OP Sequence
OP: 「時世界 ～トキセカイ～」 (Toki Sekai) by (Itou Kanae, Aizawa Mai, Mikami Shiori)
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼
[flv:Shining_Hearts_Shiawase_no_Pan_OP.mp4 550 310]
「機械人形」 (Kitai Ningyo)
“Machine Doll”
If there’s a single word I would use to describe Shining Hearts, it would be “pretty”. Mind-bogglingly, awe-inducingly pretty. It’s like Production I.G. felt like they had something to prove – there’s almost no doubt that Shining Hearts is one of the most visually-pleasing shows this season has to offer.
But what about everything else? After four episodes in, what does this RPG-adaptation have to offer the masses? Quite a bit more than what one would expect at first glance, that’s for sure. I have to admit though, Shining Hearts probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea – it does subvert expectations, but it does it in a way that can leave people… well, wanting. There’s quite a lot I want to talk about though, so let’s break this down piece by piece.
Short blurb under each section, with a more detailed explanation under spoiler tags.
First off, the premise:
Show Spoiler ▼
An amnesiac girl named Kaguya (Kuwashima Houko) washes up ashore on Wyndaria after a storm and is discovered by the baker-swordsman Rick (Kamiya Hiroshi) and his three co-workers Neris (Aizawa Mai), Airy (Mikami Shiori) and Amyl (Itou Kanae). Kaguya and her necklace set off a chain of events that have the protagonists scrambling to restore peace to their island.
So standard RPG stuff. Again, with any game adaptation, plot is always going to be the weakest point because condensing 20+ hours of gameplay that contains a ton of back-tracking, side quests and etc. is not going to be an easy task. To be honest, Shining Hearts’ plot does not put me at ease. Actually to be precise, the pacing concerns me. It’s only in episode three Kaguya – presumably the main heroine – is introduced… that’s a quarter of the way through for a show that’s supposedly 1-cour. At episode 4, I’m still not quite sure when the conflict is supposed to kick into gear, and although I do fully enjoy what Production I.G. has given me, a show needs its plot like a fish needs water. It’s painfully obvious the plot is still in the “prologue” stages of the game, and the languid pacing does not translate well onto the moving screen . On the other hand though, it looks like a damn faithful adaptation of the game… although I can’t say with certainty since I haven’t played the game.
tl;dr: decent plot hindered by slow pacing. Shining Hearts is still enjoyable though, and there’s still room for the story to pick up, so it’s not the end of the world.
Next, characters:
Show Spoiler ▼
- Rick: The hero, and the obligatory swordsman. He’s really good at making bread, and by proxy, is really good at making people happy. Kamiya Hiroshi is pitch-perfect in the role, giving Rick enough of a personality that he escapes being a cardboard despite the fact there isn’t a lot of information given about him. That does not mean he’s bland though – just that there isn’t much known about him except to say he wields swords, sleeps in a ship, bakes breads of happiness and is surrounded by 3 cute girls. Oh, and he also washed up ashore as an amnesiac.
- Neris: Clearly the most mature of the three girls , and possibly the party’s healer or some kind of mage. Killer body. She has good chemistry with Rick, and given the game’s dating-sim element, Neris is probably one of the girls he can end up with – their interactions seem natural and fluid, which is really all you can ask for in any show as far as relationships are concerned. On her own Neris is certainly likeable and Aizawa Mai walks the fine line that separates “mature and polite” and “maternal and doormat”. We’re talking love interest here, not a mother complex.
- Airy: Maybe the youngest? Apparently some kind of nun. Airy is sweet, she’s adorable and she has just enough sense to keep her from derailing into “naive brick” territory. She’s enjoyable in every scene she’s in, whether alone or with the rest of the cast. It’s too early to say, but Airy does have the qualifications to be Rick’s love interest and her chemistry with him isn’t bad either.
- Amyl: The liveliest of the bunch, hands down. Sometimes Itou Kanae feels like she’s channeling Ohana though, and it can be a bit distracting. That aside, Amyl injects vivacity into a scene that can help bring it to life and out of the girls, she’s probably the most dynamic. Her feelings for Rick are the most obvious as well, and given that she’s seen him shirtless, I’d say she has a leg up in this competition. That, and she spends an entire episode angsting about Rick potentially regaining his memories and what that would mean.
