Imagine a class of children hard at work. Each of them writing their stories to be seen and judged by their peers. Taking from their own lives, their own experiences while also paying tribute to those who came before them. In that climate there exists a weasel. A shrewd and sneaky brat who steals. Steals from those works of old that they so loved, leaning on them rather than building off them. On the day of presentation, their work is picked apart and scrutinized by those who adore those older works, and mocked for what original ideas they have. Angered, they march off to a
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younger crowd who, to their egocentric joy, eat up their work. Those who have never seen those works of old take the ideas here as something new, and think merely touching upon ideas rather than exploring them is praiseworthy. Also praising are those with an unhealthy obsession with the older titles, who smugly pat themselves on the back for catching all the “references”. Only to one day, upon revisiting, find a work that is shoddy, incoherent, idiotic, pretentious, flaccid, and overall….just plain awful.
That, in a rather verbose and far too wordy nutshell, is Darling in the FranXX. A show made nearly two decades after the post Eva boom that pales in comparison to nearly all contemporaries. Yet it is aggressively popular, for it is also the latest incarnation of “the show”. That mystical title that, every year, captures the attention of everyone in the anime community before collapsing in an incomprehensible mess. Your Guilty Crowns, your Aldnoah.Zero’s, your Akame ga Kill’s; “the show” has and always will exist. What makes “the show” is merely the trappings it chooses to wear. Today’s latest pick is the mecha genre, one that has seen a decline in recent years. Of course, those who bemoan such a decline mostly speak of the most popular titles of the genre, Gurren Lagaan and Code Geass. Those were the last two mech titles to truly capture the community, and FranXX seeks to do the same without any originality or charm to its name. It wants desperately to become the next mecha titan, and fails so miserably that it almost becomes laughable when you’re not tearing your hair out.
Who better to present such a work that the anime communities favorite punching bag, A-1 Pictures. AND YES, this is primarily an A-1 Pictures show alongside their new substudio Cloverworks. For those about to enter a seizure of bile screaming about the involvement of Studio Trigger, allow me to say to you: that’s just how they want you to act. That’s the trick, the diabolical scheme A-1 pulled. Perhaps they knew their name was like a cancer to their original shows, that the burns of Aldnoah.Zero still sting to this day. So they, the cunning wolves they are, pulled on the wool of the communities darling Trigger. A studio to whom a bizarre cult-like mentality has begun over. Trigger will “save anime”, and the like. And let me make this clear: I like Trigger and some of their works. I also will defend A-1, as I think they get far too much flack. The blame should lie not at the studio’s feet, but at the staff behind the show. This idea that Trigger is some godlike company who can do no wrong is asinine. And it’s those people who are the most obsessive in defending this show. Worse yet is how FranXX can’t help but embody the worst traits of these two studios: the obnoxiously self-referential nature of later day Gainax & Trigger, and A-1’s devil may care attitude of “if it sells, put it in”. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It’s worth noting as well that this review will contain spoilers, but since everyone in this community has seen FranXX, it’s not that big of a deal. With that said, here we go.
Similarly, I’m not going to go too in depth recapping the story since everyone’s seen it. But suffice to say, the Blue Man Groups pet lizards have torn Earth a new asshole, and the only defense are robots piloted doggy style. Our focus is on a group of potato sacks masquerading as humans, in particular the most potato-ey of all and his sex doll girlfriend. Their boring, uninteresting struggles occur in the same house for like 15+ episodes before the writer’s internet crapped out, leaving with no access to Wikipedia to crib plot points from better shows. At which point he threw his hands up and just wrote whatever came to mind, leading to an out of nowhere finale involving Purple People Eaters and a giant Kantai Collection robot. It’s more jumbled than I make it sound, trust me.
FranXX’s dystopian world is nothing short of uninspired. A narrow focus on only one section of the world makes it so that we don’t really know how bad things are. We go from an episode where the world is a blasted out desert to a freakin’ beach episode and the show acts like nothing’s out of the ordinary. Why is only some of the world a hellscape? They never answer and it makes the world feel less organic. Additionally, the characters sometimes jump back and forth in a similar manner. They have no idea what sex and puberty are, and yet boys ogle girls during the previously mentioned beach episode. Consistency to the world be damned in favor of tropes I suppose. The concept of the Plantations is something interesting, but very little is done with it. At times it even feels like a crutch, like the show is spending so much time in Mistleteen so that no new backgrounds have to be drawn. Death flags are also waved around ad nauseum, but none of them are truly raised. Main characters don’t have to die for a show to be interesting, but the way FranXX portrayed it made it seem like the death flags were there only to draw in hype.
Most damning of all in this department is how unnecessary the mechs truly are. A mech anime needs to have its robots woven into the very core of its story. To the point that removing them would damage the show irreversibly. FranXX, almost in defiance, seems to not only have no real reason for the titular mechs to appear, but seems to actively avoid featuring combat at all. Certainly, the show can’t just be mechanical titans smacking blue dinosaurs, but the way it’s all spread out makes the robots kind of pointless. It’s almost like the mechs were only added as an afterthought, a way to get eyes on the show because there hasn’t been a big name robot show in what feels like ages. Which only added onto the obnoxious hype that existed solely because Trigger was attached to the project.
The pacing for this show is also all over the damn place, at once too fast for its own good yet also insanely sluggish. We go from one episode of action packed battles to five straight episodes of the kids dicking around. That pacing issue damns the story in many regards, but also screws with the viewer. Lest we forget the major, absolutely insane backlash that episode 14 received only for everything to be resolved immediately next week. It makes the episode feel entirely meaningless. Even the praised episode 15 (spoiler: it wasn’t that great) suffered because it quite honestly came too early. The shows greatest floundering occurs in the immediate aftermath, with three straight episodes of utterly inconsequential nothing. So many episodes are spent trying to develop or expand the world only for it to not matter in the end. That’s another issue FranXX has: making things matter. Everything it tries to do rings hollow because of the lack of care we feel for the world.
As for the actual story, that isn’t much better. As I implied earlier, the majority of the series primarily gets by on ripping off superior titles. Evangelion’s character focused drama, Gurren Lagaan’s high octane, almost absurd plotting, Eureka Seven’s romantic heart. That’s not to say, however, that taking from these sources is a bad thing. Other shows have taken inspiration from these titles too, but the majority of them bring enough new to the table so that you can look past similarities. What new ideas FranXX has are either laughably absurd (doggie piloted robots), or are never touched upon (what’s city life like?). And that’s to say nothing of the last third of the show: everything post episode 15 is a slog before devolving into a bizarre alien invasion twist. Yes, Gurren had an alien attack climax too, but it was better planned and foreshadowed than FranXX. Here it just comes out of nowhere and leaves you mentally dead. It also flatout STEALS the plot of Gunbuster’s last two episodes without any of the heart or passion that wet into it. You’d think that would make things fun in an ironic sense, but instead it’s surprisingly dull. The show takes an idea like “my girlfriend’s conscious is in a giant robot fighting aliens” and SOMEHOW makes is boring. As absurd and brain exploding the climax is, it almost feels more like an anti-climax than anything else. Maybe that’s because nothing was set up well or maybe it's because of the lack of any tension during it; either way, the story of this show is pathetic.
Which is a shame because there is one area where FranXX is kinda alright: its use of foreshadowing. The show goes out of its way to build elements of its world up in the background, and it’s quite effective. It’s subtle and only really works inside the plantations. But at its best, it makes the world feel pretty well thought out. Which is a shame when everything else drags it down. It’s bizarre how the world can feel simultaneously thought out yet smattered with so many baffling issues.
