Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1: Favorites

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1 – Quick Summary

In Amagi Brilliant Park episode 1, “Not Enough Visitors!,” Isuzu Sento must really have wanted to visit an amusement park with Seiya Kanie. Why? Because she asked him out at gunpoint. And then when he tried to back out of it later, she renewed the threat. Why did this woman want him to with him? Why would she go to such lengths? And why does the park mascot seem to hate Kanie even more than Kanie hated being threatened with a musket?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Amazon Merchandise

Blu Ray

Amagi Brilliant Park: Volume 1 (Kindle)

Amagi Brilliant Park: Isuzu Sento (Sega)

Favorite Quote from Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1

Sento did not take kindly to Kanie and Moffle desecrating the holy place. Or something. Capture from the Blu Ray.

The tour Sento forced Kanie to endure included a trip to Moffle’s Sweet House. It was more than a bakery. It was a shooting gallery that seemed quite popular with quasi-military types, judging from the photos on the commemorative wall.

Sento wanted a photo, and Moffle entered the room. Not sure what was up, but from the time they laid eyes on each other, Moffle and Kanie loathed each other. It didn’t help that Moffle’s attitude differed considerably from what Kanie expected from a theme park’s star Cast member. 

Things came to a head when Kanie had had enough. Saying he didn’t want to waste time with a knock-off character (presumably referring to another famous mouse character), he tried to storm out. Moffle hurled the camera at the back of Kanie’s head, and they came to blows. Sento blew them apart – as in, with two muskets (and I’m still not sure where she hides those things).

“I won’t have you two taint the Sweets House of hopes and dreams with your blood,” she said sternly (10:10). Though I’m only guessing about the stern part. Her voice doesn’t convey a ton of emotion.

Favorite Moment from Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1

I remember the shock I felt the first time I saw this – that’s narrative goodness! Capture from the Blu Ray.

Setup: Brilliant Reveal Pacing

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this series. Watching it purely for enjoyment is one kind of experience (and it convinced me to give it a score of 9 on My Anime List). But I found that watching it so I could review it helped me notice layers that I hadn’t seen before. That’s one reason I really like to review shows I’ve watched before – I almost always come away with a deeper appreciation.

This episode’s slow, playful reveals stood out. We start with the famous scene of Sento asking Kanie on a date – at gunpoint. We proceed with her pulling the rifle out again when he tried to walk away from their date (and wherever she stores that firearm, a child nearby randomly talked about shimapan – hmmm.).  By the time they actually arrived at Amagi Brilliant Park, two things were clear: first, Sento is a serious, focused young woman and second, she didn’t pick Amagi Brilliant Park to visit at random.

Sento is a serious (and armed!) young woman on a mission. Capture from the Blu Ray.

I still didn’t know what was going on, though I suspected she was trying to recruit him for – something. By the time he and Moffle fought until Sento blew them apart (well, apart from each other – she didn’t, like, explode either of them), I had a firm idea that Sento worked there and that whatever she was doing, Moffle wasn’t fully on board.

That whole idea remained intact even after Kanie ate the delicious croquettes. When Kanie disclosed Sento knew he had been a childhood star, I thought we had the answer of why she chose him – obviously, she wanted to capitalize on his previous fame.

Delivery: Magical Kingdom, Indeed

See what they did? They set up a plausible explanation that seemed to satisfy all of the clues. I really thought we had just one more reveal: what they were going to offer him.

Then Sento took him to meet the baker of croquettes. But she wasn’t a cook. She was a Princess – Princess Latifa Fleuranza. The first sign that things weren’t what they seemed was Kanie’s quick flashback. He saw a younger Fleuranza, crying and distraught. Then Fleuranza told him that yes, they wanted him to work at the park. In fact, they wanted him to save it. That’s because the stakes were way higher than Kanie (or I!) had thought.

She told him (19:00), “Yes. We came from a place other than this Earth; a land of real magic. Most of the Cast who works here in Amagi Brilliant Park are from the magic kingdom of Maple Land… But unless we welcome 250,000 Guests in the next three months, this park will have to close. If that happens, we from Maple Land will have nowhere to go, and lose our will to live.”

Whatever happened between the Princess and Kanie, it was hard on both of them. Capture from the Blu Ray.

The goal of the first episode is to hook you, to make you really, really want to watch the rest of the series. That one scene, so carefully foreshadowed by everything that came before, did just that. Considering that scene, the masterful plotting, the delightful characters, and beautiful animation, there was no way I wasn’t going to watch more.

What did you think of the condition of Amagi Brilliant Park? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: [Spoilers] Amagi Brilliant Park – Episode 1 [Discussion]
• Chikorita157’s Anime Blog: Amagi Brilliant Park – Episode 1 – The Harsh Reality of Amusement Parks
• The GlorioBlog: First Look: Amagi Brilliant Park

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 1: Not Enough Visitors!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 2: Not Enough Time!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 3: Not Enough of a Boost!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 4: Not Enough Secretary Competence!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 5: Not Enough Money!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 6: Not Enough Staff!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 7: Not Enough Pool Safety!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 8: Not Enough Love Appeal!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 9: Not Enough Teamwork!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 10: Nothing Can Be Done!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 11: Nothing to Worry About!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 12: Nobody Knows What the Future Holds!
• Amagi Brilliant Park Episode 13: Not a Good Promo!