Reviews for Bye Bye, Earth

The art style is OK; neither exciting nor ugly. The audio (voice acting, music) is OK, I guess? And while the premise of the main character being a human in a world full of non-humans isn't exactly new, it isn't bad either. What makes me review this series as bad is none of those things. It's that it's pretentious. It tries too hard to be unique, with a world-building that looks like mashing random elements together, and yet it doesn't give you, the viewer, the exposure necessary to connect those elements into a coherent whole. As a result, you're left completely clueless and asking yourself"what exactly am I watching?". And that feeling remains after one, two, five episodes.

I really don't understand what's happening in this show, it feels like i'm watching something from the middle onward, where they had already introduced several deep complex topics and concepts, and i'm missing out of crucial information about the story and world... But they actually haven't done anything of that yet. 3 episodes in and i'm more confused about what's happening than what i was on the start, you can even disconsider what happens on the first episode, because as a first episode it fails miserably, they don't properly introduce us about anything crucial in the story and world, nor give us any hook other thanthe main protagonist being the only human a demi-human world, and only on the second and third episode they actually introduce hooks and motivations, but even then its all mixed up with several other unrelated topics that makes this feels like an out of order/out of direction complex mess.

Its even worse considering that the thing they were supposed to introduce, elaborate and contextualize early on, from the first episode, still haven't received any kind of proper build up, the sword attuning/spirit thing that feels like its going to be a major event/tie, motivation for story development, progress, reasoning, etc. By the third episode i only know that people in this world really, really like their swords for some unknown reason.

I can't keep watching this because it feels like i'm being forced to do their own hard work, linking and tying things properly in my head, when the people that was responsible for properly introducing, producing and directing this didn't cared enough to do their jobs. Its kinda sad to say that, because if things happen like i imagined in my head, this was supposed to be a very promising show, with some very interesting concepts and developments, but they just fumbled it all down.

The novel was published on the year of 2000 It is a story from what some would refer as "Golden Age", what else you need to learn from the review before watching it? Go watch it now! So far at epispode 4 and it is very good. Worldbuilding? Original, creative and beautiful Artstyle in animation? Beautifully well done. Ecchi? No Harem? No Overpower bullshit? NO!Characters? Actually intellectual, intellectual dialogue, there are times they do metaphorical conversation, which is just beautiful. Their design aren't even sexualized, which is refreshing.

Story and its flow? Tame but actually good.

Overall? Beautiful anime.

This anime? I LOVE IT!

Bye Bye, Earth - Is going back to the early days of fantasy a good thing, or just a case of complicated feelings? I'm honestly on the edge of both sides. If you know your AniManga knowledge well, there're a few well-notable names in the industry, and that happens to be the place where one famed novelist by the name of Tow Ubukata, resides. The man who's best known for works like Summer 2004's Soukyuu no Fafner a.k.a Fafner in the Azure: Dead Aggressor, and Summer 2006's Le Chevalier d'Eon, he was truly one of the pioneers of the fantasy genre (before mid-2010s Isekai would seepinto it and tarnish its reputation forever). Even within the same period, Tow Ubukata is sadly not the same genre-defying person with complete misses on the sequels of Psycho-Pass (from Season 2 onwards), not to mention just recently with RWBY: Ice Queendom back in Summer 2022.

With that said, a change of pace looking back into Tow Ubukata's early years, being in yet another prominent Summer season with one of his early novels of 2000's 2-volume long Bye Bye, Earth (not counting the new edition written between 2007-2008 at 4 volumes long), you can tell that this is where he got his start into the anime industry as a prominent novelist. But the critical question is: does the series, which is now close to a silver anniversary (24 years to be exact), fit the stranglehold that traditional fantasy works like this will be remembered in time to come? I don't really think so...or so that I'd like to assume at face value.

Written as a traditional fantasy (though it has the Isekai feel), the MC lives in a world of anthropomorphic animals as the only human without a past, and that immediately sells the fact that being an outlier creates an easy target to be bullied towards. That's Belle Lablac, in a nutshell, who finds herself in that exact word where no one can understand her except her only guardian of cat/wolf man Sian, being a "Faceless", who teaches her the art of swordfighting sorcery from an early age as a way to survive in an unknown world. And that's her only language of survival, as she wants to know the origin of her roots, and also to find other humans like her who could be around in faraway lands to tell her that she's not alone being the only insane person. Armed with the sword that chose her, Runding is quite the enormous sword that no anthropomorphic animal could ever hope to wield (being like Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone that chooses its rightful owner), Belle sets off for the adventure of a lifetime, seeking the secrets that she does not know about herself and the world around her.

