|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch |
 Stretch
|
[series:4346#628] | ||||||
|
(Watch+ or Rent-) (All episodes watched): I had thought that surely this show would be composed of weak jokes about a guy with bad luck, but it turned out to be a bit more complex than that. Kinji retains his skill as a smooth talker and hopes to recreate the success he enjoyed on Earth. I didn't know if it would remain fresh, however; I hoped there would be a fun story to this series in addition to the OK but not fantastic jokes. It turns out that the Meikyuu Black Company is the semi-secret organization Kinji creates to overthrow the heartless Raiz'ha corporation that runs Demonite mines. This was one of the last series that I watched episode two of, because I hadn't been all that thrilled by the opening episode. It is more amusing than outright funny. It does have a touch of novelty to it. I wish it was either a little funnier or the tricks Kinji pulls were a little more intriguing (or both). In episode two he manages to take control of a colony of giant ants. for example. Episode three was better as the corporation makes a callous move to exploit a catastrophe but Kinji turns it back on them. The swordswoman who is blindly loyal to the corporation can be amusing at times. This show had gotten off to a slow start with me, and I had even considered dropping it, but it was looking up around episodes four and five. In episode five the story leaps forward in time after Kinji goes into suspended animation for a good while. Although it was not made clear, I feared the implication that lizard man and swordswoman must have died of old age long ago, since they were likable characters. Fortunately, with the use of a little time travel, things are reset with everyone present. I hoped that there might even be an ongoing plot to this show for the remaining episodes, with nothing less than saving this planet from destruction as the goal. That would certainly help, since the jokes alone are not quite good enough to power the show all by themselves and something seems lacking. The explanation of just how magic works in this world in episode eight was confusing (intentionally?), but Kinji's realization that he had badly misunderstood the rules previously was amusing. Kinji is a well balanced character with both strengths and weaknesses. You can pity him for all that he has lost through no fault of his own, but also be wary of him as an opportunistic, self-absorbed sort of person. The bizarre weapon with a mind of its own that falls into his hands was fun, too. On the other hand, I didn't exactly follow the logic in episode ten--something about demon girls like Rim control the flow of magic in the dungeon, which is important for some reason, and when one gets sick disasters happen(?). It got hard to remember what was going on and what really mattered. The final episode started out a good deal more serious than most, which initially seemed like a good idea to me. Perhaps because the jokes hadn't been uproariously funny this seemed like a better way to conclude things. But it didn't last. The 'surprise' at the climax wasn't really all that surprising (and funny) after all. What, again, was that goal that the Demon Lord had set for Kinji in the future, and did he accomplish it? The series still felt sort of incomplete at the end. How did Kinji persuade that cat-eared woman who had basically been torturing him at one point to make a complete U-turn and side with him? Or was that just supposed to be funny? This was the sort of show whose script I wish had gotten one more review and rewrite before being finalized--namely, I wish the makers had asked themselves if the jokes were really funny enough and if the average viewer would be able to keep track of the longterm plot. But I feel that way not because it was unabashedly bad but rather because it seemed to have potential that wasn't exploited. MBC had fun points and I don't regret watching. Last updated Saturday, September 25 2021. Created Sunday, July 11 2021. | ||||||||
