Love That Transcends the Flow of Time
- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Sci-fi, Drama, Romance
- Airing Date : July 2018 - September 2018
- Studios : feel
Contains Spoilers
Island Introduction
Island started out as a story about an Island called Urashima. It is there that a strange man named Setsuna wakes up on the beach one day with zero memories of what has transpired. He happens to accidentally foil Karen Kurutsu’s, a daughter of one of the three major families on the island, plans to escape before meeting Sara, the daughter of another, and then finally Rinne, the third family’s daughter. Setsuna somehow gets permission to stay on the island by working as Rinne’s servant when he discovers two things about her: she can sing a song beautifully that she has no recollection as to how or why she knows it and she suffers from Soot Blight Syndrome. Soot Blight Syndrome is a bizarre illness that affects only the inhabitants of Urashima where if they are exposed to sunlight directly, they will start to die. So Rinne spends her days secluded in her mansion with her mother who is a shut in herself.
Setsuna decides that there is something wrong with how things are handled on the island and what happened five years ago when Rinne was supposedly spirited away, so he begins to look into it. Something no one would have ever expected is what he finds. Can he survive it though?
1. It Kinda has that Higurashi Vibe at First
The series starts out rather darkly talking about how people are suffering and dying on the island due to a mysterious disease while also mentioning that the main character mysteriously disappeared a few years back. Threats of death, even if not taken too seriously, do occur and much is not logically laid out leaving you in the dark as you try to piece things together. Nothing makes sense and the threat of the disease means that Rinne could potentially die at any time. Of course, this is all at first.
2. “Is It Like Steins;Gate?” “Kinda?”
Island pretty much goes full Steins;Gate about halfway through the series when Setsuna is sent through time–not of his own will, might we add–to another world. Here, children are persecuted, the island is suffering from a lack of resources and food, Karen is a resistance leader–ooh shiny–and Rinne is a scientist working on a time machine. It’s not really sad per se, even when you find out what happened behind Rinne’s disappearance five years ago, but right before everything comes to a head at the end of the series, Rinne’s fate and reality are rather bleak. She thinks that she is doing something right, but it only ends up bringing her sorrow.
1. It’s Nowhere Near as Memorable as Steins;Gate
Island tries to manufacture drama as the season goes on and while it is not all bad, a lot of it falls flat as the logic has more holes in it than swiss cheese. Nothing really either seems to be too dramatic as it is rapidly resolved. The problem with celebrated games being made into anime is that if they do not get at least 2 cours, you run the risk of getting a Reader’s Digest version of the game itself and miss out on a lot of plot moments that could sway the audience in your favor to say, purchase more DVDs and Blu-Rays. Otherwise, fans are quick to forget how it went or done and it ends up shelved as an okay at best anime.
2. The Ending
Spoilers Ahead! The ending was rough. Rather than Setsuna getting with Rinne whom he has spent the ENTIRE SEASON with, completely overlooking Sara and Karen, he goes for Kuon who was his lover from the time skip. Rinne puts on a brave face and tells him and her mother that she is so happy for them, but it feels so... forced? It’s like if Yuu Narukami went for Naoto to date at the end of the series rather than any other girl he has spent the entire game/anime with. It’s jolting and definitely detracts from the overall experience. Too much Deus ex Machina at the last moment. It leaves you saying “Oh ok.” Island is then banished to beyond the back of your mind and ends up with a lukewarm score on ranking sites.
Final Thoughts
Island may have taken us to a sea island adventure, but how much was fun and mystical and how much was just running around making no sense while being average was something that the viewer will have to decide. A surefire plus was the fact that we had Yukari Tamura sing the opening while voicing Rinne. Her voice is saccharine and melodic making for an overall great delivery in Rinne. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t have gotten more with the series. What are your thoughts on Island? Toot or Boot? Be sure to let us know down below. Till next time!
Author: Nagareboshi
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