Warning: this review is 164 per cent anime which is a highly dangerous level of anime.
"Anime-Gataris" is a comedy, parody anime released in 2017, animated by WAO World. WAO World has also worked as an animation studio/producer for other anime such as "Speed Grapher," "Ultra Maniac" As producers; and "Time Travel Girl," "Shouwa Monogatari," as an animation studio.
Unlike other anime I've covered, "Anime-Gataris" didn't originate as a manga nor light novel. It originated as short animations from a series called "Anime-gatari" from 2015 to 2016. It has the same Director, Kenshirou Morri, as "Anime-Gataris," and a few characters that appear in "Anime-Gataris" with the same names/similar designs.
[Credit: MyAnimeList (Maya/Maaya (Anime-gatari & Anime-Gataris) And Erica (Anime-gatari & Anime-Gataris))
The "Anime-gatari" shorts were shown at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku, with eight in total. However, only six were released on DVD.
I ended up watching "Anime-Gataris" since a friend of mine, who has also never seen it, suggested we watch it together. So, we did... He later died due to an unfortunate, unrelated deez nuts joke, but is making a speedy recovery thanks to Joe.
Also, important to note, we watched the dub version on Funimation. Funny thing actually, a few of the episode descriptions are wrong on Funimation, one of them on Crunchyroll.
[Credit: Funimation and Crunchyroll]
These descriptions are for the "Rainy Cocoa" Anime, which takes place at a café and has a character named Nozomu Tokura. The descriptions on a few "Anime-Gataris" episodes match "Rainy Cocoa." I wanted to bring it up since I thought it was funny.
Entering the World of Anime
"Anime-Gataris" focuses on Minoa Asagaya, the younger sister of the "Anime-gatari" protagonist. Minoa doesn't watch anime nowadays, but she wants to remember the name of an anime she watched as a child, which catches the attention of Alice Kamiigusa, Arisu in the Japanese version.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: WAO World]
Do not question the deer hat gag. Alice is a huge anime fan, and after some talking, they decide to start an anime club.
After opening it and handing out fliers, other characters join such as: light novel reader Miko Kouenji; cosplayer Erica Aoyama (Erika in Japanese version) who originates from "Anime-gatari;" the over-the-top chunni Kai Musashisakai; and the popular idol fanatic Aurora Nakano.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: WAO World]
Oh yeah, and there's a talking cat named Mister Kitty for some reason, it-it's just there. Only Minoa knows he can talk.
Please question the talking cat. The premise of "Anime-Gataris" is like "Anime-gatari," with "Anime-Gataris" taking place at a high school with more characters while expanding on the anime club premise in... Interesting ways, but we'll get there because I like suspense.
An Anime Club
"Anime-Gataris" is a hobby slice-of-life anime, with a focus on characters being passionate about anime and... It does it extremely well. The passion the characters have for the medium is shown in multiple ways, each character even has a different favourite genre. No fans of the best genre though: hen-
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: WAO World]
It's fun to see the characters talk about anime, their knowledge of anime, the unconventional anime weapons, anime production, and more. It also taught me about some stuff about anime, mainly on the production.
There are also many references to other anime through parody titles or are subtly present in some conversations. I even understood most of them... Which made me realize I need to touch grass.
It's not necessary to know every reference, but it's satisfying to recognize them. My favourite reference is when the characters bring up the three-episode rule for watching anime, where you watch three episodes before deciding to stick with or drop an anime, using anime references... Which they bring up in episode three. Historical.
The characters themselves are neat. While nothing memorable, they have interesting dynamics and are consistently funny to boot. There're also a few interesting traits, such as Miko being sensitive about stuff she likes, Alice being hard to approach, Kai knowing how to murder a man, and more.
I also like each character's voice and performance. The voices are fitting, with none of their lines having odd deliveries from what I noticed. Their character designs are memorable too.
The presentation overall is pleasing to the eye. The visuals look good, and the animation is nice, especially in the last few episodes.
[Credit: Funimation (First two images); Animation Studio: WAO World (First three images)]
The OP and ED are also both visually great too with catchy songs. The ED adds a fresh art style and even a massive reference to "Love Live." Or is it "IDOLM@STER?" I don't know, I don't watch idol anime.
Unfortunately, I can't say the background music for "Anime-Gataris" is all that memorable. I can vaguely remember one piano track from episode 11, but that's about it. It's the only criticism I have with the presentation.
Overall, "Anime-Gataris" has a fun concept. I don't see how this could possibly go wrong-
Everything... Everything Went Wrong
Oh... Oh, you poor fool. Did you think this was just going to be about an anime club?! I wish! No seriously, I really do!
Unfortunately, "Anime-Gataris" tried to balance casual anime club activities, talking about anime, and drama scenarios with the anime club at risk of being shut down. Key word being tried.
It's passable at first since casual anime club activities are still present. However, the more drama occurs, the more annoying it gets, and the more it overshadows the anime club. After a while, characters barely talk about anime passionately.
