I watched Super Cub as it was airing and after watching the first episode I said to myself, "Wow, that was a really strong first episode." I was instantly hooked. At the beginning anyways.
I'll keep things vague to avoid spoiling.
Story+Characters:
Koguma is a high-school girl who has no friends, no hobbies and no parents.
She's not very physically fit, but still has to pedal her bike uphill to get to school everyday, so she gets the idea to get a motorcycle to make the trip easier.
That's where the story really gets started.
Koguma finds a Honda Super Cub at a dealership that also happens to
...
be within the price range of a high-schooler with no income. Supposedly three people have died on it already so it's cheap because no one wants to ride it. But hey, cheap bike so why wouldn't you take it?
The series really begins to shine after this, as while Koguma is still alone, she has her Cub. And that gives her something to do now, as what begins as just a better mode of transportation, turns into her really loving her Cub.
She doesn't have anyone to rely on so learning the bike and doing maintenance falls on herself. It's great seeing her figure everything about her Super Cub, you feel the same joy she does for simple things like changing the oil by herself for the first time. It's a small thing, but it's an accomplishment, and it feels like it too.
Her learning the mechanical and riding methods is lovely to watch.
Eventually she even becomes friends with a couple other students as a result of her new Cub, and it feels like she might start opening up more now.
Which is where my biggest problem with the show starts. Episode 5 is where things start to go downhill. See, the characters start making some really dumb decisions. For instance, one of her friends wants to climb a dangerous mountain path on her own Cub, but she does this without mountain tires, sitting down, going too fast, and without even bothering to find a good line. This is a dangerous rocky road and she just tries to brute force a straight line the whole way up, so obviously just keeps wrecking. She doesn't even think to stand and lean forward until her last attempt.
It becomes a common things from here on where everyone keeps trying to perform tasks using a Honda Super Cub for tasks that would often times be much easier to do numerous different ways.
By episode 11 the characters are making just straight up stupid and dangerous decisions for seemingly no reason other than to talk about how great Super Cubs are.
Another thing is Koguma herself. She doesn't actually open up like it seems, instead she kind of turns into kind of an irritating person to be around at times. Like, she'll get upset that people aren't as knowledgeable about Cubs as she is when literally three months ago she was just as clueless herself!
It seems strange.
She gets to the point of obsession with her Super Cub. Her entire world revolves around it. Which I can understand to a degree, but her obsession seems like it goes too far. I mean, by the end of the series when people talk to or thank Koguma for something she now answers by giving all the credit to her Cub and acting as if she's of much less importance then it. All while standing there dead emotionless.
It's an odd turn I wish the series didn't take.
Visuals:
The show looks good. The animation is fine, nothing super impressive but never bad either. It matches the show well. Most of the colors have a low saturation look that I like a lot. There are times when that low saturation will fade away and the colors will shine thru brightly however. The idea is when Koguma experiences something that brightens her mood, the world literally brightens for us viewers. It's a good idea, though sometimes it's overused a bit.
Sound:
Often times the music will sound very visual novel-esque, which isn't a bad thing. It fits the show. There's nothing I plan on listen to by itself again, but I don't have any complaints about it either.
The sound effects are all appropriate, and match what's happening.
Overall thoughts:
If you're curious about Super Cub, then go ahead and watch it. Just don't hold your expectations too high. I standby my statement that the beginning episodes are great, it's just drops a bit at one point and never picks itself up again. If the show had continued in a similar fashion to how the early episodes were going, I would likely have rated this show highly. But the character's many dumb decisions, obsessiveness, and odd development take away a lot for me.
It all comes together as a show that overall is just, decent.
Jun 23, 2021
I watched Super Cub as it was airing and after watching the first episode I said to myself, "Wow, that was a really strong first episode." I was instantly hooked. At the beginning anyways.
I'll keep things vague to avoid spoiling. Story+Characters: Koguma is a high-school girl who has no friends, no hobbies and no parents. She's not very physically fit, but still has to pedal her bike uphill to get to school everyday, so she gets the idea to get a motorcycle to make the trip easier. That's where the story really gets started. Koguma finds a Honda Super Cub at a dealership that also happens to ... |
