Not much to say since nothing happened in the first episode until the earthquake at the end. Despite that, this isn’t necessarily a negative like Canaan because Tokyo is at least trying to establish the mood and provide contrast (supposedly for Mirai before and after the disaster) while Canaan was just pointless chatter until the action. Still, since the first episode was so slow, I can only give initial impressions.
Tokyo’s art direction isn’t really my cup of tea, especially concerning how the mouths were animated. Jury’s out as far as how the animated Tokyo devastated by the quake will compare to the extremely detailed OP. I’ll be impressed if they manage to come close. On a slightly related note, I dislike anime’s recent reliance on CGI for everything, particularly inanimate objects. They don’t blend into the background as much as animators might believe and it’s quite jarring at times.
As for the characters, they sure did make Mirai unlikeable, but I guess she’s old enough to process her parents on the verge of a divorce but not old enough to deal with it maturely. Still, they deliberately made her act like a brat, so I hope she doesn’t get comeuppance later in the series just so some lesson will be taught.
Basically, I’m wary of anime about the breakdown of society going down the same route as Now and Then, Here and There, which I thought was just cheap and exploitative. Obviously, disaster brings about anarchy (ex: New Orleans) and people can be cutthroat when fighting for survival. If Tokyo goes down that route, I’ll pass out of pure preference.
Nevertheless, I’m gonna keep watching since the first episode wasn’t bad (but it wasn’t spectacular) and Bones has yet to even hint at what direction the series will take.
Addendum:
Her flaws just made her own self realisation part on the later part of the series more impactful .
Isn’t that the point of being contrived? She is given flaws only so she can be wrong later, only to make a point. I somewhat excused her petulance due to her family situation, but it still felt like they tried way too hard to make her seem like a jerk just so the disaster can make her flaws all the more meaningful. One thing that stuck out to me was her complaining about the damn cakes. It wasn’t even her birthday–it was her mom’s. 13 yr olds are supposed to act like that? I dunno, that’s a slap in the face from any normal Asian mom (I’d know!).
I know you really like the show so far, IWICSYI, but it has only been one episode! You’re defending it so hard (3 posts!).
Moe Sucks 
The cake scene depends on how significant a birthday is to you . For me , maybe because our family doesn’t celebrate any birthday , it is just like another insignificant day . That’s why that scene doesn’t stuck out to me much.
I think my case is similar to Mirai’s one . Her mom’s birthday is just an excuse to treat the children with some cakes. Hence the cakes is no longer a birthday cake to Mirai, but a normal cake . Her mom treated it like that as well. That explain why she didn’t give her a tight slap .
So ,for me , the whining about the cake is just like why a 13 years old will whine when their mom didn’t cook any decent dinner or the dinner they want tonight. That is pretty normal right?
In conclusion , her whining is normal but inconsiderate all right , but not till the point of being irritating or annoying .
Oh , and I wrote 3 post on Tm8.0 because I have nothing more to blog about! Shhh ! That’s a secret.
Also , have you ever enjoyed an unintelligent series that have no top notched or visual pleasing /unique animation before? If yes , I must really watch it .
Finally , congratulation for your 1000 views , I bet that it is almost 3000 now right?For once , I always enter this site at least 10 times a day.
Normal’s relative so who can really say. In my world, kids like that get yelled at, maybe even spanked. Maybe not for you, shrug.
As for unintelligent anime, of course I do just like I enjoy the occasional summer blockbuster movie every now and then (the first Pirates; the others sucked). Didn’t you see the Umineko no Naku Koro ni post? That is neither intelligent nor pretty. Maria+Holic was also something I looked forward to every week because it was funny as hell. There’s a bunch more but I won’t get into it here.
As for the 1000 views entry, that was Fin’s doing. I didn’t think 1000 views were worth blogging about, but thanks for frequenting the site. At least a few people care to read!