On a remote island far from the mainland named Urashima, a man washes ashore, with no recollection of his name or homeland. What he does recall, however, is that he is a time traveler with a mission: to save a certain girl from harm. As nightfall arrives, he meets Rinne Ohara, a girl who sings a tune that reminds him of a specific name—Setsuna—and decides to use it as his own.
Knowing another "Setsuna" herself, Rinne takes him to her household as a servant, hoping that he is the same one she remembers. On the other hand, Setsuna continues to learn more about Urashima, desiring to identify his lost past. He comes to know about the island's folklore, its three great families, and the endemic disease that prevents anyone afflicted from stepping out into the daylight.
As the mysteries of his missing memories and Urashima itself unfold, Setsuna must remember his purpose and fulfill his mission as soon as possible. But, as he witnesses the myriad of troubles plaguing the island, Setsuna begins to question—is his temporal displacement merely an effort to change a single girl's fate?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
animesscythe
The review contains spoilers While waiting for someone to write a positive review about this, I thought I'd wake up because that won't happen, so I guess I should do it myself. I find 7 to be above average, not something I'd recommend, but it's good compared to the hate this show is getting, and I actually like it. So there may be spoilers because no one cares about a show with this low of a rating, right? The story with its mysteries and use of time travel is stunning, it's all connected and covers up most of its plot-holes (not really all though). The waySetsuna wants to save someone, which is later implied to be Rinne, the way the Island repeats itself, the way Kuon is revealed to be the future Rinne. It all felt smoothly connected, believable, and most of all, shocking. Even I was surprised by how an overhated anime can shock me with its twists, but surprisingly it surprised me. But that does not mean it is without issues. The ending where saving Rinne is neglected kind of was off the point, but I can't say after that big shock that I cared enough. It still dropped my scoring a bit, in addition to the Never Island segments having copies of the Island segment, that was hard to believe. Ignoring the flaws, I believe the story is the strongest point in the series, but its minimal flaws make me rate it a 7.
Songs by Rinne's seiyuu are really nice to hear, I love the seiyuu. Insert songs are also well made, no complaints. Art looks nice, which is something even the haters can agree on.
And I bet we all can agree that the characters are flat. They were used as plot devices, and if the plot wasn't good, this series would be as forgettable as School Days. Even though they are bland, I did not really dislike them, nor like them. The 3 main girls are cute with cute voices, and Setsuna with his manly seiyuu, not much to complain about, but I did rate the characters a 5. The show would be an easy 8/10 with stronger characterization.
Obviously after everything I said, I did enjoy the show. Characters do not really affect enjoyment, and enjoyment is the main reason we watch anime, right? So it's not wrong to ignore certain flaws if you enjoyed a show. You do not have to agree with me, after all, I like SAO. But I could name 50 shows better than SAO and Island, so even if they are good in my opinion, you can find better, but you can give this a try.
Stark700
Ever wondered what would be like to wake up and have no memories about yourself? Island takes this traditional trope but instead of translating it into a survival tale, it turns it into a story about rediscovery. It’s a series based on a visual novel but I confess to say that it’s very questionable in terms of presentation. Looking at the show made me wonder how such a simple premise descended into an abomination. The simple premise of Island honestly made me curious about the show at first. Taking place on this island known as “Urashima”, it gives the impression of a setting of isolation. It’saway from cities, civilizations, and the social problems that we have to deal in our everyday lives. In fact, the first few episodes really makes it clear that the islanders there live in a carefree way. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that there’s more than meets the eye about the story’s mystery. A big part of the show is trying to sell its suspenseful plot by connecting the past with the present.
Before I actually get into the juicy part of the show, it’s noticeable that Island underwent some changes before the actual premiere. From my understanding, there was dispute over the script so what we see on TV may not be what was originally planned. I have not played the visual novel (even though it’s available now in both Japanese and English) so I came into the show as a fresh newbie. Still, a show like this felt more like a niche designed to target the specific audience. In this case, it’s aimed at people who enjoys the feeling of a dramatic adventure. And to be honest, that’s a tough pill to swallow. The first few episodes flirted with relationships between the main cast. Meanwhile, the story suffers pacing issues from the very start as each episode constantly bounces between cheesy comedy and dramatic sequences. Then, there’s the mystery that tries to carry the plot. What we get instead is more of a wish-fulfillment love story that doesn’t know what it’s trying to do. There’s a lot of pitfalls that hardly puts emphasis on the story. This is evidenced with the sex jokes, ineffective writing, and in general, lack of care in the characterization.
Speaking of characters, Setsuna Sanzenkai is what I like to describe as a blank piece of paper. You try to write down facts about him and there’s really nothing. That’s because the guy has a mysterious past but in reality, his personality is just as empty. Through his interactions with the main cast, he doesn’t stand out any more than they do. It doesn't help that his dialogues sounds robotic and often lacks enthuaism. The main cast consists of three girls – Rinne, Karen, and Sara. Each of them seems to have some sort of connection with Setsuna as evidenced through various flashbacks. The show also dedicates a decent amount of screen time by using montages to enhance their relationships. Unfortunately, it fails to cook up any meaningful relationship between Setsuna and these girls. There’s too much generalization on the girls’ personalities and much less on their development. Even Rinne, the girl that Setsuna spends the most time with suffers from this. Sure, there is background storytelling that makes it clear he and Rinne knows more about each other than meets the eye. However, it’s the type of relationship that adheres to wish-fulfillment. These characters are not larger than life and in fact, you can find them in just about any eroge visual novel. It’s a shame really since they look charming on the surface.
So is there anything worth watching about the show? To be honest, it’s really comes down to the decision on what you’ll find attractive or not. The comedy is blatantly inauthentic with poor timing between the characters’ dialogues. While the show had potential for its mystery elements, it really doesn’t get the ride going until quite later on. In other words, this anime will test your patience. I’ve honestly struggled to stay awake when watching Island and this show felt like it would be better if you played the game.
Perhaps there’s some redeeming quality about the show when it comes to the technical quality. I have to admit, Island does look well designed in terms of its setting. It’s able to convince me of the cultural differences between itself and the outside world. The idea of isolationism also looks credible with the relaxing atmosphere and being away from urban cities. Characters all look like they live the carefree life with their simple clothing and moderate technology. There’s also quite an abundance of fanservice that may sometimes feel uncomfortable. Because let’s face it, some of the girls in the show looks like kids. You be the judge but it’s hard to deny their physical appearances.
On the other hand, Front Wing was able to create this series with a very relaxing and atmospheric music. While the montage songs can sound a bit generic, they are also appealing by itself if you just listen to them. Unfortunately, the show definitely takes a step back when it comes to voice acting. I already mentioned Setsuna but his voice really sounds like a cog in a machine when he opens his mouth. The female characters’ voices doesn’t sound any better and often too high pitched to take to heart.
I’m glad this show is only 1 cour because any more than that would feel like a chore. To be able to attract an audience towards this show takes more than just a creative setting. The premise had some potential but it’s weathered down by its ineffective plot and one dimensional characters. Perhaps if I watch this without thinking too much, it would’ve been a better experience. The fact is, Island is just another example of a poor story with a budget that it doesn’t deserve.
animejas
The Summer 2018 season is wrapping up slowly and it's that time again. Today, I will be reviewing Island, an anime with time travel, romance and lolis! Story (1/10) Island had a really terrible story. The writing immediately suffers from absurd pacing where it either goes too slow with nothing happening at all, or goes too fast with major plot twists and elements failing to work due to being rushed to hell.And whatever content that was given, was super boring and for a guy that loves SciFi shows a lot, this did not interest me one bit.
It felt like they were writing this anime but it had no soul to it, since shit just occured with no real heart put into it.
Overall, a very boring, lackluster and terribly paced story that had to be one of the most boring SciFi stories I have ever witnessed.
Characters (1/10)
Setsuna was not the worst character ever. He ain't annoying nor a dick.
He was just a guy. Didn't feel anything for him but he isn't bad.
And the girls also feel very generic and the relationships between Setsuna and all the girls lack a lot of depth to it, with poor writing to blame.
Rinne looks cute but was nowhere engaging for me as a character and Karen & Sara were just there too.
Art & Animation (7/10)
feel. did not make this look as good as Hinamatsuri last season, but the art looks very good with some nice character designs.
Sound (6/10)
The OP and ED songs weren't that great but the OST was really nice and fitting for this show, especially its calm songs.
However, the voice acting was not good for me.
Rinne and Karen's voices felt off for me as they sound too striking for their characters.
Enjoyment (1/10)
Yawn.
Island was a massive letdown and a poorly written show from the get go. One of the weakest shows of this season and year for sure.
Score 1/10
KANLen09
This anime is a serious problem onto itself: promising us with the light-hearted romance turned dark-esque story with the time travel mechanics, but converting about 30 to 50 hours of play into a 12 episode series (which is honestly a no-go for VN fans and anime-onlys who has watched numerous VNs like myself). With it, this is a in-depth look on the controversial series called Island, and this review will be long as molasses (don't worry there's a TL;DR summary): The VN was created by Frontwing, who has done the Grisaia series, with 8-bit's adaptation in 2014 raking in massive success. This is the 2nd attempt thatthe company has done this (for their 15th anniversary) to promote the Eng Sub game by using the anime adaptation from studio Feel. Unfortunately, people who have played the Japanese version saw emerging red-flags from the get-go, with similar resonance and dissuasive implications with anime-onlys that this is a bad-ass poor adaptation of the game. The most obvious would be that its gameplay is based on narratives and dialogues, but somehow even the anime adaptation could screw that.
So yeah, a game that the company advertises Island as a "momentary and eternal fairy tale"? There are few scenes here and there, but I don't really think so.
