Sola review

 

Sola

Story: 9
Once again I picked this anime just randomly out of a list of new anime from the season and I wasn’t disappointed!

In the first episode there is a lot of action and I was interested immediately. This does not happen often. Most anime need an episode or three to get me interested so I definitely consider this a plus for Sola. Then the anime becomes kind of slow for the next 4 episodes. You know that there is more to things then they let on, but it is not until episode 6 that the story really starts rolling again. The story takes some unique and unexpected turns that surprised me; something that I think is a strong point of this series as well. And it keeps doing so until the very end of the series.

The series had a lot of different elements so I can’t put it in just one genre. It has elements of action, fantasy, every day life and romance in it. I think the combination of all these different elements is what will make it an appealing series to a broad audience. The flow of the anime felt good. Of course there are points in the anime where you don’t get certain things but that gets clarified throughout the episodes.

The ending wasn’t like I thought it would be, and totally not what I wanted it to be. However when the anime finished it left me with a warm feeling nevertheless. Everything is into place when the anime ended and since the anime actually tells a story that goes back hundreds of years, I didn’t expect they would be able to pull this off in only thirteen episodes.

Animation: 9
This is truly the best point of the anime. The backgrounds are really beautiful and focus a lot on the different kind of skies. The colors that are used are lively and inspired me. Character designs are detailed and unique. They paid a lot of attention to the designing of the outfits from the characters, especially the female ones. This also goes for the hair and eyes. They made sure the looks of a character fits their personalities. Shading and light effects is another thing that was done really well. It was all very detailed.

The series switches a lot with the lights used since it lays accents of the different times of day and night. This was done really well and I didn’t feel “off” once. The colors were dark or bright when they were supposed to be because of change of scenery. The anime also had a lot of special effects, especially in the later episodes. And once again I can only say that this part was also done splendidly.

Audio: 8
The music is another strong point of the anime. As with the visuals the audio varies a lot because of the amount of different moods used throughout the series. This makes it a varied soundtrack to listen to. The background music supports the scenes greatly. The opening and ending theme are both really good and are worth listening to on its own as well. There is another vocal song used somewhere in the series to support the scenes. This is done in a wonderful way. The voice acting is splendid. The voices fit the characters well and the combination of audio and visual makes the characters feel as if they are alive.

Character development: 7.5
There certainly is character development but I feel that is mostly because of the twists and turns of the story then that the characters purely develop themselves. In the beginning of the anime everyone is just presented as normal average characters. When you learn the truth behind the characters, your outlook on the characters will change. However this is mostly because you learn about certain events in the past and not because the personality of the character develops that much. It is not until the last few episodes that the real motives and personalities of the characters will become clear. This is both a good and a bad thing: Good because it keeps you in the dark until the very last but bad because it doesn’t give the characters time to develop.

Certain bonds are formed between the characters throughout the anime and the way the characters interact with each other changes throughout the series. I cant say too much about the relationship of the characters towards each other without giving away too much but this is one aspect of the many surprises Sola has in store. The series seem to focus more on the development of the bond and the relationship between characters then on the characters itself. But because this aspect is done very realistic it didn’t bother me the slightest.

Overall: 9
If you want something different to watch, Sola is the way to go. Because of the well chosen combination of a good plot with unexpected twists, splendid animation and fitting accompanying music it will draw you right into the series. The combination of genres used makes it an enjoyable watch for a broad audience. This series was one of the rare ones that still managed to surprise me and is one of the better ones out there.

2 Comments »

  1. its really different but i kinda like it!! i got hooked fast!!

    Comment by Cassie — February 27, 2008 @ 5:27 am

  2. Yeah I agree. I watched the anime in 1 sitting :)

    Comment by Uniflame — March 2, 2008 @ 6:29 pm

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February 9, 2008 :: Action, Fantasy, Reviews, Slice of life ::