Brave Police J Decker is a silly little anime that contains within its narrative a surprisingly deep and complex theme you wouldn’t exactly expect to find from a series made at least in part to sell toys.
And what is that theme? You see, it all begins with the building blocks of the soul... wait, let’s back it up and start a bit smaller. Firstly, what’s this anime about?
The world BPJD takes place in is one I could best describe as comic book core. Average town. Average city. Average citizens. All going through the motions of their average day to day lives. And then comes a
...
giant monster, or a super villain mastermind with a huge robot looking to take over the world, or an underground ancient civilization of bug people, alien invaders from a far off galaxy, a giant rampaging panda, petty purse snatchers, and a lot more beyond and besides to stir up the pot. It is the job of the proud Brave Police—technological marvels with the ability to change form into vehicles or combine with each other to make even bigger robots—to deal with these miscreants and bring them to justice. And so they do. Ad infinitum.
But the special thing about the robots of the Brave Police that sets them apart from the other machines of this world is their Advanced AI system which gives them minds and emotions hardly different from their human creators. And this is the central core our anime revolves around: the exploration of the “human” experience. The purpose and value of consciousness, of emotion, and all the ups and downs that comes along with it. Coupled with the bonds and relationships we can form with others despite whatever differences we may have. And even with hearts and minds made of metal, with emotions and personalities no more than pre-programmed lines of code, these robot cops can experience—and understand and grow from it—just as a human would.
Usually the theme of exploring the human condition would be as nebulous and endless a task as ridding the world of crime, and a lot of the time BPJD does feel that way due in part especially to its noticeable lack of a main antagonist for the team to clash against or overcome. It’s pure unfiltered monster of the day shenanigans here baby (for a majority of the time, at least). On one hand some viewers may find that refreshing as it saves us from the bumbling evil team of oafs who get their butts handed to them every episode à la Team Rocket or the Rubber Robo Gang from Medabots. And having no recurring bad guy or bad guy organization makes every episode premise a new and exciting experience. Just what sort of shenanigans will Yuuta, Deckered, and the team get up to this time? And the fun part is—because of the comic book nature of our setting—just about anything is possible! And that’s awesome. But on the other hand with no enemy to work against or goal to be attained or achieved here, more often than not this anime can come off as meandering, fillery, and even outright pointless at its worst.
So it may pleasantly surprise the reader to learn that despite the episodic nature of this series, it actually is building to something. A something that’s groundwork can be seen established as early as episode one, runs through the entire narrative, weaves the premise and characters together, and brings purpose and meaning to just about every episode, even the ones that at first blush feel like nothing more than a useless lark. And what exactly is that something? I shan’t spoil it here, but if this series actually is going somewhere that means all’s well that ends well, right?
Not quite, and this brings us to The Problems.
The biggest issue here is inconsistency and BPJD has it in abundance, especially in tone and execution. This anime has its serious moments and its silly moments, but it errs more on the side of silliness and never quite finds the right balance between the two. The serious episodes feel more plot focused and with purpose and direction, but they are few and far between and are gone before you know it, often leaving the interesting ideas they bring to the table feeling under cooked, rushed through, or woefully under explored. Shenanigans dominates the field here and this series can get a bit too zany and even stupid for its own good—but to it’s credit it never ruins a moment or scene meant to be taken seriously with an annoying or out of place joke. It’s charming enough to never quite fall into bad or unwatchable territory, but also not focused or cohesive enough to be consistently great, or even above average for that matter. The result is a package that feels middling, slapdash, and messy from start to finish.
Another noticeable crack in the armor is BPJD’s toy commercial agenda which deals its most grievous blow to the characters. Now don’t get me wrong, the entire cast of BPJD are a colorful and wonderful bunch, from the main team all the way to Yuuta’s silly neighbours or classmates. Each one having loveable and charming personalities and great voice work across the board. They’re all a lot of fun, but there are quite a number of characters here on display in both the main and side cast which leaves our roster feeling bloated. And as an unfortunate side effect, more often than not many of these characters end up feeling side-lined, left out, or under developed. Each team member has their introductory episode (or two) and another one later down the line that puts them in the spotlight. But after that they’re done and meld right back into the crowd.
This can be felt especially badly with some of the guys introduced earlier on in the series’ run. McCrane for example who is set up as the sensible moral core of the team has most of his focus moments in the first half, but by the back end he does so little of note you’d almost forget he’s there. Or Shadowmaru, who has two very strong introductory episodes, and as a whole rides a lot on cool factor, but mostly exists as a plot device guy for when the team needs something stealth-related or “ninjaly” to be done. Or Power Joe. Who, despite the cool design, is just kinda... here. Everyone (aside from arguably Deckered himself) suffers from this problem in one way or another, of having fleeting and occasional moments of importance, and underutilized promise. While those moments do have their meaning and do add to the overall point this anime is building towards, most characters feel as though they’ve reached only 50% of their true potential and leave you wanting more of them.