- Xiao Mei: The
slave-driving NPC that ropes the player into doing over 9000 tasks that usually result in little to no reward. She’s probably that character that joins the party later with an overpowered skill that forces convinces the player to keep her in the party, or comes so under-leveled that she’s relegated to “unused tier”. Xiao Mei is certainly vivacious, and she can be endearing in her own way. The character itself isn’t terribly offensive, but she does seem a little uneven, which is more a fault of the directing rather than Xiao Mei herself.
- Kaguya: Oh Kaguya. Kaguya, Kaguya, Kaguya. Even during the season preview, I was a little skeptical about how her character would pan out since “emotionless amnesiac throwing the world into turmoil” is a hugely overused trope at best. But I had faith in veteran Kuwashima Houko’s ability to bring her character to life and even though Kuwashima hasn’t shown much of Kaguya at all, I’m holding out hope that once the series picks up that’ll change and Kaguya will take on a more prominent role.
The characters on the whole are great and helps anchor the plot despite its slow pace and they feel vibrant enough to make the show a pleasant watch. At the same time they also have a very… stereotypic feel about them, which I’ll talk more about in the “atmosphere” section.
tl;dr: visually-pleasing characters with enough personality to set them apart from each other and make the show engaging.
The animation:
Show Spoiler ▼
Well to no one’s shock, this show is as pretty as it gets.
Take Exhibit A, for one. That’s some detailed work put into the background, and that’s not even the best they had to offer. Exhibit B, C, D, and E are all a notch above Exhibit A and really showcase what Production I.G. and any other involved staff are capable of. The sheer details present in the series’ animation is nothing short of amazing and it affords a realistic setting that is also fantastic and unreal at the same time. This is the sort of work that would look amazing in 3D – the lush colors and the many different elements in a scene would really benefit from that extra dimension.
The character animations aren’t lazy either, even after four episodes. They’re still pretty solid and compounded with the colorful world, you have a show that reels you in visually. The character designs are a delight and despite the ample assets and the sinfully short skirts on these girls (hello Xiao Mei and Airy), there’s actually very little blatant fanservice. Some nice full shots here and there, but nothing that would tip you off to the fact the designs originate from a renowned hentai artist. I had worried a little at first since I wasn’t sure how well the designs would translate to an animated version since some details would be inevitably lost, but the stunning OP sequence laid my fears to rest pretty quickly. This is nothing short of amazing, and it’s almost worth watching it purely for the eye candy you’re sure to get.
tl;dr: a luxury, gourmet treat for the eyes. By far Shining Hearts’ greatest asset.
The atmosphere:
Show Spoiler ▼
This is what struck me the most about this show, and to put it in simplest terms, Shining Hearts feels like a game on auto-play. Instead of me furiously pressing the ‘A’ button to get past the dialogue, someone has been kind enough to put it on a screen for me and let my thumb rest for twenty-two minutes. This is, admittedly, a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that so far the show seems like an extremely faithful adaptation – the dialogue, the backgrounds complete with location signs, and even the OST all come together to give that quintessential JRPG feel, which I can only assume happened because Production I.G. is adapting the game literally scene to scene. Of course this is just an assumption and people who have played the game are free to correct me!
I like this RPG vibe Shining Hearts has going on, but at the same time it’s a weakness; it sort of pigeonholes characters into pre-made RPG character molds and at times, instead of referring to them as actual characters, I find myself referring to them by the roles they’re meant to play in the game. Oh Rick, the swordsman. Kaguya? Probably the healer or the deadweight NPC that keeps getting kidnapped. Neris, Airy and Amyl? One of them is probably the quintessential long-range attacker, the other a mage of some sort, etc, etc. That’s… not necessarily a good thing. In the context of the game, I suppose this works; it’s traditional and to be honest the cast of Shining Hearts is one of the better offerings as far as stereotypical characters go.
tl;dr: woo hoo! A free, automatic game experience that will take care of the pesky back-tracking and endless dialogue cutscenes? Sign me up.
And finally, general impression:
Despite the misgivings I have about the pacing and the utterly RPG-like atmosphere, let it be known that I like this show. The relaxing mood is refreshing from some of the more deep, philosophical shows the season has to offer and it’s an easy watch. I just kick back and watch some nicely-designed characters run about doing their RPG business and I’m satisfied. Shining Hearts isn’t a show that should be watched with a serious mindset and the show knows where its strengths lie – it’s got confidence in itself, if you will, and hey… if a show is confident, then so am I. I might not know where this ship is headed and how it will reach a proper conclusion in twelve episodes, but I’m not as worried about it as I should be.
tl;dr: is Shining Bread going to be everybody’s cup of tea? Probably not. But it’s certainly mine and I plan to get the most out of this tea time.
