Arata Kangatari

[Ryu]

Title: Arata: The Legend
Japanese: アラタカンガタリ ～革神語～
Date aired: 8/4/2013 (TV series, 12 episodes)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Directed by: Kenji Yasuda and Woo Hyun Park
Original creator: Yuu Watase
Music by: Kou Otani
Studio: Satelight and JM Animation
Network: TV Tokyo
Opening theme: "GENESIS ARIA" by Sphere
Ending theme: "The Misfit Go" by OLDCODEX
Main Cast: Arata Hinohara (日ノ原 革) voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto
Arata (アラタ) voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
Kotoha (コトハ) voiced by Ayahi Takagaki
Kanate (カナテ) voiced by Junko Minagawa
Masato Kadowaki (門脇 将人) voiced by Ryohei Kimura
Twelve Shinsho: Kannagi (カンナギ) voiced by Yuki Ono
Akachi (アカチ) voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki
Yorunami (ヨルナミ) voiced by Souishirou Hoshi
Supporting cast: Makari (マカリ)
Princess Kikuri (キクリ〈秘女王〉)
Suguru Nishijima (西島 優)
Arata's mom (革の母)
Nao Hinohara (日ノ原 仍)
TV series PV: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/arata/story/index.html#pv
Official website: http://arata-anime.com/

Synopsis: Every 30 years, a new princess is chosen from the Hime family to serve the Hayagami. The time has come again, but over these past years, records state not a single female has been born, save for one, the 15-year-old Arata. The only problem is, Arata is actually a male! Forced to disguise himself and take the place of the princess candidate until a formal one can be found, he attends the festival only to witness the current princess, Kokuri-hime, murdered, and his own life is forfeit as well, by the hands of the princess’ personal guard, the 12 Shinshou. As he runs for his life, Kannagi of the 12 convinces everyone that Arata is the one who has murdered the princess instead, and now everyone in the Imperial Court is after his head!

Necropinion: I though this would be another reverse harem like Fushigi Yugi or Ayashi no Ceres but after watching the first episode apparently it's not the case here, i hope it doesn't focus too much on yaoi or bishonen stuff telling by the credit scenes now that its protagonists are guys (one crossdressed like FY's Nuriko did)... instead of the typical heroines of Yuu Watase's previous mangas ¬¬ compared to them this new series doesn't look that interesting, but i trust that next eps will get better as happened with the two series mentioned ^^ Ex: medium - PS 7/10

 

[AccipiterF1]

First episode felt rushed, though I guess getting through the tedious bullied school life stuff quickly was a bonus of that. I wonder how much focus there will be for the Japan side stuff, or if it will all be in the magical world. If there isn't any, then the whole world-swap premise will have been completely unnecessary to what was already an interesting fantasy plot.

 

[Norren]

Hurray!

I've been waiting for this one.

Finally got to watch it yesterday.

QUOTE (AccipiterF1 @ Apr 12 2013, 10:43 AM)First episode felt rushed, though I guess getting through the tedious bullied school life stuff quickly was a bonus of that. I wonder how much focus there will be for the Japan side stuff, or if it will all be in the magical world. If there isn't any, then the whole world-swap premise will have been completely unnecessary to what was already an interesting fantasy plot.

I'll try to tease without spoiling: The focus of the story is mostly on Hinohara Arata, but Arata gets some screen time and a few developments. The Bullying is actually a fairly significant detail in more ways than one. There also seems to be some sort of very subtle relationship between the two worlds that gets teased at occasionally, which- if Watase Yuu stays true to her pattern- will become more obvious the closer to the (Story's finale/destruction of the world).

 

[Ryu]

QUOTE (Norren @ Apr 12 2013, 06:07 PM)Hurray!   I've been waiting for this one.   Finally got to watch it yesterday. 

I'll try to tease without spoiling: The focus of the story is mostly on Hinohara Arata, but Arata gets some screen time and a few developments.yup this is similar to Watase's magnum opus Fushigi Yuugi where most of the story happens in the mystic world, contrary to the series Hataraku Maou-sama from this season too (which I hope to see more episodes about Ente Isla as well)... good to see ep.2 got more interesting while Hinohara (to differentiate him from the other Arata) was sentenced in a hellish prison but can contact him at times, same with Kikuri-hime who most likely will teach him how to unleash the sword power and many other stuff he doesn't understand yet (and maybe trust her)

 

[Ryu]

well this Gatoya arc wasn't as good as the first two episodes but ended alright with Hinohara awakening his Kamui again, releasing warden Tsutsuga from that cursed Hayagami of Judgement Saniwa into the now revealed Sword of Origins... too bad that hottie Osome didn't escape with him from prison in search for Kikuri-hime to the capital, by the preview I guess this series will be highlighted on his adventures through the other world just like in Watase's classic

 

[Norren]

Hmm. Got caught up on this one just now.

I feel like they skipped something, but it's been so long since I read the early part of the story it could just be my memory flaking out... even if not, the whole show feels rushed and cheap. Kind of disappointed. Is it just the Horrible subs sub or is this show 480p up-sample?

