The first thing you'll notice after the first episode is that the animation not only dips in quality; it falls down a ten story flight of stairs. Gonzo obviously put most of their time and resources into that pilot episode to hook watchers in, because none of the magic in it is present later on. Even the pacing is much better, if the rest of the show was as well-paced then maybe it would be a more reasonable 12 episodes rather than an agonizing 24. Mix the poor animation with the repetitive, uninspired soundtrack, and it's almost bad enough in a The Room sort of
...
way. Almost.
Next up is the cast. Initially, it showed promise. Saiga had this weird fetish and interesting enough background for a good story, Ginza was basically filled to the brim with personality and potential, and Kagura seemed like a character ripe for development. Unfortunately, they handed off these fine ideas to some 6th graders after running out of cash to pay their writers to afford the animation staff of the first episode. Saiga reveals himself to be a completely static, watching-paint-dry level character with no real depth to speak of. Ginza, who somehow manages to be one of the stronger characters by the end of the show, ends up never realizing her potential and just sort of exists to throw a small wrench in the story on occasion... But at least she has some spunk and is actually memorable. Kagura gets a TINY bit of development as she becomes more independent about halfway through the story, but it's pretty minor and she's still somehow more boring and one dimensional than Saiga, sort of just existing an object for the plot as opposed to a fleshed out character. Seriously, they could've replaced Kagura with a magical stone or something and it would've panned out about the same.
The structure of the narrative is... Messy. There's this unnecessary Monster of the Week formula that is thrown in solely to pad out the show. I believe there are roughly 7 of these episodes that could've been cut out in pretty much their entirety and the narrative would have stayed the exact same. Now, I'm not saying this is inherently bad, there are some good shows that utilize the Monster of the Week formula, but those shows tend to... You know... Actually be entertaining. In Jojo, you get an insane axe-wielding manlet that turns people into children and fetuses. Jojo gives you a literal primate with a giant living cargo ship as his battle spirit. In Speed Grapher, you get... Crazy dentist guy that uh... Has spider legs? Woman that has a convenient power that is primarily useful against specifically Saiga and would be rendered useless if he had a gun instead of a stupid camera ability? Keep in mind all of these throwaway villains get owned in the lamest ways possible, and all of them only serve as pointless obstacles in the way of the narrative.
Another issue with the pacing is the monologues. Oh boy, the monologues. Get rid of the Monster of the Week bullshit and the speeches and you'd have a pretty tight 12 episodes and a notably better show. You know that old writing rule, "Show, don't tell"? Speed Grapher is the epitome of why this should be at least somewhat followed. There are so many damn monologues in this anime that all have the same damn sob story instrumental backing them that I would legitimately facepalm in the second half of the show whenever it played.
And for the last negative criticism, I think the show lacks bite and is rather immature. The only time I was like "oh damn" is when Suitengu's motive was revealed in a flashback showing him mercy killing his sister who was turned into a sex slave. The 1% is said to be very corrupt and devious but we only see glimpses of this in its raw form, preventing much real emotional connection to the idea. Bob is... Likely the worst written recurring gay character in anime. He's flamboyant, sexually questionable, and exists to serve and praise Saiga because he's so awesome and totally not boring as fuck. I could get into the nitty gritty of the dialogue, but my review is already getting long in the tooth.
Now, for the positives. While Suitengu is seemingly one dimensional in the first half, he ends up guiding the story in a unique direction with a strong motive and goal. Seeing his family torn apart due to the greed of the elite would drive anyone to do some crazy stuff, and he proves to be a uniquely Accelerationist paragon in the very last stretch. Magical, really, since I'd be surprised if the writing staff was even aware of the concept of Accelerationism when they wrote Suitengu if the rest of the show is any indication. Suitengu almost saves Speed Grapher... But it's too little too late.
Euphoria factor is an interesting concept even if it goes nowhere and it fails to develop into a compelling power system. Fetish powers could be a good idea to use in a more competent show going forward. Ginza is one of the highlights as well, she is probably the only character in the show with a lick of personality.
Yeah... That's all I've got for positives. Don't bother unless your significant other or close friend recommends it or something.
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Sep 9, 2023
Speed Grapher
(Anime)
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The first thing you'll notice after the first episode is that the animation not only dips in quality; it falls down a ten story flight of stairs. Gonzo obviously put most of their time and resources into that pilot episode to hook watchers in, because none of the magic in it is present later on. Even the pacing is much better, if the rest of the show was as well-paced then maybe it would be a more reasonable 12 episodes rather than an agonizing 24. Mix the poor animation with the repetitive, uninspired soundtrack, and it's almost bad enough in a The Room sort of
...
|
