Dec 24, 2020
From the creator behind the Danganronpa game series, I had my eye on this anime from when it was first announced. However, I was not expecting something this good. Danganronpa, while entertaining, is a bit messy itself, so I was expecting something similar here, not to mention I was worried about animation from Studio Pierrot. However, this story, Akudama Drive, cultivated into something much better than I expected.
TLDR for whole review;
If you want the short answer, this is a lot of quality on all fronts for not a lot of your time. Definitely give it a watch.
(Minor Premise Spoilers)
Story: 8/10
Given 12 episodes and no
...
source material, this story does a great job at introducing an interesting world with interesting concepts. The thread of these two different cities Kansai and Kanto, and the mysteries surrounding them was very well done. The story can be maybe a tad predictable in some areas, but most of the time I had no idea where it was going. Very good overall plot and it stuck the landing.
Art & Animation: 10/10
Straight up, I underestimated Studio Pierrot. This show looks so good. The character designs are all unique and tell a lot about their personalities. Each background looks absolutely beautiful. I love the transition where the backgrounds fall into frame (like in Danganronpa). The animation is stellar, specifically the fight scenes which rival even the like of Fate. I heard that this has been in production since 2014, it shows they really gave the time to polish this. Some people may complain about censorship, I'm sure they'll fix it for the Bluray, nothing can be done about it for TV broadcast.
Characters: 7/10
Our main cast of Akudama was entertaining, some were definitely much deeper than others though. With only 12 episodes, it is difficult to fully flesh out the whole cast, but they did a good job at making me care for most of them. The best part in my eyes was the protagonist, Swindler. She is probably one of my favorite female characters of all time.
Enjoyment: 8/10
Watching this week by week was a treat, especially given it was so much better than expected. Being only 12 episodes, I think there is a lot of quality story here for not a lot of time.
Overall: 8/10
This was such a great show to watch, I definitely recommend it to pretty much anyone. It's mature, there's great fights, good characters, a very interesting plot, and a satisfying conclusion. Watch Akudama Drive!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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