Even with all that foreshadowing detail, FranXX still has random plot holes that never get answered. Or to be more specific, they forgot to answer. They forgot how and why Kokoro’s mech went berserk that one time. They forgot that old lady Zorome met and her weird heart thing. They forgot 02 having PTSD from all the pilots she killed. They forgot to explain why Ikuno’s hair randomly turns white. They forgot the giant Klaxo hand at the end of episode 15. They forgot to explain how Strelizia went Super Saiyan God in episode 15. They forgot to make us care or even remember Hiro’s original partner Naomi. They forgot to introduce the giant super weapon Star Entity before the episode it was used in. They forgot how the alien VIRM basically Third Impacted half the planet. Bottom line, they forgot a LOT, and nearly all of it was probably only added in to appeal to the obnoxious theorycrafting crowd. Does it really matter if Hiro has horns? No, it doesn’t. But to the theorist, the fact it happened means their theory was justified, and they can feel smug for about a week before the next brain imploding stupidity occurs.
But that may also happen from trying to dissect the themes of this show. And OH BOY, thematically this show is a goddamn hot mess. It starts with an obvious focus on puberty and sexuality; episode 2 in particular is crammed with as many sexual innuendos as possible. You’d be forgiven for thinking, as I did, that the whole show would be like that. But instead, FranXX takes a sharp left away from those ideas to basically forgo any thematic depth for, like, ten episodes. Instead focusing on half assed attempts at “development”. The only recurring symbol is the “Jian”, a bird that through some cruel twist of nature has only one wing and needs two partners to survive. Because codependency is something we apparently need to aspire to. The idea that these kids believe their entire purpose is to pilot the robots is something interesting, but like everything else cool in this show it is quickly brushed aside and forgotten about.
When thematic elements return, it’s suddenly about the importance of procreation and how the Japanese people need to have babies so Shinzo Abe will be pleased. I kid, but it really seems like FranXX is pushing for Japanese otaku to have babies and as a result, the themes become kind of laughable. Laughable as it may be, the constant focus on that idea of conception starts to give off a slightly...uncomfortable feeling.
You, the reader, may have seem posts or reviews discussing how FranXX is demonizing those who deviate from the man/woman gender gap. The characters of the 9’s, the elite Franxx pilots for the government, have a scene in which their leader decries gender as something limiting. This character, 9 Alpha, says this in response to another character questioning humanity moving away from procreation. The implication is that by implying that only people who reproduce are truly human, and anyone that doesn’t exist for “leaving a mark for the future” aren’t equal. I, for one, am conflicted on that matter. On the one hand, I simply cannot believe this was all intentional. There’s just no way that such rhetoric was the intended message; it always seemed more likely that this was the result of FranXX playing with themes far above its head. And that is probably the most likely scenario.
Yet at the same time, I can’t help but understand where those people are coming from. The fact is that FranXX can be interpreted in that way and compelling arguments about it can rise. Which may make it even more heinous of a show for those who feel strongly on these issues. As for me, I’m not certain I can discuss such ideas well. They’re extremely intricate and tricky subjects to handle. But in my eyes, this is nothing but another sign of how awful the writing in FranXX is. That it didn’t even consider this outcome or tried to not handle ideas outside its depth. Hell, even these ideas are scooted out the window in the finale for some heavy handed wedding symbolism. The entire storyline of Darling in the FranXX is a joke, a jumbled mess of ideas that try soooooo damn hard to get people engaged. Just absurd plotting and tacky thematics all around. I will say though, the finale was literally so idiotic I kind of loved it. Amazingly dumb in all the best ways.
But none of that is comparable to the most damning element of this show: Darling in the FranXX may possibly have one of, if not THE, worst cast of characters I’ve seen yet in a mecha anime. I say “possibly” because I’ve seen shows worse than this, but at least those shows don’t have obnoxious fans screaming about how great these wet blankets are. It is a weak defense, yes, but a defense nonetheless. FranXX, at 24 episodes, has no excuse for having a cast as shallow, uninteresting, generic, annoying, self inflated, and just unlikable in nearly every regard.
For starters, FranXX has too many characters to properly develop and falls into that classic anime trap of spending time with the cast, but not truly getting to know them. What I mean by that is that the cast never expands beyond the surface level of their archetypes. Their development, if they even get any, is universally shallow and generic. Yet the show acts like these planks of plaster are really deep, and their development is profound. This speaks to a certain pretentiousness on FranXX’s end It also seems to lean on the worn out trope of “people have numbers instead of names” trope to explain why certain people (mostly Ichigo) can be emotionally impacted by so little.
None of this is more apparent than with our lead character, Hiro. Hiro may be the most uninteresting mech protagonist in the history of mankind. He is, for the majority of the series, a nothing character. He has no traits, what personality he has is practically nonexistent, he lacks agency in nearly every regard, and is just dreadfully dull to watch. Is he supposed to be a self insert character? If so, I’ve never seen one so botched. It’s like the show tries to hide the fact that he’s a self insert, but in doing so makes him ungodly bland. As the series progresses, he remains the same blank faced, unrelatable potato sack since episode 1. That is until 3 episodes near the end where, in one fell swoop, he became one of the most detestable characters I’ve seen in anime. Someone who is willing to abandon everything and everyone who cares for him because of a pretentious sense of love. The one interesting thing he had was that initially he was a reverse Shinji in the sense that he desperately wanted to get in the goddamn robot, but couldn’t. But that’s dropped early on and he remains unbearably uninteresting.
Of course, when people defend FranXX and claim it has a good lead, they’re not talking about Hiro. No, they’re getting horny on main and praising ““““““Best girl”””””” Zero Two. Yes, that pink haired, red horned chick that’s been popping up all over the place, Zero Two is probably the reason most people started watching FranXX to begin with. Because waifu’s or something. And I’m gonna be upfront: I never liked her. I didn’t hate her, but from episode 1, I was at a loss as to why so many were fawning over her. Something about her just felt...manufactured. Like she was a committee designed waifu to appeal to as many people as possible. Nothing about her attracted me to her, and I don’t even think she’s that attractive. Her dominatrix, intense personae also failed to grab me, for it too seemed like fodder for character hype.
And don’t even get me started on the romance between Hiro and Zero Two. The main relationship that’s supposed to be the emotional core of FranXX is honestly the most pathetic attempt at mecha romance to possibly ever exist. For the entire first half, Zero Two basically treats Hiro as disposable. Only relying on him because she can use him to pilot, as does he with her. It gives off a truly toxic feel of codependency, that these two are basically incapable of interacting in society without the other. It got to such a point that I began thinking this was supposed to be subverting the “magic mecha dream girl” trope that pops up here and there. There’s no way this couldn’t be intentional, I thought at the time.
But then they get some half assed backstory that supposedly makes them meant to be and they spend the rest of the series head over heels for each other. Everyone is also somehow cool with her, even though she was a giant bitch to everyone other than Hiro. It’s just so sudden of a shift, not helped by the actual backstory which was so predictable and generic I basically predicted it all before the episode even aired. Worst of all is that, after hooking up, Zero Two is basically neutered. Her drive that attracted so many to her vanished, and she became yet another blank slate who’s only trait is “I weally weally wove Hiro”. Or perhaps I should say, “I weally weally wove Darling”, because I don’t think she ever calls Hiro by name. Which is kind of messed up when I think about it.
And the show tries to make this relationship out as something to be celebrated. Everyone else’s character devolves into “let’s talk about how great Hiro & Zero Two are, and why we should aspire to be like them”. It’s gets to the point that in the finale they literally say “Zero Two and Hiro were more human than any of us”. Codependency is NOT something to aspire to. It’s that inflated sense of self importance again, as the show tries desperately to make their relationship ring in any way but hollow. Also, it ruined the word “Darling” for me. It gets used so damn much I can’t stand it. And it was such a nice word too...
