And who said it was bad to play with fire?
il sole penetra le illusioni~ Day Break Illusion, besides having a really long title, looks like it’s going to be the latest addition to the magical girl genre that will be a bit darker in tone. The basic gist of the story is that a group of young girls (as usual) are bestowed with magical powers drawn from nature and expected to fight against the darkness/evil that manifests itself in their world as a result of some opposing force we have yet to see. Though the episode ended up leaving me with more questions than answers when it came to what exactly was going on, it was certainly an enjoyable watch that left me wanting more.
Focusing on the last, unawakened member of the main cast, Akari Taiyou, the first episode mainly deals with what immediately precedes her awakening. It starts out rather lightly with Akari happily running around her town, her only goal in life to help other people through her fortune telling and, in general, be the sweet, peppy kid whose life always seems to fall apart in these types of shows. Things quickly start going downhill as her cousin is increasingly consumed by the jealously she feels towards her as a result of her popularity. From this point on, the episode heads into more interesting, albeit, mildly confusing territory that ends with Akari able to use her sun tarot card powers and saved by her future teammates. Admittedly, until about the half-way point, the episode is a bit boring to watch because nothing much happens, but once the episode gets going, things move quickly and the action picks up, giving me hope that with the introductory stuff out of the way, the story will only get better from here.
Though I think the story we’ve been given at this point is pretty interesting and has some potential to turn into something good, a large part of that will probably depend on how the cast shapes up. I hate to say it, but, at this point, no one’s exactly knocking me down with their charisma or personality. I don’t dislike anyone, per say, it’s just that the people who have popped up are a bit boring to watch, Akari included. Then again, this is only the first episode, and, as a person who tends to think things can get better with time, I’m hoping that the future will give me semi-compelling mains.
In terms of animation, Day Break Illusion is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, everyone moves pretty nicely, and the fight scenes, especially, was really well done and fun to watch. On the other, I’m not the biggest fan of the character designs. In particular, the way everyone’s head was disproportionately larger than their body, as well as how awkward boobs tended to look on people bugged me a bit. The episode also plays with camera effects a bit, making some scenes reminiscent of a horror movie.
In the end, I think I’ll be sticking with Day Break Illusion until the ends. I’ve been effectively hooked and look forward to seeing where the show goes from here.
This series is streaming on Crunchyroll.
