INTRO
As a character moderator trainee (at the time), I was left with a less than stellar list of remaining Summer 2018 season anime to choose from. Of the remaining selections, Phantom in the Twilight was what I chose be it good, bad, or indifferent.
STORY
College students, Bayrou Ton and Mu Shinyao, travel to London, England to study abroad. Little does Ton know that her fate is about to change forever, when on her first night there she stumbles into a small nightly café called Cafe Forbidden. She soon discovers a little about her past and learns about her great-grandmother's history as an Umbra Hunter and her relationship with the Twilights, the purpose of the café, and her newly found abilities that could be pivotal in the fight against the human organization know as the Midnight Sun.
The premise sounds interesting, but the series ends up being a let down with too many plot holes. There's just not enough continuity to clearly explain what is going on exactly.
Throughout the entire series the characters are still too much of a mystery, which then fails to drive the story. If fangirls are watching it for male eye-candy, then there are ample scenes that feature that. If your watching the show for any purpose other than that or just to give yourself something to-do, then you might find yourself sorely disappointed. One example would be the action scenes. Although usually well animated, they are very lack luster in substance. You never really get a sense of actual danger to the characters in most of the them, or they just end too abruptly and with the greatest of ease.
ANIMATION
Very inconsisent in both art and in the actual animation itself. The backgrounds are generally good with some of the larger scenic ones looking very good (i.e. the overhead shots of London, England). However, the character quality is too inconsistent. There are too many times where they will look unrefined, then really sharp and detailed, and then unrefined again. This can happen from not just episode to episode, but from scene to scene as well. Both the mediocre art and the crisp looking art can get either really bad or can get enhanced nicely by the inconsistency in the animation; sometimes it's choppy, other times it's fluent. It's aggrevating because you don't know what to expect when coming to a particular scene. When Luke, Vlad, and the "other" Wayne are drawn and animated at their best, the visuals can be quite appealing.
SOUND
Standard fair. The OP and ED music themes are okay. The music shows it's better moments during certain times of angst and during battles. The sound effects, such as Tauryu's minigun, building explosions, and Luke's werewolf slashes, among others, are solid as well. There's nothing spectacular but just enough to add to each scene appropriately.
CHARACTERS
The character development is on the weak side, except for Tauryu perhaps in episode four. We at least get a glimpse of his past, prior purpose, and significance to Rijan and now Ton. There are other snippets of character backgrounds astrewed throughout like in episode seven. It shows promise that more character development might be on the way, but then it never really materializes. On the positive side, the characters are relatively likeable and do have some individual personality that add at least a small amount of flair to themselves and the series.
CONCLUSION
Whether this anime should be written off as an "ignore it" series, a so-so series, or a worth-watching series is hard too say. The final episodes gave a decisive, conclusive ending while keeping it open for another possible season. Personally, I don't see a season two in the future but then again some really really bad anime have had multiple seasons, which Twilight in the Phantom is not the worst by far. In any case, if it does get a season two LIDEN FILMS is going to have to improve upon what they've started here.
This isn't a series that will blow you away with amazement, but at the very least it could be one that is entertaining enough to see it all the way through. If you end up watching the entire series because you are a fan of Reverse Harems, then even as a guy I can tell you that there are better anime out there, such as Ouran High School Host Club and Fruits Basket.
ENTERTAINMENT SCORE: 6/10
1️⃣Weighted Average System Score: (15 + 7 + 7 + 15 + 12 = 56/100 points)
Additional Information:
Video Format: 480p Streaming
Audio Format: Japanese Audio (with English subtitles)
Publisher: Crunchyroll
Equipment Used: Lenovo TB-X103F Tablet (with Dolby Atmos)
