Saving myself Kisaragi Shintaro is a guy with his own oddities: he hasn’t gone outside for a very long time, does not step away from his computer, in which almost his entire life is concentrated and communicates with a virtual girl, Ene, who is nothing more than a computer program that “lives” on the network. Shintaro felt quite comfortable until one day the keyboard on his computer breaks, without which it is impossible to imagine the future life of the guy. And since this incident happened at a time when Obon is celebrated throughout the city, even ordering the necessary thing through the Internet will not work, so that, having overpowered himself, Shintaro goes to the store, where he is taken hostage by terrorists, however, safely avoids the danger of the efforts of several strange teenagers with superpowers. Very soon it turns out that Shintaro himself knows something, and from this moment on, for a guy who avoids all communication with anyone, he will have to plunge into amusing everyday life, full of dangers and adventures.
Anime is based on a creation known as the "Kagerou Project" - a series of songs created by the composer Jin, and this masterpiece was so popular that very soon novels were written on its motives, and later manga was published. As it usually happens, successful creations always “grow” in anime, which this sample did not avoid. I must say that the series was quite interesting, dynamic and entertaining, although it seems that the story is simply taken out of the general context and something it seems to lack.
The question is: if this is a story about the adventures of several teenagers with superpowers, how can it interest the viewer, if there are already many such creations? Everything is very simple: here these same teenagers are not so much fighting the evil around and saving the world (although in the first series this seems to be the focus), but saving more themselves and each other. The peculiarity of the characters is that “superpowers” (if they can be called that at all) are in their eyes and sometimes it is a gift that can hardly be called “banal”. For example, the “leader” of the gang, which was later joined by Shintaro and his sister Momo Kido, knows how to become “invisible”, but not in the literal sense of the word. It remains quite material, but people stop paying attention to it, while Momo, for example, has the ability to attract glances even when trying to hide from everyone. I note, by the way, that there are quite a lot of characters here, and it is in the anime that this is a certain minus (but the same does not apply to manga, novels and directly to the source), since due to the relatively small number of series, not all of them managed to reveal their characters, which is why many of the characters simply do not look appropriate (for example, Hiyori or Hibia).
Anime, despite its “school” and partly “superhero” theme, looks rather gloomy and slightly uncomfortable, since all the characters are actually dead (since they received their gift after death, getting into the world of Caguero), although this fact was almost not mentioned in the series. On the other hand, gloomy anime can also be called because of the many “broken hearts”: for example, the relationship of Ayano and Shintaro, Hibiya and Hiyori, Takane and Haruki. Moreover, in the anime, there is not even a hint that someday these couples will be able to be together, even if the final seems to end with a happy ending. Still, there is an unshakable confidence that the characters will be unhappy, and in fact this relationship in the series is given quite a lot of time – that is, in fact, the characters really save themselves (this is even more proved in the finale).
But it is worth paying tribute to the series - even if it is sad (precisely sad), the plot is presented in such a way that you will not stick to it, given that you will have to think about it, because events will sometimes twist into tangles that, it would seem, at first glance, will not be able to unravel at all. Again, it is commendable that the creators were able to show the experiences of the characters (not all of them, of course; and I was too sorry for Kosuke and Mari, who were given too little time), which in the end still forces the viewer to begin to empathize – and this one, no matter how you turn, is important. A separate “thank you” to the creators I want to say for the “afterwords” of each series, which are worth watching to learn the true story of the whole plot.
Amazingly, in this creation, the creators were able to intertwine many concepts, bringing them down in the most cruel way on ordinary (or unusual) teenagers: friendship, love, family, loss, betrayal, pain and suffering. After watching, there was a strange feeling that everything seemed to end well, and on the other hand – not very well. Of course, we all understand what the Japanese always emphasize, so, apparently, this could be expected.
I was satisfied with the series, although in general it is inferior to novels, manga (I am not talking about the original source, from which I was delighted), but this is probably due to the small number of episodes. In any case, this anime and as an independent creation looks fascinating, so I would advise it even to those who are not familiar with the masterpiece of Dzin.
8 out of 10
... a pleasant viewing.