[Anime Review] Episode 16: September 12-17
Synopsis
Naoto is convinced that the killer is still out there, and is willing to take drastic steps to find the truth. But are these steps too far? And what's the secret that Naoto's hiding?
Art/Animation
• The facial animation in this episode seems a bit off to me. There's far too much staring off into space, and blank looks.
• I loved the symbolism of Naoto stepping into the shadows, given what comes later.
• Looks like my idea of Shadows having reverse coloring is wrong, because Shadow Naoto's coloring is the same as normal.
Voices
• Shadow Naoto - I think Shadow Naoto's voice is even more gender ambiguous than Naoto's.
Music
• Nothing this time
Extras
• Ice pops!
• Great integrating of more of Kanji's social link.
• Dai Shocker! I mean, uh... sorry, Kamen Rider on the mind
• w00t! Genbu! The 4 gods and Kohryu have always been some of my favorites.
Changes from the game
• I know I've touched on this before, but Margaret didn't have nearly as big of a role in the game as in the anime, but she's taking a lot of Igor's role in explaining things. This is because they're using Igor's voice clips from the game, and have no way to re-record them, since he's passed away.
• Wow, they actually made use of Aika... I'm shocked. Although I think getting the information from Adachi worked better.
• Okay, the "age the characters" thing is drastically different from the game. But it makes things interesting.
Final Thoughts
After the last episode, this was a welcome improvement. The change to Naoto's Shadow's abilities is actually quite interesting, and gives a new twist to the fight. The next episode will obviously be the rest of the fight (since it left off mid-battle), as well as probably the aftermath. I'm still expecting 18 to be the School Festival.