[DreamSword]

Episode 5: What's Lover-Like Mean?

That title does not inspire confidence in me.

Infact, I'm sorry to say this but, this entire episode did not inspire any confidence in me when it comes to the entire rest of this show.

I'm actually finding it really hard to talk about this one without just kinda repeating what I already said about the previous episode, so instead, lemme see if I can get my point across in a really quick and simple way:

Pictured: Something I found very interesting.


Pictured: Something I found uninteresting.

I found this episode incredibly frustrating to watch because it constantly flipped back and forth between grabbing my attention and then immediately taking me out of it. There'd be a character arc or story hook that I'd instantly be down for, only for it to get ripped away and instead focus on things that are boring.

Primary example being the new combination between Yomogi and Koyomi shown off right at the start of the episode. With such an emphasis being put on it, you'd think that maybe the growing friendship between the two would be the center focus of the episode right? Well if you were at all interested in seeing a bond outside of Yomogi and Yume, I have unfortunate news.

No joke, I was actually super interested in seeing Koyomi's' date, because I wanted to see him finally get something. See him finally get some backstory. See him finally be in the spotlight and learn more about him. And right when it's about to be delivered with an incredibly atmospheric flashback... NOPE! Everyone's off to an indoor pool with more focus on Yomogi's' crush on Yume; Which is something I already said I'm not interested in!

I found the stuff about Yume alone interesting atleast. The idea that she's the one creating the Kaiju as well as the reveal of her sister's' suicide would be great... if the entire episode weren't bogged down by comedy that didn't make me laugh or more "conflict" about how to handle the Kaiju Eugenicists. I find it so fascinating that I've been finding so much more to enjoy in the voice dramas than anything that the episodes themselves have had to offer so far; And those are way shorter!

Thinking about it, I suppose that's another big complaint I have so far: The pacing. Don't get me wrong, I am not an impatient guy. I understand the idea of a slow burn, and I also understand that I shouldn't expect the entire story to be fed to me right off the bat. But here's the thing. This show is only 12 episodes long. When your anime is short, it's all the more important that your writing be tight and the pace of your tale move at a steady flow, otherwise you risk creating the feeling of wasted time. That above screenshot? Prime example. 90% of this episode felt like padding to me.

I guess the short version of all of this is that, currently, it feels like Dynazenon is a show that just doesn't appeal to me specifically. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that the show is bad or that you're dumb for liking it or anything like that, and sure, there's certainly still time to change things around, but as someone who's seen plenty of other 1-cour anime that managed to hook me so well and so quickly, SSSS.Gridman included? Bit of a letdown. And yes, regardless of how I end up feeling as we go, I will still see this anime through to the end. Because hey, if I can make it through Blassreiter, then there's no reason I shouldn't be able to handle this.