Moonrise

Man, it's way too hectic, shaky, confused and jumbled.

The animations, drawings, effects and story are actually great and I really, really hoped that something really good was coming.

But apart from the sometimes funny elements, the very nice, different characters and the great setting, at some point I was just annoyed by the chaotic narrative style. And by the hectic, shaky, wild, and bad fighting scenes.

Once again, someone hasn't understood how to build a narrative. And I can only recommend everyone to take a look at Arcane, Frieren or even Apothecary Diaries by comparison. A world of difference, albeit in very different settings, but that doesn't change how you should approach a story.

I'm now on episode 4 and as it hasn't got any better up to this point, I assume that it will stay that way.

If not, I will adjust my rating of 6 points up or down accordingly after the series is finished.

This series has so much potential! It's a real shame.

With several months left until the end of the year, I'm not afraid to say that this is the animated product that has disappointed me the most, without a doubt.

Netflix's promotion was disastrous from every perspective, but I still didn't expect what I found in "Moonrise." A priori, it had everything to be a success. Wit Studio (which, needless to say, hasn't gotten it right since "Attack on Titan," with the exception of "Spy x Family") guaranteed excellent animation.

If you looked at the directors and people involved, you could see titles like "Full Metal Alchemist," for example.

However, none of this was reflected in this product. The 18 episodes released in one go, as is Netflix's trademark, coupled with the scant promotion, was a difficult combination to swallow. But if you add a poor script and even worse editing, you knew this was destined for failure.

We have inexplicable time jumps throughout the series. Furthermore, we have a group of main characters with confusing developments, strange motivations, and even more difficult-to-understand connections. More characters are added as the episodes go by, and we don't know who they are, forgettable like the rest.

But we also have an important secondary character who dies in episode 3 and has little or no relevance to the others, to the point that we didn't see anything on camera; he's completely inconsequential. A main character doesn't die until the last episode, and it's completely anticlimactic. The deaths in this war are never felt, and that, in my opinion, is a huge failure.

If you look at the pace of the first seven episodes and then compare it with the rest of the series, you'll realize something's strange; the difference in quality is noticeable! If we analyze IMDB, we realize that there are people who participate in this series right up to episode 7. Is that a coincidence? I don't think so!

They sweeten the deal with incredible animation, especially in the fights and dynamic sequences, but we don't get a single explanation as to why things happen. What are the SEEDs? Who is SEED 3? What is the L-Zone? Why can it terraform? Nothing makes any sense in this series.

I could go on about all the vices found in 18 episodes, but that's not the point.

Unfortunately, this series, which was highly anticipated and had everything to succeed, ends up being the worst animated product of the year, by far. No animation can save a bad story...

The pacing and the way this story is produced is nothing short of frustrating.

Half the time you don't know what is going on or how you are supposed to feel.

This isn't a story unfolds type situation more a jumping back and forth with terrible plot connection. I'm all for a show that initially shows you a peak into what the future has to offer but for this it makes absolutely no sense and adds nothing to the story.

Even the weaponry & the characters talents & why they have been picked for the mission has massive holes in it.

The only reason I have it a 6 is the animation is fantastic & I feel for a team who put the heart & soul into this only for the sitting & story to let them down so very very badly.

The animation and visuals are stellar. And I will forgive A LOT when I finally find a show with sharp animation.

I don't know if I will go as far as saying the show's story is a mess. It does, however, seem only to exist to create cool visuals. There is some pretense at an overall plot and given AoT I though there might be a bigger mystery revealed but so far it seems that the pretense is as far as it goes.

I think it might have worked for previous generations. It's technically serial but the badguy of the week without much else feels highly like the episodic stuff most of society has shifted away from. Not great for an overall story.

The characters are also highly annoying over and above thy typical constant drama and dysfunctional emotional regulation that is such a ubiquitous part of anime that I have to overlook it or I would have very little anime to watch. However, along with this is the animation shifts that feel totally out of place in a show that looks this solid in animation and takes itself so seriously. It would be like Castlevania doing Chibi.

But what really kills this is the exposition. I tried to shift over to the sub but it isn't any better. It's so bad it feels more like they are breaking the fourth wall to talk to us instead of each other. Like it's forcing you to have it on in the background, half-ignored. If you sit down and give it your full attention it is intolerable.

It's really unfortunate that a show that looks this great doesn't have anything else going for it but I guess thats the way it is.

Story goes nowhere and it takes a long long long time to ramble around. It just seems to meander with nowhere to go. I'm now in the middle of the 6th Episode and I just want it to be better! It is so painfully average.

If you just like colorful animated graphics, and you do not need a plot, a story, or any kind of interesting narrative, fine. This is your kind of jam. But, if you are like me, and you would LOVE for the whole world to know about great anime, Frieren, Samurai Champloo, Demon Slayer, Dan Dan, Hell's Paradise, or My Hero Academia.... this Moonrise is NOT it.

Don't try to talk friends or family into watching this series if they are not really die-hard anime fans. All it will do is affirm that anime is a waste of time, adds nothing, and is only enjoyed by burnouts. Really, it is so boring and awful, cannot believe anyone at Netflix thought it should be green-lighted.