Double Decker! Doug & Kirill

The once peaceful city-state of Lisvalletta has found itself beset by a dangerous new drug called Anthem. The side effects of the drug allow the user to enter a state of Overdrive, wherein they mutate into superpowered beasts with inhuman abilities. With the police powerless to stop this new threat, the responsibility falls upon the Special Crime Investigation Unit SEVEN-O. To offset the dangers of this work, the investigators work under the patented "Double Decker" system, which requires them to team up in "buddy cop" pairs.

As a child, average police officer Kirill Vrubel fantasized about being a hero who would save his school from a random terrorist attack. His chance to be a hero arrives when his landlady blackmails him into searching for her lost cat. Upon arriving and falling asleep in an abandoned warehouse, Kirill finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation involving an Anthem user. By teaming up with SEVEN-O detective Douglas "Doug" Bilingam, Kirill earns his spot as the newest member of SEVEN-O. Now, with the help of this secret organization, he may finally achieve his dream of becoming a hero.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Vrubel, Kirill Main

Amasaki, Kouhei Japanese

Billingham, Douglas Main

Mikami, Satoshi Japanese

Silverstone, Maxine Main

Taichi, You Japanese

del Rio, Deana Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Rochefort, Katherine Main

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Chloe Main

Edamoto, Moe Japanese

Fujishiro, Yuri Main

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Murphy, Travis Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Ross, Derick Supporting

Koyama, Tsuyoshi Japanese

Gainsbourg, Sophie Supporting

Endou, Aya Japanese

Andou, Ryou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Furuta, Jouji Director

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Yoshimura, Ai Episode Director

Reviews

Dec 23, 2018

Stark700

Recommended

I can’t really imagine a society in our world today without laws. Hell, I can’t even begin to fandom what would happen if the police force disappeared in my neighborhood. As a police story, Double Decker runs with a plot that managed to capture the essence of crime fighting. I’m not going to lie, this show made me realize that sometimes, we can make the simplest ideas and turn it into a blockbuster.

As an anime original, Double Decker may look familiar especially those who have experienced a show in the past known as ‘Tiger & Bunny’. Produced by studio Sunrise, it didn’t take long to ... realize the familiar character designs by Masakazu Katsura. Even after all these years, it feels like his talent never left us with these T&B aesthetics. I would also assume the setting of the show takes place in the same universe although that’s not clear. Regardless, watching Double Decker is a profound experience that I did not regret.

Initially, the first few episodes introduces us to the main character cast. The most prominent characters consists of the SEVEN-O Special Crime Investigation. It shouldn’t take long for viewers to understand the experience level between investigator Doug Bilingham and rookie cop Kirill Vrubel. To me, they are like Batman and Robin. In other words, Doug plays the role of an action hero while Kirill presents himself as a sidekick. I don’t want to undermine Kirill’s credibility because he does have some potential. However, my impression of his character in the beginning was not enthusiastic. He lacks experience and often ends up being the butt monkey for feminine jokes. It doesn’t help that he looks like a bishounen rather than a cop. This is an antithesis to his partner Doug as he looks much more mature, experienced, and always gets the job done. There’s a lack of chemistry in the beginning due to their conflicting personalities. However, the two does get along on a professional level and Kirill begins to learn more on the job.

Joining them includes Deana, Katherine, Maxine, Yuri, Travis, Sophie, and Apple. Each of them play a different role that compliments the team overall. For instance, Deana’s sniper skills is valuable during missions that targets dangerous individuals. Yuri possesses computer skills that provides intelligence to the team. Apple is in charge of maintaining the team’s equipment and works well with technology. You get the idea. In order to fight crime, it’s definitely important to establish character roles so this show managed to get that point across from the start. On individual levels, each character has also personalities that sometimes clashes with one another. Because let’s not forget one thing, it’s not always easy for everyone to get along on such a dangerous job. Being part of a crime fighting force is not easy when you have a group known as the Esperanza who deals with a powerful drug known as the “Anthem”.

That actually takes to the core plot of the story. Initially, I had thought the show would involve monster of the week format episodes. The plot evolves more and more as conspiracies, corruption, and the dark side of Lisvaletta is revealed. Esperanza also begins to show to the world more of their dark ambitions that clashes with law enforcement. To me, Double Decker managed to make its antagonists marketable as an international threat in their world. Slowly but surely, their sinister plans come together that really throws off SEVEN from their ordinary cases. Speaking of cases though, I regrettably admit that most of them aren’t as executed as I had anticipated. Most of them uses recycled ideas such as investigating clues, following up on leads, tracking down the suspect, and bringing them to justice. If you’re familiar with media like Batman or even Spiderman, you can probably get a sense of these cases are like. Not to mention, the criminals they deal with often resort to using dangerous chemicals and experimentations. It’s only later in the show we how far the plot deepens to test the limits of our crime fighters.

