mervin28 - 2015-04-14 21:33:41

Conquering the world is something that has been dreamed of by more than just a few people! The roman empire even before Christ, where some of the first to try and while they and many others did well at the beginning, there was a point where everyone failed. The Anime covered today is a story about someone that succeeded. Someone that was so unlikely to succeed in the first place and did it anyway! Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you back to this blog, my name is Kori and  today we talk about Sekai Seifuku, Bouryaku no Zvezda.

Sekai Seifuku focuses around Jimon Asuta, a boy that just ran away from home and doesn't have anywhere to go since he just left his home. Thus he wanders down the roads, while the martial law alarm is ringing and encounters a 8 year girl called Hoshimiya Kate. Kate is planning to conquer the world together with her secret organization Zvezda and is currently looking for her doll Galaktika. Thinking this is all just a game the girl is playing, Asuta goes along with it and accidentally gets recruited by the Zvezda organization from where on the entire story begins.

The setting of Sekai Seifuku is a rather odd one I admit, but for me personally that is exactly what drew me in.
The story in itself is separated into two parts. The first half of the show is mostly dedicated to comedy and the introduction of the rather big cast of characters, while the second part is mostly dedicated to background of the characters and story progression. Of course I have to say here that comedy is always the most subjective part about an Anime like this, but personally I found the comedy in Sekai Seifuku to be absolutely spot-on! It was rare for one of the earlier episodes to not make me laugh out loud several times and even in the later, more serious episodes, the humor blended in really well, never killing the mood or feeling out of place. It's a very in your face type of humor, that is mostly based around the most ridiculous things happening and our main character reacting to them, which is something that is usually rather hit or miss for me, but with Sekai Seifuku it worked perfectly. This is mostly thanks to the fact that Sekai Seifuku refuses to take itself seriously at the start of the show, making it the perfect playing field for well done comedy.

The show does however decide to throw in some  more heavy tones later on in the series and gets a lot more serious than it was at the beginning. As mentioned before, the second half of the series is mostly dedicated to adding background and depth to most of the characters as well as plot progression and while that does already happen in the first half, it is not as prominent as in the second. The story itself is much like the  first half pretty ridiculous. This is mostly due to the fact that Sekai Seifuku never really bothers to introduce it's world any further than "this is where we are! Strange things are happening" and to be honest, I think this works quite well with the series. Of course this requires suspension of disbelief from the viewer, but that is rather easy to bring along, considering how random the first half of the show turned out. As such not much of what is happening in the second half really gets explained very well and while I was still wondering at points, why these guys were fighting these guys and why these guys where gone now etc, I found myself enjoying the entire thing nonetheless and that was mostly due to the shows greatest strength.

Sekai Seifuku's characters are simply fantastic! The show has a wide array of characters, that are at the beginning for the most part seem somewhat familiar, but all with enough quirks surrounding them to make them feel refreshing. We have the nudist genius, the robot that can switch personalities, the bossy loli that wants to conquer the world. The character types themselves are all things we've seen before many times, but the way they are presented both make them hilarious and simply not feel overdone. Not only that, but they're all really well developed and have a surprising amount of depth to them. Every single main character of the show gets his own moments, where they can shine and develop. Our main protagonist Asuta is overall not the most original or interesting character of the entire show, but that doesn't really mean much considering how interesting most of the other characters are. He's your typical protagonist for these kinds of shows, showing over the top reactions to whatever is happening and seemingly disliking what everyone is doing while gradually developing into liking everything happening around him more and more. It's the most cliche you can probably get in this setting where everything else seems to be madness, but it is probably what makes the entire show as much fun as it is. Asuta reacting to whatever is happening is incredibly funny, as he basically represents the viewer, considering he has absolutely no idea of what this world that Zvezda is based around is even supposed to be and him going "WHAAAAAAAAAA" about 70% of the show, represents the viewers really well. He's an incredibly likable character as well, meaning that once the show does actually get serious, it is very easy to get behind and cheer for him.
Every single other member of Zvezda is more than interesting and incredibly fun to watch. As stated above they are all incredibly unique in some way, while also staying an exaggeration of a certain stereotype in another. There's the over the top Tsundere, the out of place typical schoolgirl etc etc. These characters are executed so damn well that it just becomes so much fun to watch. This is mostly thanks to the fact, that the characters aren't simply these characters, but because there's so much more behind them. Everyone gets proper back stories and character development, which is something I personally didn't expect to happen at all.

