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a review by Phyren

a review by Phyren
I will try keep this as spoiler-free as I can.
While I've genuinely never seen a Chinese anime (it just never popped up, I didn't actively avoid it), I was a bit shocked. I'm so used to the Japanese language that it took me one episode to get used to. But once you do, you get incredibly immersed in the story and one could argue the language even fits the animation.
Normally I'd say eleven episodes is short and "no way you can fit a big plot in such a short season," but I was very wrong. The pacing was quite even too, not too slow or too fast. Enjoyable from beginning to the end, even though I was quite confused in the first episode as I hadn't even looked up the description. It just looked good and had a very high rating.
Plot: 9.5/10;
That being said, the plot is something I've not seen much used before. It's time-travel, but with a twist. Diving into photos to see that person's past and being able to relive that moment. We've seen plenty of time-travel anime (Erased, Steins;Gate, Your Name, Orange, Higurashi and so on), but apart from the famous banana-microwave combo, there weren't many anime characters that dive into photos of someone's past. It's different, phenomenal, and let's not forget to mention, beautiful.
Characters: 9/10;
The plot starts off slow, with the main characters doing their job in helping clients "find" things or people, by using photographs that were taken within twelve hours of said important moment. With Lu Guang being the "observer" and Cheng Xiaoshi being the "diver," the duo make a great pair in doing their job in their photo studio. Once moments start overlapping, things get more complicated and mysterious.
One could say Lu Guang is the more chilled person and Cheng Xiaoshi is more on his feet/hyped, which is a cliche for two main characters and seen a lot in anime. You'll forget about the cliche soon enough, as there's plenty of things happening to keep you occupied.
Ling Qiao is their landlady, which I won't get further into as that too might spoil the story. However she plays a part in their photo-diving as well.
Opening: 8/10;
Let us not forget about the OP, which is wonderfully made and definitely something I've hardly skipped through. The song isn't TOO special, but it does fit the opening animation in my opinion. It's mesmerising, it's gorgeous and different.
A short tl;dr:
Duo have the power to view someone's past for twelve hours by using photographs, one of them is the observer while the other dives in and relives the moments of said person in photograph. Good intro, amazing plot, worth the watch 9/10.
I'm sorry if I worded some things differently, Engish isn't my first language and sometimes I can't find the words and have to try describe them in another way.
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