Story & Characters
At the height of the moe boom in mid-late 2000s, innovation was typically far from the mind of moe anime producers.
Audiences familiar with moe will surely remember its peak when Kyoto Animation started producing K-ON!, and a little
further was Gonzo's Strike Witches. And now A-1 Pictures takes a big step further with an independent joint Anime
no Chikara project by TV Tokyo and Aniplex to mark the debut of So Ra No Wo To. (Followed by Senkou no Night Raid and
Occult Academy.) Yes, the designs and personalities distributed amongst the five young ladies may be representative of
most of moe anime title, but the setting is not which will be surprised to learn that this series is more than the sum
of its moe moments.
In the future, the world has been ravaged by a long war, driving humanity to live in a post-apocalyptic standard, but
even in this dying world, young Sorami Kanata finds inspiration to become a military trumpeter after hearing
"Amazing Grace" performed by a mysterious female trumpeter. Years later, she enlists the military and becomes
the newest member of a five-women platoon of the 1121st Platoon stationed in the town of Seize, on the very edge of the
nation of Helvetia. At first, Kanata struggles to perfect the trumpet while finding a way to enjoy every day life with
her teammates, including the captain Filicia, the sergeant major Rio, the mechanic Noel and young tank gunner Kureha,
but soon finds difficulties when the shadow of the long war still lurks around in the background.
The biggest and most striking difference is the tone of the series. Despite its light slice-of-life and military
elements, the setting, instead, focuses on a group of young women making a living in their daily business with the
locals as they deal with all sort of crisis in an age when civilization has been decayed so far that even commonplace
literally has been marked as dangerous. It's an interesting premise, in which the culture it imagines is taken to
its logical extreme, where Helvetia is a reference to Switzerland, its region and town are named after French numbers,
the architecture is based on old European styles, the military equipments are modeled after post-war designs, and the
legend is mixed from various beliefs. Intriguing ideas are floated, binding together to create a strong and meticulous
creation and depiction of the setting and the odd ways it blends perfectly.
Yet this is not a light series either. Just as its first few episodes spend on light comedy, school romance and moe
factors with the hint of supernatural, the rest plays out its dark moments. A vague and underlying plot which reveals
the beginning of this alternate future finally starts in midway, while the later episodes step up the tension with the
introduction of Helvetia's enemy nation sets up the series' major time conflict only to be poorly executed and
left dangling. It's just too bad that an interesting fictional world doesn't translate directly into
interesting fiction.
The girl themselves are standards of moe incarnations, nothing is fresh here unfortunately. Kanata is the innocent, bold
and enthusiastic newcomer; young Kureha is the resident of tsundere type; Noel the quiet one; Filicia is the motherly
figure; and Rio is the strict instructor but occasionally compassionate one. Along the way, Kanata learns the dark
secrets of her teammates in a more entertaining fashion when the slice-of-life theme gets shunted aside to make way for
fantasy riffs on wartime issue and free will, which are in turn sidelined in favor of rush ending in disappointing type;
the (extra) last episode finishes the series on a stronger note, with the result of dimming its simple ending and
furthers the bigger impression, is arguably, the best episode.
Rating: 7
Art
Anyone who has ever seen K-ON! will instantly recognize its artistic influence on this one. The character designs of the
platoon members mimic its predecessor is identically, even down in a rougher edge of the band members. The moe aspect
focuses heavily, especially on the expression of each girl can be a bit cheesy looking when it dives into one of the
many moe worlds, but fortunately, those are generally effective. There is something endearingly cute about seeing
fresh-faced Kanata trying her hardest to play the trumpet or watching the three smaller girls struggle to don and pick
up military packs that are, for them, grossly oversized. Even if the series' artistry was influenced by moe anime
like K-ON!, those who normally despise moe styling may struggle to resist the overwhelming bright lines here.
There is nothing bland about the series' animation, although its quality level does vary. Background arts, which
blend together with numerous cultural references is a marvel to watch. Sometimes it'll soak in the pastoral bliss
of the open countryside, at others it'll warm you with the vastly carefully-animated valley or take your breath
away with the fantastical wonders of this world. The sense of age, ruin, and decay is beautifully portrayed down to even
the smallest and most innocuous details, such as how a stone bridge has been repaired at some point with steel girders,
the rubble strewn across a long-ruined classroom, or the consistent background use of blue-on-white image plaques as
wall decorations. Prurient fanservice is limited to a few minor scenes, but that's not what make it worth
watching.
Rating: 8
Sound
Early on the music score uses various updated version of trumpets music to evoke the feel of the musical beauty of its
own rendition of "Amazing Grace," which was overall orchestrated and features a couple of recognizably
pleasant soundtrack. OP "Hikari no Senritsu" helps set the soulful tone of the series and the images of the
main cast worked into the Flame Maiden Legend is solid but more unremarkable on the longer version, while ED
"Girls, Be Ambitious" is the ultra moe one. Among the main cast, the lead role goes to newcoming seiyuu
Kanemoto Hisako, while the other four members are voiced by veterans which turn the sounding from generic to a more
fitting one. Vocally, this sounds like any moe title you have ever seen.
Rating: 8
Presentation
In truth, So Ra No Wo To's story and its central idea aren't as independent as I make them out to be, but it
does a fine job of presenting a rich alternate future world and a fun, slice-of-life comedy and war story that
doesn't disappoint, provided you have a tolerance for said moe appeal. While it does success at showing that moe
can be pulled off in an interesting setting, a lot of its story is pure fluff. Some of its late plot developments seem
hasty and forced, nasty background revelations pop up with only the barest prior hints (if any) that those characters
had troubled backgrounds, the warmonger character introduced late is over-the-top to an eye-rolling degree, and the
climax falters a bit, which leaves the last episode to bring out the best part is overreacting.
Still, it has the presence and sense of feeling to it which makes it shows more than just the moe parts and logical
issues. The spirit of creativity has seemingly been liberated from them. It may disappoint sometimes but it's an
exquisite show in the balance.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 7
Characters: 7
Art: 8
Animation: 8
Voice: 8
Music: 8
Overall: 7.75
Good:
+Strong setting: steeped in big questions and frighteningly relevant to our own times.
+Solid background arts, well-produced series.
+Kanata is cuter than a bunny in a bunny suit.
Bad:
+Treks not distant into moe aspects.
+Tries to force a complicating story but forms an oversimplified ending instead.
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
7.6667 (good)
Reviewed by Weskalia, Dec 21, 2011
