天下制覇

Sadly, he’s trumped by his arch nemeses "Also Has a Gun" and "Six Guys With Guns."

Impressions:

This has some astounding direction issues right off the bat. Or maybe storyboarding issues? The flow is an utter mess at any rate. Take the starting sequence just concerning Gareki/Nai for example. It cuts away from them running from the woman transforming into a monster, and when it gets back, they’re trapped in a storeroom by some random other guy with a pistol. After that guy is eaten, Gareki tosses a couple minibombs at her which… make her fall into the gaping darkness. From the second floor. And all the while, they keep cutting away anyway, keeping any tension they might have been building from actually taking hold. And after this, the whole thing comes to a complete and utter info dumping stop too while the pretty boys sit in a train and think to themselves for a while. There was also the part where the train banditos were shooting at blondie… using the entire rest of the cast as a backstop as she dodged. To say nothing of flashbacks jammed in out of nowhere. What better time is there to reminisce after grenading an otherworldly monster to save your newfound boytoy? What I’m basically saying is that the staff could stand to hire a six year old to point out issues. Nothing new for Manglobe, I guess.

That said, it’s not all doom and gloom. Nai is a blatant macguffin with no purpose or personality except to be mysterious boy, but Gareki and his confidence and/or willingness to shoot/bomb things as his first resort is nice. Similarly with the other two over-dressed main characters although they didn’t really do a ton. Unfortunately though, the budget’s really not up to snuff for what’s ostensibly an action show, and most of the time, things only get cheaper from the first episode. Train banditos notwithstanding, it really should have done a better job with the monster at the start if nothing else. If that’s as good as it’s going to get, then they’ve got an uphill fight against their writers on their hands.

It wasn’t too bad a start, but I can’t really compliment it for making me roll my eyes every couple minutes either. It was eventful, which means that it at least didn’t bore or irritate me as much as Crime Edge did. That’s not saying much though. And maybe we should strive for a little more in the sense making department too. I know, I know. I’m asking for the moon here. Such is fate.