Title: Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou aka Day Break Illusion
Episodes: 12 or 13
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Supernatural, Magic
In a world plagued by the Daemonia, creatures that take advantage of the negative emotions of people, transform them into monsters. Girls from 22 special bloodlines are chosen to wield the power of the Elemental Tarot and confront them.
The story follows Taiyo Akari, a 12 year girl who becomes the wielder of card "The Sun" and joins the mysterious organization "Sefiro Fiore" to confront the Daemonia along other card wielders. However, it does not take long for Akari to learn that with their duty comes an unbearable guilt, as to defeat the Daemonia, the humans aflicted by them must perish as well. (From Wiki)
The Anime
This is one of the anime that I picked up during the summer anime release and I'm glad that I picked this up. The opening is sung by LiSA - "Träumerei" and that was the very reason why I wanted to watch this anime. Kitmura Eri (VA of Saya from Blood + and Kawashima Ami from Toradora!) is also one of the seiyuus - another reason why I started watching this original anime series.
At first, I was a little sceptical when I saw the promotional posters. Little information was given about what kind of show it was and I even dismissed it before the fact that LiSA sang the opening caught my eye.
Story
At first glance, it seemed like a typical Mahou Shoujo anime and I got that same impression after I started watching the first episode. Though it is a Mahou Shoujo anime (with many cute girls), it's rather dark at times, very much like Puella Magi Madoka Magica. (that show is awesome btw)
The violence is nothing to laugh at, since it can be bloody at times. The show targets the human psyche, about human emotions and feelings - usually negative and focuses how such negative feelings can develop into something scary. The nature of Daemonia is rather complex and as mentioned, in order to kill those monsters, you will have to kill it's not-so-human hosts as well. And that, clearly, doesn't sit well with our Protagonist, Taiyo Akari. She's this peace loving girl who's super optimistic and doesn't really want to kill Daemonias (since they were humans) when she found out the truth. Even more so when she starts hearing the voices of the Daemonias when she's fighting them.
To spice things up, in the first episode, she inadvertently killed her cousin who turned into a Daemonia when she "awakened" when her cousin attacks her. Her existence is then forgotten. (When Daemonias are killed, it's as if they never existed. Their whole existence is erased.) However, during one of the later fights, her memory returns and of course, it traumatises her, causing her to run away (that was when she found out the truth about Daemonias previously being human)
Character Design
Seems like when they transform, their hairstyle changes as well. In Akari's case, her hair becomes longer and more fiery. Her bangs covers her right eye, giving off a cool vibe or rather, image. Her voice is deeper than usual as well and these changes are a contrast to her soft and sweet voice as well as short hair.
Other characters seemed to have their own pasts as well, though not explicitly shown to us. We get image and scenes here and there but all those pieces have yet to be puzzled together into a story. Hence, this makes the anime more than what it seems. Moving on...
Anyways, do give this anime a try! :) :) If you don't like it...then maybe Mahou Shoujo ain't your thing. But do give this a chance. It has potential to become a good anime but unfortunately, it is a little underrated.
By the way, if you aren't 17 and above, you might wanna reconsider your choice in watching this. (Due to the violence and all)
