Beryl and Sapphire

Beryl and Sapphire is a show that I randomly stumbled across on an anime site. I thought the premise seemed intriguing enough and I didn’t have high expectations for it… I was wrong. To say this show is different is most definitely an understatement. The first and most blatant thing you will notice from either the title of the show or watching episode 1 is that it is in Chinese. This kind of threw me off, but I decided that I would watch it anyways. Another cool thing that I enjoyed is that they are comprised of a bunch of different stories rather than just onelong story. I think this approach was very effective as it connected the commonality of characters to different stories which gave it a unique feel. One last unique thing I found is that the episodes are divided into groups of 6. This is comprised of 5 - ~6 minute episodes and 1 - ~25 minute episode as a “weekend special” when it aired. I thought this idea was cool and it gave something to people who like the different types of shows so you don’t need to say “this would have been better as a short” or “man, I wish these episodes were longer”. This issue is tackled well and I can guarantee you will not walk away disappointed in regards to that issue. With that out of the way, it takes more than just “uniqueness” to make a show good. As you can see, I scored all categories with at least a 9 because I truly felt like it exceeded and performed well in all the categories. Story: 10/10 - The story was a bit hard for me to score as there are multiple stories to follow as I mentioned before, but I think the two main characters being a “pivot role” if you will helped keep it interesting in a fresh way (although I will touch more on this in the character section of my review). Using the characters as pivots allowed the stories to feel like the same show, but different in their own respects. I gave it a 10 because I haven’t seen another show tackle it like this show did and I thought it was very effective. Art: 9/10 - The art looked great and they did something that I think seems lazy at first glance, but I think it helped the focus of the show. Almost all background characters and occasionally the main characters would go from having a “normal” animated face to just a simple round head with eyes and a mouth. For the background characters, this allowed social scenes to feel like real life. You don’t recognize faces and it allows you to focus on the important characters at hand. As far as the main characters, it would generally do this to help with the emotions of the characters. I never found it out of place when they would switch to the round heads. Also, small last side note, CGI animation is used at some points of large crowds moving. It looked weird, but it wasn’t important to the show and it was probably much easier on the team making the show, so I chose to let that one slide. Sound: 9/10 - The OST wasn’t memorable but it wasn’t bad either. I can’t think of any particular tunes standing out as great or awful. I just thought during the show that it always fit well (which can’t be said for all anime). The OP and ED are pretty catchy too I might add. I’m usually pretty big on music, but this music just felt right and I just walk away with a “good job, it worked” feeling. Not much to say unfortunately, but it was good. Character: 10/10 - As far as the characters go, the show generally revolves around two main characters: Beryl and Sapphire. Not matter what personality or arc is being played on any given episode, there is some sort of relationship between these characters that brings them together (whether a romantic relationship or not). These stories take place in a multitude of different demographics. You have them either in the work place, in school, or just out in public. The best part is that they all work and manage to keep a basic outline of the characters. It felt right in each of the roles that they were playing. Although I don’t think I would take a singular Beryl or Sapphire to my top 10 character list, the interactions between all of them has to be up there in some of my favorites (but MAL doesn’t have a place for that… RIP Hibike Euphonium interactions). I think having this level of interaction value isn’t something a lot of anime can do this well so hats off to the team. Enjoyment: 10/10 - Not much to say about enjoyment that hasn’t been said already. What I can say is that I knew I was hooked after the first block of 6 episodes. I’d say give the show about 1 to 2 cycles of the 6-episode cycles to see if it’s a show you should continue. I think that there is definitely something for everyone in this show which makes me think the enjoyment of this show is something that can be shared among a lot of people in the community which is why I put it in such high regards. I could easily recommend this to a lot of people. Overall: “It just felt right” 10/10

This show is so unique! If I had to equate it to anything, it's like you're watching animations of someone's fanfiction stories, jumping around between chapters and oneshots of the same pairing. I've never seen a show do that before, so it's quiet a novelty to experience. I find it really nice that the opening and ending songs introduce you to these two being actors in a subtle way and styling the title cards also add to it. Additionally, not only do the cute lyrics show the bond the two actors have, but it just feels good to listen to! It makes me feel happierjust listening to it! The episodes are really short, so after a couple, I found it easy to adjust to the flow of jumping around. It's nice not knowing what to expect and being surprised. The episodes very from humorous to cute to heartbreaking, so there's a little bit of everything to love. Every so often there are longer episodes and they usually deal with heavier, more complicated themes. I found myself looking forward to those longer episodes as well as the storylines the show would revisit. I ended up liking even the ones that I started out with no preference for, excited even when I got a sneak peak of the next episode. That made me really appreciate the show. Making me care about storylines/characters I didn't care for before really impresses me so it has my praise. Additionally, for as many genres as this show touches, it does them all surprisingly well. From daily life to supernatural to fantasy, the show really explores the themes just enough to make it work without putting too much to break someone from the experience. The art style really helps with those switching themes as well. It is simple, cute, and beautiful, emphasizing only what is really needed. And even though the show is based around two actors paired in several different projects with varying roles, you can still get a good idea of their individual personalities, which was a nice touch. Overall, this is a great show with a very interesting way of telling its story. I would highly recommend picking it up to give it a try!

