Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles

ThatAnimeSnob May 14, 2012

2

Notice: This review covers both seasons.Divergence Eve, aka a good concept overshadowed by fan service. Radix was never a good studio (although as an exception they did produce the most amazing Haibane renmei) but this is by far the worst thing they ever brought forward to the world as an example of atrociousness. It is also directed by Takada Jun, the idiot who also made the most boring Lamune and the even more horrible Ayakashi. Words cannot fully express the fail at hand. The story? On an isolated space station, a small crew of researchers is experimenting on weird phenomena that can unlock the secrets of time travel, reality, the existence God and even rewrite reality. Yet something is amiss. Could it be the secret agenda the director has? Could it be the beings that live outside of time? Could it be history being constantly rewritten by the abuse of powers that are supposed to be God’s field only? … Nah, it’s the goddamn fan service.The story behind the show is simply amazing and even somewhat excused with lots of techno-babble. The concept of altering reality and messing with time in an attempt to become a God is very captivating too. It’s a real shame you won’t be able to enjoy all that because of the constant boobs bouncing in the foreground. For some unimaginable reason, the producers decided to ruin the interesting themes with completely mediocre/boring/unimaginative/tasteless array of harem girls doing nonsense and having their breasts going up and down no matter what they do. Only exception to this is the flat-chested loli. The problem does not remain there alone. The guy who made the storyboard was probably not paid because it’s to the most part extremely boring and aimless. A mystery story is supposed to excite you; not bore you to the point you need to stare and boobs to stay awake. And themes around existentialism are supposed to leave you in awe; not confuse you or make you forget them fast because to the most part nothing of importance happens. I guess ruining something good so bad is a talent on its own. The production values are also bad since the cinematics are amateurish and the battles are full of bad CGI. The soundtrack goes unnoticed and it appears the only thing the animators cared about was making the girls to look as f***able as possible. Spanish anyone? They even try to win last impressions by killing most in the finale too, only to resurrect them 5 minutes later. Oh such joy. Too bad I never cared about them.What is even more frustrating is that they actually made a sequel to this abomination that is not improving the quality at all. The story is continuing in an equally interesting way, showing what follows after Misaki became Haruhi and made a world of her own and time is fluctuating erratically by invading aliens; but again, the plot is equally boring and the fan service is ruining everything.Needless to say that the cast of this show is 99% bimbo chicks with the size of their breasts replacing the depth of character they should be given for such an amazing story.I strongly recommend SE Lain over this one. The basic idea is the same but it’s handled much more mature and atmospheric. As for the sequel, well, there is always Haruhi or Madoka Magika. So let’s all diverge our attention elsewhere.