Hiiro no Kakera (Scarlet Fragment)

Written by Little_Wolf-18 on September 22, 2012 at 4:35 PM

(Long review is long.)

People might have guessed, but this is an otome game adaption, aka male harem. Whoever isn’t positive they can stand that is free to click the little back button on their browser right now.

Now that that’s out of the way:
The story starts out pretty good, if a little typical, with the main character’s quest to learn about her task/fate, the background of her family, and her trying to grow closer to the “guardians” of the family. Sadly, however, the potential shown there never quite gets fleshed out. The plot stays short, simple, and sweet -- which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it’s certainly easy to get into and to follow, and there isn’t too much objectionable stuff, count out various shots of fanservice for the female audience (go figure). In this sense, however, much of the drama from e.g. background conflicts and setups is never quite played upon; and the whole thing stays very much incomplete, ending on a high note that feels rather like a cliffhanger than an end. What truly destroys much of the plot though is the pacing, which is rather inconsistent and, in stark contrast to the concept, doesn’t allow for much suspense or emotion, and neither allowed me to feel with the characters all that much.

Don’t get me wrong. The whole series is short, simple, sweet, easy to follow, and heck, it is interesting for the conflict it sets up and for its concept; one that shows great potential as it certainly does a step aside from generic and even ties closely into Japanese beliefs. There’s far worse places to go to. A second season has even been announced for October, one that might very well solve the “incompleteness” problem. However; maybe I set the bar too high, but I felt like this season didn’t evolve half of its potential. I understand that both time frame and plot capacity are limited with thirteen episodes only, and if that explains the lack of played-upon background, it certainly doesn’t explain the edgy pacing. Wish they’d pay a little more attention to that in the next season… it just does so much to an anime.

Moving on to the topic of characters: These certainly are individuals, easy to tell apart, and have some nice touches to them -- such as, say, Takuma’s liking for crossword puzzles. I’ve got no complaints about the mix either. On the downside, again, their range is rather standard as none has much personality beyond their basic (not exactly original) types. There’s little development in most characters, and, as mentioned before, most backgrounds are merely hinted at. The heroine leaves much to be desired in terms of fighting ability, but at least she displays some more spunk than the usual otome game protagonist. >.< Character interaction, on the upside, is easy to follow and can be quite funny if you’ve got a sense for bickering and small moments of sarcasm, even if it’s a little thin and unrealistic on the “growing closer” side-plot at times. The development of both relationships and interaction, if far from completed in any way, is interesting to watch. And on a personal note, I’d still like to know how the producers managed to portray Yuuichi’s narcolepsy as an amusing trait rather than some serious medical problem. I’m not really sure how to feel about that, so not trying to judge in any way, but I’d like to know how they managed.

Dialogue -- Without a doubt, the voice actors do a top-notch job, and were it only for them, the characters would really be coming alive and quite easy to empathise with, no matter their limited personalities. Sadly, the script poses a problem, as it feels rather unnatural and forced much of the time, and focuses a little too much on giving everyone something to say in each scene. I’m not sure what to do with this category, to be frank. The voice actors have it sky-rocketing, but the script in all its hindered flow is really below what I’d expect.

Music -- Opening and closer are well-chosen, and the soundtrack during the series itself fits well and is generally rather peaceful and beautiful. It’s not the most memorable I personally encountered in anime, but it’s fitting, easy on the ears, and nice to listen to.

Animation -- This series being recent, certainly the animation’s excellent. The action might be a little letdown to action fans as it does prefer effects to moves, making the characters appear remarkably inept in battle. This isn’t a shounen show, however, and since everyone appears this way, it might not necessarily be a bad thing. Fight choreography is very well-done, and the effects are flashy and colourful, resulting in something definitely enjoyable if you don’t put the bar very high especially in terms of movements.

Artwork -- While there are a few shortcomings (re-used shots, especially close-ups of characters; or how the woods seem to be perfectly groomed… no kidding, I doubt the forest’s spirits/kami do gardening), the general artwork is well-done, quite detailed, and not easily disturbed by these small faults. The colour scheme varies between muted/dark and warm, autumnal colours; settings like that appear either haunting or highly relaxing and easy on the eyes. The art’s main focus, autumn, is captured beautifully and detailedly overall, with warm colours and careful placement of patterns of shadow and light.

Character design -- It might be a little typical for an otome game, but the characters are easily distinguishable, so I’m not going to complain. Costumes are appealing in design and colouring as well. What put me off somewhat was the post-credits fanservice shots (for the girls around -- don’t get the wrong idea ^^°), none of which had anything to do with the series except for featuring its characters. Not like I’d mind fanservice of which nature ever as long as it doesn’t disturb the plot; but this anime isn’t the dating sim it stems from, and the shots seemed awkwardly out-of-place here.

Entertainment -- There’s a variety of characters; there’s friendship, hints of romance, and the general “growing closer” plot; there’s the supernatural touch which at times ties quite closely into some Japanese beliefs/superstitions; there’s some humour that, if not really deep (mainly bickering and/or situational comedy), does fit the general tone of the show; and if you enjoy some flashy effects or your handful of bishounen on top of all that, it’s sure not to disappoint.

There’s one main problem though: the show never quite goes to its limits. The pacing is edgy, effectively killing most possible suspense; the dialogue feels stilted and forced, and doesn’t help the characters any; and the whole series at this point is too short to pull off believable drama and/or character development.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed this while it was running. It was easy to get into; it was comparably relaxing; the character interaction was good for some light laughs; the “growing closer” plot and the main character’s quest, for all their faults, were interesting; and the visuals were absolutely beautiful to top it off. Yes, there were a few slight hanging points, but I got over all of those -- all in hopes of something more substantial; something that never came, as the series simply never seemed too ambitious to rise beyond what it established in the beginning.

In retrospect, I think I set the bar too high for a thirteen-ep series. For the fact that it is short, still incomplete, and a game adaption -- something that never looks quite as “easy” as a manga one -- it’s decent. Simple, short, sweet, easy to follow, visually beautiful with flashy effects -- it’s pretty sure not to disappoint if you don’t mind some shortcomings in terms of overall flow and completeness. Certainly, there’s much worse places to go to if you’re into reverse harem/otome games.

IMHO though, “Hiiro no Kakera” didn’t yet establish its full potential. For me, the deciding factor is yet to come with the turn the second season takes this autumn. It’s been a few weeks since I finished this, and I must say I’m not exactly in “Must get my hands on second season now” mode, but I’ll be sticking around to see where the series goes, and hopefully for some deeper development. I learned to lower my expectations, though. This first season is a decent one to watch, but to become excellent in my book, “Hiiro no Kakera” needs to go all out in what’s to come -- and to fix its pacing, at the very least.

Cheers.