Muteking the Dancing Hero

Banking on the modern revival of 1980s pop culture, we have a remake of a 1980 Tokusatsu inspired children's anime... by Ryosuke Takahashi of Armored Trooper VOTOMS fame? Well, I just had to check this one out and I am glad I did.

Story: 5,5/10
Muteking the Dancing Hero is an anime based on a simple concept, seen in anime and western animation alike hundreds of times before. An evil plot threatens the regular lives of people in Neo-San Francisco. Mixed in there is a subtle critique of modern day large scale capitalism, gentrification and consumerism from a most likely social democratic perspective. As for the main ... plot itself, it was decent, but I thought like the final few episodes needed a bit more time than they actually got to develop some of the plotlines, so it felt kinda rushed. For a goofy and light hearted show though, it was perfectly fine.

Art: 8/10
Muteking is primarily an anime that aims to capture the feeling of a decade past, and it does so in the most hyperbolic way possible. The city of Neo-San Francisco is colorful and vibrant, the CGI scenes don't feel jarring and you will find yourself cheering each time a certain sequence is shown on the screen in a large part of the anime. Is the artstyle purposely exaggerated? Yes, and I liked it a lot.

Sound: 10/10
The soundtrack to Muteking is full of bangers, starting from the opening to the original 1980 anime to the insert songs of one of the characters in the show and even an instrumental to one of the most famous city pop songs of all time, it manages to mix in the 80s nostalgia with modernity really well.

Characters: 7/10
Muteking has quite a large cast of characters, and both of the main characters and several of the secondary characters receive a surprising amount of attention. While remembering that this show is a remake of a kids' show, it's no surprise that these are still simple and not complex ones. The best character in my opinion is a certain suave mystery man, who really shone in parts of the anime.

Enjoyment: 7,5/10
Muteking is a very fun show that doesn't take itself seriously and it knows well what it's aiming for. I found myself excited for every new episode, and despite the enthusiasm being lessened by the final few episodes, it was a very enjoyable anime to watch and a good surprise return of an old school director to making new shows.

Overall: 7,5/10
Despite its current score being on the low side, you will likely enjoy Muteking if you don't mind it being cheesy like a 70s super robo mecha show.

Muteking is an odd one, and not just the plot.

After watching the first few episodes I was very ready to give this a 3 out of 10 max or drop the series entirely.
It's at its worst when it first has to introduce the characters, setting, and basic premise. I kind of get the impression that as Muteking is a pre-established property (see the 80s anime), that it didn't care so much for these establishing episodes. The pacing is awful at the start, and scenes either feel haphazardly put together or have characters dumping plot at you, interspersed with cheesy jokes. I can well see this ... failing many people's three episode test.

But when the series starts finding its way (probably either mid-episode 3 or 4) it's actually very good at what it does. I can see this being some people's favourite anime as easily as I can see people dropping it. It's still cheesy, but if you came to see a roller skating superhero fight monsters by dancing, you probably should be expecting it to be a little cheesy. It also develops an on-going plot, which is not something I really saw coming despite the reoccurring villain.

I'm giving this a 6/10 (though I may waver) because I can't quite forgive those earlier episodes but I can't quite let them drag the series down either. Just know that this would be a 5.5 out of ten if MAL would let me, and might've been a 7 if it had been the same quality throughout.

This is an terrible anime with the only good quality that I can consider is the concept and the ending of this show. And another thing is that the protagonists songs are cringe as hell and repeat through out the show without changing at all. The story is shit and the characters are also equally as crumby as the story. The build up to the climax is non existent and the chemistry in this show is fake. There plot points that come out of no where and make the anime more uninteresting as a result. This seems more of a mindless kids show then anything. ... if you are expecting anything else this is not the anime for you.