So, going through the story background (and indeed from the game itself):
The "Island" of Urashima, one that has been heavily under suspicion on the tales of the 3 main girls (Rinne, Karen, Sara) and their family traditions in the span of 5 years. Oppressed under misfortune and cut from the mainland in order not to spread the curse around, in comes a guy who is aptly named Setsuna Sanzenkai. Formerly a nameless guy who comes from the future to kill and save someone, that is washed up ashore naked and questioned about his motives, but everything else to him is satisfactory. His main mission is to not let the recurring memories happen, and save everyone from the misery of the curse by doing some time-traveling on his way.
From there, criticism level 1: The story exists on 3 platforms (SPOILER WARNING):
The initial start but quickly dull and boring "Stage" (Ep 1-7);
The seriously rushed "Recursion" (Ep 8-10);
and the quickly made "to feel like the ending" "Jump" (Ep 11 and 12).
Aside from information that was cut out from the VN, don't bother to use the 3-episode rule because the story gets stranger every proceeding episode. The cheaply-made time-travel mechanism just made the whole series look like utter crap with confusion on the progression and beyond...and that's not all. An example would be when the time-traveling scenes came, the timeline was confusing. Only those who are able to discern the events within that period, were able to understand and enjoy/hate the predictability of the series going forward.
The characters...all are strikingly similar (at least the girls), so the point that looking at them reminded me of shows like Kodomo no Jikan: An adult-looking guy wanting to get dirty with the children pedophile lolis. And don't you dare try to sneak away by the thought that the characters have something unique to them, because they don't. They solely exist to fulfill the narratives and plot points from the game, and seemingly similar to the anime adaptation. Think about it:
Karen wants to leave Urashima to find out what really happened to her biological mom;
Sara is like a psychologist with all the charts, diagrams and whatnot, and questioning of past and future events;
Rinne has Soot Blight Syndrome (cannot stand under sunlight, it's a premontioned curse) and is like an owl, only active at night, and searching for the TRUE Setsuna, the one who has been with her before "his" disappearance 5 years ago;
Setsuna is there for the 3 girls to fill in the plot "holes" for them and get theirs and Urashima's problems solved, while working as a servant for Rinne.
So...criticism level 2:
None of the characters, yet alone the MC guy or loli girls are engaging nor interesting to follow. All of them are "walking" cliches. Their dialogue just made it seem like there's a narrative leading to plot points located around the strange Island, and the "going about everyday issues" thing don't really click all that well, accounting for the many issues that made this series much less enjoyable to begin with. You want some romance? It's minimalistic at best. Typical VNs will have sorta-based harems, but this one made the troupe seem far too conventional, like it is the last thing the producers want the characters to end up with.
One issue I would like to address (if that ever calms your displeasing qualms about the show):
The VAs however...through they remain the same as is with the game, Sara's in-game VA Rie Murakawa has been changed to Hibiku Yamamura for the anime due to disputes between her parent agency against the production committee. The full bio's on ANN if you want to check it out (because it seems like a big issue to fans of the VN).
The criticism though: All of them felt very muted and out of character, as much as they reprised their characters from the game, the exact feeling is barely fleshed out in the anime, and that is literally quite sad.
Now, let's get on with the good stuff:
The art and animation by studio Feel is bright, gorgeous and beautiful to look at, and no, I'm not saying that Feel is a studio that you can count on for VN adaptations. Just take a look at Yosuga no Sora in 2010 and you can see why (same type of adaptation but much enjoyable to watch). Such stuff like the scenes of reflecting water upon the beach and the soft touché background made this watchable to a degree, your mileage may vary. But for Island, striking art and good animation just doesn't do justice to warrant a series that's worth watching. With that said, I applaud the producers for good effort done to get the anime as close to the VN source as possible.
Easily the best part about Island, is undoubtedly the music, or the OST rather, and it's rare that we get a double-take of both the OP and ED for a 1-cour show. Since the events of Island happen within different timelines, it's considerable that the OST has to be confined to the overall presentation, and what we're given makes it for one of the best OSTs this season has to offer: the voice talent of Yukari Tamura (from Last Song) for the OPs and Asaka's amazing rhythmic-feeling EDs. Honestly, I would be much better just listening to the OST alone than watching this show (and you should, too).
In the end, the million-dollar question is: Should you watch Island?
Granted, most people's criticisms with this show are far more or less than what I can cover here, and that's to an insane degree. If you like the Kodomo no Jikan feels of "big" guy and loli sex-induced fanservice, I'm sorry but you're not gonna find it here.
If you want the TL;DR though: again, it's a poor adaptation of the VN with a whole lot of nothing. I was certainly looking forward to watch this, but ended up burning myself at the 3-episode rule and giving this another shot (after prelim review)...and yeap, I don't wanna come back again.
This is just another shot at making VN adaptations the cream of the crap ton of anime, and doesn't bode well either. The more deep the progress, the more insane those let-it-be ideas come and gradually, all sense is lost altogether. Skip this and just proceed onto better VNs like Clannad and the such. But yeah, I'd much rather watch sex shows like Yosuga no Sora more.
AlexPaulLEWZ
This anime, I daresay, is the BEST ANIME EVER. If you're reading this review, you have been most likely guided by fate. After all, this gem is hidden in the vast sea of hidden gems, as if you're trying to find a certain hydrogen atom in the vast universe. Sometimes, there are anime that people recommend to me. They were nice, I enjoyed them, and I gave them the usual 10. There are also anime that I randomly come upon which I enjoy more than those recommended to me. Island is one of those anime, but the feeling it left me is more than just enjoyment—more thanjust what any word can describe. Thrill? Pleasure? Entertainment? Amusement? I can't really say. Like I said before, it's the best anime ever. A score as low as a 10 will not suffice. Before I continue, this review will not include spoilers, but some plot points will be inferred based on how I'm going to describe them. Rest easy, though—I'm doing this to make anyone reading this very, very interested, sharing my ideas and feelings, supporting my statement above.
The story begins with a man who washed ashore Urashima, a habited island far from the mainland. He doesn't remember anything, not even his name, aside from his claims that he is a time traveler from the future who has a mission to save the world and a certain girl from harm. Nightfall comes and he meets Rinne Ohara, a girl singing a tune familiar to him, making him remember a specific name, which is Setsuna. Believing that to be his name, he adopts it. Rinne, however, knows another "Setsuna." Hoping the man she just met is that same Setsuna in her memories, she took him home as a servant. Setsuna, in the meantime, while trying to regain his memories, soon discovers the mysterious past and legends the island of Urashima has, and soon enough, it begins to delve into something more complicated as time goes by.
The story is very, very interesting. What happens in the early episodes is nothing like how the story progresses over time, and this story is the foremost reason why I say that this anime is the utter best. The execution at first is poor, and the pacing is very slow. However, it's not really stretched because Island does have a very magnificent development. If one were to analyze how the story goes, the "slow pace" is necessary, especially that when talking about plots where the main character's memories are gone, something like remembering it all afterwards is not something you rush into. This kind of development required the long episodes of preparation as to signify the better things that this anime has to offer. Do you plan to drop it on episode 8? Sure, it may seem that the plot should have been finally developed at that stage, but for this anime, it is still too early. Try to think of it as a lengthy exposition—you're still nowhere near the climax, and dropping it at that stage makes you miss something you should have invested more time for.
I could argue that I could have been bored while watching it, but in total honesty, I sacrificed sleep just to watch it. I don't need sleep, I need answers! When is Setsuna going to remember everything? Is Setsuna the same Setsuna who Rinne knows? What happens if he's going to remember it all? It was a rollercoaster of emotions throughout and it helped me see to it that I finish the anime. I admit that it was kind of a loli bait, but the story is not a mere CGDCT (cute girl doing cute things) or a slice of life. Like what I have been saying earlier, it has a plot—one of the best ones I have ever seen in my entire life. Considering this was directed by Keiichirou Kawaguchi who also directed Mayo Chiki, I expected some sort of ecchi scenes, but even if there was none, I am fully impressed.
The characters' personalities were as well-written as the story as well. Each of the four main characters—Rinne, Setsuna, Sara, and Karen—had their own character developments which developed quite nicely. For example, Setsuna is a kind man and continues to be kind as time passes. However, this doesn't mean that he's a flat character. What he goes through as the anime goes on is just one of the proofs that he is more than just a man with amnesia. Each of the characters have their own backgrounds that, while I admit is not that unique, blends in with the story as a whole. Think of it as ingredients for a well-cooked cuisine. The ingredients can be used on another serving, but it doesn't mean that the food will be equally delicious as the previous one—even if they share the exact same amount. Not because Setsuna is amnesiac means that he's the same as other anime amnesiacs. Karen may be your usual child with parental issues, but it doesn't mean that she's the same as other children with the exact same issues as well. That's how Island's characters blend so well together.
Once again, I admit that I was baited by the cute girls in the illustrations. That's why I say that the art is good. Not only that—the sceneries one can see on the lush and tropical island of Urashima gives off that rural aura that makes you want to take a vacation there or whatnot. The character designs are really good as well, and I must note that the studio that adapted this was very faithful to the visual novel design. Just look at Garandou Sara's large hair that resembles a tumbleweed. Is it ridiculous? Yes! But it's also has its charms that I actually loved it so much. Setsuna's character design reminds me of Kamijou Touma from Toaru Majutsu no Index, and with their similarity in personality, I don't mind it. Rinne kind of looks like a child version of Enterprise from Azur Lane and remembering Enty's famous line "OWARI DA!" hits too hard once the plot kicks in. Karen is Karen. She's also cute. That's all there is to it.
