Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited tried hard to be many things. From everything about it's promotional material, it seemed to uniquely stylish, interesting and adventurous -- unfortunately it didn't quite manage to be any of these things.
These thoughts have been brewing in my head for a while, so this is going to be a long-winded and highly subjective review-- just a disclaimer. To be honest I literally waited every week to get through this show, just so I could give it a six out of ten. And really, in some episodes, the show really hit a low point and I was tempted to give it a five.
...
But anyway, my biggest problem with this show isn't that it did anything terribly wrong, or bad, it's mostly disappointment at how it didn't really do anything at all.
Expectations were pretty high going into the first episode, the artstyle was fresh and clean, the character designs had caught the eye of many. FKBU already had a lot of attention despite being loosely adapted from some obscure novel (at least to my knowledge that's what it is), and almost everyone's eyes were on The Kambe Daisuke.
But one episode in and I already felt let down. Even without these preconceived notions there were so many things that were 'off' about it. Strange, jilted pacing; mediocre CG; awkward voice acting from the MC (we'll get back to that) -- it was all pretty mediocre.
The first half of the show is episodic, opening and closing short cases within the span of 20 minutes, and I will just say that I found the first few episodes boring for the most part. I think this is where the show was at it's lowest. The whole plot with the kid holding up the train with a bunch of middle aged idol otaku? Yikes.
And let me just say this right now, unrealistic does NOT equal bad. Over the top scenarios or gadgets or whatnot can be fun and interesting if done well. FKBU tries to play into the whole infinite money thing by thinking of all these different ways to spend money, but sometimes it is not even OTT level of unrealistic, but just outright dumb. The middle aged ladies taking over the train terrorist because of the idol concert? Yeah no. Didn't really work for me.
However, there were a few nice moments in the first half that worked to endear the audience to our MCs, Daisuke and Haru. While the whole, 'rich guy eats cup ramen and finds it delicious' trope is done to death (and lowkey unrealistic because cup ramen isn't even that good, like is this propaganda? it tastes way better when you boil it in a pot and add other shit to it are you kidding?), Haru and Daisuke's dynamic is probably the selling point of the show.
The second half of the show, however, is where plot finally decides to kick in -- and it's less than solid. I won't go into detail about the plot but this is where my main concerns come in. The overall story line is rushed and unevenly paced, surely there was room for a proper set up in the earlier episodes? And because of this weird transition into 'plot', the overall tone of the show is a complete mess. Sometimes I felt like I was watching a comedy, other times it felt like a joke. Somewhere along the line the 'money' aspect falls into the background; materialism is barely even a theme by the end of the show and funnily enough, money is really just a cheap ploy, a handy tool to get out of situations and cosplay as Iron-Man or something.
In terms of sound and visuals, the overall animation quality is solid, there are never really visually wow-ing moments but at least it's not down right ugly. The character designs had potential but they're never really drawn in ways that are particularly interesting. The opening had great visuals, it got me hyped up for the show and it gave me high hopes, although the song wasn't particularly fitting or memorable in my opinion. The ending theme was good though, the visuals were pure fanservice but I enjoyed the song, it had a good vibe.
Something I could not get used to though, was Daisuke's voice acting. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind choosing a non-voice actor for this role was, perhaps it was to sell the emotionless aspect of his character, but he clearly lacks experiences and many moments that should require emotion fall completely flat.
The supporting cast, ie. everyone that isn't Haru or Daisuke, make minimal contribution to the show. Even Suzue feels like a waste of a good character design and talented voice actress-- she could be integral for her role as a tactician for Daisuke, but in terms of overall relevance to the story, she is not developed or even explored in the slightest. (I think she deserves at least backstory, considering the amount of shots of her in lingerie that were in the opening). Even the murders that act as a crux to the second half of the show are largely unemotional, there was little to no reason for the audience to care about these characters that were either underdeveloped or annoying.
In the end, I think the opening theme is what the show thought it was supposed to be: men in suits, smoking cigars, sitting in a tub full of money, girls in lingerie, knives, snipers and excitement. But no. Maybe some of these elements are present in the show, but they are hardly utilised in a way that is particularly meaningful or interesting.
It is not fantastically good, nor fantastically bad, but in fact exceedingly average. And that's what's most disappointing about FKBU for me. Because it seemed to promise either bombastic, over the top detective hijinks, and spending money in imaginative and unrealistic ways, or sleek and polished action and exhilaration. But it didn't really deliver.
Maybe it was my fault for expecting something fun and refreshing. But even until its very last moments, I don't think the show itself figured out what it was supposed to be.
Sep 24, 2020
Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited
(Anime)
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Fugou Keiji: Balance:Unlimited tried hard to be many things. From everything about it's promotional material, it seemed to uniquely stylish, interesting and adventurous -- unfortunately it didn't quite manage to be any of these things.
These thoughts have been brewing in my head for a while, so this is going to be a long-winded and highly subjective review-- just a disclaimer. To be honest I literally waited every week to get through this show, just so I could give it a six out of ten. And really, in some episodes, the show really hit a low point and I was tempted to give it a five. ... 
Dec 15, 2015
Diamond no Ace: Second Season
(Anime)
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I was quite excited to find that Diamond no Ace was getting a second season basically straight after it finished. Although the first few episodes were recaps, I found this sequel on-par with, or maybe even better than, the first season.
Story: Just like the prequel, the story is nothing too unique. However, it is good to see competition between the main character and his rival, as they are on the same team. One of the things I like the most about sports anime is watching the players improve, this show certainly boasts this quality because the MC is far from perfect and neither is the ... |
