Amagi Brilliant Park

Seiya Kanie, a smart and extremely narcissistic high school student, believes that the beautiful but reserved Isuzu Sento has invited him on a date at an amusement park called Amagi Brilliant Park. Much to his chagrin, not only is the location a run-down facility, the supposed date is merely a recruitment tour where Sento and Princess Latifa Fleuranza, the owner of the theme park, ask him to become the park's new manager. Their cause for desperation? As stipulated in a land-use contract, Amagi has less than three months to meet a quota of 500,000 guests, or the park will be closed for good and the land redeveloped by a greedy real-estate company.

Seiya is won over by the revelation that Amagi is no ordinary amusement park; many of its employees are Maple Landers—mysterious magical beings who live in the human world and are nourished by the energy created by people having fun. Entrusted with the hopes and dreams of this far-off enchanted land, Seiya must now use his many skills to bring Amagi back on its feet, or watch it crumble before his eyes.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sento, Isuzu Main

Kakuma, Ai Japanese

Kanie, Seiya Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Fleuranza, Latifa Main

Fujii, Yukiyo Japanese

Tiramie Supporting

Nonaka, Ai Japanese

Sylphy Supporting

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Moffle Supporting

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Salama Supporting

Tsuda, Minami Japanese

Muse Supporting

Aisaka, Yuuka Japanese

Macaron Supporting

Shiraishi, Ryouko Japanese

Kobori Supporting

Mikami, Shiori Japanese

Tanaka, Gou Producer

Chiba, Makoto Producer

Takanashi, Mai Assistant Producer

Takemoto, Yasuhiro Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Aug 28, 2024

Yvendous

Recommended

If you're looking for a funny show with a good vibe this is it. "A magical theme park behind the scenes" gives opportunities for some interesting writing, though not anything particularly special. I could also say that the design for the park and even the mascots are a little uninspired. I wouldn't go so far as to say "bland" but it feels a little low effort compared to real theme parks.

One of the few shows to make me laugh; most interactions with the mascot characters were contextually funny and executed well. That being said I didn't find the supporting woman of much value in the ... show or funny for that matter.

Also it's one of those animes were I enjoyed the opening music even though it's a bit out there.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Yvendous (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Nov 23, 2024

Joe_Devaney

Mixed Feelings

Overview:
"Amagi Brilliant Park" is an anime that's particularly hard to categorise. It's not really an isekai, since the fantastical world it takes place in actually exists on Earth. It's not really an adventure series, since the majority of the story takes place in a single location. However, it's not really a slice-of-life series either, as the crazy antics the characters get up are a matter of life and death for the majority of them. The end result is a series that doesn't really know what it is, and while certainly enjoyable, it never really makes the most out of any of its parts.

Story (6/10):
The series ... opens with Seiya Kanye, a highly intelligent but very egotistical teenager, getting forcibly dragged to the titular Amagi Brilliant Park by a young woman named Isuzu Sento. And by "forcibly", I mean she literally points a huge, ridiculous-looking gun at his head and even fires it to get him to accept. Once there, however, Seiya quickly learns that this is no ordinary amusement park- rather, it's staffed by fantastical beings (including Isuzu herself) who hail from a magical realm called Maple Land. Soon enough, Seiya meets Princess Latifah, the ruler of Maple Land who informs him that the park has been underperforming for the past several years and if they don't mange to get 250,000 visitors in the next 3 months, the park will be forced to close its doors forever. And if that's not enough, all of the park's inhabitants thrive off a life force known as Animus, which on Earth can only be obtained by the visitors having fun, which means that if the park closes, all the beings who live there will disappear forever. After a fair amount of reluctance, Seiya ultimately accepts the position as manager of the park in order to attract the visitors they need to by the deadline.

The problem with the story is that it ultimately fails to be engaging. The fact that the premise is about a guy trying to prevent an amusement park from closing means that it could easily be an in-depth study about how difficult it is to run a business, but sadly that's not the case. The strategies Seiya comes up with aren't huge, revolutionary ideas that only a genius like him could conjure up. No, he comes up with really basic business strategies that anyone with even the slightest amount of knowledge in the field could come up with, like closing the park temporarily for renovations, extending the opening hours, reducing the prices on everything and forcing the staff to clean up their broken, ugly and frequently dangerous attractions. The fact that such fundamental ideas never once occurred to these fantastical beings just begs the question as to why the park didn't shut down years ago, the obvious answer being that we'd have no story then.

