Anime: Mayoiga 1pg2g

A bunch of people are fed up with the latest elections... er... state of things and decide to just leave it all behind. This group of odd misfits is destined for Nanaki Village, a place that supposedly is sort of an urban legend like the Bermuda Triangle. Is it really the utopia that everyone thinks? Or is something more sinister lurking in the shadows.

Well if you're looking for something out of the ordinary, then perhaps Mayoiga might be an option. The show probably best falls under the category of a mystery, though a rather slow one. It's full of rather unusual characters and a setting that really doesn't make sense until the very end, and even then, things don't always add up. Overall, Mayoiga is a bumpy and meandering bus ride that doesn't end up where you'd think it would.

Animation:
The animation is pretty solid in Mayoiga. The show is drawn in a relatively strong color palette with saturated colors and pretty detailed backgrounds. A lot of scenes are appropriately dark with eerie shadows and shading. There is a fair amount of ugly 3D CGI, most notably towards the end of the show. There are many characters, like way more than I can the names of. Luckily, it isn't terribly important as only half of the characters really play any significant role in the story. Character expressions are average overall, definitely not as convincing as those in Another.

There is occasional action in the show, though honestly as a mystery the main action is purposely hidden from the viewer. There is a bit of suggestive language but this is not really an ecchi show.

Sound:
The unlucky hippopotamus song. I know I usually ramble about the OP/ED, but it's all about the hippo song here- it plays near the very beginning of the show and at the very end of the show. It's an unfortunately catchy tune that serves as a metaphor for the show as a whole, as well as cementing the fact that the characters are all a tad weird to be singing along to it.

The OP is a rather fast-paced piece, considering the pacing of the show, though it has a pretty decent main melody. The ED is a more fitting cool down piece that probably will be skipped due to the endless cliffhangers in the show. The BGM is fittingly tense with lots of ambient noises that make you feel like something bad will happen at any moment. Unlike most shows these days, a central melody will continue to "haunt" you throughout the show.

The VA cast consists primarily of relatively junior . The more senior VAs have fairly minor roles; Ak Kakuma is relegated to voicing a crazed sadist who yells "execute" all the time. Ayaka Shimizu probably lucked out with one of the more normal roles, thus earning her my top performance vote. There is a ton of conversation in this show, expect to have to deal with very fast lines and a lot of background commotion.

Story:
Given that this is a mystery, I can't really go into detail with plot specifics. The atmosphere is less bloody though somewhat similar to that in Another. It is also similar to Another in the sense that Masaki always seems to know more than she lets on about, a strikingly similar parallel to Misaki. Given the sheer number of characters, I was honestly expecting this to be something along the lines of Mirai Nikki or Danganronpa- believe me it's quite different.

In of story composition, there is one central plot that drives the entire show. Despite the rather slow pacing within each episode, a lot takes place and thus skimming/skipping is strongly discouraged. The show does feature a lot of chaos; there's a lot of fake foreshadowing, making you think things are going to happen a certain way before surprising you and going a completely different direction. Nonetheless, there is a solid, continual build up to a final climax in the last episode. Yes, the mystery is explained and there is a semblance of a resolution, but it does feel rather rushed and leaves many questions/plot holes. I can't really go into the plot holes without spoiling too much, but let's just say that the show leaves a lot to the viewer's imagination.

The execution is fair overall, but the story progression is rather bumpy; they purposely engineered for all the major events to be at the beginning and end of episodes. This means that practically every single episode ends on a wild cliff hanger, yet one may doze off in the middle of the episode where everyone spends minutes talking and scratching their heads.

Character:
This is a seriously messed up group of characters, in both a good and bad way. These are people who would rather die than continue to live in society, and yet they are forced to band together to create their own community with their own rules. This is rather challenging as they all escaped reality for very different reasons; the only thing holding them together is their disgust with the world outside the village.

Honestly, that's about all the good words I can spare for this section. This show has excessively many characters for its own good. Because of this, there isn't any focus as over half a dozen of the characters get the full exposition treatment. I get that this group isn't normal, but the decision and rationale (or lack thereof) shown throughout the show is appalling. Our main protagonist Mitsumune is supposedly sixteen, yet behaves with the mental age of a preteen. I guess I should be happy that the story even bothered to explain why some of the characters are here, but really some of their reasons are just so stupid that perhaps it really is better that they aren't part of the greater society.

Pitiful character interactions aside, the character development as a whole is rough. I guess the entire premise revolves around the characters being dynamic, but it feels very artificial, especially when things are rushed near the end of the show. Don't expect much in the form of romance in the show as well.

Value:
This is a difficult show to review. There are definitely some good elements in the show, and if you're anything like me, you'll finish the show in a jiffy due to the cliffhangers. However, despite the entertainment value, the story lacks serious polish and there is just too much to hate with the cast of characters. Those looking for a serious mystery or horror will probably find this show unfulfilling. Those looking for strong characters or relationships likewise won't find much here. Ultimately, it seems what's really lost in this show is the target audience.

2nd favorite anime this season. 9/10. Though there were only about 10 characters out of the thirty that you know a decent amount about by the end. Those 10-ish being the main and side characters this page shows under cast.
I think the strongest part is that the plot and the plot development is very interesting and also interesting in the way that it's very hard to predict what's going to happen next, making it pretty suspenseful as well. There's also some character types you probably hardly ever see, though you probably won't notice till the end.
This anime is not perfect, though. I was particularly annoyed by cliffhangers and a few annoying characters. Also there were many, many characters that I wanted to see character development for that we got almost none of.
This anime is plot heavy. Avoid as many spoilers as possible.

Also, Masaki is best girl.
fite me m8