Reviews in a Blue Bin: DRAMAtical Murder, Episode 1
By Bunny.† 21:13 Allmate, anime, Aoba Seragaki, Beni, Clear, DMMd, DRAMAtical Murder, english, Honyalala, Koujaku, Mink, Mizuki, Nitro+CHiRAL, Noiz, review, Virus and Trip
Getting to see the animated versions of the characters we got to know, enjoy or even dislike from the game was something everyone was looking forward to.
The common fears were there. "What if they ruin it?", "There have been animated versions of Visual Novels before and many of them have only destroyed the story we were passionate about", and of course "What if no gay???". But even within the cloud of doubts and concerns of what it could be, excitement was still the common denominator in the entire community of those who enjoyed both games.
The wait gave everyone plenty of time to discuss their opinions on what this anime would be. The particular case (of a Visual Novel, with many possible Routes and Endings) provided us with more chances to speculate and imagine, creating tension that would get close to boiling point as the release date approached.
So yesterday the moment arrived and the day became a countdown to the instant in which each of us in our different Time Zones and schedule possibilities, would get to sit down and enjoy the 24ish minutes that would open the gates to the animated world of DRAMAtical Murder.
To me it came almost simultaneously with Sailor Moon Crystal, and it was the first time I lived this experience of waiting for an anime release, exact date and everything. Because all the anime series I've enjoyed had a while (sometimes years) of being released before they reached me. Never did I experience a countdown, the excitement determined by a single date marked on the calender and seeing the future audience sharing the possibilities that surround said release.
So of course I would want to document it.
I had to wait just a few hours before it was available in my chosen streaming website. I usually watch everything now from my phone, because it simply runs faster than it would on my desktop and allows me to watch in bed more comfortably. Specially because this was quite a lazy Sunday, I preferred to bear with the smaller screen but from a comfortable place. That's just my priorities in order lol
Internet connection can truly be ill-willed when it senses you've got something important to upload, send, download, share or watch. So it took me plenty of refreshings and app restarts to have the video run smoothly at last.
First Impressions
After playing all the existent Routes (in some cases, even more than once or twice) the company of Aoba's voice is something that I truly enjoyed. I can't help but wonder how was the process of choosing a Seiyuu for a character whose voice plays such an important role in a story, but it honestly worked. It's easily the voice I've enjoyed the most in any character (although it sure shares the first spot with Ai Orikasa's Seguchi Tohma). It was soothing when it had to be, amusing, menacing, and seductive when the occasion required it as well.
But getting to hear this voice guiding us through a new adventure was truly refreshing. That sensation of being on a brand new setting, not knowing what's going to happen next (because even as a player, the course the animated series will take remains unknown to us) made me treasure the voice of this character a lot. So the first words were a nice welcome.
The Opening
"Slip on the Pumps" by GOATBED.
(maxi single yet to be released)
The protagonism of music in absolutely... everything, cannot be denied. But it makes itself be felt the most whe it comes to games, movies and series. Just anything audiovisual. Music can determinate the dominant emotions to moments or entire scenes.
When it comes to anime, the opening is the ultimate presentation card. Not just visually, as the Opening shows the characters that will be present during that season or the whole story, and sets (again) the emotions that will be present in the story. But a good Opening song can become as iconic as the whole anime itself! Sometimes when it's just thaaat good, the change of season (with a new Opening song) doesn't have the same thrilling effect on us. So it's a card that has to be well played.
We come from dazzling openings from both games (AI CATCH, COSMOCALL FIELD), which created a perfect and almost tangible atmosphere that was as solid as the world in which the story takes place.
While "Slip on the Pumps" does give a blue, blurry-led-lights feeling, it also gives me a peaceful sensation that I can't truly relate to the plot. While its older brothers from the games gave a more playful feeling, of something intriguing, perhaps dangerous, but always exquisite aesthetically speaking. Not to mention how catchy they were from the first moment.