To those that actually read this whole thing, have some bread of happiness baked by three cute girls as thanks!
And it’s not a post by Mochi without full-size images so here they are: 02, 03, 04, 06, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 26, 27, 30, 33, OP 05, Preview 02
ED Sequence
ED: 「ふわっふわのまほう」 (Fuwa Fuwa no Mahou) by (Itou Kanae, Aizawa Mai, Mikami Shiori)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
[flv:Shining_Hearts_Shiawase_no_Pan_ED.mp4 550 310]
Preview
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I wanted to watch this show, it looks really well made but…
I don’t know if it’s changed since the first two episodes, but during both of them I had to fight off an urge to fall asleep through the entire thing and even then found myself jumping forward through the endless seemingly plotless dialogue.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one feeling this.
I kind of had the same issue, it is really slow to develop, but its starting to get more interesting. The animation is excellent which is why i am still watching. Hopefully the storyline will go somewhere. After 5 episodes its still like eh….
People have become more and more action junkies and want things to move at a breakneck pace each week (like Fate/Zero) and this is an anime that isn’t like that. They are taking their time telling the story. Having not played the game I have idea how far along they are with the stpry’s plot. Usually when they move at a slow pace like this and its a 1 cor series it usually means they might be planning to have more then 1 season.
I wouldn’t really say it’s due to Fate/Zero moving at a “breakneck” pace. If anything, to pure action fans, it’d ALSO be moving pretty slowly given how few the actual battles are (at least when it comes to big, flashy Servant vs. Servant fights) in the series compared to a lot more talking, points-of-views, and so on (but the battles there are are AMAZING). I think it’s more so that to the ones who are fans of the Fate/Stay Night anime most likely already KNEW what to expect from Fate/Zero (as I’m sure a lot who only saw the anime went and looked up the rest of the story) and, thankfully, it hardly deviates from the original story, so it moves as people have more or less expected it to, so no real complaints aside from those who did expect a majority of it to be battles between Servants and not between the actual people.
But yeah, I also like when a series takes it times to develop things instead of rushing it all out, then moving to flashy, cliche battles/situations every episode. Basically, it gives you the impression of a RPG game, only in a more “realistic” fashion, as in no random battles every few steps the characters’ take, lol.
I in the other hand when I watch this show get really hungry and start drooling. That bread looks delicious.
The best bread baking Anime this season XD.
For some unknown reason I’m enjoying this shallow Anime, maybe because of Tony’s character design, my love for RPG, or maybe Itou Kanae voice. A guilty pleasure perhaps.
Intriguing is a work that works for me. We have a diverse set of
characters – now the story is getting a little traction (I agree, too
that I was mildly bored silly in the beginning).
However, I would not use this series as any kind of engineering teaching tool –
haven’t the writers ever hear of block and tackle?
Will continue if for no other reason …
I’m probably in a minority, but I found the character design in this show incredibly offputting for reasons I can’t put my finger on, at least when it comes to the girls in the main cast. It might be exacerbated by one of the most severe cases of sameface I’ve ever seen, but there’s something weird and hollow – kind of vacant – about the designs. Am I the only one who reacted that way? I’m just crazy, right?
You’re not alone. I think the problem with the characters is that Tony Taka apparently didn’t design them with their setting in mind — it looks like he just drew what he thought would look cute, not what the characters would be expected to wear given their occupations, resources, or personalities. While that could have worked for the RPG (where the characters, for the most part, were stationary), the designs become a lot less cohesive when the characters are constantly animated. (The animation staff is also using a much brighter and gaudier color palette than Tony Taka used for his original illustrations.)
It reminds me of something Range Murata said about his character designs for Last Exile: “I always wondered, ‘Why do anime characters have such big buttons? Why are the creases in their clothes so deep?’ Things like that. And when I designed the characters for Last Exile, I tried to have them wear clothes that could exist in real life.”
That’s why I think the character designs here can look so “vacant:” they don’t relate to each other, they don’t relate to the characters themselves, and they don’t relate to the setting. They’re ripped right off of the concept art sheet.
Right now, Shining Hearts is probably the most visually pleasing anime of the season, tied with Fate/Zero. The characters all look very unique and pretty, and the landscape is pretty expansive and breathtaking.
Plot-wise it is kind of slow, though. Everything feels really peaceful, with no real conflict in sight. It would be pretty accurate to describe it as a slice-of-life in a fantasy setting.
