This Ugly Yet Beautiful World Vol. 1: Falling Star 2004 ADV Films Official US Website Buy It Now Official Japanese Website

Gainax is twenty? I can’t believe it. Over the years, the animation studio has given fans across the world a variety of television series, theatrical films and original video animation that have become favorites. Who these days hasn’t heard the name Neon Genesis Evangelion? Who hasn’t laughed hysterically during Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? What fans are still hoping that Gunbuster finally makes its way to DVD? All these questions aside however, how to you celebrate 20 years of memorable anime?

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World marks Gainax’s celebratory 20th anniversary anime, and like many of their products, you’ll find this to be an original work, not something based on an anime (though one was released a few months after the anime began airing) or video game. Takeru Takemoto is your typical high school student, though a bit lazy in some regards, and the product of a rather troubled childhood. His mother abandoned him at an early age so he’s grown up with his aunt, uncle and cousin at their boarding house. To earn a bit of extra money, he also helps out with their courier delivery service, and that’s when he makes an astonishing discovery.

While Takeru is out on a delivery with his friend Ryou, they she a bright light which soon vanishes into the forest. The two investigate further and find a naked young girl who seems to have taken a liking to Takeru, but he also finds something else. He somehow has transformed into a strange humanoid creature, and just in time to save the girl, whom he has named Hikari, for a horrible monster. Now she’s moved into the house, she claims to be an alien, and another mysterious beauty who claims she’s a scientist, Jennifer Portman, has shown up as well. Ryou however has returned to the forest and found another girl living alone with a strange creature and soon he has her living with him, though where the two have come from is still a mystery.

In some ways, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World embodies a number of things that could be considered anime clichés, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad series. In fact, there are things that are to be expected. If it’s a romantic comedy that involves high school of college age characters, more often than not, the male lead is constantly being abused in some way, and there is a high amount of sexual energy. If it’s a mecha series, there’s always an alien menace and usually a character that is coming of age who has found himself caught in the middle. The clichés go on from there, but the tried and true formulas do in fact work despite the fact the similar themes are seen time and time again.

Takeru luckily isn’t our standard abused male, though there is one common thread that is found. Any anime that features some cute or beautiful woman (or women), or male won’t make a move, and that’s true here as well. Hikari starts with a very limited knowledge of everything, and Takeru has vowed to care for her. She’s rather pleased with this, though we do get a brief glimpse that there may be something more sinister to her than what we’ve been shown, but for the most part she’s just a gentle soul looking for help. Here we find a commonality to another ADV release, Elfen Lied, though I don’t think that in this case Hikari is going to be nearly as violent as when Nyu ever was.

Takeru’s transformation at this point hasn’t been explored fully, and instead is just a mere instance, though it will certainly play a key role as the series moves on. The strange hybrid that he becomes looks a bit like Devilman, though much better, but it does have a definite touch of Go Nagai influence. Also, throw in an agency that is investigating what may have happened in the forest for further intrigue.

The first four episodes of This Ugly Yet Beautiful World don’t necessarily explore the origins of our alien visitors so much as their attempts to merge successfully into human society. I however question one thing in this part of the story which is inherent in virtually every form of entertainment; if someone claims to be an alien, that is accepted as the gospel, no questions asked, however if one claims to be a time traveler, no one is willing to buy into it. This aside though, much of the early story for the series is filled with plenty of laughs. Takeru bringing home a strange girl who has no clothing to speak of isn’t necessarily sitting well with his aunt and uncle, though they finally decide that Hikari isn’t so bad, and she does end up getting her own wardrobe, though it looks more like something that has come from a cosplayers garage sale.

Akari on the other hand may even be a bit more mysterious. According to her, she remembers seeing the bright light and the hypothesis is that the two of them are sisters. It’s very easy to believe that she’s an alien, not because of her lack of knowledge about things in general, but she has a little friend with her. Kuon is a small, hovering creature who looks as though he may be a black mage from the Final Fantasy game series, but aside from defying gravity and turning invisible, what he is really capable of (if anything else) is yet another thing that may (or may not) be covered in later episodes.

