Star Driver – 05




After watching all of the shows that debuted this autumn season, I’m really sure now: Star Driver has by far the best direction and animation, and it’s one of the few series that didn’t blow its biggest budget in its first episode, and actually kept a consistent quality throughout all its episodes. And the great thing is that the animation here really helps in bringing the cast alive: some of the inbetween animation in this episode was really smooth and detailed. At that level, it really adds something extra to the characters.

Also, this episode was weird. There was this school nurse who used her cybuddy to make herself as young as a teenaged girl again, but the weirdest thing was that she was a huge raving fangirl for bishies. It was quite ridiculous, but the creators actually managed to make it work. It again managed to make this nurse into a great character to follow, even though she would have been obnoxious in most other series with a sub-par direction.

Also, regarding the battle: this episode convinced me: they’re going to be great. So far, none of the battles really looked like the others. Takuto managed to win in every one of them, but again: him winning every battle he’s in is trivial in a series in which there’s so much else going on. I liked how the creators actually went with the twist in which she is defeated by her own fetish and carelessness.

On top of that, you can also see that the creators aren’t forgetting the rest of the cast here: while the first few episodes focused on these relatively minor characters, they were also busy fleshing out the main cast, and this episode was no exception. That’s the sign of a good episodic series. I’ve said this before, but I really don’t mind an episodic series when it’s done right. If they can use these stories to build up the series as a whole, it’s only going to make the series better.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

6 thoughts on “Star Driver – 05

  1. Even considering they handled it with a lot of humour I liked how they touched on the topic of older fujoshi since they are often kind of ignored even though they are surprisingly prevalent.

    The episode’s direction, the fight with the mandragora-cybuddy etc. once again assured me of the creativity in this series, which (let alone the whole utena-reminiscence) keeps me looking forward to sundays.

  2. The Cybody for nurse Okamoto failed hard. The robot should’ve been a huge ass cougar instead of a bird/egg thing.

    The episode’s twist at the end was hilarious though. The incredulous look on the other leader as she talked to the nurse about her defeat by fetish was golden.

  3. That was a funny episode 🙂 Yeah I don’t think episodic series are bad,as long as they continue to flesh out the setting and characters.I think this series has many similarities to the Persona games series as well,especially the third one.

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