Shoumetsu Toshi (AFTERLOST) Episode 2 Review: Sacrifice

The second episode was hard to follow. Full of cliches, unnecessary action, and a lack of information, AFTERLOST is in the limits of decending into chaos. I don’t know what to expect, since it seems quite bland. But, since it’s been only 2 episodes, there is hope that Madhouse will make up. So, let’s see what happened!

Plot

Yuri is saved once again. More characters appear out of nowhere without explanations and their motives are still unknown. The action is meaningless and continuous and the episode doesn’t seem to stop for a single breath. I have faith in Madhouse, but this is going way too fast. We don’t get to know the characters and their personalities seem quite predictable. Their causes aren’t even mentioned (except Yuri’s) and their actions make me wonder. Why instead of shooting the guys with the sticks, they ran away? GUN > STICK! It’s called common sense.

All I have is questions. Yuri calls Akira to protect her, so the knife-guy is summoned by someone too? I hope to find out soon… What made me sad in this episode is that Kouta was left alone to die. They could have shot him to end his torture sooner, but no! They left him there to torment. That’s what friends are for, according to AFTERLOST. Everyone seems to have collaborated with everyone in the past, and it will be interesting if we find out more details. I haven’t played the video game that the series is based on, but I am willing to give it a try in order to discover the plot. This is mediocre anime -at least up to this point- and it doesn’t meet my expectations.

The action is good, when it is in the right amounts and combined with an alluring plot, but not when it is given straight ahead without anything else to count on. It needs soul!

Episode Highlights

Shootings: Off-camera shootings. Used.3 times. *eyes rolling* It would be a positive highlight if it was just 1 time, but now it feels like trolling. But, anyways, it caught my attention.

Crazy knife guy: This dude came out of nowhere to cause a scene. We may not know who he is (like with most of the characters), yet he got style and fabulous white hair.

The running: Ok, I hope I am not the only one who noticed! What is wrong with the running? It seems like frames poorly combined together, but at least it had me laughing like crazy.

Themes & Trivia

Madhouse, who has produced Death Note and Paprika, doesn’t usually let the hype die so fast, so there may be a big surprise ahead.

As for the music, it is composed by Kenji Kawai, who has made soundtracks for Ip Man, Eden of the East, and many more. He knows how to make the feelings more intense and the sound effects are pretty impressive during the series.

Comments

I had higher expectations from this anime and I was hoping that everything would be more clear in the second episode. But no, queries are still left unanswered while the continuous off-screen shooting was overused. I was waiting for some explanations, but all I got was pointless fighting between characters I don’t actually care about, because I DON’T KNOW THEM YET. For the love of God, we need a backstory! Luckily the official summary explains one or two things, otherwise AFTERLOST would have been totally incomprehensible.

‘What the hell is this’

If the production won’t add a storyline, this anime will be a total disaster. 12 episodes are listed and the clock is ticking. I hope for a positive twist and for some explanations. What is your opinion about AFTERLOST?

Don’t forget to check the rest of our Spring 2019 reviews. AFTERLOST is also part of our weekly anime previews.