Right out of the gate, the show taking on the novel approach of "show, don't tell" is immediately apparent as things are moving at a rather fast pace without letting the audience know of its methodical approach to a simple plot such as this, and WILL definitely be the make-or-break approach when one experiences the show from the get-go. Bye Bye, Earth has a lot of moving parts in its lore, such as how it uses traditional musical terms (Conductors and the like, to form an orchestra they call Schwert Muzik) to deviate from the normality of generic adventurer parties and such, as well as swords that sound ridiculous, but are aptly spelled backwards from regular words that are given meaning to it (e.g. Belle's Runding sword teaching Erehwon (nowhere spelled backwards), meaning utopia).

This is cusped by even more "will of the gods"-type plot/premise that basically everyone is tied to the fate of the gods, scenarios that have been depicted towards life or death, and this forms the shape of the main characters and their endeavours. Belle isn't without negativity in her mind that besets her from her growing-up years, it's that she chose to overcome adversity on any challenge that comes her way, and the gods see her as a chess piece on their playfield. Adonis the Question, on the other hand, is a cursed being from the very beginning; any sword he touches rots and disintegrates in his hands, and there's no way to fight this curse, even by wearing gloves. These two mainly live and breathe their experiences together, even as a cursed couple who begins to understand their origins and the factors mitigating their circumstances, like so in a fully dictatorship (almost monocracy) society, and survive the hell they have to in an unjust world. However, as you, the audience, will, you'll just have to pick up the nuances...because one blink, and you'll be utterly lost in this rather convoluted story.

The other characters are more like plot movers, intentional or not. Take Kitty the All, for example, Belle saving him (as a tuxedo-suited bunny) from danger from the start, he is one of the discriminated Rabbitia races that repays their saviour in their time of need, and Kitty's an able animal who has decent magic power enough to act as Belle's shield. But on a whole, you won't be remembering much of the side cast who gives the plot-heavy story an already progressive problem to begin with.

For what Crunchyroll's marketing buzzwords meant that Bye Bye, Earth "is considered to be his (Tow Ubukata) origin, and many have deemed it impossible to animate," in actuality, it's just not hard to animate fantasy shows like this being lost in translation from the novel to the small screen (thankfully this ISN'T Crunchyroll Originals that the label is simply D.O.A-ed from the start). I think that Liden Films did a decent job, it's just that this low-bar quality is reminiscent of another fantasy work from the studio: Winter 2021's Urasekai Picnic (and even that was a studio collab with Felix Flim). Moreover, the critical direction of in-house director Yasuto Nishikata is very glaring, and it's obvious that the Killing Bites and Hortensia Saga director didn't really understand what makes a good narrative (especially for a lore-heavy work like this) work, much less get the audience invested into the show, and thereby just piecing chunks of the novel together for a "cohesive" straight-line path, essentially just getting the story directing from start to finish. Even with the impeccable talent of scriptwriter-cum-series composer Hiroyuki Yoshino, the director will flourish or kill the series based on his/her direction, and I feel that Yasuto Nishikata is to blame for the series failing as it is.

Alas, the musical talent of Made in Abyss composer Kevin Penkin also feels wasted due to Yasuto Nishikata's direction, though I will not say that this is his finest work thus far. Considering the immaculate work on high-profile shows in the past under his name, Bye Bye, Earth's OST feels a lot pedestrian towards the fantasy side of things, but a really low bar set for the series as it shows. ASCA's OP works, but it's just there, and as much as I want to like LMYK's ED which sounds good, it too also suffered from the show's eponymous title as a post-apocalyptic setting more than anything.

I...really want to like Bye Bye, Earth, being the fantasy show that stands out from the seasonal copy-paste Isekai/fantasy shtick with its interesting concepts and developments that are reminscent of some notables (like Summer 1998's Serial Experiments Lain) around the turn of the millennium. But with its lackluster presentation that sucks the life out of both the staff behind the show, as well as the audience into trying to process what just happened with each progressive episode, it's not just subpar storytelling, but a recipe for failure, and it really shows.

With Season 1 being just the adaptation of the 1st half a.k.a Volume 1 of the novel, will Season 2 change the tide with Volume 2 and tie everything together cohesively? I hope I can live the day to see its salvation and redemption of the near-impossible. For now, you've just got to grit through an imperfect product of a rather ambitious work.

