The moment when a person finds something that completely overpasses his or her expectations is arguably one of the best moments of his or her life. That it what happened with Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei and myself. Being a series produced by Madhouse, adapted from the actual novel of the same name and directed by one of the best directors out there in the anime industry, Masaaki Yuasa, who has also directed the near-perfect works Kaiba, Nekojiru-sou and Ping Pong the Animation, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is an anime series that might never get out of my favorite-anime slot.
The strongest point of Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is definitely its spectacular writing and directing. The time resets that happen throughout the anime may be a bit weird at first, but they are a very imaginative and great way to flesh out our different characters that appear in its length, and also is an awesome way for the character development of our main character, Watashi. Exploring all kinds of different clubs in his college in parallel dimensions, Watashi and his character development is a very significant point for the conclusion of the anime. Our different cast of supporting and side characters are not disappointing, as they all help Watashi develop through different situations. That said, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is strictly character-driven and is episodic, with the pattern changing in the last few episodes, in order for it to be wrapped up perfectly.
There are more advantages about this series though. Everything that I mentioned is accompanied with well-thought dialogues and monologues, which are incredibly fast, and can turn someone off at first. However, as I watched more and more episodes, I understood that the way the narration is done is magnificent. Definitely one of the series' strongest points.
Except of all the things I presented above, the visuals are perfect as well. Colourful backgrounds that fit the mood of each scene, a different-from-usual artline which is graphic, gritty and symbolic, and of course, the realism that both the art and the animation gives off. I can not understand why some people say that the visuals' section is poor, when Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei actually has some of the best visuals out there. The soundtrack is something that is worth mentioning as well. The opening theme is really good and fits the series, the ending is pretty much epic, and the OST is worth every penny. The thing is, when I finished watching this series, the first thing I did was downloading the OST.
Overall, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei is one of the best anime series out there. The unorthodox, artsy, yet very interesting style, the amazing writing and directing, the gritty visuals, the great-to-the-ear sound section and the enjoyment I got out of it make me consider it a piece of art and make me realize that with difficulty will I find something of the same value. I am really glad I watched this series, which is gravely underrated, and would recommend it to you all. In an era full of generic and cliche anime series, Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei came out and succeeded in creating a solid result, while being significantly different.
Works similar to Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei:
Ping Pong the Animation
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
Kuuchuu Buranko
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