Ura Sekai Picnic

Ura Sekai Picnic / Ura Sekai Pikunikku (裏世界ピクニック, Otherside Picnic) is a Japanese yuri science fiction novel series written by Iori Miyazawa and illustrated by shirakaba. Inspired by the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Hayakawa Publishing has released seven volumes of the series since February 2017. A manga adaptation with art by Eita Mizuno has been serialized since February 2018 via Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan and has been collected in nine tankōbon volumes. The novels are licensed in North America by J-Novel Club, while the manga is licensed by Square Enix. An anime television series adaptation by Liden Films and Felix Film aired from January to March 2021.'

Synopsis
Her first encounter with Toriko Nishina was on the Otherside after seeing "that thing" and nearly dying. Ever since that day, exhausted university student Sorawo Kamikoshi's life changed. In this Otherworld, full of mystery, which exists alongside our own, dangerous beings like the Kunekune and Hasshaku-sama that are spoken of in real ghost stories appear. For research, for profit, and to find an important person, Toriko and Sorawo set foot into the abnormal. A tale of two girls' bizarre exploration and survival, brought to you by an up-and-coming sci-fi author!

(Source: J-Novel Club)

Novels
Otherside Picnic is written by Iori Miyazawa and illustrated by shirakaba. Hayakawa Publishing have published seven volumes since February 2017, while J-Novel Club have released seven volumes in North America.

Manga
A manga adaptation by Eita Mizuno was announced in November 2017. The manga began serialization in February 2018 via Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan, and has been collected in nine tankōbon volumes. In July 2020, Square Enix announced that they would publish the manga in North America.

Character

 * -|Main Character #1=

A sophomore at a university in Saitama Prefecture (she was in her second year at the start of the work, and in her third year with File 20). She loves and has a wealth of knowledge about urban legends and real-life ghost stories. She enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, and discovered the existence of the Otherside through a door she found while doing so. She doesn't have many friends, but Toriko, who she met in the Otherside, invites her to go there to explore, research, and earn money. Originally from Akita Prefecture, her mother instantly died in an accident when Sorawo was young, and her grandmother and father became devoted to a cult afterward causing her to repeatedly run away from home and explore abandoned houses to escape her disintegrating family, which was persuading her to join the cult, but after her grandmother and father died, she is now attending college on a scholarship. In File 1 "Kunekune Hunting", due to contact with "Kunekune", a resident of the other world, her right eye turns a mineral blue color, and her eyes have the power to see through the existence of the other world. According to him, he usually wears a black colored contact lens to hide his blue eyes because he says, "It hurts because I'm too geeky if I make only my eyes odd-eyed (see File 5)."

Personality:


 * Sorawo is a shy and introverted person who usually prefers to be alone, not wanting to be bothered, and often keeps her distance from other people. There had been a time when she tried to make friends during her early years in university, attending a few parties, but in the end, she couldn't keep up, and it was too exhausting for her, so she decided to be on her own instead. When forced into a conversation or meeting people for the first time, she tends to end up flustered or talk excessively.
 * When making a first appearance, Sorawo mentions being alone and being forgotten by people around her, and seems quite cynical and untrusting to new humans. Her demure demeanor and her surprisingly tough and misanthropic personality are a reflection of this experience.
 * The only person whom she is comfortable with is when she's with Toriko Nishina who she met on the Otherside. At first, she was reluctant to follow along with Toriko's search for Satsuki Uruma, after almost dying multiple times during encounters. But because of her relationship with Toriko and her wanting to explore the Otherside with her, she soon grew fond of Toriko and went out of her way to go along with her, even taking the risk to save the Palehorse Battalion soldiers.

Abilities
The pupil of her right eye changed color during her Kunekune subjugation, becoming a beautiful blue color. Her right eye has the power to see through the existence of the underworld, but she usually wears colored contacts to make it look like a normal eye in order to hide the discoloration. In the back world, he uses the automatic pistol "Makarov" that Toriko gave him. She tends to fill in the missing parts of herself with others and feels that Toriko has missing parts similar to herself, and she gradually becomes dependent on her. Kozakura describes it as an unconscious "dependent psychopath". 『Right Eye』: After Sorawo's second encounter with the Kunekune, She got her right eye modified by the strange foreign body that grew out of her as a result of recognizing the Kunekune's true form. This eye serves as a filter, or a connection to the Otherside wherein she can see through a Fourth Kind or monster's appearance and reveal its "true form," allowing other objects to interact with it. The phenomenon she encountered in Volume 1, File 4, allowed her to shift her perception and see through each of the occurring phenomena. Although, using it for a long time causes strain in her eye. The other function of Sorawo's right eye is to be able to see glitches as silver lights, and also works as a way to spot gates on the surface world. In the later volumes, she found that she can drive a person insane by simply focusing her right eye on them. She does refrain from doing that unless it's necessary or a life-death situation.
 * -|Main Character #2=

A woman who searches the Otherside for her missing friend Satsuki. She appears to be a college student. Her parents (both female and called by Toriko as "mama" and "mother") have already died, but she was a member of the Canadian Army's Joint Task Force 2 Special Forces, so Toriko is familiar with firearms. She has long blond hair and is, in the opinion of Sorawo, "extremely beautiful". Her character in the story is very positive, but she has a tendency to isolate herself from others, and has no friends other than Sorawo and Satsuki, who was Toriko's tutor. She is used to handling firearms, and she told Sorao that she "had trained abroad".