The musical themes were quite splendid as well. The opening themes and ending themes were so melodic and pleasing to the ear that I have a folder dedicated to them, and I listen to all of them on loop while doing something, because I always want to sing alongside those themes. The songs really symbolize where the plot is going. If you can understand Japanese, the better you'll understand that the songs are very meaningful and it's not just there for show. For example, the opening theme entitled "Eien no Hitotsu" and its chorus that goes in English as:
"As if you're hugging me, under the summer's light, (Natsu no hikari dakishimeru you ni)
Wherever you may be, I want you to look for me. (Doko ni itemo, watashi dake wo mitsukete)
I don't want to let go both of our hearts so true, (Hanaretakunai futatsu no kokoro ni)
Anytime this truth will always be the one that's true and that will never fade!" (Itsumade mo shinjitsu wa sou yo hitotsu dakara)
This is just my independent translation and might not be accurate because I worded it so anyone can sing it word for word, but the essence of the song is still there. It's very amazing how this song resonated the anime as a whole and still preserves the feelings one can feel about it.
The enjoyment factors I felt from this anime is not just mere enjoyment. Like how I worded my previous paragraphs, no word can describe how I felt. I am not just happy nor sad about the development, and I am really far from disappointment. I found it really enjoyable, but I can't stop crying as to how amazingly executed the scenes were. Of course, I didn't really cry like a baby, but there is something you call "post-anime depression," where I felt like any other anime became subpar as soon as I finished it. I even went as far as scoring all my anime as 9 in MAL afterwards due to how good the anime really is. But then I realized, rating 9 on anything is not me. However, even if all anime in my list is a 10, the 10 I gave Island as a score really just doesn't suit it, considering how excellent it is. I have felt post-anime depression before, such as from Shinchou Yuusha and Da Capo, but this one takes the cake. I could write an entire term paper about the amazing characteristics of this anime, and if this goes on, I feel like I'm going to create a paradox, and that's just scratching the surface of this great and wonderful masterpiece.
After this anime, I don't think anything will be as satisfactory as an anime as this one. I can continue giving 10s, but my most special 10 is for this anime, and by watching it you can understand why. Its charm is not something one could fully experience when watching episodically, but by binging it in one go. If you ever find this review, please consider this as my recommendation on how to watch it. Watch it in one go—do not let anything distract you. Finish it even if you think it's boring. After all, time will tell all secrets.
Oh yes, I haven't played the visual novel. I'm quite scared, to be perfectly honest.
crustaces
This anime adaptation, while trying to mirror its original game, falls significantly short in capturing the game's unique essence. The story, which in the game is rich and immersive, feels rushed and predictable in the anime, lacking the depth and intricacy that fans of the genre would appreciate. Artistically, the anime's style doesn't quite complement the story. It misses the nuanced visuals that the game presented, making it less engaging. The characters, a vital component of the original game, are not well-rounded in the anime. They lack the complexity, showing neither significant flaws nor strengths, and their reactions to situations feel unrealistic and oversimplified. For fans ofthe game, this adaptation might be a disappointment due to its lack of fidelity to the source material. However, newcomers to the franchise who have no background in the game might find it somewhat enjoyable, albeit a generic experience. Overall, it's a missed opportunity to showcase the game's rich narrative and character development, making the game itself a better choice for those seeking a more authentic and fulfilling experience.
Tanauwu
I'll spare you the long essay. It's not amazing, but it's not horrible either. The story had a lot of potentials. I gave it 7/10 and here are the two main reasons why: 1) too rushed. The ending, oh it could've been so good, so prolonged, and chewed up well, but unfortunately, it was way too rushed IMO. I personally think this show should've been 18-24 episodes long. If it was, I surely wouldn't mind watching because the idea is good! But it felt like a last-minute project, where you start off slow and hardly focus, and then by the end you're really into it but have50 minutes to finish and present the whole things. So yeah, too rushed imo.
2) The fucking lolis lol. It's just me, but I personally couldn't stand to see a 4 inch tall kid doing THAT thing with the main character. Threw me off a bit. I think they could've worked more on characters. It wasn't bad. But again, if this was 24 episodes they probably would have more time to plan the feelings and connections between the characters better and to showcase that.
So yeah, too rushed, and some questionable character choices. But not as bas as some other stuff I've seen lol
Pipe
Island an aberration for some, an acceptable series for few. For me, Island is a series that delivered a different story from the average anime and is more interesting than the generic seasonal series. Is it bad? Is it good? The answer is none; the anime is acceptable, it has good points and some disgusting events that mislead the spectator but in the end, I enjoyed the story. Perhaps the biggest grotesque event of this series is in episode 9. It helps to add fire to the opposition that considered Island as a pedophilic vessel, in my case, I got angry because those scenes arejust fanservice and are not needed. However, the show isn't searching to do that, but those events are disgusting and generate a repulsion towards the series. It is wrong saying that any spectator who watches Island is a pedophilic lover. The biggest mistake is the look of the characters but after paying attention to the plot, the age of the characters is not that young, but the perception is incorrect. Another mistake, unusual comedic events, they are poorly executed.
On the other hand, the plot complexity does not help to entertain the spectators. The plot is confusing, but if you spend some minutes understanding it, the outcome will be interesting to the point that you can like some twists and you can question about the Island history and existence. Additionally, all happens in a small portion of land where we can see how the persons inside believe in mythical stories involving the main characters in the present, past, and future (Setsuna and Rinne). Sadly, some parts of the plot give the sensation that is misplaced and leaves a gap that needs to be explained. Another factor that scares a lot of the spectators is the pacing. The pacing is not that bad. In a short amount of time the series setups an interesting concept full of mystery, fables, and love. Island could have improved with a better pacing and/or more information about the story.
The characters are not that amazing, they can be generic and not too special. However, I think it is intentional because in that way you can appreciate the contrast between Setsuna and Rinne and how they are related to the island fables. In addition, the main characters tend to lose their memory so it is obvious that they are not going to have a full background. My favorite character is Kuon because at the end of the series is a character that presented an important evolution. Kuon has more personality compared with the rest.
About the art and sound, the art isn't that generic. It is clean, smooth, and the colors are bright. However, the technique is incorrectly used. Since one of the main attractions of Island is the time travel, the artists couldn't find a middle point between young and old. They defined characters with a very youthful look misleading the viewers and affecting the outcome directly. It creates a wrongly pedophilic sensation with the slogan “Setsuna wants all these girls.” Maybe it was the fault of the director, but they wasted some acceptable art trying to create a failed visual contrast and a failed visual age gap between the characters. The result is inappropriate but I cannot dig the series for a mistake that comes from the Visual Novel. It is just the artist perception of the story.
The sound is acceptable and helps to guide the spectator when the climax changes. The OP is great if you pay attention to the lyrics and the catching rhytm while the ED is normal.
Should you watch Island? Maybe you can try the first episodes but have patience, the story is complex and you could notice some pacing and narrative issues. Honestly, the final score went up from 6.11 - 6.46 after the last two episodes. That indicates the show isn't abysmal.
fuck_bryan
"lol what??": The Anime. As a person who habitually watches trash anime for kicks and giggles, I jumped into Island expecting to laugh at all the wrong things, poke fun at the story, and generally have a blast watching through this summer's overblown soft-core hentai. Problem is, I didn't laugh. Not even at the mind-numbing ecchi scenes. Not even at our self-insert protagonist memeing his way into tight, questionably-aged thighs. Has it finally happened? Do I not find these types of shows morbidly entertaining anymore? Am I a normie? To make sure, I went back and re-watched an episode of Kiss x Sis. No, I still find badecchi animes supremely entertaining. When how come was Island making me more irritated as I watched on? Then I realized it: one of these animes finally did the impossible, and made a story that not only uninteresting, but painful to watch.
[VERY LIGHT SPOILERS (though idk why you would care)]
Story:
"This stupid anime makes no goddamn sense" ~one guy in the comments section of Episode 7
Island is about a young man who mysteriously washes up on a small, populated island, beached with only his wits and his alarmingly long, protagonist schlong to aid him. Cool. Within 30 seconds of the very first episode, one of the main heroines finds him, and promptly trips and falls face-first on his freshly-washed balls. While I greatly appreciated the big laugh I got from that scene, I realized rather quickly that the breakneck speed that episode 1 took would a be trend that would be this anime's ultimate failure as a half-way coherent story. The studio who developed the story board for Island thought that it would be a fantastic idea to cram 10000000000000+ arcs into a 12 episode time frame. Stop it. Don't do this. You're only confusing the audience.
Which brings me to my main gripe with this series: the story doesn't make sense in Island. To an infuriating extent. And to make matters worse, they shove this really bad time-travelling BS plot device down your throat, that never is fleshed out. I expected absolutely nothing from this garbage, and still left somehow disappointed.
Far be it for me to judge the plot of something I knew from the start was going to be retarded, but damn, stop trying to build the plot and throw a titty or two up on the screen, Island!
Characters:
At least the cast is small, thank god. You got four people:
Setsuna, the protagonist of this story. There's nothing to say about this guy, because he's a self-insert for basement dwellers. Nice when he needs to be, happy-go-lucky when appropriate, and absolutely useless when the plot needs to be dragged on. When one of the girls hits the protagonist with that classic "You're so nice" line, you already know he's got nothing going for him.
Rinne, the main heroine of the story. She's 17 years old ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), physically 23 ( ͡◉ ͜ʖ ͡◉), and lives with her recluse mom in a massive house. Your typical VN main girl waifu that has a mysterious background and a big problem that tied to everything else in the story.
Karen, the other girl. She's a 17 year old tsundere with daddy issues and an adventurous soul. Wants to leave the island. Oh, and she fell face-first into the protagonists nuts that one episode. Good times.
Sara, the third wheel. She's the loli of this dream-team cast. I actually don't really know what's up with her (the anime decides not to really deal with her lol), but her hair bothers me so I kind of just focus on that when she's on screen.
Sound:
Industry-standard. Opening and ending forgettable. All other sounds in this series are nothing to complain about--they're either too unexceptional to notice, or quite well-designed.
