This is an anime original series, so no spoiler concerns for this show. Spoiler rules still apply if you are talking about other series.
I had seen the visual for this show prior to watching and that was it. Consider what little expectations I had leading into this first episode far exceeded. The story is still very opaque, but they really delivered on action and aesthetic in this episode. There is clear use of CG during action sequences, but with heavy use of 2D animated effects, fast motion, and really good effects on the 3D to mesh it all together, the final result was really great. These battle suits they wear make me think of Genos from One Punch Man and Viola even had an inferno-style ability that she used.
Anime original series can always be a bit of a wild card because there isn’t as many people out there to help set your expectations, but I am on board for this one going forward. I just hope that they can continue to produce the same quality in the action while slowly revealing the story and world to us as we go.
PS: please let the story be good. I love the action and style that has been shown so far, but if the story is a stinker then the fun of the show will feel a bit hollow at the end of it all.
Looks good. I’m gonna give it a shot later and share my thoughts.
edit: Watched it a while ago. Don’t really know what to say about it. It’s hard to tell where it’s gonna go so probs give it another few episodes.
I liked the episode. Some complex story elements but I am worried that instead of cowboy bepop wibes we will get mecha but human sized; of wich I am not a fan.
I hope the character dynamic will be good. We have got some scenes but not very much.
I am a sucker for western sci-fi/cyberpunk. I think I inhaled too much hopeium.
My biggest worry about this show after seeing the first episode is that it is going to be a lot of style with well-executed and choreographed action set pieces, but with a story that makes no sense and characters that don’t have any chemistry. What we have seen so far of Rouge and Naomi looks promising, but like you said, there is so little we have seen so far. You and I are inhaling the same supply right now :)
Agree, first episode didn’t convince me. You don’t really know what main character aim is and you barely know anything about the characters
For me first episodes was : look there is robots, they are not supposed to attack humans, some humans are shit with them (leafing to their death). And aside some ancient special robots doesn’t have the same limitation and main character will target them? But why? Nothing is tipped about it to justify actions. It seems it was all to add a twist but it would have been better to give more context.
I think I am going to skip this anime.
The most interesting thing in this first episode was the Blade Runner-like setting of a future Mars.
The animation and sound were gorgeous, but I wish that the fighting robots themselves, and their motivations were better defined.
I felt bad for the singer, less so for the protagonist(s).
Is this going to be a show where we’re following the villains?
Yeah, I think this first episode really focused on style over substance. It posed a bunch of narrative questions and provided essentially no answers. I am willing to give it a little bit of time to get to work on the story though. These anime original series don’t have a baked-in audience like an adaptation, so I get the desire to try to make a big splash with the first episode visually to hook viewers before doing the less visually flashing things of storytelling later.
This first episode was a bit disappointing for me. The production values are good (as expected from Bones), but the plot and world didn’t seem very original to me. I’ll watch at least 2-3 more episodes.
from the ml thread:
Impeccable vibes on this one, but the story felt a bit jumbled and hard to follow. I’m all for show-don’t-tell, but I think it could have benefited from trimming down the number of unfamiliar elements to throw around, at least to start with. I couldn’t really get a read on any of the characters’ motivations or goals, either. It feels like the selling point is supposed to be “tokusatsu, but make it cyberpunk”, but I’ve got no personal attachment to either of those genres, so it didn’t do much for me.
But it’s always good to see original anime, so I’ll give Bones some time to cook before I give up completely. Judging just from the premiere, though, I give it a 3/5
