The Marginal Service

Foolhardy police officer Brian Nightraider is dismissed from the force for a history of reckless behavior that ultimately resulted in his partner's death. While wallowing in self-pity, the disgraced officer receives a curious invitation from the United Nations Immigration Bureau Special Investigation Unit. He has been recruited to join the Marginal Service, a secret underground branch of the UN tasked with handling Borderlanders.

Indistinguishable from humans, Borderlanders are aliens that peacefully coexist in society. But now, a Borderlander terrorist organization has emerged, manufacturing and distributing a potent drug called Confu. With the Borderlanders' ability to regenerate and blend in as humans, uncovering the drug-trafficking ring will be no easy undertaking. However, the ragtag group at the Marginal Service are not one to back down from a challenge—even as their work exposes some unexpected figures as Borderlanders.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Candeyheart, Lyra Main

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Nightraider, Brian Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Thompson, Theodore Main

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Kuga, Cyrus N. Main

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Timbert, Robin Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Dexter, Bolts Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Desmont, Peck Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Stokes, Zeno Main

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Lakshmi, Maria Supporting

Sonozaki, Mie Japanese

Gilman, Bruce Supporting

Genda, Tesshou Japanese

Morii, Yuusuke Producer

Okunaga, Yoshimasa Producer

Ogasawara, Yuki Producer

Sakoi, Masayuki Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jul 5, 2023

SanaeK10

Recommended

Let me get this out of the way. The animation sucks. It's especially sad to see how far 3Hz has fallen considering Flip Flappers was the show that made me continue this hobby to begin with. The direction and cinematography is uninspiring and there is a general air of mediocrity surrounding this. It's not difficult to say that this is Cygame's weakest original and nowhere close to the brilliance that is Zombieland Saga or Akiba Maid Sensou.

And yet, the show is still pretty fun regardless. Like their other originals, TMS is a pastiche of some bygone genre, in this case 70s-90s Hollywood action movies, wrapped ... up in Cygames' own bespoke package. The show can get overly self-referential at times, and some references do overstay their welcome, but it's still a fun romp regardless. The show's premise is profoundly stupid, and it never takes itself too seriously, so I'm not as harsh with it as I am with other shows. Even its attempts at an Aesop relating to immigration is handled so poorly and so haphazardly it loops back to being unusually charming, unlike a certain other show that has the subtlety of a bull in a china shop *COUGHGUNDAMCOUGH*. If anything, had this show gotten some more polish, preferably with a different creative team and studio, I'd have been more fond of it.

The characters are pretty fun to follow, but Zeno did get pretty annoying for me and his motivations, while clearly a homage/parody/reference of many action heroes from the era, still didn't do me any favors to win me over. He does get some funny moments, being the straight man to a lot of the weirdness in this, but I still didn't like him. The villains are pretty forgettable, but I laugh every time the Tengu shows up with his fanboyism for Rubber Suit's CDs.

Overall, if you have the tolerance for some really lousy animation, then TMS is a fun, soulful experience that has a lot of the creativity going for it when it comes to a Cygames Original show. It won't blow your mind, but there are plenty of great moments here that will surprise you and make you smile.

6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 14, 2023

sarybelle

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (10/12 eps)

If you go into this show expecting a serious action anime, you’re going to be disappointed because that’s not what this is. The Marginal Service is an unserious, campy satire of Western movie tropes and it does a perfectly adequate job of it.

The art and animation aren’t bad. It’s not going to be the best animation you’ve ever seen, but it’s good enough for what the show has to offer. The characters are not novel or unique and they’re pretty much all stereotypes, but that fits in with exactly what the show is going for. It’s got equal opportunity fan service, so everyone’s covered. ...

Overall, I enjoyed the show. It entertained me for 20+ minutes, it gave me some cheap laughs, and honestly that’s good enough sometimes. I’m only rating The Marginal Service as “mixed feelings” because while I did enjoy it, never in good faith would I ever recommend it to someone else unsolicited lmao

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 27, 2023

CrimsonKing25

Not Recommended

If you've watched Men in Black, Super Sentai (Power Rangers), or even Totally Spies, you know that these shows can be a bit extra with their presentation and plot. So much so that it works. So when you look at The Marginal Service, it does look like a Saturday morning cartoon that doesn't take it self too seriously and might be fun.

Here's my thing though: Make it good. Because there is nothing remotely good about The Marginal Service. I am really trying my best to remember what I even liked about this anime other than the idea of the summary. Not plot, the IDEA of ... it. Because on paper, I think it could've been a decent or fun anime to watch that doesn't take itself seriously. And it doesn't but to a bad degree. I tried watching it thinking it was a parody of the shows I mentioned earlier but I can't wrap my head around that idea. Even calling it a parody is an insult to actual parodies. The only good thing I can say about it are the OP and ED songs.

The characters (if you could even call them that) are nothing but caricature of archetypes, so much so that I could barely even tell you anything remotely interesting about them other than one is obsessed with protein. Zeno annoyed me to no end, I could care less about anyone else, and Peck, the mascot character was just the typical perv but a rodent (as if that's any better). Lyra is probably the only character I liked, not because she's best girl (actually she is best girl) but she's more likeable than the others.

The plot itself was just not good. Half the time it was the cast getting into weird situations that either takes away from the enjoyment or it gets the point where you stop caring halfway through an episode. It's easy for me to just watch a show that doesn't take itself seriously and just enjoy it for what it is but this show just doesn't do it for me.

The anime isn't bad that it's good or funny. It's just bad. I get that it was trying to be like a parody of American action tv shows, even borrowing some elements from Super Sentai. But it didn't work. With a lackluster cast of characters and a forgettable plot, The Marginal Service isn't even worth the time or effort.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: The Marginal Service Episode 12 Discussion KANLen09 - Jun 27, 2023	23 replies	by Destroyer31 »» Dec 11, 2023 11:52 PM
	Poll: The Marginal Service Episode 11 Discussion KANLen09 - Jun 20, 2023	6 replies	by katakumplat »» Dec 9, 2023 3:00 AM
	Poll: The Marginal Service Episode 10 Discussion KANLen09 - Jun 14, 2023	6 replies	by katakumplat »» Dec 5, 2023 1:37 AM
	Poll: The Marginal Service Episode 9 Discussion KANLen09 - Jun 6, 2023	7 replies	by katakumplat »» Dec 4, 2023 5:25 AM
	Poll: The Marginal Service Episode 8 Discussion AddaeAkono - May 30, 2023	8 replies	by katakumplat »» Dec 3, 2023 3:33 AM