「空木レンカ」 (Utsugi Renka)
“Utsugi Renka”

Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Fenrir, humanity’s last bastion against the creatures known as the Aragami. Wielding weapons made from their cells, humans known as “God Eaters” fight back as our last hope, with the newest addition in Utsugi Renka (Kijima Ryuuichi) being one of the first to utilize the “new-type” version of such weapon.

Sound a bit familiar? It should. In many ways, God Eater’s general premise echos the typical end of the world story. There’s a nearly indestructible enemy threatening humanity, a fortress to make the last stand, and a main character present with new abilities that could ultimately turn the tide of the fight. A sudden change in circumstances thrusts the protagonist into the spotlight, and the rest is history—though in this case, that history is what we’ll end up seeing in regards to Utsugui Renka’s growth as a God Eater. The point is, you won’t find anything groundbreaking with God Eater based on its premiere, but that’s not to say it’s not worth watching, because it ultimately was—packing a unique style to complement a fast-paced episode.

For the most part, little time is wasted on exposition, and this first episode takes us through not only Renka’s escape from the Aragami, but his first arrival at Fenrir, his subsequent training, and also his first real fight. What little information we get about the Aragami and the Oracle Cells they possess are hinted at by the occasional (and exceptionally brief) flashback, and it’s just enough to whet the appetite by hinting at humanity’s potential hand in its own downfall. The show, don’t tell approach ends up being the right choice by far, and there’s much to be said about how enjoyable it was to see things rush headlong into what should be the series’ main draw: fights against the Aragami.

The fact that our anime-original protagonist (he’s not in the original games) doesn’t care much for orders and will seemingly deploy when he feels like it means we’ll see quite a lot of action as a result, and the fact that he’s surrounded by a cast of rather ridiculous God Eaters will only help in that respect. The use of vocal inserts (adrenaline rush inducing English ones no less) highlights another potential positive in the series’ soundtrack—if you don’t know Go Shiina by now, you should try some of his songs from the Tales series—and the almost gritty nature to the artistic style makes this an interesting series to watch.

It’s too early to tell whether or not God Eater develops into something worth watching for the entirety of the season, but for now it’s earned its chance as a series worth keeping an eye on. It’s miles better than the premiere of last season’s Gunslinger Stratos (another game adaptation based on a third person shooter) at the very least, and ultimately the key is keeping one’s expectations in check. For better and for worse, the series likely won’t stray from the formula this first episode uses, and although the style and cliche nature of the premise may be turn-offs for some, I can see this series ending up above average overall. Let’s just hope I’m not disappointed before it’s all said and done…

Author’s Note: God Eater is not scheduled for weekly coverage at this time.

 

OP Sequence

OP: 「Feed A」 by OLDCODEX

Preview

93 Comments

    1. You probably got the wrong show, most of this show is 2D done with a unique style, only the monsters are CG (something that has been common in anime for a long time we had CG monsters, tanks, ships, .. etc etc), and it’s pretty damn early to judge the quality of the characters or story from a single episode, the only thing that is apparent is that it’s got fantastic art direction with a huge budget and is faithful to the game setting so far.

      1. Whatever the “style” was, it was f*ckin ugly. Characters looked like they came from those CG Hentai Flash vid things, only with uglier outlines and drop shadows. Plot is cookie cutter crap, done a thousand and one times before. Half an ep was enough. I was generous and gave the full ep a chance. Not gonna waste any more time on this.

        Litho
    2. The only reason the characters look cg is because they have more tones to them than the usual anime. They have a bright highlight(white rim lights), another highlight tone, mid tones, shadows, then the even darker shadows in the shadows. Normal anime has like 2-3 and u rarely see more than 4. It’s a unique style but all characters at least are 2d.