There are a number of different anime that This Ugly Yet Beautiful World could be compared to. The character designs do look a bit like those of Evangelion, though much more improved, but in this case these are more common appearance wise. Mahoromatic, Elfen Lied, and a lengthy list of other anime are all good comparisons. The good thing though is that often times, great looking characters mean that there is some sacrifice made with the background, but not in this case. You will find that there is a good amount of detail, but not overly so as to make one thing more appealing that another. Instead, both characters and backgrounds work in union, and the absence of intense computer animation (something that really is becoming the bane of the genre) really works wonders. This Ugly Yet Beautiful World seems to pride itself on something of a cute approach to some degree, but also tries to maintain the common anime look, spiked hair and big eyes, over realism, and that’s what helps bring this fantasy to life.

One of the extras that ADV has included for this first volume is something that I really would like to see become standard in most instances. The inclusion of translation notes can help tremendously to understand some of the cultural references as well as many other things found in this series. What is common though are the clean opening and ending animations that are found here, and will more than likely appear in each volume following this one. Also included are Japanese TV spots for not only the DVD releases, but the CD’s as well. The DVD also comes with an insert containing cast interviews and a mini character guide. It’s not a bad start, and hopefully the series will continue to see good bonus features.

This first volume is a great introduction to Gainax’s anniversary series, though the real test is going to be what direction the series ends up taking in the long run. It does seem that there is something else just waiting in the wings, but we have no idea what that is, at least not just yet. This Ugly Yet Beautiful World is true in title, though I find that the “ugly” aspect has fallen into the void, instead beauty is the key, and if their history has shown us anything, this will be yet another top-notch series from Gainax that will only be outdone by their next big thing.

Episode 1 – Dawn is the Dividing Line between Light and Darkness

Takeru Takemoto is in for a big change in his life. While he and his friend Ryou are out making a courier delivery, they see a strange light, and when it lands, they find a naked girl. Soon, a strange creature attacks and Takeru soon discovers that he has a power even he was unaware of.

Episode 2 – You’re My First

Hikari has come to live with Takeru and his relatives, but now they have to figure out exactly what they are going to do with this alien, not to mention get her some clothes. Mari however seems to be a bit jealous and while Hikari stays home while everyone else is at school, another new visitor comes calling.

Episode 3 – Two in the Shade of a Tree

Ryou goes back into the forest where he and Takeru first met Hikari. It is there that he finds another mysterious girl living alone with her little friend Kuon and he tries to learn more about the two of them. Meanwhile, the two seems to be plagued by a thief that is stealing food, and Kuon finds himself in big trouble.

Episode 4 – Life From Now On

Ryou has taken Akari home, but his little sister isn’t exactly pleased about it. However, she decides that the three of them can make the best of it and the very next day, they head over to meet with Hikari and Jennifer has her own theories on what the two are.

-mike-
 

Genre: Science Fiction / comedy   Series Director: Shouji Saeki   Directed by: Episode 1 – Shouji Saeki Episode 2 – Shin Itagaki Episode 3 – Masahiko Ohtsuda Episode 4 – Toshimasa Suzuki   Written by: Episode 1 – Tomoyasu Okubo Episode 2 – Sumio Saeki Episode 3 & 4 – Shouji Saeki   Original Japanese Title: Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai   Voice Cast: Ayako Kawasumi (Hikari) Ai Shimizu (Akari) Takahiro Mizushima (Takeru Takemoto) Fujiko Takimoto (Ryou Ninomiya) Asami Sanada (Mari Nishino) Yumi Kikuchi (Amika Kurebayashi) Yumi Takada (Jennifer Portman) Manabi Mizuno (Sakurako Urashima) Atsushi Kisaichi (Shinichi Asakura) Hideki Hagiwara (Daijirou Matsumura) Dai Matsumoto (Ichirou Nishino) Tomoko Kotani (Sumie Nishino)

DVD Features: Dual Language Japanese/English English Subtitles Clean Opening Animation Clean Closing Animation Original Japanese CD TV Spots Original Japanese DVD TV Spots Translation Notes DVD Insert w/Interviews & Character Info Contains Episodes 1 - 4