I still say it is enjoyable to watch. It does leave you with a fluffy feeling afterward.
Shame Shining Hearts (the PSP game this is based on) was never released outside Japan.
Expect plot holes that are only filled if you’ve played the game.
If it were a videogame, Shining Hearts would have “good graphics, that unfortunately doesn’t match up with the gameplay”
I didn’t know shows started at Episode 4 now…
5 episodes in and the show still hasn’t started….
…ah well, maybe the ‘main antagonist/villain/evil/whatever’ isn’t a serious threat in RPG standards, so they can smite him/her/it in half an episode and be done with it.
This show’s pacing is really weird, but the animation is top notch. Is this show getting picked up by Bakamochi? Thanks for the review btw
They should just turn this into a hentai.
Seriously, it’s already 5 eps and they still repeat the baking bread/selling bits every single ep. At least we wouldn’t be bored if there was constant f*cking. The female character designs suit it, after all. I mean, there’s a nun in a friggin miniskirt and long coat!!
I’m sorry if this is a silly question, but why are there characters present in the screencaps that can’t be seen in the streaming OP? Do we have to submit the Konami code to unlock them?
This is what I call a nice review. d(^.^d) . Bringing out a show potential in which most people would not want to watch.
Time for ED joke time gif
Shining Rick’s Pan
A story about the break of rick that bring happiness and will save the world
All about bread again, and next is Ice Cream.
YEAH, Love This anime, good thing that they’ve blogged this, I’m gonna miss the Random Curiosity’s Gundam AGE Blog.
I’ve come to the conclusion that this is “iyashikei”, that is, healing anime. That’s a genre, it turns out. Someday’s Dreamers was iyashikei. Aria was iyashikei. The point of iyashikei is to create a comfortable, comforting experience for the audience.
For a while I was expecting it to turn into an RPG-equivalent, but now I don’t think that’s going to happen. This show really is about making bread. (As one of my readers put it, “Victory through superior bread-making skills.”)
Shining Pantsu of Happiness.
All I got 5 episodes in is: pan pan pan pan oishi pan pan pan pan Ricku no pan pan pan pan, a nekomimi girl, a blow up doll in an old man’s shop and Kaguya.
I’m still waiting for the girls to raep Rick. Or more skin exposure. Or something significant to happen. Oh well this show is nice to look at, at least.
Plus dat ED and the hilarious gifs it brings.
Im just glad this anime exist. Because god forbid we’re never gona get Shining Hearts the game in the US shores. So I can at least watch the anime just like I did with Shining Wind (although Shining Wind was more shown from a different perspective than the game).
Besides, Tony Taka’s character design and art is amazing, and that is enough reason for me to watch this.
Also when I saw the elf girl I thouht that was Elwyn from Shining Tear/Wind. But apparently not. Way to make her look exactly identical, Mr Taka.
I think this show is a nice change of pace from all the seriousness other animes are showing this season. It seems like a very lighthearted and casual anime thats mostly about the characters and environment rather than the actual plot.
About the elf girl:
Show Spoiler ▼
Lol ok, well played Shining Hearts, well played.
Now I want some bread.
Honestly, the reason why I keep on watching this is because of the nun. Have anyone noticed that nuns in anime wear miniskirts more often than not?
I’m mostly watching this show because Neris is a total fox. Also, episode 4, what the hell. That island has the most draconian laws this side of communist Russia. “You spent all day pulling up something out of the ocean? HAHA NOT FUCKING LIKELY, we’re confiscating that shit!”
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed this, lol.
“You’re not allowed to keep anything you pull up from the sea, so WE’RE TAKING IT! It’s okay since WE didn’t actually pull it from the sea, YOU did!”
I’m only watching this for the bread.
I don’t care if this show has no story and is nothing more than baking bread, like most say I watch it just because is pretty, relaxing, and fun. The character design are just too pretty and easy to look at, plus if anyone have a problem about an anime with nothing but baking bread then go watch Yakitate!! Japan (TV) then you come back and tell me if anime about bread is boring.
even if slow-paced, I’m enjoying it. I find it relaxing, and now something is starting to move, so.. Looking forward for the appearance of Mistral and Maxima!
I’m in because of Tony’s designs. He is a fantastic artist. He can draw a girl to be sexy with all of her clothes on or off.
And if you replace bread with penis and baking bread with sex, this show is hilarious. The girls go on and on about how wonderful Rick’s bread is. Hahaha.