[Dextro]

Ok so I finally watched this and personally I'll go with an painfully average rating for the first episode.

Spoiler for Episode 1 including comparisons to the game:

If I hadn't already picked up a bit of the game and seen the previous works from Key I would be calling it strike one out of three and considering whether to continue watching the show.

I know that the beginning of the VN is incredibly slow and would never translate directly to the TV screen but that doesn't mean that the whole episode had to feel rushed. Visual-wise I must say that the episode was a lot better than I expected but I can understand why people who saw the preview were disappointed: the beginning was really average and the flashback in particular was painful to look at. Masato's lack of muscles still bother me but not as much as I was expecting thankfully and aside from that rough start the show is plenty easy to look at which is enough for my enjoyment. They just need to get a grip on the pacing (hint: it's ok to cut some stuff out).

On the voices side I have some complains though: while Horie Yui is an amazing actress I can't say that she's the best choice for the part. While she made a great job when Riki was narrating, she was way too "girly" during most of the conversations which was bugging me quite a bit. I'm sure I'll get used to it but it detracts a bit from the show. Another feeling I just can't seem to shake is the one that Rin's VA is on a slightly different vibe for the show compared to the game. For a few moments there I wondered if they had replaced Tamiyasu Tomoe with Kugimiya Rie. At least I suspect that J.C. Staff is using one of it's regular voice directors which would explains this strange familiarity I'm sensing between Rin's voice and some of J.C.Staffs most famous loli tsunderes.

Bottom line all I can say is that this just might turn out a good enough adaptation in the end. If you want to see that as a good bit of news because we aren't getting the Toei trash of the Kanon and Clannad adaptations or if you want to see it as bad news because it probably means that chances of a better remake will be all but vanished it's up to you.

For now I'm cautiously optimistic. It was average but at least it does seem to be moving away from being a train wreck.