Alternative titles: Rollercoaster Tycoon: The Anime
Light Novel Adaptation by Kyoto Animation
Simulcast Pending

Premise

Apathetic 50 Cent Isuzu Sento forces prime narcissist Kanye West Seiya Kanie to take her to an amusement park, though it quickly turns out that Amagi Brilliant Park is long past its prime. After making him experience the park’s miserable state first hand, Isuzu and the park’s manager present Kanie an offer he cannot refuse.

Jel-P’s verdict: I Got 99 Problems But This Show Ain’t One

After being disappointed with KyoAni’s work over the past year or so and watching Dogakobo make a play for their crown as the King (or maybe more appropriately, Queen) of Slice of Life Comedies, Amagi Brilliant Park is a return to KyoAni at its best. For starters, it seems like they may have chosen their best source material since Hyouka, as the park’s mix of oddball staff, hilariously bad attractions, and tiny dose of magic all add just the right amount of “weird” to what would otherwise be a normal high school romantic comedy set up. Add on an actual goal for the cast to strive for, and the whole affair has a sense of purpose that will leave plenty of room for the characters to play around while hopefully keeping the plot from sitting still.

As expected the art and direction are top notch, and I was particularly pleased how well they sold the deadpan humor. I seriously have not seen that small an amount of fun being had at an amusement park since episode 12 of Nichijou, and it was pretty funny to watch. Really the only question mark to me will be the more serious side of the story, as our protagonist seems to have some kind of history with Queen Latifa… have I mentioned all the characters are named after rap stars? Yeah, pretty sure the humor side is covered. So long as we stay away from any unnecessary melodrama and keep the surprising splash of fan service in check, this could be a very funny and heartwarming series.

The Notorious I.R.O.’s verdict: Drop It Like It’s Hot

I’m not 100% sure what to think about Yukiko Amagi Brilliant Park, but I’m leaning close to the “ehhhh” side of the scale. The art and animation is still typical KyoAni quality, which is broadly a good thing. The show looks and sounds top notch, which is likely to KyoAni’s advantage considering the ludicrous (for them) amounts of gratuitous boob-and-butt fanservice going on. Even so, I found myself disliking every character in the premiere, and the humor flipped between funny and flat at the drop of a hat. The whole rapper name thing provides some amusement for about five minutes but is ultimately irrelevant, and the entire magic angle feels tacked on and ill-explained. For example, how is 50-Cent pulling a gun out of her skirt suddenly proof magic exists, when she’s been doing it all episode long with no reaction from anyone else, even bystanders? And then of course Kanye is bestowed magic via a kiss, because this is anime, and we just can’t have magic going on in anime without some form of “mana transfer”, now can we?

Macklemarlin’s verdict: Don’t Phunk With My Heart

I’m not really sure what to make of this show. It definitely had enough jokes and visual gags to rank above your average japanese comedy, but something really felt missing from the whole thing. I’ll admit having everyone named after rappers never got old on me, but for the most part it really seemed like a joke either made me laugh out loud or was totally lame. No middle ground. Combine that with an uncomfortable level of gross fanservice and it made for a show I really can’t recommend. Seriously, I thought I was watching a Tony Taka show or something at the elemental fairies part, the fanservice was that jarring. I did get a kick out of Moffle being in this universe for some random reason. I was never a huge fan of FMP, but that stupid battle suit from Fumoffu was hilarious. That’s why I loved that little cameo. From the op it seems like it might become a main character, and I’d be all for that. The comedy is definitely the pull for me, so if it stays with the dumb gags more than the in your face fanservice, I might find this show easier to swallow.

2-Paqua’s verdict: Devil In A New Dress

Kyoto Animation continues their long-standing trend of taking an absolute joke of a franchise and turning it into something half-decent while pissing off thousands of entitled whiners in the meantime, but at least Full Metal Panic! fans can rest easily in the illusion that their beloved franchise isn’t deader to the paragons of animated inoffensiveness than the maggot-covered corpse of Haruhi Suzumiya just because that weird bear thing from Fumoffu?! is making a glorious appearance in their latest, Amagi Brilliant Park. I never understood the dedication to Full Metal Panic! so many people have. Both the hard-boiled show proper and its romantic comedy spin-off are perfectly generic light novel plots that just happen to do a very good job at being anime as hell. Unsurprisingly, Amagi Brilliant Park, written by the same author, seems to be following suite. There’s your snarky, oh-so-above-it-all main protagonist, your harem of quirky teenage girls doing jobs no kid should do, and in a rather unforeseen (and disappointing) turn for Kyoto Animation, your somewhat eerily fetish-fueled fanservice. Nevertheless, when it’s not busy cashing checks and checking off clichés, Amagi Brilliant Park turns out to be a pretty entertaining romp.

The man to thank here is Yasuhiro Takemoto, whose directorial flair earlier brought out the full potential in Hyouka and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Jokes aren’t dragged out like they so often are in anime, but delivered with snappy precision, cutaway hilarity and visual flair. It is competently crafted comedy making true on an interesting premise, combining slapstick violence, absurdity and some pretty solid sassy dialogue (“My reflexes will blow your thigh-high socks off!”) into an acceptable whole that should please any fan of anime comedies. It’s a bit of a pity Amagi Brilliant Park‘s crummier aspects are the only ones it refuses to be self-aware about, from its generic artwork to its blatant pick-your-doe-eyed-waifu character pitching — which inadvertently highlights just how shallow even Kyoto Animation’s usually amusing outings have become. It’s a studio that has built its credentials on certainty and consistency, without intent to enhance the medium as a whole. Even the oddest ducks out of its every-expanding roster of interchangeable slice-of-life shows, like Nichijou or Free!, immediately betray their origins. Endearing, but wishy-washy, Amagi Brilliant Park is very much in the same boat, and you know better than I do what that will entail for you. It is a Kyoto Animation show, and that’s all you need to know. Kyoto Animation never change. It’s their biggest draw and their cardinal flaw. And no bolt from the blue bare butt is gonna change that fact.