Kara Dennison
February 15, 2021 
For the last few weeks, we’ve been intrigued by Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-. The new original anime debuts this spring — and while we don’t know much yet, we love what we’ve seen so far. The breadcrumbs we get are leading us to some interesting implications.
We don’t get do know the whole truth of the story until April. Until then, here’s why we’re keeping our own eyes fixed firmly on this upcoming title.
It’s from the creator of Re:ZERO
We’ve already been won over by the romance, fantasy, and horror of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. It has intriguing characters, a multifaceted plot, and a hefty dose of terrifying psychology. Writer Tappei Nagatsuki knows how to spin a tale… so whenever he comes out with something new, we’re interested.
Nagatsuki’s direct-to-anime project already hints that it’ll be playing with subject matter that’s both beautiful and terrible… but more on that in a moment. If it’s anything like Re:ZERO, that holds a lot of promise. And considering series scriptwriter Eiji Umehara is also on board, it’s looking like we’re due for a lot of that vibe.
WIT Studio will bring the beautiful animation
Writing is important, but so are visuals. And when we heard that WIT Studio would be handling Vivy, we were super excited. This is the studio that first brought us Attack on Titan, after all. And it’s responsible for Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, possibly the prettiest zombie series out there (a sentence we never thought we’d say).
What we’ve seen so far, thanks to short concept videos, is just what we’ve come to expect of WIT Studio. The mix of ethereal futurism and gritty war is right up their alley, and we can’t wait to see more of that in action.
Hints of A.I. drama
As we progress further into the future (because face it, we live in the future), the idea of artificial intelligence as we see it in sci-fi feels… well, less sci-fi. While we’ve been using real-world A.I. for decades and it’s not especially dramatic, our interpretation of it as artificial consciousness continues fascinating. And it looks like that’s exactly what Vivy is going to give us.
“A.I.” is a prominent keyword in the advertising, and this is definitely a futuristic setting. Plus, these Detroit: Become Human-esque blue circles indicate the artificial nature of some characters. But what’s more interesting still is what the presence of that A.I. means…
An exploration of duality
So far, everything seems to have a kind of duality to it. From the key visual itself to how the protagonist introduces herself, there appear to be two forces at work. When Vivy speaks, she refers to herself as “Watashi” (“I”). But supertitles indicate one of two meanings for “watashi”: “A.I.” or “Vivy.” In other words, there are two of our protagonist. Whether that’s literal or metaphorical, we don’t know yet.
Could this be an A.I. gaining sentience? Or something more convoluted? We won’t know ’til the premiere.
We’re always here for more original anime
A lot of anime comes from manga or light novels. That’s understandable. A lot of them are popular, and benefit from adaptations. But it seems nowadays that fewer and fewer anime-only projects get made… meaning there are fewer and fewer anime that can fully surprise us.
That’s what’s most exciting: we know nothing about Vivy except what the studio chooses to show. There’s no anime or light novel to turn to. We’ll all be watching together at the same speed. And we’ll all discover the show’s secrets side by side. That’s a rare treat these days.
What’s got you most excited about Vivy -Flourite Eye’s Song-?
Otaku USA may earn a small commission on purchases made through links on this article.