This show is devastatingly disappointing. I want nothing more than to sing its praises, but unfortunately that is not possible with what is delivered. The first episode is incredible, perfect presentation. The music is on point, the animation is gorgeous, the world is intriguing, and the characters are interesting. It provides the perfect setup to a somewhat fresh and unique mystery about the main character. Episode 2 continues the mystery and starts putting up roadblocks our MC will have to surpass to get there. Episode 3 continues to delve into those blocks and teach the audience about this micro society full of rules and traditionthat gets in the protagonists way. Episode 4 has the MC start to engage more with this strange society. By Episode 5 she barely seems to care about getting out of this place and starts a wierd romance with some creep. Episode 6... wait, aren't there only 10 episodes? Why have we still not gotten past this intro BS and into the thing the inciting incident set up. Why am I now being expected to care about tree politics? Wasn't this whole stop in the wierd civilization just to essentially get a passport and leave?

And there, reader, is the problem with this show. It sets a very high bar and then proceeds to drop into into the center of the earth. They wrote an amazing introduction to a story they didn't care to tell. After the fakeout, all that is left is a few hours of pointless drama amongst characters you've been conditioned to assume are minor and temporary. The end of the short 10 Episode season doesn't even have the grace to show a glimpse of that mystery they set up in Episode 1. Instead, it ends with an implication that we're getting another entire season of the same boring politics and cult BS.

Just stay away from this show, it's worse than a bad show because it gives you a glimmer of hope, but just leads you on all the way to absolutely nothing.

Utter nonsense. This show makes shows like The Misfit of Demon King Academy seem coherent by comparison. There is no context prior to the mountains of gibberish crap that you're dropped into in episode 1 and as it progresses clarity never comes. It actually manages to get more confusing each episode. The feeling this show creates is what I imagine a toddler feels like. Everything is new, bizarre, and all basic concepts are entirely unknown. Things on the same level as don't touch the hot stove, for example, are just completely foreign. There's no explanation for anything. The viewer is just left to dangle cluelessly. Ifthat wasn't bad enough, the story also progresses like Unamed Memory. Just like Unamed Memory, each episode creates the feeling that an episode or two was skipped by mistake. It's like a book with random pages torn out. It's unacceptable work. It boggles the mind that the resources, amount of work, and time required to create an animated series was put into a show like this and Unamed Memory. The writing is God awful. Series like this and Unamed Memory belong in the circular filing bin.

TLDR A simple yet unique and interesting fantasy story is overtaken by a world that tries too hard to be unique without knowing how to present its elements effectively ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This show is not bad by any means, its certainly better than most isekai out there. But contrary to those shows the problem is not that this show is generic in its world, but that it tries to add a lot of unique elements all at once without sufficient explanation or time for the audience to breathe and understand them, and without exploring them enough. There are so many elements added to this world every single episode andthe way these elements are delivered does not make me curious about whats next but it leaves me scratching my head.

This was bad enough that I just didn't care about any of the characters or plot points anymore, and the production values are very mid, save for a great score by Kevin Penkin

If you've read the synopsis, you understand just as much as I do after 3 episodes. We keep getting tidbits of information that isn't contextualized. It doesn't really make sense for the MC to be as clueless as she is, seeing as she grew up in the world. But if she in fact does understand how the world works, she's stingy enough not to share with the group (that being us viewers). Why are the swords special? Why must she work for the kingdom before she, you know, leaves the kingdom? Why are flowers monsters and why is it weird that she's the only oneeating them? Many, if not all, of these questions could have answers ranging from laughable simple to major plot point. But if any of the characters know what these reasons are, they aren't sharing. I'm all for world building, but I don't usually see this level of ambiguity outside of comedy shows, where the ambiguity makes things funny. This is not really a comedy so far, so I don't get it. If the swords are special simply because swords are cool (True), then why is that explanation hidden? And if that's the case, why is it better to just die than have your sword broken? If it's some important plot point, I'd like some hint to that effect. Something like the MC not knowing why swords are important, but everyone goes crazy about them. But she knows why (doesn't explain to the viewer), and is conflicted about breaking them. Some viewers like to tout the mystery, but other than the big obvious one in the synopsis, I don't see any reason for basic world information to be a mystery. This show isn't so much a mystery as it is a sequel to a missing season one. I have a consistent feeling that I'm missing at least an episode or two of explanation, and with no suggestion that said explanation is coming soon, I don't see any reason to continue watching.

If you've read the source material already or just want to be immersed in an unintuitive new world, this might be up your alley. In my opinion, this show feels like an open world game with no notes/dialogue to explain the world you're sitting in. You can see some cool stuff, but fuck if I know what if means.