But speaking of other characters, the rest of the Plantation kids don’t fail to the same level as our leads, but are still dreadfully uninteresting in their own rights. Ichigo is the standard childhood friend desperately in love with the blank check of a protagonist. The first half gives us no traits outside of that love, even though it tries given that she is the leader of the kids. Attempts to give her drama fall flat because her character for the first half is as one note as it gets. Her crush on Hiro bizarrely leaves after episode 15, leaving her with basically no character other than simply existing and fellating the Hiro x Zero Two ship. Yet another sign that episode 15 came too damn early.
Miku and Zorome are basically the same character. They both serve the overly spunky/obnoxious character role to a T, and have nothing to add beyond that. Zorome has an attempt at development, given that his other character trait is being blindly loyal to the system. But that’s forgotten about pretty quickly and he devolves back into being an obnoxious brat. Miku gets absolutely nothing to do, so why is she even here? She occasionally bickers with Zorome, but that’s about it. A lot of these kids could actually just be dropped from the show. It would probably improve things too.
Futoshi is the prime example of this uselessness. He’s every generic fat character written, never evolving beyond those tired tropes that come from his archetype. What makes me automatically dislike him is that he gets cucked near the halfway point, and is just so goddamn obnoxious about it. I get it, the girl he likes basically stopped piloting with him, but dear GOD SHUT UP!!! He’s like one of those annoying white knight types, the sort who writes an angry blog about how girls never seem to go for “nice guys” like him. The show makes one attempt to give him an eating disorder of some kind for “development”, but it’s so half assed in execution it comes off as insulting. And is IMMEDIATELY DROPPED IN THE SAME EPISODE IT’S INTRODUCED IN!! Again, this character is entirely pointless to the show and should’ve been cut entirely.
Kokoro and Mitsuru are pointless in their own unique way. Kokoro was only “the nice girl” until she cucks the fat man. After that, her character becomes the focus of the procreation subplot, which does very little to improve her character. The worst is immediately following episode 15, when her whole character devolves into only wanting to have a kid. I swear, how does Tumblr of all places defend this trash heap? Mitsuru begins as the generic “rival” character at first, which at least means he gets some development. But once Kokoro locks eyes with him, he too devolves into a potato as she basically forces him to go along in her baby making ways. Their romance too, is completely half assed and completely with an utterly pointless memory erased twist that adds nothing to the plot. There’s also some subtext and debate over whether or not Mitsuru was initially gay for Hiro. Whether he was or not, it wouldn’t change how dreadfully written he and his two(?) love interests are.
Ikuno may be the worst of all the kids. For the first half, she basically has no screen time whatsoever. Only existing because Mitsuru needed a partner before he got paired with the cucktress Kokoro. That is until the second half where the show, desperate to make her seem important, pulled the “I’m gay” card. I must ask: what does her being gay matter in the grand scheme of things? The answer is nothing, because immediately after this reveal that should be a big deal in a society like this, it’s dropped in a throwaway line and completely forgotten about. It leaves you wondering what the point of that was and pondering some truly heinous subtext. The very definition of useless, she is.
What characters I haven’t mentioned yet are entirely worthless. The adults watching over the kids are complete nobodies who we learn nothing significant about. Attempts to give them character are laughably half-assed. Dr. FranXX is an honest to god child abuser and overall terrible person that they try to wring a sympathetic backstory out of. Why should I feel bad for the man who is honestly kind of responsible for the worlds sorry state? There’s some weird talk also about him being a stereotypical “evil atheist” type, but I’m not to confident in trying to explain how that nonsense works. The 9’s are entirely irrelevant, their development out of nowhere and only 9 Alpha getting any prominent screen time. Even then, he’s so forgettable my initial nickname for him, Kaworu-kun, was basically his name for the majority of the series. Because they apparently forgot to give him one for a while. Papa/the leaders of humanity are just really dull. That is, until the last third where your brain explodes trying to comprehend all the dumbassery the plot does with them. As for the Klaxo princess, there isn't enough to her for me to care about. She’s just a plot device character made to push the show forward.
There is, however, one exception to all these characters. One individual who became unironically the best part of the show who I have saved until now. I speak of course of Goro, the ultimate embodiment of a bro. Unlike the other kids who are written with an air of pretension about their traits, Goro embraces his sheer bro-ness and becomes a truly likeable person. His highlight is no doubt episode 22, where he channels everyone’s frustration at Hiro and his brain dead obsession with Zero Two into a truly powerful rant. Unfortunately, he recants on the rant immediately after. And he gets cucked for a majority of the series by Ichigo. Because why have a caring, is somewhat stale, man when you can make goo-goo eyes at a living potato? Goro in the end is still on the generic side, yes, but a much needed oasis in this desert blaze of a show. He’s the only likeable bunch out of these ungodly abominations and planks of wood that dare to be called characters. That so many people swear by the writing for these things is ungodly.
And now for something that will REALLY piss people off, here’s another spicy hot take: this show is ugly. The shows visuals are probably not the worst I’ve ever seen, but it’s subpar in nearly every way. To begin, the characters are not appealing to look at. They all have this weird outline at times that makes them look unfinished, and movement is static and unappealing. What attempts at fanservice there are fail to service anyone because the designs are attractive and what sideboob is seen is unappealing. A-1’s “unique” style means that the fanservice just doesn't look good. That’s kind of a problem when your main appeal is the attractiveness of one character.
Character designs fair no better. They are only memorable in how they look like other characters. Hiro looks like every A1 protagonist (i.e. Kirito) with slightly longer hair. Ichigo looks like Cocona from Flip Flappers. Goro’s hair is ripped from Kittan Batchika. Mitsuru’s initial hair kind of resembles Andrew Hainbridge from LWA. Even 02, whom people cannot seem to shut up about being attractive, is a failed attempt to combine Urusei Yatsura’s Lum with E7’s Anemone. The worst of it all is Kaworu-kun’s squad, who aside from the main man himself (who sports a Kiznaiver-esque look) look absolutely hideous. Two of them even steal Hiro and Ichigo’s hair, and give them garrish bright colors that is just disgusting. As for the rest of the cast, they are simply uninteresting, generic, and ultimately forgettable. Why Nishigiori himself didn’t do the designs is beyond me.
But surely the mechs and action must save the visuals, right? No, they don’t. The mechs themselves, I must admit, are designed quite nicely. And by the mechs, I mean the main ones because all the other ones look like generic crap. Shigeto Koyama is one of the best mech designers around these days, but his designs are wasted here. Strelizia is honestly the only one that stands out, and that’s only because her design is literally ripped from Star Driver. Klaxosaur designs are also on the generic side, lest we forget the one Klaxo that was literally just a box with horns.
What’s more, the action just feels soulless. I know it’s Imaishi and his crew, and the actual fight animation is quite nice, but I feel nothing from it. Like with 02, the pieces for something truly skillful is there, but there’s just no reason to care. Investment in what’s going on can make or break a fight scene. There’s also just, no emotion from any of it. FranXX has commercialized creativity, made the action madmen part of the machine. Compared to Gurren Lagaan or even this year's Eureka Seven movie, the mecha action is just weak sauce. Plus, with how little mecha their truly is, there’s just less to attach to. The show also makes one attempt at a human action scene, and it’s probably one of the most poorly framed and just worst fight scenes out there.
