I actually thought this was much better than expected. It looks like it would be pretty edgelord, but has eschewed all those factors in favour of decent storytelling and dialogue; well delivered by good actors, even. It is certainly soft worldbuilding, where this god-like power that, of course, one man takes for his own in a blatant move for power under the guise of knowledge, is not codified. It just makes magic stuff happen, pretty much, which is the impetus for the destruction and humanity loss through war and bloodshed and the like.
It also has a neat creation myth for the power that roots it in something like Lovecraft's Cosmicism, but decidedly different in its conclusion, which was nice to see-again subverting expectations.
Admittedly, the animation is fairly uneven and there is a particular sweet spot in the narrative near the middle where the before and after are lacklustre in comparison. And it kind of has to lead to the resolution that it does. But it's still quite a bit different than traditional, highly puritanical, moving instead to a more interesting abstraction to contemplate morality and ego. I think it's worth a watch.
It also has a neat creation myth for the power that roots it in something like Lovecraft's Cosmicism, but decidedly different in its conclusion, which was nice to see-again subverting expectations.
Admittedly, the animation is fairly uneven and there is a particular sweet spot in the narrative near the middle where the before and after are lacklustre in comparison. And it kind of has to lead to the resolution that it does. But it's still quite a bit different than traditional, highly puritanical, moving instead to a more interesting abstraction to contemplate morality and ego. I think it's worth a watch.