From the start I was a bit apprehensive about blogging Zetman, because I knew right away that it would be rushed. Why? Because of the guy behind the series composition: Atsuhiro Tomioka. It’s not like he is bad or anything: I really liked his adaptation of Samurai 7, and all of his other adaptations do have a number of really good parts. However, he always takes huge liberties when it comes to source material and he always rushes through with incomplete stories. And then you give him a huge manga to adapt with only 13 episodes. Yeah.
So Zetman will be incomplete. I don’t really care about whether it’s faithful to the manga or not, but it is not fun to start watching a series knowing that that it’s not going to end well. But really: after that first episode I just have to cover this. It had so much detail there, and the creators put so much emotion in this episode. the graphics were also amazing. In fact, out of all the first episodes to have premiered this season, I liked the graphics of Zetman and Lupin the most. Yes, both are TMS Entertainment series. I really like how they went for something completely different from their usual series, and it works.
Now, the looks of this episode were decidedly less impressive and the animation was much more static, but it still had its parts that looked great. The characters’ faces in this series have depth. they’re not some cardboard-cutouts but they feel like movable objects. It’s not like the animation is perfect, and there were plenty of rushed shots in this episode, but even considering that the amount of the shots with depth was remarkably high. On top of that, I also love the amount of emotion that the characters’ faces portray.
Now, this wasn’t perfect though. I can only imagine that the manga had a better solution for saving the family trapped in the burning building. A bunch of pillows are nowhere enough to break the fall of several stories. Some of the old guys in this series also lack the energy that the young ones have, especially the corporate bastards: they feel like the same corporate bastards you see everywhere.
Rating: *+ (Great)
Be thankful you didn’t read the manga psgels since you might actually end up enjoying this because of that.
They basically turned something with an nc-17 rating in pg-13
This is getting worse and worse, the action in this adaptation doesn’t feel as intense as in the manga either, the animation dropping doesn’t help. Would you agree there armpit?
The thing about the kiddification of the manga is definitely there. Mature scenes are changed for different ones entirely. I wanted the original scene where Konoha gets bullied animated, not this bum fight >:-)
I agree, but im not mad. I’m actually hoping for success even though i won’t be purchasing the series. Hopefully non manga readers really love it and it sells incredibly well. If that happens then maybe in a couple years we can get a real adaption from a real studio.
This is super rushed, no character development so there’s very little impact… this gonna turn out like FMA’s first anime where the story completely deviates from the original, sigh maybe a real one will release when the manga actually finishes.
Zetman anime – 02 = Zetman Manga – 12 ~ 26
01 : 12
Well, the adaptation is a little disappointing. The animation is not that great, and the pacing is not that good either. It’s a shame, because the manga is an interesting, albeit dark take on superhero stuff, with good artwork.
That isn’t to say that the manga is flawless or has a lot of ‘better’ solutions to problems like the rescue of the family. It sometimes makes a point of physical limitations for taking on conventions in the genre (especially as it pertains to one of the characters) and other times just does whatever it wants.
So far it looks to be another one of those series where if someone liked the anime, you can tell them to read the manga, because it’s better, and if they didn’t like the anime, you can tell them to try the manga anyway, because it’s better.
Having not read the manga I enjoy this series. The rushed pace doesn’t bother me, it’s not too complicated to understand and it actually makes it entertaining and more involving (cause I need to concentrare more to get everything). The only thing I worry about is the way they will end this. I must admit I’m kind of curious as to why such series that seem to be quite as popular in manga form get so few episodes? Anyway, this is definetly on my watch list.
“Now, this wasn’t perfect though. I can only imagine that the manga had a better solution for saving the family trapped in the burning building. A bunch of pillows are nowhere enough to break the fall of several stories.”
Actually, no, this is exactly what happened in the manga also. They did change a few other things, most importantly perhaps the fact that Kouga and Jin were not childhood friends – they met for the first time in that fire and that becomes a bit important later on, but unfortunately there’s no way the anime will go that far ahead in the manga.
also don’t forget the fact that Jin did not fully go into Zet in that fire, he was only pseudo Zet. From how things are going they’re probably not gonna add the fact that players “dissolve” which is quite important.
I’m enjoying this, it got a few flaw in the execution, but i don’t mind.