 

[Ryu]

I see -.- now makes sense why this adaptation feels half-assed at times compared to the other two based of Watase's mangas, overall both are slow paced yet more appealing and better developed so at this pace I guess they'll end it in 12-13 eps... well not much happened in ep.5 other that Kanate letting Ginchi leave with his clan and Akechi betrays Kannagi for the throne, massacring his men in the process also comedic scenes like Hinohara's family with the other Arata and muru stuff

 

[Ryu]

so after half of this series and a break of 2 weeks finally here is a good episode that made me look forward to it again, I'm a bit surprised that Kannagi joined Hinohara to recover his hayagami Himura with his help which'll be interesting... also that one of mysterious Six Sho reveals himself and brought Kadowaki from another world in his place to awake Orochi, what I'm liking about this story are its characters' past and awkward moments like Hinohara's mom finding Arata

 

[Kit-Tsukasa]

Arata Kangatari is based off a manga by Yuu Watase, a mangaka famous for her shoujo works and in particular, Ceres and Fushigi Yuugi. Arata Kangatari, is an action, fantasy shounen work that follows Arata Hinohara (known as Hinohara going forward) in modern Japan who is a high school student and the primary target for bullying. After being betrayed by his only friend, he is magically swapped with the Arata of another world. In this world, humans and gods co-exist with the Hime-ou (or Princess Kikuri) keeping in check the balances and abuses of power. However, Hinohara is thrown into the world at a time where Arata is accused of murdering Kikuri. Now Hinohara must fight to survive while living on the run if he wishes to return home. Arata Kangatari premiered during the Spring 2013 anime season and was simulcasted by CrunchyRoll.

Arata Kangatari in simple terms is a show about trust and betrayal. It's often a very good theme to use despite not being an original concept but the execution is key. Arata Kanagatari has a semi-interesting fantasy setting but a terrible script. The series has many transition problems early on by showing events that happen in the future prior to explaining them. The other issue this series has is the switching back and forth of the two worlds. With two heroes in two different worlds, the series needs a delicate balance of both. Unfortunately, Arata Kangatari becomes heavily concentrated on the adventures of Hinohara in the fantasy setting and effectively tossing aside how Arata manages in other world. Of course, there are a few episodes dedicated to Arata but they didn't seem to add any value to the story. Speaking of character development or even characters in general, it's pretty atrocious in this series. We learn little to nothing about each of the characters in the show and when we do, the same ideas are recycled over and over again with no conclusion. It effectively leads us to asking, why don't they just spit it out? This is particularly true for Kadowaki as he repeatedly remembers that race against Hinohara. As a result, shallow characters lead to cheap motives, meaning whiny characters. Conclusion wise, it's a cheap way to tease a potential sequel by revealing some of the low hanging fruits of this series (e.g. "Emisu")

Art is average with character designs on the stale side. Animation is below average coming from Satelight, especially when you look at AKB0048 and Fairy Tail. It's better than Muv-Luv Alternative -Total Eclipse-, but not much better given the heavy recycling.

OP is okay but not great coming from sphere. I did get a bit of Sousei no Aquarion like feeling out of it, though it did have "sousei" in the song name. ED1 is not that memorable. ED2 is a little more but still weak compared to many other songs this season. Background music is average as are sound effects. Seiyuu is above average. Lot of good emotion and drama but to some extent, it became more like typical shounen titles of guys yelling at each other over something.

Enjoyment? Started off really bad. The show did get better in some aspects but still failed to hold my attention in many regards. The show did not leave the same impact as Ceres and Fushigi Yuugi, especially the latter, which shares many themes with Arata Kangatari. Granted that Arata Kangatari received the short end of the stick with only 12 episodes when it is now Yuu Watase's longest running title, it does not change the fact that the show skimped on the material. Twelve Kingdoms is another show I easily recommend over this.

Overall, it's hard to recommend this show. It certainly shows promise but in the 12 episodes it has, it's nothing noteworthy. Maybe if it receives a proper sequel(s) then it may be of value but until that day this series will remain as nothing but a generic shounen fantasy title.

Preliminary Score: 4/10
Final Score: 4/10

 

[Ryu]

it's sad but is true that this adaptation turned out below average as mentioned in previous posts and in case S2 is made, I'll give it a chance if Studio Pierrot is in charge like they did with the other two series based from Watase's mangas...

Fushigi Yuugi (TV series 52 episodes) spring 1995 to winter 1996 - 8/10
Ayashi no Ceres (TV series 24 episodes) spring to summer 2000 - 7/10
Zettai Kareshi (live-action drama 11 long eps + special) spring 2008 - 6/10
Arata Kangatari (TV series 12 episodes) spring 2013 - 5/10

FY 1st OVA series (3 episodes) fall 1996 - 5/10
FY 2nd OVA series (6 episodes) spring 1997 to summer 1998 - 7/10
FY Eikoden (3rd OVA series 4 episodes) fall 2001 to spring 2002 - 6/10
Fushigi Yuugi OVA series (13 episodes) average final score - 6/10