Somehow, I doubt you can explain all these plot-holes in a mere 20 minutes, Dee
- Last week, Ai discovered that Dee fell out of a window to her death, and her death triggered the world of Class 3-4 to reset every year.
- Summary: As Dee and Ai plan to tell Alis the details surrounding Dee’s death and how it directly causes the time loop everyone is stuck in. Instead of showing up to tell Alis about the loop, Dee decides to stop the loop herself by killing herself all over again in hopes it helps the other students of class 3-4 realize that they are stuck in a loop, which is the only way to break it. She is almost successful in her plan when suddenly Alis and Ai rush to her rescue. Alis, Ai, and the students help catch Dee before she can jump out of the window too far, and Alis then reveals to everyone how it was him who fell out of the window on that day instead of Dee. This revelation causes the loop to die out and slowly disintegrate the town with it.
Well what? You’re looking kinda crazy there, Dee
- My Take: Well, we’re finally at the ending of Sunday Without God. I’m sure that I’ve probably made a few enemies with my harsh criticisms of this show…but that’s all behind us, right? Anyway, this week’s episode, Class 3-4 III is obviously a continuation and conclusion on the Class 3-4 arc, which was very slowly paced as a whole. I wouldn’t rank it as my favorite arc (Ortus can’t be topped), but it wasn’t really too bad. My problem with it, however, is how it didn’t feel like it fit into the story at all.
- More guns in classrooms. Still doesn’t sit well with me.
- As a finale, this episode was very disappointing. It was more of a wrap up of the Class 3-4 arc then it was of a series finale. This revelation is highly disappointing in the fact that every arc’s end was basically a “series finale”. So if you were expecting any information on the fate of the people of Ortus or Goran Academy (or even the dead who can’t die (YEAH, remember when that plot point actually meant something?!)), then too bad.
- Everyone got all choked up and teary-eyed at the end, so I know that we were all supposed to feel some sort of emotional response from that…but without any sort of emotional investment in any of the characters, it’s hard to sit there and reflect on the emotions they’re showing. It’s like somebody walks up to you and just says, “You’re supposed to feel sad right now.” Your first inclination would be to question why. That’s exactly how these emotional scenes were for me.
It’s Julie with his weekly cameo!
- So it turns out Alis was the one who really fell out of the window in the first place, causing the loop. This concept is sort of interesting, but it didn’t really make any sense. Also, when the students of class 3-4 wished that the day Alis fell from the window never happened, why did it happen? What made them so special? These questions will never be answered, and that’ what made me so mad at this episode!
Even the characters in the background can’t believe what’s going on in this episode
- Honestly, I’ve never seen a show have so many loose ends not be tied up at the end. Whatever happened to the dead who can’t die? Whatever happened to the people of Ortus? It seems to me that this show should have just been about one of the arcs it chose, just fleshed out more to allow time for development. In the end, this was such an uninteresting episode to end the series on.
Series Review
The biggest pain of being a reviewer is trying to compact everything you’ve seen over the course of a season down to a couple of paragraphs. You have to look at the good, the bad, the funny, the sad, the unbearable, and everything in between and see how all of them impact the outcome and the impression they gave on you as a whole. Sunday Without God, despite its flaws, seemed to have all of the aforementioned. But that hard part with this series is whether or not any of the good, the bad, etc. really changes my opinion on how the series played out. And honestly, after a while, I forgot about all of these inflections and just wanted to get the series done with.
A huge problem I had watching this series was in the way the story is told. It’s not straightforward, however it’s a compilation of arcs. I found this style of storytelling to be disruptive. Another problem I had is that none of the arcs seemed to ever find the finish line. All of the ideas eventually got abandoned by the end of the arc! When a show just throws a curveball and doesn’t answer any of the questions you have in the end, then the show just becomes a mechanism to turn your brain off for twenty-or-so minutes and enjoy the pictures on screen. And believe me, this series was not adequate brain-fodder.
Looking for the good in every series, despite preconceived notions, is always a standard I try my hardest to hold myself to. So on the flip side, the premise of Sunday Without God was actually highly fascinating. A world where the dead don’t die could have made for a potentially great series with limitless possibilities. One portion of the series I frequently gave praise to was the Ortus arc. Although it had some rocky moments in it, it was by far the best addition to the show. If I were to recommend aspects of Sunday Without God, I would definitely tell you to just watch the Ortus arc.
In the end, though, I found Sunday Without God to be a forgettable anime. Horribly underdeveloped characters were in the limelight and didn’t deserve to be there while the characters who actually had interesting, albeit vague, development were pushed aside. Not only that, but the plot of the series seemed to change with every arc. Some would argue that it gives the show more dimensions, but I would argue that it makes for a disorienting experience which goes against the very essence of basic storytelling. Clearly, this show just was not made for me, and I can’t find it in my heart to recommend it.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them!