Animation:
Slightly above average. The girls are cute enough. The art style is uninspired and bland. Some series creators would kill for an animation budget like this though, so hey.
Enjoyment:
Haha.
TL;DR: 2/10. This ain't it, chief.
Mama_Mega
My experience with this anime that is... ALLEGEDLY a VN adaptation can be summarized in one word: "...what?" At least once, I found myself going back to the info page to make sure this was indeed the VN adaptation I was following this season, because it suffers from an issue I've never seen before in a VN adaptation (and I've seen plenty of subpar VN anime): every week, it felt like they were making it up as they went along. I'm not sure who's at fault for this, actually; whether the anime team didn't do a proper job explaining everything or the VN itself didn't dothat, but either way, I, the viewer, was left scratching my head.
The cause of all this confusion is that most ill-defined and whatever-they-want-it-to-be of plot devices, time travel. I recall something in the earlier episodes about one of the leads thinking they were from the past or something and one thinking they were from the future, then some side characters (who ultimately proved to be irrelevant) were given arcs lasting a couple episodes each, some of whom were convinced they were or had to become time travelers themselves, then they took away the protagonist's memory a second time or something and had him time travel again and suddenly the setting was totally different for just two episodes, and then the final episode with its final twists that feel like they thought them up in the week beforehand got even more ridiculous and I've given up trying to follow the order of events.
I was so clocked out trying to follow the plot, I had actually dropped it by episode 11. At the time, I was thinking the plot still made so little sense that they'd be making something like 16 total episodes to properly resolve everything in a way that made sense. It wasn't until I found out it suddenly ended at just 12 that I decided to watch that final episode. That final episode, I can summarize the same way I'd summarize this whole series: while it kind of has good character moments, I'm too busy not understanding what's going on to feel anything.
Kurgo
A ****show. That's what this anime is, an utter, unrepentant, disgraceful, atrocious, obnoxious, boring ****show. I've never given an anime such a low score before but this anime is just so bloody awful, it beggars belief. Disclaimer: I have only watched the anime, I have no idea about the original source that led to this adaptation and have no interest in it. Also, TL;DR at the end. The two things that bury this anime are, by far, the story (if one could even call it that) and the characters. I won't bother writing different sections to grade each thing separately, it's pointless, so I'll just whine aboutthe two worst things, ye've been warned.
The story is just atrocious. Even without knowing the original source, I can see that this needed A LOT more episodes than 12. Everything is jumbled together in such a nonsensical way that when the music ramps up for the "ta-daaaaaaaaa, plot twist!" moment I only felt extremely confused because I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to think. The gist of it is time travel, I guess. The amoeba and only man on the island thinks he travelled back through time to...there, I don't know. At one time I thought it was to save his daughter (that he very much felt like shagging when he didn't know she was his daughter, obviously) and at another time it felt like he needed to fix the problems that would lead to the future.
BUT NO! In the end, it was only about him ******* his old love, because the time machine isn't a time machine, it's a time stopping machine, whoever goes in has their time halted while the rest of the world keeps going on, and yet the island is still THE SAME, where all things happen the same bloody way in a continuous loop. This is so bloody retarded that I feel like my lowly IQ got shot a few points down just by trying to think about it again.
Story is a guy who flirts with 3 different girls, one of which his daughter, only to eventually marry his original girlfriend who of course used another time stopping machine (which conveniently awoke her a couple decades before him). That's it. It's atrociously stupid.
Characters. Oh boy. The thing I noticed the most is how death is treated here. A girl finds out her mother died and will you look at that, 5 seconds later and a quick transition is enough for her to be as cheerful as she was. And it's not the "oh I act cheerful but I'm so sad inside" kind of thing, she was LITERALLY as cheerful as before finding out her long lost mother had died.
The rest of the characters are useless. Pointless. Inconsequential. There is a miko whose only reason to exist is that her...future self, great great nephew, what-the-****-ever, has huuuuge oppai while she's as flat as an ironing board. That's it. Then there's the rebellious girl who treats her mother's passing like the death of an ant and whose only purpose is to lead the protagonist to another "time machine".
Then the two main ones. ****able daughter Rinne and only guy in the anime, known as Setsuna. Rinne is boring. I'd rather watch paint dry than having to listen to anything her character says. She has no personality, she just wants to shag Setsuna cos she feels so lonely and blahblahblah you get the point.
Setsuna himself is just "oh I have to help everyone and I have to save Rinne because oh I don't know, what's this feeling BLAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" ffs, I can't be bothered. He's an idiot, with no traits other than the I'llsaveeveryonecosI'mthehero one, he's not charming, he's not funny, he's not intelligent, he's not witty, he's the human equivalent of a room painted eggshell.
TL;DR I regret every single minute I spent watching this ****show. Please be smarter than me and DON'T waste your precious time with this sodding disaster of an anime.
AstolfoPlushh
I dont know why most all of the member of MAL score this badly In my opinion ISLAND have a unique story based on a Romantic, Sadness, and time travel. in beginning episode you will be find loli and other fucking stuff in it. but you must be know that most of all anime have an story introduction. i think most of all anime have story introduction in rage of episode 1 to episode 3 or 4. in beginning episode you shouldn't skip anything, just stay and watch it until finish. Because you will lose the main story in beginning. Next to the my score of this anime STORY (10/10) :Why i give 10/10? because main story in middle episode to the end of the story have unique atmosphere, that you won't miss any sec on this anime. (REMEMBER YOU SHOULDN'T SKIP THE BEGINNING OF ANIME OR YOU WILL LOSE THE CORE OF THIS ANIME)
ART (9/10) : I think all of the art is ok, i didn't see anything wrong in art section
Sound (9/10) : I don't know why but i feel the sound of this anime is good enough XD
Character (10/10) : For character i think this anime have very good art and animation
Enjoyment (10/10) : I belive if you watch lots of anime you can compare and says this anime is best from other drama anime (in this case anime like grisaia series that have dark story)
Overall I THINK 10/10 is worth
i think this anime will have same or maybe will above the grisaia series anime
PixEFit
A naked guy on a beach with amnesia wakes up with a girl laying face down on his dick. This is the first scene of Island, a show airing this summer anime 2018 season. Labeled as a drama sci fi show, Island takes place on an island that is isolated by the rest of the world. Bound by its old traditions, the island has its own social structure, which consists of their three families basically acting as major political figures on the island. Recently, the island has been under some distress and the families are under suspicion. These odd circumstances can only be solved bythe daughters of the three families, named Rinne Karen, and Sara, and by a mysterious man that washes up on the beach devoid of all memories. Except the fact that he is named Setsuna.
This show is quite obviously a visual novel. It has three girls, and a protagonist that looks generic as have the watcher imprint themselves on them, and a story that clearly shows all of the girl’s story options. Now me myself haven’t played or seen any gameplay of the game, but with basic visual novel tropes I can guess some things about the anime based on that. So the anime tried to adapt all of the endings and make it flow into a cohesive story. I feel as though this backfired though, because it feels suddenly split from one girl’s storyline to the next one, which made things more confusing for me. And it doesn’t help either that Sara and Karen’s story ended before the 6 or 7 episode mark. I guess in this visual novel there is a very specific girl you were meant to follow, and they tried to make the majority of the show about that. That in and of itself isn’t bad, but it feels like the other two stories were rushed. Especially with Sara’s story, where the revelation and the twist happened literally in the span of 10 minutes. It was resolved as soon as they knew what the problem was. And after both their stories were finished, they were forced to the sidelines almost immediately, now acting as side or even filler characters to react to what they protagonist and Rinne does.
Its mentioned in the synopsis that the island is cut off from the rest of the world, which suggests a more tropical, deserted island feeling. But, this isn’t the case at all, and is pretty industrialized for what it claims to be. It seems to be receiving manufactured goods, so the only way its cut off is that the families won’t let anybody enter or leave. Another issue is with the genre tags used for this show. The first half of the show doesn’t have anything to do with sci fi at all. Even some of the middle episode after that only hint at some ancient technology before we get hit all at once during the last 4 or so episodes. Before that its a slice of life drama with a piece of mystery through and through.
The characters in this show represent your basic girl tropes in anime. Karen is the blond hair tsundere who is the daughter of the family that currently runs things. Sara is a shrine girl loli that works really hard to compensate for her family that has gone off the map in terms of politics. And Rinne is the main girl which has the most backstory and development behind her. The protagonist I already touched on as being your typical anime protagonist. I can’t say the any of them are good characters. There are always leaps in logic and stuff that should have been obvious, but wasn’t. It doesn’t go far beyond in accordance to their personalities. They’re mostly carried by their stories.
Island’s story is confusing, rushed, and boring. The first 6 episodes were very very slow, almost completely ignoring the sci fi tag. And even when they did go into the mystery more, I just ended up not caring for anything they were showing me. Or in this case, telling me. Maybe if this show was more then one cour or season, they would have had the time to flesh out the stories of each character more. I feel like they stories they presented were genuinely interesting, but it was just presented in such a way to the point where it became a snooze fest full of characters I don’t care about.
The art in this show is below average. In terms of both character art as well as background art. On a tropical island, you were expect to get long shots of beautiful beaches or some pretty pictures of some of the scenery you would see. Island has that, but they don’t look good in the slightest. If the show takes place in a setting where it's supposed to be bright sunny and beautiful, I would assume you would spend more of the budget on its art. This show’s animation is also sub par. Its very stiff and it doesn’t do much extra when it comes to its “action” scenes. It's not on the lowest tier of animation I’ve seen, but it's enough to notice that something is wrong here.
Island, for me, felt like it had more to say. But its short run time made it feel like they didn’t get enough stuff into it as they would’ve liked. Anyway, the end result is a bad show all around. I recommend this to someone who wouldn’t mind waiting for a while to watch a only decent sci fi mystery. Maybe someone else can appreciate Island more than I could. I give this show a 3 out of 10. This has been PixEFit’s spoiler free, but not really anime review on Island.
