Some Quick First Impressions: Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, BEATLESS, Killing Bites and Darling in the Franxx

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Short Synopsis: Several hitmen begin new careers and form new alliances in a city full of crime and corruption.

Mario’s review

A promising start for Hakata. Part-Cowboy Bebop (most notably its jazzy score) and part-Durarara, fans of both series will have a lot to admire. It’s “cool” written all over it, and the plot so far is interwoven by many thread plots with dozen characters that will make more sense the more it pans out (I hope). In this crime city where 3% of the population is hitmen, of course crimes, corruption, violence are presented in every corner and so far the huge cast with different personalities and roles is the show’s best quality. Each of them has their own voice, their own mannerism and they contribute differently to this big story and I’m eager to see how everything fits together in the end. One particular issue with Hakata, however, is that the place Hakata never feels that distinctive, which for me is crucial because we need to sense the specialness of the place that contains all those crazy, over the top characters. The production is right at par, meaning not impressive but not lackluster either. Overall, it’s the narrative and the colorfulness of characters that drive this show so as long as everything comes together in a satisfying way, I’ll be happy to stay on board.

Potential: 60%

Wooper’s review

Satelight is a studio I’m not too familiar with, barring their work on several Macross series. Perhaps it’s unreasonable of me to expect visual presentation on a level with one of anime’s biggest franchises, but this premiere was messy and pedestrian-looking, and way too bright. Every exterior daytime scene had needless sunrays obscuring the frame, and a good deal of the action at night was bathed in lights of all colors, as if the director lacked any knowledge of how to handle darker shots. Character animation isn’t stellar either, but at least the show didn’t blow a bunch of time and effort making its first episode look totally different from what’s to come. As for the characters themselves, it’s their occupations and the opportunities for conflict they create that make them interesting. The show ping-pongs between eccentric hitmen, corrupt politicians, bed-headed detectives, and buff ramen chefs, but does it slowly enough to keep you interested in how their stories will eventually connect. The two “main characters,” if the show even has such things, meet right at the episode’s end, and their relationship gets off to a promising, if volatile, start. They’re the main reason I’m even a little interested in what happens next, so while I don’t think this show should be mentioned in the same breath as you-know-what above, it’s good for at least one more try.

Potential: 50%

 

BEATLESS

Short Synopsis: A boy becomes the owner of the state of the art FIghting robot girl

Aidan’s review

Is it a greater crime to be mediocre than it is to be bad? Well here comes beatless to test this statement as this show is aggressively mediocre. This is a story with not a single original idea, nor any twist to make these idea’s somewhat interesting. A future society with humanlike robots only viewed as soulless tools despite human characteristics and independent thought? Well that’s an idea only explored in the Animatrix, blade runner,  A.I, Astro Boy and a heavy catalog of Sci-fi going way back. Even the idea of the protagonists becoming the master of a female robot was done not too long ago with Clockwork Planet.(Though Beatless was before Clockwork planet but I am certain there are plenty of Boy owning hot fighting girl anime. Like Sekirei for example.) The characters are bland and derivative with not a single one being remotely interesting. Only real standout is the character designs of the robots which was done by the character designer of Guilty Crown.(Terrible show but the character artwork is quite impressive) The best I can say about this show is that it’s watchable. You can watch it, it’s inoffensive and harmless. Though it’s like chewing tasteless gum. Gives you something to chew on but has no lasting impact nor impression. Only thing I can really say is this robot girl is more than unreasonable in how she called the main character a coward for running away instead of fighting when she only needed him to accept T&C just so he would be held liable if someone accidently died during her attack. Man…what a bitch.

Potential: 35%

Mario’s review

To tell you the truth, I’m a sucker for Beatless art designs. Those characters, despite clearly anime-influence, are just gorgeous to look at. The world building I can get behind as well, exploring the near future world where the humanoid can live as a part of human society, and from the first episode the discrimination angle is explored here. After watching the opening episode, well, the arts are still stunning, but it is held back significantly by the bland story and weak characters. The main guy, for example, is your typical dull lead, the robot girls don’t have anything to stand out except for their designs and his sister, in particular, is annoying to watch. The story doesn’t fare much better as again, we have a talented girl come up to the guy for asking him to be her “boss”, without him doing anything. The concept and its intriguing sci-fi worldbuilding alone makes me hooked, hence this 40% potential here, and I still plan on following it to see how it all pans out. But I won’t be surprised if the story gets dull fast later on, it’s already kind of dull to begin with.

