Winter 2010 First Impressions – So-Ra-No-Wo-To
Author: NovaJinx
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who hates the retarded way this show’s title is spelled. I noticed Kurogane’s post on the first episode and from his commentary I judged that it might be worth checking out right away. As you may know, I stated in my initial watchlist post that I have high expectations for SoRaNoWoTo. But is A-1 Pictures up to the challenge? Let’s find out.
Kuro didn’t hesitate to draw a comparison between SoRa and K-ON! but I must say that I disagree. It’s very tempting, as the character art style is more than similar – it’s pretty much identical. Dress K-ON! girls in military uniforms, change the hair styles a bit and you’re all set. The animation crew sacrifices detailed character models for maximum fluidity and thus the characters are somewhat amoeba-ish but move very smoothly. Background art is a different story, as SoRa features some quite beautiful views and utilizes CGI here and there for some nice scenery effects – compared to quite simplified backgrounds used in K-ON!. Well, as much as I could tell from the shitty raw file that looked much like something left in my fridge for way too long.
As for the characters themselves, I can’t really say there are any direct equivalents between SoRa and K-ON!. Sure Kanata is a ditz but she’s nowhere near Yui and Rio shares only superficial similarities with Mio. I can’t really say that Felicia feels like a Mugi-type of character either. But this is all said on the basis of the very first episode, I’m sure there’s still a bunch to learn about the girls. But I do believe I spotted a deadpan…
I’m no raw watching veteran so I couldn’t really grasp all the fine points of the setting, much of which seemed to have been explained quite generously by Rio’s monologue. But what I could gather about its quiet post-war world I found intriguing and somehow gave me the same vibes as the first Grandia back in the day (which was pretty damn awesome). I will be rewatching the explaining scene once the subs are farted out but I believe I did get the essentials.
I can’t recall hearing this awful trumpeting ever since my parents got a trumpet for my brother and we mainly used it to make fart sounds.
So what is SoRaNoWoTo? A curious mix of K-ON! and Haibane Renmei? Maybe something along those lines but it’s hard to discern which way they show is going to take yet. I will be keeping a close eye on SoRa. It wasn’t as mindblowing as I had hoped but certainly a good start. Keep it up, A-1.
I’m not quite sure what to make of describing this new show as “a curious mix of K-ON! and Haibane Renmei”, perhaps the A = B + C approach isn’t appropriate, but it sounds interesting enough to merit a watch for a couple of episodes.