strengths and weaknesses. The VN is a classic point-and-click adventure game, in which you can click on everything in the background and receive amusing little comments in response. When I played the VN, I wasted so much time clicking on stuff without making progress, and felt bored and frustrated. On the other hand, I know that many people loved having the ability to interact with the world personally to figure out how to solve the setting's mysteries. If you're in doubt, my recommendation is to watch the first arc of the anime -> play some of the VN -> decide if you want to continue the VN with its extra detail and personal involvement, or switch back to the anime. As for the big differences in later events between the anime and VN... well, from a literary perspective the VN is far superior, but the anime's changes were at least ambitious, so I don't feel like dismissing them completely.

  YU-NO is far from a perfect anime adaptation, but it's properly paced and adapts a classic VN that has many worthwhile aspects. It deserves to be a lot more popular than it is.

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• 

  CountZero

  60/100
  Yu-No is an series with an incredibly strong first half, and which then stumbles and falls in the second half.

  There are some anime with a strong first half, and then which utterly shits the bed in the second half of the show. Yu-No, an anime series based off of an Eroge (and which had an earlier hentai adaptation back in the ’90s) is one of those shows.

  Yu-No follows Yuuno, a horndog high school student in a coastal Japanese town that is home to a weird mountain made out of a weird rock that contains weird ruins that a local corporation is trying to exploit. Due to the critical mass of weirdness contained therein, there have been a variety of lightning strikes affecting the construction crews, all out of a clear blue sky.

  Yuuno’s father had been investigating the ruins, but had disappeared after a mysterious accident and is believed to be dead, leaving Yuuno with his stepmother – who was also his dad’s assistant and is close enough in age to Yuuno to put him in the same awkward situation with her that Bill and Ted were with Missy in those two films.

  While going through his presumed dead dad’s files, Yuuno discovers a mysterious stone artifact with a variety of strange beads stuck in it, with spots for several more, along with a note from Yuuno’s father basically saying that if he gets all the beads he’d find out the truth of what happened to his dad.

  After another strange incident happens following a lighting strike, Yuuno discovers that he can (sort of) travel backward in time to a point that he has “bookmarked” in the timeline. I say “sort of” because it’s less time travel, and more shifting to alternative timelines. This sets up the mystery of the first half of the series, with Yuuno using this device to solve various mysteries in town and discover the truth of what happened to his dad.

  That part works. It’s an engaging story with interesting characters who you get invested in. Yuuno’s horndog attitude is established early on as being a defense mechanism – it’s something he brings up when things get too real, and later on when he has difficulty explaining why he knows things he doesn’t (due to his timeline shifting). It mixes drama (with a side of tragedy) with comedy in almost equal measure.

  Then he gets all the beads, activates the device, and we get into the second half of the show, which is an Isekai, and it sucks. We shift into this magical world at a point where let’s just say, there is some dramatic tension and the implication of a ticking clock. However, the series then proceeds to just slow the pacing down and lose all narrative momentum – and with it all the goodwill that the show had earned in its first half.

  I wanted to like Yu-No, and for 12-ish episodes, I did. And then the back half just lost me completely, and the only thing keeping me watching it was, well, because I wanted to do this review. You don’t have that reason, so give this show a miss.

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• 

  Ashikki

  86/100
  A different experience to other animes similar...

  I have seen a lot of reviews about this anime over the past 2 years. The anime has heavily been criticised for its differences from the game and based on how it is rushed. I can clearly see that it has been rushed near the end even though I haven't played the game. I will give my honest review on this. It might be quite different to others!

  PLOT 10/10
  I will start with the storyline/plot. Personally, I believe the storyline/plot is quite complex to understand at the beginning. You will not understand it straight off the bat, but will need to keep watching through each episode to put the puzzle together. Personally, i really liked this type of plot. It might not be for everyone but I would say the storyline is amazing and once you understand it, you can feel the emotions that was created from it. The 10/10 rating could be seen as an exaggeration. I would say on my personal opinion, I really enjoyed it compared to most animes I have seen. It is a unique story and its not a copied storyline.

  CHARACTERS 8/10
  The characters in the anime are quite confusing. They aren't really developed correctly and it seems that the anime didn't put any work in trying to explain them well. You will understand the basics of each character and you will understand their purpose over time, but you wont really develop connection with them. There are a few that you will though. The main protagonist and his relations are quite emotional, and you will develop strong connection with it. I felt a lot of pain whilst watching the anime which made me want to watch more of it. I gave it a rating of 8/10 because I believe the character development on the main characters were fulfilling and they were developed enough to a point where you can develop some connection.

  GRAPHICS/VISUALS 8/10
  The graphics of the anime is very modern. I would say it is your standard quality of modern-anime to this date. The animation are quite smooth and are high quality. There were a bit of rushed scenes which can be seen throughout the anime, but I would say it is at the normal standard of today's generation.

  AUDIO/SOUNDTRACK 7/10
  The soundtrack of the anime is okay. I would say they could of done better with the OST, but it works with the anime. I assume the OST comes from the game, so it was not possible to change that. The opening soundtrack is decent. I would say the opening spoils a bit of the anime but it works with the music quite well. The second opening shows a lot of spoilers but the soundtrack is more fitting to the anime than the first opening.

  ENJOYMENT 10/10
  My enjoyment is quite high. I really enjoyed the anime. I binged watched it cause I was so addicted to each episode. They hooked you quite well and It makes you want to understand what is going on. Each episode does leave on a cliff hanger which makes you excited.

  CONCLUSION
  Overall, I would say the anime is quite good for an anime that comes from a game. The anime was well developed and it seems that the producers made sure they did not confuse themselves with the game storyline. I guess from the game players, they would have a different view to this but I would say if you watched just the anime, it is worth the watch and you should at least watch the first few episodes to get the grasp to see if it fits your likings!

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