I Just Can’t Understand What Type of Anime Egao No Daika Is Trying To Be!

Hello everyone and welcome to our shelter!

Egao No Daika first impressions is part of my Ultimate Guide for the 2019 Anime Winter Season. A guide with more than 100 pages with a first impressions to every Anime coming out in the Winter Season. You can get your own here (it’s free!).

Title: Egao No Daika (MAL Page)

English Titles: The Cost of Smiles, The Price of Smiles

MAL Score: 6.06

Genres: Military, Mecha, Sci-Fi

Number of Episodes: 12

Broadcast: Fridays (JST)

Studios: Tatsunoko Production

Source: Original

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: None

Synopsis

Egao No Daika follows princess Yuuki, a 12-year-old cute princess who has to take the throne when the kingdom is about to fall apart. However, trying to protect her smile, Joshua, her childhood guardian and best friend, as also all of her counsellers, let her in the dark when it comes to the war happening.

In Egao No Daika, the humans are the aliens who had to come in order to save themselves. But, the world’s soil is not proper to grow crops, making the two factions fight for food.

Story

Sorry if that synopsis is so badly written… Truth is, I don’t really understand what the story is about yet… The 3 episodes could just be from different Anime shows since the plot just seems to go to a completely different route every time an episode comes in.

On episode 1, it seems just a cute slice of life regarding a cute 12-year-old princess who needs to step up and somewhat reign the country (with some mecha in the mix). Episode 2 goes completely on another route and seems to be a dramatic Anime showing the horrors of war (which we didn’t know it was happening to begin with) and makes you believe that one of the main characters has died… Which maybe it’s true? I don’t know, spoiler, not spoiler, since I don’t really know what happens after episode 3.

Then, on episode 3, we follow one of the enemies’ squad where a new girl, a teenager this time around, seems to be the main character. During this episode, the theme of war continues to be explored though.

Basically, to me, the Anime has still not found his ground. It just goes from cute Anime show to watch on a Sunday afternoon, to an adult Anime full of emotions. Am I liking it though? Yeah, I can’t say that the episodes have been boring so far.

Characters

Is it bad if I say that the main characters are the one I like the least? I mean, they are not bad, but when compared to side characters who appear here and there, they just seem to not shine that much.

Yuuki is your cute princess who slutters when she is going for a massive speech or ends up tripping while she is heading to the microphone. With a great safe by doing a backflip of course. Nevertheless, until now she has not shown much complexity.

When it comes to Stella she has a little more to it. At least she is more mysterious. Stella is a teenager girl who is in the middle of a war, killing people on a daily basis, and she never stops smiling. Basically, she seems completely out of it. But, from what I can understand I believe she had a very difficult past and she is happy just to be part of something.

Moreover, from what I read in MAL, it seems that these 2 girls will end up meeting each other somewhere the line, so it’s going to be interesting to see how both characters will develop because of this relationship.

However, my main favourite characters so far are supporting characters. My favourites, without a doubt, are both commanders from both Yuuki’s side and Stella’s side. They both seem to have lived a lot, and both seem very grounded. I just think they make great characters and I hope to see more of them!

Animation

The character design is very pleasant to look at. Every character who ends up appearing in the screen, being it a support character or the main one have nice traits and design. The thing I love the most are the hairdos. They are really not that over the top, but they just look so well with the characters’ overall design…

When it comes to the more action-based scenes featuring the mecha it’s also nicely done. The robots are done with CGI, of course, but it’s nice how they are able to blend with the overall animation. Don’t take me wrong, you can see that it’s 3D and that it’s a different type of animation compared to the rest, but it’s nothing completely over the top that makes you feel that something is kind of off.

I also believe that world construction is nicely done. The architecture is great and you can see the futuristic vibe all over the place. However, contrary to many futuristic cities in the fantasy world, this one actually blends well with its surroundings and doesn’t feel too high-tech. In other words, it’s not your typical dark city, full of tall buildings which don’t let you even see the ground. Quite the contrary, most of the buildings give the feeling of how castles would be built in a futuristic world. Meaning, you have those high ceilings and large spaces, but with a very clean futuristic design.

Audio

The intro music is not half-bad… It’s not great either. In other words, I like it, but I won’t be listening to it every single day.

The soundtrack is nice, at least when it comes to the more action scenes. Although the piece of music itself differs, it always has that epic/suspense type of music which works very well with what you are watching. However, I have to say that the voice acting is not superb. The main reason is the audio quality when compared to the music happening in the background. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s enough to make you feel a little off.

Moreover, the voice acting not always go completely in sync with the characters’ mouths which again, feels a little odd. Nevertheless, the main characters Yuuki and Stella do have a nice voice acting and are pleasant to listen.

Final Verdict

It’s not that Egao No Daika is bad, I just don’t know who should I advise to watch it. I mean, yes Egao No Daika features a cute little princess, but is this an Anime for people who love to watch cute girls do cute stuff with nothing major deep happening? No…

The Anime also has mecha, war strategy, and a futuristic world. So, is this a good Anime for mecha lovers? Well, it really depends. In my opinion, mecha lovers love Anime shows who are a little deeper and present a more high-tech future. Meaning, it’s not only about the robots going about, but all the different technology that builds the world. Egao No Daika is not that deep, at least for now.

Last, but not least, Egao No Daika also presents a little bit of drama. So, it could work for people who like to feel all those emotions when watching a show, right? Well, again, it’s not that deep. Yes, there are some dramatic scenes, but the overall vibe of the Anime is not really that dramatic, in fact, it is a little bit childish here and there (which makes sense since the princess has 12 years old). So, again, I’m not really sure if you would like it.

In the end, Egao No Daika is trying to be so many things and mix so many genres that it’s difficult to say if someone would like it or not. To be honest, overall it’s not bad. But, it’s one of those Anime shows that you should try it for yourself if you feel that it is mildly interesting after reading my first impressions review 🙂

Final Score: Average!