This, of course, clashes horribly with the 1:45 air time.

@Michael: I only noticed the origins of the OAV after a bit of background reading (since I know precisely nothing about it before watching the TV show). I’m still unconvinced by the series, but according to the next episode preview Interesting Things will start happening from #6 onwards. It’s still verging on droppage but I’m willing to give it another chance!

And as jaded and cynical as I’ve gotten lately, I still thought Suzume crossing the river with her boyfriend was quite heart warming. Maybe even quaint? It’s not like they met drunk at a party and declared that they were in “love.” So, they’re already better off than most fools I know. Plus I give them points for originality, if anything.

I can’t help but think that these 5 episodes could have been stretched out to 13 episodes and it would be a much better show; it feels like we’re getting a greatly condensed version of the story.

I normally don’t call that a deadly sin of anime. There are much much worse things you could say about a series. Like the opposite: long and drawn-out but with little plot and nothing to say.

@Sorrow-kun: I’m starting to get the feeling that this was KyoAni’s demonstration of their technical ability as opposed to an epic yarn – that would certainly explain why I’m impressed with the visuals but like you unsure if I actually care about what’s going on. Since they’re revisiting it and continuing it in TV format though I’m cautiously optimistic that when the OAVs were planned there was a longer plotline devised and shelved for later use, which could be what we’re seeing here. I hope that’s the case, anyway.

@zzeroparticle: don’t worry about not ‘getting’ it – I had to look up the show on the AnimeSuki forum, and it wasn’t until reading the Munto thread that I came across any explanation for the significance of the river crossing segment! With any luck episode #5 will show more convincing drama in the human world and go easy on the supernatural battles, or at least put them into some sort of context. If that doesn’t happen I can see myself dropping it.

@steelbound: As far as I remember the first half of Escaflowne was excellent and taking the mediocre video transfer of the UK discs into account I don’t think it’s aged badly at all (Yoko Kanno soundtrack too!). What Escaflowne has over Munto however is the convincing nature of the politics – iirc Hitomi is in the middle of a huge conflict that draws you in. Munto isn’t so much a knock-off as something that might be aspiring to something of such epic scope, but it doesn’t have such a solid plot behind it. Point taken with Toradora! though – that series is as great as it is through the execution of what we’ve all seen so many times before…and yet it’s so full of warmth and humour. I’ll be blogging about it soon! ^_^

I’ve noticed other people that want to justify their hate for the show compare it to Escaflowne and say it’s just a knockoff. I haven’t seen Escaflowne but when I checked I saw the original anime is 13 years old. If the last show this can be compared to is 13 years old, it should be a compliment. Even an awesome show like Toradora is of a show type that we several times a year and Toradora’s claim to fame is just being one of the most polished and well-executed attempts to date.

That said, this doesn’t exactly read as a ringing endorsement. But a “misstep” (to use your word on twitter) from Kyoto could be a better watch than a resounding success from others, no?