“I’ll save the world with my song.”
What they say:
In the future where robots are made to serve humans, the A.I. Vivy is created to save humanity with her singing. When another A.I. who introduces himself as Matsumoto warns of a coming apocalyptic war between A.I. and humans, the two set out to change history.
The Review:
Content (Please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Vivy was one of my most hotly anticipated anime of the season, and for good reason. It’s an original anime with a story by the Re:Zero writers Tappei Nagatsuki (light novel author) and Eiji Umehara (anime scriptwriter) and animated by Studio Wit. So far, it’s almost lived entirely up to the hype and then some. It’s a beautifully crafted story about A.I. and humans with all the heartache and passion you could expect from the Re:Zero writers.
The first two episodes comprise of Vivy being given her mission and being tasked to save a member of the Japanese government as to prevent the passage of a law that would grant A.I. human rights. First, there’s an opening scene of a bloody battle between humans and A.I. before we flashback to the present where Vivy is singing to almost no people. Matsumoto arrives and informs her that in 100 years there will be a war between A.I. and humans that must be prevented at all cost. Initially, Vivy refuses but reluctantly agrees when she notices one of Matsumoto’s predictions about the government official, Assemblyman Youichi Aikawa, come true. This all happens within episode one and much of the dialogue is exposition to set this premise up. There isn’t much going on besides the characters introducing themselves and Vivy narrating the purpose of A.I. to the audience.
The second episode involves a rescue attempt to save Aikawa from an anti-A.I. terrorist group known as Toak. In Matsumoto’s history, it is Aikawa’s death that moves the rest of the government to spring into action and pass his law in his honor. That’s why Matsumoto and Vivy fight to keep him alive. There’s some flashy animation here where Vivy can really go at it against the member of Toak and Wit’s animation is scrumptious eye candy for anyone who’s a fan of action and animation put together. The cool blues associated with these fight scenes and Vivy, in general, are perfect for conveying the emotional ties within her system. She’s calm, yet feels sympathy for others. humans and A.I. alike, and feels sadness, if such a thing is possible.
Episodes three and four pick up 15 years after Vivy saves Aikawa. Matsumoto comes with another task to stop the upcoming war. Vivy needs to prevent the space hotel Sunrise from crashing onto Earth. The crash, which causes human casualties, gives rise to anti-A.I. resentment in Matsumoto’s history. She sneaks onto the hotel as an employee two days before the crash is scheduled to happen. The prime suspect is Estella, who controls the ship. However, the main culprit is actually Elizabeth, Estella’s twin A.I. from a series of sister experiments. After the project to clone an A.I. and its capabilities is deemed a failure, Elizabeth is disposed of, or so Estella had thought. In fact, Elizabeth had been taken in by Toak, who ordered her to crash the hotel. Vivy and the real Estella encounter Elizabeth and fight her. There’s plenty of more fancy action and footwork here as Vivy and Elizabeth battle it out.
After they battle it out, Estella and Vivy make it to the control room only to find out it’s too late to save the hotel. Elizabeth, now in her senses, works with Estella to right the wrongs by evacuating the guests and taking apart the hotel in space so it can burn in the atmosphere. Estella and Elizabeth sing a duet for the evacuated guests and Vivy as they burn up in the atmosphere. While the hotel isn’t saved, the passengers are and another singularity point that leads to the war is averted and Matsumoto again leaves. It’s a touching moment, but I can’t help but think of the impact this moment might have had if Vivy was the one singing.
That brings me to the one troubling concern I have about this series so far. The premise relies on Vivy saving the world with her singing but we’re already 4 episodes in without much of any singing at all from Vivy herself. There’s a worry in my mind that we’ll get to the climactic moment where Vivy sings a world-saving song, only for its impact to be blunted by the fact that we don’t see her improve or use her voice in other meaningful, smaller-scale ways. It’s not a love letter to music in the same way that Carole and Tuesday by Shinichiro Watanabe is, at least so far. It’s more concerned with dazzling action and heavy themes about how A.I. and humans coexist with each other. That’s fine, but does lessen one big selling point of the series. That’s really the only thing holding this series back so far. It has gorgeous animation, creative setting, and deep themes about human understanding and relationships to machines. But needs that extra push from its titular character and give us the music it needs to save the world. Hopefully, we get more of that in future episodes. Either way, I’ll be staying for the ride. There are plenty of other things going for this series, after all.
In summary:
Vivy – Fluorite Eye’s Song is an enchantingly beautiful series about humans and A.I. both in terms of animation and story. It has all the potential to be a powerful contender for anime of the season, or even of the year. There’s animation, action, thrills, tears, and of course, singing. But to fully make use of that potential, it needs to put its main character to a bit more creative work. Regardless, though, even if you’re not in for the world-saving music, there’s plenty else to get you hooked.
Grade: A
Streamed by: Funimation
