Quick post on the first episode of 'The Revelation'

So the first episode is an original story which sets up the stage (I summarized the background already here), though I can see from the trailer that from the second episode onwards the stories from the original manga itself will appear. Meanwhile, here are some quick comments:

[Spoilers ahead]

The tension builds up very nicely through the episode. The climax comes when Maki asks Aoki to lip-read the last line of the dialogue between the housewife and the housewife's ex-boyfriend. I was really on the edge of my seat as to whether Aoki would really say it. Ordinarily, I appreciate the deliberately unsaid thing, but here I have to say that it is more forceful to have Aoki spelling out what the housewife last said - that is, she wants to forget about him because she loves her husband and her daughter.

And yet this is the beauty of the last line - the story is built up in such a way that there is no surprise in hearing this, for if she had said something else, she would not have been killed by the ex-boyfriend. Yet the last line feels like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle falling into the right place, and the whole picture is complete.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the typical pattern that Shimizu-sensei's stories will follow. The first half typically presents the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and in the second half the action accelerates faster than you can react, and finally the story is brought to a climax and ends like a bang on a forceful note.

Comments

[minus-one]

hope someone's subbing it... :-(

[Thursday]

Same here!
I do like the background music and both opening and ending seem nice. I just wish characters would look a bit different, more 'shimizu-ish'...

[Wabisabi]

I like the ED which is called 'Kemuri' most. It's quite emotionally intense. It's also by a relatively new face in the music industry. She is definitely a talent to watch out for.

I am worried about how they will tie in the next story arc with the American president though. In the manga, the story arc was something of a prologue that did not involve Aoki and Maki. It was a great prologue in its own right if only because of the narrator reflecting on his own 'top secret' as he investigates the president's 'top secret'. If you take out the narrator then the story arc would lose much of its force.

Having said that, the story arc I most look forward to is the one from Vol 3 of the manga. That... is a heck of a masterpiece. Mysteries are wrapped within mysteries. I just hope people will stick around to witness the glory that is the Vol 3 story arc.

[Thursday]

time passes by and no subs coming out. I red some opinions on anime forums and think people are a bit disappointed on how they presented us everything. I feel same way, a little. For example the scene where Aoki meets Maki for the first time, with the disappearing of background and melodramatic music out of nowhere... It doesn't feel suitable for me, I was expecting something more subtle.
I agree that the presidents murder case story was a excellent prologue in the manga. Hope they wont mess it in the second episode but it's true that without the narrator character and his personal story it won't be that good.
I'm sceptical... I was so crossing my fingers for this show to be good, and now when it comes out I have a feeling that producers undervalued it. Not to mention the lack of subs (hope some subbing group will appreciate the story and take it into consideration).

[minus-one]

/me downloading raw and hastily reading scanlation

[Wabisabi]

Thursday:

I did not set my expectations too high in terms of art direction etc, so I was okay with it. For the record, I think the scene where Aoki meets Maki for the first time is already a distillation of the manga... which had a bit of exaggerated humour in that scene that would not seem so out of place in a shoujo manga but would definitely be awkward in an anime.

Come to think of it, it is difficult to translate humour from manga to anime. Amatsuki has bits of humour too, but those would be out of place in anime as well.

minus-one:

And what is your opinion of it?

[minus-one]

nothing special in terms of animation. character design is ok. the voice acting is good. i was expecting multi-episode story arc, but it started like one-story-per-episode...

and, you know, i'd really prefer if that lip-reader lied about what housewife really said ;) that would be really nice...

>>if she had said something else, she would not have been killed by the ex-boyfriend

who knows? at least it leaves some room for imagination...

[Wabisabi]

I see your point. That would be a good idea indeed, but Aoki is Aoki after all. It may not be apparent just yet but Aoki is the sort of clumsy and honest guy who is not good with lying.

Besides, I think the housewife is already lying. The memories she treasure most are those of the ex-boyfriend, though she actually lies about it.

Still, one wonders if two lies would make one truth.