Anime Hajime Review: Fractale

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fractale. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

In the far distant future, the world is like a perfect utopia. Manual labor is a relic of the past. Major diseases have been wiped out. No one is content with the idea of being tied to a single location. For a thousand years, mankind has lived under the veil of a virtual reality system known as Fractale. The system’s main purpose is to ensure the prosperity of humanity.

Living in his tiny home on the coast of a small island is a boy named Clain Necran (voiced by Yu Kobayashi). Clain’s a quiet lad who finds great enjoyment out of the old technology of the 21st century. Up to this point, he has been happy with living a peaceful existence. Then one day he witnesses a most unusual sight.

A girl named Phryne (voiced by Minami Tsuda) is being chased by a rather eccentric trio. Drawn by her beauty, Clain offers his help. Though grateful, Phryne disappears into the night without a word. But before leaving, she leaves Clain a mysterious pendant.

Upon examination, Clain realizes the trinket is storing a massive amount of digital data. Despite being an unfamiliar strand of code, he is able to activate the pendant. To his surprise, a holographic avatar of a ten-year-old girl appears.  Unlike any other virtual being, Clain is able to physically touch her.

The girl introduces herself as Nessa (voiced by Kana Hanazawa). Full of untapped excitement, she finds great joy with the world around her like a new born baby. Overwhelmed by her child-like nature, Clain is unsure of what to do. He decides the best course of action would be to return Nessa to her rightful owner. This fateful decision will lead Clain on a journey that will discover the truth of the Fractale system.

Clain

Series Positives

Fractale is good…like really good.

Phryne

Are there other anime like this one; perhaps. It doesn’t change the fact this show is just overflowing with creativity and uniqueness. The series has an unspeakable amount of heart and you’ll be hard pressed not to notice it. Looking back, the sheer size of Fractale is mind boggling when you consider how short it is. A lot goes on between beginning and end.

Storytelling

I enjoy simple premises because they are the catalyst for engaging and complex storylines. Fractale nails this. Yet, where the show shined wasn’t so much in the story, but how the story got told.

Nessa

Recall the expression “show, don’t tell”? This isn’t easy to do, but when done right it raises the level of quality of a story. Fractale is an example of when it's done right.

We're given no introductory information. We're just thrown into this world. Things weren’t right. Things were different. This became evident within the first five minutes. The pieces came together as characters interacted with the people around them. The series didn’t tell us what was going on.  We made the assessment for ourselves.

Clain

On the surface, might be Clain an average boy. No special abilities or powers. He’s out of his element and out of his league. And you know what; you’re right.

There was nothing all that special about Clain. But that was why I liked him so much. He had no business in this fight. But due to fate, he found himself at the center of it all.

When placed into a situation like this, a character often follows one of two paths:

1) They become a total wimp and give up at the first sign of conflict.

2) They step up to the challenge, knowing full well there’s a high likelihood that they will fail

Clain didn’t do either of these and seemed to follow his own path. Though he wanted nothing to do with what was going on, he recognized he wasn’t an outside observer. He does end up choosing a side, but it’s for his own reasons.

Excellent Use of Humor

It's beginning to get ridiculous how many times I feel I need to mention how humor is often misused in anime. This time we have an example of when it's used the correct way. Is Fractale a comedy? Not at all, but you may mistake it to be one after watching the first few episodes.

The show started off light-hearted and charming. There was no real tension or suspense and everything was peaceful. While these beginning moments got laughs, they had another purpose.

This is how it went for me. I was sitting at my table, enjoying the story and getting to know the characters. Everything was relaxing. A little time went by...okay now there was this rebel group doing their thing; that was cool. Oh look at all these silly people, aren’t they nice.

Then...HOLY S#$@ violence.

The show used its humor to build up the characters. It gave them meaning and purpose in a short amount of time. Then when it hit the fan, it hit it hard; it resonated. This story was no joke. It's a serious tale that could see a lot of people die.

Every time the series had humor it never felt out of place. The show even commented on it. Everyone was joking around before a battle and someone asked, “How are they able to do that? Aren’t they scared?” The response summed it all up, “They joke because they’re scared.”

Series Negatives

Fractale did a lot of things way right. At first, the only flaws of the show worth mentioning were general nitpicks. Too bad the series couldn't save it from itself.

The Ending a.k.a. “That’s It?” *Possible Spoilers*

The journey is the destination. I have mixed feelings about this saying. True it's nice to have fun along the way and gain experiences from that. Yet we're all still looking forward to where we're going. So it means jack when the end negates everything we’ve come to learn up to that point.

The show built itself up so much that by the end we were expecting nothing less than a satisfying conclusion. The problem was the story had no clue how to tie up all the loose ends that it had. And it still wanted to do more. What we got was an ending that was anti-climactic, confusing and a big disappointment.

It was incomplete. Last minute contradictions ruined an otherwise great series. It was if everything that had happened got rendered meaningless. This made it all the more heartbreaking because the whole reason why I liked Fractale was because it had meaning. Things were worth a damn.

The show needed to be at least five episodes longer so that it could finish the brilliant story that it was.

Final Thoughts

Fractale is an outstanding experience. I think that’s an appropriate word for this show. It was an experience.

Everything fit so well. The story was fun. The characters were relatable. The art style made you feel as though you were watching a movie straight out of Studio Ghibli.

Yes, the ending left a lot to be desired and it will push many people away because of it. That being the aid, Fractale remains a great anime and one that is worth your time.

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