The nineteenth century has been the century of steam, but the twentieth will be the century of electricity! At least, that is the philosophy of Seiroku, a young dreamer who travels with his friends and his little brother Kihachi to the city in a crowded train. Kihachi is timid and fearful, and Seiroku is trying to instill a sense of wonder and possibility in him. This is dramatized in a very striking way when the eldest brother leaves the youngest brother at a street performance. Kihachi grows more and more afraid as the night grows darker, but suddenly the entire street lightens up. That is what Seiroku and his friends have been up to: hanging light bulbs and then turning them on to demonstrate the power and wonder of electricity. After an extremely cool and artsy opening, we jump to Meiji-era Kyoto (or alternate Meiji-era Kyoto?) and see how the dream has been squandered. Seiroku has died in a war, probably the Russo-Japanese War. His Electric Catalogue has been lost. Kihachi now makes a living by repairing old artifacts, but he is still the same fearful guy. He needs all his courage to warn an old woman that she is about to be scammed, and he can only do it if he goes for a run afterwards. As he is finding some solace at the beautifully rendered Mount Inari, the shrine of a thousand paths adorned with red gates or torii, he hears the prayer of a girl who wishes to speak to her dead mother. This is Inako Momokawa, a devout girl whose self-described main talent is having faith.

Let’s start with the visuals. Every frame is a painting, from the steamy Meiji streets to the walk near the river to the interior of Kihachi’s store. The wonder that the arrival of electric light brings is portrayed in a very powerful way. At some points, the colors suddenly blend in an impressionistic manner that I haven’t seen in any other anime, and which brings to mind the art of the period. There is just the right amount of detail to these streets and these houses. Coincidentally, I was lucky enough to visit Mount Inari last year, and I can attest that the show captures its colors and its atmosphere beautifully. And a show can be beautiful yet empty, but rest assured, this is emphatically not the case. The people who populate this world are just as fascinating as the setting. Every character is a mystery, at once serious and goofy, with a compelling reason to do what they do and a lot of things left unsaid. Our main characters have very clear flaws, a lot of awkwardness, and very compelling ideas, and I love how their eyes look. The relationship between a big brother and a little brother is wonderfully depicted in a few moments, and quickly becomes the emotional core that propels the episode forward. And on that note, the story proceeds at a compelling pace from beginning to end. Every moment leads to the next seamlessly, we receive a lot of information but not too much, and the show is never afraid to deliver a punch or to suddenly change the tone. If I had to criticize something, there is a strange dream scene, about two minutes long, that seems like something out of Madoka, and I feel that we lack the context to make sense of it. Other than that, everything is impeccable so far, and if Sparks of Tomorrow keeps this up, I feel that this could become one of the stars of anime. I’m very excited for the next episode.

Sparks of Tomorrow is available on Netflix.