What They Say:
While on their journey, Hampnie Hambart gets taken by a gang of deceased! Now it’s up to Ai, Julie and Scar to save him. Along the way, Ai comes to a stunning realization…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sunday Without God has provided a couple of intriguing episodes with the first two that we got so far as it introduced us to the basics of the world and the characters. While I’m not exactly a fan of Hampnie Hambart’s name nor that Ai is such a young character that has to deal with things, both of them provide something different when it comes to exploring this world. Hampnie’s experience in the world provides us the cynical view of things and brings in plenty of complications from those that he knows that they’ll run into, as we saw previously, while Ai has a more innocent approach to her while wanting to do the right thing as a gravekeeper in this very difficult world. Though some of the trappings of the series still aren’t laid out clearly and I’m hedging my bets with just how much will be explored, it’s trying it all together with some great animation to make it worth watching.
While the show has some of the usual trappings of a road trip series as the two main characters continue on, it works well since there are plenty of things to happen along the way. And Hampnie certainly has an amusing deadpan goal in is journey where it’s all about finding a way to die, something that all immortals want after a certain period of time. But what makes him engaging is watching him get intense over it, trying to get her to understand what it would be like to be the last human standing and to still wander the world with all of that laid around you. It may be hard for Ai to understand, but she is a pretty perceptive kid overall and that allows her to reach through to him in a way that most others may not be able to. Of course, he’s also a very reactive person and there’s a great bit of humor, unintentional, when they come under attack and he literally kicks her off the bridge in order to save her.
While Ai gets to spend some time with Julie, who clues her in on what it was that Hampnie actually did for her, we also get to see what’s going on with him and it’s pretty brutal. Captured and tortured by Hiko, he’s completely screwed over and it’s interesting to see him get into such a panic over it while Hiko comes off as that kind of flourished style of crazy. There’s some real fun with the way that Hiko deals with things and even Ai when she inserts herself into the situation, which allows us to see her in an action role in a really good way as she tries to save Hampnie. Bringing in Julie and Scar for it as well just adds to the fun of it all and shows an intriguing team that’s taking shape. What really becomes intriguing with it though is how it handles Hampnie as it plays out and we see his life pass before us, which alters how the road trip will progress and also shows some really well done closure, something I wasn’t sure that we’d really get with this series.
In Summary:
Though aspects of the episode are predictable early on, it also takes some chances and changes things up as it moves on. And that’s one of those things that will make this a really good series because it’s not engaged in the status quo as it deals with death and all the emotions that comes with it. The focus on Hampnie in this episode is definitely a positive and by building out the cast slowly but surely and keeping them in the wings, it allows the real focus to be on Ai as her emotions are what really drives it in the end. The series has been intriguing from the start but it’s with this episode that it stakes out its own ground and really says “Here I am, pay attention to me.” And you should.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
What to you mean only two episodes. I have seen the third episode already! And it really is an amazing show. I can’t believe what happens to Hampnie Hambart…. I cried my eyes out in the third episode… I cannot believe that he just goes off like that! Maybe he will come back in the future episodes to come… Any who I am looking forward to this anime.
Honestly, I don’t like this anime. When I found it I quickly fell in love with the art,music,storytelling,AND the amazing two characters. I loved it, but seeing Hamphanie die only TWO EPISODES(or was it 3?) in to the show surprised me. Not to say that it wasn’t done well,it just didnt and still does not make sense to me. He’s suppose to be immortal for a reason. What’s the point of introducing that concept in the plot if your just going to kill him off? I’ve dropped it because of that.