Tokumia
TL;DR: An anime that barely connects its mysteries to develop a romance While Island is trying to be one of the remarkable romance, mystery anime, the outcomes are pretty unsatisfactory, as it barely connects the mysteries around and develops a romance story. I would say Island is an average show, but can't be considered as a masterpiece, as it can have a better story presentation, rather than things I just saw in the anime. +Kinda dense mystery elements +It can be considered as a complete story at the end +Colourful animation +The bond between main protagonists is presented +Usage of soundtrack and music are pretty cool -Bland characters, especiallyfor side characters
-Strange story pace
-The characters designs are pretty much similar
To begin with, people considered Island as a fan-service anime, but at the end, you'll be shocked or confused to realise that it's not really the case, as at the end, you will need to figure out the mysteries settled by the settings and most likely you may need to compare the story differences and try to figure what Island is trying to present. I think most people who watch Island in seasonal would have this kind of issue, as the story pace is rather strange and may suddenly have plot elements that you wouldn't expect and may even misunderstanding the ideas of Island, like considering it is just a harem anime or a fan-service anime.I could understand why people think like that, as at first, Island is really like a fan-service anime with many unnecessary fan-service or comedy elements. This is a really common error in most anime that they should present the story in a better way, rather than just rush it at the end, anime fans wouldn't be impressed even the ending is a good ending or bad ending, as in general the story is really feeling bland and the characters are easily forgettable.
Speaking of anime characters, although Island tries to focus on the bond between Rinne and Setsuna at first, the efforts are ruined because of the plot twists. This is kinda strange to say that because plot twists usually contribute well to the story, but in fact plot twists are too late to be developed and there's not much character development because of the poor story presentation, like the strange story pace in this anime. Side characters like Karen and Sara are even more bland because in Island, it's either they're acting like a harem character or it just a minor character that barely contribute to the plot and at the end, I don't really know what the side characters are doing to be honest, they're just really bland and lame.
In a nutshell, Island is really trying to bring out a refreshing romance mystery anime, together with the desire that the main characters want to love each other with a few plot twists, but turns out pretty bad due to a poor story presentation. It's really disappointing that with such great potential, Island could be a great visual novel adaptation, but it ends up like important plot elements are packed and rushed at the end and fan-service is placed in the beginning, like a harem anime.
At the end, let's talk about the animation and sound usage. Well, Island does have kinda good animation, like the visuals used in the Island, the sunlight reflected on the clear sea water, but the character designs are looking too similar, same eye and face shape for female characters, they just change the hairstyle and the colours, others are looking the same if you realise that. Great and nice opening and ending songs, soundtracks and background music are used pretty well, they're kinda fit into the atmosphere. Sadly, this is the one only aspect I think Island is doing great.
For those who are considering to watch this, either you watch other anime or you should consider whether you'd enjoy a dense and packed romance and mystery anime or not.
Story: 5.5/10 (D+) (35%)
Animation: 7/10 (B) (10%)
Sound: 7.5/10 (B+) (10%)
Characters: 5/10 (D) (25%)
Enjoyment: 6/10 (C) (20%)
Overall rating: 6/10 (C)
momentie
A Brief Study of Visual Novels - On Mother's, Lolita's, Freud and 'Island'. The visual novel genre of anime adaptations is my favourite genre with-in the medium and quite possibly one of my top 5 of all media. This isn't to say I'm some sort of expert or authority on the genre - On the contrary I haven't even seen that many and played even less. Yet this is non-the-less my favourite genre. For this brief study of some of it's core themes and how those relate to modern stories like our anime focus of 2018's 'Island' adaptation - It's pertinent to firstclarify a few things.
For one I'll be freely speaking on Island, including any and all spoilers.
Two I'll also elude to a number of other novels and anime, though I'll add appropriate spoiler warnings for the most important details but be warned in advance.
Third is where we can start our actual discussion. Visual Novels have an odd reputation in anime as in a sense they represent everything we both love and everything the public discredits about the medium - Aside from gaint robots(for the most part).
We got harems as a primary focus, coupled with escapism and touch of heintai for good measure. Further regular set-dressings include fantasy, Sci-fi, military and even Magical Girls - But what we also have is some of the most passion filled and talented productions and writing available to this whole industry.
For my part it may help to understand I come from a somewhat A-typical perspective on this, in that I by rights have zero interest in the VN genre. I've no desire to be a high-Scholler again - Indeed in the few years of working and learning since I finished school life I believe I've learned more then I ever did in those 14 years of public schooling.
Further I see little appeal to being surrounded by a half-dozen mentally fractured young women on a regular basis.
But regardless I find this genre enchanting and genre is a key-word here. Visual novels are Genre-fiction at there finest. Let's do away with a misconception right now, anime as a medium is not one entity or genre but it is filled with them in abundance.
There is nothing wrong with every harem show and isekai having a Tsundere in and of itself(The problems are broadly speaking their execution and lack of development). That is how common-fiction works.
Beam Sabers in Gundam are unapologetically based off lightsabres and in turn the Jedi of Star-Wars are unmistakable Male Bene-Gesset from Dune - So on, so on.
The point of genre fiction is to build and comment and create based on all that came before it and that's not a bad thing.
If every-book built on every prior book, then by logic they should always be improving and that's one part of what makes visual novels so engaging, because you can see that conversation in play in a truly wonderful fashion.
I watched the 'Planetarian Man of the Stars' film recently and I had this to say to my Brazilian friend whom has never watched any Studio Key products before;
"I always think before I watch something adapted from studio Key that 'This time it won't be as good, this time I'll be numb to the feels' - and yet despite the fact I know these stories are written to make you sad and in spite of the fact I can predict almost every twist a mile before it happens.....I'm still blown away every single time God-Damnit"
I have no interest in heintai stills, nor in being a student with amnesia or some edgy backstory. I don't particularly desire to live in most of these worlds but these worlds are most certainly beautiful in a way I don't find anywhere else. There our world, Earth, Terra Firma - Yet in a way so much more. I read someone once say; "When you watch the Clanned anime your watching Tomyio's journey which is great, but when you play Clanned you are Tomyio in his world, on your journey".
If in all that mess I've managed to convey my surface feelings even a little on what this genre is to me without losing everyone who migth of had the faintest of interests in this 2 year old topic - Then it's time to get into the proper meat of todays essay - Island.
Island is Bizarre;
Island is a strange anime in that it's a tale of two half's, its the type of anime I sometimes refer to as a Rose; Beautiful in an emotionally resonant fashion that's hard to explain but ultimately kind of pointless. The sort of text that fades with time, wilts in the mind as it were - as that initial beauty is shadowed and all your left with is a fairly useless dead plant.
Island is well made, there can be no doubt of that. The animation is gorgeous, the character designs distinct and the music on par with all it's contemporise while fitting perfectly, all matched by a competent direction.
But equally Island is Balmy. It goes in far to hard with it's sci-fi elements, gets lost in the a quagmire of sudo-science, with plot holes so large that the pages start to crumple and it's characters though endearing fail to be anything of real substance.
Island doesn't really seem to be saying anything and yet thrust me when I say it is inferring towards everything. The fixation of the community with the Lolita architype, that most complex of fantasy that lead you to both threat someone as daughter and spouse at the same time.
It has further focuses on the family theme that so many before it have done so wonderfully but here it's almost Freudian in nature.
And of course it's active commentary on what any of this means on if Visual Novels are, are.... good?
How much of this is deliberate? How much a product of a hyper compressed video game, how much simply there to intrigue the audience into watching and spending their hard earned cash? Those aren't really the questions that fascinate me and it's for that reason that I haven't played the game in order to write this review - I have however read/played Front-Wings other flagship name 'The fruit of Grissia' and with that in mind there is alot to discuss here.
I struggled with this one for a while and I doubt anyone will read this essay because it is mostly insanity. I don't know why I'm fixated on Island but I am, its like the focal point of anime all at once. The pinnacle of modern techniques while also the perfect examples of how not to write a meaningful story. It's seemingly in conversation with everything at once, while also totally missing the point of all that came before it.
It may be a Rose to look at and listen to but it's a dumpster fire of a story and yet here I am, having rewatched Island, having first watched it when it aired. Here I am weeks later still thinking about that rewatch. Still thinking about anime.
But let's slow down for a moment and try to recompose ourselves a little. To reacquaint with the story a little (atleast as I understood it), The man Setsuna repeats what he believe to be a time-loop at nauseum. In reality this loop is actually him only ever moving forwards in time which for some reason seems to reset and then re-enact itself with pin-point accuracy time and again.
Ultimately the women Rinie who follows a similar path(maybe), while possibly de-aging and quite probably giving birth to identical children repeatedly - Finally matches with Setsuna, who almost bangs their daughter(Rinie Jr) by accident before the two live happily ever after.
Not to mention the first few episodes which centre upon other semi-related girls. Phew that's alot of damage.
If were feeling generous we could say the loop only occurs three times. If this is the case then theoretically that would mean our Setsuna is originally from the future Steampunk world and that Rinie has only given birth three times and only de-aged twice (This owing to the fact that the two have to be both moving forward as the one rule there clear on is that you can't go backwards - Ergo timeline 1-Rinie and steampunk-world Rinie as well as timeline 2 and steampunk + Timeline-0 Rinie are all the same individual, otherwise Rinie Jr(their daughter) literally can't exist in Timeline 1 and 2).
But who cares about this monumental cluster-f*ck of a plot, no what I want to talk about is Why it's like this. Let's talk about moms.
VN's - Happy Families;
If you haven't noticed already, visual novels have something of a fixation on families and more often then not Mothers. Now when I say noticed make sure you really have because bizarrely enough most seemingly haven't.