      Aimless
      1. Since when Anime have to resemble real life? Saying “our skin doesn’t gleam like polished stainless steel” is like saying “we don’t have stretchy arms like Luffy”, “we don’t have extremely long legs and paper thin body like Lelouch”, “we can’t float in air like Goku.”

        tsukiyo
      2. That’s not the point. I don’t care whether they resemble real life or people from the Planet Snot. I simply find the style too ugly and jarring. The outlines are too thick, the character movements stiff, everything just seems wrong (and the shit writing doesn’t go anywhere near making up for it).

        I don’t care if it’s pushing technology, all I see is the anime equivalent of those dudebro games, where the creators think that simply pushing extra pixels and shader effects can make up for a complete lack of art direction.

        It’s not like I’m averse to non-traditional art styles – big fan of the styles employed in anime like Gankutsu-Ou and Kemonozume, for example.

        Litho
      3. Then this anime simply isn’t for you. I for one (after letting the style grow on me) am enjoying what this anime has to offer. It’s an anime that quite frankly is only aimed at God Eater fans as the editing style is very reminiscent to the God Eater openings. Not to mention I feel a bit of Black Rock Shooter PSP thrown in there as well.

        The hype around this is more or less a) another Ufotable work, b) to see the universe of God Eater in glorious animated form. And as others have said, to see Alisa’s boisterous underboobs. There will be a lot of people who will criticize this, but this anime is NOT meant to be breaking new grounds or going for AOTY Award. It’s simply an anime made for the fans, (which probably includes Ufotable anyway), so arguably could say it’s made by the fans as well.

        Goodwill Wright
    3. i don’t see how the characters are CG. they look 2D to me. it seems that most of the budget is going to the action sequences (it makes sense), but i do find some other scenes a bit choppy in the animation. It may be too early to judge, but so far, the story or the characters aren’t anything new or amazing.

      dude
    4. Agreed. The characters and everything else looks too shiny? plastic? dunno what the term is. The art choice is pretty odd compared to how epic it looks for F/Z and F/UBW.

      Char
  1. Well this was certainly a jumbled mess for an opening episode in terms of plot and pacing. Hopefully later episodes can correct this because the presentation here was horrible compared to other season openers, let alone similar shows in the genre. It is ultimately how well executed the cookie cutter plot is and moves that will determine if God Eater will have any success.

    For God Eater’s benefit though the artwork is interesting to say the least, it’s not bad, but certainly “different” and much like Owari no Seraph’s background arty fits the setting like a glove (guess Ufotable can be thanked for that).

    Pancakes
  2. Fun fact, 8 animation directors and 12 studios worked on the first episode. The fact that these production credits only appear on the site and not on the episode might be a show of embarrassment.

    found it on reddit, and with this the Art Style is explained. But beside that it give me “Chrome Shelled Regios” vibes

    WorldwideDepp
    1. Really !!? this show must have insane budget to get that much crew working on it, surely the art style is very unique and high quality but the God Eater games must have made a fortune to allow them to produce something like this XD

      1. It’s probably because of the art itself. Those characters sure don’t look that easy to draw. Imagine the horror of being an animator during an action scene and have to replicate such meticulous art style frame by frame.

        Justpassingby
  3. As a huge fan of the franchise, I’m super excited to see GE getting animated. If you have a vita or ps4, definitely give God Eater a try! GE 2 Rage Burst is the newest one.

    oliviaven
      1. 2 main reasons.
        a) HD remake and to allow the first game to be bundled with the second one.
        b) to tie in the first game to the second one and provide a more “complete” version.

        I mean, it honestly makes more sense than the plethora of FFX HD remakes…

        Goodwill Wright
  4. Interesting animation style. The story may be old and well used, but I can see some interesting character developments coming, according the the OP that is. The clip with the headless teddybear really got me.

    livid
    1. The Aragami are definitely 3D. They may have replaced the characters with 3D doubles at points to make it easier to interact with the Aragami models. Also some of the backgrounds are probably rendered in 3D as well.

      Goodwill Wright
      1. I’m only “assuming” that at points, characters may be rendered in 3D to allow real time physics feedback in combat. Or to save budget at longshots where the 3D and 2D couldn’t be told apart. Again, I’m assuming. Which is to say it’s probably so well done, we couldn’t tell the difference unless we were told so.

