Spring 2019 First Impressions – Afterlost

One day a town is annihilated. Yuki is a young woman who is said to be the only person left alive from the town after the annihilation, and Takuya is a loner and a smuggler. Together, with the letter left by Yuki’s father, they go toward the town, now called Lost, but unexpected obstacles stand in their path. The thoughts of those left behind, secret and mysterious organizations, and hidden conspiracies await Yuki and Takuya as they move closer toward the mystery behind Lost. – ANN

Streaming: Funimation and Hulu

Episodes: 12

Source: Smartphone Game

Episode Summary: Some years ago, a disaster obliterated a large part of the city, seemingly killing the entire population. Since then, the area has been cordoned off by the military, and one lone survivor, Yuki, has been held in captivity. Takuya is a courier who always gets the job done. Though it involves danger on his part, he kidnaps Yuki from the holding facility and brings her to his patrons. A coded message was received from inside the Lost, the destroyed city, and there’s reason to believe that Yuki’s father may be alive somewhere within its borders.

Takuya, intending to see his “delivery” job through to the end, calls upon several resources and prepares for the dangerous journey, but doesn’t expect the kind of telekinetic onslaught he and Yuki face while trying to make their way beyond the sealed perimeter. Yuki is, however, more than she seems – she did survive the initial disaster, after all. She calls upon powers of her own so that she and Takuya can make their way forward. There is, however, the Agency, and they catch Takuya off-guard. Will either Takuya or Yuki survive long enough to penetrate the Lost?

Impressions: This isn’t meant to be a dig on Funimation, because I truly appreciate the work they do for the English language anime fandom and they have a great catalog of anime series on offer. But there are times where I think to myself, “yeah, this seems like the type of series they’d go after.” Afterlost gives off a strong impression that it is very serious entertainment™, an image that anime has been attempting to cultivate since it first burst on the scene in the West. No jokes here, friends, people get killed in this series and there’s no room for useless stuff like levity. I’m sure you know the sort of thing I’m talking about.

Serious, sober drama is by no means a waste of time, and I think it’s constructive to explore those types of emotions in entertainment. The big issue is that Afterlost is so dead-set on convincing the audience of its seriousness that it starts to become a parody of itself as the first episode unfolds. The sad heroine’s job is to speak as little as possible, look despondent, get dragged around by the arm by people who refer to her as literal property and/or merchandise, and cough up special powers when and where it’s convenient. The hard-ass male lead’s job is to show as little emotion as possible while adhering too closely to his own misguided view of duty to care about his own well-being. The one-track characterization, mixed with a big dose of techno-babble, makes this premiere feel as though it’s completely lacking in self-awareness. And that’s not an attractive look. I’m reminded of the infamous Navy Seal copypasta, with its “you’d better take me seriously – or else” tone.

As I’ve said, there’s definitely room in the world for serious entertainment, but I find that when some piece of fiction (or, I suppose, even some person) insists that it’s very mature, it usually is only by an extremely narrow definition – and not the definition that I generally appreciate. There is a lot about this episode that unfortunately gives off a strong sense of joylessness, from the character interactions to the offhand comments regarding the public’s lack of interest regarding the mysterious, unanswered questions surrounding the Lost. What I think the problem boils down to is that the series isn’t necessarily overly-serious, but it seems overly-cynical about human nature. I have very little patience for cynicism in storytelling, especially in regards to human nature itself. When characters in a piece of media throw up their hands and assume the worst about the human race, it becomes permissive to view our worst behavior as an inevitable, inescapable conclusion. I think humanity has the potential to do very terrible things (in fact, we see those sorts of things play out on a regular basis). And yet, people also perform wondrous acts of innovation, compassion, and justice, too. Yet those things are often seen as uncool. It bums me out.

I suspect that Afterlost is not aiming to tackle these huge topics; in fact, it seems to exist mostly to try to be kind of cool and action-packed. Its action and chase choreography doesn’t quite seem up to the task. I’m willing to look past quite a few issues when the overall package is good, but this episode has some challenges that clearly take away from what it’s trying to accomplish with its storytelling. For example, there’s some poor integration of CG throughout the episode. I’ve read some specific complaints from others about how the crowd scenes look; the human figures dotting the backgrounds there aren’t great, but what bothered me more were the instances where Takuya’s scooter (and, by extension, Takuya and sometimes Yuki) were animated using that method. There are some really jarring transitions between the CG models and 2D-animated ones that don’t work very well. They look fine from a distance and they’re clearly helpful in having the characters perform actions that would be time-consuming to animate the traditional way, but they don’t look great up-close. As much as I try to check myself when I start to criticize this technique, I still have a difficult time accepting it, especially when it accompanies so many other, bigger problems.

One thing I did like about the episode was its use of color. While it’s sort of a cliche at this point, I’ve always enjoyed scenes in anime that take place during the “golden hour” as the sun sets for the day. The glowing yellows and long shadows really go a long way to establish a time and atmosphere. As Yuki walks alone through town, the empty streets are lit by the evening sun, and it’s definitely very striking. There are also some strong reds where Yuki is being held captive at the beginning of the episode. It’s a bit of a ham-fisted indication of danger, but it definitely stuck out as memorable.

Action series tend not to be my favorites in the first place, but I’ve seen a lot of impressive ones over the years and definitely appreciate the stories that the genre can tell. It’s difficult, though, to feel excited about an action series when its execution feels forced and joyless, and this difficult-to-quantify criticism is really keeping me from potentially enjoying this one. I think with a few different choices, specifically related to characterization, this might have been a fun, cheesy distraction. But it is so clearly bogged down by its misguided sense of self-importance that there’s not really a way for me to forge a connection with the series.

Pros: There’s a strong use of color in many scenes.

Cons: The episode feels very self-important. The characters are unappealing.

Grade: C-