The episodic nature of the series becomes a further detriment as there are an abundance of cool premises and ideas across the board here that, most of the time, only get the spotlight once—and that’s it. If you thought an episode had a cool idea or concept in it you better enjoy it while it lasts because when those twenty four minutes are up it’s gone. Some exceptions apply on the rare occasions this anime isn’t episodic, or with a few ongoing human/robot relationships scattered throughout (a few, anyway. Not all) but they exist to a point and after that they flatline, never feeling like they get the time and attention they need to truly flourish (aside from, again, Yuuta and Deckered. And maybe Regina).
So if all of that doesn’t sound like a mixed bag, I’m not sure what would.
BPJD is a fun experience with a surprisingly substantial though-line that comes together in a way that makes you look back on the entire series in a different light, but it’s far from perfect and far too silly and rough around the edges for its own good. It has a lot of ideas which feed into a greater whole, but those ideas are under explored or dropped too quickly to feel fulfilling or to reach the true potential or promise they show. We’ve got a tapestry on our hands made of a bunch of wildly different images and colors but when you stand back far enough, while it might be a bit messy, it still makes a charming little picture in the end.
This is not an anime I’d recommend to everyone but if your interest has been piqued and you don’t mind the pure unfiltered monster of the day experience, you’re a fan of the Transformers or other sentient robot media series, and/or you love the over the top goofy super robot action that is part in parcel to the Brave Series—and a lot of 90’s mecha anime in general, then this might just be for you! I’d recommend only watching an episode or so a week though for the best viewing experience and avoiding potential/possible burnout, as this series is very firmly in the realm of a Saturday morning cartoon, but it’s up to you and your own tolerance level for shenanigans to make that call.
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Nov 14, 2022
Yuusha Keisatsu J-Decker
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Brave Police J Decker is a silly little anime that contains within its narrative a surprisingly deep and complex theme you wouldn’t exactly expect to find from a series made at least in part to sell toys.
And what is that theme? You see, it all begins with the building blocks of the soul... wait, let’s back it up and start a bit smaller. Firstly, what’s this anime about? The world BPJD takes place in is one I could best describe as comic book core. Average town. Average city. Average citizens. All going through the motions of their average day to day lives. And then comes a ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 12, 2022 Mixed Feelings
If you're here right now chances are you just finished the TV anime Shippu! Iron Leaguer and you're wondering if these OVAs are worth a watch (and if you haven't finished the anime already, what are you doing here? Go finish it already! I'll still be around when you come back, don't worry). And the answer to that question? Are these OVAs worth checking out? Well, let's give it a look and see.
The Shippu! Iron Leaguer "Under the Banner of Silver" OVAs serve as an epilogue or further end piece for its preceding anime, exploring new topics, adding new characters, putting existing characters in unique ... situations, and attempting to tie up some of the loose ends the anime may have left hanging. While the anime leaned heavily into the themes of teamwork, kindness, and fair play, these OVAs see us swinging more in the opposite direction to the darker, grim, and bleaker side of this series’ story. Friendship is, of course, still present, but the more dour style of this narrative may put some people off of it. This manifests most in how Silver Castle are treated and dealt with. We find our characters struggling and being challenged here in ways we’ve never quite seen before (including but not limited to internal drama and strife). Some of it senseless, some of it with purpose, and each way can make for some interesting content sure but it might not be for everyone, especially if you hold these characters very dearly and felt satisfied by the happy and uplifting Friendship Ending the TV series gave us (which the OVA begins by turning on its head). But leaning into a sadder narrative isn't all bad, especially if it’s done well. Right? Well, about that... There is a strong story and strong narrative behind these OVAs but not nearly enough time to give it the room it needs to breathe or reach its full potential, and it shows. The first three episodes are fine enough with most of its problems being bumps in the road or things that you can overlook if you want to, but by the last two episodes it all catches up with them with piles of ideas and concepts crammed into the endgame. Which means most of them aren’t explored or elaborated on nearly as much as they need to be to be effective. All five episodes have problems such as scenes that are set up and developed only to then be suddenly cut short and never expanded upon or properly concluded. Characters that seem to jump all over the map, appearing out of nowhere to where they are most conveniently needed at the time. Important plot points that are rushed through and barely touched on. And when our favorite characters are put through the wringer on top of all that, it leaves a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth if the story isn’t concluded in a satisfying enough way to justify all that hardship. In a word it is messy, and what would otherwise be a strong and compelling narrative becomes flimsy and weak. Not every moment is a flop and they are able to do some things decently despite how much they are juggling. But most of what is here are cool concepts and ideas that you can only really get a good grasp on by reading between the lines. I don’t blame this on any incompetence of the show runners but five episodes weren’t enough for all they were trying to tell us. Whether they wanted more episodes and five were all they could get, or they really did over-estimate themselves and think five was enough, we may never know. But what we do know is that this doesn’t work. Mostly... Normally this would mean we've got a bad set of OVAs on our hands that we’re better off ignoring. But... that's not quite true. As with the TV anime, it is the characters