Brief overview:
Story: 6/10. Multiple parallel worlds setting. Plot was a little confusing at times.
Art: 6/10. Indie.
Sound: 6/10. Mic noise present for certain characters and basic sound design.
Character: 5/10. Cast has different personalities, but little development.
Enjoyment: 5/10. Felt a little rushed.
Overall: 5/10. A little too short for what it's trying to be.
More in-depth overview:
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Story: 6/10. This is one of those space-time romance dramas that had a lot of potential. The story takes place during an apocalyptic future in Japan. Everyone is forced to quarantine to survive and a boy and a girl start talking online in hopes of having any kind of human contact. Without going into too much detail about the story, there are multiple parallel worlds that can somehow be crossed into. The method of doing so was skimmed over and felt like it existed just to push the plot forward. In some cases, the story was moving too quickly. Some events would have been better in a slower setting where characters can steadily interact with each other and grow, but there's only so much 30 minutes can provide. This project would have benefited greatly from an extended runtime as the story seemed rushed at points. The conclusion is also one of those abstract open-ended “choose it yourself” kind of situations, which I didn’t find too odd and actually felt like it belonged. However, despite having such a distinct setting, a lot of its potential went untapped. This is a unique original story that had a lot going for it, but the limited runtime cut down on that potential.
Art: 6/10. I came across "Sekai ga Horobiru Mae ni Kimi ni Aitai" purely by chance. The cover visual caught my eye and I decided to give it a watch. Right away, I noticed that the style was very distinct. It almost has this indie feel to it. There's sparse information regarding the staff that worked on this, so chances are that this was made by a small studio. Personally, I think the crude style worked in their favor. With all of the generic styles I've seen, this was actually refreshing. It's by no means eye candy and it definitely caught me off guard at first, but I wouldn't mind seeing this style again.
Sound: 6/10. The sound design was passable. Ambience is basically non-existent, which makes for a much more somber and detached atmosphere, but also makes mic noise more apparent. When sounds were used, it was as if they were pulled from a royalty-free sound library. As for the VA’s, they were pretty decent. Comparing their performance to other VA’s and considering the scarce information regarding them, I assume they’re just trying to get into the business. You can tell that the main VA’s are trying to put personality into the characters they’re voicing and it shows. Each character in the main cast has a unique air to them and you can piece together what kind of person they are despite some lines not hitting the mark. Sound design alone, this section would be a 5/10, but the VA’s bring it to a 6/10.
Character: 5/10. As I said in the previous section, the main character’s have their own personalities. And while it isn’t necessary, there isn’t much character growth throughout the film. Although, to be fair, 30 minutes isn’t enough time to have any meaningful growth. However, it’s important for characters to make the most out of that limited runtime. Unfortunately, "Sekai ga Horobiru Mae ni Kimi ni Aitai" falls a little flat in this area. Some character details that were revealed didn’t feel natural and felt as though it happened just to push the plot along. This also applies to some character interactions and decisions as well. Despite my 5/10 rating, I actually feel that the characters were pretty solid (even more so than characters in some 12 episode anime…) The primary reason for my low rating here is the fact that in the 30 minutes that I was watching, I wasn’t invested in the characters. Rather than the characters writing the story and paving the way, it was as if the story was writing the characters just so the plot could unfold.
Enjoyment: 5/10. At this point it feels like a cop-out, but the 30 minute runtime didn’t allow the events that unfolded to sink in and help me empathize with the characters. The organization was a little confusing at times and I only started to understand it once I finished the whole thing. I liked the concept of multiple parallel worlds, but the means of jumping to different worlds left me perplexed. I sat there thinking about why or how the method would work. Watching to the end didn’t answer those questions. Maybe these kinds of developments are to your liking, but for me, it was a little off. As for the ending, I’m not used to them being open-ended, so I found it a little entertaining. Everything else, though, was pretty basic. There wasn’t much bad, but there wasn’t a lot that was notable.
Overall: 5/10. In the end, it primarily comes down to runtime. 30 minutes isn’t a bad runtime for standalone one-shots in general, but for a story like this, 30 minutes just isn’t enough. Either cut down the amount of characters or have the runtime increased for better world and story building. Unfortunately, "Sekai ga Horobiru Mae ni Kimi ni Aitai" bit off more than it could chew with what it was trying to accomplish in half an hour. Yet, despite this, I consider "Sekai ga Horobiru Mae ni Kimi ni Aitai" to be a relatively successful story. I didn’t find myself waiting for it to end, but rather, I wanted more. If it had more runtime, even by just another half hour, that would allow for a much more natural and well paced story. Some unexplained character details could be explored and the existence of multiple parallel worlds could be introduced more naturally. There wouldn’t be the need of rushing through certain events just to get them out of the way either. This would help me grow attached to the characters and get me to actually care about the choices they make. But, that isn’t the case. The experience I got out of this was a 5/10. The story and art were unique, but that’s about it. For what it’s worth, this is a good story and I truly hope a reboot with adequate runtime will be made sometime in the future.
Apr 17, 2023
Brief overview:
Story: 6/10. Multiple parallel worlds setting. Plot was a little confusing at times. Art: 6/10. Indie. Sound: 6/10. Mic noise present for certain characters and basic sound design. Character: 5/10. Cast has different personalities, but little development. Enjoyment: 5/10. Felt a little rushed. Overall: 5/10. A little too short for what it's trying to be. More in-depth overview: ... 
Feb 7, 2022
Brief overview:
Story: 7. Nothing special. Art: 8. Conventional style. Panels occasionally bring out the characters’ charms. Characters: 9. Both mc’s are so cute! Enjoyment: 10. I have diabetes now. Overall: 9. I do not want it to end. Less brief overview: I usually refrain from writing reviews for works that aren’t complete or I haven’t finished, but it felt appropriate this time around. I’ll keep this short. Being a slice of life rom-com, this manga revolves around a husband and wife who misunderstand each other and try to grow closer. Storywise, it’s nothing life changing, but it does feel good to read; solid 7/10. The art is pretty standard ... |
