Okay, this is just getting silly. I’m dropping this show for now, but I first want to drop a few lines on why. The gist is that the creators of the anime can’t write. I really had hoped that the series could continue with the style of the first episode, but unfortunately they’re going to continue with the style of the second episode, and the flaws really are standing out more and more.
I mean… this episode just made no sense whatsoever. It really just felt like the creators were blindly adapting the original story without really thinking about how to make it work. You need to cut stuff out. You need to pick one thing to focus on, and just remove some side stories or side-scenes, so that you can have a smooth pacing, instead of trying to get every single big thing in here, while skimping on the explanation or story and character building. Some creative freedom is needed for that. Don’t be afraid to use it, because there is no way that chapters will be perfectly paced for 20 minutes of anime. Just remember to keep consistent and sensible.
This episode just jumped from one line to the next. Characters were shocked out of bloody nowhere just because there was no build-up, and drama also just got pulled ou tof the characters’ asses because everything had to move so fast. And the thing is: this show doesn’t even make any attempt to hide it. I’m really surprised at how wooden the acting is. There’s no personality in the characters whatsoever, even though the first episode did not have this problem.
I also had to laugh when the whole radio thing happened: the girl’s boss just transmitted this radio signal, and the old man just “happened’ to pick that up. How pathetic is it when the military uses signals that can be intercepted so bloody easily? Have they never heard of encryption in this new world or something? Also, this is the future, right? These girls are part of the military, right? Has nobody really heard of a stealth bomber before? And even then, since the whole poisonous thing is apparently only a bit more than a decade old, people before must have lived normal lives, right? Then why did everyone take such a long time to recognize a stealth bomber? I mean, I knew that shape when I was a kid, and I certainly would never have mistaken it for a freaking CROW.
Gohands really strikes me as a group of very talented animators that got together, while forgetting to bring in everything else. All their series just scream wasted potential, if only they’d hire some competent writers. They can’t be THAT hard to find, can they? I mean, it worked with Mardock Scramble: there they had Tow Ubukata outlining the story of the three movies, and that worked! You could see how well everything fit together.
Rating: 3/8 (Mediocre)