of Shippu! Iron Leaguer that are the shining stars of its story, and if nothing else can deliver, they sure can. And they do. This OVA series brings more focus to some characters who might not have got it before. Mach Windy is cool as always and he takes on more of a protagonist role in this story, and Ryuuken, Bull Armor, Juurota, and GZ especially get some of their best moments in the entire series right here in these OVAs, hands down. Some may be one-and-done in a single episode (or even a single scene. But it was a cool scene, Juurota) but their impact is felt, and left me with a big, dumb, happy smile on my face just as much as the anime did at its best. And the main members of Silver Castle aren't the only ones who get the love. The Gold Brothers (well, they're always awesome), Silky and company, and some of the Stray Leaguers such as Watt, Amp, and Thirteen get a little time to shine here too. Most of the new robot characters however simply serve their purpose in the narrative and don’t do much else. Aside from Garret who I've got to give these OVAs honest credit for getting me emotionally invested in the guy and actually pretty decently executing character development with him all in the span of a single episode. (But while his arc surprisingly works, it also leaves you wanting more of him.) You may notice I failed to mention our friends Topjoy and Magnum Ace up there. Unfortunately Topjoy doesn't really do much of note here and Magnum... well, his character arc is about as messy and unfocused as the narrative is, with a lot of interesting ideas and potential communicated poorly, frustratingly, and not quite brought together in a satisfying way. It doesn’t ruin the character by any means but he’s certainly not at his best. The human characters end up taking a major back seat to the robots, which in retrospect was probably for the best, but they only really exist to pop in from time to time to show us they’re there, nudge the plot forward artificially, or drop lore/exposition unceremoniously. Character development is attempted with the new human character Sheena but, sing it with me now, it’s rushed. All this said, the best way I can find to describe these OVAs are a series of strong character moments strung together by a far too busy and under-explored narrative. Not everything fails, but not enough succeeds either. So, back to the real question here. Are these OVAs worth a watch? If you're a big fan of some of the characters I mentioned above, I'd say sure! Give it a shot! If you felt completely content and satisfied with the TV anime's ending and don't want that to be ruined for you even a little, it might be better to give this one a pass. In general though I would recommend fans of the series watch these OVAs at least once, but go in fully aware that they are heavily flawed pieces of media and shouldn’t to be taken too seriously. If you can shut your brain off and enjoy the drama and action, you might catch yourself having a good time. Personally I can’t be mad with how they turned out, just disappointed that they didn’t quite come together and shine as brightly as they could have. Iron Leaguer came out a long time ago and its not likely to get a reboot or revival series any time soon—or ever for that matter—which leaves these OVAs as the last send off for this series that we’ll ever have. And if nothing else, they do bring a sense of finality that ends our game fair and square.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 7, 2022
Shippuu! Iron Leaguer
(Anime)
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Recommended
If you like sports anime, shounen, anime from the 90's, and robots especially, there’s a pretty good chance Shippu Iron Leaguer is the anime for you. If you still aren’t quite sure or want to know a little more, let’s go into detail on what this anime is about.
Welcome to the Iron League! The most popular sports league in the world where robots are the players. The League covers a wide variety of games: you want a sport, we've got a robot for it! From soccer to basketball, baseball to football, even bowling and golf! Sounds great on paper but there’s one big problem: ... rough play, underhanded tactics, and straight up brutality are the norm across the board, with the crowd loving every second of it. But Silver Castle, the worst and weakest team in the League, play a bit different, going into every match with the principles of fair play, respect, honor, and kindness for their opponents and the game. Which is all well and good as far as morality is concerned, but most of the time it just means they're getting the bolts kicked out of them. That is until one day a robot with origins shrouded in mystery by the name of Magnum Ace lends Silver Castle his power, helps recruit new and skilled members to their cause, and vows to install a heart of justice into the corrupt Iron League. Right off the bat I’ve got to give this anime props where props is due for the interesting and unique concept, especially refreshing in the sports anime genre which is known to be very formulaic and by the numbers (a sports anime that doesn’t take place in a school setting? Who would have thought it.). There might be like 2? other sports playing robots manga or anime out there and none of them are done quite like this. The series doesn’t just use the concept as mere set dressing either, it goes deeper and explores it amply through a variety of sports with specially designed Leaguer types for each one. Each Leaguer has a unique mechanic or design trait that helps them stand out and show us which kinds of ways they play and excel at their sport, which makes even the side cast fun to meet. (And if you’re worried at all about the toy-like designs of the robots, not once while watching did I feel like I was being advertised to or watching a glorified toy commercial.) Without treading much into the territory of spoilers, this isn’t JUST a sports anime either. There is more to the Iron League than meets the eye, and this anime doesn’t shy away from exploring and showing us that deeper side—all without being too heavy-handed or preachy about it either. This anime is dumb, but in an awesome way. Iron Leaguer delivers in spades on the kind of goofy, hilarious, and fun over the top action you’d want from a robots playing sports anime. Nowhere else are you going to see a karate robot punch a hockey puck so hard it disintegrates, or a kendo robot cut a baseball and then have it explode, or a unified team kick that sends a soccer ball blasting to the net with the strength