I was supposed to just give my thoughts after watching it but I had so much to say it turned into a review. Here's the whole copy paste of it from when I made it on a discord server.
Context:
So I read the manga before the anime came out so my review didn't dive too much into Characters and Plot, or didn't dive too much into anything since I made it right after watching the 1st episode. Keep in mind that I was still in the middle of feeling great after watching it so my review wouldn't be constructive, of quality, unbiased or anything like that.
One complaint that I forgot to mention during the review is how much information you were fed for the worldbuilding. I understand that they had to fit 10 chapters into a feature length but I think I'd prefer it if they made it more simpler instead of following what the manga said as is.
Also spoilers are marked with in black so there's no need to be cautious.
Review:
What in the actual fuck
That was one of, if not the best feature length I've ever seen out of any anime. Makoto Shinkai and Old Studio Ghibli works could suck ass, cause Oshi no Ko is in town.
I don't actually know where to start. It's perfect. Let's do it in a MAL style review.
Animation:
I'm sure there're more beautiful and more impressive works from other IP out there, like Demon Slayer for example.
But even so, I love what they did with the animation. It's so vibrant and lively, you can see the passion these animators put in their work, and I appreciate how it changes styles too and not conforming with the rigid animation of most animes. It really makes for better visualization and storytelling, like how it shows aqua's newfound feelings of revenge after his father cause Ai's death. The swirling, dark, motion showing aqua's feelings of revenge really resonated well with me. Jesus, do you know how many times I replayed a ton of scenes? They all just look so beautiful and consistent with their work.
Sound:
The VA's, the music, the ending song, oh my god it sounded so good. I love how they even put effort in the most subtlest of sounds. Most viewers might not even notice them but they really elevate and compliment the events happening on screen, especially how they portrayed AI's death. In the manga, it was rough and harsh. The anime exactly followed the manga but with how they put it in a soft lighter tone, paired with the slow, and mellowed music, just makes it a very sad scene. We weren't supposed to focus on the killer and be filled with hate, more so on AI's death sequence as she talks with her children one final time, making us mourn AI as the twins desperately try to come to terms with her death.
The voice acting was amazing too. Rie Takanashi was the perfect voice for AI. She was able to voice something truly convincing. When she shouts in happiness, grunts in pain, and that ending scene too holy shit that was phenomenal voice acting. And the other VAs did not dissapoint too. They really supported the cast and were able to bring out such an impressive performance.
That ending song is really great too. I never knew yoasobi could sing like that. I can't wait to continue hearing it as the OP for the anime.
Characters & Plot:
Nothing much I could say since I already read the manga. The anime was completely faithful to it, only removing small portions of it to match the current tone of the scene. And the seamless transition when it was time to switch chapters was seamless. I hardly even noticed it at all. Characters are great too.
Overall:
The episode overall made me relive reading the beginning chapters of the manga, but even better as it's an anime after all. If this episode was a standalone movie then it's an absolute 10/10 for me. Well, the series could be a 10 too if it keeps the episode's pace up. I hope the series is of the same quality, or even higher than episode 1.
Context:
So I read the manga before the anime came out so my review didn't dive too much into Characters and Plot, or didn't dive too much into anything since I made it right after watching the 1st episode. Keep in mind that I was still in the middle of feeling great after watching it so my review wouldn't be constructive, of quality, unbiased or anything like that.
One complaint that I forgot to mention during the review is how much information you were fed for the worldbuilding. I understand that they had to fit 10 chapters into a feature length but I think I'd prefer it if they made it more simpler instead of following what the manga said as is.
Also spoilers are marked with in black so there's no need to be cautious.
Review:
What in the actual fuck
That was one of, if not the best feature length I've ever seen out of any anime. Makoto Shinkai and Old Studio Ghibli works could suck ass, cause Oshi no Ko is in town.
I don't actually know where to start. It's perfect. Let's do it in a MAL style review.
Animation:
I'm sure there're more beautiful and more impressive works from other IP out there, like Demon Slayer for example.
But even so, I love what they did with the animation. It's so vibrant and lively, you can see the passion these animators put in their work, and I appreciate how it changes styles too and not conforming with the rigid animation of most animes. It really makes for better visualization and storytelling, like how it shows aqua's newfound feelings of revenge after his father cause Ai's death. The swirling, dark, motion showing aqua's feelings of revenge really resonated well with me. Jesus, do you know how many times I replayed a ton of scenes? They all just look so beautiful and consistent with their work.
Sound:
The VA's, the music, the ending song, oh my god it sounded so good. I love how they even put effort in the most subtlest of sounds. Most viewers might not even notice them but they really elevate and compliment the events happening on screen, especially how they portrayed AI's death. In the manga, it was rough and harsh. The anime exactly followed the manga but with how they put it in a soft lighter tone, paired with the slow, and mellowed music, just makes it a very sad scene. We weren't supposed to focus on the killer and be filled with hate, more so on AI's death sequence as she talks with her children one final time, making us mourn AI as the twins desperately try to come to terms with her death.
The voice acting was amazing too. Rie Takanashi was the perfect voice for AI. She was able to voice something truly convincing. When she shouts in happiness, grunts in pain, and that ending scene too holy shit that was phenomenal voice acting. And the other VAs did not dissapoint too. They really supported the cast and were able to bring out such an impressive performance.
That ending song is really great too. I never knew yoasobi could sing like that. I can't wait to continue hearing it as the OP for the anime.
Characters & Plot:
Nothing much I could say since I already read the manga. The anime was completely faithful to it, only removing small portions of it to match the current tone of the scene. And the seamless transition when it was time to switch chapters was seamless. I hardly even noticed it at all. Characters are great too.
Overall:
The episode overall made me relive reading the beginning chapters of the manga, but even better as it's an anime after all. If this episode was a standalone movie then it's an absolute 10/10 for me. Well, the series could be a 10 too if it keeps the episode's pace up. I hope the series is of the same quality, or even higher than episode 1.