        Goodwill Wright
  5. Honestly, there are only a few reasons why one would watch this:
    a) Ufotable
    b) God Eater
    c) Kanon Daiba
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Thankfully, even if this anime is only a 1 cour, that could probably cover the plot of the game x3. So hopefully the studio takes the liberty to use the excess time they have to expand on some of the characters and explain the technology. It would be interesting to see how literal or game accurate they would portray Kanon Daiba. Licca may also be another character worth exploring.

    As for the first episode, very typical outside of the animation. Although, there is nothing glaringly bad about it either. I will admit the animation is a bit jarring at first, kinda wished they toned down on the excessive shading and kept the characters simple. But it grew on me by the end of the episode. Action is nothing special yet. I was hoping they would take advantage of the fact the characters are wielding considerably bulky weapons but they are swinging them around as if they were a normal sword. Hopefully the action will become more unique as the series progresses because I don’t recall Lindow being able to swat aside an Aragami like it was nothing (we all wish he was that good of a teammate…)

    Goodwill Wright
    1. Honestly, Lindow’s bad ass because of his leadership in actual combat, his ability to keep everyone alive in his team. Not his ability to swat away aragamis with ease. Even Soma needs to flip and jump to gain momentum to swing his God Arc. Although one could argue that he’s wielding a rather bulkier weapon (buster blade) than Lindow but still. I do hope a proper character portrayal is in line next episode.

      Raiu
  6. I think it’s important to remember that the premise, while typical, was never intended to serve as a strong narrative. God Eater is a Monster Hunter clone, and the only point of the premise is to justify numerous nameless heroes with huge weapons that take part in repeated bite-sized missions to kill an endless wave of massive beasts. It is what it is. To expect it to be otherwise is a bit weird. “why does this game story have a game story?”

    That said, the oddity of God Eater is that the broad premise is actually sort of fascinating once you dig in a bit, even if the broad strokes are very bland. The mystery of what Aragami are and where they came from combined with the nature of God Eaters and what they go through is sort of fascinating. I remember actually caring a fair amount for the various side characters and other God Eaters while I played (didn’t finish it unfortunately) which is rather odd for a game of this style.

    So I would imagine the adaptation will have the same somewhat wonky nature to its plot. A very generic broad plot that’s really only meant to justify repetitive mindless action that’s built on an oddly fascination foundation. The question is which direction the creative team will manage to make the plot fall.

    KaleRylan
  7. Every character AND weapons are completely hand-drawn with an amazing and extremely meticulous post production coloring. Probably the story is not groundbreaking, but it is the first seasonal anime ever that choose such time-consuming style with outstanding results and the fact that a lot of people thinks it is cheap cgi makes me very sad.
    I mean, colour EVERY frame like it is a visual novel sprite is not easy, and people just seem to care about how “different” or “weird” it looks.
    The monsters are indeed 3d, though.

    flyingcow
  8. I was most excited for this show but I’m coming away pretty disappointed. Sure, the animation is fantastic, but thats all it has going for it. Literally every other aspect, from the designs to the premise, is cookie cutter interchangeable with any number of other shows out there.

    Moondoggie
    1. First it’s clearly a character driven story, which means the plot is secondary … specially given it is based on action heavy monster-hunter style game, that said there are hints here that there is more to the story than it first seems, and it is still early to really judge it objectively.

      All that said, it’s first and foremost about the characters and their back-stories and interactions.

    2. These sort of comments confuse me. Were people not aware of what this was? And I don’t mean just video-game adaptation, because some video games do have complex plots, but a monster-hunter clone video game adaptation, meaning the game has very limited plot and is mostly just repetitive grinding and monster slaying.

      Most of what this should have ever been sold on is action and animation, the plot was always going to be of secondary importance.

      KaleRylan
  9. It was quite annoying to see so many people voice their distaste for CG, and to claim that the characters were 3D. Those comments (from all over the internet) hurts my eyes so bad.