of a nuclear bomb. Absurd, surely. Enjoyable? Definitely. The first half of the series is where it’s at its most solid and consistent, focusing mainly on Silver Castle building the team and attempting to win the soccer league to gain a standing in the world cup. The second half of the series sees things change up a bit, giving us some of the highest highs coupled with the lowest lows. We have a travelling the world arc with some amazing self contained character episodes and exploration of the setting, which kind of goes on for longer than it should and ultimately turns out to have no real bearing on the plot. This is followed by a final arc which, while it goes harder than anything else before it, introduces a handful of new characters and ideas that don’t quite get the room they need to breathe or be fully explored. The cast itself are very charming, with each robot having a unique design and personality which helps them stand out and remain enjoyable and entertaining even in times when they’re just chilling with the group or playing with the team. From the passionate and fiery soccer star Mach Windy, to the serious robot-of-few-words samurai Kiwami Juurouta, or the lovable Topjoy, a character who is nothing but positivity and good vibes yet manages to avoid being overbearing or annoying. Magnum Ace is easily the star of the show, serving as an incredibly refreshing MC especially in the sports anime genre. Instead of a bright-eyed bushy-tailed newbie with a special skill that becomes the team’s ace in the hole, Magnum is a hardened veteran with a wealth of power, skill, and knowledge, balanced splendidly by a humble down-to-earth personality and kind heart. While strong, resolved, and determined, he’s not invincible or infallible and his greatest victories come from him supporting others and others supporting him in turn. While there are enough character moments and focus episodes for individual members to be fleshed out and have their own identities and charm, there aren’t really any ongoing character arcs or development beyond the team’s introductory episodes, or a few select members of the cast who do get that development (cheers to you Gold Brothers). But, much like a sports anime in this case, the characters are easily the strongest part of it and all are easy to love and get attached to. (This goes for the side cast, human characters, and even the villains as well, though the robots do get most of the love here.) Interesting premise, ideas, and characters aside, this anime is far from perfect. At the end of the day it’s still a kid’s show with more than a fair share of dumb stuff, rushed, clumsy, and half-baked execution, low budget, moments that are just straight up bad, and a lot of little things that don’t quite make sense. Calling it a good anime or a bad anime is going to be really subjective here, and the quality of the show can vary drastically from episode to episode, even from moment to moment. But what brings it all together in the end are a super charming cast of characters and the series’ core messages of fair play, teamwork, respect, the impact of kindness, and just having fun with your friends. Corny, of course, but these messages are delivered so genuinely and with such heart and charm that it becomes VERY difficult to hate or even dislike this series even at its worst. Because of that, I find it hard not to recommend, especially if robots and sports are your kind of thing. Mecha anime in the 80’s and 90’s were often experimental, ideas become reality just because ‘hey why not’, concepts thrown at a wall just to see what would stick and become the next big hit franchise. While Iron Leaguer wasn’t one of those that stuck around for the long haul—especially in the west with no dub or “official” english release to be found—I find myself feeling glad that this anime was a thing that happened and that it even exists at all. An anime like this had to happen somewhere at some point in time and I’m glad that this is the one we got. All I can say is that this is probably the best mid-tier anime I’ve ever watched that I highly recommend checking it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 24, 2017
Kyoukai no Rinne 3rd Season
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most famous and wealthy female mangaka in Japan, authoring such classic and well known series (even to those in the west) such as Inuyasha, Ranma1/2, Urusei Yatsura, and ect. However, one pitfall she is often guilty of falling in to, and one that Kyoukai no Rinne here is not exempt from, is STAGNATION.
Now you can have the best concept for a story in the world, but if you don't progress your plot forward or develop your characters, you're going to run yourself into a bit of a rut. Kyoukai no Rinne, as with a lot of Takahashi's other series, ... start out pretty decently with an alright premise and a colorful and interesting cast of characters. However, Kyoukai no Rinne season 3 is where this series reaches its full Takahashi-brand of stagnation. KnR may even be worse off than a series like Inuyasha because it's entirely focused on comedy slice of life. There's not really a plot or endgame here to drive the characters forward or develop the world. And because there isn't one, the only thing that CAN drive a comedy slice of life series forward is its characters. But unfortunatley by this point, all the characters in this once-charming cast have been dumbed down and reduced to one-note archetypes, mouth pieces that just exist to drop exposition or lame jokes, and mere shadows of their former selves--which is a danger many writers put themselves into when their cast expands to this extent. None of the characters in this series grow, change or develop no matter how many episodes go by, and nothing is made interesting and compelling when everything returns to the status quo by the end of EVERY (yes, every) episode. And all the interesting and unique traits that these characters used to have have now either been lost or clumsily stripped away. Take Juumonji Tsubasa for example. He starts the series out as a regular human who can see spirits like Mamiya Sakura. Unlike her however he comes from a family of exorcists and spiritual mediums. He also has a crush on Sakura and rivalry with Rinne. In season 3 he has been reduced to "HOLY ASH ATTACK!" and exposition man. Nothing more. His crush on Sakura and rivalry with Rinne has only been brought up TWICE in all 25 episodes of this season, and potentially interetsing things about his family background and experiences are never explored. And