天下制覇

A very very generic one at that.

Impressions:

Hrm. Another one I feel a bit conflicted about which usually just ends in a totally noncommital rambling post, but here we go. It didn’t inspire either feelings of boredom or hatred against all of its characters, so that’s certainly better than certain other shows I could name. At the same time though, there’s not really anything I’d point to and say "Awesome job, TMS." The main issue here is that it’s fueling itself on a whole lot of generic cliches and treading very very close to Guilty Crown line where it transforms from serious to ridiculous. To its credit, the show does a very good job of moving right along and not dwelling on said cliches, but all of the super friendship trio being trodded on by daddy, the sex worker hostess with a heart of gold just in it because of her tragic family past, the grandfather/mentor dying, the punk boy’s super power awakening, the antagonists being THE MAN, and god only knows what else I’ve forgotten off the top of my head, doesn’t bode well for future creativity.

Like I said though, it cruises right along through this childhood intro episode with enough speed to make it easy to stomach all the cliches. At least I assume it’s over since the Zet Rap and preview are both a time skip. Production’s a mixed bag. Some of the voice acting is notably godawful. Nothing great or bad about the music but the art and animation can be a little uneven. The fight scenes are stylish and carry the appropriate amount of brutality as the show’s tone is going for, but I can’t say I like the general artistic direction during them. Shots are too close up and too confusing. Combine that with the annoying artistic shifts that Japan loves far too much and they’re more chaotic with the occasional sound of impacts than what I’d really call a fight scene.

Aside from the elephant’s weight of cliche’s, it was a pretty good origin story/first episode. Far from great and I doubt anybody anybody who isn’t a fan of superhero stuff in general would have even the slightest interest in it, but it hasn’t committed any particularly grave sins either. Yet.

Preview:

Don’t blame me. There were only three images.