Anime Digest
The anime revolves around a boy Ryuhei who lives in Shibuya, Japan. As a child who was the younger sibling in his family, like following the normal sibling dynamic he looked up to his elder brother in every way. All was good until Ryuhei witnessed his brother perish in a seemingly mysterious incident at a young age. Finally reaching high school Ryuhei shows barely any signs of the trauma that haunts his past. He spends his time investing in kickboxing an activity he sorely enjoys. One fine day as usual for him Ryuhei goes kickboxing and is attacked y a creature who called himself Tris. Following this freak incident, Ryuhei returns home but is now taunted with strange dreams in his sleep.
The Feel-Good Part
If there is a compilation of all the animes with interesting first episodes made, Cide traumerie will make it to that list. Very hooking plot set upright in the first episode. We have a high school boy who has to fight monsters and this boy also has a dark past. What could get better than this? There are a few questions that arise in the first episode itself that make the anime very interesting. The character introduction is distinct. The animation is better compared to the anime the Duke of Death and his Maid. Battle scenes are smooth and the visuals are attractive.
The Disappointing Factor
The very generic plot, as much buzz it creates for viewers in the first episode does not live up to the hype. All the side characters are formulaic, placed strategically as plot props. The main character too is very commonly found with similar convictions and backstory in other shounen anime. So as a viewer there is nothing new this anime can provide except for maybe loads and loads of jargon. The plot being generic is the reason why the writers made it so overriding with different tropes to make it interesting. Falls flat on its face in the process.
In-Depth Analysis
Spooky monsters from other dimensions come into the human world and it is the job of the Knocker-ups to defeat them. Yes, people who are chosen to fight the monsters are called Knocker -ups in this anime. The term is noted for impregnating someone in English, not sure how that slipped out of a multimedia franchise’s mind. The opening song is a jazzy pop song, fun to listen to. The story is jumbled and does not make any attempt at answering questions that arise of the plot. The studio seems to try and make up for it through CGI and even then, it’s sub-par at best. None of the characters introduced have any identifiable traits. Unanswered questions say for example how are things only visible to Ryuhei as a knocker -up visible to laymen in the car, the plot does not answer. This anime seems like a long advertisement for the game that is to follow soon after this based on the same universe.
Star Power
Azakami Youhei is the voice actor for Ryuhei in the animation series. He has previously lent his voice to One piece side characters. Yuki Aoi is also another voice actor that has worked in Boku no hero Academia as Tsuyu in a supporting role.
Overall Opinion
This anime is very clear about its objective in the first episode. Then it’s just losing the plotline and figuring out what it wants as it goes. The characters don’t do much justice either. The main character being a doofus and naïve at the same time fighting the monsters from the other dimension is a storyline that is run to the ground in shounen anime. You would need an exemplary character to go with something as generic as this plot to make it stick for the viewers. This is what Cide Traumerie fails to do in the span of its episodes aired. It would be better to skip it as this is just a preview sort of visuals for players of the game being released right after.