Musically, the show continues its aping. Sometimes it tries to have the Sawano esque tracks of Aldnoah Zero, other times it tries the heroic uplifing nature of Eureka Seven. Certain tracks are memorable, yes, but none of them are truly great. The opening theme “Kiss of Death” is probably the best part about this show. It’s a surprisingly intense song that gives off a truly dark vibe with great electronica use. In other words, it’s the exact opposite of the shows quality and really deserves to be attached to a better show. The ED’s fare not so well; there’s like, 5, and they’re all generic pop songs. Certainly fine, but nothing great. And with so many you’ll be hard pressed to remember them all. Seiyu are alright, about what you’d expect from this type of show. There’s also a dub. I haven’t seen it but heard less than great things about it. Be that a result of poor acting of the script giving the cast nothing to work with, I don’t know.
With all that anger, and all that terribleness FranXX has going for it, you may be wondering: why is this only a 2? Why did you not grant it the one is more than likely deserves? And the answer is...I don’t know. For a show to be a 1 it has to truly, unashamedly piss me off. I have to feel like my time was utterly wasted, that there was nothing I could take from it. And FranXX, for its part, just didn’t give me that feeling. It angered me, yes. It frustrates me, yes. But it’s more of an apathetic anger than the full blown fury that a 1 entails. With that said, this is so close to a 1 it’s licking the front porch begging to come in. It’s just something I can’t explain, but FranXX is still one of the worst series I’ve completed yet in this medium. Trying so desperately to be celebrated and to celebrate what came before it, only to fall flat due to its own incompetence, arrogance, and just overall worthlessness.
The most telling sign of FranXX’s quality can be seen in the reaction to episode 15. After the fans stopped praising it for being an emotionally charged masterpiece (their words, not mine), what did they do? They started making memes out of it. They made a mockery of a scene they just earlier claimed to be a masterpiece. And that is what Darling in the FranXX will be remembered as. A joke, a gaff, a brainless clown that dances and tries so, so hard to make us like it. Oh yes, some of us do like it. But the rest of us see it, complain about it, and move on with our lives. And it fades from our memories as time goes on. As it should.
Moral of the story: go watch Evangelion. Or RahXephon. Or Eureka Seven. Or Gurren Lagaan. Or any mech anime, really. Anything’s better than this.
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Jul 7, 2018
Darling in the FranXX
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
Imagine a class of children hard at work. Each of them writing their stories to be seen and judged by their peers. Taking from their own lives, their own experiences while also paying tribute to those who came before them. In that climate there exists a weasel. A shrewd and sneaky brat who steals. Steals from those works of old that they so loved, leaning on them rather than building off them. On the day of presentation, their work is picked apart and scrutinized by those who adore those older works, and mocked for what original ideas they have. Angered, they march off to a
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Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 10, 2018 Recommended
[Note: This review assumes you have seen at least the original Eureka Seven TV anime. As such, there will be spoilers for it within this review.]
Well, Studio Bones is at it again! Out of all the original series they make (and they’ve made plenty) Eureka Seven seems to be a favorite to many. But to be fair, why wouldn’t it be? The original 2005 series is a stone cold classic, with its arresting visuals, compelling lead romance, and just a grand adventurous tone through and through. I’ll make it no secret that I love it dearly, and its been my favorite anime for nearly 6 ... years now. It just does so much wonderful that I can’t help but wear a smile anytime I rewatch it. Unfortunately, with that much praise comes bank to be made on it. And with that bank comes Bones trying to make the magic strike once again. Their first attempt, Pocketful of Rainbows, was an alternate take on the series featuring some reused footage and had some interesting ideas going for it. It was never going to live up to the original, but for what it was it was harmless. The same cannot be said for their next attempt: the infamous Eureka Seven AO. Truth be told, I haven’t seen it myself. But everything I’ve heard makes it seem like seeing it would be the last thing any fan of the original would want. AO was pretty much the lowest point in the series, and many just thought it was done after such a botched follow up. Perhaps trying to wash away AO’s taint, Bones is taking the old horse out for another try. The Hi Evolution trilogy was announced last year, with the original staff and cast from both languages returning. With the first installment releasing last year in Japan, nerves have never been more on edge. Fans waiting with baited breath to see if they shit the bed once again. And from the first screening at Otakon last summer, reception was...mixed at best. Much of anitwitter was ablaze, claiming that the bed was indeed shat in; some going so far as to say that it was just as bad, if not worse than AO. But with its American release finally here, it must be asked: do those claims ring true? Is Hi Evolution 1 just another blemish on the original? Is it truly worse than AO? To answer this, I must put aside my biased love towards the original series. And now I can say with confidence that this new film is, surprisingly, really damn great. Though truthfully not for everyone. The overall plot of the film can be broken down into two parts: the first is the story of the Summer of Love. That often talked about but never shown event is finally shown in full glory, as is the story of the man who saved the world, Adroc Thurston. The second part shifts the focus onto the familiar face of Renton Thurston, as he reflects on his past experiences with both Eureka and his adoptive parents, Charles and Ray. For in this continuity, Renton was adopted by the Beams right after his father vanished, and so it’s from them he runs away from to follow Eureka. Let’s get the obvious praise out of the way: The Summer of Love section is amazing. The first 20-25 minutes is basically one big action scene, and it is jam packed with awesomeness. We’ve got Scub antibodies blasting away at KLF units. We’ve go lasers and missiles flying sky high and exploding into big beautiful bursts of color. We’ve even got a giant missile that transforms into the equivalent of a rave party; god almighty, it is amazing. But it doesn’t stop there, we’ve got plenty of great character moments to boot. It’s great to see Charles and Ray again, and they get a bulk of the early action in the scene. Holland and Dewey actually looking out for and calling each other “brother” is something i never knew I wanted, and it's amazing. It’s impossible to watch it without feeling pumped up. What’s more, they actually manage to one-up the original series by actually giving Adroc some character. In the series, he was dead by then, and more acted as a symbol for many of the characters. Here, he’s given some depth and it’s quite well done. The film portrays Adroc as a man who genuinely wants to help the world. Someone who is desperate to stop a doomsday plan he created, and laments all the pain caused by his actions. It really succeeds at humanizing him, making him more than just the legendary figure of the original show. All those elements makes his sacrifice all the more powerful in a truly beautiful sequence. The entire Summer of Love was just one big lump of fanservice to the original show, meant to please the fans in every possible way, and it unquestionably succeeded. And then the rest of the film happened and things got more complicated. See, the controversial reception this film has doesn’t come from the story being told. No, it comes from the way that it was told. Hi Evolution 1 takes a decidedly non linear approach to telling Renton’s tale. Signaled by the words “Play Back” and “Play Forward”, the film leaps throughout parts of Renton leaving the Gekko and his reunion with his adoptive parents. Fans of the original series will recognize these events, in particular Renton’s encounter with the Vodarac girl and his specific reason from running away in the first place. Many have complained that this style of storytelling was too confusing and hard to follow, but for me it wasn’t so. Everything followed a thematic throughline about Renton’s maturation, and it didn’t hop along too large of time gaps. Plus, if you’ve seen the original show, you should know where these events line up time wise. The criticism perhaps comes from how unexpected it was, which while certainly true proved to shake up the original version of these stories. To be frank, the film basically requires you to be familiar with the original series. It doesn’t really touch on Renton’s life aboard the Gekko, nor his relationship with Eureka; instead assuming you already know about everything Renton went through and giving the new information needed for this trilogy. Some may be aghast at those changes, and while I sympathize, I must also