Within its first two minutes, SnO leaps from a wounded boy apologizing to a burning pile of children-corpses, to a young girl taking a bath while a Ranma 1/2 style ‘micro old woman’ talks to her about foreboding exorcist politics, to an over the top confession/rejection scene on a school playground, which ends with Rokuro running head-first into boobs.
SnO is the definition of jarring, awkwardly composed, tone deaf anime.
Even the character name text boxes are over active—they literally pulse into life, zoom the camera, wiggle, and morph out. It’s an interesting play on the convention of having characters named graphically and avoids expositional dialog but it feels out of place during the setup scenes.
What’s the gist? Rokuro was a super prodigy exorcist but he lost a lot of friends in a monster fight gone wrong and now he refuses to be an exorcist. Benio has been the best of the best in her small world outside Tokyo, where she’s been summoned for some meeting.
Several monster fights ensure, first at a train, then when kids are stolen by the river. Benio is super good but not good enough to beat the final boss, which Rokuro obviously beats with one punch, a bunch of angst, and roll credits.
The fighting is stylish and character designs are okay, if not slightly over designed and slightly generic. The way the monsters laugh and occasionally eat each other is pretty rocking too.
But SnO’s real hindrance is Rokuro & Benio: his obnoxious, girl crazy, ‘tragically wounded’ archetype isn’t likable and her stoic yet selfish, self-indulgent superiority complex isn’t likable either.
In short, SnO is paint-by-numbers anime. It’s well-built visually, it keeps the T&A relatively tame, and its easy to follow. But you’ve seen the show before and can predict almost every line of dialog as it comes—you could even snap your fingers on cue for the boss to arrive or Benio to bump into Rokuro for the first time or for Rokuro to win the day and say his pithy ending line.
If that’s good enough, that’s all it has to offer.
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 
Most of our long time readers know this but my scores are typically 1 point lower than the other reviewers. example: I would have rated Hundred a 5 because it was technically ‘bad’ from a structural stand point AND generic. SnO is certainly built better but also utterly generic/paint by numbers
LikeLike
Just watched it moments ago. Thanks, Franklin, for the quick review so I could go to happy hour!
I don’t just say this because I’m a little buzzed, but I quite enjoyed that. True to Oigakkosan’s rating M.O., I’d have given this a high 7; even a 7.5 if it existed.
Why? Well, put simply, I liked the way it moved so smoothly and effortlessly. Yes, the name graphics were brief stops in the momentum, but I thought the episode moved swiftly.
Being a big fan of Akane ga Kill!, I didn’t mind the clashing of moods as much; though I don’t think much about, say, Rokuro and his childhood friend Mayura, who is likely never going to get him to notice her feelings. She’s got cool hair, though!
Rokuro I could take or leave (though I could definitely leave his silly pointy teeth—those are a better suited design aspect for a minor antagonist/hoodlum), but I liked Benio.
She’s obviously very strong and tough, but due to all the responsibility thrust upon her shoulders, she can also tend to be a bit foolhardy, as we saw with her biting off more than she could chew.
Speaking of chewing, I really enjoyed how she spent all of Rokuro’s spending money on some obscure Japanese delicacy, along with her expressions of satisfaction, and snarling when Rokuro tried to take some of her food. Hey, she was hangry!
I don’t so much mind Rokuro saving Benio at the end because it’s clear these two are destined to be a pair of ass-kicking exorcists, and so Rokuro stepping in to take out the boss was merely doing his part; she did hers by kicking ass up to that point.
On that point: the combat does truly kick ass. I loved how FAST and decisive it was. I also like the clashing views on the powers both Benio and Rokuro possess. Benio sees her skills as tools to do the job she was born to do; Rokuro, because of some past trauma, sees his skills as a curse, even if they saved the day on this occasion.
Anyway, if Franklin doesn’t see the need to continue watching this, I’d be all to happy to step in to at least see where this goes for the next couple episodes.
LikeLike
Mayura’s hair and Rokuro’s freakish dolphin zipper teeth were both in my notes. I didn’t mention the hair because she’s not really in the episode and I had enough against Rokuro already ;-)
I gladly submit this show for Preston Review!
LikeLike
Props also to the quick “enemy defeated” animations with the pentagrams, which put a very satisfying exclamation point on kills (especially when Benio killed, like two dozen at once). Reminded me of similar treatment in Noragami–and the skull clouds in SNES Zelda, for that matter!
LikeLike
Having watched both the first episode and being a manga reader I will concede the pacing of this episode felt off, especially in comparison to the manga, but I find your character critics very rushed and more shallow then what you’re accusing our main protagonist of being when you and I both know there’s more context involved then that given the hints regarding Rokuro, and as magicalchurlsukui said there’s definitely a lot riding on Benio’s shoulders, she’s rarely arrogant/big headed, her attitude simply reflects her dedication and matter-of-fact manner toward her duty/responsibilities. And Rokuro’s teeth grew on me after awhile, they became an endearing quirk because it contrasted a tough and uncaring/exterior from someone who is in fact a very compassionate individual underneath it. For one thing he’s not actually girl crazy, let’s get that out of the way right now, everything he does is simply an escape and why he fails at the whether it be girls or career choices, because it reflects how none of those things are what he’s meant or truly wants to be. All I’ll say is that Rokuro is no worse then many other popular male shounen leads in other series, and I like him more then many of those others because he balances being both weak and strong better then most while showing how much he truly cares, not so much out of simple foolish idealism but from very relateable and human motivations.
LikeLike