OP Sequence

OP: 「聖数3の二乗」 (Hijirisuu San no Jijou) by いとうかなこ (Itou Kanako)

「たくさんの人 UNDERWATER」 (Takusan no Hito UNDERWATER)
“Lots of People UNDERWATER”

I’m not entirely sure what I just watched, but I know that I really liked it.

General Impressions

From the mastermind who created another one of my favorites known as Steins;Gate, Occultic;Nine feels like a shake up of all the things I loved about Steins;Gate with a coat of dark paint. Revolving around the occult and all the terrifying things that accompany it, I loved how this first episode completely embraced the premise (and name) and shot for the stars. And while it may not have necessarily reached them (yet), we got close enough to get a taste of what’s in-store for us.

Starting with the things I really liked, can we all just take a moment to marvel at the amazing scene that close the episode out? With a majority of the episode bouncing back and forth between characters and only miniscule hints at whatever evil is approaching, watching Yuuta find that butchered body was amazing. Amazing in the sense that you didn’t really see it coming and it left you with a thousand more questions than you had just seconds before. Questions like, Is it related to the lady who went to Kurenaino Mansion and spoke with black curse dealer-chan? Because after rewinding a few times, it definitely looked like the professor was missing a big part of his scalp. But, seeing how the lady hadn’t even finished her request for a curse, could it be something completely unrelated? And don’t even get me started with all the other characters who only got a few seconds of screen time since they all seem to have their own problems here and there. All of which piqued my interest so much that it’s killing me a little not to know what’s going on.

On the other hand, not everything was sunshine and rainbows and all that uncertainty had me feeling really anxious throughout the whole episode. Something which I didn’t particularly enjoy until I stopped caring and just let my mind get sucked into the show. Which I guess isn’t really anything terribly bad, but something I wanted to point out for anyone who’s on the fence. That said, when the show clicks, it really clicks.

Overall, I think it’s tough to make a judgment call on a show like Occultic;Nine this early. I feel like the amount of setup required for a show like this would be quite large and I have no qualms with taking it slow (especially when we get nice bits of excitement here and there). Tack on its large cast of characters, interesting take on the occult, and no fear of dropping a dead body in-front of us without any hesitation and I think we’re going to be in for a stellar ride. Or at least, I hope we’re in for one.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Open your eyes」 by亜咲花 (ASAKA)

End Card

28 Comments

  1. Sorry but this was a terrible first ep; it lacked any sort of cohesion even if someone would want to defend the storytelling as “avante garde” or “different.” Maybe this could be salvaged tho i dont see it being likely considering the directing acumen of this episode, but one of the gravest sins this ep were the characters. It’s as if this premiere gave no shits about making them actual people or personalities that feel like people you could take to and empathize with…like holy hell what was this?

    sonicsenryaku
    1. This was all 400 pages of the 1st volume of the source LN compressed into around 23 minutes
      Thing is, no volumes beyond the 2nd were released because of some production issues. So, now there’s only a single volume left for the rest of the show to adapt (unless episode 2 also follows episode 1 and compresses all of volume 2 in a single episode so 3 and beyond can be the rest of the story that the production issues prevented from being told)

      bassgs435
    2. Terrible? I think not. There’s a shit ton of information and a lot of characters to be introduced in this one episode, naturally it’s going to feel like pieces here and there. But the good thing is you can tell from subtle hints that they’re all connected in some way which makes you curious about what that connection is. I’ll definitely keep watching this!

      Xlandhenry
      1. that doesnt make an episode good tho. If you enjoyed it then that’s good but this is not good storytelling, even if you consider it as a form of avante garde…which it definitely isnt

        sonicsenryaku
    3. Wait what? So you’re telling me you’re confused right? Yeah the story jumped around and started a whole bunch of plot threads. No you’re not supposed to understand everything right now.

      What’s wrong with that?

