Summer 2021 Anime: D_CIDE TRAUMEREI The Animation

Synopsis

Set in Shibuya, young Ryuuhei Oda witnessed the enigmatic death of his brother, Junpei Oda, whom he admired so much. Haunted by the horrible incident, now he is a cheerful high schooler who spends his time training and doing kickboxing.

One day, after his training, he encounters a mysterious creature calling itself Tris and gets bitten by it. That bite results in Ryuuhei having a strange dream that leads him to the rumours of distorted desires on the streets. What will he see beyond that?

Comments

Keinda D. Adilia (The Indonesian Anime Times)

When the D_CIDE TRAUMEREI project was announced, I was quite amused with its cast members since they seemed too strong. They don’t just cast names who are regularly casted in other Bushiroad franchises like Ayasa Itou, but also high profile voice actors like Aoi Yuuki. For an anime that is to become the starting point for a highly anticipated mixed-media franchise, it really is carrying a huge responsibility to induce and warm up the audience for future installments or media. The question is, are the first few episodes pleasing enough to gather audiences to stay and watch?

Generally speaking, the anime’s first episode is more like an introduction for the upcoming episodes to come. It throws quick hints of the main character’s backstory and in-universe jargons, packing them up in a very engaging and intense fighting scene. It surely will make people interested as the action really can bring you to the edge of your seat with its brilliant 3DCG animation courtesy of Sanzigen. A very good start for world-building, indeed, but the problem of this anime is starting to arise with the second episode and third episode. While the animation is still great, the pacing of the main story is too quick as if it tries to finish a very huge story in a very short time. It makes some of the characters’ potential depths of backstories and personalities left unexplored, and worse, untold. It may cause the audience to feel unattached to the characters. Despite that, I personally love the world-building of this anime so far, and really hope for better character development in the near future.

Another thing that is worth noting in this anime is its opening and ending songs. While the opening, brought by Tokyo Jihen, may fail to bring out the hype because of its low intensity for the opener of an action anime, it is still very enjoyable to listen in a regular basis. The ending, on the other hand, brought by the DJ unit Rondo from another Bushiroad franchise, D4DJ, has higher intensity with its rocking and powerful vocal of Rondo’s main vocalist, Rihona Kato. It is worth checking as it is now available for digital streams.

Overall, D_CIDE TRAUMEREI The Animation has a very rough beginning but it is still very engaging with its solid animation and world-building. Despite the flaws I found in this anime, I am still staying and looking forward to watching the next episodes to come with the high intense actions they already offered in early episodes. Now, we just need to see how they will unfurl the story next and whether it will fulfill expectations from fans.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailers

The Indonesian Anime Times