Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Review - 92,5/100
One thing I love about watching anime is that sometimes, there are these series that come from absolutely nowhere and blow you away. Tokyo Magnitude is one of those series. It’s based on a “what-if” scenario: what if modern-day Tokyo were to be hit by a massive earthquake? This actually is a very likely scenario: it turns out that there is a 70% chance that Tokyo will be hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 in the next 30 years.
Tokyo Magnitude shows that even in the city that is probably the most well-prepared city for an earthquake, it would still be plunged into chaos if an major earthquake actually were to take place. Tons of people would end up either dead or injured, even more people would lose their homes. The creators end up portraying this sense of chaos and despair incredibly well.
The series follows three people in particular: two siblings Mirai and Yuki and an adult called Mari, however that doesn’t stop the creators from showing how everyone else is doing. They make really well use of their budget to create an identity for every single passer-by: they take care in emphasizing that every single person in the background was also just a regular person who also was hit by the earthquake, who also may or may not have lost someone, or might be separated from his or her loved ones. This series really managed to create a setting that feels real, in which just about everything is filled with details that make the setting come alive. Figuratively, of course.
The first half of the series is mainly this, while the second half, in which the chaos tones down a bit, changes the direction of the setting in a character-study of the lead characters. I’m not going to spoil exactly what happens, but both halves are equally bittersweet. You do need to know that the second half does this at the sacrifice of a bit of realism, though. The second half is much quieter in comparison to the chaotic first half, but that really allows the plot to be very subtly developed, and the emotions to sink in.
The biggest flaw of this series is a little disclaimer at the start of each episode, which claims that this series is as realistic as possible. While this series is indeed very realistic (more realistic than like, 98% of all other anime out there), there are points that could not have happened in real life. Besides, it’s a rather pretentious disclaimer anyway: instead of telling us it’s realistic, we’d rather like to be able to judge ourselves.
Nevertheless, at this point Tokyo Magnitude has the potential to remain a classic in anime. It’s believable, depressing, but also uplifting, fresh and inspired. There’s been a lot of discussion going on whether or not this series took the right turns along the way, but personally for me, it has been an amazing series. Most people who know this blog will know that I’m already a big fan of the Noitamina timeslot. Aside from Honey and Clover, I’ve seen every single show that came out of it, and Tokyo Magnitude has become my favourite series out of all of them.
| Storytelling: | 9/10 |
| Characters: | 9/10 |
| Production-Values: | 9/10 |
| Setting: | 10/10 |
even though I did displeases most part of the storytelling, but I would say I agree with this score
personally I would give the storytelling 8/7 instead of 9, since you rarely give 8/7 for good series I guess 9 work as well
Comment by reverse — September 18, 2009 @ 12:18
A bit let down by the ending, because, in the end, it’s series about the death (and life, I guess) of one person. It’s all very well done and executed, and you do feel sad, but this kind of melodrama is not really spot on when it comes to lasting impression… But it’s nice that there’s stuff about earthquakes and the like. It’s just that, in terms of personal relationships, it doesn’t teach you nothing…
Not my cup of tea, but it’s well done and is entertaining, so I guess it’s ok.
Comment by Tiago Sá — September 18, 2009 @ 12:29
Oh-oh! I would rather praise Psgels because he can do reviews without spoiling anything. It was not like this once upon a time when i first started reading this blog. That time i avoided reading anything unless i watched all of the episodes reviewed. Kudos to you PsGels.
This evening i’ll watch the last episode and write down my last impressions. See ya!
Comment by Solaris — September 18, 2009 @ 14:24
Incredible anime, especially in the second part, in my opinion. In my opinion it could have used some more subtlety in the end of episode 10, and the robot otaku didn’t add anything to the anime, but then again it managed to pack a punch anyways, and it felt genuine (even if not realistic) until the very end. I usually don’t like Bones anime (I hated the first FMA, and I never got to finish Eureka 7, even though I got to episode 37 or something. The cheese!), but when they come up with something good, they completely blow me away. Darker than Black II in 21 more days! Don’t let me down Bones!
Comment by Perrin4869 — September 18, 2009 @ 14:59
Yeah, Darker than Black is the piece, but Soul Eater was also pretty awesome, even if the storyline was poor after they deviated from the manga.
Comment by Tiago Sá — September 18, 2009 @ 15:56
You’re right about the disclaimer, I think it takes away from the show quite a bit because instead of enjoying the show, I think a lot of people, me included, ended up being distracted by pointing out things that aren’t realistic.