    You know how it sounds like? It’s like a British person talking to an American, and the American says “Sorry, I don’t speak Chinese”. That blatant ignorance is quite annoying. I would rather they talk about the choppy animation at times (which they blatantly ignored, and focused solely on the art style).

    Sigh, I’m hoping that this ends up good though. I came here just to say one word: Alisa. Goodbye~

    Cheerfulk
    1. Why would you feel ashamed that so many people question if the characters are 3D? Wouldn’t that mean it’s HARDER to tell, and thus the artists are doing their job!?

      starss
    1. I’m really just here for Kanon Daiba… Sure she doesn’t show any skin, but I want to see if they will characterize her infamous use of friendly fire. I mean, they even make it a character plot point in-game and that’s why you get her “training” side quest.

      Goodwill Wright
  10. I’ll be honest, I’m watching this for Alisa’s underboobs in UFOTable quality. That and maybe Kanon, assuming she gets some screentime. That being said, even UFOtable can’t break through that thick wall of a mindset that Video Game Adaptations suck which is built on a foundation decades of cynicism. I can take some comfort that God Eater doesn’t have a complex story and should be difficult to screw up. We’ll see how it turns out.

    As for this episode, lets get the good parts of the way. It looks really good, as typical for UFOTable. And they have done an impressive job recreating the aesthetics of the game, from the inside of Fenrir to the characters and party members (Kanon!). And despite the CG, the Aragami are also faithfully recreated, even if the animation is a bit stiff. Which is good because that indicates that someone in production cares enough to make a GE adaptation work.

    The rest of the episode is a hit or miss. The exposition for the setting is important for first episodes especially for new audiences and here its a mess. I don’t think anyone new will understand what all the flashbacks of the scientists mean. At least the basic post-apocalyptic setting is properly conveyed.

    Renka…. is meh. He’s a cookie cutter archetype of the brash but talented rookie. Thankfully he isn’t obnoxious. Since the GE PC is basically a blank slate, they can take his development anywhere so I’ll need to see where he goes in the next episodes. Alisa will probably be important, since her relationship with the main character would drive a good deal of the narrative like in the game.

    I can tell you the one thing I hated this episode: The pretentious use of “Slow mo-Fast forward” for scene transitions. There were at least 4-5 of them on ONE episode. Its reminds me why I hate Zack Snyder films, as if the director is waving his hands to the audience and saying “LOOK HOW ARTSY I AM!”. They better tone that down on the next few episodes.

    fragb85
    1. Well, they should care about it since they’ve been making cutscenes and OP animations for the GE series from the start.

      Yeah, this first episode was kind of jumping all over. Nothing huge, but the transitions were fairly jarring. They might be saving the exposition for Dr. Sakaki’s lectures…?

      Hanabira.Kage
    2. Yeah, as someone who has never played the games, I didn’t have any idea what was going on besides the basic post-apocalyptic cookie cutter stuff.

      I don’t know if it’s just me, but (main) characters like Renka tend to irritate me. While, as you said, he wasn’t obnoxious or anything, he does seem to have that reckless, self-overestimating, avenger mindset while simultaneously possessing that Shirou-like “saving everyone” thinking (if that one training session was any indication when, without thinking at all, just rushes to save a civilian, resulting in him losing).

      He gets to Fenrir, is accepted, then seems to think he’ll instantly be sent out because he “has” to destroy the Aragami. That’s fine and all (given he’s stopped and is made to train), but then, while noted to be talented, obviously having potential, he still gets his butt handed to him multiple times easily just during training sessions (which I’m sure their difficulty wasn’t TOO high given he’s a rookie), but as we know, no amount of training can completely prepare you for the real thing.

      Then, he pretty much tells Amamiya, “**** your orders”, when the situation is looking bad and goes rushing out, only to almost get effortlessly and needlessly killed by what I assume were low level Aragami given it’s only episode one, which is exactly what Amamiya meant when she said she wasn’t going to send him to his death, were it not for the timely arrival of 1st squad with actual experience saving him.