In her file 1 "Kunekune Hunting", like Sorao, she comes into contact with "Kunekune", a resident of the back world, and the tip of her left-hand turns blue and transparent, and she grasps the existence of the back world. I had the power to take She has a very positive personality in the work, but she has an isolated personality because she can't get a good sense of the distance from others, and she seems to have no friends other than Satsuki and Sorao.

Personality:
 * Although appeared mysterious at first, Toriko is known as upbeat and energetic most of the time, especially when around Sorawo Kamikoshi and Kozakura(to the point Kozakura finds her annoying). She was friendly upon meeting Sorawo and dropped honorifics immediately after introducing herself to her. She'd been comfortable with Sorawo ever since, certain that they would get along well. She is carefree, not holding herself back when she and Sorawo explore the Otherside or when they celebrate post-expedition. She prefers addressing with no honorific people she thinks she's friends or close with. She is also reliable and would often be the one to act or think fast during situations to aid Sorawo when needed.
 * Toriko is outgoing who is high-spirited with people she knows or is friends with. Kozakura describes her as the kind of person who has no sense of proper distance between people, and would often get too close to others too fast.
 * However, Toriko is actually a shy introverted person who used not to have friends when she came to japan and chose to stay at home alone. She had been alone until she met Satsuki Uruma, who later disappeared. Toriko cares about Satsuki so much that she refuses to believe Satsuki might be already dead. Her stubbornness to accept the possibility even caused her and Sorawo to have a fall-out during File 4: Time, Space, and a Middle-aged Man.

Abilities
She is from Canada and her parents were soldiers who belonged to the Special Forces. Because of that, she is proficient in handling firearms, and she masters the guns she picks up in the underworld. At first, she used the automatic pistol "Makarov", but Makarov gave it to her Sorao and uses the "AK-101" that she had in her Kubado as a weapon.

『Left Hand』: After Toriko and Sorawo Kamikoshi's second encounter with the Kunekune, Toriko's left hand was modified as a result of pulling out the strange foreign body that grew out of Sorawo. Her left hand is described as having see-through fingers that are transparent as the sky. Her left hand allows her to directly "touch" the true forms of the Otherside's entities.

TV Anime
The 12-episode anime television series produced by Liden Films and Felix Film was announced on March 5, 2020. It was directed and written by Takuya Satō. Ayumi Nishihata designed the characters, and Takeshi Watanabe composed the series' music. The series aired from January 4 to March 22, 2021, on AT-X, Tokyo MX, SUN, and BS11. The opening theme song is "Ugly Creature" (醜い生き物, Minikui Ikimono) performed by CHiCO with HoneyWorks, while the ending theme song is "You & Me" performed by Miki Satō.

Funimation had licensed the series and streamed it on its website in North America and the British Isles, in Europe (minus Germany) through Wakanim, and in Australia and New Zealand through AnimeLab. On November 14, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. In Germany, the series is licensed by KSM Anime. Medialink has licensed the series in Southeast Asia and South Asia and streamed it on their Ani-One YouTube channel and Bilibili in Southeast Asia.

Staff

 * Original work - Iori Miyazawa
 * Character draft - shirakaba
 * Director/Series Composition/Sound Director - Takuya Sato
 * Character Design - Ayumi Nishihata
 * Creature Design - Kazutaka Ema
 * Prop Design - Mahiru Shintani, Tomomi Kimura, & Hiroshi Matsumoto
 * Effect animation director & Creature animation director - Toru Yoshida
 * Action animation director - Hiroyasu Oda
 * Art director - Hiroki Matsumoto
 * Color design - Hiroshi Iwaida
 * 3D Director - Yuya Shiraishi
 * Cinematographer-Takeshi Kuchiba
 * Editing - Masahiro Goto
 * Music - Tsuyoshi Watanabe
 * Music Producer - Mitsutoshi Ogura, & Takuya Sato
 * Music Production - Good Smile Film
 * Chief Producer - Satoshi Fukao
 * Producers - Yoshihiro Ishikawa, Mitsutoshi Ogura, Shota Watase, Rikimaru Mizoguchi, Yohei Kikuchi, Tomoyuki Owada, Go Aida, Ryuji Abe, Yasutaka Kimura, & Nobuhito Hayashi
 * Animation Producers - Tetsuro Satomi, Tomohito Naka, & Yuta Kikuchi
 * Animation Production - Leiden Film x FelixFilm
 * Production- DS Lab (Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures, Good Smile Film, ATX, Hayakawa Shobo, Sony Pictures Entertainment, BS11, Frontier Works, Square Enix, Amusement Media Institute)

Web show
It is being distributed from the anime official website from December 13, 2020, titled "Back World Tokubetsu Activity Report". Starring Yumiri Hanamori (playing Sorao Kamikoshi) and Ai Kayano (playing Toriko Nishina).