Overall though, great show! I was surprised that it was that good because when I first heard the premise I didn’t really think much of it. I’m glad I read your reviews for the first few episodes and watched this show.
Comment by supertauren — September 18, 2009 @ 16:12
Well they didn’t screw up the ending. I was glad. Thjis was easily one of the best series of the year. Not the best, but i cannot yet figure it why. Maybe the second part of the anime turned out just too melodramatic for my taste, but i woulkdn’t complain that muc about it. The show had good chars and a stron storytelling. The ending was satisfying too. Well let’s move to the next one. Bye bye Mirai see you.
Comment by Solaris — September 18, 2009 @ 21:32
Yeah, this is easily on of my favorite new shows of the year. I guess I never minded the whole Sixth Sense scenario because I usually enjoy the emotional impact of anime the most in shows. And this one had a helluvan impact. I was a little hesitant to get into this at first, but the reviews here seriously got me hooked - thanks! Gonna miss marking Tokyo Magnitude every Thursday on my calendar…
Comment by Odderkid — September 18, 2009 @ 22:54
Great ending and great show overall. My second favorite this year after Clannad After Story.
But seriously, go watch Honey & Clover. The second season is among the best dramatic shows ever.
Comment by Steelman — September 18, 2009 @ 23:29
I think most are misunderstanding the disclaimer.
they nowhere say it’s realistic. they say they are “striving for a sense of realism, however circumstances may be different to the real thing”
It’s fiction.. not a docu ;)
Personally i find this show the best from 2009 so far and i’d rate it 10/10
Comment by Sywen — September 18, 2009 @ 23:36
A series with a great start that unfortunately got bogged down in B-movie theatrics which ruined the tone created in the first half. Anyways, if you want to a watch a *real* classic vaguely related, see: Grave of the Fireflies.
I thought completely the opposite - I thought the first half was quieter and gentler while the second half felt like it was forcing drama in a way that was too jarring of a change (with liberal use of cliches like bait-and-switch death scenes)
Overall I’d give it a 6/10. Great potential but it didn’t know where to go with it so it fell back on anime cliche.
For me the best series on Noitamina remains Honey and Clover.
Comment by dickens — September 19, 2009 @ 3:37
Heh, it seems like TM8 is a bit of a love it or hate it show, especially the 2nd half.
For me personally, I found TM8 to be much more emotional and touching than Grave of the Fireflies, which tbh, is rather… meh.
In the end it’s all personal taste, so YMMV :P
Comment by Mike — September 19, 2009 @ 4:06
They are very different in getting across their themes. The way that TM8 tries to tug at the heartstrings is a lot more direct than Grave and I can see people who disliked Grave liking TM8 for that reason.
Comment by dickens — September 19, 2009 @ 4:36
I agree with you full heartily in this review. I didn’t mind that the show abandoned some realism in the second half, as it helped develop Mirai. This show was a nice breath of fresh air. I remember watching the first episode and thinking
*Spoiler alert*
That you know who would kick the bucket but I quickly dismissed the idea because I thought the creators would have the guts to do it. But they did and I was impressed by it.
Comment by Davey J. — September 19, 2009 @ 21:59
I agree, it was a really good series. No superheroes here to save Tokyo, just a (rather) realistic story.
I loved the backgrounds - detailed, well shaded and very realistic. I can even see the grains in some of the wood! Or perhaps it’s just because I’ve been watching some old anime lately so suddenly everything looks good.
Comment by Ves — September 19, 2009 @ 22:06
I liked the series but for some reason this last episode hit me really hard. I haven’t suffered any big loss or anything but I felt really reconnected with Mirai. I was basically tear-eyed for the last ten minutes or so. This is coming from a male who rarely cries over anything. Emotionally this anime has hit me more than Windaria or even the ending to Clannad-Tv did. This is one of the reasons I love shows that really realism and that characters can suffer loss to. I see it in a few American shows like Battlestar Galactic, but rarely.
Comment by Megris Vernin — September 19, 2009 @ 23:37
I found a link to Yuki’s Death Certificate on the TM8.0 Wikipedia article discussion page:
http://i27.tinypic.com/k99ab6.jpg
Comment by fireryone — September 21, 2009 @ 12:11
I didn’t really think it was a ghost… more like a product of Mirai’s brain due to shock and trauma.
Comment by Den Lim — September 23, 2009 @ 17:53