Potential: 40%

 

Killing Bites

Short Synopsis: Rich people bet money on matches between animal human hybrids

Aidan’s review

In the anime preview I started that this series starts mediocre and goes downhill from there. Allow me to correct that statement. This series starts trash and only becomes worse trash. Sorry it’s just that sometimes I read the sources upon announcement of an anime adaption which is months before hand, and in this case I guess my mind blocked out just how badly this show starts. So random rapists, the weird element of anime in which there appears to be rapists patrolling the night streets of Japan looking for alone high school girls. I have severe doubts that this is actually a thing in Japan but even then it’s some tasteless introduction for our lead heroine. Not to mention the male protagonists is driving the rapists van. To which I say, wow. Mate what did you think was going to happen when they told you to slowly move beside the girl and speed off when they grabbed her? As for the rest, yep of course male half beast hybrid transform into beasts while female hybrids only grow fur and animal ears while keeping the important bits. The lead protagonist is pathetic, the lead female is psychopathic and fetish fuel and this really is just a trashy show both in it’s presentation and general story ripped off from the game Bloody Roar. Pass on this.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review

This show opens with one of the most uncomfy sequence I’ve witness since Imouto sae Ireba Ii, a gang rape scene. And not with any merit. That sequence serves to show you how badass the girl is (well, she’s safe in the end so all’s well that ends well, right? NOOO), and establishes how she meets our main guy; but frankly they can do that better without the gang-rape bullshit. This show is your answer to the cute-girls trend: a full-on sex & violence & rock & roll without any shame. The girl in most of her screen time walks, talks and fights in her underwear outfits, the bland main guy who has no personality except being a crybaby “happens” to touch her boobs several times, and then blood-splashing, gut-spilling and you have a perfect title for campy mindless crap. I don’t feel the fight that good-looking either, and the story is so thin you can see through its hole miles away. Not that this change people’s mind as long as blood still splashing and girls are in nude, huh? I know this is not for me but if you’re in for mindless popcorn entertainment (minus the attempted rape sequence. It’s just distasteful), be my guest.

Potential: 0%

 

Darling in the Franxx

Short Synopsis: A boy becomes a horned girls partner to pilot a giant robot

Aidan’s review

As described below by Helghast, this appears to be a passion project by the director and while that does give me hope for this series, I admit to not being too impressed with what I seen here. Studio trigger have been a studio to take the old and make it feel new again. WIth Gurren Lagann(Yes that was Gainax but those who made it went on to form Trigger) was a nod to old school mecha anime. Kill La Kill was a nod to old school shounen anime. And now we have Darling in the franxx which appears to be a nod to 90s anime which followed the evangelion template. Thus my faults with this first episode is mainly due to if following a formula about 25 years old now. So what is brought to the table to make it stand out? Well…sex symbolism. Lots and lots of sex symbolism. Well it’s not the first time mecha and copulation have been related but they sure are putting it on think here. Robots are operated with boy and girl pairings to which their relationship is treated similar to sexual relations. The female pilots are names after a flowers sexual organs. And if the manga says anything the pilots seat for these two is the guy sitting down with the girl bent over doggy style in front of him. But perhaps my degenerate mind is to blame for misinterpreting scenes like a robot plunging it’s hard spear into a monster only to pump white liquid into it to make it explode, covering the feminine like robot in viscous bodily fluid. The two mains here have me concerned as one is a bland plank with little personality while the other has already been thrown on screen fully naked. I still stand by my general assumption that an anime that throws out it’s main heroine naked in the first episode is generally not a good sign. Despite my negatively through this episode was at least decently entertaining and has some degree of intrigue with its setting and themes. Not to mention some excellent animation and to be frank, in a season so full to the brim of slice of life easy going anime, I will take anything that is a break from that.

Potential: 65%

Helghast’s Review

From what I have researched about this show, this isn’t your standard joint-production as A-1 Pictures and Studio Trigger have their own very unique culture creating a show. Instead, this is the culmination of Atsushi Nishigori’s (Director) dream to direct his very own show and cashing in on the connections he has forged throughout his career in the anime industry. Having been a part of Gainax, the end result is a show that feels a well-executed mashup of Kill la Kill, Evangelion with some elements of Rahxephon thrown in. Unlike Violet Evergarden, where it fails to convince me of its core relationship, Darling in the Franxx makes a strong case for Hiro and 002 with its strong sexual overtones while dropping cryptic acronyms for future episodes to dive into. Having already explored sexuality in clothing, I guess it time to circle back into the mecha genre by having a symbiotic/parasitic bond within its pilots ranks. While the its tropes and recycled visual motifs might be too predictable for us long-time anime viewers, the creative team behind this project certainly have proven that they can put a new spin on old ideas. At the very least, Studio Trigger and A-1 Pictures knows how to put on a good show with their alluring characters and frantic action sequences in one of more visually exciting shows of the season.

Potential: 80%