DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA Dramasola
SPECIAL Comedysola Specials

REVIEWS

• 

  Deoran

  88/100
  Overall a great show for me with good main charecters. If you cannot stand a slow pace though, it may not be for you.

  NOTE: This is a copy of my MAL review, with slight BB code edits. All reviews can be found on this site or MAL under the same name.

  Originally written 10/4/2015

  As with any new review of mine, there is generally a TL;DR part at the end with a basic summary of the positives and negatives.

  Ah… Sola, what a wonderful show. I had quite a bit of fun with this one, it kept me hooked enough to finish in two days. It would have been one if I didn’t exercise self-restraint, but I did, so it ended up being two days. One thing that really surprised me about this show was how mature it was handled, especially in the Romance aspect. It was well done, and a very believable romance. The show itself knows what it’s trying to be, and together that allows a truly great story to be told.
  There is just one problem. It’s not a problem for me, but it will be for some others. Sola is not a fast paced show. There are a few action scenes, and they are quite well done too, but it does have a rather slow/relaxed plot pace, mainly at the beginning. It’s a show that brings out its story not through large action scenes and complicated plots twists, but through the actions of the characters, their dialogues and the way they handle the situation.

  Will you like this show

  ---

  If you cannot sit through at least two episodes of no action, and only talking and character development, this is not your cup of tea, and you will most certainly not like this show, or at least it will dampen your overall thoughts of it. I will repeat again when I say, it is not a fast paced show.

  Story - 9/10:

  ---

  The story of Sola revolves around 3 main characters (technically it has seven prominent characters, but in terms of development and plot, they are not as important, and they are not main charecters), Matsuri Shihou, Yorito Morimiya and his sister, Aono Morimiyam, and the various mysterious circumstances surrounding the three. Yorito is in school, Aono, his hospitalized sister, and Matsuri, the mysterious girl he meets at a vending machine while taking pictures of the sky. But not all is as it seems. Why does Matsuri disappear and reappear, having a great yearning to see the sky? Why is she only outside when it’s raining and dull? Why is Yorito’s sister hospitalized, why does she always have the curtains drawn closed in her hospital room? What about Yorito, he seems ordinary enough, but is there some hidden mystery to him?

  These questions are ones that will rattle around your head when the show progresses and goes on, as it slowly goes on to explain them all. Looks can be deceiving, memories can be misleading and not everything is as it seems. Another thing I really pride the story on is the fact that even though the plot is not that big, in 13 episodes, the show felt complete. It ended, and it didn’t leave any strings attached, it didn’t leave some mystery unsolved, some plot element in-complete, and THAT is something that I see few shows doing. It was well paced, well written, and most of all, it was executed very nicely.

  Art & Sound – 8/10:

  ---

  The art of Sola certainly was a pleasure to see, especially the really beautiful, but simple picture of the sky that Yorito took. I really liked the background, and for a show that takes place in a fairly dim environment, the colors used really brought out the scenes. It didn’t leave out anything in the action scenes either. For a show that is not about large-scale, action packed battles, the animation for them were done really well. Props to the studio. Since it’s a Drama & Romance show, they could have easily not animated the scenes as long or as good, but they took the effort to do so, and I appreciate that.

  The sound was fairly well done as well, a bit above average, the opening and ending were nice enough, but nothing to write home about. The BGM (background music) was decent, and it fit the scene when it was played. There are one or two stand out tracks I really enjoyed, but overall, it was a decent set of tracks.

  Characters – 9/10:

  ---

  Another thing I loved about Sola was the characters. While Yorito might seem a bit plain, he is still an interesting character. Not as interesting as Aono and Matsuri, but still interesting. He’s simply a high school student who loves taking pictures of the sky, and can see a world of things in a simple picture of the sky, whereas others simply see clouds…… Either he’s got an artistic mind, or he’s hallucinating… Just joking, I actually liked that artistic part of him. It’s not a usual hobby, but it is a perfectly plausible one. The romantic & character development of all the characters are very well done, but I especially liked the development he went through, especially after a certain plot element was revealed.

  Masturi and Aono are both two very interesting characters. They both know each other, but Yoirito doesn’t know Matsuri at the beginning. This gives them both an air of mystery surrounding them. I don’t want to give too much out as that will spoil the plot a bit, but I never felt that at any time their actions were unwarranted. They are very believed and understandable characters.

  The other 4 are sadly not explored that in detail. It's a shame as they were a little bit interesting. It is for this reason I will just lightly mention their names. Mana Ishizuki, Koyori Ishizuki, Mayuko Kamikawa and Takeshi Tsujidou. I felt they needed more development, but it was shelved so we could focus more on the main. That's both good and bad, but I was annoyed how we didn't get good character development for them. This is one of the negatives, and almost brought the character score down to 8, but I decided to give it a 9. We do get a bit of back-story on Mayuko and Takeshi, but still, much more could have been done.

  Overall though, the interactions were handled really well between the characters, and the drama was nice, without ever giving you the feeling it was trying to be melodramatic. It did not try to force you to feel emotions using melodrama (You know, lots of teary scenes, screaming fits, deliberately butchering characters to make you feel sad) like several shows try to do (These are not necessarily Drama shows, but that’s not the point.) The characters handled themselves maturely, the romance was done well, and the characters felt like individuals, their own people, and not stereotypes or cookie cutter figures.

  TL;DR Section:

  ---

  Story – 9/10
  Art – 8/10
  Sound – 8/10
  Characters – 9/10
  Enjoyment – 10/10
  Overall (Average of Above) - 8.8/10

  Pros and Cons:

  +Great Character Development (For the main three characters)
  +Interesting/Well Rounded & Believable Characters
  +Good Romance Subplot
  +Enjoyable, but simple animation.
  +Enjoyable Plot

  -A bit show paced. Not a negative for me, but not everyone's cup of tea.
  -Not that much action - Same as above, No problems for me, but that's a personal opinion.
  -Lackluster Character Development for side Characters
  -Forgettable Opening and Ending (I'm really nitpicking at this point).

  Overall, a great show, BUT not for everyone. If you cannot stand a slow pace, especially at the beginning, and need action every episode or two to keep you going, you will mostly likely not like this show. If your not a fan of Drama, Romance or Supernatural, this show will most likely not interest you. Regardless of that, give it a go. You might even end up liking it. :)

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