WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?

Did you ever get that feel of "this could be great if" while reading or watching something? This feel is exactly what this anime is about. A story with huge potential, but undermined. Undermined by the author's lack of proper writing skills. By conventions of a degenerated form of writing. And by a not so good adaptation. This show can pass by as your average light novel adaptation with ease. Hella long title you won't remember no matter what. A cast of characters with names difficult to read or memorize. Male MC that shoves up people's ass his set of morals once in a while. MC'slove interest that goes melodramatic and cry several times. Yet you can find here the tragedy of a man. A man that lost everything, and ends up in some state of suspended animation until he is awaken many years later in a "foreign" world (Captain America, huh?). The cute heroine is actually a weapon of mass destruction that can die any time for the sake of the world. High stakes for the love interests and the risk of emotional loss could make this a great love story, right? Problem is, the show couldn't decide whenever it wanted to be a dull light novel adaptation or a good story. This leaded to a confusing presentation and lack of self-awareness. Say, they present you with a little depth of Willem's character. It is reedeming and set him as a "not your typical LN male MC at all". And, show a few seconds later one of the most cringe-inducing reactions that a plain tsundere girl can have. Breakdowns like this are destructive to suspension of disbelief. But in the long run, the show saves itself from the mediocrity valley. Remember the love story? What blooms here is the most organic romance I have seen in anime, at least in a while. Never two people falling in love with each other felt so natural. Chtholly (I swear I didn't look up the character list) slowly evolves into a housewife in hopes to become a better person for Willem. Willem in turn tries to overcome his own fears of another loss so he can give Chtholly the love she deserves. Both of them reach the stage of mutual love step by step. It's simple, but it works. The show goes up and down since episode one, between LN's conventions and good writing. There's a immersive post-apocalyptic setting. A well-tied set of emotional stakes, great OST and some gorgeous visuals. But there are one-sided characters, with single tropes defining them. Also a typical LN setup, and some crappy CGI. As bad as this series might sound, it's good enough. At least, the LN medium isn't completely doomed. The guy who wrote this is talented, but needs to polish his skills and broaden his writing experience, which seems narrow yet. "How do you fall in love at the end of the world?" - This alone would be a better name, although still long. Keep your titles short and easy to read they say. The name "SukaSuka" means nothing to me. So how I'm supposed to call for this show?

When you see a title this long, it really raises the question if the creator put as much as creativity into his work as they did into the title. The original light novel is 5 volumes long while the anime adaptation is 12 episodes. So in essence, it shouldn’t be hard to adapt this into something fans can accept right? Well, that’s not entirely easy to answer as this show isn’t so easily recommendable to anyone. I will say this though, SukaSuka isn’t your typical fantasy thriller that just jumps right into the action. In fact, it’s far more than that as this series attemptsto craft a tearjerking fantasy drama to reach expectations. I have to admit, watching SukaSuka took me some time to accept the story. The first few episodes has an atmospheric feel with its world setting, characters, and plot. We meet Willem, the male protagonist who happens to be the last human in a post-apocalyptic world. The show makes it clear that humans are extinct as the anime opens up with a battle scene involving them and the Beasts. Flash forward into the present timeline and we see how the world has changed since then. Now there are floating islands that feel so isolated from each other despite being populated with otherworldly species. One of the most prominent of these species are the Leprechauns, characters who can wield ancient Dug weapons that can destroy Beasts. In the meantime, Willem meets Chtholly, a leprechaun with a mysterious past. The show establishes Willem as a friend, father figure, and comrade for the Leprechauns. Right off the bat, I can say that SukaSuka’s characters are quite mysterious. Chtholly has a peculiar past that is explored throughout the show. Willem also has a past that I can say it’s too pleasant to remember. Then, there are the Leprechauns. The show creates