I don’t touch hard yaoi in the same way that I’m not going to talk about those extreme fanservice OVAs, but beyond that I do enjoy a good shounen ai series like Uragiri or Antique Bakery from time to time, despite being a straight guy. The main problem with most of the series of that genre however is that most of them are just so horribly uninspired. That however isn’t the problem with Togainu no Chi: its creativity is in fact the only part of this show with which there’s nothing wrong; it really had the potential to be an interesting and intense story about drugs and violence. If only it were handled by people who actually knew what they were doing.
And I guess that the soundtrack too deserves points for its cheese factor. Everything else however, is just downright poor. The story is incredibly cheesy and ridiculously poorly paced. Nothing really happens for a reason, things just happen for the heck of it and the few reasons that are provided are the corniest in the book. The characters are all flat as a pancake and any attempt made to develop them is just restricted to cheesy plot twists that try to be dark but only end up laughable.
The thing that really sets this show apart is how ridiculously poorly it’s executed, though. The direction is utterly terrible, and none of the voice actors manage to deliver any line correctly. The animation… is even worse than Iron Man. The characters are consistently stiff and feel like cardboard cut-outs. During fights, characters fight like experts one time and like sissies the next. Especially the final two episodes are a complete disaster in which the producers just flat-out give up. The entire final battle is riddled with just pans of random landscapes in the middle of the action scenes. There are animation restrictions due to small budgets, but this was animated by people who put no effort whatsoever in what they were putting out.
Granted, this series is better than Iron Man: its characters are stupid, but not THAT stupid. That however says just about everything positive that can be said, though. It’s just such a shame here that we have two series that do focus on adults, compared to the hordes of teenagers you see nowadays, and yet the characters have the emotional complexity of a bunch of ten year olds.
| Storytelling: | 5/10 – Is that supposed to be storytelling? Random twists, poorly paced, pointless story. |
| Characters: | 5/10 – These characters couldn’t even act themselves out of a paper bag. |
| Production-Values: | 6/10 – You actually have to put in effort to get visuals that are thisunimpressive. |
| Setting: | 7/10 – At least it has potential. |
Suggestions:
– Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru
– Night Head Genesis
– Himitsu ~ The Revelation
I’m still stuck around episode 7 and I’m not at all surprised it never gets better. I’ll have to finish it …eventually.
I’ve only ever heard good things about the game, and this is part of the reason why TnC turning into a disaster is so sad. the other is that here we have, once, a completely serious dark full BL series starring mature adults in an interesting setting, and they ruin it. Heh.
Sure, there’s Ai no Kusabi and Maiden Rose (both of which you could try out, they’re good) but an entire genre can’t be two OVAs. Oh, there’s Mirage of Blaze too, but for that Madhouse screwed up the series and only made the sequel OVA really good for some reason. Uragiri doesn’t count because it’s not actually a homosexual couple and Junjou Romantica wasn’t serious.
Just a little surprised score, thought it were to obtain something like 75! I didn’t go further than the seventh episode so far, I’ll finish it very soon, but up till now, I have to admit that I found this series enjoyable to watch and I must say I’ve liked it except for the lead character that got on my nerves quite a few times and some other random characters! But otherwise,I don’t put it on my worst series’ list either even if it definitely can’t compare to some series that are presently airing like “Shiki” or “Kuragehime” that are just amazingly executed and narrated, the best of the best,it’s not that bad either, but I still have to see the final two episodes though!
I had high hope for this, but they just had to turn it into a complete disaster. The manga, as little as I’ve read of it, is so much better.
And LOL, I agree with your comment on the production value: You actually have to put in effort to get visuals that are this unimpressive. (I guess they poured ALL of their budget into that impressive PV, it all makes sense now.)
TnC anime was a total waste of time. I like BL in general and I couldn’t even get pass the 5th episode. The only reason why I persevered that long was to see Shiki.
I had such hopes for the voice acting when I saw the seiyuu lineup but audio-wise, it tanked horribly. If they had given TnC to Madhouse, Studio DEEN or J.C. Staff the outcome would’ve been much better.
Also, if possible… can you please review Mirage of Blaze OAV? It has way less fan-service than Uraboku.
Ugh,not Deen,considering how they treat bishounen shows nowadays… – -;
I’ll say the manga (the Chayamachi Suguro version) is much better,and also the shounen-ai element is toned down there..
Yes, now that I’ve finally finished the last five episodes, I totally agree with your score! I’ve had some hopes for this one, but the other half of the series crushed them all in a most horrible way! The characters were head over heels emotional one towards the other, they just kept changing mental states and their shift of personality were stupidly pathetic, forced and pulled out of nowhere, just like that. The story (if story there was, what I was brought to believe in the first episodes) didn’t progress anywhere, it just kept on taking the characters and making them show off , making a big deal out of nothing , reducing the potential of the story to a void of nothingness. The most annoying part was the relationship between Akira and Keisuke (and unfortunately for the show it was the most essential part) that just continued to swing and shift, first Akira despises his friend and spurns him (for no reason whatsoever, maybe to show his high self-esteem?), then he actually takes back his words and finds out he likes him (remorse?) when the other changes himself into a violent beast, then out of nowhere everything turns out to normal thanks to his powerful blood!? And then the only side character who was at least fun to watch at the beginning also experience an emotional state shift and realizes he’s the only one who forgot to go and kick some bad guy’s ass. All of this made out for nothing besides disappointment. It’s a shame they didn’t use the guys who put the ultimatum to Akira a little more, it would have turned much better than the numerous useless and pathetic fights they kept on sorting out.