at this point, every character in this series has become like him: watered down, uninteresting and flat. Basically everyone in this series can be described in one or two character traits at most. Ageha is just a shallow, angry, rich girl (her crush on Rinne, jealously for Sakura, relationship with her Black Cat Oboro, relationship with her sister, or her life as a rich and pampered youth are either hardly brought up or never explored), Shirushigami Kain's sole role at this point just seems to be to tick Rinne off and make him angry (the specifics of his homelife, the loss of his money by Rinne's father, relationship with his Black Cat Suzu, and things about his mother aren't even touched upon) Matsugo exists SOLEY to have a really creepy obsessive crush on Rinne which is played only for laughs and nothing more, while the debateably best designed female character in this series--Anju--only exists to have a crush on HIM. And it goes on and on for every character. When a character enters a scene in this show you know EXACTLY what they're going to do and EXACTLY what is going to happen, because it's the exact same thing that happens every time they are in a scene. Another pitfall Rumiko Takahashi often falls into is reusing and recycling jokes and troupes to the point where beating a dead horse seems like too weak an analogy for it. Every time Rinne's father Sabato shows up, does he have to get hit on the head with Rinne's scythe? Every time Juumonji shows up does he have to throw holy ash at things? Does Rinne's grandmother Tamako really have to grind her knuckles on Rinne's head every time he accidentally calls her 'grandma' (an aside, even if the characters point out that the joke is becoming trite, it doesn't make the joke any less trite) How many episodes are we going to get which center around Rinne coming into sudden, unexpected monetary wealth, only to have it cruely stripped away from him in the end and have him return to a poor breadcrumb eating Shinigami? Now despite how I'm ragging on it, this season isn't all bad. There are a small handful of fun episodes and pretty funny jokes scattered throughout if you're patient and can endure waiting for them (also, if you're reading this you may as well watch the last episode of this season, because it was pretty good as a send off for this series). However, if you're someone like me who found the series charming in its inception and even if it got dumb sometimes, you couldn't help but enjoy it, this season still might be a good place to cut your losses and just stop watching. This season is incredibly fillery with the majority of episodes consisting of 2-3 self contained mini SOL stories, some involving ghosts around the school or the town, or others involving shenanigans in the spirit world. However, as I said before, with flat, lifeless characters experienging these things, there's nothing interesting, fun or compelling about any of these stories, especially when you know everything is just going to go back to the way it was by the end, and that nothing is going to change, develop or grow. Unless you're a super diehard fan of Rumiko Takahashi or this series, feel free to give it a miss or assume the series ended at season 2. sidenote: it makes things infinitley worse that more than half of this series was simulcasted and subbed by Anime Network Online, who love outdated ugly yellow fonted hard subs and insultingly poor translations. If Rinne is calling his mother ofukuro, you guys know you CAN translate that as just "mother" instead of just leaving it as ofukuro right?
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 28, 2014 Mixed Feelings
Anime is a very weird and wondrous thing. One of the biggest things which draws us toward an anime are the stories they are willing to tell that you just aren’t going to see in any other works of fiction. In what other medium are you going to find stories about people creating galaxy-sized mecha out of pure will power alone, or a love story about a young man and—literally—his right hand? The stories of anime are perfect for some and too weird for others.
So where does Nobunagun, our anime of interest, fit into all this? Well, what’s the plot? In this series the personalities ... and abilities of influential persons throughout history have been stored and passed down in special genes known as E-Genes. Unbeknownst to her, the young military otaku, Ogura Shio, possesses one such gene deep in her body. During a school trip to Taiwan, freakish insectoid monsters attack her and her classmates. Desperate to save them, the E-gene within her awakens revealing Oda Nobunaga who lends her his power in the form of a massive gun which she uses to eradicate the monsters. The monsters, known as Evolutionary Invasion Objects, are being hunted and destroyed by the government agency Dogoo, which finds Ogura and recruits her into their ranks and changes her life forever. The plot for Nobunagun is a very standard “military organization beats up the aliens with teenagers with weapons” but with a twist this time. The thing liable to turn away the wandering viewer is the strange concept of the characters using the powers of historical figures as weapons. But let’s make something clear, that concept in and of itself isn’t bad. Weird sure but not instantly bad. The key word here is ‘execution’ and if a show like this were unable to execute that premise correctly, then it would fail at drawing in the larger crowd. Does Nobunagun fail? Well, let’s take a closer look at each aspect of this series to find out, beginning with the art style. Nobunagun clearly wants to be experimental and do something different with its art. The series is at its best in its use of lighting, contrast and color to create atmosphere and tone. At times this series can make great use of shadow and blacks against light to add imposing form and weight to the face of a character or the hideous form of an insectoid monster. Another neat but welcome oddity is the series adding fourth-wall-breaking tags to further describe or illustrate a certain thing—for the sake of comedy mostly. Such as in the first scene we have many little letters pointing to our heroine in her bed, labeling her as a drooling and sleeping girl. So this series certainly can’t be accused of being uninventive or boring with its use of color and lighting. Without that however, the lazy character designs and crooked, barely-passable animation would become more apparent. During tense action scenes when a tide turning moment is about to occur the series does invest a