Ultraviolet: Code 044

(*a small note: I usually never submit my reviews to this site, because I don't agree with the rating system, but I'm making an exception here, because this is one series that needs all the attention it can get*)

For the past summer season, Ultraviolet: Code 044 was the most underrated series for me. It only got one episode subbed, and that episode received masses of bad reviews. Because of all this bad publicity, this series received no chance at all to show its goods, which is a pity since it’s actually a pretty good series. If you know what you want to watch it for.

Let ... me get a few things straight before I continue. This series is part of a whole Ultraviolet franchise, which started out as a series of comic books. Previously, it had already been adapted into a movie, which sucked beyond belief. That’s yet another one of the reasons for this series’ lack of popularity. Let me assure you, though: Code 04 is nothing like its movie counterpart. The movie was a horrible mishmash of random action scenes, while the anime manages to avoid these pitfalls.

So, yes. Code 044 is an action-series, but it knows that you can’t make a good series with action, and so it has a very solid and simple plot to keep it going. Whenever the characters are not fighting, they’re being fleshed out or developed. Not a single scene is wasted. To those who might have feared that this series would fall into a bunch of random fillers: it doesn’t. This series has a very clear goal and purpose, and manages to balance the action, plot and characters very nicely.

Part of the reasons why everything worked out so nicely is that the series has a stellar director: Osamu Dezaki. Very few people have the same amount of experience as he does, and he not only manages to use this experience to avoid common pitfalls like characters that aren’t fleshed out enough, rushed endings or cheesy dialogue, but he also manages to turn the screen into a visual feast, even though the graphical budget is often limited. The action-scenes themselves are mostly consisting out of still frames, but the effects that Osamu throws at you give it a great sense of style. He really likes to overuse CG, those sketch-like frames and split screens, and it really works. If you’re into experimental visuals, of course.

In terms of flaws, this series doesn’t have any major ones, but it’s just not a series for everyone. There are some strange instances of fanservice in the first episode, but after that the fanservice disappears nearly entirely. The plotline is very simple and for most of the time straightforward. It never tries to be anything deep or thought-provoking. It’s just one of those examples of “anime as entertainment”, as in: don’t try to find anything special behind it, because there is none. It just wants to tell a story and entertain the viewer. And for me it pretty much accomplished that feat

The story starts as pretty dynamic, but as the plot evolves, the dynamicity decreases rapidly. On the contrary, there is lot of self-reflection of the characters. At the end, the dynamicity returns but story isn't going to grandiose ending, as expected, and the final battle just "foams up".

The "Ultraviolet: Code 044" series is great anime piece - Art and sound are just great as well as characters. Unbalanced story is big minus, though.

Osamu Dezaki is one of my absolute favourite directos. Responsible for the adaptations of Riyoko Ikeda manga Rose of Versaille and Oniisama e, as well as Aim for the Ace, which heavily influenced Hideaki Anno. And of course, Dezaki directed the adaptation of Ashita no Joe. Oniisama e, Rose of Versaille, and Joe, are all in my top 10, so basically, he's a big fuckin' deal, and I'm a huge fan. He started by working as an animator on the first Astro Boy TV show, and died in 2011. One of the last series he directed was Ultraviolet: Code 044 (2008), a 12 episode TV ... anime based upon the American science-fiction film Ultraviolet (2006). There is a lot of discourse regarding movie adaptations of anime, but here we have an example of the reverse happening: an american movie being adaptapted into a TV anime.

The show itself is action packed, although, sadly, it does pale in comparison to all of Dezaki's other work in terms of not only the action, but most notably in overall quality. It feels like a sci-fi action show, and not that much more. The weapons are fairly cool, I suppose, but I would be hard pressed to outright reccomend this show to anyone who isn't already completely head over heels for everything as Dezaki (a category of people I happen to be included in). Shoehorned in are also a fair amount of mildly interesting sci-fi concepts, and, what I will admit, are some fairly nice looking character designs. I did find the plot difficult to engage with too, I never really felt that it grabbed me in any sort of way. But what I was able to appreciate were the action scenes. Dezaki is known to not use a lot of fast or flashy animation, instead relying on techinques such as split screen and the triple take in order to sell the impact of a hit. He did it wonderfully in Joe, and while Ultraviolet doesn't have anywhere near the same amount of stellar character writing to back it up as Joe did, it does still have the action on point.

All in all, I must say that I felt a little dissapointed. As previously mentioned, I love Dezaki's body of work, but not every shot fired can be a hit, there are bound to be misses, and this just happened to be one of them. Instead of watching this as your entry point for one of anime's alltime greatest directors, watch literally anything else he's worked on. Ashita no Joe, Aim for the Ace, Rose of Versaille, Oniisama e, Space Cobra, Genji Monogatari Sennenki, point is, the guy has a made a ton of wonderful series: this just happens to not be one of them.