Shangchun City under construction (from now on Shangchun) is one of the most disappointing anime genres: a genre that makes you hopeful because it’s actually cool to begin with. Shangchun The story takes place in a city that suddenly, in the throes of an apocalyptic disaster, causes large numbers of people (including our protagonist’s parents) to turn to dust. Years later, the world is a very different place, with large areas now taking on a typical “nature has taken over” post-apocalyptic look. After a violent incident, our protagonist Kraft learns that there are monsters called tesseracts, and the only ones who can stop them are witch spirits, and it turns out that she is one of them. More specifically, the witches used their voices to stop the tessellation.
Despite what you might expect, Shangchun Have more in common with something that has more overt darkness, e.g. Madoka I like it more than the musical magical girl series Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch or cyborg gear On paper, it feels like the more obvious comparison Shangchun arrive. This is not to say Mermaid Melody nor cyborg gear Have their dark moments (they absolutely do), it’s just that Shangchun Its tone, themes, and even overall aesthetic are grimmer. For example, it’s a lot gorier than you might think. yes no sunset or otherto be clear, but still surprisingly violent Shangchun. And the continuity is so strong and recurring that I would definitely not recommend it to anyone who likes anime without gore. More specifically, I wouldn’t recommend this anime in general, but especially if you want to avoid graphic violence.
Speaking of which, if I hadn’t called this anime “disappointing” at the beginning of this review, many of you might have been thinking something along the lines of: “This sounds disgusting! I’m loading up on the first episode right now – I have to watch this!” But instead, alas, you might just be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Don’t wait any longer, because I’m unhappy to report to you that after the first few episodes, this anime quickly descends into an overly complicated mess.
It is at this point that it might be helpful to point out the “source material” of this anime. Right now, Shangchun Studio Youtube channel. Before this animation was released, the universe Shangchun It mainly consists of songs and games. While I listened to a few songs, I admit I didn’t play any of the games. I can’t help but wonder if it would have helped my understanding of the anime if I had some knowledge of the game, especially since I can’t really tell if this anime was made to appeal to new fans with little or no experience with the game. Shangchun.
story Shangchun The animation has little cohesion as it moves at breakneck speed, and it quickly becomes almost impossible to keep up – even with the infinite rewind button. Calling it “confusing” doesn’t even do it justice. The introductory episode takes the time to explain and ease the audience into the universe so carefully that it made me think Shangchun Designed exactly for newbies like me. But everything that happened next made me question – after all, might this make more sense to someone more familiar with music and/or gaming? But that being the case, why create such a comprehensive introductory episode? And, perhaps more importantly, why lull new fans into this false sense of security only to have the rug pulled out from under them? It makes no sense either way, which makes poor writing and composition feel like the obvious culprit here.
To reiterate: This is all the more disappointing because the first few episodes established what seemed like a very interesting story filled with equally compelling characters. While there’s a lot of attempt to give each girl her own moment in the spotlight, and some are more likeable than others, it’s hard to extricate them from the clutter of the main storyline. Why did so-and-so do this? What does this tell us about her character? How does it affect everything and everyone else? Many times, it’s hard to tell!
It’s like rubbing salt into the wound, ShangchunIts visuals immediately grab your attention with their bold, highly saturated and contrasting colors. Yes, it’s CGI, and a lot of anime fans won’t like it just for that merit alone. But I’ve seen truly horrific CGI animation –KamiErabi GOD.app, victorydare I mention the infamous legend forearm– Let me assure you, it’s not like that. This isn’t even in the same galaxy as truly (and often laughably) ugly CGI animation. In fact quite the opposite – it’s not glorious placebut the action is generally smooth (the key word is “usually,” but still), the style works well in 3D, and all things considered, it looks pretty good. It’s not the best, but it’s still one of the best looking CGI animations, that’s for sure.
Music is a whole other can of worms. You might think that special attention should be paid to making the music in this show the best it can be since music is the bread and butter of this show. Shangchun Studio Channel, a show about wizards who defeat their enemies through singing. But for the most part, the songs aren’t as well-produced as what you see in idol anime. Instead, it’s mainly the girls who just sing and talk in a limited amount. background music. They often feel less like finished songs and more like rough drafts. But even the more substantial song numbers, on the rare occasions when you hear them, aren’t anything particularly memorable—let alone the highlight reel you’d expect from a musical anime like this.
Shangchun is an ambitious genre of animation that could become something really special if it had a clearer vision of what it wanted to achieve and how to do it. Worst of all, there are obvious scraps of good ideas throughout Shangchun. I’m not entirely sure I won’t watch another attempt at animation set in this universe. I just want to make sure it’s made with newcomers to the series in mind this time around, and that the overall execution is stronger.