Reception
Constance Sarantos of CBR says that the series breaks the mold of the yuri genre, avoiding common stereotypes of the genre and creating a unique narrative, defying, in their view, "expectations for a yuri anime" as it delves into the horror genre and has a "Relationship built on crime and survival" rather than a slice of life about "interpersonal romantic drama." Sarantos also said that the series shows how well the sci-fi and yuri genres can mix, combining themes of fear and romance, something which isn't often used in yuri anime, with the protagonists having to "work together to defeat frightening foes." Even so, Sarantos stated that while the anime doesn't "deconstruct the yuri genre" it shares storyboarding which "emphasizes intimate moments and loneliness" with Bloom Into You, Just Call it Love, Fragtime, Liz and the Blue Bird, and Adachi and Shimamura, among others, utilizing the "emotional scenery one would expect from a yuri series." In that respect, Sarantos said that it is similar to Kemono Friends and Girls' Last Tour, adding that there is an expectation it will "nail the aesthetic of yuri" even though it is an "unconventional yuri narrative."

Reviewers for Anime News Network shared the sentiment of Sarantos. Caitlin Moore called the series "one of a kind" and a welcome addition to a series of yuri anime about "teenagers falling blushingly in love for the first time", with neither of the protagonists, Sorawo or Toriko, based on stereotypes. Even so, Moore said that the chemistry between them "could have come through stronger", called the visuals a "mixed bag" and said that there has been "a real lack of queer genre fiction in anime" recently, meaning she is "all the more excited to explore it." James Beckett, on the other hand, said that he was only lukewarm to the anime and said that while he is "not asking the show to answer all of my questions upfront", he would like "a little more context" and that he hopes that it "manages to live up to its potential." Similarly, Nicholas Dupree said that he feels the show lost him the premiere, even while he called the two protagonists a "charming central couple", and can't "click with the episode as a whole" while Theron Martin was more positive, saying that the series could be "worth watching" just for the interactions between the two protagonists. Just as positive was Rebecca Silverman, saying that the series was fascinating and creepy, saying it will likely be a faithful adaptation of the yuri manga it is based on, while saying there are "a few little missteps" and would like to know more "about the whole urban legend/internet myths piece" too. Hannah Alton of CBR argued that the series stands apart from the "usual fare" of the isekai genre because it is a yuri series, with the protagonists not trapped in the other world, but can easily move from the real world to the fictional world known as the Otherside, with the danger within the Otherside, which is "populated by monsters from Japanese urban legends" which can't be killed unless someone looks directly at them.

Alton further says the two protagonists standout in the genre, with Sorawo as a college student who "keeps to herself" and Toriko who is experienced at using a gun, something which violates existing Japanese law, which tightly controls firearms. Alton concludes by saying that while the anime falls into the isekai genre, it is different "from the usual high fantasy adventures in empowerment." Others have praised the anime, along with Moyasimon and Genshiken, saying that this prove that college anime can "offer a different take on "coming of age" storylines than the standard high school tropes" while focusing on "serious adult issues" like interpersonal conflict, struggles over identity, and mental health. Additionally, Christopher Farris reviewed the anime's fourth episode for Anime News Network, noting that the vibes and ideas of the episode fit the series, while pointing to inconsistencies with the storytelling, and stating that within the theme of fear, everything else "works wonderfully", praising the sound design and how it taps into people's fears. Jordan Ramée of GameSpot praised the anime for starring adults, unlike most anime, calling it a "a refreshingly wonderful series" which has a "pretty cute and wholesome romance."

Erica Friedman had a mixed view of Otherside Picnic, which she reviewed on her blog, Okazu. She praised the novel series as "an overt mix of Japanese netlore, science fiction, action and horror tropes and a big scoop of Yuri", but she was a "little disappointed" in the anime, specifically criticizing the animation style, disliking what she described as "comedy-action" in the series, and the pacing. Even so, she called the anime "very enjoyable" and praised the voice acting as "superb". Ultimately, she called the animation "unsatisfying", said the story was not "compelling", criticized what she saw as "pointless service" in the series, and said that the anime "feels like a children's version of the novels", giving the anime an overall rating of 7 out of 10.

Silverman reviewed the Otherside Picnic manga for Anime News Network, writing that it does not have "some of the issues that plagued the anime version," with more of a focus on horror, and gives readers "a little more yuri," saying it tells a unique story while "remaining true to the source novels." She argued that it feels like a "a statement on the isekai craze of recent years," and concluded it was a "solid adaptation...worth reading all on its own."

External Link

 * Ura Sekai Pikunikku ─ Official Manga Website (in Japanese)
 * TV Anime "Ura Sekai Pikunikku" Official Website (in Japanese)
 * Ura Sekai Pikunikku Official (@OthersidePicnic) - Twitter
 * Ura Sekai Pikunikku ─ Wikipedia (in Japanese)
 * Ura Sekai Pikunikku ─ Wikipedia (in English)

Trivia
'' to be added. ''

__INDEX__