In London is “Café Forbidden,” a mysterious café that only opens at night. Bayrou is a girl who is in London to study abroad. She meets the handsome men who work this place where the guardians of the boundary between the human and shadow world gather. – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Episodes: TBA
Source: Original
Episode 1 Summary: Ton Baileu and her friend Shinyao are excited to be moving to London. They’re there to study abroad, something neither of them would likely have attempted if not for the support of the other. After arriving at the airport, it’s just a train ride into the city and they can move into their new apartment. Ton is extra excited because her great-grandmother once made London her home and she feels a special connection to the misunderstood matriarch. Unfortunately the ladies aren’t in the city very long before their luggage is nabbed by a thief that’s only visible to Ton. Calling upon a magic spell gleaned from her great-grandmother’s writings, she’s lead to a mysterious cafe staffed by Vlad, Toryu, and Luke, all of them young(?), attractive men. They react to Ton as if they already know her; as it turns out that they were all familiar with her great-grandmother through some unexplained means. They’re also involved in the supernatural and occult, and determine that it was a goblin who stole Ton’s baggage. They make their way to Hyde Park where they suspect that the goblin’s stash is hidden among the trees, but they’re in for a surprise when Spriggan, lord of the forest, attacks. Not only do all the attractive young men appear to have special abilities (including lycanthropy, in one case), but Ton herself reaches within herself and demonstrates her mettle. As day breaks, Ton awakens on a bench in the park surrounded by her luggage. Could the experience, and the young men, have been just a strange dream?
Impressions: We live in an age when mobile game companies are reaping huge profits from their popular freemium franchises. It stands to reason that at least some of those profits would be used to reinvest in their brands in order to increase exposure and keep the cycle going. While in some cases, such as that of Cygames where their game library includes collaborations with established properties in addition to their own originals (Rage of Bahamut in particular) which they’ve helped bring into the anime realm, there are also situations like this one, where a mobile game company (Happy Elements) contributes funding towards an animated production unrelated to a current release. It’s interesting to speculate about what this new-ish source of funding might mean to an industry that has historically had some financial struggles; surely the next several years will see some interesting changes in how money is funneled into anime production.
This review, however, is about Phantom in the Twilight – an original anime production which represents a collaboration between a Japanese Studio (Liden Films) and Chinese-based mobile game company (the aforementioned Happy Elements). Chinese/Japanese co-produced animated series have become more common over the last couple of years, or at least they’re being acknowledged as co-productions rather than Japanese productions with East/Southeast Asian in-between animation. They’ve also gotten a bad rap, sometimes due to issues of animation quality, sometimes for their general tone/feel as compared to historically typical anime productions. I suspect this is a combination of both industry growing pains and a fandom intolerance for things that don’t fall within some sort of ill-defined yet extremely important boundary (full disclosure, I’ve been guilty of gate-keeping in this way, too). This episode definitely wasn’t the best I’ve seen; it had some consistency issues and definitely read like was based on a game, even though it actually isn’t (though it wouldn’t surprise me if it inspired one). It does, however, have a different feel from many anime series and has some aspects that set it apart from the pack.
One thing I really enjoyed about this episode is the close relationship that Ton and Shinyao have. I’m not entirely sure how to read it – to me they just seem like they’ve known each other for a long time and have a closeness that’s almost sisterly, but I could see a more romantic interpretation as well. In either case, it’s clear that their relationship with one-another is incredibly important. Considering that I would have pegged this as a straight-up reverse-harem based on the key artwork and gender ratio alone, it’s heartwarming that the episode isn’t just about Ton and whoever she chooses as a romantic partner (if it even ends up getting that specific). I am a bit worried that Shinyao is going to end up being damsel-ed more often than not – they hang a lampshade on that in the little chibi bonus animation at the end of the episode (she jokes that she’ll be gone for the next few episodes due to being kidnapped; at least the writers have a sense of humor!). While I’m glad that Ton doesn’t seem helpless, it wouldn’t make me happy if Shinyao was just a surrogate put in place to be kidnapped repeatedly instead.
I also think that Ton is a fun protagonist so far. She’s got an enthusiastic attitude, has demonstrated intelligence and bravery repeatedly. She also appears to have access to some cache of spiritual abilities that will allow her to participate in whatever excitement befalls her and her new male friends. I like that she chooses to accompany Vlad and company to the park, making her own way there; it shows that she’s willing to be an active voice in what happens in this story. That said, it troubles me a bit that Vlad, Toryu, and Luke acknowledge her history and pedigree and seem to hold Ton’s great-grandmother in very high regard, yet they choose to change Ton’s memories in the aftermath of the goblin encounter so that she believes that her ordeal was due to ordinary thieves who were caught by the police. It seems to be saying two conflicting things and I had a difficult time reconciling that as a viewer.
I’m pretty neutral on the whole reverse-harem angle and don’t think any of the male characters are particularly compelling as of yet. Considering the series’ pedigree, it seems as if it’s fulfilling an obligation rather than justifying the characters’ existence, not in the sense that it’s adapting a pre-existing game (which it isn’t), but instead it making itself available to be adapted into a game with multiple possible paths. I can see the logic there, but it feels very non-committal. Some of the character model consistency leaves a bit to be desired as well; in a series that seems more reliant than some on how good-looking its characters are, this aspect of it seems poorly-planned in many scenes.
Having already watched multiple reverse-harem episodes this season, I will say that this one seems the most interesting out of the bunch. Parts of it are over-the-top and silly, and I question whether it’ll go the “monster-of-the-week” route and ultimately remain insubstantial, but I have a lot of positive feelings towards the protagonist and look forward to seeing whether she grows into her abilities and gains more respect from her new supernatural acquaintances. And heck, the hot guys don’t hurt, either.
Pros: Ton is a very fun protagonist. The relationship between Ton and Shinyao is refreshing.
Cons: The visuals aren’t that great. I take issue with the way Ton’s memories are altered. I fear Shinyao will become a damsel.
Grade: B-