The Animation for Sekai Seifuku has been done by A1-Pictures, a studio that I've come to not expect the average more than anything from. Despite some great Animation in shows such as Sword Art Online, the studio itself is rather hit or miss and Sekai Seifuku is not really any different. The show doesn't really look bad per say, but it doesn't look good either. There is no point where I was in awe of how good the animation was and as long as there was no CGI used, I was never surprised how bad it was either. When CGI came into play though, which it fortunately rarely does, it looks terrible. The integration into the 2D-Animation doesn't work whatsoever and makes for a jarring experience. In total the animation itself was barely above average and really didn't impress much. Good thing the show has something to make up for it. The designs within the show looked incredible, especially the ones of every Zvezda leaders. While the designs themselves already were pretty good and fit the characters they were attached to, the transformations were probably one of the best things about the show. They were incredibly unique and every single one was fitting the character, making for one of the coolest to look outfits I've seen in quite some time! Zvezda's opponents, White Light, looked just as good and while being more standard than Zvezda's and not being as diverse, they still were really cool to look at.

Sekai Seifuku's Soundtrack was composed by Tatsuya Katou, also known for Soundtracks like Sora no Method and Buddy Complex. The Soundtrack fit the show very well, making for some damn exciting scenes and even helping out with the comedy quite a bit at times, however the problem with the Soundtrack doesn't necessarily lie in the fact that the it's necessarily bad, but it feels very repetitive and while it's not as noticeable within the show since the soundtrack itself is not necessarily standing out much, there are many tracks that sound very similar and while its not as much the case as with other Katou Soundtracks its still very obvious that the Soundtrack simply lacks variety, although that in general is just a criticism for listening to it outside of the show, as it does work rather well in the scenes themselves. (my personal favorites are as always linked in the post itself)

In total, Sekai Seifuku was.....different, but it's a show that knows exactly what it is and acts that way. It doesn't try too hard to be serious and have everything make sense, as it knows that it won't be able to pull it off, but tries just hard enough to make us care about it. It's a fun nonsense show, that makes for an incredibly entertaining watch, thanks to it's damn likeable character cast and it's sheer over the top ridiculousness. I would definitely recommend checking out the show if you are into rather random comedies or the such or just want to watch a simple show for your entertainment.

qmacejkovic - 2014-03-31 16:10:44

It's hard to review something you wanted to be great that turned out to just be "good".

Little girl takes over the world. Is this really just a difficult premise to pull off? I keep getting my hopes up every single time something like this comes around and it always comes up short somehow. This show fares better than most, but I expected more.

The biggest problem is that the show sets up these intriguing elements that seem bizarre at first and make you wonder what they are and where they come from. Then proceeds to get weirder, but it never takes the time to explain itself properly. The show wastes a lot of time on silly escapades, which while fun, don't really add to the story much. I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't keep hinting that they were actually telling a real story.

And so, half the show ends up feeling like filler and then the ending just... kind of happens. It feels rushed, like they tried to cram the actual plot into the last few episodes. I wanted the weirdness to eventually be explained and have a purpose, but in the end it just is... weird. It's a widget series and little more. Take it as it is and don't try to think too hard on how everything fits together.

The cast is fun, the set-up is fun, everything about the show is fun but it just left me wanting more. I know this is sounding like a negative review but really, I did like what we got. The show can be silly, clever, and even a bit heartfelt at times. In a lot of ways, it's a story about people who don't have a home, making one for themselves.

The animation is smooth and fluid, as one might expect from A-1. The colors are both bold and mellow at the same time, it's weird. I've never seen a show that was colored quite like this. There's a lot of dark pastels and solid colors, if that makes sense. The music fits all moods nicely and the OP is quite catchy. Voice acting is pretty good, we got Hanae Natsuki as lead again. Hope he continues to find work.

It's a show that has a lot of heart, but feels undercooked. Like a hard-boiled egg that wasn't quite ready yet. If you add enough salt, it still tastes fine, but it isn't as good as it could be. But I still had a great time watching it and I do recommend it if you're in the mood for a more mellow, more silly experience.

Rewatch Value: Yes (Based on a Yes/Maybe/No scale)

lexus.bartell - 2014-02-28 23:15:57

An original anime based on a little girl intending to conquer the world with the strange people around her and her bizarre poorly explained powers. It's very oblique and full of absurdity which if your into, then this is the anime for you.

This is a total oddball anime, but with a fun cast fun and good humor you may be hooked. But if your not interested in humor and obliqueness and looking for action. I'm sorry to say that this anime does not have much, though the characters may make up for the lack of action.It has a decent plot, but they could have done bit more with it. From what I've seen so far, they have done a back story on how each member gave their fealty to her.

The male basically the typical shounen anime protagonist, minus the annoyance. The anime is also not afraid to give character development, and as the show moves along I bet we will be seeing allot.

This series was made by A-1 so as usual, the production values are pretty good, though lacking originality in art, the art and character act is okay.

In terms of enjoyment, this is pretty much the usual. It's okay as long as it manages to be entertaining and it hasn't failed yet. So far the anime is looking to be good, but your enjoyment depends on your specific taste for anime. But in one way or another, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

By the way, this is my first review. I waited to the end to say it so you won't view it sympathetically, but tell me if I did great, or you can give me pointers.

frederik.sporer - 2014-02-20 17:43:30

I like it :D

It has a good and solid start.

The story is interesting,funny and packed full of minor action.