Otherside Picnic

Fantasy animes in my opinion are crazy. Both in a good way and a bad way. There is so much the creator can do around with fantasies and can make it as "crazy" as possible. Urasekai Picnic is an anime about traveling to an alternate world called "Otherside" where they fight off weird creatures while searching for their friend. I watched this anime since it has the "Shoujo Ai" listed in its genres because I love Shoujo Ai and it is one of my favorite genres and I expected somewhat romance but I didn't get it, even though I felt it. The CGI used here issomewhat decent, the studio made long-distance shots with the main characters in CGI for the first 6 episodes then stopped for 2 episodes and went at it again. One of the policies I like to follow while rating animes on this website is how much I enjoyed it and how much I enjoyed the plot. Some of the parts in this were scary. Even though there were monsters/ghost-like figures in the "Otherworld", it is almost weird that almost none of them completely creeped me out. One more thing I noticed is how the US Marines in the anime spoke english in a Japanese accent, it felt very weird to hear them say their mother tongue that way. The characters were really cute and interesting and they made the most out of working with each other. One of the things I would like to say is that the two main girls say that they're second years in college but they look like they are not even third year in high school which I found kind of weird. The OP gave me a vibe of Naruto for some reason and the ED is amazing, my favorite ending of Winter 2021. The song used in the ending, "You and me" was very touching and pretty nice to listen to after watching a cliffhanger episode. I'll summarize the main aspects of this in some sentences - Story (8/10) - Pretty good pacing and nice episode cliffhangers. I love how they make it super clear - what they are doing, where they are going, and what they will do. The decisions taken by the main characters in this are agreeable and lead forward to a better story. Art (7/10) - Pretty but I felt the long-distance CGI shots were a bit lazy but another CGI was pretty well made. Sound (9/10) - As I said, my favorite ending of the season; this anime has good OSTs and music. Also, the voice acting is on point and pretty good. Character (9/10) - Characters were very cute and super compatible and they supported each other the most. Enjoyment (9/10) - I enjoyed this anime a lot and it was pretty fun to watch every week on Monday, starting my new day. Most episodes were enjoyable and very nice. Overall rating - (8.4/10). P.S. - if you like fantasies with a cute relationship in them, watch this.

Without many premonitions what “Urasekai Picnic” is about, I watched the anime mainly because of the genre-tag "Shoujo Ai”, one or the other of you may have been magically attracted by this one too. I expected some action combined with sci-fi and of course a lot of Yuri. But I was completely wrong! The series focuses on Sorawo and Toriko, two young women who discover the “Otherside” of their own world. It is a dangerous world where many monsters from ghost stories come to life. There is always a secret door or item that leads to the other world. Sometimes it could be in an oldapartment or at other times the access can be made possible by pressing a certain combination in an elevator, even a special item like a hat could be a trigger. Both of our main characters have different reasons for entering the "Otherside". Toriko, a very beautiful girl with waist-length gold-colored hair, is looking for her missing friend Satsuki. Since Toriko was taught everything about survival as a little girl, she is very good at handling weapons as well. She protects Sorawo in every dangerous situation when the ghosts want to pounce on them again. They met by chance on the "Otherside", but quickly realized that they are a perfectly harmonious team and should therefore undertake the actions together. Sorawo, our shy university student, has always had problems dealing with other people. The only person whom she is comfortable with is when she's with Toriko. She really likes Toriko and wants to be on her on side at all costs. Their relationship is very important for Sorawo who has always been interested in ghost stories. With the curiosity in mind, she also wants to find more what the "Otherside" is all about. Besides their own interest in the "Otherside", both have their hearts in the right place and are ready to save other people who are stucked there. Due to their special ability (Sorawo can detect glitches, while Toriko's left hand allows her to directly "touch" the true forms of the “Otherside's” entities) they are the only ones who can save these people and are even ready to put their own lives at risk. In addition to our two main characters, there are two other friends of theirs who play an important role: Kozakura and Akari. Kozakura is a young researcher who is very interested in the "Otherside". She buys every interesting material that Sowaro and Toriko bring back for her as a “souvenir”. Before Satsuki disappeared, she and Kozakura used to do research together on the other world. But after a while Kozakura gave up because it was too much for her to handle. Therefore, she also wants to find out what happened to Satsuki. Akari, on the other hand, attends the same university as Sorawo. She is a lively, friendly and energetic personality who is also carefree and sophisticated, not worrying what others think about her. After being relentlessly attacked by ninja cats, she came to Sorawo for help. Later it was also found that Satsuki used to be her tutor. The art is very nicely designed, especially when it comes to the transition between the two different worlds. While on their "real" world the sun is shining and rather a light color appears, everything is very dark and gloomy on the "Otherside" in terms of color. The contrast is displayed very well. The ghosts are also portrayed in a high quality, their movement and the effects are clearly visible. But I would particularly like to emphasize the few Yuri moments between Sorawo and Toriko. Their special moments always stand out, be it through the light, the background or even the sound, their relationship is definitely something unique and wholesome. Urasekai Picnic's OP is very energetic and powerful. It is about one of the most important things in our life: friendship. CHiCO with HoneyWorks is a perfect combination, which is also very successful here. The ED "You & Me" is a bit calmer and more relaxed. Back from the dangerous journey from the "Otherside", you just want to end the day. This song is also about another very important topic in life: love and feelings. Despite the good OP and ED selection, it is again the small details that stand out here. In the scary scenes ghost noises can be heard in the background, in the decisive scenes the tension is built up by the sound or even the up and down of an elevator scene, the sounds are very suitable everywhere. As already mentioned at the beginning, I went into this anime full of enthusiasm because of the many Yuri scenes I had hoped for. I was disappointed from this side, but the story and plot grabbed me tight. Almost every episode is about a new encounter on the "Otherside". Unexpected things often happen there, but that's exactly what makes this anime so special. You never know what to expect on the other side of the world. Perhaps we also have glitches in our world that lead somewhere else…who knows? Our world is mysterious and so is Urasekai Picnic with all its open questions. As someone who has not read anything from the novels, it would be great getting a second season that could answer all these things. Then it wouldn't necessarily be about the Yuri moments, but what more exciting things we can expect on the "Otherside"!