Even beyond that, however, the whole "save the park" plotline is only front and centre in the beginning of the series and near the end of it. In-between that, the majority of episodes are just self-contained stories where the main cast run into some kind of strange inhabitant of the park or get in to some other kind of crazy situation. While an episodic format isn't inherently a bad thing, the problem is that the episodes vary wildly in quality and I never felt like it was executed seamlessly, since some of them ultimately contribute nothing to the story as a whole. Don't get me wrong, though. There is some good storytelling to be found here, particularly near the end of the series where some major revelations are made. Even then, though, the main conflict of the series is ultimately resolved in the second-to-last episode, with the last episode and OVA just being pointless filler episodes, making me wonder why they even existed at all.

Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"Amagi Brilliant Park" was animated by- wait for it- Kyoto Animation, and it shows as it is a really good-looking series. The characters are all very well-drawn with a ton of variety in the designs and the environments look fantastic as well. Even so, the animations are somewhat stiff in places, and overall it falls a bit short of standing aside KyoAni's best efforts, including "Kanon", "Love, Chunibyou & Other Delusions" and especially "Clannad". Even so, there's no denying that the visuals are the show's greatest strength.

Sound & Dialogue (8/10):
"Amagi Brilliant Park"'s soundtrack definitely isn't anything special. The opening and ending themes are both fairly forgettable and while there are some decent tracks that play during the episodes themselves, there weren't any that I ended up desperate to know the names of or anything. The voice acting is kind of hit-and-miss as well; Adam Gibbs, Molly Searcy and Cindy Lou Parker (who sounds suspiciously similar to long-time veteran Monica Rial) all do great jobs as Seiya, Isuzu and Latifah, respectively, but there are some other voices I really wasn't a fan of. Prime examples include Moffle, Macaron and Tiramie, three characters who have high-pitched childlike voices even though they're explicitly confirmed to be adult men. Adult men who look like cute animal mascots, sure, but adult men nonetheless.

Characters (7/10):
One of the first things we learn about Seiya Kanye is that he has a superiority complex, meaning he constantly brags about how awesome he is. Naturally, this gets on the nerves of a lot of people, including Isuzu, and it's implied to be the reason he doesn't have any friends before working at the park. Even so, while he can certainly be annoying at times, I didn't find him insufferable, especially since many of his reactions to things are less him being egotistical and more how a human being would react e.g. not instantly agreeing to help save the park after the less-than-ethical ways Isuzu attempted to recruit him. Furthermore, he does warm up to Isuzu, Latifah and the rest of the park's staff quickly enough, with the exception of Moffle, and the feeling is mutual there. The real problem with him is that several aspects of his character, like him being a former child actor, are almost completely unexplored, which is bad since it's heavily implied that that's the very reason he's so messed up. Additionally, he obtains the ability to read minds pretty early on, but he uses it so rarely that I honestly forgot he even had it for a while. In short, while he's certainly not a bad protagonist, he ultimately comes off as a poor man's Lelouch vi Britannia.

If I were to choose a favourite character, it would have to be Isuzu Sento, a former member of Maple Land's Royal Guard and the acting manager of the park until Seiya took over. Much like Laura Bodewig from "Infinite Stratos", Isuzu can easily be described as a female version of Sousuke Sagara from "Full Metal Panic!" (which makes sense since the novels of both series were written by the same person). In the same vein as Sousuke, Isuzu is a skilled and stoic soldier who has been dropped in a casual environment and due to her upbringing, suffers from severe social ineptness and usually resorts to her weapons to deal with any problem she faces, which is used for both humour and drama alike. In fact, the very reason she threatened Seiya with her gun to get him to save the park is because she genuinely didn't know that was a less-than-appropriate way to ask for someone's help (that and she was desperate and had to get him to accept no matter what). Naturally, her lack of social skills makes her a terrible manager, hence why she gets Seiya to take over. While she can be very blunt and violent and often makes things worse with her actions, I overall found her easier to put up with than Seiya, since she often doesn't know when she's being rude or offensive, unlike Seiya who knows full well he's being rude but doesn't care. As a whole, though, she comes up as little better than a shadow of her male counterpart, lacking both the complexity and development that Sousuke had.

The third and final main character is Princess Latifah, the actual manager of Amagi Brilliant Park who is unable to perform her duties due to her poor health. In contrast to Seiya's narcissism and Isuzu's bluntness, Latifah is consistently a very kind and friendly girl, frequently showing more concern for the mascots working under her than she is about any of her own problems. Unfortunately, she doesn't get nearly as much focus in the story as either Isuzu or Seiya, with the true importance to her character not being revealed until towards the end of the series. As for the rest of the park's staff (and there's an awful lot of them), some get their time in the spotlight, while others are pretty much just there and contribute very little. On the other hand, there are some characters that I felt got way too much screen time, most notably the three main park mascots Moffle, Macaron and Tiramie, all of whom I found to be very annoying. And while Moffle becomes a lot more likeable as the series progresses, the other two are little more than annoying, perverted comic relief, with Tiramie in particular frequently proving to be more trouble than he's worth (though he does end up on the butt end of many jokes in the series, which helps to balance this out). All in all, the cast of characters is not great, which is an unfortunate consequence of having so many of them in a 13-episode anime.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
The stakes of the series may be extremely high, but "Amagi Brilliant Park" is a comedy at heart. While some of the humour wasn't really to my liking, a good portion of it was, particularly any of it that involves Isuzu in some capacity. What's more is that while the series isn't afraid to get dark at times, particularly towards the end, it nevertheless maintains a hopeful tone throughout, and you almost never have any doubt that things will turn out alright in the end.

