I generally hear about this show that it would have been a lesbian romance classic if it weren't for the ending. It is true that the resolution in the second-to-last episode is really bad, it could be a parody of the "Don't worry, they will grow up to be wives and mothers" tendency in yuri if it weren't so solemn (not helping is that the last episode is an epilogue made mostly of reused footage that only underlines how nonsensical it is). But it showed weaknesses well before that, and especially with its romance.
Now the show has real strengths. Art and animation are good, despite the Clannad-era character designs. The storyboarding is creative with shadows and angles (and then because it's DEEN, bulging breasts and backsides). The format of travelling between worlds lets the artists come up with a great variety of scenery and costumes, giving in only thirteen episodes the feel of a vast epic. But the story also feels hollow, never delivering as it should.
Most of the plots we see on the many worlds feel rushed or truncated, often resolving too quickly and easily. They seem to not contribute at all to the overarching plot. Then when this overarching plot kicks in, it feels confusing and arbitrary. All this, I suspect, comes from compressing a much longer visual novel into four hours.
Then we have the cast. Our heroine Hazuki is desperately in love with Hatsumi, but it seems to be based on nothing but sex appeal. Otherwise she is just a generic saviour who defeats bad guys and saves the day, she has attitude but no depth. Hatsumi doesn't speak a word until the finale and seems more a saintly icon than a person. They have only one episode where they interact properly, and it makes Hazuki look like a stalker more than a love interest. The rest of the recurring cast is reduced to comic relief most of the time, and I rarely found them funny.
It's a sore point that the villain gets a happily ever after and not our heroine... but it's with a woman who was even less built up as a love interest.
So the drama and comedy are dodgy, but the romance meant as the core of the show falls completely flat. It's a fun watch, but as an adventure show rather than romance. It was a pioneer in yuri, marred by a downright bizarre cop-out, but there are plenty of subtext-only shows that developed relationships much better.
VisualNovel It has problems before the ending
I generally hear about this show that it would have been a lesbian romance classic if it weren't for the ending. It is true that the resolution in the second-to-last episode is really bad, it could be a parody of the "Don't worry, they will grow up to be wives and mothers" tendency in yuri if it weren't so solemn (not helping is that the last episode is an epilogue made mostly of reused footage that only underlines how nonsensical it is). But it showed weaknesses well before that, and especially with its romance.
Now the show has real strengths. Art and animation are good, despite the Clannad-era character designs. The storyboarding is creative with shadows and angles (and then because it's DEEN, bulging breasts and backsides). The format of travelling between worlds lets the artists come up with a great variety of scenery and costumes, giving in only thirteen episodes the feel of a vast epic. But the story also feels hollow, never delivering as it should.
Most of the plots we see on the many worlds feel rushed or truncated, often resolving too quickly and easily. They seem to not contribute at all to the overarching plot. Then when this overarching plot kicks in, it feels confusing and arbitrary. All this, I suspect, comes from compressing a much longer visual novel into four hours.
Then we have the cast. Our heroine Hazuki is desperately in love with Hatsumi, but it seems to be based on nothing but sex appeal. Otherwise she is just a generic saviour who defeats bad guys and saves the day, she has attitude but no depth. Hatsumi doesn't speak a word until the finale and seems more a saintly icon than a person. They have only one episode where they interact properly, and it makes Hazuki look like a stalker more than a love interest. The rest of the recurring cast is reduced to comic relief most of the time, and I rarely found them funny.
It's a sore point that the villain gets a happily ever after and not our heroine... but it's with a woman who was even less built up as a love interest.
So the drama and comedy are dodgy, but the romance meant as the core of the show falls completely flat. It's a fun watch, but as an adventure show rather than romance. It was a pioneer in yuri, marred by a downright bizarre cop-out, but there are plenty of subtext-only shows that developed relationships much better.