'Sparks of Tomorrow' anime discussion
Another show ended this last week. Any one else also watched this one?
Overall a bit hit-and-miss for me. The art is beautiful, but the direction I felt frequently has odd moments that affected the pacing.
If there's a theme to the story I guess it'd be something along the line of don't be too obsessive in pursuing your dream (Yousuke with trying to bring Seiroku back, or the wine lady having to remind Inako that focusing on her dream of making her mom's sake is great but don't forget about the people the creation was meant for).
However, a lot of characters' actions were poorly motivated, making the story felt disjointed. While watching I kept thinking why Kihachi and Yousuke couldn't just work together instead of keep trying to steal the book from each other, it's not like they were competitors. Kihachi was said to be distrustful so maybe it was because he was suspicious of the guy, but then he kept giving out information or showing Yousuke his invention, as if enticing him to steal the book. Another example is Inako's dream to make her mom's sake and be a master brewer, which felt like should have been focused on more early on during the show, making her a foil to Kihachi's approach in chasing his dream perhaps. Instead the show seemed to put more focus on her being too trusting for most of the show, only when the electric book was randomly revealed to also contain her mom's sake recipe that this aspect of her character was brought back.
On a higher note, the OP and ED musics were the highlights for me. Quirky and sparkly which suits the story very well.
It feels like a too many cooks situation even if all of the cooks are good at what they do. A bunch of different people pitching ideas on art styles, character designs, and story ideas, resulting in an odd amalgamation that has a beautiful base but many strange additions that detract from the whole. Sudden changes in character art styles meant to emphasize their emotions were jarring instead, every single character felt like an overblown caricature or stereotype, the entire first half of the story felt largely episodic and unrelated to the main plot, and many scenes and costumes were added in without adding much seemingly just because they wanted to animate them. It wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't rewatch it or recommend it to anyone even if they were a die hard KyoAni fan. There's so many other shows that better showcase their talent and passion, like City the Animation (please watch City it's so good).