Overall:
"Amagi Brilliant Park" isn't really like any anime you've seen before, but that comes at a cost of it failing to put forward any genuine identity. While the visuals are great and there are some pretty hilarious moments, the soundtrack is completely average, the characters range from likeable-but-underdeveloped to just plain unlikeable and the story is nowhere near as smart as it could have been. All of this results in a series that is fairly difficult to recommend, and as far as KyoAni works go, this one ranks among the bottom of the list.

Score:
6+8.5+8+7+7.5=37/50=7.4/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Joe_Devaney (121)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Sep 9, 2023

Wolxies

Not Recommended

A big disappointment. The universe and story are interesting and the anime is quite funny, but it has major flaws that I suppose (and hope) are due to the date it was released, which results in a lot of uncomfortable scenes.

The female characters are only there for fan service and/or to be helped by the main character and/or for the romance with the main male character, and in the last episode the adult women are reduced to the status of mother or housewife...

The redundant male side characters are perverts and appear very often only to objectify female characters. There's even one (an adult, of course) ... who fails to rape a high-school girl by possessing a high-school boy's body. This character is even disappointed. This is never questioned and the friend who defends the victim is treated as if she didn't care about her friend but just wanted to make herself look good (it can be seen as logic in the scene, but any sane person would never have resolved the situation like that).


- Version française -

Une grande déception. L'univers et l'histoire sont intéressants et l'anime pas mal drôle mais il possède de gros défauts que je suppose (et espère surtout) sont dus à la date à laquelle il est sorti ce qui donne beaucoup de scènes malaisantes.

Les personnages féminins ne sont là que pour le fan service et/ou être aidée par le personnage principal et/ou pour la romance avec le personnage masculin principal et dans le dernier épisode les femmes adultes en sont carrément réduites à un statut de mère ou ménagère...

Les personnages secondaires masculins redondants sont des pervers et apparaissent très souvent pour seulement objectifier les personnages féminins. Il y en a même un (adulte évidemment), qui échoue à violer une lycéenne en possédant le corps d'un lycéen. Ce personnage en est même déçu. Ca n'est jamais remis en cause et l'amie qui défend la victime est traitée comme si elle ne s'inquiétait pas pour son amie mais voulait juste se faire une bonne image (ça peut passer comme logique dans la scène mais toute personne saine d'esprit n'aurait jamais résolu la situation comme ça).

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Wolxies (4)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Yasuhiro Takemoto Directed Anime Watchlist

by TheCoolGuy82

18 Entries · 3 Restacks

J-Novel Club Anime

by cadero2

50 Entries · 33 Restacks

Anime-like Anime

by DreckDued

20 Entries · 12 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for December

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for December. Week 1: December 3 - 9 Anime Releases Boku ga Aishita Subete no Kimi e + Kimi wo Ais...read more

Dec 4, 2024 3:13 PM by Aiimee | Discuss (0 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for February

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for February Week 1: February 7 - 13 Anime Releases Beelzebub Part 2 D-Frag! Complete Collection Blu-ray &...read more

Feb 6, 2017 11:41 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (7 comments)

	Poll: Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Oct 6, 2014	396 replies	by jojosick12 »» Jan 13, 8:40 AM
	Poll: Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Nov 20, 2014	230 replies	by GlennMagusHarvey »» Dec 23, 2024 12:51 AM
	Poll: 10 years in the making tsubagakure - Nov 9, 2024	12 replies	by MewsicMagic »» Nov 21, 2024 7:10 AM
	Poll: Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Dec 18, 2014	278 replies	by kagamiiin »» Nov 10, 2024 4:40 AM
	Poll: Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Oct 9, 2014	213 replies	by kagamiiin »» Oct 10, 2024 2:29 PM

What Kyoto Animation Means to Us

In loving memory of those who lost their lives.

by Shymander

149,101 views

Spoiler

The Many Expressions of Anime Faces

Anime faces come with a huge variety of expressions. From the bizarre to the realistic, feel the depth of emotion you can achieve when you throw physical restrictions out the window.

by Littoface

306,501 views

CollectionArt