The best example of this is 'Under the Scope'(UTS) - A critic who's seen more anime then me, is better read then me and generally a greater intellect but as far as I can tell doesn't see this theme.
What that is to say is that 'family' is not a theme of any one visual novel and it's subsequent show but rather as a theme of the entire genre. 'Family' is to visual novels, what the 'Hero's Journey' is to Fantasy.
This is shown most with Air, often seen as the troublesome, rushed sibling of the Kyo-Ani/ Key trilogy UTS says he feels Air is weaker for it's lack of tied arcs and lessons for the protag to learn, that the flashback Arc is essentially superfluous - All the while missing the key, the point to the whole thing - Family.
Clanned may be the apex of this which he himself has praised in other brilliant videos but it was by no means the start, and most certainly isn't the end. Almost all of those in the genre are commenting on family in really fascinating ways - It is maybe thee most common and important theme through all these games and adaptations. Clanned is in truth just the extension of Air's themes. Clanned needs Air to exist, it is building off of the groundwork Air lays - That is what I mean by Genre fiction at it's finest, the foundations of your house may not be as pretty as the rest but they are just as valid, important and deserving of our respect and proper contemplation.
We need this bigger picture, this greater whole of the puzzle in order to properly understand what a creator migth be trying to say with so many of these stories - Doubly so in the case of Island.
[Air Spoilers in the following paragraphs] I mentioned Air with good cause. Air and Island are almost the same story. The first set of episodes for each are short characters focused stories, the second half's both embrace their supernatural elements with episode long spanning cut-aways to far-grander stories of alternate genres before finally returning to subvert our expectations - But the difference here is what counts.
Air never loses sight of it's through-line. Dead moms, forgetful/neglectful mums, separated moms and adopted mums. In the end it is a mother who gives the story it's emotional apex, not the protagonist and this is so important and so brilliantly done but for now let's just focus on how that relates/retains to Island [Air Spoilers End]
Island in contrast while equalling holding onto a theme of motherhood;- a story of missing moms, possibly being your own mom and mysterious mums - ultimately takes this somewhere truly different.
By having Rinie and Setsuna end up together you suggest something very different to your predecessors. Putting aside how it side-lines all the other cast-members and creates gapping continuity errors - It begs the question of - Wtaf?
Why bother with the first three girl's? Why bother with all that set up, all those shenanigans. Wouldn't having made it a more straight forward story of star-crossed lovers of been more logical with actual build-up to Rinie's true identity. Why all the red-herrings, just to kill time or to cram in parts of the other girls endings from the games?
Maybe we'll never know that answer but what we can see is how it acts as a response to the greater narrative. To the narrative that is the Vn legacy, as a response to studio Key in particular.
Anyone for Sigmund Freud?
I sometimes wonder if the early Vn creators all got together at a book club where they read from Freud's work and then decided to bizarrely base most of their future narratives around it, because boy does this guys ideas come up ALOT in Japanese culture in general.
((I'll try to keep the technical bits to a minimum as I neither want to bore anyone and I'm not expert enough on the topic, however it's well worth reading into for some interesting insight into the birth of psychoanalysis))
Freud is probably most famous in pop-culture/on the internet for his theories on Mothers and the idea that we all look for our mother in potential spouses but Anime has a slightly more alarming inclination.
lolicon or lolis more colloquially can mean a great many things to a great many people. Traditionally with-in anime it meant a certain figure rather then actually referring to it's Russian book origins, thought more recently it's ever more frequently bundled with incest and age gaps.
The loli is a visual novel staple and much like the theme of Family we'd be foolish not to try and understand how this concept has been developed over the years, especially when Island opts for arguably 4 (Five counting future Karen) lolis to take the place of it's lead women.
Of course you opinion on them may vary, understandably but for myself what I find most interesting is the way in which each novel choices to face this moral dilemma, fascinating even.
--We have the likes of Fruit of Grissia, (Island's bedfellow) which is maybe the most open about it. It embraces the idea of the loli character as both someone the protagonist wants
to protect but also be with, all while opting for a truly Freudian mind-set.
[Grissia Game Spoiler Ahoy/Ahead] Makina come's from a troubled background with only her father ever truly loving her. This ends badly owing to his death, which she
witnesses....before having to watch his corpse slowly degrade.....( I swear Grissia is a fun and relaxing game...).
This unsurprisingly leaves Makina with a messed up mind, to the point that at times she is a conniving, photographic memory holding, fun-loving genius - matched only by her
childish speech patterns and fits of complete helplessness like that of a young child.
It's this that makes Grissia's approach so interesting. Makina is searching for family both from necessity and as a coping mechanism for what she's lost both literally and
figuratively. This is why she decrees Yuji her bother and later her Father but equalling telling is her treatment of Amane.
Amane is referred to as Nee-Chan (Big Sister) but threated as her surget mother. This we can easily infer relates to the fact Makina has no good experience with moms. She isn't
looking for a mother but she does still hold onto the feelings of wanting a sister - Hence Amana is her beloved fictional sister and Yuji her genuinely caring Father.
Grissia also opts to have Makina be a traditional Loli in that she's barely a year younger then Yuji and design wise is fairly similar in proportion to the others once you consider the
role her clothing plays in making her 'child like' (Something Shuffle highlighted the power of some years prior.)
Ultimately Grissia is telling a very complex tale here as Yuji is a fairly defined character himself in comparison to alot of Vn Player-Characters. Yuji actually gets some fairly detailed
reasons for wanting to be with Makina, rather then it just being a case of the player making a somewhat troublesome choice.
His life has been remarkably similar in a round about fashion. Most importantly Yuji has found parental and guardian figures in those around him - With his Sister then later sensei
and Harudera-san all shaping the direction of his life.
It's through this Yuji decides to become Makina's 'Father', then falling in love with her as the two continue down their tumultuous journey.
Interestingly by the stories end Makina is depicted one of two ways, as either completely broken as a consequence of her Freudian love life going wrong and leaving her with no
support what-so-ever - or as someone who finally matures and becomes 'a respectable young lady'.
These are quite clearly two very different takes on the concept, both are remarkably fascinating but interestingly neither are actually shown as morally good.
Makina needs help and Yuji freely admits his method is abnormal but equally the two are actually pretty similar in age so ultimately it comes across as more of two mentally and
emotionally stunted people falling in love.
Also it's worth noting that neither ending is really portraited as truly being 'good', they're quiet ambiguous in fact. Even in the better ending Makina is still dragged in the mud, Yuji
maimed and the constant threat of being called upon for active duty or tracked down by Makina's disgruntled mother are all very real threats. It's an unusual and grey ending to an
unusual tale.
For now keep this example in mind, as while obviously not made by identical teams it will be most pertinent to compare this when loping back around to Island's handingly of
this dynamic.
Of this innate 'fetish' so many young adults in Japan appear to have of both wanting someone to protect like a daughter while also to be their lover. A consequence of wanting to
be dominant or maybe of being neglected themselves as children and confusing an urge to be better to the next generation with some perverse attraction? Let's have a look at
some other takes to see what they recon in this matter.[Grissia Spoilers End]
--Shuffle is the anime I wrote a 43,000 word retrospective on and it being a Vn to boot makes it's inclusion here a given but not without good cause. Primula is the ideal of the
Lolita architype, however where Makina is acceptance of this troop in it's entirety, the anime depiction of Shuffle is a form of repentance as it were.
[Shuffle Anime Spoilers Ahead/Ahoy] With primula the anime takes full use of it's medium to depict it's loli theme, drawing primula in a manner of ways, sometimes to the point she
blends seamlessly with the other girls and other times as though she were a half decade younger. This continues into her clothing which is similarly used to illustrate her
relationship position with any given character or scene.
With Primula we have someone who is very vulnerable and could quite easily be taken advantage off. This is made most clear when Keade inadvertently starts grooming her to be a
housewife seemingly without even realising it.
The anime tries to draw an interesting distinction with the guardian-to-Lover dynamic by having it be that the protagonist has no interest in Primula as a spouse and she in turn has
no understanding of sexuality. It is only after her duo of arcs that Primula has matured into enough of a person that she starts to actively pursue Rin.
The show itself frequently leaves her out of group harem shots and even promotional material for much of it's run. Primula only becomes a traditional loli around episode 22
because the point the show is trying to get across (among others) is that really fans of lolis aren't (or shouldn't ) attracted to the vulnerable deadpan persona but simply to a
drawn aesthetic, that it's ok for them to want to protect a kid better then they're parents maybe did, so long as they understand the difference between lover and protector.
[Shuffle Anime Spoilers Over/End].
It's a more positive outlook to be sure and while I could go on about Primula to some detail, lets get back to our central point with the third major example of the VN loli, one it
shares most with the regular romcom/harem genre.
--'If My Heart had Wings' focuses in on the idea of disturbed youths either physically or mentally and their struggles to make they're way through love....or if your playing the
English version not those things because God forbid the American audience be exposed to ideas of..... Sex? Mental Disability? Young people discovering sexuality?
Never-mind that, what important to highlight here is the use of the Classic-Japanese-Women-Complex(CJWC);
This one comes up alot in the 90s and 2000s, in essence a character is only a Loli in that their short or unblessed in the chest. Think your Taiga's, Louise's, Shana's, Nagi's, Rukia
etc etc. They are anime girl's often in a female lead position whom are the roughly the same age as the rest of the cast and who's arc's will often times orbit around the fact that
they get threated differently or feel insecure in part over their stature.
While I don't think this is generally written on behalf of the female gender of Japan (though their are some examples of this contained within the Shojo genre), I do believe it's
important to understand that it is most firmly rooted into Japanese culture.
Rightfully or wrongfully the Japanese women is known for being petite, poorly endowed and pale skinned. It has been apart of their cultural consciousness traditionally speaking
and it often-times manifests in anime as essentially an easy way to characterise a female lead and hypothetically there's nothing wrong with that.
