i watched this last night but i was too tired to write anything about it so im writing now. hi.
im having trouble thinking of how to describe this episode. it opens up with a shot of a wolf lying on its side in the (rain?) Snow. we also have a voice over!
"I hear someone's voice calling to me... it says, "Make your way to Paradise!""
and then IMMEDIATELY we cut away from the wolf and follow a different group of people hijacking a train and fighting train robots. one of the hijackers is called tsume. (second photo) everyone say hiiii tsume
jack: hi tsume
okay and now everyone say byeeee tsume because after this the OP plays (its a good OP song its called stray) and then we cut to a THIRD character it's this fucking guy and also he has a black doggy. he's in a bar and chats with the bartender a little bit (doggy is outside. asshole)
this first episode does a lot of cutting between these 3 characters (white wolf, tsume & co, and This fucking guy. he's a hunter i guess) but it actually feels really natural and i like it a lot! it's not disorienting at all it's like im watching 3 different shows. and what's REALLY exciting is whenever two of the three groups run into each other.
so anyway This fucking guy has a conversation with the bartender that gives us a bit more context into the current state of this world.
1. They're in a dome.
2. It's not very fit for anything, human or beast, to live in it, because it's Cold
3. ALL WOLVES HAVE BEEN EXTINCT FOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS
i don't think he likes wolves very much.
so, this guy is some sort of weird conspiracy theorist. Clearly. Every single wolf has been EXTINCT and DEAD for two hundred years. but he doesn't believe it? What an idiot.
So anyway his dog outside sees tsume walking past and starts going fucking crazy
and that's all that i'm going to describe for you. Because, yup, you guessed it! You go watch it. it'd be boring if i explained all of it. because there's a LOT of details packed into this first episode that's the main reason i'm having such a hard time describing it. Where do i even fucking start.
there's a really cool Wolf Fight scene too! this anime has blood in it btw like just straight up blood. and wolves. with the blood. so if that's not your speed you probably won't like it as much, but the fights aren't just gratuitous random bullshit. and the ending of this episode genuinely struck a little chord in my heart 💔
do i want to watch more?
yeah, i liked it! it was pretty intriguing and it sets up a LOT of interesting plot points and i'd like to see how they all tie together. there's a lot of characters introduced but it's pretty easy to figure out the hierarchy of importance of each of them so it doesn't feel as overwhelming.
the only reason i'm not really Foaming at the mouth (Ha ha ha) about it is because this show in general has a much more melancholic/serious feel around it so i thought it'd be weird for me to do my typical "OMG!!! TeeHee"-type commentary LOL
favorite screenshots?
i really like the way this anime draws people. sometimes realistic-styled anime are kind of boring to me because they lack interesting stylization but i'm a super-huge fan of the artstyle here.
also during the OP there's a shot of this bishie anime boy running dramatically in the rain and it lasts for like 10 seconds. of him just running. and it made me cackle
the last thing i'll leave this review with is an exchange from later in the episode between the white wolf and a guy that i'm pretty sure i would quickly become obsessed with if i continue watching. Live wolf reaction
pay: i need to have a word with whoever decided to use this font for the introductory cutscene.
ASHITA NO NADJA EPISODE 1
something i've noticed while doing this project- and even before that, but ive started noticing it even more- is how some anime deliberately choose to exclude the opening in the first episode, and how some anime always put the OP first no matter what.
i think it really says a lot about how an anime is trying to portray itself, depending on where they place the OP. it also depends on what the OP is, but still. if i get to see the OP or not, my expectations are being subconsciously set for the rest of the episode. how seriously does this show want me to take it? if a show has the opening for every single episode, and then suddenly it's gone, it really adds a sense of unease!
in this case, both wolf's rain and ashita no nadja place the opening after a little blurb at the beginning that vaguely introduces the settings to us, but they do a good job at setting the tone and expectations for the show
i'm not really going anywhere specifically related to nadja with this, i just thought it was interesting. nadja's opening is really good though too here it is
okay, onto the review!
ashita no nadja is a show about a 12 year old girl named nadja (makes sense) who is an orphan that lives in an orphanage (fair enough) in ENGLAND. this little girl is BRITISH. and yeah it makes sense because she's the most british looking girl alive but it still caught me off guard OK
so, nadja lives in an orphanage and she is an orphan. so she doesn't have any parents. because they're dead and in heaven. (nadja would know, she prays to them up in heaven.)
well the headmaster of the orphanage calls nadja into her office to tell her that someone sent her a gift! it's a trunk containing her Lady Mother's ballgown from her very first ball that she ever attended. there's a note too.
