Josh’s Anime Blog

The Essentials

Name: This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, This Ugly And Beautiful World
Genre: Romance, Science-Fiction, Fantasy
Episodes: 12
Released: April 1, 2004 - June 17, 2004
Based On: N/A
Director: Shouji Saeki
Produced By: GAINAX, TBS
US Distribution By: ADV Films

Major Japanese Cast

Takeru Takemoto: Takahiro Mizushima
Hikari: Ayako Kawasumi
Ryou Ninomiya: Fujiko Takimoto
Akari: Ai Shimizu
Mari Nishino: Asami Sanada
Jennifer Portman: Yumi Takada
Sakurako Urushima: Manabi Mizuno
Amika Kurebayashi: Yumi Kikuchi
Ioneos: Keiichi Noda
Shinichi Asakura: Atsushi Kisaichi
Daijirou Matsumura: Hideki Ogihara
Icchou Nishino: Hiroshi Matsumoto
Sumie Nishino: Tomoko Kotani
Kimi Ninomiya: Megumi Kobayashi

Major English Cast

Takeru Takemoto: Braden Hunt
Hikari: Cynthia Martinez
Ryou Ninomiya: Quentin Haag
Akari: Jessica Boone
Mari Nishino: Luci Christian
Jennifer Portman: Shelley Calene-Black
Sakurako Urushima: Lesley Tesh
Amika Kurebayashi: Taylor Hannah
Ioneos: Paul Oddo
Shinichi Asakura: Robert Martinez
Daijirou Matsumura: Chris Patton
Kimi Ninomiya: Hilary Haag

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Music: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: 8/10 (x 1 = 8 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 158/200 (79%)

Review

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World is an anime series about the two aliens, Hikari and Akari, who suddenly show up on earth as two parts of a shooting star that split just before it falls to earth, as well as the mystery behind them.

First, Takeru, a boy who appears to be rather lazy and unmotivated, finds Hikari after he and his friend Ryou spot a shooting star. Hikari is almost immediately attacked by a giant killer insect-like animal. Takeru, in order to protect Hikari, suddenly transforms into a super-powerful being himself and defeats the bug. After the episode, Hikari comes to live with Takeru and his aunt and uncle and his cousin Mari. Later, Ryou finds Akari living near a lake and brings her in to live with him and his little sister. The answers to how are they created and why are they on Earth are slowly answered over the course of the series. On top of this, a rather free-spirited researcher named Jennifer Portman has come to investigate what Hikari, Akari, and Takeru may have to do with mass extensions in the past, and whether the trio may possibly trigger another one in the near future.

One or the biggest problems I have with this series is that is seems to switch back and forth between romance comedy type episodes and sci-fi action type episodes. It’s not really made apparent until the final few episodes why the romance portion of the story was played up as much as it was. With it’s split personality, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World may find it difficult finding any single group of anime fandom which greatly enjoys the entire series. Those who love romance comedies may get annoyed by those episodes which are serious and more science-fiction and action oriented. Those who are more into action anime may be turned off by the episodes that focus mostly on the romance aspect of the story.

Ultimately, the story seems to wallow and doesn’t appear to progress all that much for the first 6 to 8 episodes, and then suddenly takes off and wraps everything up - pretty well for the most part I thought, especially for a GAINAX series - in the final 4 episodes or so.

Takeru, strangely, doesn’t seem to ponder what his ability to transform is or what it’s origin is all that much and after the first episode, he doesn’t even need to transform again until the series is already past it’s halfway point. Meanwhile, Ryou appears to have his own power, one that I don’t recall ever really being explained. Also, the crazy American scientist Jennifer just happens to board with Takeru and Hikari during her investigation of the aftermath of the battle between Takeru and the giant bug in the first episode. While the series ties up the link between the action and the romance, there are still several other areas that appear to be left hanging.

In usual GAINAX style, animation is crisp and I thought the music was, overall, pretty good, though the opening and ending credits also give the series a little bit of a schizophrenic feel. Dubs are also average to above-average for a series. In the end, This Ugly Yet Beautiful world is a series that people may or may not find appealing. It attempts to bridge two different genres, and I’m not sure it’s totally successful at doing so, but some people may find it as an enjoyable series.

First Watched: July 2006 - March 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Indifferent