Hamatora The Animation

This anime had a pretty rough start being very cliche in mystery story writing, for example, the "it was all because student likes teacher" or "be careful of where you might end up on the Internet". Cliche stories can be off-putting but adding to that, they made it seem as if the mysteries had an established pattern of why they happened and the incentives of the perpetrator. Like I literally thought it was going to be a crappy episodic detective flick with too many loose ends. I was bored but NOW I can't rave how much, if you suffer through this, how brilliant the escalation to the climax will be. Yes, escalation to climax, and if you are like me, you will have an erotic reaction to how the homolust, i.e. the pinings of the villain Moral for the hero Nice, is basically what it all came down to. Actually I didn't really think it was that cute(it was actually pretty serious), but the reason for why Moral was so obsessed over Nice was "painted" very well. All the cases in the first few episodes actually had a theme, "opportunities". Moral wanted to be there to be the "opportunity" to corrupt innocents with guns, porn, whatever. NOW FOR THE SPOILERS only in this paragraph It was a cancer give-a-thon. If you do this THEY'LL OBVIOUSLY LEARN. But Nice wasn't up for the cancer give-a-thon. He knows that even if you obtain "power", you are still ONLY self responsible. It means that no matter what happens, for better or for worse it's about every individual that is self-responsible. We can all be unique, and we'll never be lonely :D DUDE NICE, THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. No wonder Moral likes you. But unfortunately, Moral's actions themselves are demented and Nice has no choice but to... Well that was great. It's story is literally what happens when you have two boys who can only settle differences in a fight. So it's story is right on, 9/10 Art - 9/10 wow those pixiv textures man. Lots of eye popping stuff and popular art Sound - 10/10 I loved the opening Character - 9/10 because this stuff is kind of an acquired taste. Some of the side characters will hit you, some of them won't. I personally liked all of them Enjoyment - 6/10, the beginning made me not want to watch it sadly, but it gets better so actually i dunno if it's possible to make a 100% enjoyable show. Overall - 9

I remember watching the first couple of episodes after it first aired and liking it, but as usual, my attention span quickly switched focus and I never finished it. This year, I remembered it and decided to include it in my MAL 2022 challenge. And that's honestly the only reason I finished this in the first place. The problem with Hamatora, in my opinion, is that it's too fast. Some episodes in particular feel far too rushed for a show that's 12 episodes long, with forced background stories and random emotional moments that feel entirely out of left field. The characters are fine, not perfect nor legendary but they're not boring either, and the animation is nice. The overall plot is okay, too, if only they had taken their time with it. I don't think I will be watching season 2, either.

Hamatora The Animation Another anime that deals with the topic of superhumans/people with special skills. The approach is quite simple, and the plot is nothing particularly new. However, the implementation here is quite pleasant and even worth mentioning. Particularly noteworthy was the implementation of the last episode and the quite solidly placed unexpected cliffhanger. Otherwise, the tension was mostly flat but not falling. On the part of the characters, there were many different personalities. I wouldn't describe them as particularly profound, and they also had rather monotonous character traits in the long run. Still, her quirks were quite entertaining. Both seasons had their strengths and weaknesses. Strangely, in different places. Season 1 was tighter on the main plot and could only build the tension in the final episodes. In contrast, season 2 was the complete opposite. Despite bigger action, she was unable to build up the tension. It's a shame, actually, the implementation of the concept was quite successful. Story The protagonists, who have been gifted with supernatural abilities, run a detective's office to shovel some money. However, this seems to be going very badly for them. Incidentally, this detective thing is very secondary to the anime and has little relevance in the plot. The actual plot revolves around the main antagonist, his connection to the protagonist, and the implementation of his plans. Nothing particularly imaginative, but as mentioned, it had a nice implementation. The particular highlight was somewhere around episodes 5-7, due to a little twist. And another resolution in the last episode. The cliffhanger made the best impression. Animation / pictures The animations were above average. And especially the colored design did very well here. The fights were presented solidly and the animation was, if necessary, subtle. Characters I wish the characters had a little more depth of character and could have been written a little better. Apart from that, they were quite pleasant and certainly brought out one or the other solid character joke. Music The intro was average. However, the Osts have been pretty solid. Conclusion You shouldn't expect too much from this work, it is a complete average in almost all areas. It still has some charisma after all.

Reason for watching: Super Powers with Mystery, sounds fun and engaging with plenty of actions/fights. TL;DR: Story concept is good, but was never demonstrated through the story telling, making the show a real pity. I will break down this review into sections that I am concerned with: Story, Characters, and Art style. Firstly, <Story>, I do think there are 2 parts of this, the concept/idea, and the execution. First, I do think the concept of this show is good, the overall story for this season is also alright, it could be better, considering the premise of the story. I see a lot of potential in the concept and how varied the story lines can developed into. Few episodes in, and I am reminded of Get Backers (A considerably old anime). It has a similar concept but the premise and potential back stories are different. The concept of superpowers existing as a minority element in a society (definitely a widely used concept, like x-men). But coupled it with the Mystery genre using a detective-crime premise, and a mysterious common back story of the main cast. All these ideas that could have spark so much joy. Second, the execution. No matter how good a concept is, the end result will definitely be poor if the execution is poor. And Hamatora is a really good example of how a badly executed story can ruin a good concept. From one scene to another scene, the finer details do not link, and some times, the whole scene doesn't even link. Is like there are missing scenes or they expect to engage the audience by having the audience infer the missing logic themselves. Almost half of the plots in the show are incoherent with no follow-ups and flashbacks. Is like going star gazing in the afternoon. Is a lovely activity, but not meant to be carried out in the broad daylight. Is really a pity how the story telling wasn't able to demonstrate even half the potential that this concept have. Secondly, the Characters. The characters definitely have likable personas, the happy-go-lucky main character, the responsible mummy partner, the goofy "class clown" etc. They exist everywhere in this vast anime universe, what sets all of them apart is their experiences and back stories etc. The main cast are fun to watch, and add superpowers to the recipe, they do liven the story lines. But for 12 episodes worth, the growth of the main cast is very little. For the whole 12 episodes, it was pretty much establishing and introducing the characters to the audience slowly. Lastly, the Art style. IT IS WAY TOO VIBRANT. The colour scheme used is way to bright and colourful, to the point that I almost develop a headache several times. But that is just me. To end it all, watch this if you want to fill like you have been robbed off your brain cells trying to understand the show.