One of the genres that has been gaining a lot of ground as far as personal interest goes as of late is yuri. After reading and watching a few yuri series, I’ve begun to enjoy them more than I thought I would. When I heard about Urasekai Picnic (Otherside Picnic) being a yuri, I tossed it on my To Watch list in hopes of adding another good story to my collection.
Then I watched the first episode and I wasn’t prepared for what I had seen.
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
Sorao is laying down in some water wondering if it’s okay to die? Will anyone miss her if she’s gone? She doesn’t have any friends so she doubts that she would be missed. Suddenly, right as plummets into a watery abyss, she is saved by a girl named Toriko. Lurking not too far off in the distance is a white hazy shadow in which Toriko throws some rock salt at and causes it to dissipate. What is left behind is a mirror cube… and then our opening credits!
After this, we’re back in the real work, presumably, at Toriko’s place. Apparently, the two of them have knowledge of this other world, which they refer to as The Otherside. In addition, it’s not the first time either one of them have been there. While Toriko has a gist of the world, Sorao has a little information on those white shadows that she refers to as wiggle waggles. Despite just meeting, Toriko proposes that the two of them return to that world and hunt them down for their mirror cubes, thinking that they could make some good money back in the real world.
Sorao is a bit hesitant but she ends up agreeing and they do just that. After realizing how to beat a wiggle waggle, they decide that they’re going to throw a bit of a celebration for hunting their first one once they sell the cube and make some money… and then everything comes to an end.
Worth Watching?
YES– Last year, ID:INVADED took this approach of telling you nothing and letting you figure it all out. While Urasekai Picnic does the same, there’s something a bit off about it that doesn’t make you wonder as much by comparison. Here, you get the information that there is another world, Toriko and Sorao already know about it and how to get there, and they already established what they are going to do with that knowledge.
What they don’t tell you is how they came to discover this other world or what that other world actually is. With ID:INVADED, they gave you enough information just to get the gist of what was going on… much like Urasekai Picnic does; however, ID:INVADED did a much better job of making you ask questions. Sure, there are plenty of questions that need answers here in Urasekai Picnic; however, I don’t feel that they are as important or as deep. This show was more along the lines of a “nod your head and go along with it” type of storytelling versus the “They’re not explaining ANYTHING so I better make sure I pay close attention” type.
Does that make this show bad? No! It still held my interest from beginning to end. So much so that 23 minutes flew by and I wasn’t even aware of it!
Oh and all the yuri teases between Toriko and Sorao helped, too!
There are still many questions that need answers and I look forward to said answers; however, the show isn’t cerebral enough to keep me wondering constantly. It’s not a bad thing, though! Give this one a shot as I’m sure you might like it!