bit of budget to make it look good, but many of the other monster of the day battles throughout Nobunagun can look very stiff, jerky and worst of all lazily animated. Without the harsh color tone changes during battles to obscure it, it would be much, much worse. Another small thing to mention which could be bad or good depending on the person watching, is the unique, Megaman-escque character designs for the battle suits in the show. They can only be described as large limbed, mechanic battle apparel with an almost sailor uniform influence. They are very silly, but a possible acquired taste to most. The Evolutionary Invasion Objects are very insectoid or fish-like in appearance and they only really grow from small bugs to bigger bugs. They can serve their purpose as being threatening, and different groups of them find new ways to attack and make use of their powers, but their designs stick within boundaries. However, the implication that these creatures are evolving from primitive life to more complicated and powerful life forms, is a chilling thought. Now about the characters. Nobunagun contains a pleasantly full roster of characters, not too big and not too small. Other members of the government agency Dogoo, like Ogura Shio herself, posses the genes and powers of historical figures and manifest this power via external mechanical weaponry. Some of these members include Jack the Ripper, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, the list goes on. The manifested weapon each character wields is usually relevant to the historical person who they possess the genes of. Such as Jack the Ripper utilizing all forms of blades and knives and Galileo having telescopic vision. Some are kind of on the fence or just in the realm of relevance but the premise is very silly to begin with so accuracy isn’t really a big deal here. Each character has their own distinct personality to bring a dash of flavor to the over all package, but at their worst most are flat, undeveloped, one note and defined largely by a single trait or cliché. Because of this, many characters are simple mouth pieces with a small quirk which sets them apart from the other mouth pieces. Such as Isaac Newton likes to kiss people and turns into a bad ass in battle and…? Galileo loves Vidoq and…? This is also the case for Ogura Shio who is very clumsy, excitable, goofy and nerdy (especially about the military things which she enjoys), but she is not a bad person at heart. Despite a few moments of baby-step character progression and a few critical moments in battle where the spirit of Oda Nobunaga helps her kick ass, she is one of the weaker, but not weakest members of the cast because she does not change at all, no matter what she goes through. She is basically the same character she was since the beginning of the series and it can be frustrating when she’s still acting like a clumsy air head after all she’s gone through. By the end of the series, however, her small moments of development do shine through but she still has a long ways to go. The voice actors for the show range from seasoned veterans such as Akira Ishida and Suzuki Tatsuhisa (who do a great job in their roles), to smaller named VAs who still bring voice to their character very well. Being a kind of… underground show as it is, there are, of course flat sounding voices who don’t perform well but they’re reserved for the faceless mooks dying in battle, not the main cast. Unfortunately the worst offender in the cast is Mutou Shiori who voices the main character herself. This is Shiori’s first role in an anime, and hearing her I’d think it was her first voice acting role period. While her voice fits Ogura Shio’s character, it is very, very flat, unemotional and without tone and she doesn’t really improve throughout the show’s run. It is a very shaky first performance but the actress has potential, and does give Ogura a very normal sounding high school girl voice. Here’s hoping she improves in any future roles she may have. The soundtrack of Nobunagun fits this series like a glove. It is diverse, different, but still within a theme. What is that theme? METAL! The wailing and chugging guitars punctuate the combat scenes in this show perfectly, and boil your blood with excitement. But the soundtrack isn’t all head banging and drum smashing. There are orchestral pieces for the emotional moments, and bouncy chiptune-escque bits for the times Ogura is fangirling over military hardware. The shining star of the soundtrack being “Stone Forest Strategy” which is only used once but is definitely a scene that you’re not going to forget any time soon. Much like the art style, but being more consistent and properly executed, it is the best and most fitting aspect of the series. Nobunagun is a bit of a melting pot of experimental ideas in both visuals, audio and plot. Many of these things bring a distinct flavor to the show itself and which differentiates its overused core premise (monsters invading, kill them) from the millions of other anime which have done it. However these small things are not enough to save the series from its biggest handicaps which are poor writing and execution. In one word this series is goofy and plays very much like a lame monster flick. You got your guns, yer fan service, yer explosions, yer cheese. This is not a series meant to be taken seriously, and I feel as though the creators didn’t take it very seriously either. The writing is by no means good, but it’s fun if you turn your brain off for a little while. The plot is formulaic, very monster of the day, and the means in which they defeat them always boil down to beating the monster up as much as possible. The enemies slowly get bigger over time, and occasionally they destroy them in slightly creative methods, but the formula stays the same. With a majority of the cast being static, we never feel a sense of fulfillment or progression from these mundane episodes. While this show was never meant for main stream appeal, if you want a goofy, cheesy, and fun-stupid anime about people killing giant insects and squids with the power of historical figures. Look no further.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 28, 2014
Doubutsu no Kuni
(Manga)
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“I think it would be nice if all animals got along”
