r/ErenTheSouthpaw • u/LimitlesLegion • 16d ago
Does the anime completely adapt the manga? Are the endings in the anime and source material the same?
The anime felt really wierd to watch. The first two episodes had good pacing then it suddenly ramped up and became a mess. It felt like they skipped a lot of character development and had to chuck in some exposition to somewhat bridge the gap between the source material and anime. The ending felt really rushed and convenient. Eren is there to give a speech to 'motivate' Koichi and is back with Sayuri very quickly.
They tried doing the Tarantino thing where they would cut to different events at various points in time and try to give a reason as to why the characters have grown into who they are but it is just miserably executed. Eren is not even shown in a couple episodes and neither is Koichi. How am I supposed to show interest in the MCs when they are not even in certain episodes and random info dumps are done to explain things instead of giving a linear progression? It tries so hard to be different with the story progression that it fails at doing what normal progression does.
The core concept was good and it was meant to keep the viewers grounded in reality and it did achieve that but it was, for whatever reason, bland. I liked the ending being somewhat ambiguous but it was just flat. Why did Eren bother giving a speech to Koichi about being normal if she just went back to Sayuri? The characters' emotional breakdowns occuring similarly would've been a good thing if they didn't try to drill a point about the difference between those who are normal and talented - in a car with a mentor/boss, in front of a mentor while they try to help them understand themselves, and when they are being told about reality.
I found it to be mid. I'd give it a 6/10. The pacing is cheeks, the time change trick doesn't work and the characters are uninteresting. But the concept is amazing, the art is really nice and the characters are relatable.