      I can only hope that the near-death experiences and subsequent episodes really help to slap a sense of reality into his head.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      1. Yes, this! Again a teenage moron, who can’t listen to an easily understandable orders. And I’m sure there won’t be any consequences waiting for him. If I was Ms. Big-Boobs, who is his direct superior, I would cut his hand personally. You can’t listen, you won’t be fighting at all.

        gilraen_tinuviel
      2. Again, has no one ever watched anime? This describes pretty much every military and pseudo-military anime in existence. If there is an organization that the lead works for, you’ve got a 9 in 10 chance that they will ignore orders by the end of the first episode, and CERTAINLY by the end of the series.

        Not that that makes it okay, but seriously aren’t people used to this by now? Has no one watched Gundam?

        KaleRylan
      3. I don’t really think its the right time to complain about Renka’s character yet. The character arc setup is pretty obvious and that’s why I said we need to see the next episodes to see how it turns up. As I said, he isn’t obnoxious and doesn’t act high and mighty like he’s right about everything. If anything this episode does establish he is out of his league and he clearly understands that.

        What’s important is the see how he shapes up after what happens. Alisa will probably play a role in this, since her character development worked alongside the GE Silent protagonist on the game. Their character arcs are even somewhat similar here in the anime.

        fragb85
      4. @KaleRylan

        You can’t really use Gundam as an example primarily because (at least if you go by the Universal Century), a majority of the protagonists were initially civilians who ended up getting thrown into the war of the story somehow, so of course they had things like fear, confusion, and other emotions driving them. Add on the layer of usually being Newtypes (who are known to be sensitive to things) as well as a number of them being young teenagers who have had pretty poor childhoods and haven’t fully grown up, and you got a good formula for pretty rebellious attitudes that takes most of the series to iron out.

        Renka, on the other hand, is knowingly and willingly sought out and joined an organization for the purpose of fighting the Aragami, so he most likely has some general idea of what he’s getting into and what it would entail, including having superiors who will give him orders.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. It’s a simple “end of the world”/”last stand of humanity” plot. In God Eater’s favor, it is a an easier setting to base a Monster Hunter game in, so I’d say it has it’s fair reasons.

      Goodwill Wright
    2. Uhm… I guess, Attack on Titan has a superior first episode than this in terms of world-building but

      … they basically share the same shounen type protagonist. I am really annoyed with Eren so toning down some of Lenka’s traits is a plus.

      Well, I am gonna watch this due to ufotable. This studio can’t go wrong in terms of visuals.

      samui
      1. Do you think it could have been better if Lenka simply just stayed put when Major Amamiya ordered him to do so while also telling him that the 1st unit is already on there way to appease him? I think what forced him to take action was when Hibari and Tsubaki didn’t immediately gave him a straight answer that helps was already on its way.

        Most of the negatives that I’ve read about Lenka from another site is him being an Eren 2.0 and the setting being an AoT 2.0. At least the commenters here are a bit forgiving and is giving Lenka and the series some benefit of doubt.

        That scene was actually anime original as the MC ingame was really an obedient puppy early on until character development made him/her think for him/herself for the sake of his/her friends in Fenrir.

        Raiu
    3. Do you think it could have been better if Lenka simply just stayed put when Major Amamiya ordered him to do so while also telling him that the 1st unit is already on there way to appease him? I think what forced him to take action was when Hibari and Tsubaki didn’t immediately gave him a straight answer that helps was already on its way.

      I do, basically because the mistakes he committed in his first few fights against the aragamis are the same mistake he did during his training with Kota. Did he save those people he wanted to save in point D? No. They are still slaughtered. The aragamis still slaughtered them all and if the 1st unit didn’t come in time, he was as good as dead. Even the guy he saved said that he should run for his life since he does not have his God Eater that moment.

