Gatchaman Crowds - If Zooey Deschanel Had An Iron Man Suit

Speculative Review of Gatchaman Crowds

By James U.

Speculative Review at a Glance:

Rating as of Episode 5:

2 out of 5

Highest Point:

Certain stories focus on the average citizens rather than the main cast. The bystander’s point of view can get pretty immersive and enhances the believability of the setting.

Lowest Point:

A very unrelatable and uninteresting main character. She’s almost too perfect to the point that she devalues the other characters because everything she does is always right anyway, even though she acts on a whim almost all the time. Her happy-go-lucky demeanor even when things go south, while admirable and very shounen hero-like, still doesn't make her fun to watch since it seems like she’s not taking things very seriously even when people’s lives are at risk.

Recommendation:

It’s been a while since I've seen a Henshin Hero type of anime. While I’m a total sucker for such things, it’s not enough to pull me into it. There are just too many things that drag it down, plus it’s only meant to run for 12 episodes. It’s filled with bad cliches, it’s kinda bland, and the main character is insufferable. I don’t recommend it.

Overview

Gatchaman Crowds is a transformation superhero sci-fi anime set in modern-day Japan. It’s loosely based on the old 70s anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (It was localized as G-Force: Guardians of Space). It’s directed by Nakamura Kenji, a guy who storyboarded Karas and directed that weird economy-based combat anime C: The Money of Soul and Possibility of Control. Crowds started airing July 13, 2013 and is scheduled to have 12 episodes.

Code:Breaker Review

By James U.

Review at a Glance:

Rating:

3 out of 5

Highest Point:

The main antagonist Hitomi is probably one of the few reasons to really watch this show.

Lowest Point:

Too many characters, too little time. Most of them are shallow, with very little reason to be attached to them.

Recommendation:

Code:Breaker has a lot of potential, but falls flat due to it being incomplete. It sets up an interesting world and fills it with entertaining characters, but ends up feeling bland and unrefined. For all its faults it’s still worth watching, but don’t expect too much.

Overview

Code:Breaker is an anime adaptation (What isn’t these days?) of an ongoing action-oriented manga written by  Kimijyo Akimine (of Samurai Deeper Kyo fame). The anime started airing October 12, 2013 and is directed by Irie Yasuhiro, whose directorial history includes the very brilliant Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.