“Apocalypse Hotel” Anime Review: Casual yet Thoughtful Anime

Uncanny Song That Bridge Hope & Sadness

Aside from the story and animation, what else that the anime offer? The answer, it’s the music and theme song. The music itself hyped and made the situation of the anime be more lively to even dramatic. From the natural sound of nature that took over Earth to a situation that feels normal became expressive, that subtle music really does make a difference when this anime tries to convey the lesson learn and the comedy part of it. Also, both opening and ending theme songs are sung by Aiko, who managed to hit the in-between feeling of what this anime is aimed to be, it’s not about the sad reality nor about the growth of what the character has become.

The opening theme song is called skirt which to be frank for me it was a bit weird to hear a moment of silences and just focus on the acoustic, it still feels a bit weird till this point of time, but then for some reason it started to make me enjoy and anticipate the song every episode. Not sure if it’s because I just want to see the nice animation that this anime shows for the opening video, but the way that the music transition from a mellow then suddenly became an exciteful feeling does make this song became a good opening to make you excited for the new episode that you will be seeing.

The ending song is called Capsule is also a good example of how a simple, slow, and mellow music can help to close an eventful episode no matter how weird, sad, or happy the episode was. Although to be fair, the visual of the ending song feels a bit odd, especially since it feels a bit too playful.

Conclusion

When I first watched this anime, I didn’t really care about the premise of this anim because each episode feels special and make me engage more with this anime. Usually, I tend to watch anime while also doing something else (yeah, technically I just “listen”, not “watch” cause not a lot of anime these days managed to be visually enjoyable). But for Apocalypse Hotel, Each episode is meaningful and also delightful to watch, either due to the meaning behind the anime or due to its random joke. Even at first, I thought this anime really feels like Cygames Pictures original anime such as Brave Bang Bravern where my mind was like “what in the world that the studio ate to make that anime”, but after thinking about it while writing this, Apocalypse Hotel really hit differently, it really feels like a hidden gem that I was proud of to be able to watch consistently for the whole season. Even if it’s an original anime, it managed to close the story quite well so that you can either enjoy seeing what has just happened.

Hence, for what it’s worth, I would really recommend this anime to anyone who just wants to watch anime or even for those who want to start watching anime. It isn’t plot-heavy so anyone can enjoy but it also provides a meaningful enjoyment after you finish watching it.

Pros

• A great blend of visuals and animation lets you be entranced.
• Meaningful story for those to wonder.
• Good mixture of thoughtful story & comedy.

Con

• An open ending that isn’t anyone’s cup of tea.

Facts and Figures

The Indonesian Anime Times | Review by Cakra Bhirawa