"I hope you and your Lady Mother will be together again soon." "huh? what is this? together again...?"
is nadja getting a DEATH THREAT? the music gets all freaking SCARY and TENSE and nadja's WORRIED and the headmaster just goes "ohhh that would be because your mother is probably alive. maybe you'll meet her one day!" HUH. OKAY?! and then the music just goes back to being pleasant and nadja's happy about this.
she's so happy about it that she daydreams about the concept of meeting her mother, and she daydreams so hard she teleports us to the town square where she's hanging with her orphan friends! why are they in the townsquare? completely irrelevant. Circus car
the circus car unfolds to reveal an entire circus stage, and we're introduced to all of the circus members!
they named all of the performers but these are the ones i screenshotted. granny doesn't get an introduction she's just the one making the record play sadly
we get to watch the circus people perform exactly 1 song where they say hello to the people of england, france, spain, and italy. nadja watches and teaches two little girls how to do the dance too! this catches the eye of master george who goes "huh. that girl's good at dancing!" and then that's enough of the circus.
a strong wind blows nadja's hat away, and she chases after it and then has an encounter with the strange granny (she has a Orb now) and the only reason im telling you this is because she has a fucking Orb now. she tells nadja some scary ominous things about her fate and then leaves. #GRANNYORB
jack: is nadja’s story boring or interesting i cannot tell based off the summary
don't worry! i can't tell either, and i've watched the show.
it just keeps. doing things.
want to know what happens after Ominious Granny Encounter? there's two Evil Guys spying on nadja. they want to steal her little heart shaped broach that she keeps on her bow. ... Okay
later that night at the orphanage, The evil guys break into the fucking orphanage looking for nadja. somehow they're really bad at looking for the only blonde child in this orphanage.
so. they don't find her and instead they get scared by a small child screaming at them, so they DROP their LIT LANTERNS and JUMP out of the WINDOW. and now the orphanage is ON FUCKING FIRE
everyone evacuates the ON FIRE BUILDING and they all start working together to try to put it out. The Circus People are riding past and notice the BURNING BUILDING and also start helping out. but... oh no! nadja's TRUNK!!!!! from her MOM!!! THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY DEAD!!!!!
So of course nadja goes BACK into the BURNING BUILDING in order to retrieve the trunk. From her mom. That's not actually dead. GIRL?!?!?!?! IF SHE WAS DEAD I WOULD UNDERSTAND BUT WE ALREADY LEARNED SHE'S FUCKING ALIVE SOMEWHERE?!??!????
OBVIOUSLY nadja can't get back out the way she went in (no idea how she got in) so she JUMPS OUT OF A WINDOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which was actually pretty cool i like that they showed her jumping through it.
all of the tension is dispelled when you immediately see her land on the ground that's like a foot below. since she was on the ground floor. LOL
but alright. she's safe! it's okay! the trunk is safe and nadja's alive and There's those fucking guys again.
around this point there really feels like there's about to be some magical girl shenanigans happening with the broach she's wearing but No these two guys literally just bully a 12 year old girl and forcibly take the broach from her.
But wait... What's that sound in the distance?
Is it... the Circus People from earlier?
The Orphans coming to her rescue?
No! It's...
ANOTHER CHARACTER.
BOY ON A HORSE
boy on a horse punches both Evil Guys in the fucking stomach and makes them both pass out. he safely returns nadja's broach to her and we get a good look at his face
he's kind of scarylooking but i think that's just my natural aversion to shoujo boys
anyway he kisses nadja on the forehead (???) and nadja is so overwhelmed looking into his eyes that she Passes out. boy on a horse carries her and her things back to the front of the orphanage, and hands her over to the Circus People.
Then he jumps onto his horse as it runs past and disappears into the night while a churchbell ominously rings out
The End!
do i want to watch more?
i don't... know...? i don't... think so??? there's so many characters. at the very start nadja is talking with one of the other orphans about how he's going to leave soon to move to london and open a bread store, and then when the circus was introduced i was thinking Oh so nadja's going to run away with the circus in order to also leave the orphanage and follow her dreams of performing???
but then her mom is actually ALIVE? i think it's lame to just start with that right out of the gate like that's the classic orphan's trope of the Secretly Alive Parent. it just kept going. why is there a boy on a horse? why did he suddenly appear? is he magic? is there freaking magic in this show??? it keeps doing things that make me think it's going to suddenly be magic and then it's NOT.???
THERE'S SO MANY CHARACTERS they give a name to ALL of the other orphans that nadja lives with AND the circus people AND the headmaster AND THE FUCKING EVIL GUYS. WHICH ONES AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER?!?!? I DONT REMEMBER ANY OF THEM!!!!!!
favorite screenshots
i liked these two moments from the midpoint commercial break segment bumper thing You know what im talking about. its just a cutesy little chibistyle thats a bit doremi reminiscent
do i think nadja is a bad show? i feel like that's a crazy harsh judgement for something that's definitely meant to be some sort of. young girl viewer wish-fulfillment of being pulled out of a life of misery into a life of glamour and romance. but it's certainly not for me LOL
...but then again nadja's life isn't really all that miserable? she's really happy with her life already.