disagree. Had the film gone over that material it would’ve basically been the same as in the original series. Then you would’ve had people complaining about how the film retreaded too much of the same stuff. Some may certainly argue that reusing moments from the series in the first place was a mistake, and while that may have merit, the way they went about telling it was the most interesting approach. Some will also be disappointed to know that the focus is kept primarily on Renton. In fact, the film kind of turns into a character study of him, squaring in on his reasons for running away and his own problems with relating to Eureka. The elements explored are similar to the ones from the TV series, but they are different. Most notably, it is much harsher on Renton. This section of the original show was a dark time for him, and this film carries that over very well, and then some. It explores how, while he genuinely wants to be a good person, it’s difficult for him to understand what people really want. This was lightly touched on in the series, but here it’s put more front and center as the big character hurdle Renton has to overcome. It’s no coincidence also that the scenes taken are the ones that most strongly reflect that theme. His encounter with the Vodarac girl proved to be the key example of that hurdle in the original series, and it’s just as much here, but different in a subtle way. In the original, after Renton is brought back to the Swan, Charles comforts him by saying that he doesn’t begrudge his actions; that what he did was “the right thing to do as a human”, but that they didn’t know if the girl really wanted what Renton thought she did. In Hi-Evolution, while Charles still sympathises with Renton, he’s fairly more harsher on him: saying instead that Renton did what he truly thought was right, but that there was no way he could have known if it was for the best. It’s a subtle change, but Hi-Evolution’s version call Renton’s actions into question more and is shown to have a bigger impact on him. And while we don’t see much of her interactions with Renton here, Eureka is shown to be different as well. She’s a lot colder emotionally than she was initially at this point, and her conversation with Renton before he runs away shows that as well. She, too, was more willing to draw attention to Renton’s actions, and the repercussions they had. As such, in the same way that Adroc’s sacrifice is strengthened by his characterization, so too is Renton’s when he once more leaves Charles and Ray. The production name of this film was “Renton Seven”, and that is undoubtedly what this feels like; a story about Renton, his maturation, and where he will go from here. If I had to point to the films largest shortcomings, it would be its attempt at trying to appeal to newcomers. Text appears often that is meant to explain certain elements that may be unfamiliar to newcomers. Some are actually quite helpful and interesting, such as one explaining the Trapar Waves and the military connections of the characters. Often, however, it’s just running down information that is somewhat unnecessary, and often actually spoil some parts of the series. If they wanted to get newcomers in, they shouldn’t have revealed Eureka’s identity as a human form Corallian, for instance. In fact, I get the feeling that even the writers were aware of the issues with the constant text, and actually played them for laughs in some cases. There’s a text line about helmet wearing rules in Bellforest, and even one explaining what tacos are. Still, the text is somewhat easy to phase out of your mind. But it was a mistake to try to appeal to newcomers in a film like this. This is a film for fans, first and foremost, and we already know most of this stuff. In terms of visuals, the film devilers in a way you may not expect. Obviously, the Summer of Love is the high point: it’s a delectable smorgasbord of mecha action, gorgeous shot composition, and is a true sight to behold. It’s probably some of the best giant robot footage put to the big screen, and among the best Bones has produced. But after that, the film heavily uses footage from the original series during Renton’s portion of the film. Many have criticized this as a lazy move, and while new footage would’ve been amazing, its use is actually kind of smart. Using it during the primarily flashback-centered part of the movie is thematically appropriate; just as Renton remembers what’s happened to him, we too remember seeing these events from the original. But they didn’t just slap the old animation on and call it a day; they’ve actually cleaned it up quite a bit. Subtle changes to the line work, new background elements, even redrawing some scenes for a greater effect. What was once the Ray=Out magazine is now a governmental propaganda magazine, Hardfloor album covers are seen on Charles’ wall. My favorite would be a certain character appearing to have a vastly different role here, even if she doesn’t appear physically. It succeeds in giving off a surreal vibe; a feeling that what your watching is Eureka Seven, but is still different from the original. Admittedly, the aspect ratio change during this part is annoying, but it’s a minor detail for me at least. Naoki Sato returns to the score, and it’s as great as ever. The film doesn’t rely too heavily on his original pieces from the TV series (I think they use one song from it and that’s it). Highlights include pretty much the entire Summer of Love sequence; that booming orchestral score is just eargasmic (is that a word? I hope so). In a surprising move, german trance musicians Hardfloor composed a song for this: Acperience 7. Playing during the Summer of Love, it’s a techno feast for the ears, and a straight up banging tune to boot. Considering that Hardfloor’s “Acperience” song was used as the title for a number of the TV shows episodes, it’s very fitting. Additionally, the ending song, Hiroya Ozaki’s “Glory Days”, is a phenomenal piece that really captures the feeling of the series. As for the VA work, I watched the english dub. Somehow, Funimation managed to pull off the impossible and got the entire original cast back. Equally amazing is that they slip back into their roles without much of a hitch. It’s great to here all these voices again, especially Patrick Seitz and Melissa Fahn as Charles and Ray. Hell, they even got Dewey’s VA back, and he does great too. The big new addition is Fred Tatasciore as Adroc, and while I was surprised when they first announced him, within the first few lines he sold me completely. He captures all the pain and anguish Adroc goes through while also never seeming too overdramatic. In short, he’s exactly how you imagined the character sounding, and is probably the best performance in the whole film. If I had to critique the acting, it would mostly revolve around Renton. Not that it’s a bad performance; it’s quite a solid one on the whole. It’s just that Renton sounds...different. Johnny Yong Bosch still voices him, but either he can’t pull off the same voice as the original or the dub decided to tone down the pitch he originally used. Regardless, it’s still the same Renton voice underneath, and you get used to it quickly. Either way, it’s a stellar dub all around. Of course, this is only part 1. The film ended with a preview for Hi-Evolution 2 which looked so insane and crazy that it made me even more hyped for it. It would seem that this series is going to be one giant, big tribute to everything Eureka Seven. If so, than this film can only be truly judged as part of one whole entity that is the Hi Evolution trilogy. Even those who disliked this film, from what I’ve seen, expressed interest in the sequel, curious as to where this is all heading. And that’s really what this film was: a giant piece of set up for the sequels. But rather than have it just be that, the crew at Bones decided to make it something truly memorable and different, yet still feel like Eureka Seven. I can, of course, see why many would dislike this film. But the claim that this is worse than AO is just nonsense; at least this is set in an alternate universe and doesn’t screw up the original shows plot. Hi-Evolution 1 ended up being an interesting and very well done jumping off point for things yet to come. It succeeds in reminding you of what the feeling of Eureka Seven is, while also providing enough changes to keep you interested. At the very least, the Summer of Love part is worth seeing, but I enjoyed the rest of the film just as much. I know I’ll be there for everything to happen in part 2, but until then, all we can do is wait for that day, that most glorious of days, to arrive. To be Continued...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 17, 2017
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Communication. Understanding. Connection. All things we as humans struggle with. To truly know another person is difficult on its own; some would say impossible entirely. That, however, doesn’t stop us from trying, no matter the pain. Pain that births from failed attempts of understanding, thinking you know someone but in truth do not. Sometimes, trying to connect to another is more painful and can hurt more than trying to cause them misery. But who hurts more: the person who tried and failed, or the person on the receiving end? Can comprehension of others truly be had if we are separate beings? And should we even
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bother trying?
