The Beginning After The End Kicks Off With A Solid Story, But Misses The Mark With Animation

A-1 Pictures has established a strong base for a successful anime adaptation of a manhwa series by doing an incredible job with Solo Leveling. The manhwa industry is an untapped territory that surely has a lot to offer to the anime community. And, well, Studio A-Cat is following in the footsteps of A-1 Pictures to give us an anime adaptation of another popular manhwa series, The Beginning After The End.

The studio released the official trailer for The Beginning After The End, or TBATE, last month, and despite all the negativity around the animation, manhwa fans were waiting for the premiere episode’s official release. Well, after a long wait, Episode 1 of the anime series is out on Crunchyroll. The TBATE manhwa is as popular as Solo Leveling, but does the anime adaptation hold enough potential to become another “great anime adaptation of manhwa”?

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The Beginning After The End’s Premiere Episode Sets Good Standard For Storytelling

The Anime Wants You To Pay Attention To TBATE’s Massive World

Episode 1 of TBATE wastes no time and straightaway introduces us to King Grey, the ruthless King who has killed millions to maintain his rule over the world. He commanded a massive army with unlimited resources, so there was no one who could challenge his might, except for death, of course. Unfortunately, King Grey’s fate catches up to him, and he dies due to unknown reasons. However, death is only the beginning of King Grey’s new life, as he gets reborn in a fantasy world where magic is real.

Surprisingly, King Grey, who is named Arthur in this mystical world, retains memories of his past life. He was basically an adult trapped in a child’s body. That is why, even as a newborn who could barely talk or walk, Arthur was curious to learn about this new world.

Arthur learns that he was reincarnated on a continent known as ‘Dicathen.’ The land is composed of three Kingdoms: Darv (the land of Dwarves), Elenoir (the kingdom of Elves), and, lastly, the Sapin Kingdom (the land of humans where Arthur is reborn). What’s strange about this world is the existence of Mana, which is the source of all magic.

People who inherit magic can harness it in two ways — they can either become an Augmenter or a Conjuror. While augmentation allows a user to enhance their physical capabilities, a conjuror can project mana into reality as they see fit. Having magic is undoubtedly a good thing, but one can only control it through the “Mana core.” Arthur learned everything there is to magic within two years, and surprisingly, that was enough for him to gain control over his mana core and blast his home with magical fire.

Episode 1 Surprises You With Arthur’s Narration Style

The magic part is great, of course, but that isn’t a major selling point of TBATE’s premiere episode. Instead, the part that fans may love the most is the family aspect. While we have seen several anime that sideline the family part, Episode 1 of TBATE spends a lot of time with Arthur’s parents. Honestly, it’s surprising that a single episode makes you fall in love with Arthur’s family, who, honestly, may stop being relevant to the story later on.

Arthur never got to embrace love in his previous life, and maybe that is why he killed without remorse. However, he is compelled to notice and acknowledge the warmth of love in his new life through his parents. The manner in which Arthur narrates everything that he feels about his mother and father is honestly beautiful and surely the best part of the premiere episode.

TBATE’s Amazing Story Deserves Better Animation

Hopefully, The Animation Will Evolve In Further Episodes

After watching the official trailer, the major concern that TBATE fans had was the animation. Unfortunately, they weren’t wrong, as the animation in Episode 1 indeed felt like a slideshow. It gets frustrating seeing how many stills are featured in a single episode. You hope that the animation will get better later in the episode, but unfortunately, it doesn’t. Honestly, you’d expect to see a moving animation when you hear the sound of rustling leaves, but instead, you get another still animation. That being said, the animation is Okay-ish when it comes to fight scenes, but since there weren’t enough battle sequences in the first episode, it’s hard to pass a concrete judgment on that.

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There have been several instances where the animation gets better with each passing episode (and vice versa). Hopefully, TBATE stays on the good side of things instead of being forgotten by the community because of disappointing animation. Studio A-Cat never really blazed because of its animation work, so fans already had low expectations from TBATE. But this could really be the studio’s chance for redemption.

The Good Storytelling Makes You Forgive The Disappointing Animation In Episode 1

Did The Beginning After The End Episode 1 deserve better animation? Absolutely Yes. But was the episode unwatchable because of the animation? The answer to that is ‘No.’ TBATE’s story is too amazing to ignore, and the premiere episode does a good job of setting up the massive world of Dicathen. The episode touches you emotionally and makes you care about the characters, and that’s enough reason to give TBATE a chance.

The Beginning After The End Episode 1 is now available to stream on Crunchyroll.

The Beginning After the End

Release Date

April 2, 2025

Network

Fuji TV, Fukushima TV

• 

  Makoto Furukawa

  Grey (voice)

• 

  Natsumi Fujiwara

  Arthur Leywin (voice)

• 

  Kana Ichinose

  Tessia Eralith (voice)

• 

  Chiaki Omigawa

  Jasmine Flamesworth (voice)