an eerie feel as it blends them with child innocence and unsettling fear. It’s through revelations that Willem realizes what they really are and their roles in this series. Now, the more I got curious about the show, the more I wonder how the story plans to develop Willem and Chtholly’s relationship. Thankfully, this series doesn’t neglect their presence together and as each episode progresses, we learn more about the both of them. Character chemistry between Willem and Chtholly is also what I describe as charming that develops from friendship to romance. Willem also serves as a father figure for the younger Leprechauns. And in turn, the Leprechauns seems to grow really fond of him. This also brings a different side of the show as Willem realizes that the Leprechauns has a lack of fear. Because of this, the show makes it clear that Willem wants to avert any tragedy that can bestow on them. This goes to show how much Willem cares about the Leprechauns. It may also be possible that Willem doesn’t want history to repeat itself because of the way humans were wiped out. Regardless of how others treat him, he hopes to be a light of hope in this post-apocalyptic world. As a show with many species, you’ll often see characters that are far from ordinary. Besides Leprechauns, there are also trolls, goblins, and many other type of characters with animal traits. This also brings a racial issue into the show. It puts Willem into a compromising position at times as certain races does not like his presence in their world. (for their own personal reasons) However, what I do find interesting about this series is Willem’s main role. Does he play the role of a hero or someone that just wants to avoid tragedy again? It’s hard to judge entirely based on the characterization alone so in retrospect, the show leaves it more open ended for viewers to decide. Despite my initial impression of SukaSuka, I still find that the show suffers from several problems that holds itself back. First, the show really doesn’t avoid generic pitfalls you see in typical light novel adaptations. While the show has minimal fan service, it still has the cringe moments between Willem and various female characters. One particular trope (played out more as a joke) are the massages that attempts to make scenes sound much more lascivious than it appears to be. Not to mention, SukaSuka’s comedy feels really dry at times. It hardly make me laugh and although I realize the show isn’t built for that, it doesn’t even manage to ever draw a chuckle from me. Furthermore, I can’t really say the character relationship building outside of Willem/Chtholly to be worth mentioning. Oh and in terms of adaptation standards, the show does add some original content in attempt to make the story flow better. Does it really work out? That’s for me to know and you to find out. Taking a look at the animation, I have to admit that SukaSuka captured the atmospheric setting right along with its world fiction. Essentially, the atmospheric setting brings a spiritual feel. The character designs also has variety with the wide range of different hair styles and colors; with a credible reason too beyond just being decorative especially for the Leprechauns. The action is captivating and feels magical with getting its point across. While the series doesn’t have graphic violence, it does contain blood to show the dreadful feel of its story. The Beasts are also designed with a malevolent nature and some of them reminds me of Lovecraftian horror fiction. Character expressions is realistic and very human like with most of its characters. Soundtrack is distinguishable with a combination of being melancholic, haunting, and cheerful. As I had expected, the theme songs are very moody with its choreography. The character voicing acting also connects well with their personalities in particular with Willem, Chtholly, and Grick. As most of the Leprechauns are quite young, stepping into the shoes of these characters is not easy. However, I am proud to say that the show captured their roles pretty damn well and make you connected to them. The tenderness of this show is what attracted me to watching this. I have to admit, SukaSuka has a sublime-like creativity with its world setting and story. I wasn’t too invested into the characters at first though over time, Willem and Chtholly’s relationship started to really grown to me. Still, like most light novel adaptations these days, SukaSuka falls into the trap of generic tropes. Furthermore, I don’t think this series is recommendable for anyone especially those that have less tolerance towards moody shows. I’d still give it a try though. It’s not a masterpiece but for a title that’s longer than 3 sentences, it does earn more attention than that.

