Synopsis
“There’s nothing I can do to make a difference. Wars will be fought. People will die,” Takeru said. “I’ll never matter.”
He didn’t know how wrong he was. Takeru has a very special place in this universe. And he doesn’t know how special until he meets a beautiful girl who falls from the stars.
Hikari seems to have no memory of who she is (or, for that matter, where her clothes are). So Takeru takes her into his care. And that’s when things get nasty.
Hikari is not like other girls. Her name may mean “light,” but she has a dark history - and an even darker future. One that will change Takeru and his friends forever, and show them all just how beautiful yet cruel this universe can be!
Review
The name of this title is one that will strike some attention. ‘This Ugly Yet Beautiful World,’ I enjoy saying that for an unexplainable odd reason. Now to start off, let us mention the name Gainax. Alright now that the introductions are exchanged we head off to a world where as stated in the synopsis; a world where the main character Takeru feels that he has no influence on the world no matter what he does. To some of us, we can understand his state of mind. I mean, we are all just a small part of this highly populated planet we call Earth. It would require that one do something amazing in order to be noticed or world changing. With his laid back state of mind, one day as he heads off making a delivery for his job along with his best friend, a bolt of energy suddenly appears and comes right at them. As the bolt of energy got near, it rose up and separated into two. And as they all say, ‘The rest is history.’
When the two friends decide to look for the light that they saw, they were in for a surprise… a girl who looks exactly like the portrait artwork of Takeru’s dream girl appears from the light. And at that time, Takeru, not realizing what he was doing, says, ‘Hikari,’ which in turn gives the mysterious girl her name. The moment did not last very long as a monster appears from the forest and begins to attack Hikari. In the events that occur after this scene you will realize why the title is called, ‘This Ugly Yet Beautiful World.’ Out of nowhere, Takeru transforms into this super being and before it is said and done, Hikari shows a bit that she is not someone to be messed with either.
Of course, in the first volume we are just getting acquainted with the characters and nothing deep is being uncovered here, obviously. I do find that this show may cause some viewers to be confused as to what genre it really falls in. I mean, everything in the first thirty minutes or so of the show points it to the ‘average teen high school drama’ direction. But after getting a taste as to what ‘This Ugly Yet Beautiful World’ has to offer, you can make a claim that it will get some attention from anime fans. Especially those Gainax freaks that we seem to have everywhere :D.
Now as for the makeup of this piece, those of us who have seen one or two Gainax shows can already tell by the style that ‘This Ugly Yet Beautiful World’ is done, but for those who do not know, the animation is very clean and the characters are superbly designed; from the wardrobe to the features. I just have a difficult time admiring this anime at times, but who would not?, after seeing Hikari and the archaeologist, Jennifer Portman.
As for the acoustics go, the theme songs were great to listen to and the voice actors did not disappoint either, so we have a great balance of everything in this show. This was a nice pick up by ADV Films and a great job done by Gainax again.
The Breakdown
“This Ugly Yet Beautiful World” occupies a place in my heart. It is beautiful in form and the way it was delivered to me. If you are looking for a short series with a lot of great memories, give this anime a try. I would be surprised if you come back to me disappointed.