It seems like centuries since I've watched a decent current anime. Almost everything is jumping on the technological bandwagon of our generation, and almost every action packed anime or cartoon seems to have at least some sort of mecha, excessive chrome, or at least a smart phone in it. For a while I couldn't really get into it. I can barely stomach the overly rebooted Transformers cartoons and remakes. I, and apparently some of my peers, tend to stick to some of the oldies.
I discovered Gatchaman Crowds by complete and utter accident. My friend from out of state was insisting that I watch Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (SNTG), talking about how she planned on making her own costume. I must admit, the costumes were kind of snazzy, with a kind of class that is missing in today's culture.
So, I do my search online only to find god-awful dubs, and ended up finding Gatchaman Crowds. My first instinct was as follows:
Oh, boy...I think this is a remake of Gatchaman G-Force. Lemme think....should I watch G-Force first?
*Pondered for a bit*
Lemme watch Gatchaman Crowds first so that I can have a fresh unbiased opinion of the anime.
And alas, I decided to watch the first two episodes of this brand spanking new anime that came out just a week ago. I am truly giving you a fresh perspective, and for now I am trading cloth for chrome and cellphones. Was this a bad choice?
I will say that so far this anime has definitely exceeded my expectations. Also keep in mind, I am watching the subbed version.
First off, the artwork reminds me a lot of that present in Noien, the primary difference being that the colors are a bit more saturated, and the forms are not as abstract. When I first encountered the anime, I thought I was, perhaps watching the original Gatchaman, and the only two things that proved otherwise was the presence of a smart phone and the manner in which the characters were drawn- skinny, wimpy, and with little adherence to anatomy. However, this odd echo of some of the artwork created in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman can probably be explained by the fact that the Crowds and SNTG were made by the same studio.
My second impression was how much I truly disliked the voice of one of the lead characters, Hajime. Actually, I hated her character period. However, even though I disliked the character, my subtle sense of the plot possibilities for the anime was thrown off. Typically, you can pretty much guess the general plot of the show within the first episode or so. In this case, I find myself constantly surprised as the plot progresses, and now the girl is- so far- my favorite character in the anime. Typically, you expect the foil of the first introduced main character to be the villian, and yet, Hajime is clearly the polar opposite of Sugane, but they are both on the same "team"; This tells me that the villains are not who the viewer expects. I feel as though the theme of the show is community and networking oriented, but my only concern is that, from what I have read, there are only supposed to be about 12 episodes, so I am curious as to how the plot will develop and resolve itself in such a short amount of time. So far, there are two episodes that have been aired, and you can watch it on Crunchyroll.
I am definitely going to continue watching this anime, and so far, it was definitely worth my time. I'll do another more in-depth review of the anime when it is finished.
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