I must admit, I had very high expectations for this show but it didn't turn out at all how i had thought it would.
Saikano is a Gonzo production and it's complete some gimmicky stuff. The characters are all very basic and none of them really seem to be exceptional. Shuji and Chise are the only ones who really have any distinguishing art in them, the rest kinda look like "Fillers" with blushed cheeks that will not go away. The backgrounds are alright; still the same kinda linear style of animation with no real flare to it. Their isn't a whole lot of action in the show so the characters don't really get to move around a lot; and when there is action, it's just basically little explosions in the sky with an occasional plane crashing toward the ground. Chise's "ultimate-weapon" animation was kinda poor, and underdeveloped, especially when she would "transform" into it. Overall, the animation is really very average and kinda half-baked; very disappointing.
The series is presented in 5.1 audio (at least the version I watched was) so it sounds crisp; but there's not really much to it besides that. The voice actors on both ends of the spectrum don't really accomplish much and, despite the few good moments, the music is pretty boring as well.
The story is Saikano is extremely half-baked and very confusing, even though it has such a simple core. The basic root of the story is Chise and Shuji's vow to fall in love and always be in love despite their terrible circumstances. That being said, if you only focus on that side of the plot, then you'll at least get a partly enjoyable story about a young couple searching for true love. But so much of the actual plot is left out that you don't really have a reason to care about what happens to Shuji and Chise and their relationship with themselves and others. Chise is the ultimate-weapon. Why? Japan is fighting a terrible war with other nations. Which nations? And why? When did the research for the ultimate weapon begin? What is it capable of? What are all its abilities? Why have it be incorporated into a young like Chise who has no military profile or reason to be in the war? Why? Why? Why? These questions are never answered in the series of Saikano and the plot suffers greatly because of it.
I did find, some of, the characters, and their relationships to one another, in this series to be enjoyable. Shuji's relationship with his old lover, Fyumi, and Chise's best friend, Akemi, are interesting and actually, at the end of them, have some substance. But that's about all there really is. There are several, too many in fact, characters, including the two leads, that simply display nothing more than teen angst. While this is not necessarily bad, because angst makes for some quite incredible film making, it's just not approached in the right manner. All of the characters just seem to be floating on, they don't really have purpose in their quest and that kinda makes the whole thing seem pointless because they don;t really have a reason to achieve anything. But despite all of the bad, there is some good character development in Saikano. Shuji changes from being a complete moronic teenager, to actually knowing, at least a little bit, about true love and relationships. Chise develops from a weak schoolgirl, to appreciating the value of love and knowing the consequences of her actions. There is also a great moment in episode 9 with Shuji and Akemi that really spoke to me more than any other part of the show.
Saikano had a lot of potential; it really did. But it just wasn't done correctly and, therefore, it fell to the wayside. So, in the end, i couldn't recommend this show to anyone, not with titles like Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days around, because it just doesn't get the whole love/romance/war/tragedy formula quite right.
Saikano is a Gonzo production and it's complete some gimmicky stuff. The characters are all very basic and none of them really seem to be exceptional. Shuji and Chise are the only ones who really have any distinguishing art in them, the rest kinda look like "Fillers" with blushed cheeks that will not go away. The backgrounds are alright; still the same kinda linear style of animation with no real flare to it. Their isn't a whole lot of action in the show so the characters don't really get to move around a lot; and when there is action, it's just basically little explosions in the sky with an occasional plane crashing toward the ground. Chise's "ultimate-weapon" animation was kinda poor, and underdeveloped, especially when she would "transform" into it. Overall, the animation is really very average and kinda half-baked; very disappointing.
The series is presented in 5.1 audio (at least the version I watched was) so it sounds crisp; but there's not really much to it besides that. The voice actors on both ends of the spectrum don't really accomplish much and, despite the few good moments, the music is pretty boring as well.
The story is Saikano is extremely half-baked and very confusing, even though it has such a simple core. The basic root of the story is Chise and Shuji's vow to fall in love and always be in love despite their terrible circumstances. That being said, if you only focus on that side of the plot, then you'll at least get a partly enjoyable story about a young couple searching for true love. But so much of the actual plot is left out that you don't really have a reason to care about what happens to Shuji and Chise and their relationship with themselves and others. Chise is the ultimate-weapon. Why? Japan is fighting a terrible war with other nations. Which nations? And why? When did the research for the ultimate weapon begin? What is it capable of? What are all its abilities? Why have it be incorporated into a young like Chise who has no military profile or reason to be in the war? Why? Why? Why? These questions are never answered in the series of Saikano and the plot suffers greatly because of it.
I did find, some of, the characters, and their relationships to one another, in this series to be enjoyable. Shuji's relationship with his old lover, Fyumi, and Chise's best friend, Akemi, are interesting and actually, at the end of them, have some substance. But that's about all there really is. There are several, too many in fact, characters, including the two leads, that simply display nothing more than teen angst. While this is not necessarily bad, because angst makes for some quite incredible film making, it's just not approached in the right manner. All of the characters just seem to be floating on, they don't really have purpose in their quest and that kinda makes the whole thing seem pointless because they don;t really have a reason to achieve anything. But despite all of the bad, there is some good character development in Saikano. Shuji changes from being a complete moronic teenager, to actually knowing, at least a little bit, about true love and relationships. Chise develops from a weak schoolgirl, to appreciating the value of love and knowing the consequences of her actions. There is also a great moment in episode 9 with Shuji and Akemi that really spoke to me more than any other part of the show.
Saikano had a lot of potential; it really did. But it just wasn't done correctly and, therefore, it fell to the wayside. So, in the end, i couldn't recommend this show to anyone, not with titles like Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days around, because it just doesn't get the whole love/romance/war/tragedy formula quite right.