Anime: 18if Review

18if

Air Date: July 7th, 2017

Episodes:13

Genre: Supernatural, Mystery, Psychological

Where to watch: Funimation

Languages: Japanese, English

Similar Shows: Angels of Death

Introduction:

Haruto suddenly wakes up in a dream world where he encounters witches while finding his way out. Helped by his newly found friend, the cat scientist guiding him through the world, Haruto saves the witches and a way to save himself.

Animation:

From the third episode, it is clear that the show's style is episodic. Each experimenting with different art styles. It was nice to see that the art style changed throughout each episode.

On the one hand, many episodes had excellent animation, while others lacked. For example, depending on which witch Haruto was saving, the scene is set up to launch directly into their world and dream state. In one episode, one door of the dream world leads into a 3D Pixar-style scene, which I question if it's considered anime... Nonetheless, even if the episode itself was boring, it aims to tell us more about the witch's character and understand the viewpoint of why they've entered the dream state.

Between the episodic nature of the show and the dream world, the art style and production varied, which was very refreshing, but at other times it didn't pan out too well. It didn't fall too flat, but I do applaud the effort. When done correctly, variety is good.

Pacing:

With episodic shows, the pacing could be a hit or miss. In one episode, when one witch is brought back into the real world, the overall story isn't explained until the show's last three episodes. The show genre is considered psychological, but if the only psychological portion is that nothing is explained until the very end, that isn't a great setup. Even though the end presented the overall theme, it didn't add as much as I would have liked. An excellent psychological story would've dropped hints throughout the series and allows us to piece together and arrive at a conclusion as the ending is revealed. Instead, the show had no choice but to tell rather than show how we got to a conclusion.

The show wrapped up with a finite conclusion. It added emotions and heavy goodbyes from each character but not nearly enough for me to be satisfied. I feel I should've been moved emotionally by the end. Still, it was difficult to feel the full impact of why Haruto was walking through the door because it was rushed.

Character Development:

Haruto's Development as a character didn't come until the last few episodes. The main focus throughout the series was on the girls and their issues. Although Haruto is our main protagonist, we just see him as a knight in shining armor. He's written bland to fit each situation, and the stakes for saving each girl aren't high. But, from the beginning to end, we know he will succeed.

Ultimately, we don't know who he actually is. We know nothing else besides what the audience knows about him through the dream world.

The only thing that we're told related to Haruto's past is he was in an accident years prior. We weren't given any clues beforehand. Again, we were told rather than shown.

He's since been in a coma circling in and out of the dream world. So that put him in a unique position because he wasn't like the other witches; he could interact and have adventures. However, it never thoroughly explains why he's different; we are forced to accept it since he saves others.

Overall Score: C (Not my cup of Milk)

I won't claim that the show Is fantastic. It has many issues. Though it lacked background and overall explanation, I didn't feel annoyed with any particular character.

Each witch's personality essentially made them an archetype. Every episode forces each girl to realize who they were, helping them come into their own happy ending back in the real world. The dream world only existed for them to escape the issues they experienced in the real world. I hope they can all become productive members of society and get their life back on track.

My biggest issue with the show was how much the girls relied on their savior. Unfortunately, anime has often had a bad habit of featuring bland protagonists that females flock to. It may fit the situation sometimes but never creates a memorable show.

During the conversation with Eve, the others tried to convince her of how progressive and far women have come. Meanwhile, Haruto and the cat scientists serve them, and they seemingly forget their lives weren't saved by two men.

In the end, Haruto and Eve go through the door, presumably leading into the afterlife. I can only assume that the dream world was between space, but that was my main issue. Some girls only seemed to dream and woke up when they were saved. Others seem to be in a coma-like Haruto, but it was confusing which point they would die or if they would wake up in the real world.

Of all the witches, only one had moved on into the afterlife.

It was clear the team cared about the music for the show. Every episode features a different ED explicitly relating to that episode. Check out the full album below.