Setsuna continues to try to figure out the secret of the island in episode 3, “The Right Way To Spin Dreams”. However, no matter which way you look at it, this episode is a mess.
Hands up who wants to watch dreams sequences without a context in the opening, followed by the story openly acknowledging it’s own trope by attempting to subvert it in a sequence that if executed correctly might have at least drawn a chuckle but here just fills up screen time? Setsuna’s ploy to get Rinne outside is childish at best (let’s pretend to have fun on the beach and she’ll join us) and the transparent excuse for beach fan-service as Rinne dreams of a far more adventurous romp on the beach for Setsuna, Karen and Sara than they could possibly have really just falls horrendously flat, as does Rinne when she finally venture out into the sand.
Of course, we could still gain something from this overly long sequence if they had then done something with Rinne. She claimed to believe she had Soot Blight Syndrome and was apparently at risk of death from sunlight. And yet immediately after her fall on the beach she’s sitting under the umbrella with Setsuna and just kind of shrugs it all aside with an, ‘I kind of knew’ line. However, with one potential plot line (the mysterious illness Rinne might be suffering from) shot in the foot, the girls stumble upon a shack and when they go to open it Rinne freaks out and collapses.
This is not how a story should develop. If we then follow this up with a hot springs sequence where Rinne once again decides to sing, for no apparent reason, and then we get her singing over a whole bunch of still scenes that I guess are meant to be the group getting closer together or something but its so boring I kind of zoned out. Then we get more drama with Karen and her father before a quiet heart to heart with Sara who pretty much calls Karen on her childish behaviour and lack of planning, only to Setsuna and not Karen.
There’s not one interesting sequence in this entire mess and while there are ideas that link all of this together, it really doesn’t feel worth the effort to think about. Honestly, in a season where I had more on my watch list, I’d drop this at this point, and even without a replacement show, I might still drop this. It is just not particularly interesting.
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Karandi James
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Another show that is wasting its potential. I’m three episodes in and not sure where it is going which, given the supposed central plot of an amnesiac trying to regain his memory, is not as desirable or as compelling as it should be. Instead, it seems to be turning into another loli-harem show which this doesn’t need to be.
If it hasn’t improve by ep 4 then I may have to leave this particular island… :-/
I agree. There was definitely potential in the set up of this one so I hope it does something with it.
I didn’t add this one in and I’m glad I’m not missing anything.
I’m sure someone out there is enjoying this but I’m just finding it to be a bit of a mess and not a particularly interesting one at this point.
Hmm…was still debating about maybe starting on this one…but after reading this…I think I will pass. I did start yesterday with the first episode of Hanebado!…and quite honestly it wasn’t bad. Especially considering this was a sports anime and I hate those.
I wouldn’t bother with this one. While it might end up getting somewhere fun, it isn’t particularly good episodic watching and will probably be much better binged so you can get to a point a lot faster than this.
Haha…thanks for the advice. I guess I’m skipping it for now then 😊