A review of Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
Review number three and I’m writing this on the world otaku day! (15 desember). I thought, what better way to celebrate than to write an anime review. The anime I’m reviewing this time is "Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi".
HAPPY TIMES: For simplicity's sake I'm gonna refer to the anime as "Atelier". Atelier is the kind of anime that is nice to sit down and watch when you have nothing better to do, and just want some relaxing entertainment. There is next to no fanservice (only in one episode), almost everyone are the "nice" guys and there is little fighting. Just some nice and clean fun.
STORY: Atelier has things like fighting, but instead invests most of its time to show off its characters doing all kinds of different stuff. It's a bit like a fantasy slice of life show at times. Our two main characters are 15 year old "Escha" from Colset and 18 year old "Logy" from the capital. They join the R&D division in the town of Colset and do different requests for them. Colset very much earns its money from the apple orchards that Escha's family takes care of. Quite a bit of time is spent finding materials for alchemy and then crafting them to complete different requests and for personal aid. There is not much of a plot until the last few episodes, but rather some small situations in different episodes, often with little connection to each other. Above the town of Colset there are ruins called "The unexplored ruins". It has always been a dream of Escha's to explore these ruins, but it has never been possible to get to them because of all the wind and debris. This is where the plot really kicks in later, and maybe it's not that impossible anymore.
CHARACTERS: The characters in Atelier mostly consist of nice people, and there is almost nothing that gets close to being evil. Despite most of the characters being very likeable, it is also one of the series biggest downfalls. It lacks that excitement you get from having the main characters face off against evil guys, there is just very little conflict. Only in one episode do we get someone that acts like an asshole, but that's it. Character interractions are often rather sweet and innocent, but a tad boring at times. We got to know about both Logy's and Escha's pasts, quite a bit more from Escha's though. Other characters in the anime include the cute and likeable witch "Wilbell", her friend "Nio", R&D office worker "Marion", R&D swordwoman "Linca", air balloon mechanic "Awin", awesome housekeeper robot "Clone" (she has a human design) and still plenty more characters. They are all likeable, but they are a bit one dimensional without having any villain or conflict to really solve contend with.
SOUND: Atelier is not that special in the sound deparment. The soundtrack is nice and does what it has to, slows down to a sad tone during emotional scenes, upbeat when needed and pretty good and fast paced during the few fighting scenes that there are. The song in the opening is pretty and has some decent rock, good opening song overall. The ending song is very nice and soothing. Great vocals and great musicianship from the rest as well. It fits the series very well. So far there only seems to be a subbed version and it sounds good. Logy and Escha among several others got really talented voice actors and it really helped the chemistry between the characters.
ANIMATION: Atelier undoubtly looks very pretty, everything from the scenery to the characters are really nice and it feels magical. The movements are not the best, but they are animated well enough, and actually look solid when needed. Character designs are a big strongpoint, many of the characters have varied, nicely colored and pretty details. The winner in this category is easily Escha. She even has a tail at the back of her skirt. Everything just screams magic and fantasy. It's kinda sad how many of the other character's outfits look boring in comparison to Escha's, despite having nice outfits themselves. The animation for the opening is very good and it keeps a nice mix of scenery while showing off its characters. Animation in the ending is also nice and it has some beautiful scenery.
OVERALL: I'm happy I chose to watch this show, it was worth my time. If you want a relaxing and inoffensive show with great looks, can tolerate a bunch of nice guys and a mediocre plot, then you can do a lot worse than watching Atelier. This series is suitable for most ages if you exclude that one fanservice episode. So when you find some spare time I hope you will consider this show.
That was all and I'll see you in my next review which will be number four