Where do I start? I’m quite confused as to why this anime exists I guess? I don’t quite get this series. It’s basically combining urban legends and putting it into a title with characters to explore these said urban legends. Oh there’s also a side “B” story where a friend is missing but it doesn’t really talk about that. Story (3): It’s quite episodic. Every episode we get a different urban legend and our two MCs explore said legend. The formula is the same; somehow the MCs get themselves into these situations naturally and they try to find their way back to their own world. And that’s literallyit. The MCs go back, the legend is done. Now next episode move on to the next one. It’s eh. Art (6): It’s a typical, production type anime art we’ve seen for the past few years. It’s nothing new. It’s not astonishingly great or horrible. Just fine. Sound (7): The OST does fit with the situation/environment well though. I quite like the ED when the episode ends. OP is quite forgettable for me. Character (4): Characters are pretty weak in my opinion. We don’t get to see much backstory, I guess. The characters don’t really grow. It seems they treat each urban legend a bit like it’s business as usual; the MCs aren’t scared at all. Even though the directors tried to put in that the MCs are scared and stuff, it doesn’t feel that way. It feels that the characters will get over the challenge and return home safely. There’s no twist or anything. Enjoyment (7): Regardless, watching this every week was bearable. It keeps my attention span long enough and it’s interesting to see the characters explore. However, this anime is not something you can binge as you’ll probably lose interest pretty quickly. Unless you’re into this kind of genre, I don’t see how one can consume all of the episodes in one sitting. Overall (6): It’s fine. Big plus on sound, meh on basically everything else. I haven’t read the source material, but I have an inkling it’s better than what’s presented in the anime.

Honestly, it had a lot going for it at the start of its running (the first 3 episodes or so). However, the longer the show goes on, the more it starts to leave all the setup and buildup it introduces back where it first popped up. Especially the second half felt just completely dragged out and it seemed like it was constantly dancing around the things it set up - Satsuki mostly. With the buildup the show has around her, you would expect her to pop up at the end as some kind of challenge to the way Toriko and Sorao have been going aboutthe Otherwold, or some connection to Sorao because of the comments Akari makes about her kinda looking like Satsuki, but nope - the only glimpse we see of her is by an apparition in the Otherworld that isn't even her. That's it. Pacing is a complete mess, artstyle is kinda bland but not bad. Sound was good and did its job in creating very eerie atmospheres. Voice acting felt kinda 'off' sometimes and don't even get me STARTED on the Engrish with the American soldiers. Overall, if you like creepy and unsettling shows this one is great, but don't expect a satisfying or logical ending, because you won't get it.