I'm not sure if I'm making any sense with these descriptions n_n but to be clearer, I'll say it's a very DMMd song, with the usual quality we would expect from GOATBED. But as an Opening theme, I felt it lacked energy.
DATA_01_LOGIN !
The "problem" with Visual Novels is that things are quite limited visually speaking. Ironic huh?
That's the format, and it's indeed part of the charm. You're presented with a determined number of backgrounds that will be not more than enough to help you get an idea of where you're standing. There's no 360° vision nor random room exploring, because your brain is supposed to do the rest. Also games like these are all about character interaction, rather than environment interaction.
However, EVEN with the characters, there's also a limited number of sprites for each of them for all the possible emotions they will show during the game. So even if they're beautifully designed characters (and such is the case), at some point you'll find yourself wanting more of their emotions and visible reactions. You'll want to see what's behind the sound of steps when they walk, or the fighting noises. CGs are certainly a reward that help you expand the universe described as you play, but there's also a limit to them, for they're just stills to a certain important scene.
So why am I stating so much of the obvious and not talking about the anime instead?
Because it was sooooo incredibly satisfactory to see the island, the city, the neighborhood expand before my eyes. Houses, streets, stores, traffic signs, and that global 360° view I craved for during the game now exists in animated version and expands itself without the need of clicking a mouse to move forward.
It's all about perspectives now. You can turn to the left, you can turn to the right.
So now iconic places like Heibon shop (I didn't even know it translated into Mediocrity, that was interesting) and Tae-san's, have more dimension now. And it's always entertaining to compare the version you made up in your head, with the one offered by the screen.
I consider all the environment details were very well taken care of. Even the random objects you could see in the Heibon Shop background, could be found in the animated shop.
To wrap up the environment topic, I give it a 10/10. Structure, style, and specially the many lively colors that were like eye candy during the game, were kept intact and now I only find myself looking forward to future episodes to explore more of the scenaries, now with corners and four walls.
Everything's just the same, but now we get to sit behind the desk and see the back of the counter.
The studio in charge of the animation is Studio NAZ, which so far has only produced Hamatora... and performed some assistance in Danganronpa's animation for TV. Other than that I assume they're new? That's the available information after all.
When it comes to characters they provided us with a quality that I associate with anime series from the beginning of this millenium (actually, if you checked the link for the Seguchi Tohma example, you'll notice the animation is quite similar to DMMd's). Which, far from being something I disliked, I found myself enjoying. Aside from the times I watched anime as a small child, year 2004/05 was when I fully recovered my taste for anime once again and many series I treasure were born during that era.
With this I mean anime now has a loooot of computerized elements and effects (not to mention the detail of the art even shows you finger prints from a distance). And they're amazing, high quality, provide detail and dimension like never before. But... I still can't get used to it too much, if not at all. I was expecting this from the first episode and on in this anime, because it's developed in the future, and there are cyber battles in many moments. But nope, it didn't happen, unless you count the objects in Heibon and other teeny tiny details here and there, which you can spot in the image of the shop up there just in case you hadn't noticed.
However!!! Just like there's many moments in which the character detail lacks the exquisity achieved by Honyalala in the games (but that's a whole crazy level of richness and beauty that no one would expect in the anime tbh), there are also many scenes in which the derp faces grow in detail and achieve a highever level of expression or... result more emotionally transmissive? I would say. There's just that contrast, so let's hope that at some point they give Virus and Trip a good plastic surgery.
Sometimes it feels like you can take a dip into Aoba's eyes. Sometimes it looks like the anime one used to draw at the back of our notbooks in High School.
This Route or the other?!