That's so odd given the passion these characters have for anime is the hook of the anime. I'm fine with subverting expectations, but not when the drama is so badly done. It's repetitive, barely adds anything, and characters handle them inefficiently.
For example, the anime club must present a speech to get votes to keep the anime club open because of the Student Council in episode three. Instead of having Aurora do the speech, who is a popular student the girls love, they have Minoa do it. They have a school celebrity in their club but don't even think about having him do the speech?
Even drama unrelated to the Student Council is questionable. One example is how Kai develops romantic feelings for Miko because he believes Miko is in love with him. However, when he confesses, his body is facing Aurora, making Miko think Kai confessed to Aurora.
While Miko's dialogue is adorable here due to the misunderstanding, HOW DID SHE MISUNDERSTAND KAI HERE?! Kai was directly addressing her, Kai told her he had something to tell her. I thought the romantic misunderstandings here were bad, but holy carp, this is next level stupidity.
The drama just makes "Anime-Gataris" feel unfocused because what makes the anime good is when characters passionately talk about anime. However, they focus more on the unnecessary drama that leaves so much to be desired. It's like shooting themselves in the foot with a rocket launcher.
The focus on drama even makes the characters less interesting, becoming stale overtime. I can't even name a single character I like among the anime club. Even traits like Miko being sensitive about stuff she likes or Kai's crush just... Disappear.
Other characters like the Student Council leader Tsubaki just disappears after episode eight until the last episode despite being an antagonist for a while. Yui Obata, Minoa's friend, is the weirdest because the beginning of nearly each episode focuses on her.
At first, I thought they were building up to some interesting drama. Maybe she was overworking herself and Minoa wasn't noticing because of the anime club. Maybe she was being physically abused- My mind went to dark places. Point is, I was legitimately excited to see where it was going... Only for it all to lead up to an... Opening gag?
While it's kind of funny at the time, given they made a version of the Opening for a side-character, the harsh reality is that all those scenes focusing on Yui were just b-roll for the joke. I was so severely disappointed that Yui's role culminated to... A joke.
Don't even get me started on the last two episodes where reality collapses on itself as the anime world takes over Minoa's reality. Which I only casually say because the insanity of the concept hasn't set in yet-
WAIT, ANIME WORLD?! REALITY COLLASPING?! WHAT IS THIS?! I JUST WANTED AN ANIME WITH CHARACTERS TALKING ABOUT ANIME!
Explaining the Madness
Basically, Aurora and Mister Kitty are from the anime world. The room in the anime club room Mister Kitty came out of is reality's connection to the anime world, which I'll dub the anime world door.
The more the anime world is let into reality by opening the anime world door, the more reality is consumed by anime, with anime becoming reality. That's the basic gist of it, and while it's easy to shrug it off as stupid, my brain unfortunately tries its hardest to figure out nonsensical logic.
The Beret's Influence
Due to Aurora's presence in the real world, the anime world seems to have some influence in the real world. However, these seem to be exclusive to the school, likely because the anime world door was opened in the past. As a result, the school has some anime tropes we see with Alice.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: WAO World]
The deer hat is surprisingly important. These things are abnormal to Minoa at first though. However, the anime tropes escalate after the anime world door is opened, with Minoa picking up the beret inside.
The beret appears to be able to manipulate others, with the beret mind controlling Minao at the bus stop until Aurora intentionally bumps into her so the beret can find a host. In this case, the Director of "Anime-Gataris," Kenshirou Morii.
[Credit: Funimation; Animation Studio: WAO World]
The Director then changes reality itself as the anime world continues to expand its reach. This would explain why Minoa doesn't see the changes caused by the anime world as normal while everyone else does, she touched the beret which put her in the position of a creator, much like the Director, just without the Director's powers.
The Changes at First
For the most part, the changes made by the Director only affect the school. The exploding microwave not injuring/killing anyone makes this a little obvious.
In comparison, when the characters are hanging outside of school, while they still have elements of anime in them, everything is mostly normal. This is the most glaring with Tsubaki, as her stance on anime is radically different in and out of school.
Outside of school, Tsubaki is an anime fan given at the karaoke she says the same line she said when cosplaying with Erica when they were younger. At school though, she sees anime as something dumb. This applies to the other Student Council members but to a lesser extent.
[Credit: WAO World]
In fact, at one point, Tsubaki's desire to shut down the anime club gets to anime villain levels. Her eyes are even lifeless when this happens, suggesting that the anime world is morphing her into someone... Something more antagonistic.
The part in her that loves anime exists when she's at school, but it's pushed down by the anime world and possibly the Director's influence to make her an anime villain. Tsubaki briefly loses her composure when Erica mentions how they bonded over anime, as if she remembered something deep in her brain for a second, wondering "what am I doing?"
I disliked Tsubaki during the anime, but given the full picture, Tsubaki might be my favourite character in "Anime-Gataris" now. She was forced to turn on her friend and likely never fully understood why. Her dilemma is genuinely fascinating.
This was the biggest thing I noticed, but smaller things are affected too, such as flashlights working like rays of light on Kai's peepee; Mino, Alice, and Miko all somehow being able to sing a& dance without any sign they had those abilities beforehand; and more.
