
a review by Umepho

a review by Umepho
I wanna start of by saying that this anime had so much potential, and it was badly executed.
Concept
The story talks about a town which has people with different abilities, if you leave the town, you forget about your life in it and the ability you had.
It's a pretty nice concept. Everyone gets something, like in Equestria, per say.
And it doesn't damage the outside world, those who have an unfair advantage (no abilities)
Misora Haruki
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Misora Haruki has one of the best(imo) abilities in town. She can go back in time to 3 days ago once she says "reset" and her spawn point and time would be whenever she says "save".
I even think it's better than Sumire's power
Now at the beginning, we meet Haruki through the eyes of our MC,Kei Asai.
He sees Haruki as the purest form of a human. Someone who can be righteous purely for the sake of being righteous. Not for selfish needs, or for recognition, or satisfaction.
Kei finds that something in Haruki special , and he is fairly captured by her long wavy hair
Haruki has 3 rules to her abilities, and they all align with her objective mindset.
However, a big weakness to her ability is that she can't remember what happens when she resets.
That's when Kei Asai comes in.
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Kei Asai
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Kei Asai's ability is pretty lame. He basically has a photographic memory.
He can remember everything. Now the only time this ability is cool, is when its used to remember things that occurred before,during, and after the reset. And against the Bureau.
Thus his ability comes hand in hand with Haruki's.
However, when he asked Haruki if they can work together, she refused saying he would have the upper hand, since he can manipulate the story to his advantage.
It would need trust, which Haruki deems kei hasn't earned.
I completely agree with what Haruki said, and so did Kei.
And so, from there the next 2 episodes were basically Kei proving why Haruki should trust him.
Kei mentions to Haruki that robots have 3 rules (just like her), but in cases of necessity, they add a fourth one called the Zeroth Rule . Kei asked Haruki to think what her Zeroth rule would be, and she said:
> following Kei's orders
-Haruki Misora
>
This was said to establish that she has chosen to trust Kei, and to work hand in hand with him.
Up till there, it was a great start.
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Haruki's downfall
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> So then why did it become a Master & slave rlt?
>> This was said to establish that she has chosen to trust Kei, and to work hand in hand with him
>
After this, 2 years had passed and both Kei and Haruki decided to work with the Bureau to help in assisting those in needs through their powers.
I was really excited to see what these two would cook up, But tbh it was badly executed.
First off, Sumire and Kei barely talked. They've had 1 Convo besides the ones including Haruki.
So first, she doesn't mean much to him
But what gets me is, he partially blames Haruki for Sumire's dead (tho it is not said directly it is implied). And then when he realized it hurts Haruki, he concludes the best way to fix it is by bringing back Sumire.
Sir. Haruki is hurt thinking you hate her, all you have to do is just let her know you don't. And also, who is this boy lying to? You wanna bring back Sumire for Haruki's sake, or for yours?
After they got back Sumire , Kei told her:
Haruki changed. She's become a very normal girl
Really? Is that what you concluded?
Following you around and taking your orders, yes its the pine-cal of a normal girl
Haruki remained so selfless that when selfishness came to her, she never knew.
And instead of Kei changing her into someone who knows how to act on these emotions (selfishness,jealousy, independence) he turned her into a vessel for his use, and then he has the audacity to say she changed? Yeah, maybe for the worse.
I guess I'm trying to be as objective as I can, but really its just a bad execution. They should've had more time with Sumire to build memories and attachments worth reminiscing over, a better "sister-hood" bond between Haruki and Sumire, and more time for Haruki to develop what jealousy may feel like.
So really, what was the main issue?
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It’s the relationship between Kei, Sumire, and Haruki. As I’ve said, this show had so much potential, not just because of its concept, but because trios like this can be incredibly powerful when they’re written well.
Take Hak, Yona, and Su-won, for example. Or Chihaya Ayase, Taichi Mashima, and Arata Wataya. Those relationships are layered and deeply connected. They elevate their stories into something truly memorable.
They make you feel everything at once. So much so that you can’t fully hate or fully love any of them. Each character pulls at your emotions in a different way, and that tension is what makes the story so compelling.
As for these. I'll tell you:
I hate both sumire and kei
And I feel sorry for Haruki
In addition, you know that quiet some shows carry—the kind that feels almost unsettling. Everything is too calm, the characters too composed even when chaos is unfolding around them. And then, at some point, it all breaks. The silence shatters and the emotions pour out—anger, grief, shouting, tears. A moment where everything that was held in finally erupts.
This show never has that moment. No one truly breaks. Not once.
The characters keep everything buried, and when they do speak about it, it’s always in these soft, passing conversations where the answers dissolve into “I don’t know.” The emotions never rise high enough to overflow.
At least "A Lull in the Sea" had those bursts, moments where the characters’ feelings finally surged to the surface. That’s what made it memorable
To add one final point here, you can't relate with any of the characters. I think its hard to watch something where non of the character's intentions make sense, or sensibly something you can completely agree with.
Thus, it's hard to swallow their actions, esp Sumire & Kei
Now it's nice to have 1 or 2 characters like this in a show. But not all of them, and esp not kei, being the protagonist.
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So then, what is it that makes this show memorable?
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Although the relationships and emotions of the characters were badly executed.
The pace of the story is really nice.
It keeps you curious to know what happened to Sumire, and what's the Bureau's real motive
So I guess you can say: the script is really good, but the actors are bad.
(As in Sumire's script)
The score & most of this review goes for the first half of the show, because it was nothing but gaining info to understand the second.
While the second, was an eye-opener. You finally find answers, and see Haruki evolve, as well as Kei mess up.
So I'd say the second half of the show is worth watching. But you can't watch it without watching the first half so..The score goes from 56 to 62, simply due to the second half.
Hope this helps anyone planning to watch this, or simply looking for opinions after watching!
P.S English isn't my first language so excuse any mistakes!
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