How violently fast can you go in one single episode?! About... 4 hours of gameplay (I was slow, guys)... reduced to 24 minutes? That's just a shallow calculation. But wow were they fast to introduce so many characters and plot in such a reduced time. But even like that, it didn't feel poorly rushed. It was understandable and it gave the importance each moment and introduction required. And in some particular cases, at least it hinted the importance of what is about to come. So for those in the audience who never played the game, there's plenty of things that probably itched their curiosity, and at this point they must be already particularly more curious about at leats one character. There's a lot of mystery going on in this episode, that opens the door to many other mysteries that have to be solved!
And for those who did play the games, or well at least in my case, I think it covered quite nicely the important moments that comform the General Route. They were in majority, moments I had imprinted in my mind and were successfully covered in the animation. Once again, giving me the chance to see in motion, most of the things that I had previously enjoyed in flat as a gamer of DMMd. We will have to wait and see how the rest is covered though.
Favorites
From the moment the anime was announced, the main thing I could think about was.... ANIMATED REN!!! SO many moments related to Ren were only described in the game, and so many sounds linked to actions I couldn't see.
I was really looking forward to see the fuwafuwa in motion. Walking, showing expressions, running, moving his tail, etc etc. And DID this episode provide with LOTS of that?! The expressionless doggy from the game now can show his quite evident discomfort around Clara-chan! The poor thing. So I am truly looking forward to see more of this fluffy fellow.
Aoba, of course. I relate to this character, and enjoy his sense of humor and general sass. Having that in motion and getting to listen to more of that soothing voice is one of the best things for me. He's all you would expect from the Aoba in the game, of course. And I join the group who consider "dinner with Granny" their favorite scene.
Mink. That's all I have to say. I liked Mink.
And now we go back to square 1 with the mystery surrounding Clear's face!!! We do know what he looks like in the game. But we've never seen his animated face, and we won't get to until the right time comes. So Clear fans have now something to look forward to particularly related to this character. Because he is so beautifully designed and is from the main cast of... let's say boyfriends? I am trusting he won't get the "Trip face" treatment ;9
The Ending
"Bowie Knife" by GOATBED.
Goes without saying, the Ending theme is the antonym to the Opening theme. And While the last mentioned one is supposed to expand the world to be presented during a season/whole story and give you the exciting sensation of something about to begin; the Ending theme is supposed to, while showing the long list of hardworkers who made the anime possible, give you a sense of conclusion and make you think of what's to come next. Endings, in their mix of images and sounds, present the characters in a deeper, more personal perspective but in more passive settings in most of the times. For this reason when you think of the classic anime ending, many slow songs will pop in your memory.
"Bowie Knife" is a perfect theme for that. To me, it gives you the sensation of floating. It creates the ideal atmosphere to get lost in thoughts. And many of you know that the mind and thoughts in general are the absolute protagonist in DRAMAtical Murder.
Complementary to this inner peace inducing theme, there's images of the main characters surrounded by elements that indetify them perfectly. That took me back to the contrasting differences in each Route of the game.
So I could easily say the Ending I liked best than the Opening. But I won't lie, I do like both. The small "But's" wouldn't prevent me from enjoying it.
To log us out...
I don't know if the romantic plot/s will be part of this anime. Can't truly be guessed just from the first episode, which had a lot of content as it was already. But the solid plot that was so questioned in the past by those who thought a game like that only serves as excuse to just get to the raw sex, now can prove itself even more with this anime. It was effortlessly catchy, and with so many intruiguing characters, the already strong fanbase will grow even more. Soon we'll see more people enjoying the games (18+ type of game) and exploring all the different fields in which you can show your passion for DMMd, be it art, cosplay, or just meeting new people who like the same thing.
So let's hope this becomes the type of anime many people will remember with a smile on their faces. Perhaps not a classic from its genre? Who knows, but with such a good plot in hands, there's no excuse to let anyone down.
Everyone, keep enjoying this anime!
PD: Currently on BTB there's a series of articles dedicated to DRAMAtical Murder cosplayers. It's The Cosplay Sessions DMMd edition. So far Ren and Koujaku have been on the seats for these Sessions. There's many more about to come!
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