TIDE-LINE Blue so rocked my world, from the very first minute, that I ended up watching the whole series in one day. I’m not exactly sure what it was that so drew me in. I guess it was a combination of things, but primarily it was the feel of the series: the best way to put it is, it felt like a Super Nintendo RPG. Basically, if a classic such as Final Fantasy VI was to be made into an anime, and if the adaptation succeeded with flying colors, TIDE-LINE Blue gives us a good idea of what the result would be like. For those of you who’ve played FF6, you know how big a compliment this is; for those who haven’t, well… just read on.

In the first episode, we are introduced to most of the main characters, and thrown right into the plot. The characters intrigued me from the start, and I wanted to know right away why they acted the way they did. I was so excited to find out that as soon as one episode finished, I turned on the next one, hoping for clues or revelations, but eventually simply excited that I would be spending more time with the characters. I have not achieved such a level of intimacy with the characters of an anime since Fullmetal Alchemist, but TIDE-LINE did in twelve episodes what Fullmetal did in fifty-one. Best of all, the writers knew exactly what they were doing with their characters all along, from episode one to episode twelve, and it showed. Each episode had a constant flow of tantalizing flashbacks or mini-revelations. The characters just could not stop developing.

If the series had focused on the plot as much as it did on the plights of the characters, it would have been a considerably worse series, since though the plot is interesting, it is not interesting enough. The extent of the plot’s role is to provide a backdrop on which the characters could develop, and this is why the final episode was something of a disappointment. When the eleventh episode ended, it was clear that almost all the characters were complete, finished products, but though the character development was done, there was still a plot to tie up. The final episode was almost exclusively plot-centric and thus not on the level of the eleven before it.

The music and animation did their own job backing up the characters and making their stories more enjoyable… and then some. The soundtrack is excellent, as are both the opening and ending songs. Best of all, no tracks are played too often; there was a new piece to hear in almost every episode. The animation was even more impressive. Consider a Gonzo series: in general, the first episode is animated beautifully, with a full budget, and is meant to impress. TIDE-LINE’s first episode did that. However, so did the second, and the twelfth, and every episode in-between. Finally, as if that were not enough, the character designs in TIDE-LINE Blue are my favorite character designs of all the anime I have seen to date. I think that by the time the series ended, I was as much in love with Isla as Keel was; she was just that pretty! Akihiko Yamashita and Teiichi Takiguchi, you are my heroes.

A final note on the pacing: I touched on this earlier, saying how well done the character development was, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever watched such a well-paced anime; indeed, by the end, I could compare TIDE-LINE not only to a SNES RPG thanks to its fell, but also to a Tad Williams book thanks to its pacing (okay, I’ll shut up with the vague references now). I had a feeling from the start that the writers knew exactly what they were doing, and it’s too hard to explain how delightful it was to be proven right again and again and again and again.

So if you like SNES RPGs… or Tad Williams… or if you simply know how to enjoy a good adventure story with great characters, great pacing, and a 100% level of satisfaction at the end, get your hands on this series right now.