Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai

Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai (or Munto TV for short), is the "sequel" to Kyoto Animation's original series Munto. Before you wtf and ask yourself wtf happens to the animation throughout the anime please take into consideration that most of the series consists of the recycled original OVAs that were produced a couple of years ago already. Story: The story revolves around Yumemi, a normal girl who has a secret power in her which allows her to see the world of the magical beings who live in the sky. In that world Munto, the King of the Magical Kingdom, is in aconstant struggle in order to save his people from various different crisis who mostly revolves around the world's energy source, the Akuto. Munto seeks Yumemi for help to save both worlds who are in danger. The premise of the story is an interesting one, however lazy writing and a constant problem of leaving plot holes unexplained can leave the viewer confused and disappointed in the story. It is a shame since the story could've felt so much more complete if better explained, and why is it only 9 episodes? extra episodes could've helped get your story pieced together better. Despite all that the story is still rather enjoyable and is definitely not the worst you'll see. Art: This one is tricky to judge. As previously said the first couple of episodes consists of pretty much copy/pasting scenes from their original OVAs and then just giving it a color adjustment. This is a real letdown since this creates big inconsistencies in the animation as the show progresses. The first 3 episodes are OVA 1, which was produced 6 years ago, which if compared to today's animation it will certainly look inferior. The next 3 episodes are OVA 2, which where made 4 years ago, the animation is greatly improved from the first 3 episodes but the sudden change in styles may not get on people's good sides. The final 3 episodes are completely brand new Kyoto Animation animations and as expected it looks great with very fluid motion, however the sudden changes in art style might not please some people. The end result however was not a bad one and I really did enjoy the visuals for most of the show. Sound: Something the original OVAs lacked greatly was a good OST, and this anime gives you a rather awesome one. A lot of the scores in the anime sound very impressive and gives a sense of epicness to some of the great action that this anime brings. I was really pleased with this soundtrack and it really made the show much more enjoyable. Character: Another one of the animes rather weak points were the characters. Aside from Yumemi and Munto the anime just kinda throws characters at you whose roles end up being insignificant in the end. The main villain of the show was not that interesting, and was rather unimpressive to say the least. Enjoyment: Despite having some issues, I really enjoyed this show, it was quite an interesting thing to see KyoAni tackle a more action oriented show and I was not disappointed by the end result. However it does feel like the production got lazy for reusing 6 year old animation instead of just remaking it from scratch in the beginning. Overall: Munto TV was a pretty enjoyable show. If you like seeing great action accompanied with good music in a magical/fantasy setting. Then I recommend you check it out.

Story: On one side you have the peaceful humans and on the other side are the magic-using, war-hungry "Heavenly Beings". Friends trusting each other seems to be a recurring theme in the plot. It's not your standard fantasy story with demons and rescuing a maiden though! The story requires you to pay attention. Not all concepts were explained properly, but that was okay with me since it didn't stand in the way of fun. I didn't really have any big issues with the story. One of the characters, Suzume, gets her own little side-story early on which I thought had no relevance to the main plot.The only reason I can see why is because she would have had no depth at all otherwise. Art: You've probably seen by now that this is made by Kyoto Animation who also animated Suzumiya Haruhi, Clannad, K-On! and several other extremely popular shows. The animation may not be state of the art, but it's still pleasing to the eye and very colorful. I didn't notice any scenes where the characters looked awkward if there were any. Definitely be on the lookout for small little details you might have missed on your first time watching if you're watching it a second time like I did. Sound: Not much to complain about here. The opening song is by Eufonius, best known for remixing Mag Mell for the first Clannad season. The ending song is by Ceui, who also made the ending song for the anime "sola". Personally, I liked both songs. The background music throughout the show helps set the mood and raise the tension where needed. Character: Yumemi, the main character, has great character development throughout the show. It's a nice change to see a girl character who isn't a total doormat for once. She is actually the one who saves the day instead of being saved every time. Her friends are there to support her which makes me like them and Yumemi more. The other main character, Munto, who the series is named after also gets some good back-story and development. He starts out rather impatient but slowly learns to trust Yumemi. His back-story was understandable but it could've gotten more attention in my opinion. The rest of the characters are not so developed but that's understandable due to the shortness of the series. One thing that bugs me is that they could've explained the motivation behind the main bad guy better. Enjoyment: I enjoyed this anime even more the second time I watched it. What I enjoyed the most is how I got sucked into the Munto universe for awhile (no pun intended). It's original fantasy fun. Overall: This show is a mix of several genres like fantasy, romance, action and slice of life all put into a short nine episode show. If you like any of those then why not try it? I wish there were more episodes.

Well, I figured I ought to weigh in on the opposite side of the scale, with a less positive review of the series. I'm probably going to end up comparing (i.e. contrasting) this more than I really should with Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, which is (was?) my current benchmark in bad fantasy anime. Story: 3/10 Munto TV is a rerelease and continuation of two OVAs from KyoAni in 2003 and 2005, if I recall correctly. The story itself (go check the synopsis) is fairly generic, although that's not a problem if the storytelling is excellent. Of course, therein lies the rub; Munto TV'sstorytelling is anything but excellent. When I say "rerelease," I mean it almost literally; Munto TV feels like it's cobbled together, lacking a proper flow between OVA segments. Additionally, it turns out that not a whole lot actually happens. It doesn't even have a melodramatic and focused (although still cliched as hell) finale, unlike in Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. Art: 9/10 What can I say? KyoAni is good. Really good. If you want high production values, they'll give 'em to you. The art is crystal clear, and the animation is fluid. Backgrounds are detailed, designs are fitting, both for the environments and for characters. I can dock one point only for the fact that they're not animating very many really awesome sequences, therefore wasting the extraordinary fluidity. Sound: 7/10 The soundtrack is decent, although it doesn't always manage to create the perfect mood, unlike Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. That series wasn't salvageable either, unsurprisingly, as it's from the fantasy genre too. Instrumentation seems to be of high quality. OP and ED are disposable, as usual. Character: 6/10 Munto TV had a neat thing going with Yumemi as a realistically reluctant and skeptical heroine, but this was wrecked by sudden character shifts required by the OVA timeframe. Lord Munto was pretty cool, but he was also affected by the timeframe. Suzune got way more characterization than she should have, given the timeframe, although I understand that her section of the story was metaphoric. Ichiko was...meh. All other characters might as well not have had names or faces. Really, Yumemi from the first third of the series netted an extra 2 points. Enjoyment: 4/10 It was honestly painful to watch this. This was mainly due to my hopes shattering, with the shards subsequently working their way deeper and deeper into my skin. Maybe that's unfair, but that's the only basis I have for a rating of enjoyment. Episode eight made me want to stop watching, but I was so close to the end that I just sucked it up. It didn't even give me the satisfaction of terribly amusing (and amusingly terrible) screenshots, unlike Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora. Overall: 4/10 Go watch Vision of Escaflowne if you want good fantasy anime. Or go play a fantasy adventure RPG. You really have better things to do with your time than watch this. KyoAni needs to stick to adapting pre-existing material if this is the pinnacle of its story-writing ability.

Meet the three friends. The big red guy. The lolicon Tasuya... Tatsuya... Ta-ta-ta-something. Oh and not to forget the really cool tall lady. The only bad thing is that characters but the main characters are only useful for like 1-2 episodes. And, it's pretty hard to follow the explanations. However, that might just be me being stupid. This is an anime, like most "other world" kinds, that you need to rewatch to understand. It's pretty good for a 2009 anime. Other than that, there are some cool fighting scenes, and some cute moments. I think it's alright.