Series Synopsis
In a
Europe-esk world there exists the kingdom of Windland. Many years ago, the
country’s royal family was ambushed and has been missing ever since. From that
fateful day, Windland has been locked in a devastating war with its neighbor,
the Sablum Empire, to which it finds itself on the losing side. The last beacons
of hope and pride for the nation are the young men and women of the Knight’s
Academy.
Over the
past few days, a rumor has begun to spread that could potentially turn the tide
of war. Supposedly, a young warrior named Priecia (voiced by Yui Sakakibara) is
Windland’s long lost princess. Weather that's true remains up for debate, but
what’s undeniable is that Priecia is a genius with a sword and is sure to lead
the army to many victories.
Stoically,
Priecia prepares to enter the academy and prove herself to everyone. That instantly becomes a bit more difficult when on her first day she runs
into Hyaweh (voiced by Tetsuya Kahihara), an extremely laid-back boy that doesn’t
seem to care much about anything.
With these
polar opposite personalities, the beginning of their relationship isn’t exactly
cordial. Hyaweh continuously, but always unintentionally, gets under Priecia’s
skin. Yet, while most people
wouldn't stand a chance against her, Hyaweh shows that he is easily on par with Priecia’s
wouldn't stand a chance against her, Hyaweh shows that he is easily on par with Priecia’s
swordsmanship.
With the war
coming to a critical turning point, Priecia and Hyaweh begin to realize that
when they combine their strengths, they become a nearly unstoppable pair.
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| Priecia |
Series Positives
Alright, so
hear me out on this. I am aware that Prism
Ark is based on the erotic video game (eroge) of the same. To be more specific,
this show is based on the game Prism Ark:
Prism Heart...2. It’s based on a sequel to a game series where the original
never got an anime version of its own, but some of the characters from that game
do occasional appearances in this series.
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| Hyaweh |
Yet despite
that, after the first few episodes, I was actually quite into it. The beginning
of Prism Ark is surprisingly decent.
The action is good, the characters are united, and things appear to be on a good trajectory. So yah I was hooked.
But what was
especially shocking was that this series got me interested in a flashback
story. That’s right, from out the gate we see precisely where this show is
going to end up. Now to me this is one of the hardest storytelling methods to
get right because it literally means taking out any hint of surprise. However Prism Ark kept me wondering how it got
to that inevitable point the whole way through.
Now that I
think about it, I should probably say this here so that it doesn’t appear to
come out of nowhere later on. Prism Ark
did manage to prevent spoiling it’s how-we-got-here story. But by doing so, it
also serves as a brilliant example of exactly how to NOT F@#$ING DO IT!
Oh my crap,
there is some s@#$ for me to say. But it will have to wait because there is
something positive that I want to talk about first.
Hyaweh and Priecia
These two
are the most fun of the show; when it’s just them. Basically when anything else
is happening, any positivity they bring is nonexistent. When it’s only them
though, which to be fair does occur generously, it’s alright.
Of course I’m
referring to the romance that develops between the two. Sometimes I wish I could
break this, but I am the biggest sap for this kind of crap. In Prism Ark, Hyaweh and Priecia’s relationship isn't remarkable, or even
memorable. The things they say to each other and the things they do together are
cheesy and generic, for the most part
Besides me
being a huge chump, these two’s progression is done in such a way that
I wish more anime did. They both go through the typical phase of denial, but
that doesn’t last as long as other shows. About half way through the series,
they do confront the issue, or at least Priecia did; Hyaweh does go on to putz
about for a bit longer.
For
characters to always be wondering if the other person likes them or not can so
easily lead to frustrating high school anime bull s@#$. It’s nice to see a show
avoid that. Oh don’t get me wrong, Prism
Ark still has a ton of that high school anime bull s@#$, only for different
reasons.
Unfortunately,
even this side of the show beings to lose its luster the longer it goes on. As
this series progresses, it quickly loses itself in nonsensicalness.
Series Negatives
I wasn’t
lying when I said I liked the first few episodes of this show. They were legitimately
good. But then this series simply stopped being that. Instead it decides to stop
doing something worth watching and proceeds to do whatever the hell it wants.
We never
return to the moment shown in the first episode. We never get to see what comes
after that. That itself would be infuriating, but by the end of Prism Arc I didn’t care about anything that
was happening. I don’t know how this show did this?
This series had me, I was hooked. Now I can’t give
any less of a s@#$ about this story or these characters.
It Wants to be Everything
Prism Ark is a comedy, a romance, a magic story, a fantasy story, a sci-fi, a historical fiction, a suspense story, and f@#$ing everything else. There is
no genre that this show doesn’t try to throw in. Do you want a little bit of
slapstick; it’s here. Do you want a little bit of horror; I don’t how it did this,
but it’s here. Do you want a little bit of war drama; yes that’s here too. For
Christ sake, there’s a damn mech fight at the end; where the hell did that come
from?
Mixing and
matching genres is a good thing to do, but just having them is not the same. They
don’t fit together in the story, they switch out at random, and the order that
they are in doesn’t take into account the tone or mood. It’s a mess.
During the
school’s culture festival (because that’s what it is, don’t try calling it
something else) everyone’s being silly, having fun, and goofing off. Never mind the
fact that only a few episodes earlier, the entire student body went on a battle
training mission that turned into a for real surprise ambush that result in
many casualties, including mostly likely deaths. Yah that’s not important, it’s
in the past were moving on.
There’s a
brief scene that hints at possible genetic modifications being done which leads to the massacre
of orphans. That’s pretty heavy s@#$, but hey don’t mind that, isn’t it funny
as everyone is comically beating each other to get a set of breast armor; because
that’s more important right? Well it’s not because Hyaweh and friends also needed to find Priecia after she was almost assaulted by two drunk guys.
Pick
something!
Hell Prism Ark is based on an erotic video
game, and that’s maybe the one thing it really doesn’t do. Sure there are lots
of panty shots, and one or two nude scenes, but I’ve seen way worse.
The cluster f@#$ this show becomes is a marvel onto itself.
Final Thoughts
Prism Ark starts off as if it is going
to be something good and enjoyable. And then it quickly becomes anything but.
The two lead
characters are okay I guess, but they aren’t even close to an adequate
compensation for menagerie of bull crap that comes with them. The story stops
making sense, it’s all over the place, it can’t hold a tone to save it’s life,
there are way too many character’s (which is something I didn’t even go over),
and there's nothing to get you coming back.
So please
save yourself the trouble, and don’t even start it.
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