      But was the option of staying inside cold hearted? Yes but everyone knew that it will be too late for reinforcements to reach that point. I like that moment when Lenka realized that they’re too undermanned to rescue that part but I think that would be more emotionally compelling IF he just stayed there helpless (but that would throw more gas to the fire in AOT 2.0 comparison). More so, the fact that they are short of personnel makes me think that self preservation is a better route because they still have to protect what remains in the future. At least, the major and Hibari are intelligent enough for me to watch this series seriously.

      That scene was actually anime original as the MC ingame was really an obedient puppy early on until character development made him/her think for him/herself for the sake of his/her friends in Fenrir.

      I also play the game and I honestly think that what you just posted is better than create an anime-original that feels forced. Since this is dark fantasy-themed show, I hope it will peek some points from Psycho-Pass to create a brooding atmosphere while having engaging action in the future.

      samui
      1. I really think people expect too much of this. The game sort of invites it because it’s premise is fascinating, but it’s still just a story about people with ludicrously over-sized weapons fighting monsters. The anime is not going to step outside of that because it would defeat the purpose. More than most things, you really SHOULD just come here for the pretty fights and stay for the fairly fun characters. Comparing it to a bunch of deep, thought-provoking stories is just setting yourself up for disappointment.

        As for that AoT comparisons, I think that’s fair without being fair. AoT is about humanity’s horribly out-gunned last line of defense fighting an endless battle against giant monsters. This is also the thinking behind a huge number of Japan’s most popular recent game franchises. Monster Hunter, God Eater, Toukiden, etc, etc, etc. I’ve never really looked into AoT’s background too much, but maybe the writer was inspired by this fad in Japanese gaming to produce AoT in the first place? They’re certainly similar.

        But it’s annoying when people just compare everything to the most popular similar thing out at the time. God Eater is not an AoT clone, it’s a monster hunter clone. And to suggest that every hot-blooded anime protagonist is now Eren ?.0 is silly. 85% of anime for decades have run off of hot-blooded protagonists that don’t think of the consequences. That’s anime’s bread and butter.

        KaleRylan
      2. Look at it this way, if Lenka didn’t go outside, that guy would’ve died because Fenrir wouldn’t have sent the 1st Unit to that position otherwise. So in Lenka’s defense, he may have done something good.

        Goodwill Wright
      3. If he didn’t go, he wouldn’t have saved that one girl, and the red shirt from getting killed. It would also be a betrayal of his beliefs. He’s not you. Just accept his decision and move on. It’s not like he didn’t think before he acted.

        TitanAnteus
    4. But it’s annoying when people just compare everything to the most popular similar thing out at the time.

      You cannot help but take a look at similar franchise when:

      a. This is just the pilot episode so it is normal to draw out comparisons with the anime which has a similar theme. It is like grasping for sense of familiarity.
      b. The studio behind God Eater is a top-tier one, visually and animation-wise, the same with the aforementioned anime.

      The comparisons will be likely gone once we delve deeper in the story but heck, this is just episode one so it is nearly impossible not to draw one.

      God Eater is not an AoT clone, it’s a monster hunter clone. And to suggest that every hot-blooded anime protagonist is now Eren ?.0 is silly. 85% of anime for decades have run off of hot-blooded protagonists that don’t think of the consequences. That’s anime’s bread and butter.

      I am well aware that it is not a clone of Attack on Titan. Well, Eren is just used as a comparison since he is the protagonist of AOT. I could use any other shounen protagonist since the genre’s main characters have the same template like you just posted.

      samui
      1. I didn’t say ‘similar franchise’ I said ‘the most popular thing out at the time.’ My key point being that the most popular thing out at the time is quite possibly not that original either.

        And I was only half-responding to you. I was also half-responding to the fact that this particularly comparison is very common right now both on this page and on others and on other anime. If a protagonist is hot-blooded, he will be compared to Eren, as though Eren invented the trope. Take a look at the Owari no Seraph reviews for reference.