These questions have been tackled in a number of areas, each with differing results. Romances and dramas are built entirely on a foundation of understanding, with the latter often birthing from a lack of that communication. Anime, understandably, is no exception to these ideas. We all know Evangelion took on these ideas, with the conclusion that “Yes, we could all become apricot Jell-O, but that really isn’t the same as talking to another.” It postulated that attempting to connect with another person could hurt, but it was worth it for those we truly get to know and love. A more recent example would be Kiznaiver, which took a novel concept of connected wounds and pushed it through the lense of a hackneyed melodrama. Whatever it suggested about about communicating with other people was lost through a sea of teenage angst and the fact that, ironically for a show about getting to know people, we never got to truly know any of the characters (save for one). M3 is another show like the above mentioned. It was released smack dab in the middle of spring 2014, but was quickly overshadowed by more popular titles of the time. Perhaps it was its status as a mech anime at a time when people were hyping up Aldnoah Zero. Maybe it was that it was announced only two weeks before it first aired. Or perhaps it was it’s strange combination or writer Mari Okada (Kiznaiver, Simoun) and director Junichi Satou (Princess Tutu, Kaleido Star). Whatever the case, it came and went, with its very existence forgotten to time. It was that obscurity and strange director/writer combo that drew me to M3. And after concluding it, I can safely say that, while undoubtedly away from a masterpiece, it is somewhat of a fascinating show to watch unfold in both theme and certain characterization. That, however, doesn’t keep it from being a show weak in terms of execution and interest. The world of M3 is one where Japan is threatened by a giant void of darkness. Known as the Lightless Realm, this dark sphere degrades all that enter and births monstrous creatures known as Admonitions. It threatens to engulf all that is and corrode humans in Necrometal. To combat this threat, the organization Ix forms subsection Gargouille. Comprising this group are eight high schoolers, each of whom have vague memories of knowing themselves once in the past, and are trained with mecha known as Vess. Their first encounter with an Admonition, however, leads to an encounter with an even more powerful creature known as the Corpse. Upon the Corpse rides a human girl, and is heard a song that is hauntingly familiar. With the mystery of the Corpse and the discovery of an even more powerful Vess known as “The Reaper”, the truth of the Lightless Realm and the past of the children slowly comes to light. With that setup, the key pieces for successful mecha action are organized. High schoolers with inner demons fighting giant monsters in equally giant robots has been a proven success story in the past. And to M3’s credit, the actual structure of the show is quite steady. It takes its time at the start, slowly depositing key character traits and setting up the science fiction elements. The setting is almost universally set in the one city right next to the Lightless Realm, and the repeated visiting of certain areas can feel somewhat repetitive at the start. Some have issues with shows starting off slow like this, but personally I have no issue with shows taking it’s time. It’s important for any story to set up everything and M3 pulls it off without too much of a hitch. Scientific elements were also done quite well. The mecha were decently explained and never pulled random powers out of their asses. The Reapers were much of the same, with a great deal of focus given to their source of power, the LIM system. However, once the concepts are explored as much as they can be the show suddenly goes on a bent about elements of mysticism. The best comparison that I can most think of here would be Gasaraki, as it similarly mixed hard science with a spiritual, mystical bent that didn’t really mesh well together. It’s struggle was that the scientific parts were extremely well explained while the supernatural elements left far too many questions open. And not the good kind of questions that keep discussion of the show alive. I’m talking the sort of questions that makes you upset they didn’t provide any decent reasoning for their introduction. Thematically, M3 is divided by its two halves. The first one is primarily focused on main character Akashi's’ development and attempts to connect to his peers. It does divulge itself on the other characters and their struggles at times, but the focus is clearly on Akashi. Once the second half begins (more precisely after episode 16), the show’s pace rapidly speeds up, and the show focuses moreso on questioning if people can connect without hurting each others. This dovetails into the final reveal of the central mysteries and a serviceable, if a bit too expected conclusion. With that aforementioned speed up, however, comes a string of rather absurd and, frankly, tonally out there twists. On paper they may seem fitting, but they at times contrast too heavily with what the story has already shown about. The above mentioned mix of scientific and supernatural elements is a key example, but an even greater one would be a certain character's motivation for their actions. A motivation that is sound in theory but in execution comes off as ridiculous and makes the character seem like a unintentional and complete idiot. Not to mention ruining the severity of the situation the show tries to convey. Additionally, the plot on the whole simply lacks something. It’s something that can’t be easily explained, but to put it best it as missing that “spark”. That key piece of a show that keeps it from being a truly engaging experience. The part that invests you in the world and makes you think “I can’t stop watching now!!” The structure is there, the pacing is there, the twists and turns, everything is present. But without that spark everything feels somewhat banal, in spite of the admittedly interesting twists the show takes. As a result, a plot that all things considered is on suitably solid ground comes off as weaker than it could have been. Without that investment, it can never surpass being only passable; a solid plot, yes, but nothing more than that. It can actually be compared to Okadas’ later show Kiznaiver. That show also had some rather fascinating sci fi elements and interesting thematic issues tackled in an extremely mixed way. M3, at the very least, had more episodes to flesh those items out, but it still struggled in how all over the place the execution was. And poor execution can ruin even the most interesting of concepts. Plot, however, can be supported and even improved my a strong cast of characters. And M3 is certainly focused on its characters. As expected from a Mari Okada show, the characters are plentiful and drama is abundant. Surprisingly, most of the drama doesn’t stem from trite love triangles and other such romantic drama. It primarily stems from the interpersonal nature and mindsets of the characters and how they want to change themselves for the better. Unfortunately, the attempts are at times are better in theory and set up. Our main character, Akashi, is bar none the strongest example in the entire show. His arc is one that has been tread many times: the sullen loner type who slowly connects with those around him and improves as a person. What makes this rendition of that arc stand out, in concept at, is the sort of struggle he has to go through. Akashi begins as someone who doesn’t really care much for others, but upon meeting someone he takes a liking to early on, he does try to connect with them. It impressed me for how speedy it happened, skipping countless unneeded scenes of moping and angsting while still keeping enough in to be natural. Following from that, other characters are willing and able to call out his faults: namely a tendency to indirectly hurt those he tries to forge bonds with. As one character puts it, Akashi is “the most vicious type of person.” Someone who wants to be nice but unwilling to cross that line of being an actual decent person. Someone who puts on the illusion of being kind so that people won’t hate him. And nobody knows that more than Akashi himself; his entire first half arc is dedicated primarily to him trying to become a legitimately good person. On paper this sound like a brilliant arc, a true delve into a character and their psychological makeup. Stumbling blocks arrive, however, when it becomes apparent that this is only an issue for the first half. A story like Evangelion played out Shinji’s emotional and psychological drama for nearly the entire story; it was the main catalyst for his character and actions. Once the first 12 episodes are up, so too is Akashi’s arc, and the rest of his character moments are dedicated to him defending his actions and beliefs. It also doesn’t help that the show doesn’t delve too much into his psyche to truly understand how he ticks. It tries to, yes, and we are given a key moment in his past to extentuate this. But that moment is, while somewhat interesting, ultimately lacking any true impact. Impact is the key word here; the pieces are here for a truly fascinating character, yet