Brynhildr in the Darkness
Tashiro really ought to offer just a little more info when sharing links. ;) Still, I took his recommendation and watched through this 13 episode anime series. There's an interesting duality to it, I'll give it that. It takes two different manga/anime genres and does them both. Like oil and water, however, they don't end up mixing well. It's like at any given time, it's just one or the other
The Harem Anime: Now, frankly I knock off a few points out the gate for any series that surrounds a young, questionably-alone male character with several females with (sometimes varying degrees of) romantic interest in him. Bynhildr is a little better than average in that the male lead actually has some degree of charisma and there's some moderately valid reasons he becomes a central figure in the group and even for some of the interest. But it isn't enough to overcome the negative in my book.
It's still heavy on the fan service an onsen scenes. There's still the true-love-with-complications, the overly-sexual chick, and the sort-of-ditzy girl. It all feels so formulaic and, to me, dull on this level. The only series I can think of that "got away with" all this in my perspective was Tenchi Muyo, and that might have gotten a pass simply because it wasn't all cliche to me at the time.
The Sci-Fi Thriller: At other times, the series is playing up a story where these girl "witches," who have powers due to some shady organization's experimentation, are running and fighting for their freedom. Nothing here strikes me as particularly new or unique, but it's still done pretty well. It gets a bit bloody and grisly at times, and with the threat of death hanging over the characters pretty much constantly, it does have sort of a dark atmosphere to these scenes. I do particularly like that the main character is quick of mind - his eidetic memory is useful at times, but it's his ability to think and reason on his feet that really makes him hold his own among the witches.
Reveals seem decently paced at the beginning, but then slow way down only to have a bunch of stuff dumped into the last 2-3 episodes - too much, really. There is something of a climactic showdown, but half the questions don't get answered and a lot isn't resolved. I'm pretty sure this series is based on manga, and I'm going to guess without looking that it's still ongoing past the end of the series. It just has that not-really-satisfying feeling.
Tying the use of powers to loss of memory is something I find kind of neat, but it's so random and unpredictable in this case. That whole concept was explored in a way that had more impact on me in Valvrave.
Though there are some legitimate deaths, death gets pretty darn cheapened by the end. Having a character who can regenerate from almost anything is one thing. Having her able to save someone else gets kinda cheap. Having another character saved between the final few minutes and the end credits with no explanation is just baffling.
The is-she-or-isn't-she mystery of Kuroha/Kuroneko may entertain some, but it wears on me. It had some interest right up until the truth is fully revealed - and then wiped from the memories of the characters so they can go through the rest of the series in confusion up until then when... everything is fully revealed, then wiped from one of their memories again. Ugh.
So the evil corporation's plan is to... take little girls, implant them with some sort of alien beings that give them powers, in order to... uhh... create a new super-human race to... rule the world. Or something? They totally know that they're messing with things that could wipe out all humanity, yet I really don't see a game plan here. Eliminating rogue witches and collecting their harnests makes sense to contain scrutiny and bad press, but how is traumatizing girls getting them any closer to a super-race? I don't get it.
Overall? Okay, I guess. I wouldn't recommend it unless the genres particularly appeal. And I'm not sure if Tashiro is really up to handling the darker aspects of the series.
The Harem Anime: Now, frankly I knock off a few points out the gate for any series that surrounds a young, questionably-alone male character with several females with (sometimes varying degrees of) romantic interest in him. Bynhildr is a little better than average in that the male lead actually has some degree of charisma and there's some moderately valid reasons he becomes a central figure in the group and even for some of the interest. But it isn't enough to overcome the negative in my book.
It's still heavy on the fan service an onsen scenes. There's still the true-love-with-complications, the overly-sexual chick, and the sort-of-ditzy girl. It all feels so formulaic and, to me, dull on this level. The only series I can think of that "got away with" all this in my perspective was Tenchi Muyo, and that might have gotten a pass simply because it wasn't all cliche to me at the time.
The Sci-Fi Thriller: At other times, the series is playing up a story where these girl "witches," who have powers due to some shady organization's experimentation, are running and fighting for their freedom. Nothing here strikes me as particularly new or unique, but it's still done pretty well. It gets a bit bloody and grisly at times, and with the threat of death hanging over the characters pretty much constantly, it does have sort of a dark atmosphere to these scenes. I do particularly like that the main character is quick of mind - his eidetic memory is useful at times, but it's his ability to think and reason on his feet that really makes him hold his own among the witches.
Reveals seem decently paced at the beginning, but then slow way down only to have a bunch of stuff dumped into the last 2-3 episodes - too much, really. There is something of a climactic showdown, but half the questions don't get answered and a lot isn't resolved. I'm pretty sure this series is based on manga, and I'm going to guess without looking that it's still ongoing past the end of the series. It just has that not-really-satisfying feeling.
Tying the use of powers to loss of memory is something I find kind of neat, but it's so random and unpredictable in this case. That whole concept was explored in a way that had more impact on me in Valvrave.
Though there are some legitimate deaths, death gets pretty darn cheapened by the end. Having a character who can regenerate from almost anything is one thing. Having her able to save someone else gets kinda cheap. Having another character saved between the final few minutes and the end credits with no explanation is just baffling.
The is-she-or-isn't-she mystery of Kuroha/Kuroneko may entertain some, but it wears on me. It had some interest right up until the truth is fully revealed - and then wiped from the memories of the characters so they can go through the rest of the series in confusion up until then when... everything is fully revealed, then wiped from one of their memories again. Ugh.
So the evil corporation's plan is to... take little girls, implant them with some sort of alien beings that give them powers, in order to... uhh... create a new super-human race to... rule the world. Or something? They totally know that they're messing with things that could wipe out all humanity, yet I really don't see a game plan here. Eliminating rogue witches and collecting their harnests makes sense to contain scrutiny and bad press, but how is traumatizing girls getting them any closer to a super-race? I don't get it.
Overall? Okay, I guess. I wouldn't recommend it unless the genres particularly appeal. And I'm not sure if Tashiro is really up to handling the darker aspects of the series.
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