After the First: 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 First Episode

A main high point of the episode was the surreal yet fascinating art that just seemed to pop out of the screen from just the first note of the opening theme. Speaking from that, the opening theme was also a high point with its crooning and mysterious tone, from the first note the viewer is drawn into the song and the visuals that it provides. All throughout the episode there is a visual treat to be had and it is not just in the art style but in the animation as well. At certain points of the episode the scene seems to come off as almost scenematic with its frame cuts and camera movements.

But while the visuals, animation and music worked well enough for the episode, the execution did not do as well. In terms of plot it is generally understandable but the amount of exposition dished out in a single episode alone seemed a lot to swallow and what’s more at every turn something seems to be happening and there is little time given for a breather before the next scene comes in.

Then there is also the characters, with the main protagonist, he seems interesting enough at first but then in the length of the episode the way he is presented is nearly borderlining on being a Gary Sue with how calm he is in his situation and how passe he is. Not much can also be said on the villain as with how she is presented, she comes off as quite predictable though for certain thing she made them quite jarring in terms of action.

Overall, the first episode left a good impression in terms of visuals, animation and music but could have done better with the execution of the story and the portrayals f the characters given how predictable one of them turned out to be.

After the First

The visuals and music still hold up but the phrase “rollercoaster of genres” seems to apply quite well to the series now with the different stories that has been told in each episode. From suspense to drama and even slice of life, each episode held a different genre and all in line with the concept of a character waking in a world of dreams.

While the concept of the series holds interest in how much potential it holds for future episodes, the way that the writers of the series handled it made out the rest of the episodes like one shot stories involving a certain set of main characters. Granted this kind of story telling has been done before, case in point, “Jigoku Shoujo.” But even with that series a main plot stemmed from the main concept.

The mystery side of things is a point to be given to the series however and one of the main things that remain true throughout the episodes. It is to be warned for viewers however that there are certain visuals in the series that may not be something a normal viewer would be comfortable with. Things such as body distortion and gory scenes, or even sensitive material relating to body issues.

Overall while the visuals, animation, music and mystery may be good, the outline of the story could have worked out better and the themes that certain episodes tackle on may not be something that everyone can handle.