This is my first review. I wrote this in Feb 2020 and never got around to sharing it. Beryl and Sapphire (Xiao Lu He Xiao Lan) 小绿和小蓝 is a comedy-gag donghua (Chinese anime) based off of a web-comic written by Ocarina. In this web-comic, the main characters Beryl and Sapphire, to my knowledge, are genderless stick-figures. It's a very character-oriented series that has accumulated widespread love in China. I'm very happy I managed to stumble upon this series now, because the impact this show has left on me is greater than I originally thought it would. The animation in this series is, at first, really simplistic. Andthat works in its benefit. Adapting from a source material that is quite literally just stick figures, the animation team really brought their A-game in bringing Beryl and Sapphire to life. The art direction is simplistic when it needs to be during the light-hearted comedic moments, and the animation is seemless (and, sometimes, breathtaking) during the emotional or action-packed moments. The background characters retain the simple stick-figure shape as seen in the webcomic, because, the show isn't about the background characters. The show (with exemptions to quite literally only, maybe 2-3 characters) only revolves Beryl and Sapphire. The art is cute as well. If you have seen any other donghua, then you know that some of them struggle with art/animation greatly (though this has now changed, seeing as how booming the animation industry has become in China within the past 2 years), but none of this is shown in B&S, as its' shorter episode run-time (5 minutes to 30 minutes) is easier to manage. Now to move onto something much more important. If you're reading this review, there is a chance you've seen the tag "Shounen Ai" on B&S's MyAnimeList page. I noticed that too, which to be honest, got me to check out the show. However, while this is applicable greatly to the show, I feel the need to explain. Ocarina (as stated in her interview for Western fans) has confirmed that Beryl and Sapphire are soulmates. Each episode revolves around them in a different universe (they are technically "actors" playing all of these parts, but I find it much easier to dictate them as separate universes entirely) and each universe is centered on their relationship. Do they hate each other? Do they love each other? Are they strangers? Classmates? Coworkers? Businessmen? Demon King and Knight? Robots? Secret Agents? Are they both male? Is one of them female? Will one of them confess to the other? Will one of them die? I am unironically stating that this stupid comedy-gag anime is incredibly philosophical. There are direct references to literature such as Flowers for Algernon and 120 Days of Sodom. It subtextually questions its audience about how technology has (and will) irrefutably change our lives forever, or about how we misconceptualize the perspectives of villains, or how greed can corrupt our perspectives of the people we care about, or how easy it is to let go of the importance of our pasts in favor of what could be a temporary future. I experienced such a wide array of emotions with this show. This is supposed to be a gag anime, yet I found myself tearing up countless times. It knows when to be stupid and when to be serious. When that slow music sets in during some of the most emotionally climactic scenes in the series, and the credits begin to roll as the lyrics blared from my speakers, you just feel the need to curl up and hug yourself. This probably isn't the show for you if you want some grand, over-arching narrative with intuitive world-building and a grounded setting. This is a character-centric show, and it won't be for everyone. It also probably won't be for you if you can't handle listening to Chinese or if seeing two boys kissing isn't your thing. I just needed an outlet to express my love for this show. Thank you for reading this review.

Beryl and Sapphire is a collection of self-contained stories revolving around Beryl and Sapphire and their relationship throughout different scenarios. To be honest, I'm not a fan of episodic storytelling. Fortunately, Beryl and Sapphire is not just a collection of independent one-shot episodes; some storylines get revisited in later episodes giving the series the opportunity to flesh out the world and characters. Which is great because some of the stories gain a real depth with more exposition. While most episodes are just short 5mins mindless entertainment, some episodes (especially the 30 mins long weekend specials) can be truly unique and thought-provoking. I especially found thethemes of episode 30 really intriguing. Regarding the titular Beryl and Sapphire, their dynamic can be either hilarious or heartwarming (or heartbreaking) depending on the episode. Overall, it was a very cute watch. Would recommend.