it lacks the true push needed to have it be truly powerful. It leaves us with a character that is just somewhere in the middle; not truly hateable but not entirely likeable either. While Akashi’s character wasn’t the most phenomenal or even that well executed, it was the most interesting one in the entire show. None of the other main characters have the same amount of detail put into their stories. It comes to be expected with a large cast, but it’s even less so than what one would expect. Avoiding spoilers, but of the remaining seven characters, two of them are practically written out of the show within the first 10 episodes, two more are basically non entities, and the remaining three to get development aren’t the strongest. With the two characters “written out”, it was especially annoying because one of them, Emiru (the one with the big ass ponytails) actually showed some interesting characteristics. Someone who would do anything to show her life had meaning and climb her way to some importance, yet delivered in way that elicited sympathy rather than overall douchebaggery. Which made it more of a shame when her story was abruptly cut off. The other one, Isaku, is a much weaker character, being your run of the mill edgelord psychotic with a fetish for terror. Literally the only notable thing about him is that his design is a dead ringer for HeroAca’s Bakugo. I’m serious, he looks nigh identical to him and when that’s the only interesting thing about your character, that’s an issue. The two other characters, Iwato and Raika, exist only for the sake of existing if nothing else. There’s nothing really hateable about them and they work off each other nicely, but they clearly didn’t get as much focus as anyone else and it shows. Honestly, removing them might’ve made the show stronger, giving it more time to focus on potentially interesting characters. As for the remaining three, thankfully, go through some sort of change in personality. The most interesting one was Mahmu (the black haired one), who managed to cram her entire character arc in one episode and yet still had it come off as extremely well done. It goes to show that M3 could’ve worked if more of the characters were written was effectively as her. The last two main characters, Sasame and Minashi, have their arcs tied to some spoilery moments, so going into detail would be difficult, Sasame in particular, though on the whole I thought she was a bit weak. Minashi, contrarily, is the one character I actively disliked, but I feel that was the intent. He was often an off kilter character, and in the second half came repeatedly in conflict with Akashi. Most of my dislike came from his continued insistence that if everyone were connected nobody would hurt anyone and that Akashi was unintentionally hurting everyone because of that. Thankfully, the last act of the show made it clear that I was meant to dislike him, and he ended up being one of the more interesting characters. Surprisingly, the side cast are quite small in number, but aren’t much better as characters. They certainly exist, dumping plot information on occasion and aren’t hateable, but they’re not much else. The one side I took a real shine to was the main scientist Natsuiri. The man is bat shit crazy, a somewhat subdued psychotic nutter who is a treat to watch in the scenes he’s in. He is a character who is always in control of whatever’s going on, with a penchant for lollipops and nearly always wearing a glorious shit eating grin. Since he more often than not explains the fascinating sci fi parts of the show, that could be the main reason why I liked seeing him. But he was always a blast to watch. The only issue I see with him is his backstory momentarily stumbled in trying to make him sympathetic. It would seem that a lack of proper time allocation was they key flaw with the characters. There isn’t a strong balance between setting up the world and terminologies and having the people in the world actually act like people. The dialogue is, thankfully, well written and natural for the most part. To once again compare to Kiznaiver, the cast was too big and their focus spread too thin. Even the cast size isn’t a dealbreaker for shows. Something like Infinite Ryvius had a massive cast of characters yet nearly all of them felt very human, with the ones with most focuses being some of the most well written in the medium. It takes skill to have a large cast all come off as likeable, a skill M3 sorely lacks. Everything simply felt hollow to me. Like the characters, the animation is a mixed bag on the whole. Studio Satelight was busy around this time, having just finished Season One of Log Horizon and concurrently developing another obscure mech show in Nobunaga the Fool. As such, the 2D animation is all over the place. It certainly isn’t terrible by any stretch; the characters look decent enough. They range from genetically appealing to forgettable to the aforementioned Bakugo-ness of Isaku. Nothing special, yet it works good enough. The background work is also very strong, particularly when it comes to the Lightless Realm. Yet something about it all seems cheap. Something about how the characters moved and how sometimes their designs would fluctuate depending on distance. Even the backgrounds struggle by the fact that they can get really dark at times. Not dark thematically, like black dark. It can be sometimes hard to see what’s happening, and since the show goes back and forth from the same locations, it can get aggravatingly repetitive at times. Ah, but this is a mecha, right? We can overlook drab character design if the mecha are awesome. So, how are they? To answer that question, CG. They are all CG. Understandably, some are upset about mechs becoming more computer animated compared to the hand drawn goodness of days past. But this is par for the course for Satelight. Their mechs have always been CG, and that experience shows. The CG is actually quite good; not gonna win any awards but it’s fluid, well animated, and have that sense of impact good mechs should have. At the very least the action scenes are well shot and are quite enjoyable to watch. The mech designs are from the legendary Shoji Kawamori, and while they are good, they’re not the most memorable. Again, like the 2D designs it’s serviceable, but it feels like Kawamori’s recycling his designs, even though I’m a big fan of his design work in general. The Reaper is probably the best designed mech in the show, but that’s mostly because it's white metal shine stands out well against the drabness of everything else. The Admonitions and the Corpse fare much better, with designs that are unique and eye catching. Admittedly, the Admonitions sometimes look like a jumbled mess of CG crystals, but on the whole they pass alright. Though that could be said of the animation as a whole: somewhat of a generic mess, but still turning out quite okay. Similarly, the soundtrack is serviceable, yet on the whole nothing special. Most of the memorable tracks only stand out because they use that weird slide whistle-esque sound from the X Files opening. Aside from those, it’s mostly forgettable. The opening and endings are quite nice though. OP1 sounds more unique and depressing compared to OP2’s more standard mech opening. The ED’s are good as well, and I don’t have a preference for either. Though ED2 is entirely english, which is unique. The voice acting is well done, with every actor sounding right for each line read. It’s about standard for the genre, with upticks in quality for the more dramatic scenes. On the other end, the noise the Corpse makes sounds like a dying cow, and I’m not sure if it manages to be intimidating or not. I’m sure some will find that hilarious, but I was indifferent to it. Potential can only go so far, and M3 proves it in spades. It had the potential to be psychologically complex and beautifully characterized; yet it only scratched the surface and failed to dig any deeper. Despite my thoughts on the whole I certainly have no regrets watching it. It provided me with very interesting, yet undoubtedly flawed, ideas and possibilities of what could have been. If the show had that spark of life, that unbridled creative id it could have greatly increased my respect for what it tried to do. Without it, M3 struggles through the dredges of mediocrity with only the briefest glints of quality. It should only be sought after if you are interested in more obscure shows like I am or enjoyed Kiznaiver. The shows are similar enough so that you may like what you see. But as for M3, it concludes its tale with a 5/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 1, 2017 Not Recommended
Since the introduction of Computer Generated effects to the world of entertainment, its utilization has been controversial to say the least. Many are quick to complain about the overuse of it in film and television, especially so in the fields of animation. While the majority of potential issues have subisded in western fields, anime still lays burdened with a negative reputation for CG. Using 3D CG in your standard anime can be jarring to say the least, with very sparse examples of it coming out looking good. And when it comes to full CG shows, the shear existence of the 2016 Berserk points to the
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biggest argument against.
