Anime Review: The Beginning After the End

I’m just going to flat-out say it. Do NOT watch The Beginning After the End. You will be better off reading the manhwa (which is currently being released by Yen Press). In fact, I implore you to do just that, but for those who want a proper review and to discover why you should avoid this show like the plague (if the internet didn’t already give you so much as an inkling of a hint), then read on.

Let’s Jam… I guess.

The Story

Okay, so the story isn’t bad. In fact, it’s very good, and if you wish to put up with all of the problems and watch this show for the story alone, you will have a good time.

The story follows a king who is reborn in another world as an infant named Arthur (or Art for short.) In his old world, power and fear ruled the masses; however, being a baby has humbled him. It also helps that he retained all of his memories from the other world. Slowly, he begins to see the world in a different light, and instead of wanting to rule it through fear, he wants to be a kinder, gentler soul. Of course, before he decides to tone down his persona, he needs to learn about this world and how it works, namely, how magic is used.

So, he toils away in his father’s library and learns about mana cores, how to channel energy into them, and how it is similar to the way ki worked in his old world. Quickly, he learns how to become a mage at the ripe old age of three. From here, it’s a story about Art growing up and the adventures he encounters along the way, especially at the beginning when bandits attack him and his family and he is lost during the battle, only to stumble upon a dragon which teaches him how to be a beast tamer, thus befriending a dragon of his own!

His adventures teach him the information he needs to lead a better life until, one day, he returns to his parents, only to announce that he is leaving once again to go on another adventure, which is where our first season comes to an end.

Yes, that was a very short and summarized version of The Beginning After the End, but trust me when I say that the moments Art experiences throughout his journey of getting back to his parents and the heartwarming moment of his return are well worth it! My only disappointment here is that the story REALLY kicks up after he leaves on his journey, so those of you who are watching it for the story will probably want to wait until Season 2 and marathon this.

The Characters

As far as main characters go… It’s just Art. Everyone else is a side character (at least for the majority of the first season).

Arthur Leywin

What can be said about him that wasn’t already covered in the story? In his previous life as a king, he only knew power and dominance; however, in this new life, he slowly learns humility and begins to view the world through a different lens; however, he’s not a complete pushover who worships rainbows and gummy bears. He is still fierce and fearsome alike; however, he uses that brashness to help and protect others. He’s also patient and mature enough to know that even if he remembers all of his combat skills from his previous life, he knows this new body won’t take to them so easily. He needs to train, grow, and re-strengthen himself all over again. He doesn’t view it as a setback, but as an opportunity to use that strength to accomplish his new goals of protecting the ones he loves.

This makes Art a rather diverse character with a lot of layers to him, something that you want in a good main character. Humility can do a lot of things to a person, and I think Art is a great example of humility doing a lot of things right. One of the nice things is that while one could make the argument that he is another overpowered main character in an isekai, the series does a good enough job of masking it. Whether having him experience setbacks, cursing his body for being different from the one in his previous life, or even having the main character be aware of his limitations, it sets those limits and prevents him from being a one-hit-kill type character like we’ve seen time and time again. That is a breath of fresh air because it makes his character believable and vulnerable.

As for the rest of the cast, we have Tessia Eralith, an elf girl whom Art meets in the woods. He escorts her back home and ends up learning some valuable lessons from her grandfather. She kind of takes on the little sister role with him, which makes Art’s eventual departure all the more emotional.

Sylvia / Sylvie

Next we have Sylvia and Sylvie. Sylvia is the dragon Art meets once he’s separated from his family, and the one that truly gets him to change his mind about how to view the world and himself. Sylvia’s parting gift is an egg which eventually hatches into Sylvie, making Art a beast tamer. The bond between them grows and, in a way, it serves Art as a constant reminder of those lessons bestowed upon him.

Jasmine Flamesworth

Lastly, we have Jasmine Flamesworth, who is a member of the Twin Horns hunting party. When we first meet her, she is just there with the group and seems like a background character; however, you learn that she has a bit of a soft spot for Art, and when he embarks on his new adventure at the end of the first season, she is the one who accompanies him. There will be more between them in the future that I will withhold from spoiling, but she quickly became one of my favorite characters in the series.

