I'm typically a huge sucker for Zone Shenanigans, and this show really had the chance to be something like that. It even takes obvious inspiration from the sources of the genre, that is Roadside Picnic and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Engaging with paranatural entities and pseudoscientific concepts with internally consistent logic and ever-present danger is something I find uniquely appealing. However, it quickly became obvious that this show wasn’t going to satisfy what I like to see in this genre.
On the surface, the premise of the show has great promise. We have everything we need for a solid mystery, investigation, interesting character growth and tension, however, the show doesn’t really leverage any of this potential in a way I find interesting. The main mystery of the show remains unresolved and isn’t really investigated in a satisfying way, the characters don’t seem to act consistently, and the tension of the show’s situations is regularly undermined through neglect.
One of this show’s major pitfalls is in its animation. It is almost always very simple, avoiding detailed motion or complex settings. More egregiously, it can be very lazy, like leaving the camera to linger on empty scenes or the backs of characters while they speak. Other times, objects in the scene are positioned inconsistently between shots, or removed I suspect for convenience of animation. There are many corners cut, and it doesn’t look good.
The visual design in the show was mostly satisfactory, though it could have been more interesting. The Otherside definitely takes inspiration from The Zone from STALKER and Roadside Picnic, and so has a lot of brutalist concrete buildings like those seen in Pripyat and Chernobyl. Our characters use some Soviet-era firearms, like a Makarov handgun and an AK rifle. The monsters in the show are mostly forgettable with a few notably good exceptions.
I will specifically say that the CGI in this show didn’t bother me significantly. Sometimes it even looked good, and fit the rest of the visual design.
The characters in the show don’t really provide much of interest. Sorao has a somewhat interesting arc about getting over her loneliness and mistrust of others, but aside from that, no one gets much development. Toriko is unconcerned in most situations, Kozakura is critical and easy to startle. There’s very little complexity or development.
There’s also issues of characters acting inconsistently between episodes. I was very surprised when they escaped the train station in episode 6- and then went immediately into a beach episode for episode 7, like the circumstances of the marines did not concern them at all. Of course, this was brought back up later, but why not immediately? Did they just forget there was a whole company of marines in life threatening danger?
!Sorao and Toriko standing beside each other.
Sorao and Toriko have a very vague and milquetoast almost-not-romance throughout the show. I’ve seen it called “yuri bait”, and I’d be inclined to agree. It was very annoying to see them dance around having an actual relationship, and by the end of the show, it didn’t lead anywhere.
The show supposedly has a main plot about finding Satsuki, Toriko’s mentor and best friend in the world, however the show doesn’t go anywhere with this. Sorao and Toriko don’t really follow leads, investigate places she might be or try to find something that might lead them to her, it’s just kind of in the background, and left unresolved by the end of the show.
!Uruma Satsuki hovering menacingly.
The episodic plots don’t have much to them either. They follow a formula where the girls are bumbling along, face a monster or a dangerous environment, defeat it and come home- with various exceptions. There’s rarely any surprises, and also a lack of understanding when it comes to what our characters are thinking in certain situations. There are moments where I was expecting the characters to comment on a strange occurrence, only for them to simply continue as normal.
Overall, I felt that this show had a lot of potential in its premise, but failed to deliver. It didn’t enthrall with mystery, or bring interesting characters, or dazzle visually, or have a strong plot. One of any of these would have made the show far more valuable, but as it is, there’s very little to recommend. On the flipside, the show isn’t so bad as to be offensive, and has something to offer on premise alone.
!Kozakura standing outside with a racoon plush held to her chest.
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