        Again, I’m not necessarily DISAGREEING with some of the complaints. I’m raising two points. First, what did people expect? It’s a game adaptation of a game with very little real plot. If they made a Mario anime, would people complain that Bowser lacked pathos? And secondly, the comparison of everything to AoT gets on my nerves when AoT itself can be compared to 100 things that came before it. AoT’s not that original and this is no more a specific copy of AoT than AoT is of everything else. ‘Post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with man-eating monsters that can only be taken down by teenage super-soldiers’ is basically just a genre of anime. Possibly one of the most prolific genres of anime aside from maybe harem or magical girl (when those don’t overlap).

        KaleRylan
  11. Main character felt really forced. It’s like they want us to like him but he’s just going I want to kill Aragami!! But completely sucks at it. Only reason he can even hold his ground is cuz he’s being carried by his sword… Like walking into a fps game with infinite rockets. No skill really required. So far the first episode was underwhelming and the main character wasn’t very like able to me, due to his lack of sensibility and common sense.

    Warui
    1. Eh? Of course Lenka’s still a rookie that’s why he sucks. Notice how the Kongou (gorilla like aragami) easily blocked his swing and blow his God Arc away while Soma and Lindow were swatting them with ease.

      He still needs a lot of training and I mean a LOT since he needs to master both melee and range fighting with his God Arc being a New Type. And him wanting to spend some extra time in training sims is a good start. And probably MRussian Underboob Alisa will be able to show him the ropes in using his God Arc.

      Raiu
    2. You’re only saying that because you’re comparing him with the most elite of the elite and he’s still a rookie. He’s an extremely exceptional rookie with a lot of potential growth, but they needed to show you that he didn’t start perfect, and is in fact going to grow stronger.

      TitanAnteus
  12. That one week delay was definitely worth it. This episode delivered most especially on the animation and music. As a fan of the GE games, I honestly was impressed with the episode. The art style was very unique as well and the CG for the Aragami was quite appropriate despite the random stiffness here and there. So far I don’t have much of an opinion on Utsugi, but this is the first episode after all. Still way too early to judge anyone or anything thrown our way. That being said, I did like Utsugi in that he wasn’t an OP berserker at the start. He was actually rather humble as well, and was quite civil and friendly to others like Kouta (who btw, was too adorable with his ‘gum’ intro ^^). So kudos to him and looking forward to how they develop his ‘blank slate’ of a character.

    Harua
  13. Being able to have a glimpse of Kanon Daiba in the earlier parts of the show completely sold this adaptation for me. Wish ufotable gives her some love and screen time with Lenka. I remember being so weary about her presence that I always tap dodge whenever I see her close even if she’s firing healing burst. Still, you have to make do with her if you want to increase rare item drop chances. lol

    Looking at the screenshots. it looks like those seemingly hand painted pics were taken from a visual novel but no, those were taken from actually moving scenes. I’ll get use to this sooner than the 100% CGI of Arpegio which took me several episodes to get used to.

    Also Zephyr, by any chance have you played the game before or just made a lot of research because your introduction was really spot on.

    Raiu
  14. https://randomc.net/image/God%20Eater/God%20Eater%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2001.jpg

    Remember this girl people. Coz the fate of the world lies between her boobs.

    On a serious note: I actually have a bit of nitpicking in terms of Ufotables’ choice of animation style during the fight sequence.

    The current artwork, while a bit weird, is superb in my opinion. It reminds me of the first time I ever saw Valkyria Chronicles (the game). The artwork was really a pleasant surprise.

    The main gripe I actually have was something I noticed after marathoning Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night all in one go (I actually went through Fate Kaleid Ilya before that, but that’s not important right now).

    I noticed that in Fate/Zero, action scenes were longer which directly results in a longer adrenaline rush for the viewers.

    On Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works, the fight scenes were considerably shorter but packed more UMPH in them. Ufotable focused too much on the realistic dust clouds and terrainial destruction at the price of too much talking, too many shifting Point-of-View shifting and too many slowmo scenes.

    These actions were probably made to shift as much resources as they could to those very few minutes of artistic glory.

