[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Okay that's it, when the male lead of a story is approaching the status of most mysterious character you know something good is going on. Once the series has finished I'll probably marathon it or something.

Seriously, never in my 22 years did I imagine this type of story paying attention to the mysteries surrounding a male character, normally its all about the girls and the male lead is a stand in for the viewer/gamer. This series also has the advantage of not being based off a game and thus having to follow a rigid plot structure revolving around character arcs. Looks like a low-profile sleeper hit and that's the way I like these kinds of shows, no hype going into it, a small cult that discusses the merits and ideas presented by the show and best of all, no controversy every episode or two.

You must have missed Tsukihime then. And why should a series' followers have any influence over one's opinion of a show. At all. That's crazy, IMO.

Anyway, with that said, I'm not sure why everyone has gone head-over-heels for this show, since I don't think it's done anything all that special so far. It's mildly interesting and enjoyable, but hardly ranks among the better titles this season, or the better titles in this genre. Anyway, I'm seeing a whole heap of similarities between this and Tsukihime, and so far I'd say the latter has Sola beat in pretty much every department: more enigmatic characters, more engaging mystery, more dense, layered atmosphere, better execution and direction, etc, etc. I know I'm going to offend people with this comment, but, as much as I hate to say it, it just feels like Sola is coming off as a poor man's Tsukihime to this stage.

With that said, I don't dislike this show, I just think people are getting a little over-enthusiastic about it, in my eyes.

Spoiler for ep 6:

The plot twist surrounding Aono doesn't especially surprise me, but the relation with Matsuri and the fact that Yorito somehow ties in with the Yaka's existence raises a whole heap of interesting questions. The other big unknown is Takeshi and Mayuko and exactly what and how they fit into the mystery. This ep really doesn't offer a great deal, except the suggestion that Mayuko isn't a Yaka... but I'm not sure how willing one would be to swallow that.

It's the mystery that keeps this show interesting. I wouldn't say the other components are obviously flawed, but they do feel tepid and underwhelming. I still somewhat suspect that, in the hands of a slightly better director, this could be a much better anime...