After the First: Vatican Kiseki Chousakan

Synopsis

This is a story that takes on the mysteries of religious miracles in the land of Vatican, a Holy Land of Catholics. Here there is a faction that investigates such mysteries and unlock their truths, they are called the Assembly of Saints and this is the tale of two priests who work for this organization, Robert Nicholas and Josef Kou.

The Good

The way that the series lays out its mysteries are highly well done and manages to create an interesting flow of a story, what really makes a good mystery is that is doesn’t stop at one point but creates many connections pointing to one conclusion and this series does just that. The intellectual and questioning of the miracles are quite thought provoking and the way the animation works them out so smooth that you can’t help but get immersed into it and try to figure things out for yourself as well.

The characters also hold an interesting dynamic to them and just overall the series held a solid form to itself and when looking at the art, there is much to appreciate with the details put through and the realism of some scenery and props. Overall in terms of mystery structure, art and characters, there is interest to be found with the series.

The Bad

While the mysteries are of interest, the plot itself seems all over the place and doesn’t seem to have a solid line to it. True enough there is a semblance of structure and a theme to it but this is no episodic work and when looking at the big picture, there was some over dramatization in the murder mystery portion and a strange usage of musical scores. Then there are moments when they make use of strange transitional work and animation over flashbacks and connections of other points in the mystery.

As interesting as the main premise of the story is, the lack of solid direction, the over dramatization and the odd use of musical scores and transition animation may be off putting for some viewers.

Conclusion

The art style, the mysteries are the main highlights to enjoy about the series but the way the plot went in different directions and the strange musical scores and animation may drive some viewers away. Overall though, the series holds a lot of potential in details, mysteries and character work though the execution of things was not so great.

Rating: 6.5/10