Phantom in the Twilight First Impressions

“You’ve loved your great-grandmother since you were a child.”

The only time prior to watching this first episode that I had brought up or even thought about Phantom in the Twilight was during my review of Hanebado!’s opening episode. The reason for this essentially boils down to the fact that, when I see a promotional image which features a bunch bishonen men all framed around a single female, I can be close to positive as to what I’m in for. However, Liden Films had subverted my expectations in the case of Killing Bites and Hanebado! so there was certainly a possibility that Phantom would prove to be a pleasant surprise, as well. It isn’t though. This is as standard a reverse harem as the promo poster would suggest, and while it isn’t all that bad per se, it just goes in one ear and out the other like the cotton candy fluff that it is. I suppose there is an irony to that statement, since that actually comes pretty close to what happens to the main character in this first episode. There are a few aspects to the premise that have a mildly novel quality to them, but they fail to lend a spark to the bland narrative and fans looking for their bishonen fix will probably find more rewarding fare elsewhere.

The episode follows a foreign student, Baileu Ton, who has traveled to London for study. She’s been enamored by the country, as her great-grandmother had lived there a century prior. I had been rather confused by Ton’s name when watching the episode since ‘Ton’ isn’t a Japanese name. However, given that I forgot Phantom was a Chinese-Japanese co-production, I can probably assume her name originates from elsewhere in South-East Asia. Still, with that realization in hand I suddenly found that some of the issues that plague this episode made sense in that context. Most notably was the stilted dialogue, as Baileu’s admiration for her great-grandmother is practically told directly to the camera by her friend and fellow foreign exchange student, Shinyao. It gives the entire production a slightly “off” quality. Baileu appears incapable of internal dialogue, so she’s constantly saying everything that runs through her mind, and yet the thoughts that she expresses never feel like they properly match the situation. Anyway, shortly after arriving in London the two girls realize their luggage has been stolen. Baileu sees the thief, a four foot tall translucent tailed creature, making its getaway. This is what I mean about her thought process. She never even mentions how bizarre the entity looks until she’s directly asked about it. She ends up lost, and, in order to find her way back, uses an old spell passed down through her family which leads her to a cafe run by several handsome supernatural entities. The entities include a vampire, a werewolf and a jiangshi. For the record, the episode never specifically tells the viewer what the characters are, but it is hinted at with all the subtlety of a jackhammer to the face.

As was mentioned earlier, Liden Films is handling the production for this series, and given the surprising level of quality that they brought to Killing Bites and Hanebado! I was wondering if they may elevate what looked, at first glance, like a pretty generic bishonen anime. Given the aforementioned stilted dialogue and generic premise, the narrative clearly hasn’t exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, the animation also fails to surpass my preconceptions, and is largely bland and lacking in notable qualities. London feels oddly lifeless in this first episode, and standard anime shortcuts such as CG vehicles pop out rather grotesquely. Even the character designs feel lazy, like someone realized at the last minute that Vlad, the vampire (Because OF COURSE the vampire is named Vlad!), could be easily confused for Luke, the werewolf, so they threw a red streak into Luke’s hair to differentiate him a bit more. The designs for the goblins that show up towards the end of the episode are somewhat memorable, so there is that, but practically every other element of the show’s design feels standard and flat.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• It actually took a bit of searching to confirm that the character Tauryu was a jinx, since there isn’t a particularly large amount of info available regarding this series, and jiangshi aren’t as prolific in western culture as vampires and werewolves. Furthermore, nothing Tauryu did in this episode seemed to hint that he was a jiangshi, and the only factors that clued me in were his traditional mandarin hat and that the other characters stated he was from Ton’s home country… which I guess also confirms she is from China.
• I made fun of Vlad’s name earlier, but you don’t know the half of it. His full name is Vlad Garfunkel. What is that? It’s like the creator was going to name him Vlad Dracul or Vlad Theimpaler or something, but felt that wouldn’t be subtle enough, so they took a hard right into WTF territory. I can’t think about this character without getting “Bridge Over Troubled Water” stuck in my head now.
• How is it that between Luke’s inhuman nose and Ton shouting out her inner monologue they don’t immediately catch on to the fact she’s watching them during their fight with the goblins?
• There is apparently a 4th member of the cafe staff who is alluded to in the episode and appears in the OP. I don’t know who or what they are, and have no intention of watching the next episode to find out.
• I’m not sure what the point of the magical memory wiping roofie at then end of the episode was. They realize that Ton has magical powers and that prompts them to pull a Superman II? Unless the OP is pointless misdirection, she’s still our main character, so we know she’ll find her way back there again.