Allison and Lillia

ALLISON AND LILLIA

Another anime from the light novels of Keiichi Sigsawa, Author of the "Kino's Journey" books.

OVERVIEW - Set in an alternate world, on a large continent divided in two by a mountain range and river, The anime begins by following the adventures of the Allison of the title and her childhood friend Wil, orphans raised in the eastern kingdom of Roxche in an orphanage run by a woman from the western kingdom of Sou beil, with whom Roxche have been at war with for as long as anyone can remember. An adventure story with a strong theme of romance, justice and secrets, its broken up into two halves, both following smaller arcs or adventures. The first half deals with the teenage years of Allison and Wil, while the second half is focused on Allison's Daughter, Lillia and her childhood friend Treize. 

REVIEW -The world in which the story takes place in, while obviously not our own, is very much comparable to the 1930-40's of Europe, in terms of social mannerisms, technology and lifestyles. The introduction of this world is cleverly disguised as a history lesson right at the start, which i thought was a nice touch. Wil makes his introduction first, then Allison arrives. The two are like chalk and cheese, almost complete opposites, the studious Wil, quiet and bookish compared to the outgoing, energetic and carefree Allison but a bit of their long history together is explained as they catch up. Events overtake their carefree day and Allison's carefree attitude drags the pair into something that literally changes the world, ending the war between the two kingdoms. 

However, the two convince a newly made friend, Karr Benedict (Karr is his surname) who was there at the time, to take all the credit, and both resume their normal lives, Allison going back to the military to carry on flying planes and Wil to his studies. Their next meeting also renunites them with Benedict and introduces them all to Fiona, sparking their next adventure that solves a 10 year old crime and restores a lost monarchy to their throne, is also sees the start of the love story between Benedict and Fiona.

The third arc center's on the growing relations between the East and West, and brings in a classic thriller-on-a-train storyline, with twists and turns and a final shocking revelation that will change the lives of all four of them forever. 

In the Second part the story's focus switches to the now 15 yr old Lillia, daughter of Allison and Wil, and her childhood friend Treize, Son of Fiona and Benedict and twin brother of Meriell. Lillia has a very normal life, unaware of many of the secrets kept by her friends and family, such as the history of Allison's adventures, the fact that her father Wil didnt die before she was born and is living a secret life with a new identity so he can help keep the peace between the two kingdoms and is in fact her mothers "boyfriend" who visits often or that Treize is in fact a prince of the kingdom of Ixtova.

Treize has to keep his secret due to an old law in Ixtova that only allows the royal family to have one child, and his sister was chosen to be the heir. He lives in the small village where Fiona was raised and that Lillia and Allison visit every year, mostly so Allison can spend time with her friends, the Queen of Ixtova, Fiona, and her husband Benedict. Treize is also in love with Lillia but wants to tell her who he really is before anything else. Lillia however sees him as annoying and just the child of an innkeeper in the village she visits with her mother.

With Allison's assistance, often to the annoyance of her daughter, Lillia and Treize are often together during Lillia's breaks from school, with Lillia being oblivious to Treize's feelings and treating him like an idiot. However in the first arc they encounter trouble after trouble, and it is Treize's cool head and training that save not only them, but others too, causing Lillia to begin to re-asses her opinion of him. 

The following arc follow the same sort of pattern, with events and adventure's constantly preventing Treize from not only getting his feelings across but also telling Lillia the truth about himself. Its only in the final arc of the anime that he actually achieves this, and is believed only due to the exteme situation the pair were in. 

Extremely well animated, one of the earliest examples i've seen of a near-seamless blend of CGI and traditional animation. with all the vehicles animated by CGI (even the little bumps and differences in movement during the motorbike ride in the first episode were handled by CG techniques) set in a rich, well imagined world and filled with colour and life in the backgrounds with a background who's introduction and explination is cleverly put across as part of the story. The characters are not only likable, but so well written and put across its very easy to grow attached to them. while not huge on action as such, when it does happen it is again extremely well done, with the dogfights seeming so close to footage taken during wars that i've seen that the animators must have spent ages studying for it. 

For me, its a must-see for anyone. 

SUMMARY -

Story - Simply one of the best story's i've seen in a long time, with clear character progression and overal story growth and movement. Very few "deus-ex-machina" moments, as a large part of both sets of stories focus on the analytical prowess of first Wil then Treize, its most often used to prevent having the children actually kill someone, which to me is fairly acceptable. the interactions and relationships between the characters is warm, well written and touching, and with the story set in a period of growing relations between two ancient enemy states there is also a real sense of transition in the world they inhabit at the same time. 9/10

 Production -Done by one of the better animation studios out there, the whole world is vibrant. the characters are lifelike and realistic, never really falling into the "cartoon" trope by breaking the laws of physics or behaving in a manner outside human ability. CGI is used but in an almost seamless manner, and almost exclusively for vehicles and their movements. Backgrounds are unique and not over-used or repeated, the same goes for animation sequences as well. I can honestly say that I cannot think of a single instance where the production caused me to jar out from following the story and action on screen. 10/10

 

Music -While the same song is used in all 26 episodes for the opening theme, it is a haunting piece, elegant and gentle but convaying a powerful emotion behind it. The in-show score is again very subtle, never really over-ridding the events taking place and supporting them very well. That said, nothing really jumps out and forces you to remember it, with the exception of the opening theme. Well used but ultimately not memorable, its higher-than-middle-ground score is due to the hauntingly unique opening. 7/10

 

Accessability -This may well have got a perfect score in this regard, due to its "alternate world" setting, but sadly Lillia lets down the team. In her actions, behaviour and design she appears far too much like a "stereotypical Japanese teenage girl" which grates against the 1930-40's style of the rest of the world. From her "typical private academy" school uniform through to her personal clothing in the last arc its far too much like the majority of the "high school life" styles seen in anime's of that type. In all other ways this anime avoids typical anime tropes however, and due to its "alternate world" style, it cant be said that Lillia's appearances are not how all girls her age are in that world, but that would be a very convenient matter.. 8/10

 Overall Impression -With its well realised world, touching characters and gripping settings, coupled with its mysteries, intrigue and romance, this anime draws you in to its world and leaves you rooting for its heroes. It has high production standards, a great story broken up into smaller arcs, each a great story by themselves, the only need to suspend disbelief comes from how all these world-shaping events are centered around basically two people, Wil and Allison, but even then its partially explained in-story. Its not the best story ever written, there's ones with more action, more powerful characters, greater love stories and "change the world" epics out there but its a damn good show, taking just enough of what it needs from the various genre's to put together something that leaves a lasting impression. All of that backed up by some great animation and cinematography, supported well by its score, I'd reccomend this to anyone wanting a change of pace from high-action series. 9/10

 

Final Score - 43/50