WHERE👏IS👏THE👏KAI👏PEE👏PEE👏CUT?!
The Escalation
The anime world taking over doesn't escalate until episode nine, with anime influencing the entire school. This is likely due to Aurora keeping the anime world door open or opening it up when he can to spread the anime.
Aurora got the anime club shut down temporarily between episode nine and 10 just so he could keep the anime world door open without Mister Kitty/anyone noticing. However, by letting too much of the anime world enter reality, anime took over reality in episode 11.
Apart from Minoa, Mister Kitty, and Aurora, everyone else changes the more reality is engulfed in anime. It gets to the point where everyone seems to prefer a world of anime over reality, which can be seen as a message for escapism.
Fortunately, everything is resolved when Aurora and Mister Kitty return to the anime world with the beret, restarting the timeline without the anime world's influence. It seems the only thing that carried over were the lessons/changes characters underwent in the earlier timeline.
Alice is now more approachable & open about her love of anime, Minoa regularly watches anime, and so on.
The only odd changes are that Miko's glasses are red now and that Erica's hair is a dark green like in "Anime-gatari" instead of... Bright... Green... Wait... Is... IS "ANIME-GATARIS" A PREQUEL TO "ANIME-GATARI?!"
[Credits: WAO World (first image) and Gominokyara (second image)
I mean, Minoa's sister and Erica are third-year students in "Anime-Gataris." "Anime-gatari" takes place in Tokyo University and Erica has dark green hair there. I can't prove it, but this sounds like the sort of thing professional mad lad Kenshirou Morii would do.
Beautiful Concept, Horrible Execution
I adore the concept of having something go completely meta with the reality of the characters connected to the anime world because of a supernatural element. In terms of comedic execution, it's perfect with common stuff like a mid-episode visual being an obstacle.
It's hilarious seeing stuff like the characters rewinding the opening, almost falling into the black bar void, skipping through classes, and more. In theory, it should be a love letter to the anime industry and fans alike... Yet, I don't feel like it is because of the horrible execution.
Firstly, while there are hints towards the meta stuff and a buildup, it's too vague to make it feel natural. However, the meta stuff also isn't shocking either because the anime already struggled balancing the casual anime club and the drama. When the meta stuff escalated, I was just like, "oh, we're doing this now? Okay..."
I think the meta stuff would've worked better if it was either introduced earlier or if "Anime-Gataris" removed all the drama beforehand. Introducing the anime world elements so late and struggling to balance the drama hurts the impact of it.
Secondly, the payoff is hollow. Multiple characters like Tsubaki are forgotten about; only Aurora, who I dislike a lot for his villain role, develops/grows from the experience; and the result from the timeline reset should've been what we got from the get-go.
While the message of escapism is nice, it's not built up at all prior. No one beforehand used anime to escape from their problems/reality. The only time anyone does is when they're changing with the world. It just feels out of the blue- Er... Out of the anime.
Thirdly, I can't take the meta stuff seriously. Barring the comedic stuff, it's hard to take anything seriously given how ridiculous it all is. It's like watching a soap opera but everyone is dressed up as clowns, you can't not laugh. Even the Director, the technical mastermind behind the anime world changing reality, is killed off-screen.
What makes it hardest to take it seriously is Aurora's motive, the reason he was perfectly okay with destroying reality and wiping it out of existence... The reason is because he hates his name and wants the Director to change it... I wish I was joking. W-We don't even know why he hates it.
Finally, there are plot holes. Let me list them:
Why do Miko's glasses turn from orange in the old timeline, to red in the new timeline?
Why do the other club members appear in the void physically?
Why is the Alice robot from the anime short the anime club made still around when reality is on the verge of being wiped from existence?
How does it have the power to break the void's wall?
How DOES a void have walls?
THat las questate kil lass bran cel. I get what the anime was going for, but this was NOT the anime to do it in. At least, the execution made me feel it wasn't.
While I appreciate the attempt to be deep, the meta stuff only adds to the humour, nothing else. The message feels tacked on, the payoff is disappointing, Aurora is a horrible villain, and the meta-aspects aren't shocking nor natural. It makes the final two episodes of "Anime-Gataris" a train wreck.
Overall (E)
"Anime-Gataris" is... It's uh... Hm... "Anime-Gataris" leaves me speechless, but not for the right reasons... The drama is awful, characters get boring overtime, the anime feels unfocused, and the meta-aspects don't deliver. I just left this anime feeling it was a waste of human sacrifice time.
It's a shame since "Anime-Gataris" was working at first and it could've been great if it stuck to the casual aspect. The humour is wonderful, the presentation is neat, and the anime is a lot of fun when the characters talk about anime passionately. Unfortunately, the aspect I loved the most boils down to a footnote after a while.
Watching "Anime-Gataris" is like watching a car crash in slow-motion... With landmines, helicopters crashing too, Satan rising from the Earth- It felt like there were too many ideas for the anime, so the writers decided to just execute all of them. It's honestly a mess.
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