It would be unfair to say this show is a poor man’s Tiger & Bunny to be honest. Double Decker works as a successor by using its character relationships to sell its story. We find out more about some of the main characters’ past too in order to understand them more. And while this show may be goofy at times, it manages to work well for its character partnerships. There are moments where I couldn’t help but feel attached to them. Make no mistake, you don’t need to understand law enforcement to watch this show or see Tiger & Bunny. In fact, jumping into Double Decker is perfectly fine with its playful humor and oddball set of characters. It still contains its emotional content as the main characters tackles on social issues. An elephant in the room also exists with the same gender relationships. However, it’s far off from a shounen-ai and works more as a buddy cop police tale.

You probably noticed that character designs in this show looks stylish with their looks. Some of them don’t even look like detectives or like they belong in the police force. An easy finger to point at is Kirill as he’s often made fun of for his feminine features. Sunrise managed to make Kirill into a comic relief in the beginning for his lackluster skills. It’s not until later that he becomes more useful to the team. But still, I do applaud the director and studio for recreating a society of these colorful characters. Not to mention, I feel the setting of Double Decker runs well with its technology concepts; namely the Anthem used by criminals and their consequences.

It’s been around 7 years since Tiger and Bunny made its premiere. This isn’t really an upgraded or downgraded version as Double Decker is fully a show of its own. What this anime managed to do is creating a story in this fictional society that makes us believe in. Here, we have characters that risks their lives to deal with criminals and showing the dark side of their society. Yet at the same time, it also shows how partnerships can truly be meaningful when the right people work together.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Stark700 (714)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 13, 2019

dark___devil

Mixed Feelings

The anime it self is mediocre,run of the mill action anime 7/10. It have decent sound/music,and the character development is just like in any other anime of the type. Half the side kicks get an episode focused on their story. But it have a lot of negatives for me. So i decided to put them out for people that care about it.

-Censorship,rude parts are scratched off and words are changed with *. It had it on the version that i watched and i have the feeling that it is part of the anime and not put on by the distributors.

-Really bad CGI that is an ... eyesore at best. It is the main reason that the battles feel so bad.

-Far too americanized for me,if i want to watch american things i have plenty of serials to rewatch. I don't watch anime to just see another USA cartoon. The writing,the art,the setting...all of them feel american. If that is your thing,then you could enjoy it.

-Finally the politics. I am not from the west and i personally don't care about all those things,their countries,their people and their political vies. But i am getting tired to see it hamfisted in to everything i watch,read and play. I really do hope that i will still be able to watch animes in the upcoming years,but seeing how this is the second one to do it....i am not too optimistic.

I do hope that this review helps you to make a decision,no matter if you see those things as positives or you agree with me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by dark___devil (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Dec 23, 2018

Markezzo

Not Recommended

Double Decker has a strong enough start with ridiculous episodic adventures and a cast of lovable idiots, with an over-the-top narrator as a nice cherry on top. However, the comedy and characters that are the show's main selling points become less inspired toward the mid-point. An example would be that only a small portion of the characters get any kind of backstory, and the team-work they need to form as cop duos rarely gets any focus.

The action doesn't help in elevating the experience either, due to the odd mix of 2D and CGI animation that makes the action too clumsy to be enjoyed on ... its own.

Double Decker’s greatest downfall however is the plot-twists. Comedies love to subvert expectations and go for the less expected outcome, which is great in exploring stories and characters. Doing something unexpected is however not enough in and of itself. Twists need to either be equally as fun or even more interesting than what you normally would've expected. It's the difference between 'playing' with expectations, and 'betraying' expectations. Examples would include rushing out answers to mysteries in anti-climactic ways, robbing characters of their agency by trivializing their goals, awkwardly changing genre from crime comedy to sci-fi action, among other things I won't mention to avoid spoilers.

Double Decker is ultimately a bumpy ride, not without its merits in the first half, but I can't recommend it due to untapped potential with the characters, a plot that becomes a train-wreck in the second half, and the comedy and action that fails to shine compared to other shows one could be watching.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Markezzo (41)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Buddy Cop

by crimsonrose2407

32 Entries · 85 Restacks

Trans Anime part 3

by Keizakomu

50 Entries · 12 Restacks

Non-BL Fujo-Adjacent Anime

by Gloomy_Ophiuchus

35 Entries · 23 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for December

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for December Week 1: December 1 - 7 Anime Releases Ajin OVA [incl. Ajin 2nd Season OVA] (Ajin: Demi-Human - Th...read more

Dec 1, 2020 8:59 AM by ImperfectBlue | Discuss (9 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for October

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for October Week 1: October 1 - 7 Anime Releases Beyblade Burst Complete Collection DVD Beyblade Burst God Com...read more

Sep 30, 2019 1:23 PM by Sakana-san | Discuss (0 comments)

	Finished Ep 13 - are there any links to Tiger and Bunny or is it confirmed completely different universe and everything? Animangamer - Dec 23, 2018	10 replies	by Ksiezniczka »» Apr 14, 10:02 AM
	Poll: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill Episode 2 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 30, 2018	31 replies	by XOHatsumi »» Nov 7, 2022 9:35 PM
	Poll: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill Episode 13 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 23, 2018	23 replies	by Stardew »» Mar 26, 2021 12:19 AM
	Poll: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 16, 2018	17 replies	by Stardew »» Mar 26, 2021 12:07 AM
	Poll: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 9, 2018	19 replies	by Stardew »» Mar 25, 2021 11:37 PM