This Ugly and Beautiful World ep.1

April 3, 2004 | 0 Comments

I'm not sure what to think of this series. I supposed I can start by saying that I like the opening theme song, Metamorphose. For some reasons, the song reminds me a lot of the opening theme from one of those 80s mecha anime. I also like the character design in general and the colour palette that the show utilises. But as a first episode, it wasn't exactly special. But then again, I also wasn't that interested in Evangelion until the third episode so I think I'll continue watching it for now.

The first episode introduces us to the main character, Takeru Takemoto as well as a bunch of other characters. Takeru is your typical high school student who appears to be a bit rough and lazy. In comparison, his best friend, Ryo Ninomiya seems to be a good student who is soft spoken and has a lot of female admirers. There's a female character named Mari, who seems to be a bit harsh on Takeru but it's not that difficult to tell that she actually has a crush on him. Anyway, one day after Takeru and Ryo delivered a package for someone, they stumbled upon a flying fireball which keeps following them as they ride their motorbike.

The fireball eventually stops and lands in the nearby forest. When Takeru and Ryo checks it out, they see a big glowing orb stuck in one of the trees and inside it, there is a girl who calls herself Hikari. Hikari slowly falls out of her cocoon and lands upon Takeru's arms. However, not long after she got out of the cocoon, a big monster not too dissimilar to the first Eva monster, starts to attack them. Thanks to Ryo's bravado, the three manage to evade the monster temporarily. Takeru and Ryo then attempt to initiate conversation with Hikaru. Hikaru, however, doesn't seem to be able to say much apart from her own name.

There is one thing for certain: Hikari is terribly afraid of the monster to the point that she can't stop trembling. Feeling sorry for the girl, Takeru tells Hikari not to be afraid because he'll protect her. Not long after saying this, Takeru seems to have some kind of pain in his chest but then the pain stops all of a sudden. Unfortunately, before they have the chance to get out of the forest, the monster appears once more and knocks Ryo out while successfully captures Hikari. Takeru, who remembers his promise to protect Hikari all of a sudden gets the sudden chest pain again and before he knows it, he hulks out and transform into a monstrous form.

Thanks to his newfound power, Takeru can easily safe Hikari and beat up the monster. However, just when he's about to strike a final crushing blow to the monster, he sees that the monster is kind of crying. Takeru feels sorry for the monster and decides not to kill it. This emotion for some reason turns Takeru back into his human form while allowing the monster to escape. In another part of the forest, Hikari is looking for Takeru but is confronted by the monster once more. However, instead of running around screaming like damsel in distress, for some reason Hikari's expression turns malicious and cruel. Not long after this, Takeru and Ryo manages to find an unconscious Hikari and the remains of the dead monster.

I supposed in some ways the series does look promising. To begin with, it's suggested that Hikari hides something beneath her innocent facade. I really think she was the one who ended up killing the monster. But then why did she bother acting like a damsel in distress in front of Takeru and Ryo? I also want to know why Hikari looks a lot like the girl that is on Takeru's sketchbook as well as the reason behind Takeru's ability to transform his body. Unfortunately due to the fact that I have limited understanding of Japanese language there are probably some details that I missed. Once the subbed episode is released, I'll probably review this again or at least make some modifications to this one.

© memento 2003