The rest of the cast, from Art’s parents and little sister, to the instructors at the academy, to the staff at the auction house, to the very King himself, all play small, but important roles, and are only around for a cup of coffee in the big time. In due time, some of these characters do play bigger roles, but until then, they’ve only been given the introduction treatment.

Art, Animation, and Sound

Okay… I’m sure this is the section everyone has been waiting for. Typically, this is where I say “Ah, the animation was average, the backgrounds look great because backgrounds in this day and age are all pretty spectacular,” etc., etc.

Not this time.

In case this is your first time on the internet, let me spell it out for you. Studio A-CAT dropped the ball… hard.

Coming into this series, everyone was hyped for it for good reason. The manhwa is spectacular. A lot of people said that this had the potential to become the next Solo Leveling. I was one of those people, too, because of how much I enjoyed TurtleMe’s fantastic story.

Then, we saw what studio A-CAT did in terms of production values and it was like someone sucker punched us in the jaw. Nicknames like The Slideshow After the End, The PowerPoint After the End, The PNGs After the End, and various other phrases quickly made their way around the internet. All because the animation in this series barely exists. Fights are, quite literally, still PNGs with speed lines behind them. The only thing this show did well in terms of animation was the spell effects.

Congratulations. Someone on the staff knows how to use Adobe After Effects.

When there was any actual animation to behold, it was janky as if it were missing a bunch of keyframes, and it did not look good at all. Granted, there were some episodes where the animation was decent, but let’s face it… “Decent” to this show is like sakuga-style animation to any other show. In fact, you could read the manhwa and experience more movement by manually turning the pages than what you would receive in some of the fights in this series.

This is why I, and the rest of the internet, would probably tell you to skip this adaptation. The amount of backlash this show received was enough to get TurtleMe, the creator of the series, to make a public statement in an attempt to rally his fans to support the anime adaptation.

And to make matters worse, Crunchyroll themselves acknowledged the backlash in the most corporately-penned, politically-correct statement ever… and in that statement, potentially low-key admitted that things are not going to get better in season 2.

Crunchyroll said: “The unique series has sparked passionate discussion among Crunchyroll’s global fan community, and that will continue in the new season.” This came from Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer at Crunchyroll, too.

I think by now you get the point… Moving on…

Overall Thoughts

A waste.

A complete waste.

That sums up The Beginning After the End… and I feel terrible saying that because the comic/manhwa version of this is very good and something that a lot of people should experience. If you don’t believe me, you can check out the reviews I’ve done here on The Outerhaven, where I have praised it time and time again.

In the hands of a studio that didn’t use the leftovers of another show’s budget to produce this (I’m not saying A-CAT did, but it certainly either felt that way or felt that this show was an afterthought on the list of anime they had to produce), this could have been something special. It truly could have been the next Solo Leveling. I honestly feel bad for the staff that had to work on this, for the voice actors and actresses that lent their talent to this, and to TurtleMe, who had to endure all of this backlash. Given TurtleMe’s statement, it seemed as if he wasn’t allowed to talk badly about the project, and from a PR perspective, especially one that is legally bound via contract, I can understand why he tried to take the high road and encourage people to keep watching.

As a creator myself, I know that I probably would have ended up in court over breach of contract if one of my light novels got adapted into an anime and received this treatment. I commend his strength to take that high road after seeing a work that he poured his heart and soul into receive that level of treatment from A-CAT. I know that I would have been furious and probably would have said and done some things that I may or may not have regretted.

I do think TurtleMe should be supported, and I do believe everyone should experience The Beginning After the End… just not in anime form. Go buy his books. Read them. Enjoy them. Absorb yourself into the world he created, and find an adventure that is well worth your time.

As for the anime, I list this up there with Tokyo Ghoul, which deserves the “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood” treatment. We need a redo by proper hands.

As for the score… I’ll be fair.

Story: 4.5 / 5
Artwork: 2 / 5 (the designs were fine, but there was some sloppiness and inconsistencies)
Music: 3 / 5 (the opening was quite good)
Animation: 1 / 5 (the one point is for the software that had to export each episode into a video file)

That comes out to a 2.65 / 5 which seems a bit too generous. I’m going to deduct a bit here because I have to ask just what in the hell A-CAT was thinking when they decided to produce the show like this.

Overall Score: 1.75 / 5