Review of The World is Still Beautiful

With this anime, there were both things that I enjoyed, but there were also things that I didn't like. I rated the story as 'Fair' for a couple of reasons, mostly on the basis of my bias towards shoujo anime. I usually don't like shoujo anime and manga in its original, flowery, roses and sparkles and hot anime guys form. Although, there are, of course, exceptions. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, aka Still World is Beautiful, aka The World is Still Beautiful, is, I admit, an exception. (Toshokan Sensou is also definitely an exception...okay, so is Lovely Complex. Lovely Complex is hilarious). The story, although amusingand depicts that there are still beautiful, pleasant things in life in the midst of all the bullshit we have to deal with as human beings, like, for example, anguish and grief and being ostracized and all the things that just aren't fair, still has the shoujo element of two characters meeting each other, not liking each other at all, and then somehow falling in love(p.s - I know this says to avoid spoilers, but it's very blatantly obvious who's going to fall in love with who. I really try to avoid spoilers).

Even though I hardcore ship the main coupling in this anime, at the same time I coped with the whole 'tsundere-love-obvious-love-happening' thing that goes on. The story line does have a uniqueness to it that I haven't seen in other anime, which is a plus. The story is simple, however; no hardcore, complex, masterful, and well thought out plot lines and connections that exist in something like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Canaan, Darker Than Black, or Baccano!. It's not as plotless as something like Full Metal Panic!, however. It's just, as aforementioned, simple. Not that simple is bad. Sometimes after sapping up the intricate details that appears in anime like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or in shows like White Collar, I need something nice and clean cut and simple and short. Something like Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii, for example.

However, it's also not the most realistic...well, realistic isn't the right word. Anime isn't really realistic like other types of media because of dramatic effects and whatnot that you don't notice in real life in intense situations, or aren't flared up for a dramatic effect that you can utilize in anime and other shows, movies, etc. I mean...like...accurate responses to situations and hardcore, sheer animation that properly, beautifully depicts someone shooting a gun, for example...kind of like when Re-L Mayer shot a gun in this one scene in Ergo Proxy...wragiojeijtwrj ohmygoodness the sheer amount of detail...the realism...oh yes. Shoujos aren't realistic like that. They're lighthearted and amusing. I'm usually a seinen kind of person, whose brain mentally jacks off to carefully placed details and realistic reactions to certain situations and whatnot, but regardless I was still able to enjoy this anime.

I enjoyed the character development, for one. I really liked the main characters. However, the two mainmainmain characters were much more fleshed out and paid attention to, overshadowing all the other less-developed characters, which I guess wasn't that hindering, but at times I wished I could have stomped into the anime and got to know the characters that I didn't get to know while watching it.

Another thing I really liked about this anime was its emphasis on how beautiful life really is despite all of the ugly, grotesque, unpleasant chaos that's very often mixed in. One of the main characters, after experiencing one of life's not-so-pleasant things at a somewhat young age, is very cold and hardened after the fact, and there's something just so realistic about that particular character. They are human, they have good moments and equally bad, more darker moments, which I really liked while watching this. It made it easier to emphasize with them and understand why they didn't find much beauty in anything, really. I felt like I could just hop onto the bandwagon of their pain and what they've gone through and then jump off the bandwagon and understand. Also, the bond between the two main characters gradually grows stronger over the duration of the series, which was a plus.

I liked the art style; it was pretty, but it wasn't over-the-top or generic either. It was pleasant. The sound was very impressive. One of the main themes from the anime, 'The Tender Rain', is a very beautiful song. So that gets a '10' under the sound category.

I really enjoyed watching this anime despite its drawbacks; it was very amusing, easy and fun to watch, and it wasn't hard to grasp what was going on. However, at times, the reactions of the characters and what happened was a bit too laid back and dolloped with a bit too much shoujo sparkly rosy frosting on top at times when it should have been slightly more serious because it would have made more sense, but other than that it was pretty good. I rarely got bored with this anime, which somewhat surprised me. There were a few not-too-detrimental lulls in the plot line, but it didn't make me grimace and click away from the anime.

So, would I recommend this anime? If you like a laid back, easy-to-understand plot and a bit of deep meaning and thought sprinkled on it, and you're willing to watch a shoujo that isn't too uncomfortably shoujo if you cringe at the term 'shoujo', then yes. This isn't exactly one of my favorite anime(Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Toshokan Sensou are very precious to me *u*), but it's not one of my least favorite, either. 7/10; 70%! This anime got a C. Barely passing, but it's still solid enough to enjoy. I hope you liked this review! This is my first review. Also, I don't mean to insult anyone with what they like; we all have different tastes, after all. :3