天下制覇

 

Why do all anime giant spiders have teeth?

Impressions:

Now this is a bit more like it. Kind of. Only a few minor info dumps that come and go quickly and only when relevant, the setting is introduced organically around the characters going about their already interesting lives, animation’s solid and then some, the protagonists are competent right off the bat and have no problems with the fisticuffs, gun-having, and even chaste kisses on the cheek, not to mention violently dismembering infected bug-people without a second thought. Hell, even the protagonist felt bad about getting snippy and angsty over his dead parents. It did get a little worse in the info-dumping toward the end, but the first half definitely fulfilled its purpose as a hook.

And yet, I feel like it’s trying just a little bit too hard, especially when it comes to checking off boxes so nobody could possibly forget it’s an LN adaptation. The super powered little girl constantly begging to be sexed being the biggest offender. He handles it with a little more… fatalism? composure? snideness? than most so it’s not as bad as, well, just about any of the other billion shows that pull that. They also had to make sure that every other female’s status in relation to his penis was established. There were a few other minor things too. I’m not enamored of the musical direction, particularly in the opening scene where it was blaring and staticy and if they were going for terror or despair, it got lost under the pain of white noise. Despite the occasional overtures it made toward a more bloody horror type of feel, it was a lot more adept at just regular alien-fighting action, especially with the masked clown running around.

Regardless, this is the best first episode for an action show of the season so far by a country mile. This episode did a great job through the first half of setting up the characters and overall plot with the budget and directing talent to support the action.