Should you watch Gatchaman Crowds?

Forty years after its original airing, the guys over at Tatsunoko Productions blessed us with Gatchaman Crowds, a remake about as faithful to the original as Dragon Ball Evolution. Although while DBE was like having a conversation with a serial killer wearing your best friend's skin, Crowds basically jettisons any connection to the original from the gate. 

The story follows Hajime Ichinose a girl who's hyperactivity is matched only by a seven-year-old with coffee instead of blood. While screwing around on the roof, Hajime encounters something (started this anime two years ago) that gives her a notebook called NOTE that gives her the power to transform into

Together she teams up with a guy with what looks like wedges of cheese for eyebrows, a bikini clad girl because of course, a too cool for school dude, a fabulous gay guy, and a talking panda to fight an androgynous alien with the apparent mindset of the aforementioned seven-year-old with coffee instead of blood. One character left out of the previous summary is Rui the cross dresser, a genius Zuckerburg who created the social networking system Galax a cross between [insert social networking site], animal crossing, and Uber.

The first you'll notice coming into the anime is its animation. Anyone read any of my other stuff, because you should be able to guess what's coming next. The animation looks fantastic (other acceptable answers include amazing, great, and hand-drawn orgasm). In all honesty it looks jaw dropping when it wants to and is enjoyable at the very least the rest of the time. Even the troughs are bursting with color and personality. The peaks, on the other hand, burst with color, personality, and CG. Yes our old friend CG is back in full force. Unlike Mekaku, however, it's implemented well. Special mention goes to whoever designed the Gatchamen themselves.

The second thing you might notice is the soundtrack. Composed by Taku Iwasaki  of Jojo, Soul Eater and Black Butler fame, the soundtrack is a mix of electronic and spoken vocals. Ultimately it's down to personal preference, but take a listen— I think that you'll like what you hear.

Again we're talking what could be charitably called a quirky cast here, so frankly I thought I was in for another dumb action filled romp. I am so glad I was wrong. 

It's easy to think of Crowds as a simple aliens vs humans anime that has been done to death, brought back to life as a horrible monster before collapsing into a pile of unidentifiable scraps. What I think saves it from being the above is everything about GALAX. It plays out like a mind-game. Rui initially thinks that he's using the Alien as a means to create the ideal world. In the end we learn that he couldn't be further from the truth. GALAX is the crux; the key to victory for both parties. This makes for a climax that hits all the right places; with enough action to keep the testosterone pounding at my head, but with enough intelligent tactics that it didn't feel like my higher conscience was on vacation. If I had to level a criticism at it, it would be the pacing. The first fiveish episodes are dedicated to developing characters and getting the exposition done. While I was ultimately glad for it, it was a little grueling to get through at first. I'm not going to act like I know how to fix that, so perhaps this is more a warning than anything.

Something to tide you over until the next image

If you asked me to give you one reason to watch this anime, I would wake up because no-one comments on these posts anyway. However in theory I would tell you that if there was one thing that the anime did right, it's the character. Here however it's a bit more subjective (because the rest of it was devoid of opinion). It all comes down to the main character. Basically she's an eccentric, charismatic, block-headed insane girl. In other words she's what would normally be considered a side character in another anime. It's like if The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya centered on the titular character instead of Kyon. The question becomes can you stand that? 

Even if that doesn't sound like a smashing good time, I'd still say you should give it a shot. Aside from the above, I'd say that the rest of the cast does its job very well. Most of the development in these characters here are given development not really seen in many other shows. While I wouldn't call the development they get in depth I will say that for 13 episodes, and such a large cast, I got a very clear sense of who they were and why they were doing what they did. There are a few reasons for this, methinks. First is the exposition, spending time with the characters and watching them interact with Hajime. The other is an entire half an episode is spent giving insight into the ways in which they have changed over the course of the series. 

Of course I can't finish this review without mentioning the villain...but I'm going to anyway. 

Should you watch Gatchaman Crowds? Yes. I would say so. The animation suits the anime well, giving it some personality. An interesting vision of the future helps give separate it from similar anime, and the main character and her supporting cast make this a fun little romp. 

Thanks for reading! Likes, follows, and spreading the word are all things that would make me pretty happy. Wishing you a late happy New Year!