i actualy thought the ending was kinda horrible....who was it... the main guy character took of his watch and then *10 years later....when i watched till that part i was like WTF literally.
Myself; Yourself tv Review
Story & Characters
I've spent a while thinking on how to open this review on Myself; Yourself, yet I was unable to come up with anything witty or funny in any means. Sure I could make some lame joke on the title of the anime; a title that makes no sense whatsoever with the anime. Then again it probably does make sense yet the meaning is a little deeper than I tried to dig.
Anyhow, Myself; Yourself is pretty much your psychological slice-of-life anime. No, not the type like Serial Experiments Lain or Neon Genesis Evangelion (although Eva was more Psychological Mecha). This series was more the "emo-slice-your-wrists" type. That statement right there probably just made half of the readers of this review think, "No way in hell am I watching this anime!". Actually its not as bad as you first think. To be honest when I went into this anime I actually had no clue as to what this anime was about or what the content was going to entail. I was pretty surprised when I got about 8 to 9 episodes in when the story started piecing itself together and truly making alot of sense. The story itself follows Hidaka Sana, whom left his hometown 5 years previously, return back to his hometown and realizes how much things changed and let me tell you, definitely not for the better. Pretty much every main/supporting character brought into this anime had something traumatic happen to them that causes them to go all emo. Well, not emo in the sense of the word as we know it. Think depression on steroids. Unfortunately this series doesn't do much to lighten the mood.
The characters, each, seem like they are pretty complex, but in reality they're all the same. Sure each one has their own personality type, like the bookworm, the overly-violent type, the introverted type, etc etc, but they all have some sort of traumatic experience that makes you want to gag. I mean characters don't need a traumatic experience in order to be interesting. This series tries to make you feel on a more personal level, their pain. Thats kinda tough considering the fact not everyone in the world experienced what they experienced. However I do have to say the only character that I'm sure we can all relate to, even a little, is the main character, but as you find out his "traumatic" experience, alot of you may feel like thats not something to be overly upset about.
The story is interesting to a point, but with the lack of any major dynamics in the character depth, it doesn't allow any sort of change. Probably the one thing that really annoyed me from start to finish is the whole sibling complex going on. Can we say incest? Really bugged me to no end and frankly it was something they really could've done without in this series. Granted they never say anything definitive that proves its incest of any level, but the assumption can easily be made which is bad enough. There are other parts of this story that could've been left out and parts that should've been added in. Could've, would've, should've, I suppose.
As I said before though, this story is interesting to a point and some may enjoy it, but the genres in which it covers
will probably leave some bad aftertaste in some people's mouths. Its really a tough call.
Rating:
Art
The art was nice and sharp but it didn't bring anything outstanding to the table. It was just the average art you would expect in 2007. They did nicely though in the coloring aspect. Some nice, dark colors to fit the concept and mood of the series. It wouldn't make sense to throw in some bright, vibrant colors into story thats all about depression, hurtful events. Its like trying to put a smiley face on a serial killer, that would look even more freaky.... oh wait they've already done that with the Joker in Batman (hah!).
Rating:
Sound
Anyway, past the lame jokes and onto the sound and voice. I do like majority of the voices but the voice for Oribe Aoi has got to be one of the most annoying voices I've ever heard in Japanese dub. Its pretty hard to make me cringe when listening to Japanese VAs but this one really got to me. Nothing against the VA herself, but thats not a voice that should've been used regardless if it fit the concept of the character.
The music was a good listen to. A year and a half later I'm still listening to the ending theme from the anime. Its got that upbeat, quick tempo that you would normally listen to in a workout session, but no way does it sound anything like the songs you would hear in a Richard Simmons video (hah x2!). Again past the lame jokes, the music I'm sure the viewers would thoroughly enjoy.
Rating:
Presentation
Overall a 13-episode series thats nothing but dark psychology. I will give this anime props in giving a decent ending despite the flatness of the characters. The characters stay somewhat static throughout the series but still allow for a decent ending. However this series has issues in comedy. I won't say it doesn't try and make you laugh to try and give you a breather inbetween extreme emotional distress situations, but it doesn't do much of anything because the jokes just kinda fell flat (like the lame jokes in this review, get my point). After reading this review with those random jokes, it did nothing to change the mood of the review so you, the reader, can catch yourself. Thats the same thing the series did. Thirteen episodes isn't enough to allow for something like that.
I won't deny the concept of the anime however. It was clearly stated, more times than I can count, throughout the anime. It did nothing to hid itself amongst the other plot devices so it would make you think, not like Serial Experiments Lain or BoogiePop Phantom, which for some may be a good thing, but for others could be disappointing. I, myself, like a good thinker anime like SEL or BoogiePop or Ghost in the Shell, but sometimes my brain gets fried so watching some more clear cut is refreshing at times.
Myself; Yourself isn't a bad series by any rights, but it just falls flat in areas in which it could easily excel if more thought was put into it and if it was allotted more episodes to tell the story. I felt the ending, as decent as it was, a little incomplete. Even though it clearly states and answers most questions, it just didn't feel like that was the end of the story to me personally. Others I've talked to disagreed so I will leave that bit up to the viewer of the anime to judge for him or herself. Myself; Yourself, enjoyable but nothing that you have to go way out of your way to watch in the near future. Save it for a rainy day.
Rating:
Final Verdict
6.1667 (average)
Reviewed by SaitoHajime101, Oct 23, 2009
Comments
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woomaster Oct 23, 2009
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SchRita Oct 27, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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Fanatik007 Nov 02, 2009
great review, tnx
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mona12 Nov 07, 2009
thanx for the review ^_^
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animalandia Nov 12, 2009
Que buena rese
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rukasu04 Mute Member Nov 28, 2009
Nice review
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SchRita Dec 22, 2009
Thanks for the review!
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back07 Sep 26, 2012
thanks for the nice review
:)
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