      Ah here we go, a characters argument. Did you see big boobs and get triggered or something. There’s nothing innately wrong with them. The protagonist is about as bearable as Okabe was in the beginning of Steins;Gate. The raygun girl is just a quirky girl. She’s weird, and she syncs well with the protagonist. Her raygun’s probably fake and the protagonist just pretends to be shocked when she points it him. They probably became friends since they’re both strange people.

      You don’t know enough about the other characters to even make any judgements about them, but if you tell me that the glasses columnist has no personality even in the two minutes they give you I’m pretty sure you’d be lying.

      Also…

      You can’t empathize with the self-proclaimed NEET? He runs an aggregator blogs that simplifies the work of occult debunkers and makes it easier to digest for other people because he’s into occult stuff. He’s so into the occult community he knows about a popular fortune teller before she gets mainstream attention on the news. He’s also shy and not very confident in his social skills around people he doesn’t know, but he’s studious since he goes to school. He doesn’t want to work a dead-end job when he graduates though so he subscribes to NEET culture and is trying to make a living blogging.

      None of that makes you empathize with him?

      I don’t know. It feels like you just saw one or two things you thought you might have disliked and threw the show into the terrible trash category even if it has good things going for it.

      Last thing.

      Why are boobs triggering everyone? No, like I’m serious. This level of fanservice is nothing.

      TitanAnteus
    1. Have you watched Chaos;Head and Robotics;Notes? From an anime-only viewer’s perspective, it seems like Steins;Gate was the exception. The rest aren’t that good at all. Hopefully, this one will be good.

      Crimson7
      1. I wasn’t really aware of the Chaos;Head VN before watching the anime lol. I just remember watching this super weird show based in the Steins;Gate universe and kinda liking it. The swords and stuff looked really cool. I picked up Chaos;Child on the PS4 not that long ago actually.

        I’m sure if I was aware of the VN, I’d likely share your opinion about Madhouse Bass.

        Lyfe
  2. “I’m not entirely sure what I just watched, but I know that I really liked it.”

    Damn straight. By the end of this my brain was fried, but I wanted more instantly. This whole series can be a train wreck by the final episode, but I’m still gonna love every moment of it. It’s just one of those anime. And if it ends up being a success, then even more so.

    The size of them tits…..IT’S TOO DAMN BIG!! andiloveit.

    I don’t usually like big tit ditzy female characters, but something about Ryo-tas is too endearing to dislike, and I don’t know what.

    And this is probably Kaji Yuuki’s best role in a while.

    WarG0d
  3. Even if i, in overall, liked the aestetics there is no reason to make thoose Bewbs sooo big, they hurt my sense of disbelief.
    I mean, why? i’m not watching this kind of show for the “plot”. Even Keijo has better (so far) taste in that regard.

    At this rate this will be more like Chaos;Head than Steins;Gate.

    Micheleuno
  4. (sigh) You Know, I’am not gonna lie to all of you, the people who behind this and this show and other works of theirs…Well, i gonna tell you that they not really impressing me at all, not once, not ever! Sorry people! i just want to point it out for it that’s all!
    And:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Namaewoinai
  5. The episode was all over the place and too fast paced. It was hard to understand what was going on at some points. If they get the pacing and dialogue right I think it will be a good watch.

    The balloon breasts though. They went right past the “super well-endowed” territory into being hentai ridiculous. The character is cute but the ludicrous breast size just makes it a bad joke.

    1. @If they get the pacing and dialogue right I think it will be a good watch.

      Keep in mind that the audience the show is produced for are native speakers. I don’t feel its relevant if dialogue went by too quickly for some people. That’s not an issue for those who watch without subs. I can’t imagine the studio will be that bothered either.

      Lyfe
      1. It’s not so much the speed as the…..I can’t think of the word I want. Frantic maybe? It felt like they were reading several different scripts at once and just randomly trashing one and not picking it up. I don’t mind quick paced dialogue. I love the xMonogatari and can follow along with it fairly well, between speed reading the subs and the little Japanese I’ve pick up on my own over the years. This, at least on the first viewing a bit disconnected and like they were going for lines per minute.

        It was still good enough to get a second viewing but I’m hoping for some improvement.

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