Hey guys, here with my next review. Sunday without God is a fairly new anime, coming out this past July. I was pleasantly surprised by how mature this anime was, considering the art style seemed to be geared towards a younger audience. It is only at twelve episodes right now, but the conclusion of the twelfth appears to give hints at a second season. By the way, I have added a new criteria to be scrutinized: premise. So, let's start with that.
Premise - The basic idea of this story is quite interesting. In this place, God created the world, and then abandoned it when Heaven was becoming too full. After admitting his failure, he leaves the world with a few final changes. In this new world, you may live forever, even after death. Humanity also may not produce anymore children. After awhile, however, Humanity's eternity became a curse, as people's bodies were burned, cut, and began to deteriorate, their souls lived on in pain. So, another gift was granted to the world. A race called Gravekeepers popped up. Gravekeepers are benevolent beings who, when a human is buried, send the buried human's soul away from this world. I quite liked this premise, as it gives a unique setting for this story. One thing I wish they would have specified is where the buried soul goes after it moves on, as Heaven is filled.
Animation - The animation in this is nice, if a bit on the plain side as far as characters go. The backgrounds are very picturesque at times, and the particle effects are nice. What I really like about the animation in this is the difference in styles between the characters. Some characters had a noticeably different feel from the others, with the lighter styled characters brimming with innocence, while the more realistic character had a grittier air about them. I found these two styles in juxtaposition to each other to be a nice touch.
Plot - The story progression is divided into five arcs that are 1-3 episodes long, with a main arc intertwined throughout. The first arc was very interesting, and does its job at hooking you into the story. My biggest problem with this arc is how abruptly it ends. The character development was going very well, and the ending left me quite unsatisfied. Still, it had some great moments. The main character, Ai, does an okay job, though I frequently find her to be blindly idealistic at points, and although it may be blamed on naivete, it really doesn't make it much better. The second arc has some impressive philosophical connotations, and introduces some well-done characters. However, I am not a fan that some of these good characters are left behind at the end of this arc as well. The third arc is terribly boring, giving a cliche feeling high school anime. The only saving grace of this third arc was that two of the better (and more permanent) characters are introduced. As these two characters develop, it makes this show significantly better. The fourth arc is very short, but gives some more background to gravekeepers, which kept things interesting. The final arc is the reason for watching this series, for now anyways. This story arc creates a great atmosphere, and introduces a dark and pitiful world. The connotations of this world made for some wonderful philosophical points, and the conclusion was, for the most part, quite satisfying.
Fights - There really isn't much here when it comes to combat. The fights in the beginning are pretty high-octane, and scenes in the final story arc are most definitely intense, but there aren't that many fights. This anime is made more for contemplation and caring than action. When the fights come, they are well done, and quite unique.
Verdict - Certainly not ground-breaking by any means, but this is a surprisingly poignant and mature anime, with the exception of the Goran Academy arc, which felt boring and immature. All in all, not too bad of an anime, and I am interested to see the second season (if there is one).
Score 7/10
Wallpapers:
Premise - The basic idea of this story is quite interesting. In this place, God created the world, and then abandoned it when Heaven was becoming too full. After admitting his failure, he leaves the world with a few final changes. In this new world, you may live forever, even after death. Humanity also may not produce anymore children. After awhile, however, Humanity's eternity became a curse, as people's bodies were burned, cut, and began to deteriorate, their souls lived on in pain. So, another gift was granted to the world. A race called Gravekeepers popped up. Gravekeepers are benevolent beings who, when a human is buried, send the buried human's soul away from this world. I quite liked this premise, as it gives a unique setting for this story. One thing I wish they would have specified is where the buried soul goes after it moves on, as Heaven is filled.
Animation - The animation in this is nice, if a bit on the plain side as far as characters go. The backgrounds are very picturesque at times, and the particle effects are nice. What I really like about the animation in this is the difference in styles between the characters. Some characters had a noticeably different feel from the others, with the lighter styled characters brimming with innocence, while the more realistic character had a grittier air about them. I found these two styles in juxtaposition to each other to be a nice touch.
Plot - The story progression is divided into five arcs that are 1-3 episodes long, with a main arc intertwined throughout. The first arc was very interesting, and does its job at hooking you into the story. My biggest problem with this arc is how abruptly it ends. The character development was going very well, and the ending left me quite unsatisfied. Still, it had some great moments. The main character, Ai, does an okay job, though I frequently find her to be blindly idealistic at points, and although it may be blamed on naivete, it really doesn't make it much better. The second arc has some impressive philosophical connotations, and introduces some well-done characters. However, I am not a fan that some of these good characters are left behind at the end of this arc as well. The third arc is terribly boring, giving a cliche feeling high school anime. The only saving grace of this third arc was that two of the better (and more permanent) characters are introduced. As these two characters develop, it makes this show significantly better. The fourth arc is very short, but gives some more background to gravekeepers, which kept things interesting. The final arc is the reason for watching this series, for now anyways. This story arc creates a great atmosphere, and introduces a dark and pitiful world. The connotations of this world made for some wonderful philosophical points, and the conclusion was, for the most part, quite satisfying.
Fights - There really isn't much here when it comes to combat. The fights in the beginning are pretty high-octane, and scenes in the final story arc are most definitely intense, but there aren't that many fights. This anime is made more for contemplation and caring than action. When the fights come, they are well done, and quite unique.
Verdict - Certainly not ground-breaking by any means, but this is a surprisingly poignant and mature anime, with the exception of the Goran Academy arc, which felt boring and immature. All in all, not too bad of an anime, and I am interested to see the second season (if there is one).
Score 7/10
Wallpapers:
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| deviantart.net |
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| animemage.com |
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| animemage.com |
AMVs (This anime is quite new, so not many good ones yet):
Spoiler Warning on this one (more of a tribute than an AMV)
(Soft one) Open your eyes now by Andrew Belle
A Tragic Instinct by Coldrain