Despite that, full CG titles have been receiving some positivity as of late (Berserk notwithstanding). Shows like Ajin: Demi Human have seen popularity in spite of the criticism directed at the visual aspects, and the film adaptation of Blame actually looks good visual and word of mouth seems to reflect that. Placing these titles besides their 2D counterparts may elicit preference to the hand-drawn standard, but CG is here to stay in anime, like it or not. Quite a fast development too, given a straight CG anime wouldn’t seem feasible 10-15 years ago. That thought, however, is incorrect as it ignores the title that may just have been the reason we haven't seen 100% CG anime until recently. Hyperbolic, maybe. But it is applied to a title well deserving of such a dubious honor. It was the year 2000 where we were “graced” by a little film called A.Li.Ce (henceforth referred as simply ALICE). The first ever 100 percent CG anime, ALICE seemed like quite the ambitious project. One would think a straight CG film would be absurd, yet similar sentiments were also directed at the smash success that was Toy Story nary five years prior. If American CG films can reach astronomical levels of success, why too can’t one from Japan. The absolute lack of anyone talking about or even footage on YouTube or even KissAnime should speak to how well that went. But make no mistake: ALICE is not simply a failure on terms of computer generated animation. Rather, it is a failure on nearly every conceivable level, making this one of the most aggravating watches that can be had from any anime, regardless of dimension. The story (to briefly expand upon the short summary on this site) focuses on the titular main character, the youngest person to fly into space. Due to spoiler-filled events, she is thrust 30 years from her present and into a dystopian future ruled by a dictator named Nero and his supercomputer, the SS10X. Allying herself with the young man who rescued her and a reprogrammed stewardess robot from her ill-fated flight, Alice must not only find a way back to her time, but contend with both Nero and a shadowy “Liberation” army. Right off the bat, ALICE stumbles based on the fact that time travel is involved. Not to put a damper on up and coming writers who want to use time travel, but it’s a difficult topic to do well, with it even being debatable if it ever has been done well. A strong writer is required for something like this; unfortunately all ALICE got was the writer of the live action Video Girl Ai film. With such a shift in genre, it’s no surprise the plot is a trainwreck. The film is awkwardly structured, with scenes constantly coming and going with nary a feeling from the audience. The time travel aspect itself makes no sense upon learning how it fits into the story proper. Attempts at dramatic moments or shocking twists fall short of the basic level of quality, seeming like they were pulled simply as an effort to keep attention on the film and away from anything that would be more worth someone's time. World Building is also a complete non-entity; you’d think a dystopian movie would spend time establishing how shit everything is, and it’s clear ALICE tries to do that. Its failure comes from how boring the setting as a whole is. Nearly all the main locations are in some snowy area and there’s only like 4 areas visited in the entire story. Futuristic technologies are limited to generic looking computers and the dumbest looking transporting vehicle ever put to film. Imagine a jet-ski awkwardly propped up on a single ski, and then imagine it making extremely sharp looking turns. It’s absolutely idiotic. Worse yet, there is little to no scenes designed to show the world's impact on people on the characters. The closest gotten is a character talking about how his entire village vanished, but it’s hampered how it doesn’t seem to impact him in the story at large and that he’s the only example of a character being affected by this future. Aside from him, none of the major characters seem overtly inconvenienced by the setting, and the only negative implications given are simply told instead of conveyed through behavior or character interactions. Dystopian stories thrive on showing how worse off humanity would be in these dangerous settings, with anime like Psycho-Pass and Attack on Titan doing just that to great effects, showcasing multiple people affected by their unique settings and sucking the viewer into the hellholes they create. ALICE, reversly, makes no effort to build the world it has and still expects the viewer to be attempts to prove itself end up failing at even the basics of crafting an engrossing setting. More than anything, however, ALICE has no clear idea of what it wants to be. At first it seems to be a straightforward sci-fi adventure type story, but then gets completely bogged down by superfluous nonsense that only seeks to drag it further. Alice names the stewardess bot “Maria” because she reminds her of the Virgin Mary (or, as it’s called here, Mother Maria). It comes completely out of nowhere and is never addressed again, being the only religious thing in the whole movie. Then there’s a bit about hacking into Nero’s supercomputer that is just kind of dumb to watch before it’s unceremoniously thrown to the wayside. Undoubtedly the worst is a out of nowhere and pretty ham fisted environmental message that, without spoiling too much, is briefly brought up at the start before vanishing until near the ending, where it randomly takes center stage in an hair-tearing final act. And even that vanishes once again to have the ending randomly have some message about living for the person you love. There’s just no consistency to be found. Everything is filled with potentially good concepts, but it’s all destroyed by lacking focus and choosing to put its efforts in less important scenes. On a similar level, the film fails completely to endear us to any of the characters. There are scenes that attempt to connect us or make us like these people, but they don’t work because they don’t let us truly “know” them. For such a small cast, none of them are fleshed out in any meaningful way. Characters don’t have to be the most insanely fleshed out or realistic to be engaging. They just have to be enjoyable to watch in some way, shape or form. ALICE doesn’t even get that far, as the characters can hardly be described using basic adjectives. Our title character is the greatest offender, basically having no definable personality to speak of despite being the crux of the stories key moments. But maybe that’s because she has to play off all the other dull people who inhabit this lifeless world. Most of them get one scene of “backstory” (such as the previously mentioned “village disappearing” scene) but that seems like they were plastered on upon realization there’s nothing to connect to. A tragic backstory does not make a good character, and ALICE has basically no truly memorable character. The closest it gets is Nicholai, the leader of the Liberation army, but that’s only because he has the same voice as Gendo Ikari and he’s kind of hamming it up. But when the only memorable character is only so because of his voice actor, there’s clearly something wrong. Character dialogue is also absolutely bland and uninteresting. There’s stilted and awkward lines aplenty, though on the whole it’s less aggravating than it is boring. And now we arrive to the elephant in the room: the animation. Looking at anime databases grants no information to the film’s budget, and to be frank it shows. This is absolutely horrid to look at. All the characters act stiff and movement is jumpy. Backgrounds either look flat and untextured or pixely and boring to look at. Attempts at thrilling action are hampered by how unnatural it all moves. Occasional moments of slow motion are especially ridiculous to behold. It’s not like Japan was incapable of producing good looking CG at this time; the Final Fantasy games on Playstation were proof enough of that. Yet ALICE moves consistently like complete trash. There does exist an exception in the opening scene which actually is somewhat well animated, but even there it’s still below average. Even taking away the actual animation part, the designs of the characters themselves are unappealing. Alice’s head is bulbous like she has some sort of swelling and Nero’s soldiers look like they were all the same model copy-pasted god knows how many times. Worst of all is Maria, as the film repeatedly attempts to have her be “sexy” to some degree, which utterly fails not only because of how poorly modeled she is, but also that her design as a whole isn’t even attractive in the slightest. It’s like someone took a Bratz doll, shrank the eyes, and decked it out like a neon lit garbage truck. Everyone else looks bland and lifeless, which, while fitting to the film, doesn’t earn it points. And for the first 100% CG film, it’s an utter disaster at showcasing the technology. The music,honestly, isn’t even that bad. Unfortunately, it’s all kind of a big non-entity, barely leaving any impact that could have been had. There legitimately isn’t anything to discuss with it; it’s okay, but that’s all it is. It’s composer has this as his only credit for any anime, and while he has done other work, it’s not too well known. Still, it’s probably better than the film deserves. This leads to the only actually kind of good thing about ALICE: the voice acting. The Japanese acting, at least. This film has an impressive seiyu lineup, including the likes of Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta) as Nero and the aforementioned Fumihiko Tachiki as Nicholai. Alice herself is voiced by Kaori Shimizu, who actually does a semi-decent job of portraying her character through the blase-ness of her dialogue. Everyone does, honestly, in spite of the poor material to work with. Truthfully, it’s kind of a shame to have such memorable seiyu talent be woefully underutilized. Imagine what could’ve been done with a competent script; alas, one can only dream. Oddly enough, there actually exists an english dub, but you wouldn’t know it from doing research. No cast listings exist on Anime News Network and there isn’t a list in the english credits. This is strange, but maybe it was for the best as this is one of the most bafflingly amateurish dubs ever recorded. Everyone sounds somewhat confused and volume for everyone speaking volume fluctuate between characters. The absolute worst would probably be Nicholai’s english voice, which is so far less deep and imposing compared to Tachiki’s take that it’s embarrassing. The company that produced the dub and released this film, ArtsMagic, has had only 3 other releases, and it’s clear that both the staff and the actors themselves had little to no experience with acting or sound mixing. It somehow makes an already terrible experience that much more draining. If one had any inclination of tracking down a DVD and watching this, avoid the dub at all costs. Its efforts and goal of historical may have been sky high, but ALICE fails in every potential way imaginable. As a story, it’s inconsistent, stupid, and poorly pieced together. Its characters hardly even have character. The only things kind of decent about it is the seiyu talent, and the fact that it’s not worth getting that upset about. It even fails as a showcase of 3D technology, as everything is so poorly put together it probably scared potential investors and animators off of creating something fully CG. Nowadays, that sentiment has changed and as far as can be told straight CG shows have gotten consistently better reception. But ALICE will forever stand as the absolute lowest that this type of animation can sink to, and should only be seen if you’re interested in the history of CG in Japan. Aside from that, there is seriously no reason to watch this quote unquote “film”. As a result, it lands quite comfortably at a 2/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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