June 25, 2012
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SERIES REVIEW: Burst Angel (2004)
24 Episodes
GENRE: Japanese Sci-Fi Action Anime
SUMMARY: In a future Tokyo, four women (and their cook) battle against a military police organization and terrorists.
REVIEW: This started off with a decent amount of potential. The art seemed good and the women were scantily clad, but the plot soon gave way to anime cliche after anime cliche. The main characters are Meg (a more humorous child-like woman) and Jo (a grey-haired red-eyed battle beserker). The pair reminds me a lot of the Canaan main characters (battle-hardened stoic maiden protecting a childish woman who gives her a sense of humanity) only they don't carry it off anywhere near as well. The combat isn't clever, but frustratingly stupid like a John Woo movie gone even more wrong. Jo constantly uses akimbo desert eagles to shot at everything (along with her mech) and when it doesn't seem to have any effect how does she resolve the situation? Shoot more until it is at a significant plot point that the strategy magically works. There are also gaping plot holes such as when Jo and here enemy fit so hard facing each other that they open up a portal to another dimension set in feudal Japan (wtf? not a good episode). It just feel they tried to take on way to much than the creators could handle.
I've also discovered from this that I am not a fan of most mechs in anime. I only really like them if they are uniquely designed (a la steam punk) or they seem to be more suggestive of a plausible future (a la Patlabor or Ghost in the Shell). Jo's mech just moves around with way to much agility. The art also goes in and out between an 8 out of 10 down to a 5 or 6 out of 10. Took me awhile to finish this series because I enjoyed it less and less.
Overall, if you're interested in this go watch Canaan instead. It's better in every aspect.
ART: 7/10
PLOT & STORYTELLING: 3/10
CHARACTERS: 5/10
OVERALL: 4/10