Review of Ayaka: A Story of Bonds and Wounds
Yeap...this was, and still is, hot garbage. You would think that from the writing group of studio GoHands's most famed series, K Project, the anonymous GoRA would have another jewel on their hands. But this is 2023, not 2012, and what they had for the always risky anime original show that is Ayaka (or its full name - Ayaka: A Story of Bonds and Wounds), yeah sure, it was INDEED a story of bonds and wounds, but this somewhat simple story, to put it simply, is an absolute chore to sit through. Just about the only thing that I appreciated about this show is the setting: similarto the Pokemon Adventures of FireRed and LeafGreen, there exists a range of islands that are all interconnected to each other, which make up the Ayaka Islands, along with the supernatural-backed mythology of the monsters and spirits they call "Mitama" and "Ara-Mitama" to separate between the good and evil. Especially those blue Mitama blobs that surround the island, they're such cute and adorable creatures that manifest life onto the islands.
But otherwise, this show is shitting the shat onto the trash all around, like a "wait for something to happen" scenario, because this show ultimately is driven balls to the wall with a simple premise that drags on and on until shit hits the fan, then literally, skate and die with emotions overflowing, thinking that it can win the people over by the now-infamous death flag.
Simply put, you have this boy who was wrangled off the Ayaka Islands due to the imbalance between the gods, and him not knowing of the rich history behind it, had to have a caretaker to accompany him...and then bring him back when the time is right. This is what is happening to Yukito Yanagi, growing from a child then to a young adult uneventfully, until the green jacket-laden Jingi Sagawa has to find him and escort him back to the Ayaka Islands, telling him that it's his duty to remain on the island and train up on their Ley Mastery magic system, and train until something bad happens to be able to put that training to use. Thereafter, with the others like caretaker Momoko Amamiya, Ley Mastery experts Haruaki Kurama and Aka Ibuki, and many more, Yukito's life begins to shake slowly as an innert feeling calls him from deep in the recesses of his heart, only to be told that he would be the key to determine the fate of the Ayaka Islands.
The TL;DR if you don't care about the story: it's simple, and simple stories can work well, but it's the execution that really counts, and this show is the embodiment of a sloth scratching its head and in its usual "question mark" brain of what to do next. It's just bad execution with a boring story and forgettable characters, even when given the death flag.
The same can easily be said about the animation, which coming from Studio Blanc, maybe you should change your name to Studio Bland, because it's not at all impressive. Though I could speculate the reason that the studio's pairing with director Nobuyoshi Nagayama on Winter's Saikyou Onmyouji no Isekai Tenseiki a.k.a The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World, was partially why they wanted to continue the good business relationship since he had secured a hit with the exact same studio for Uramichi Oniisan back in Summer 2021. And almost conspicously as everything was suspiciously in line, music artiste angela took the reins for the show's OP, which was decent at best, along with saji's ED.
Nevertheless, with each progressing episode, I was finding myself having to tune the anime up to 1.3x watching speed just so that there will be some plot progression, but I guess with the supposedly "succinct" writing that had limits placed all over the place, it isn't saying much that the anime basically had nothing going for it, and only showing its cards once everything falls into place as it should.
It's just really meh and boring, please don't waste your time watching this crap.