Wow, where to even begin. Let's start from the beginning (duh).
I watched the episode like five times already and I don't get tired of it so that's auspicious.
I really liked the introduction being that one convo from Mappa Douji II, it's a really nice piece of context to introduce the main conflict without dipping into it too much and introducing Fra Yabisu at once.
I was waiting for the OP to hit me like a truck at any moment but instead the episode began and I was left hanging there like... you know when you have hiccup and suddenly get cured and feel something is missing when anticipating the next hiccup? I felt exactly like that, but it was good! I'm actually glad they didn't show it, helped a lot with the immersion and gave us those extra minutes to introduce the characters and context instead of spamming us with whatever is in the OP (probably every single character and stuff). The OP sounds okay, it's rock with with some jazzy/nostalgic vibes and I can't possibly imagine an average looking sequence with that but we'll have to wait and see. Crossing fingers.
I said it before but I was super convinced Takei's "new" (I mean, from Ultimo onward) pacing and storytelling style would work wonderfully for animation, and I'm greatly pleased to see that was the case. I know Flowers is shorter, but this first episode felt so comfortable to watch instead of rushed, and they even had time to add some new details.
ALSO I will say it now but DAMN, TAMAO LOOKS SO FIRE. I loved her already but here she looks DASHING. I don't enjoy the chara designer illustrations most of the time but the anime team actually nailed it and the characters looks amazing, which I didn't expect after seeing the remake, but I'm soooo pleased with how it looks (and hopefully they keep it up for the rest of the episodes).
Hearing Hana say "Tamaokaachan" added ten years to my life span.
SO, TAMAO. Sweet lord, I can't get enough of how she looks and how Nana voices her, she's such a fine woman. I loved the sneak peek into her criminal past and how she has a freaking bodycount STEP ON ME TAMAO-CHAN--
Ahem, anyway, Yohane.... *deep breath* YOHANE.
Can we talk about Yohane?
I will talk about Yohane.
HIS VOOOOOICE HE'S SO FIERCE but also so baby when Hana mocks him. Hana's voice was bearable (I don't like him sharing the same voice as Yoh, and especially not when they have AMI KOSHIMIZU RIGHT FREAKING THERE) but Yohane's was WOW!
There's something in the voice I never imagined for him, but I don't dislike it, in fact, I love it, and I can't wait to hear his true baby self ;-; The "chuuni?" line had me dying from cuteness. He doesn't even know what chuuni means. You just have to love this bean.
WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO LOOK LIKE THIS THOUGH?
He was drawn so consistently hot throughout the episode I'm shocked and in love. Reminds me of Rune and I want to cry.
This face is the end of me.
I can't explain with words how good everyone looked. I'm rewatching the episode over and over again like a madman. I had VERY low expectations but they outdid themselves here and I'm on the floor. Whenever they get to manga chapter 25 I will oficially become a corpse (spoiler alert: that will happen earlier than that. In fact, as soon as Yosuke shows up).
Also, kudos to the BG designers who finally got Heiyu right instead of whatever thing they wrote there in the remake.
Back to Yohane, the whole battle looked amazing overall. The Kyosha scene was a bit less impactful than in the manga but it's okay. The light changing colors was pretty good for atmosphere but I personally would have picked red instead of blue bc the whole thing looked like it's suddenly happening at night.
At times there were too many effects shadowing the drawings behind but that's a problem I spotted from the teasers so there's no helping it. All in all, it looked cool and I enjoyed it! The shots were not weirdly trimmed and with awkward transitions like in the remake so it made the experience more enjoyable. But again, it's the first episode so we gotta see if this holds up for the rest of the series (now I have hopes).
I really liked how they implemented that short flashback of Hana destroying Yohane and realizing he wouldn't wake up while he was desperately running to get help, it was such a nice funny detail.
And speaking of details! TAKEI. He's watching.
A detail I noticed recently in the manga is this part where Yohane is saying how his heart hurts. I originally thought it was the eyepatch, but then it looked like it was a tear and he was crying? Which would have been fitting for the dramatic moment, but they didn't add it in the anime so maybe it was the eyepatch after all...
Luca looked so beautiful too and, forgive me for this, prettier than how Takei draws her, IMO. I just loved how her hime cut fringes frame her face and seeing her in color actually made her pop more compared to her lackluster manga appearances.
Also finally Shinden and Raiden in color (though we knew they were pink from that one Takei twitter picture). Speaking of pop, the eye sparkles being different shiny colors make me so happy, everyone's eyes look so bright and colorful. This color parade is closer to Takei's current style and I love it!
Moving on, I LOVED having Alumi being introduced this early. It's a genius move so it doesn't feel like she comes out of nowhere later on. This way feels more organic, me thinks.
Please look at her, she looks so angy but so stunning.
Another thing I like this time around was the music. I was not a fan of the sound design in the remake, and also not a fan of the compositor for Mankin, but I liked the theme song used during the battle. Maybe it's because Flowers has a fresh and modern pacing that the music now fits better? I'm not sure, but we'll see how that develops too.
Speaking of music, there was no ending which was also cool because if it's Alumi focused then it makes sense to be shown next episode when she shows up.
And that would be it for now! I can't wait for next episode. I'm genuinely so pumped and excited for this now and I'm glad the staff put more care into it, and I'm also glad the community is more accepting of everything now so I won't see Hana being bashed gratuitously for no reason.