For now I think you can compare it with a FromSoftware game. When it comes to world- and character design you get a 9/10 or 10/10. But when it comes to lore and explanations what's going on and how everything in this rly believable fantasy world works, you need a 1 hour YT guide to understand what you actually see or read the item description. Except there is obviously no item description in an anime and sadly the characters barely and rarely explain anything. So you sit there, have an entertaining experience and want to get to know much more about everything, but the anime justsays:

Live with it. / Accept what we show you (peasant). :)

At the end it feels like that: With every ep more topics and questions get opened without any of the previous ones closed and you collect more and more questionmarks above your head, and still you want to see more since it rly feels like a fantasy world which you only find in 1 out of 100.

Good animation? Yes. Top-notch animation? No. Bad cgi ruining the whole show? No. Having watched the first 3 episodes i do feel somewhat confused about the setting and the story. This show does not go into deep detail about how anything much works, it just does and we who watch it are just supposed to accept it without thinking too much of it. Where is the show headed next? What will Belle do next? What will happen to Belle next? These questions keep popping up in my head while watching and it makes each episode feel like its too short, leaving me wishing for more. This show could go anywherefrom here, up, down, left or right!

Whichever path it takes, i will definitely keep watching this interesting show.

I really wanted to like Bye Bye, Earth. I listened to the soundtrack by Kevin Penkin on spotify, and usually when that much love is put into the music of a show, I expect it to be focused on details, I expect it to be nuanced and compelling, just as the music is. Bye Bye, Earth does not do any of those things. There is no substance in this show whatsoever. I sat through five episodes and nothing makes any sense. The characters have motivations, but their actions don't show that. It feels like I'm watching a show where the main character says they wantto eat a big mac, and then they go up into the mountains and make a deal with a river spirit to get money in exchange for being cursed, just to then put that money in a savings account and start a 40 day fast.

This anime is like a styrofoam cake, it looks nice from far away, but as soon as you try to bite into it, it's completely tastless, it doesn't fill you up, and when you try to chew it there's just this unpleasant squeaking sound that makes you cringe.

At least trashy isekais are like a big bag of potato chips, but there's just absolutely nothing enjoyable about the characters, world, and story of this show.

This was the most disappointed I've been in a show for a while, if it weren't for Kevin's soundtrack, I'd give this a 1/10.

A unique show with a promising premise that loses itself to incoherence. What's interesting is that while what is going on makes next to no sense it remains engaging. It's like I don't know what I'm watching but I'm somehow still entertained. It's strange. I'm not sure if the final episodes will pull all the pieces together, but I worry that if they do it'll cause the story to look like a patchwork mess. So, while the story and worldbuilding rival the delirium of The Boy and the Heron, the characters are somewhat more coherent. At least, I understand that the MC wants to find a placewhere she belongs and others have varying levels of investment and stakes with her primary plot.

The music and animation are pretty good. Maybe they both provide the dynamics that cause the show to remain engaging while I wonder what's happening. As for pacing, I guess it's bad because if the story spent the time to explain most of the things happening I'd know better about what's happening; but it's also good because there's action?

I don't know, this show is just weird.

Edit: Finished it, and it didn't make sense all the way up to the end. There's a lot of impressive-sounding dialogue, but in the end it amounts to the kind of pseudo-philosophical ramblings of someone like Russell Brand. I don't know why this of all things is getting a second season, but I guess there are worse shows out there.

I’ve watched anime since I was a kid, and this is my first review. Unfortunately, I have to say that this is probably one of the worst animes I've seen, and you should avoid it at all costs (I want my time back). The animation, voice acting, sound, and music were all decent, but when it comes to the story... oh man, it was horrendous. I watched a full season, and I still don’t understand even a fraction of what was happening. *SPOILERS* So let me get this straight: humans don’t exist in this world, yet the main character is a human female born from a stone(???). She’s incredibly strong, wielding a powerful sword, and she wants to learn more about her origins and her kind. It’s an interesting plot and easy to understand.

But for her to explore the world, she has to kill and forget her master (???). She believes he’s dead, but she only took of his arm, which he magically restores later (???)."

For some reason, for her to explore the world she also needs to talk with the King, be a warrior for some time, go on 3 "random" missions and after that you need to play a piano and find your tone(???). WTF is this plot.

Oh I forgot something, Everyone has a sword of their own, it blooms(???) and if it breaks it withers(???)

This is everything from episode 1 to 8.

