Anime Review: Zephyr

I have found when watching anime that sometimes the most unassuming titles end up being the most impressive. Last fall, I loved Ori Twintails despite the fact that no one expected anything at all from it. Of course, most people don't like it as much as I do, so maybe I'm just a bit weird, but whatever. But last fall, there was an anime even more obscure than Twintails, a little-known one-episode OVA by the name of Zephyr. The thing that makes Zephyr interesting is how difficult it is to find online. Apparently it was a special made for some type of special event, and even months after it came out on DVD, there was nowhere online to stream it, at least as far as I could find using multiple search engines, multiple web browsers, and downloading a couple files I really wish I had not. So imagine my joy last night when I finally found it in all its glory. Not just the song, but the whole thing. One problem, though. No subtitles. Well, Japanese subtitles, so you turn them on. But I don't read Japanese, nor speak it. So you're probably thinking, oh, I just go wait for it to get actually subbed. Nope. That's not what I did. I decided to watch it without the subtitles, watch it raw, and try to follow along the best I could. And, well, it was an experience. So yes, I am reviewing an anime where I did not know what the characters were saying 90% of the time. Well, as one of my favorite characters always said, throw logic out the window and do the impossible. So, let's move on to the story. First question you might ask is what is the story here, and, well, I'm not entirely sure myself. Well, it is a music anime, that I'm pretty sure of. It's about these four band members. What sets the story apart, though, is a couple years before the story takes place, there is a great war, and that caused a lot of damage, and the band stopped playing together. We see the backstories of some of the characters here, and what they lost, but also see them come back together and play a song at the end. While it's hard for me to judge the story beyond just the premise, what I saw here I liked. The anime seems to be less about the music itself, and more about the band members and what they have gone through, with the music just being a link that ties them together. I really think a story like this could do well as a full series, really fleshing out the characters and what they went through in the war, and then perhaps using music to show how they cope, or maybe even the power their music has to influence others. So yeah, the story is certainly much more than just cute boys doing cute music things, and that I really appreciate. Animation wise, the show did look good most of the time. Although, for some reason, they end up switching to 3D for the song at the end, which really felt odd and jarring, and I didn't like it, and I wish they didn't, and, like, this isn't show by rocket. It's trying to be serious, I think. Music wise, well, it's a music anime, so you hope the music is good, and overall, I liked it. The background music was good, it was able to accent the moods the show was trying to convey, especially in the buildup with the band playing together again, and I really felt the emotions that they were going through. The song at the end was pretty cool too, the voice acting I'd also have to compliment, there were a lot of voice actors I had heard before, like Yuki Kaji for one, and most of the others I think I have heard elsewhere, and they all did a good job of conveying the characters, the emotions, the feelings, and I was able to follow along with what they And well, that's pretty much it, I'd like to say more about this show, but I can't really do that. Still, it was an interesting experience trying to follow along with the story, and when it does get subbed, I will watch it again, and if they make a full series or not, I will be very, very happy. So moving on to my final score, which is going to be a bit different because of, yeah, it's like story and character that I don't think I can score right now, but just going with animation and sound, I give this show a 6.75 out of 10, and a rating of worth checking out. If I ever do watch this and understand what's going on, then I will come back and change my score, because that's how a reviewer should do it, if I'm not lazy. We'll see. As for some recommendations, let's go with number 6. It's a dystopia story with some shounen eye thrown in, because why not? It's not the greatest, but if you got excited about watching Zephyr, I get the feeling you might like number 6 as well. If you want something more music-oriented, I can't really think of anything I'd recommend, like there's K-On!, but that's boring, Baka Matsu Rock is over the top, but like no substance, there's Show by Rock, which is basically turning into a slice of life with lots of pretty colors, so yeah, I can't recommend that either. Instead of music though, let's go with Dead Leaves. It's a one hour anime movie, and it is weird. Watching Dead Leaves subbed made about as much sense as watching Zephyr raw, so go with that. And that concludes this very short review. Thank you very much for watching, and if you find this show subbed, please let me know in the comments, and I will love you forever, but yeah, talk to you later.