SukaSuka is a post-apocalyptic fantasy anime that follows Wilhelm, a human that has been frozen for 500 years, who after being recovered finds out that humanity and the entire world has been decimated by some plant like beasts. He now lives with all the remaining races in some islands in the sky, and during one eventful day he conveniently meets a human looking girl and they spend the day with each other until it was time to depart home. After a few circumstances, mostly pertaining to his physical appearance, Wilhelm as tasked to take care of a certain place for the military which he accepts.When he gets there he is meet by a group of girls who live in an orphanage like building and it is revealed that they are fairies known as leprechauns who are the islands defence against the beast due to them being able to handle certain weapons that can fight against the beasts. The first part of the series mostly focuses on wilhelm taking care of the girls along with Nygglatho a human looking women despite being a troll. There are a plethora of girls in the show, but most of them are young and get very little focus except one who serves more as an example for the way leprechauns are. The main girls are Chtholly, Nephren, and Ithea, but the story mostly focuses on Chyholly and Wilhelm and how they build a mutual relationship over the course of the show. The show also does some decent world building, or at least better than most fantasy anime. Many fantasy races live within close proximity to each other( a common staple in most fantasy anime), but for this show it’s not because they want to, but because they have to since the islands are the only safe places to be. Even then it doesn’t hold will as there are some scenes of racial tensions between races especially against disfeatured due to how human looking they were. Some bits of a city's culture were explored due to how one race was influential to it. the orgin of the islands and leprechauns are looked into and how they came into being.the mechanics of the dug weapons are neat as well. However in the end it’s at best decent since most of it is really skin deep due to the anime having to focus on the otherwise lackluster story. The story is lackluster since the anime is overtly melodramatic throughout it’s run time since it promises a tragedy at the end of its course and tries its best for the viewer to feel emotional in the end. The anime always tries to make sure of this with its focus on Chtholly, our tragic heroine of the show, as she has to undergo external internal mental struggles after her fight with the beasts. She was a decently written character, but it’s a shame how most of it will be discarded in order for the show to make her death more tragic. Along with her on the ride is Wilhelm who is also a decently written character as the show goes through his past as a “brave”, a group of generic heroes, and some of the things he’s done that lead to the present despite being gone for 500 years. He has a easy going and collected attitude, but underneath that demeanor is someone with regrets and pain, and will do anything to make Chtholly and the other girls happy. However other than them not many other characters are that well fleshed out despite some of them having some importance to the story. Production wise the show looks and sounds good. The art looks very standard as well as the character designs and setting. The animation was decent as well with mostly consistent quality throughout its run. Some notable parts for the art/animation are usually for the wings as well as Chtholly’s mind scenes, but the downside would be how dull the beasts look. The sound for the show is good as well with many of the voice acting fitting thier roles. The Ost for the show is also good mostly to fit the tone of the scene, but sometimes it’s allowed to be the only sound playing in order to set a certain atmosphere Overall there are alot of good things about this show when it comes to the production, and some of the ideas of the story. However the problem is what the story tries to focus on as well as how it tries to execute it. It’s a show that tries to present something well meaning and emotional, but fails to deliver.

When a new anime season comes around; consumers of all tastes keep their eyes peeled for new fresh blood that can potentially have an impact on them and become a new favourite. As years have been going by it’s been getting harder and harder to spot potentially good shows as generic titles embracing the mediums current tropes are flooding the seasonal charts and no signs suggest this will stop anytime soon. So when something comes around with a premise that highlights potential, it’s understandable that people would get excited for it, especially if the source material has an existing fan base who are spreading aroundexhilaration for the adaptation. I am also one such consumer who looks out for potentially interesting shows that can stand out. I had my eyes peeled at an anime that I really thought could have been good. The production values were there, the premise was there, the potential was there. But as per normal with a lot of anime nowadays; the execution was not quite there. So this anime gets the honour of a review dedicated to how it missed the mark. And what is this special anime? Enter Sukasuka. A light novel adaptation that could have been good; except it wasn’t. Sukasuka had a nice set of ideas to become a good light novel adaptation. But the foundations weren’t set right; the characters being the first problem. With a multitude of characters introduced in the first few episodes, the show should have explored them all a little more thoroughly to bring its themes to life. Furthermore, some side characters introduced in the latter half of the show lacked any authenticity and served only as plot devices for information on the plot without playing active roles as proper characters that can serve the themes and story. The setting also had a lot of potential for some exploration on issues such as child soldiers, war, conspiracy and potentially other themes relating to the situation that the anime presented. There were plenty of instances where some side characters had