Anime Thoughts (Bite-Sized): Soutai Sekai

This time, let’s take a glimpse at a more recent bite-sized ONA (I’m sure you all know what it means, but just for introduction’s sake, ONA == Original Net Animation). Just like Denpa Teki na Kanojo, Soutai Sekai has 2 episodes. Unlike the former, this one lasts 15 minutes each. Without further ado, let’s explore the science fiction in this story~

[Synopsis (MAL)]

The story is set in Japan in 2020. The story centers on Shin Hazama, and a version of himself who led a different life in another Japan appears. A crack opens in the everyday life that he thought was impossible to change. Boys and girls have to decide what to think and choose when the world changes completely. The battle with another world and another self begins.

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[Genre]

Sci-Fi, Thriller (but not really), CG-Fest

[Details]

Also known as “The Relative Worlds”
(April 2017 – May 2017) 2 ONAs

[(Main) Songs List]

1] VIP KID
2] Chiru Chiru

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[Recommendation] – 7.2/10

(Spoiler-less) What would it be like if parallel worlds/universes existed? Will we be able to travel back and forth across these worlds, interact with the people in them and possibly with ourselves?

Actually…

Would we want to know what’s going on with the ‘us’ on the other dimension of the space-time fabric? Is it going to be a world we are familiar with, or perhaps something more dystopian and sinister even?

Soutai Sekai allows us to ponder on this question by giving us brief glimpses of both relative worlds (although truth be told, more for the modern world we know and less of the dystopian one which it introduces in the first 5 minutes of the show).

There is minimal world building – which should be sort of expected given the length of each episode and the number of episodes there are. Viewers will be given several non-convoluted (but also unexplained) pieces of information for which they can easily figure out for themselves the situation of both relative worlds, and the personality of the characters involved.
To be honest though, while we may be able to figure out how characters feel towards others and themselves in the 2 short episodes, it would be incorrect to say that we would see some form of discernible character development (despite the things that happened – mainly in episode 2).

If Soutai Sekai is the dystopian series as portrayed in the film, then I’d think that shows such as Guilty Crown (without the relative worlds) and Ajin (for the CG-fest) would be the modern worlds that we are familiar with in comparison. (I decided not to include Steins;Gate, because the type of time-travel is not the same here).

In short, I wouldn’t really recommend this series (unless you have a lot of free time, and wouldn’t mind an open ending). There are too many open questions that are left unanswered as well which may agitate experienced viewers a little (quite a bit). It’s an original 2-short, so that means no other sources to complement and provide additional information.
Yeap, spending that time leveling up on a mobile RPG game might be more worth your time.

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[Thoughts/Opinions]

 

I probably got into this short because I found out that the VAs were Yuki Kaji and Maaya Uchida for the main characters, but I don’t think even their on-point voice acting can salvage the lack of content that this original animation provides.
Well with the exception of this conversation – I found it kind of humorous – at least better than whatever occurred in episode 2 of the series.

This 2-ONA is made by a studio called Craftar, which doesn’t have an extensive portfolio. To be precise, Soutai Sekai is their first CGI animation. To put things in perspective, it was probably more watchable than Ajin though clearly more work is required for the animation to be portrayed smoothly.
If you were to ask me about the combat scenes – There’s just two of them (one in Ep1, and another in Ep2) both lasting less than 2 minutes. Barely sufficient air-time is dedicated to them to convince viewers (or sponsors for that matter) that the studio is capable of consistent mecha/battle-based works. (Yea you can probably figure out by now that this 2-ONA is pretty passive despite its potentially interesting synopsis).

It kind of surprised me that this 2-ONA used REOL’s songs for the OP/ED, one of which was Chiru Chiru which I was introduced to when playing Osu! Go listen to it, its pretty hype with a good blend of electronic dubstep. I was probably more focused when listening to the OP/ED than watching the show to be honest.

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Alright, I’ll end my personal opinions on this series right here.
Thanks for reading (and making do with) another week’s bite-sized review!
Next week’s review will also be a bite-size one – what do you think it is? Want to make a guess? (I shall give a hint that it has more than 2 episodes ^^)

Take care~

Acknowledgements:
1] “Anime Thoughts (Bite-Sized): Soutai Sekai” Cover Photo (Edited)
2] “Anime Thoughts (Bite-Sized): Soutai Sekai” Gifs — From the film itself
3] Gif Generator (Lazy-man’s way)

About tetrax4berium

Living life little by little as I try to understand how life works. As complex as it is, so as I am, it may take a lifetime to understand. But regardless it is not pointless to pursue a near-impossible goal.

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