I know I tend to talk a lot about video games, but this is a hobby blog and I do have other hobbies too! (You know, if you couldn’t guess from the occasional baking posts). Anyway, moving onto the actual subject at hand… I’m incredibly picky when it comes to things. It’s hard for me to say I like a genre because there’s really a lot more to it than that. In fact, the only games I was ever suggested that I ended up really loving were the Ace Attorney and Professor Layton series–where a friend got me the first three games of the former and the first game of the latter to get me to play. I’ve bought every other game since. As for Anime, I’ve only been suggested one which I really liked–Gosick. Any other suggestions have always been rather hit and miss for me.
For Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, my curiousity was piqued after seeing these gifs of a scene:
Top Gif made by Izutsushi on Tumblr
I can’t tell you why exactly they piqued my curiousity, but they made me go and look up what exactly the Anime was and the brief information I could find made me want to actually watch it.
My general rule with Anime is to always watch the first three episodes as that gives you a good idea of what the Anime is about. If you’re still not interested after three episodes, you can stop. So, I started watching and despite some issues with certain lines, I found I really enjoyed it. All the characters have a lot of personality and characterization so even characters you may only see once have some kind of mark on you.
The premise is essentially that Livius, the King of the World, has asks for one of the daughters of the Rain Principality to be his wife for them to keep essentially living as they are (versus being conquered). Nike is “picked” and sent off and it’s about how the two find an understanding and emotional bond with one another. Even though it probably sounds overly romantic, it has a lot of humor as well and is presented well. It’s also one of the few Anime I’ve personally seen where the boy is the younger one (Livius is 15 during the events–12 when he is crowned King. Nike’s age is never said, but I’d expect her to be around 18) and also a good amount shorter (which is due to the age difference, but still). And while there is some “fan service” (something I’m personally not fond of in anything I really watch. I just don’t see the appeal.), it’s more aimed towards girls and never anything that bad (I believe the “worst” they show is butts and both were men).
It’s hard to really explain why I enjoyed it, but there was something really special seeing how the two eventually truly fell for one another and I constantly found myself looking forward to the next episode. I’m really sad it’s now over (but at least Sailor Moon Crystal starts this Saturday) and I REALLY hope it gets another season when the Manga gets further along. I’m happy the series covered the first arc too versus ending at kind of a weird place when the drama is only starting (I’m looking at you Gakuen Alice and Skip Beat!. The former’s manga ended recently and should hopefully be getting a sequel considering how it ended while Skip Beat!’s is still going). Regardless, it had a very conclusive ending which while I am happy for that versus weird cliff hanger thing, makes me wonder if they will bother with making a second season or not.
But seriously, LOOK AT THEIR HAPPY FACES:
The art style is really pretty to me. While I don’t care much for graphics in video games, I can be overly picky with art style in Anime and Cartoons (such as the new Powerpuff Girls show… it’s just too jagged T~T). CardCaptor Sakura is one of my favorites, but I never could get into Tsubasa because I felt the art style was just too “lanky” so to speak. That said, I can sometimes get over it–I did eventually read the Manga despite the Manga’s art style not appealing to me much and in my opinion, it got better as it went too. (Similarly, Detective Conan while the style never bothered me improved a lot both in the Manga and Anime as it went).
I wish I enjoyed the music in the show more. I want to specify that I mean more towards the vocal music though–all the Background music is great and fitting and I would completely listen to a soundtrack of just the background music. That said, I found the opening and ending themes just okay. I felt no need to listen to them after the first couple of times. Similarly, “Tender Rain” the main insert song is… I was never that fond of it–it was an okay song as well, but it being played so often, even if I understand why, actually made it kind of annoying. I really enjoyed the slower version Nike sang in the last episode though. I also loved her grandmother’s Farewell Song which I actually found really beautiful and that was the first vocal song in the series for me to really fall in love with. I would buy the soundtrack just for that song too. The entire scene it plays is incredibly heartwrenching and it just adds so much to it.
Anyway, if you like Anime with romance and bickering and stuff in it, I’d recommend at least looking at it! I’m going to continue looking forward to the manga for now as like I said, I really hope it gets a Season Season. I definitely think it deserves it.