First Episode Impression: 18If

Synopsis

This is a story of dreams and witches involving one Tsukishiro Haruto as after falling asleep one night he awakens to find himself stuck in the dream world! Thus begins his adventures in the dream world and attempting to solve the mystery of what is known as the “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome”

The Good

The moment the episode opens, the viewer is struck by the surreal art of the episode and the notes of the opening ring out and begin to drag them in. Every scene brings a visual pleasure with how surreal yet fascinating the art style is brought out in the backgrounds and how the characters interact with it. The animation style as well brings a unique quality to the show as it brings out certain scenes that could be considered as cinematic or comic stylized with the segmentations of the characters.

The plot as well was interesting and the character introductions was interesting as well. Overall, the high points are the art style, animation and music and the plot and characters are interesting but not the greatest when put in a line-up.

The Bad

As interesting as everything going on was, it would also be nice to have a bit more of a breather that didn’t involve so much exposition. There is also only so much exposition you can cram into the first episode before the excitement of mystery is lessened in the story. Then there is the story of the villain; without spoiling anything, it ends up being quite predictable and gave revelation to the cliché “more than he looks” or “special one” protagonist.

True, it may be fit for the tale of the series, but overall, it may make out the protagonist as somewhat of a Gary Sue. Then there is also some slight moments that may be somewhat jarring to some viewers. Overall, it’s the character stories and portrayals that may detract the good of the episode depending on the viewer.

Conclusion

This is a new type of supernatural anime if you’re looking for something strange and unique. While the tale of the villain ended up making things predictable towards the end, their portrayal mixed with the unique cinematic animation of the episode made things interesting. The art and animation are the main high points of this episode as well as the music, it’s eye catching and memorable without being too much. So far, a good watch for some visual pleasure.

Rating: 8.5/10