Welcome to Animal Country, a world filled with millions of different kinds of animals. Some eat plants, some eat meat, some eat both. Each animal has their own unique voice they use to communicate, but they are unable to understand the voices of animals that don’t use their cry. In this world there exists no universal language. Thus, it is a savage place where the strong prey upon the weak and one must fight to survive. It is a planet much like the one called earth, the only difference being that on this planet ... the animal known as “man” does not exist. At least until now. Animal Country is the ninth work of manga author Makoto Raiku. Many of you may know him as the mangaka of the weird but incredibly heartfelt "Konjiki no Gash!!" (or “Zatch Bell” in the dub). Those who are familiar with it may have some idea of what to expect from Doubutsu no Kuni. But whether you’ve read Gash or not, Doubutsu no Kuni is similar in some ways but VERY different in others. Instead of being published in the more “conservative” and “kid-friendly” ‘Shounen Sunday’ Raiku has switched magazines to ‘Bessatsu Shounen Magazine’ which is the same magazine that publishes Attack on Titan. Yes, Makoto Raiku is not holding anything back in this series and he’s firing on all cylinders. This is like Gash if it wasn’t made for a childhood audience. Whether you’re familiar with the author or not, be prepared. Our story begins with the recently orphaned tanuki Monoko whose parents were killed by a Lynx not long ago. One day, when fishing, she stumbles not upon food, but a mysterious bundle of cloth floating down the stream. Inside of that bundle is a human child. Not knowing what animal the baby is, Monoko instantly falls in love with its smile, brings it home and vows to become its mother. The baby who, in another time and place, was abandoned by his real mother, is named Tarouza. There is something special about Tarouza however, which Monoko’s tanuki clan discovers very quickly. Tarouza possesses a cry which any animal can understand, a cry known as "words". After spending much time with the Tanuki, and viewing firsthand the cruel "be or be eaten" law of the world, Tarouza soon resolves to create a world where animals do not have to devour one another to survive. Is it possible for Tarouza to succeed? How will meat-eating animals survive in this world if they cannot eat meat? Is Tarouza the only human left in Animal Country, and is he the only one who can utilize the cry of "words"? As far as art goes, Raiku's clunky, slightly off model and blocky art style from Gash is still present here, if not a bit improved because of practice. The art is definitely viewable and legible but depending on who looks at it, it might be a bit hard on the eyes (I personally don’t like how he draws teeth in wide smiles. He really likes drawing the gums too and it just looks weird). In other ways, however, Raiku's artstyle certainly works to great effect. This is especially true for the designs of the many animals and monsters in the story, which Raiku draws with his own flare and unique charm. What is most commendable is his use of shadow or “lighting” and attention to detail. To create something "imposing" and "menacing" Raiku adopts very dark and sketchy style which adds a lot of ‘weight’ to the image, and at times makes it feel as if the reader is in the place of the prey staring straight into the eyes of the hunter. The designs of many animals in this story are also one of a kind. Deviating from 'natural' design, Makoto Raiku will often put human articles of clothing such as pants, skirts, armor, helmets, and jewelry on the animal characters. This gives them a modern yet still "wild" looking appearance and gives each one their own distinct vibe and personality, even the one-note characters. The humans are a bit more conventional looking, but since there are a small number of them, Raiku introduces each one in their own way and makes sure they leave an impression before moving onward. The humans are more personality over design. All in all, the art does work very well for this series. One detriment I found was the overuse of double page spreads. In a manga of this scale and telling a story of this level, with massive monsters and animals around every corner, double page spreads are a bit of a give-in to illustrate grand scale, or an epic ‘turn against the tide’ moment. However, near the final arc, I found they started to become a bit overused. Nothing felt small anymore because everything was too big. Could have been toned down a bit. The story, while definitely unexpected and unpredictable, is not without its flaws. The pacing of this story is undeniably fast. After volume three, expect this story to sky rocket forward at a break neck pace, hardly stopping for breath. This could be seen as a good thing or a very bad thing depending on who you ask. Good because it takes a break from standard shounen cliché which can be full of padding and filler (often linger and drags out moments which don't need to be lingered on). Bad because there may not be enough time to get used to the many new characters introduced, and the two time skips almost make it disorienting. But, to his credit, in the fights that really matter, Raiku MAKES you care about the Tiger we've only seen in two panels, or the hippo who has only said three lines of dialogue. He does this through heart breaking flashbacks in the heat of battle and by clearly illustrating the bonds that all these animals have, and he does it with gusto. There is a problem to this however, and it is pacing. Because many things were rushed through, or skipped over and not "shown", we lack connection to many of the animals introduced into Tarouza's army. We don't know them like he does and when we see them fighting we're not given as much reason to care as we should, and repeated flashbacks through battle only works so many times before it becomes overused. This isn’t the first time Raiku has used flashbacks in battle as a form of storytelling and exposition. He did it a lot in Konjiki no Gash as well. However, it worked a lot better in Gash Bell because we spent more time with the characters. The fights in the final arc of Doubutsu no Kuni are very close together, stack upon one another without pause, and follow the same kind of formula. Since we haven’t spent as much time with the characters, Raiku’s formula gets repetitive much too quickly. What makes it even worse is that there are entire armies on the screen and we just don’t have time for this many different characters all at once, and many once important characters are left standing idle. Raiku's characterization is still wonderful and he knows when and how to stick in the knife and twist it to great effect, though these methods were not applied very