    God Eater seems to be on the FSN-UBW style of action scenes, thus we can expect explosions with the capital BOOOOM and hell lot of ground cracking as our protagonists leaps into action.

    Mind you, I didnt mind it since it looked so f*cking awesome! But I have to admit that I prefer a prolonged awwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssoooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee than a AWE-F*CKING-SOME!

    In short, I wouldnt mind if Ufotable lowered their focus on the environment (and its subsiquent destruction) and divert the resources into longer fight scenes.

    Just my 2 cents ^.^

    Ginobi47
    1. Well, Fate Kaleid Prisma is coming. If you want some drawnout but topnotched fight sequences, let Fate Kaleid fill it for you.

      Honestly, fight sequences were really short for each member of the 1st Unit and it doesn’t help that they can one shot the mob aragamis. Even the Kongou is demoted to a mob alongside zygotes and ogretails.

      Though I finally realized, with the way Sakuya holds her sniper gun, how exactly does she aim accurately with that stance?

      Reikakou
      1. She, and the rest of them, are basically superhuman. She’d probably have better aim with a better stance, but her aiming stupidly is probably better aim than any of us.

        KaleRylan
  15. Hmm..how should I say this without offending all the Ufo fanboys..

    The premier was pretty underwhelming. The fights scene were great but the scene progression is pretty generic:

    1. Typical reckless MC from outside applies as a God Eater. Add fast-forward FX for the gfx crowd.
    2. Higher-ups found out/turned him into a new-type (was laughing everytime they say it, I can’t get UC gundam out of my head)
    3. They develop a weapon specially for him. (Go, Funnels!)
    4. Training scene
    5. Add some conflict for the lulz
    6. MC fights, gets saved by the supporting characters, then MC shows how badass he is.

    I expected more from Ufotable; I guess not every work will be Fate quality-wise.

    Char
    1. To be fair…

      Show Spoiler ▼

      Raiu
    2. I’m more offended as both a fan of Gundam and God Eater. There is nothing similar about them at all other than a few generic character tropes.

      You do realize that this based on a game that is essentially a Monster Hunter clone right? Literally seconds after you create your character and press Play, the NPC’s go like “Oh you’re that New Type right? Here go to the tutorial battle mission now! Chop-chop!”

      And really, they didn’t establish Renka as badass. He in fact, jobbed very fast and is only alive through luck.

      fragb85
    3. You’re over-focusing on the new-type thing. It’s not that amazingly important. Old-types are either guns or swords, new-types are both. Really the only difference. There are some gameplay mechanics that presumably will be mentioned that come up later, but it’s not a HUGE thing.

      KaleRylan
  16. They overdid the slow motion sequences, i was waiting for some sort of story. Instead we got a character who is a little too eager to go out and kill things when he can barely handle training sims. No backstory, no depth to any of the characters, just that he’s “special”. Seems a like a flop for a first episode but i’ll give it the 3 episode rule as i’m hoping this actually goes somewhere.

    Synic
    1. I can assure you the story will not be getting much better. You are either only here for animation, or character potential. Unless Ufotable goes with a somewhat original plot, there is no point holding your breathe. We are talking about a Monster Hunter clone here. You don’t come for the plot.

      Goodwill Wright
  17. I could’ve sworn this was celshaded 3D when I started watching, but soon realized it is indeed 2D. That’s going to take some time getting used to, because my brain’s gonna tell me one thing, but my heart’s like “damn you brain, it is celshaded 3D~”.

    Dorian
  18. Just watched it and it made me sleepy. Here’s hoping the second episode picks up the pace some.

    And I agree with some of the complaints about the art, it’s not working for me, but hoping it’s not as jarring with the second episode.

    The story is cookie cutter, but most shows aren’t that original. It’s main sin is that it didn’t execute it well for the opening episode to make it compelling. You don’t have to agree with those critics, but the fact that a show like this elicits more than a few of those criticisms means it didn’t do a good job. Again, let’s hope the second episode is a marked improvement.

    Impel Down Hippo

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