potential to be explored to support the larger narrative and the setting, but the show opted to go for a more passive take on fantasy conflict by attempting to depict a romance between the two protagonists which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It could have given it a unique edge against other anime in its genre that all rely on action as their main appeal to attract an audience, but it’s unfortunate that the romance between the protagonists was poorly illustrated. From the very first scene in the anime, the main male character Willem conveniently stumbles upon the main female character Chytolly and within an instant they go on a date together. From the beginning of the anime their relationship began on a forced note making it already feel unnatural as both characters fell for each other far too quickly and it could have benefitted the story more had the progression of their love felt natural and realistic. In effect, this makes the development between them not as engaging as it could have been and took away emotional value in later events. What also doesn’t help the case is Chytolly’s overabundance of emotional breakdowns which led to a lot of excessive melodrama that came off as unwarranted and annoying rather than genuine emotion that could also have made for some touching scenes if they weren’t excessive and had the romance being good enough for me to care. The only sort of silver lining the romance between the protagonists has is some of the quirky dialogue the two share that managed to at least put a little smile on my face and it was quite endearing to see, but overall it’s clear to see that the romance could have been portrayed with more care and its clumsiness is clearly visible. In contrast to the side characters, both of the protagonists as individual characters were fleshed out and developed. Each with their own dilemmas and this is the only worthy praise that I will give sukasuka excluding the audio-visuals. Chytolly’s and Willem’s traumas tied in with the central themes of the show and were also used as a way to reflect their progression to mutual love. As they got closer to conquering their ordeals, the more they fell in love with each other. Also the subject matters of happiness, finding a place to call home, fighting for people you love and loosely family were all present as themes in sukasuka. They were all expanding upon and depicted thoroughly enough to make the backstories of the protagonists engaging. Its execution in this department was rather straight forward but satisfactory enough to get a pass mark. Everything the show aims to accomplish is brought together in a thematic sense and the relationship between the mains hits a surprisingly enjoyable and well produced emotional climax. But once again; its lack of care in the romance department hindered the emotional impact of the ending a little and it could have been far more emotionally gripping had the romance been depicted better. The setting itself is what showed the most potential in sukasuka out of all its features. World-building is of utmost importance in a fantasy anime. In a story that doesn’t take place in the world we know today, viewers have to be informed through the plot how the world works, how people in the world interact, the lore of the world and more. Sukasuka wasn’t completely devoid of world building. On the surface level it had established an interesting world that set the stage for a tragic story. The tragic backstory of the protagonist Willem was also tied in with the lore of the world to provide some much needed synergy between the characters and the setting, especially in a show that was lacking any sort of connection between the world and its characters. What ultimately let the show down in this department was not using the full potential that its setting provided. It set the stage for some potential theme exploration on controversial topics that would have made for an interesting experience. The group of children Willem has been tasked to care for are all ancient weapons fielded off to face the enemy and misleads the audience into thinking this would be a very important plot point for the anime, but due to the direction the anime took this plot point was sidelined. As a result the show spent time on cheaply telling the audience on the dilemmas faced by the children rather than showing many consequences as a result of them being used as weapons of war. By far the best element of Sukasuka was the beautiful OST which was used to perfection. Placed in important and impactful scenes to heighten emotional impact and never overused to make the soundtrack feel redundant. Both the OP and ED were a pleasure to listen to and even work well as standalone listeners at any time. Alongside the audio the visuals also thrived. The show had a nice clear and neat colour palette that was exquisite to look at. The character designs were quite generic in appearance but were drawn neatly and attractive. Backgrounds were up to standard and the animation was quite good at times during some of the fight scenes. This anime certainly isn’t an outright calamity. Compare it to most anime that air today and it will look like a gem to recent catastrophes like Eromanga-sensei. The ideas were all there. Under the hands of a more competent and experienced writer the show could have flourished into a fine fantasy anime. Yet it never set the foundations well enough for all of its ideas to wholly blossom which is a shame considering the show did have good intentions. Under the rubble it still has some merits to take away, and it’s these positives that set this anime apart from the vast majority of light novel adaptations that are pumped out consistently every season. It is fully recommendable to hard core fantasy anime fans or just casual fans looking for an anime that offers some easily digestible entertainment. But it is instantly passible for experienced fans that are demanding more out of the medium than a simple romance story that isn’t competent enough to do a satisfying job and would turn out rather average for those people. Sukasuka is not a bad show. But it simply has far too many shortcomings to be considered a success story.