She obviusly finds friends along the way but nothing important because we dont know anything about them and their personalities and character development are rushed, we just know their names lol.

There's only two important friends, one of them doesnt even show up on the last 3 episodes and the other one is the "MC Probably Lover" wich on the last episodes for some reason, kills random people, tries to r*pe and kill the MC, he becomes crazy at the end and starts training for some reason with the MC master, this makes me confused as hell, it makes me believe that he's going to be the villain but They have the same enemy so why attack the MC and then train and hide in the dark?

The last two episodes try to explain some things but only make everything worse.

They also love saying names of things that doesnt correlate to anything said after or before like the philosopher's stone that someone eats (???), never saw someone training, they dont tell us anything about power scaling, etc etc

Everything was such a mess Im still trying to process some parts of the story.

So yeah this was my review, obviously not prefect but I just needed to get this out of my head.

i personally enjoyed this, it was confusing and id have preferred it to be longer but overall it kept my interest and though i spent most of my time wondering what it was about, which im still not sure on, its doing something different and i appreciate that all things considered of the recent fantasy shows i have watched 1 was an isekai the other straight fantasy world and both where less than meh though for dramatically different reasons and i only finished them to see how bad they could get. this one was a head scratcher. its no tensura but its not 'parryreality perception' either. ordinarily id hit up the manga to see whats next but this time i think ill wait for the next season and hope the animation is as nice as it was for this one if not better.

overall id say if you like something different and dont mind being utterly lost and have already finished everything else worth watching give it a chance, if nothing else its got some gorgeous visuals

This show is an interesting watch from start to finish. I did not mean interesting as in it kept my attention the whole time though. It was interesting in the fact that it was very confusing at times to keep track of. I'm not sure if the manga was like this too, but it feels like some plot points were not discussed when it should have. The art style and animation is great for a series airing weekly. The MC is generic. Short black haired girl that is OP. Her powers are set back only by a curse. I think this is a good watchif you want something to relax to at the end of the day. It isn't a groundbreaking series.

What did I even watch? What's the point to anything in this anime? This feels like one of those books english teachers salivate over because it's drenched in allegory and meaning. Yet there's no entertainment to be found. There are way too many rules in this world. Not only is it difficult to keep track of, but sometimes the plot breaks them too. - Swords are grown and shattering a sword is bad. But we're never shown how a sword is grown. And towards the end there's a moist bint who just hands them out. So might as well throw this plot point out the window. -People are anthropomorphized animals and Belle the protagonist is the only human around.

- There's an "army of insatiable emptiness" who does god knows what, because we aren't shown or told what they actually do.

- You need a contract with the king to become a nomad and travel the land, which basically boils down to serving in the army for 3 fights. But in addition to the contract, you must also take on a curse. But in addition to that, you also need a good enough reason to become a nomad. Belle has the checklist all ticked off and she's still not allowed, because the plot wants her to stay.

- Music makes things grow and repairs stuff, so everything is themed around concerts and the like.

- If you die, you sprout a plant that makes crows which send word of your death to your loved ones.

It all gets too overwhelming. It's like an Alice in wonderland story, but the wonderland is fuzzily described. You can't grasp the end of any thread of reason as to why anything is the way it is.

The plot can be summed up as Belle wanting to travel the land, so she fights in the military for the right to do so. Except once the checklist is completed she doesn't know what she wants anymore. Then we follow the love interest cat boy for another two episodes as he does a Sasuke and joins the bad guys?

But nothing of what happens is fun. Belle is a Marry Sue. There is no tangible enemy. It's all episodic villains who woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day. We even abandon the "traveling the land" plot towards the end. The "love story", if you can even call it that, makes me want to puke.

I know I'm kind of stringing almost unrelated things that annoyed me one after the other, but that's the whole show. A string of unrelated plots and characters stitched together like a Frankenstein's monster.

Save yourself the time and skip over this.

Not my thing. But i have to give a credit for the music, it's just on another level. Also you could see a lot of influence from Russian classic literature (the identity crisis of the characters, the way they present themselves, their style of clothing and the environment around, etc.). So in a sense it's Dostoevsky meets anime meets some weird furry crap meets isekai meets fantasy adventure with fighting. Hopefully there's gonna be more development in the 2nd season, cuz crisis without change seems kinda pointless? Also the fact that the main character is fairly weak comparing to modern standards is a nice change of pace

Ahahaha! Once again, Hououin Kyouma descends upon the endless stream of mortal entertainment to deliver judgment! This time, the specimen under my microscope is none other than Bye Bye, Earth, a tale of beasts, music, and survival in a strange and wondrous land! First, let us praise what must be praised! The world-building is magnificent, a symphony of imagination unlike most offerings of modern anime. Every corner of this universe teems with intrigue, from the landscapes to the societies, painting a picture so vivid that even this mad scientist felt the pull of its strangeness. It is a world begging to be explored, dissected, and cataloguedin its infinite detail!

