This past year i have been on a search for a truly satisfying anime. I have watched countless anime all with varying results, but nothing life altering or truly satisfying from beginning to end. Well that search is over for I found Vivy.
Plot: In the not-so-distant future, humans have created autonomous androids called AI's for short that can appear nearly human, however in order for them to properly function, the AI's are given a single purpose, that they must meet no matter what. However, in a 100 years, the AI's finally decide that in order to fulfill their missions without mistake, they must eradicate all human being on earth (You know the usual). Honestly you would assume from all of these examples of this happening, all real-world scientists would figure out that creating highly intelligent AI is a very bad idea. The story focuses on the first AI named Diva who is a songstress AI that works at a theme park, singing for the guests. Her life is changed when an AI from that apocalyptic future named Matsumoto, is able to connect with her only because she is the oldest living AI that existed 100 years ago. He explains his mission to her and recruits her to help prevent the terminator future that will occur in 100 years, by altering certain important events in the timeline. She only complies because saving the world coincides with her own mission of keeping her guests happy, diva then takes on a secret identity as Vivy, as she and her new partner attempt to save the future. What makes this overused plot, unique is that Vivy uses her singing to be able to convey the emotion and soul of the AI. Which is appropriate since music can touch anybody's soul and communicate it to another. The show is kind of an anthology series, with a large time skip throughout Vivy's life, showing the progression of time on everyone around her and the world. With a tight 13-episode story, the plot is beautifully and tragically done, and succeeds at being a rollercoaster of subversions and expectations.
Characters: Vivy is one of the first AI's ever created who only desires to make other people happy through her singing, despite this she is not very successful at the beginning of the story, only having a handful of guests listening to her songs. Despite this she never waivers at her mission, and desires to improve so that she can reach as many people as possible. This is her sole motivation for wanting to save the future, so that she can make every human happy whether they are in the past or future. Despite being very stoic at first, vivy gains more emotions with every mission, whether its love or sadness, becoming the first AI to display true humanity. And she really grows as a heroine that you can really root for, whether its for her singing career or her mission to save the future. Matsumoto is a formless AI that travels from the future to the past, through the uses of vivys body. Eventually he obtains many forms, mostly a little cube with an eyeball. He is very strict about his mission and will not accept any mistakes or distractions from completing it, much to the chagrin of vivy. Despite this he still conveys compassion towards vivy and humans, and desires to prevent the apocalyptic future from occurring, so that he can save as many humans as possible. Together Vivy and him make a likable dynamic duo, with her doing the physical work and him doing all the hacking and technical work. And even though they start out disliking each other, they grow into being inseparable by the end. There are countless characters shown throughout the series that help VIVY to truly understand emotion and humanity, whether they are humans or AI's. The most prominent characters that do this are VIVY's sisters, who are not technically her real sisters but instead are a part of the same first line of AI's that she was a part of. Each is an individual with a different personality, and all of them impact the story and timeline that will inevitably lead to doomsday and the terminator future.
The Music: The first time I heard vivys singing, my soul heard it as well. Despite not understanding the lyrics of her song, I could feel the raw emotion behind it and what the song means to the character. I am very grateful that even in the English dub, they kept her songs Japanese, which didn't need to be translated since the music captures the raw emotion and conveys them to you.
The Animation: The art style of the series is nice, but when we close up on vivy and other androids faces we get this near realistic high-definition artwork. There are so many individual scenes that would make an epic poster or screen background. The eyes of many AI's, especially Vivys are shown in extreme detail that is just hypnotic to look at, showing the robotics behind the human faces, reminding us that the AI's are not really human. The action scenes are done surprisingly well, almost catching you off guard. Vivy is given a combat mode that allows her to get into hand on hand fights with other AI's and enemies, with the speed of the action making the fight full of energy and exciting to watch. The most important part of the series where the animation is included, is the song sequences where Vivy conveys all of her newfound emotion, with all of the special effects, that are enhanced by cgi, lights and hyper detailed animation. The opening theme song is one of the most beautiful and eye pleasing songs ever, especially when it is done in episode 5 with the inclusion of red and roses. Safe to say the animation done in this anime is some of the most beautiful artwork i've ever seen in an anime. The only time i dont like the visuals is the use of the neon pink colors in the archive, which are very nice too look at, but can get tiresome on the eyes over time.
Conclusion: This is one of the most satisfying series you can ever watch, because it ropes you in within the first episode, keeps you prisoner for the next 12 episodes, and successfully sticks the landing in the finale. The series is addicting because its unpredictable with the use of drama, action and music. It is very profound because of its subtext of purpose. Vivys purpose by design was to make people happy through her singing, but as you watch her through the years, you heart wrenchingly witness that she might not always succeed. Vivy fails at both her purposes, singing and saving the world many times throughout the series, but she never gives up and she learns from her mistakes. The show is very melancholy, especially the last scene. This is the kind of anime that I see more than just entertainment but instead as an experience. It makes me feel raw emotions that I like to keep buried in my everyday life. The only thing i don't like about this series is that it is quite short, which allows its story to be really tight but it's so bittersweet all the same. Still I am grateful for it existing and touching my soul.
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