Taking Louise as an example her stature is linked with her lack of power and troubled social position with-in society, making it a solid and thematic design choice. Similarly Shana's
underdevelopment is used to quickly convey the tragedy of her lack of growth and identity as a human due to her life-long pledge to be an immortal demon hunter.
Furthermore the aesthetic can also oftentimes be a 'Moe' thing. This is most common in key's work with soft outlines and pudgy faces galore. It's hard for example to actually
distinguish the lolis from the regular teenagers in something like Kanon and even to an extend Clanned (Though Air is general a bit better at this).
In the case of if my Heart had Wings the Loli twins are indeed a little younger then the cast and certainly more underdeveloped, however as can often be the case they fall into the
CJWC by merit of the stature becoming the core of an arc with both having separate mental hang-ups, to which they youthful appearance hinders even further.
You could certainly argue this breed of loli is the most causal, there nothing particular paedophilic about Taiga from Toradora for example but they're also isn't much thematic
reasoning made clear for her height (we have no reason to believe she's long term under-nourished/physically abused nor is it particularly important to her arc.).
In a case like hers its more for comedic purposes or visual iconography then anything much else - And this is important to keep in mind as we decipher Island.
Speaking of let's finally do that. Working backwards we can safely say that Karen is the least Lolita of the group and what of her that those atone to these design philosophy's/elements is mainly owing to the style of the game and artist - landing her safely in the CJWC category.
I'd suggest the same applies to Sara whom age wise is no younger then the main cast and her design is both for comedy purposes and to feed into her own narrative. She is a little too child-like for comfort but overall I don't think there's much to analysis here.
Finally we got the core of the show Rinie and Rinie Jr. This is what ties it all together because in Rinie we have the most bizarre of circumstance. We watch as young-SteamPunk-Rinie (who is the most loli of the bunch) falls in love with and has intercourse to Setsuna, then we watch her fail to intervene in; first the death of her daughter and second the almost sexual relationship between her lover and her/his/their daughter.
And well I doubt I need make it clear this falls well with-in our Freudian category.
What fascinates me with islands approach is that despite being framed as a happy ending with the two star-crossed lovers being reunited, in reality it's almost dark in it's messaging.
It seems to be embracing the guardian-to-lover relationship even more so then Grissia did a few years prior, saying that you are in love with your daughter, you want to make love to them and then afterwards you want them to give birth to a new daughter so that you can have your surget daughter be your permanent lover, with daughter B filling the roll of your protected person.
Now to be fair it isn't quite that messed up if you ignore the blatant subtext, Rinie is depicted in the steampunk world as being more of a companion and equal to Setsuna then Rinie Jr ever was but the undercurrent is certainly present and disturbing in what it's suggesting.
This idea that we want the loli but just for a bit or that we want to nurture and protect the loli so that it can reach adulthood and then be our waifu for laifu?
Indeed we can choose to be more generous, to state that Setsuna was always just trying to look out for his friends and daughter in the first half, that there was never any sexual tension between any of them but then why the change in policy when in steampunk land? Its suggested he can sense that sub-consciously that Rinie Jr is his daughter but she can't do the opposite.
And what of Rinie Jr herself. As a consequence of everything that unfolds her character rather gets assassinated, with her eventually just deciding to hand her saviour over to her mom like it was a completely natural action despite never having any sort of build up to suggest she was hoping for such a happening, or even any scenes of the two being, ya know parent and child (mostly because they want to keep teasing that they migth be clones or some crap).
To me intentional or not Island seems to be making some rather extreme extrapolations of the pre-existing issue of the loli.
It doesn't try to reason it out like Grissia, it isn't a design choice like If My Heart Had Wings and it surely isn't an honest deconstruction like Shuffle. If anything it comes across as confused but still actively trying to say....something?
And that there is what's so interesting about Island because in order to make any sense from it what-so-ever, one is almost required to look at the VN genre from a much wider perspective and I think there's an odd sort of value in that.
With that said I think it's time we came to a conclusion on this weird, rushed and bizarre little VN adaptation and finish our thesis on the shared themes of the Visual Novel.
Studio 'Feel' Kind of Suck;
Studio Feel are a bit of a strange beast, to me their indictive of alot of the modern anime scene. Their animation is generic but undeniable strong, there music department is cutting edge (well atleast Front-Wing's is anyway) but they have this odd habit of rushing things, taking on massive ideas they can't possibly handle and then sort of just giving up on those ideas part-ways through before settling for surprisingly conclusive yet complete unfinished endings.
In summation Studio Feel strikes me as not really being for anyone. I cant see many fans of Island being particularly happy to have their beloved stories compressed and bastardized into a far too short pointless run but at the same time they are of such a quality level that's it's genuinely hard to say if it's the studios fault or that of the media they chose to adapt.
They sort of fail at having much more of an identity then that one crew that does ecchi sometimes. 'Got an eroge with the bones of a story which Kyo-Ani and even JC won't accept because it's got actual loli sex? - Well then Feel's the studio for you!'.
I mean they did make Hinamatsuri so maybe they aren't completely hopeless......It feels(pardon the pun) like they're just a bit directionless. Willing to throw decent money at something but not actually do it justice. That is the thinking behind Island the anime and it presents a fairly common and unfortunate trend present in the industry as a general whole
But even putting aside the studio behind the camera - Island gives something that, as I should of made clear by now, is hard to come to terms with.
I've mentioned a few times that I played a few choice routes from Grissia before this review, in fact it was in large part the Front-wing logo that made me want to go back and see if Island was as bad as I remember - Because make no mistake, Grissia is brilliant. From it's immersive and completely voiced dialogue to it's expansive Ost and well though out stories. Add to this the fact the localisation team did it justice by leaving in dialogue retaining to mature themes, while simply removing the X-scenes themselves in a rather tasteful move and you've got one heck of a high quality novel.
And so putting all cards on the table maybe it's as simple as that. Maybe my pursuit to give Island the benefit of the doubt is purely based on the bias that it has a good
production-house label but honestly I do think there's something more here.
I believe with a full run you could do this justice. Island's problems as is, retain to it leaning in to hard. Using Grissia as example, the fact that book is predicated on Yuji being a high-schooler who at some point has had time to attend American special forces military training, be though by a master up in the mountains and serve a lengthy period for the Japanese government - doesn't matter.
Don't get me wrong, it does matter as it informs his character, which like we mentioned earlier leads to interesting developments in the likes of the Makina arc but what I mean to say is it isn't really ever the focus.
Even when Yuji teaches Sachi how to diffuse a bomb, or Makina how to use a sniper rifle - It's either done for laughs or more likely to say something either about the girl in question or Yuji himself. In reality it's actually a fairly basic facet of writing that alot of people seem to overlook and is especially important when speaking in relation to genre fiction.
What's happening in a story that's essentially been told before, doesn't really matter - What counts is how the characters or world interact with it based on the experience and opinions of the author who's currently writing it. Like how stories passed down by word of mouth change with each generation and in doing so constantly stay relevant and important, genre (should) do much the same.
The robots in Gundam, no matter how cool or how much Bandai would like you to think otherwise - Don't matter an iota. They are just a symbol, one for weapons in general, or power or authority. The ultimate proof of this from anime is something like Ryvious, a show with a powerful giant robot but where a single gun is by far the most important possession on the whole ship/of the whole series.
This is what Island seems to get completely wrong and what makes it feel so off. Sure you can have a focus on time-travel that only functions in one direction, predicated on the baffling but totally fine idea that the world is infinitely starting and then restarting - However you can't do that and also try to tell a star-crossed lovers story and 3 other girls loosely linked stories and and and.
Island is ambitious but sloppy in execution. We see this again with what we've spoken on regarding mothers. Almost all visual novels use them in some way (school days as an extra example uses the absents of mothers/adults as a way of making it's stance clear on parenting), however Island decides to really hone in on this connection to an absurd degree that doesn't really mean anything or have any consequences other then the generation of a world shattering plot holes.
So would I recommend Island to anyone? Bizarrely kind of-
If you like a good Rose, a beautiful production that can give you some odd feelings then Island is strangely compelling. That feeling migth not actually be enough to get you to finish it but I think most can enjoy the baffling ride that is every episode of this show and for those of an inquiring mind, trying not to decipher it's silly mysterious but rather it's place with-in the Visual-Novel canon as a whole can be genuinely fascinating.
I'd be remise not to mention music at some point wouldn't I?
Another potential point in favour of the visual novel is that if it is anyways similar to Grissia then it's highly likely most of the score, including vocal pieces, comes from the game in origin rather then the studio commissioning a half-dozen surplus pieces.
Whatever the case I love Island's score, I'd go as far as to say it's superb. It fits every situation including an array of tension building tracks that probably belong in a better anime.
There's something magical about it's opening and ending. No matter how reluctant I was to keep watching, the second those damn tunes would start I'd be back on board the hype train and that's worthy of praise. Island's mediocre montage scenes are infinitely lifted by the inclusion of one off pieces that make them feel honest, vibrant and impactful. Its atmosphere -weather it be the gloomy use of string instruments, the sad twang of the violin or the carefree whistling of the island's isolated beauty - This is truly a top notch score.
Which is actually a little surprizing. A lot of light novels adaptions struggle to match the brilliance of Kyo-Ani's Key trilogy. For example the Op for Little Busters clearly belongs as a Shakugan no Shana Op but with that said Island isn't the only example of this.
No music is part of what makes this genre so great. Play any track from If my Heart had Wings, even the cheerful upbeat ones, from an Ost that all told is generally pretty limited in it's variety of none synthesised instruments - play any of them and I'm breaking apart.
The effect that game's score has is truly art. It's ability to take a game with borderline no dialogue options and no voiced lines - to take that and turn it into something mesmerising, to fully immerse me in that world, is just awestriking. The Ost of Heart is it's identity, it brings that world and those character's, nay those people(because the character writing of good Vn's is a whole other body of brilliant work) to life in a way few soundtracks can match, even those of Kyoto Animation and Jun Meade.