well in Doubutsu no Kuni. Some of the battles in the final arc can feel very tedious when they stack upon each other and follow the same general formula. There was a bit too much happening all at once. There is a strong heart at its core but it overshot the mark just a bit. There are also a lot of plot elements that kind of show up without foreshadowing or buildup, and then aren’t expounded upon. They feel very sudden, surprising, and at worst ‘cheap’ because there was no proper foreshadowing which leaves us disoriented. Another thing that suffers because of the pacing are the characters. Animals inside and out of Tarouza’s village never have the role or the impact that you think they would. This is a very “plot and themes” over “characters” manga. Some characters stand out, some have their one note in the sun before burning out, while many others are just kind of there (Like Moko, or even Kurokagi, who you think would be a big deal, but for most of the manga he’s just Tarouza’s mount). Instead of timeskipping all over the place, I think the manga would have worked better if we’d spent more time with Tarouza as he recruited his army: meeting the animals when he met them, and getting to know them when he got to know them. We only really needed a single volume of this between the “childhood” and “adult” arc of this manga. That isn’t to say that all of the characters are bad. As if making up for the few he left idle, there are many compelling and well rounded stars in this series. Reimu ties in heavily with the plot and world building; Capri is a perfect representative for the side of carnivores. Jyu, despite his lack of screen time, is just too much wild fun not to enjoy. Even our main villain Giller, who seems mad and incomprehensible at first glance, actually has a very strong and understandable purpose to his madness which was all quite pitiable when laid out on the table. Thankfully Giller is not a mustache twirling jerk for the sake of being a jerk, or an all-powerful demigod monster like Clear Note, from Gash, was. Giller is a villain you’ll love to hate, but he’s also human. That leaves us with Tarouza. Is he a good protagonist? I think he fits the role. He’s slightly mary sure, but considering the scale of this manga, it wouldn’t work if he wasn’t. Tarouza’s worst offense is having a special power that he just ‘got’ and no one else has it, and it’s not his ability to talk to every animal. Unlike a mary sue, he goes through his fair share of hardship and suffering and you really understand and really buy why he wants to accomplish what he does. And even if there is no hope left, you root for him because just like the animals, you have faith in what he will decide. He earns every victory he works for because he tries as hard as he possibly can. I mentioned before that this was a very “theme heavy” series. And it is. But you may be wondering what kind of themes Doubutsu no Kuni is about. The main and overarching one is the question that all people may ask themselves “why do strong prey upon the weak?” “Can a world exist where the inhabitants don’t have to kill each other to live?” “Can all animals live in peace?” Luckily Makoto Raiku realizes that this is not simply a black and white conflict. No one side is right here. Tarouza’s idealistic world view is constantly challenged and questioned around every single turn he takes. Countless reasons are given on why all animals can’t live in peace. It is a natural law of the world, meat eaters will die if they can’t hunt, if all animals get along the world could fall apart. And Tarouza doesn’t simply reject these concepts, because Tarouza can hear the voices of all animals. He doesn’t reject any of the ideas or challenges thrown to him, which is a wonderful quality for a protagonist, Tarouza instead tries with all his power to compromise. He falls, he stumbles, he sees hopelessness, he suffers unbearably, but he knows the happiness he wishes for is something that can be obtained, and he wants to gain it no matter the cost. Despite the moral ambiguity and gray areas that this series is full of, Makoto Raiku does like lean slightly more to the side of plant eaters and herbivores with Tarouza. This isn’t to say he shuns the meat eaters or paints them all as evil, because there are many carnivores in Tarouza’s army as well and they each get a vivid perspective and voice in this story. Some of these meat eaters start out with the mindset that a “world where all animals can live in peace” can never exist, but their world view is challenged and changes in time, and that isn’t always the cause of Tarouza—which is nice. The only problem is that there are a few irredeemable one-note assholes in this series and they’re always on the meat eater side (if we’re not counting Giller’s madhouse of monsters, and even if we are, they’re against Tarouza’s ideal world anyway) and the worst the plant eaters get is having idiots. Some are idiots (cough cough, Paiman, cough) but they’re not jerks or inherently evil. What’s even more commendable is that Raiku gives some of the monsters, which are neither plant eater or meat eater, a perspective and voice in this tale. Many of Giller’s monsters are one-note jerks like the meat eaters, just on a way grander scale, but Raiku doesn’t make them or even our main villain, Giller, any less human. Characters like Luke, Salad Udon, and eventually Robin, have their own thoughts, voices, perspectives, and own hurdles that they must overcome as a character. Luke is an interesting example of this, for his character arc has little to do with Tarouza’s ideal world, and more to do with finding his own sense of self. And instead of coming off as pretentious or annoyingly existentialist, it fits with the tone of the series and adds more colors to the already colorful pallet that is Doubutsu no Kuni. Doubutsu no Kuni starts out as a very small and simple tale about a human boy being adopted by a lonely tanuki. It quickly explodes and skyrockets upward into a story with many unpredictable twists and turns. However, the story may have overestimated itself and became a bit too big to handle. It has its fair share of flaws, and depending on who you ask, may work or hurt the series. But all in all, it is undoubtedly something special. If you’re looking for a story that’s never been quite told before, and epic battle which questions the laws that make this world, give this one a try. It definitely won’t be a waste of time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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