Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Synopsis:

What if everything you had, everyone you knew, was gone in an instant? Would you actually miss them? Would you realize you were taking everything for granted? Maybe the real person behind your mask would finally reveal itself when faced with this dilemma. These are the questions self absorbed little brat Mirai Onozawa asks herself when her and her younger brother Yuki are caught in a massive earthquake while visiting Odaiba for a robot exhibition. The little boy that she found to once be annoying becomes a beacon of strength for her to return home with through a city ravaged by mother nature.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 11


Review:

Here we have a show taking on somewhat of a different angle in terms of storytelling. What we get is a show that tells us about how mankind works together when opposing an uncontrollable force, the Earth itself. As you watch you see everyone does what they can to help each other survive in a time of desperation and also explores the outcome of such devastation. But that's not Tokyo Magnitudes main focus either as it also shows how these turn of events affect one girl and her self-centeredness when she's given the mass destruction she wished would happen for so long. Her outlook on life changes as she realizes she needs to open up and rely on others and also that life at home isn't so bad. As the turn of events unfold she starts to regret her attitude towards her family, and now the young little brother she found so annoying is now her only reason to return home. At first, I completely despised Mirai and just wished someone would slap the shit out of her but as the show progressed you actually begin to understand her bitterness somewhat when she begins to realize how unwarranted it was. Mirai's character growth is amazingly well portrayed and will have an impact on the audience in that you just can't bring yourself to hate this girl like you once did in the very beginning.

Now if you're thinking "An Earthquake destroys Tokyo? Awesome! Let the body-count rise!" Let me stop you right there because that's not what the show is about. It's more like about what happens *after* the Earthquake and how people deal with it. No one person is looking out for themselves but rather what they can do to work together to survive against an un-opposable force. What you get is a remarkable, yet sad, coming of age story of human survival. An excellent and short anime that is worth it's small time investment

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (opening)

Recommendation: |High|