The main character of Sola is a high school boy named Yorito Moriyama, whose favorite pastime is to take pictures of the sky at any time of day. Early one morning, he tries to take a picture of a sunrise overlooking a bay. However, he is thwarted when he meets a girl trying to force a vending machine that took her money to give her what she wanted. Yorito helps her with the machine as he tries to talk to her; however, when Yorito finally manages to get the can to come out, the girl has disappeared.
The next day, Yorito, his friend Mana Ishizuki, and Mana's younger sister Koyori go to see Yorito's older sister, Aono, in the hospital. Even though it's Aono's birthday, Yorito leaves to take a picture of the sun setting near an old church that's near the hospital.
Later, Yorito has to go out and buy groceries; however, it rains as he's out. When he stops on his way home to wait for the rain to stop, he encounters the girl he met at the vending machine. They actually talk this time, and Yorito learns her name is Matsuri Shihou. During their conversation, she shows Yorito a picture of the sky she has, and it resembles the picture of the sunset by the church.
Later, Yorito puts two and two together and realizes that Matsuri must be staying at the church. When he goes to see her, Yorito finds a man wielding a sword who is about to kill Matsuri. It turns out Matsuri is a "Calamity of the Night," which is a supernatural being that can live for centuries.
By the time I finished watching the first episode of Sola, I decided that it had an interesting premise, but that it could be a little hard to follow what was going on at times. It wasn't bad, but I suspect it would require watching more of the episodes to really get a feel for and understand the series.
There's nothing objectionable in the visuals or in the dialogue for younger viewers. However, with the pace of the storytelling, I think younger viewers wouldn't have much of an interest in this series. Personally, I would recommend Sola to anime viewers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.
| Sola | 13 | 2007 | Tomoki Kobayashi | Nomad | Bandai Entertainment | Sola | 2 | 2007 | Tomoki Kobayashi | Nomad | Bandai Entertainment |