I only wish I had the learning and the words to do these great soundtracks better justice in this here review but all told I struggle to think of a genre where the Ost's are consistently this good, this fitting and this memorable and none of that is to even touch on the work of the amazing aforementioned Kyo Ani and Key.
I Hate Ignorance;
This is a complicated topic no doubt and I must admit it's maybe my most self-indulgent essay to date other then possibly the Shuffle Retrospective. As Toni Morrison (rest her soul) said, 'I write the stories I want to read' and that seems apt here.
As a study this could easily be interpreted as me essentially expelling at random all my thoughts on the various Vn I've watched and read as of late and that's definitely true.
Ever since I watched Air a few months back and then Island after it, I've been writing reviews for them both in my head but being unable to describe it. Unable to put words to why I love Air so much, while Island fails so badly. It was in a sense only by putting the two together into my greater understanding of the genre as a whole that I could settle my thoughts on these two texts.
So yes this is just the surface-most level of a few months of internal ramblings but I think that's ok. I like contemplating a work over time, to meditate on it so to speak and that's something this community or media analysis in general seems to be woefully lacking in.
In a weird way it feels this essay is one that while not as detailed as some of my others, brings together everything I've though about in relation to anime media over this last year of reviewing. In my 'Imposing the standards of the West' essay I spoke much on Shotacon and mentioned how I desired to examine Loli culture more closely and well I guess we got there eventually.
I've been thinking about visual novels since even before my first review and I'm glad to hark back to a bit of the Shuffle and School Days essays as useful context here and really the fact I had to think, that my mind refused to drop this topic, I think says something else -- That I'm a wierdo.
Ahem, that is to say that I hope more people will come to understand the media they consume, to take there time with it. Do Not Let Anime Be A Job. F*ck seasonal viewing, go and watch something great form the 80s instead. Re-watch your favourite show from the 90's and when you here the thrash-taste 'bois' say Familiar of Zero is something they'd of liked as teens but 'probably' not now, be the one to actually go back and watch it and form your own opinions.
When I say I hate ignorance it may come across as quite hostile but I by no means am saying I hate 'ignorant people', on the contrary how can you hate someone for not knowing--
Here in Ireland, during the pandemic they're were a couple of X-anti-vacers featured on the news. One had lost a family member and the other had been hospitalised and learned to appreciated the work of our health service because of the hard work the nurses and doctors put into saving her life. The two (and probably more, I ain't omni-present ;D) were obviously advocating for people to be more careful and take the covids seriously.
What struck me as important in all this however was how one would fairly frequently hear from totally reasonable and learned people the following sentiment - "Serves them right, the idiots".
To me there is no greater ignorance then that. The ignorance that let's you think it's ok to write off all flat-earthers and anti-vacers. Anyone who would causally wish ill on another whom lost the life of a loved one is truly the blind one.
No 9/11 or Pearl-Harbour conspiracy-theorist deserves to be scorned, they deserved better from life. We should all be joint in hate for the fact that the system lets this happens, heck most countries in the world encourage ignorance.
An ignorant population is far easier to control then an aware one. You can't get a population that understand their environment to vote for Brexit or Trump or Johnson or Bolsonaro. It's the mass coercion of people who are just looking to make sense of the world like we all are.
The people who can't find work, who's father couldn't find work and his father. The people who want an explanation for why the news is telling them constantly the world is gonna end in ten different ways, all while reminding them, their and their mother's Gods are false and never existed. The people who's pitiful 9 to 5 jobs know will never amount to anything meaningful that won't fade to dust as they drown their precious hours away with no greater goals then to procreate for the next generation while never achieving their own dreams or personal fulfilment.
The world is too complicated and too sad to break into black and white, Vacs or Anti-Vacs, Pro Abortion or Pro life, Red or Blue.
None of us can change the world but we can change ourselves, we can opt to understand the media we consume, to be informed on the people and propositions we vote for. We can, impossible or otherwise, try to live what we believe to be 'good' lives.
Visual Novel Adaptations are my favourite anime genre. I haven't seen that many and I'm certainly no expert or authority on the matter but none-the-less I think them to be reliably the finest this medium has to offer. I think Island, Sub-par by its peers standards - To be worthy of consideration and a perfect prism to further our collective understanding of this strange little corner of the genre--
I think good stories are pretty neat and this is my favourite genre for those stories.
I hope you've somehow enjoyed. To hear me speak more on anime as the safest place for young people's sexual exploration check out my 'Imposing the Standards of the West' essay and for more detail on Vn's and harem culture try my work on School Days, Shuffle and Redo of Healer.
Moreover I don't really time when these reviews come out (I just write what come's to me,) so feel free to take this as both my 25th review and 1 year reviewing special.
And if your feeling generous hit that 'helpful button' below (turns phones to 'desktop mode' in the top right hand corner of the browser) And--
Thanks for reading.
twilyopal
I’m just going to cut right to the chase, as this isn’t a review, but rather a suggestion to everyone who is either interested in watching Island, or is a player of the visual novel who wants to see how the show stacks up to the source material. All I can say is, please don’t waste your time on this. As for anime-only’s, please play the visual novel instead. The visual novel is one of the best I’ve read in quite a while, and it’s definitely worth playing for it’s 30-50 hour length. And if you’ve seen or played The Fruit of Grisaia, the game is madeby the same exact people, so go for it!
As for the group of people (including myself) who have either watched a playthrough or have read the entirety of Island, the anime doesn’t do it justice. Comparing it to the visual novel isn’t even necessary, as comparing the visual novel to the anime adaptation is the same at putting a diamond ring next to a trash can, and playing ‘spot the difference’.
Whether you’re an anime-only or a fan of the original source material, just don’t waste your time watching the anime adaptation. The visual novel will leave much more of a lasting impression on you them the anime ever would.
The visuals may look nice, but in the end it’s a piss-poor adaptation of an excellent visual novel.
MouradSME
A'ight, here's the thing: a lot of people have been giving some pretty bad reviews about this show, and anyone who has seen it would most probably agree... Except I don't. So, before I get to the part explaining how I "chose" to enjoy this show, I will start by trying to "spoiler-less-ly" summarize the plot. [Story] You have your average looking Shujinkou (Protagonist) "Setsuna" who claims to have come from the future on a rescue mission. His destination is a certain island, "Urashima" with a rather confusing and dark past led by three distinguished families. Each family has its role and its domain on the island.And there's apparently a legend revolving around these families, more specifically the girls who belong to them (I'll say nothing more to avoid spoilers). Anyways, the island seems to be in a pretty bad shape, and it's only getting worse, and the key to save it is one of the three girls of the Island's top families.
[Art/Animation/Sound]
The technical stuff was all good, just what you'd expect from a newly produced Anime. The art and the character design were nice, I'm actually a big fan of long white hair female characters ( :3 ), and the design team didn't disappoint in this matter. The Anime itself didn't have that much action, to begin with, and yet the animation was pretty good as well as the sound whether it's the voice actors or background music...
[Enjoyment]
First of all, I must say: I'm a guy who can rewatch a show as many times as humanly possible and still enjoys it pretty much the same. And I have an unspoken rule not to drop any show regardless of how much I enjoy it, and up to this day, I haven't broken this rule, yet. I still find it very hard to decide whether I enjoyed a show or not... It's a dilemma for me!
Here's my take on this one:
Well if you've seen Heroic Age, Wolf Rain, Special A, Kannagi, Bounen no Xamdou, Druaga no Tou, Shikabane Hime... etc (plus any other show I rated 6 or less in my list) and still enjoyed them the way I did, you'll probably feel the same about Island as me: "As long as it ends well without complications, then it's been a decent show". That being said, there were a lot of parts that are still unclear and confusing to me in the story, and there are many plot-holes; I decided to disregard them and try to just enjoy watching and digesting the story...
The truth is, I felt like the whole thing was rushed, and after I read about the source material I found out that this was based off a VN and I chose to give it a 6 overall because of that (the VN), which I'm pretty sure would be pretty enjoyable...
P.S: I didn't write about Character development, because I honestly don't know how to talk about it. If this was handled a little more cautiously, I bet the story would've turned out much better.
But still, I'm grateful for the show. Even if it lacked in so many aspects, I decided that I enjoyed it nonetheless. Hopefully, next time there the studio will do a better job than this one so that we'd enjoy it more.
Now I won't recommend anyone to watch this show, not the fans of the VN and definitely not the newcomers, but if you believe that you're a tolerant kind of Anime-viewer, or if you're that bored, then sure, go knock yourself out! :D
PhiNic
I was supposed to drop, but I'm glad I stuck with is the ending is awesome, ties the plot threads pretty neatly. Do not expect much from the first 4 episodes. Its gets slightly better during episode 5 then it gets more confusing. In episode 9 it gets better and better, then episode 11 comes around where they fix the problems of the first episode unitil episode 8. The final episode ties the plot points of the series pretty well I say but the road to its awesome ending is messy. In conclusion I don't know how to feel about this show. Awesome ending messy earlyplot. Awesome Ending.
Genjurooo
Do you remember the feel of those boring slow-paced mystery-hentai visual novels? Well that's how this show feels with its boring visual novel pacing, lines and characters. But WOW, you need to bear with it cause the story is just something else. I dropped it by episode 7 and then finished it like a month after, that's how boring and uninspired it was, but now I feel this is one of the best anime of the year. No, I don't put story above all else, in fact I always care more for the characters, voice-acting and artwork more than anything, but Island's story was sogood that even with it being just average in all other categories, the story makes up for it in the last few episodes.
The bottom line is that certainly it could have been done a lot better, with better pacing and dialogue, but I'm just glad that I've seen it.
