Decent, has its flaws, but also has potential.

chacham

Pros: Story progression, some characters are not two-dimensional and go through development, hero's thinking is usually spelled out, drawn graphics are decent, four heroes match the four temperaments well

Meh: fancy mobs and complex spells are cgi, a lot of two-dimensional characters, some decisions make no sense, convenient plots

Cons: drawn graphics and cgi mixed together look terrible. some unnecessary light cussing, certain parts of the story just make no sense.

I have mixed feeling about this one, yet for some reason, i like it overall. Out of 10, the graphics get a 7, the cgi maybe 5, the story itself 6 or 7, the story progression though gets 7 or 8, character development 7, magic detail 7.5. Overall 7 seems to low, 8 is a little high, i'd probably give this 7.75 stars if possible. It has potential.

This anime can't just be judged by the story, this has to be broken down further. First, there's the history of the story, which is mostly missing, except for the little brought up here and there for flashbacks and explanations. This is okay, but nothing special by a long shot. The lack of history makes it hard to get into.

The story itself is a regular hero myth with a twist, that everyone hates one of the 4 heroes. The problem is, instead of the heroes working together in a "complicated" way, one of the 4 splits off and the story follows him, using the other heroes as nothing special. So, it's just a regular persecuted hero story. Meh.

The story has progression though, and that is where it gets pretty interesting. The hero has a lot of reactions with a lot of people, they develop over time together with his personal development, making the story progression pretty good. It's not perfect, but its above average. This is the part that has a lot of potential.

The graphics are decent but nothing special, but complicated scenes go cgi. The cgi is poor. Well, had the whole anime used the cgi, i guess it would be maybe okay, but mixed in with the drawn parts make it pretty bad. The cgi is simple and smooth, giving it a cheap look.

I binge watched all 25 episodes because it kept me wanting to see more. I feel this has a lot of potential, and i'm kind of disappointed it came up short of my expectations. Without having expectations, it does not seem to disappoint.

I watched in Japanese with subtitles, and i thought the voice acting was pretty good. Once or twice i heard the English and it sounded flat. As if they were reading from a script without caring about the story itself. This is based on a few seconds, so ymmv.

For those who know the four temperaments, the four heroes (as usual) are the four temperaments, and are easily spotted in the first scene with them. The NT is a confident know-it-all, the SP is a shallow show-off, the NF understands the world but is unsure of himself, the SJ is an underappreciated proletarian.

Their weapons work out too, as the SP gets s spear to attack, the SJ a shield to protect, the NF has arrows to shoot from afar, all that is standard. The NT gets a sword, which is weird. It might represent his ability to "cut through" arguments, but is a bad weapon for an NT who excel at strategy, not tactics. The story doesn't show him fight much, probably for that very reason.

The interesting part is the main hero is the SJ (hence the title), and being alone, he needs help with offense while remaining mostly defense. This part is absolutely fascinating, and although i didn't think they did a great job, they did pretty well. Also, he does well at first because he does SJ things, business, accepting thew laws as-is, caring about appreciation, and recognizing authority. He comes off like a jerk sometimes, but remembering he is an SJ puts it somewhat in perspective. Impressive.

Of course, he himself gets three supporters, finishing his personal group of the four types. Though that is not as clear.

But that's not all. There is a church which uses the number 3, and they fight the devil which ought to be number 4. Anyone familiar with Jung's writings on the early church ought to get some satisfaction in the sheer beauty of it.

Overall, i'd say this is a decent anime with a lot of potential, and although the story is bland, the progression makes it interesting enough to want to watch. They also got a lot of things right, even if only by accident. I do not think you will go wrong with this one.

score 8/10

chacham 5 July 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4977799/