Yet, as with all experiments, flaws reveal themselves. Chief among them: the concept of war by music! What boldness! What audacity! And yet… what incompleteness! For though we see that music restores and nurtures, repairing tools, growing plants, it is never truly justified on the battlefield. Does it empower warriors? Sap the strength of foes? Reshape the very terrain? Alas, no answers are given! A tantalizing mystery left unfulfilled, a formula never solved!

And then, the pacing! Oh, the cruel specter of condensation! A story that should flow like a grand river instead feels like a stream forced through narrow pipes. Details are skimmed, explanations abbreviated, and worst of all, the editing! One moment a scene breathes, the next it is sliced apart with sudden silence, the background music vanishing mid-thought. It is as though unseen hands were frantically cutting scenes to meet a time limit, leaving the viewer adrift in awkward transitions. The very rhythm of the narrative falters under this rushed weight!

But! Despite these grievous wounds, this mad scientist cannot dismiss the spark that lingers within. The plot is too intriguing, too ripe with potential to abandon. The allure of this strange world beckons me still, and so I must declare: should a second season arrive, Hououin Kyouma shall be there to witness its unfolding!

And thus, the decree: 7/10! A flawed experiment, rushed and uneven, yet brimming with a strange brilliance that demands further exploration.

7/10!

El Psy Kongroo.

To sum it up a confusing experience. There are some things that happen that made me incredibly uncomfortable. I was at first intrigued but they don't do much with the world that they have set up or even with the characters, nothing is really explained or acknowledged. This could have been something great. It was nice to see an anthropomorphic world but the had no impact on the story it may have well have been just humans an intriguing aspect became boring. It could be improved if the seasons continues so i will see but currently i am 50/50 in whether this is worth itor not.

The Setup: Cool or Meh? Okay, so Bye Bye, Earth starts with Belle Lablac, the only human in a world full of animal-people. Sounds pretty wild, right? It’s got that Beastars energy but darker, like it’s constantly raining in this world. Belle’s journey to figure out who (or what) she is feels fresh, but if I’m comparing, it doesn’t quite hit the emotional highs of Made in Abyss. It’s cool, just not “Oh-my-gosh-I’m-crying” cool. Belle: Badass or Bland? I like Belle. She’s tough, she’s got this massive sword, Runding, and she’s all about finding creative ways to fight without hurting anyone. That’s a fun twist! But compared toChise from The Ancient Magus' Bride? Chise pulls you into her world emotionally; Belle feels more like, “Hey, I’m here, swinging my sword, doing my thing.” It’s not bad, just not as deep as I wanted.

The World: Immersive or Confusing?

The world-building? It’s solid. You’ve got this anthropomorphic society with its own rules and quirks. It’s like a more grounded version of No Game No Life, but not as visually stunning as Made in Abyss. The lore’s interesting, but it’s like the anime throws you into the deep end without a floatie. I had to pause a few times like, “Wait, what’s happening now?”

Pacing: Smooth or Rough?

Here’s the thing—it’s kind of a slog at points. Shows like Attack on Titan know how to keep you hooked while piling on the complexity. Bye Bye, Earth? Not so much. It’s like it’s trying to do too much at once, and you’re left scratching your head. If you’re into shows that make you work for it, this might be your jam. For me, it’s a bit hit-or-miss.

Looks and Vibes: Fire or Forgettable?

Visually? It’s fine. Nothing mind-blowing, but Belle’s “Faceless” design is super unique. The action’s clean, but I wish it pushed the envelope more. The soundtrack, though? Absolute banger. It’s got that haunting, atmospheric vibe you’d expect from Made in Abyss. If nothing else, the music pulls you right into Belle’s lonely little corner of the world.

Final Thoughts: Should You Watch?

So, here’s the deal. If you’re into fantasy anime that’s a little off the beaten path—think Beastars or Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash—you’ll probably dig this. But if you’re expecting something as polished and emotional as Made in Abyss or The Ancient Magus' Bride, you might feel a bit let down. I’d say it’s a 7 out of 10—interesting enough to check out, but not quite a must-watch.