Active Raid

Title:Active Raid
Active Raid: Kidou Kyoushushitsu Dai-Hakkei
Special Public Security Fifth Division Third Mobile Assault Eighth Unit
アクティヴレイド -機動強襲室第八係- (Japanese)
Overall:Unevaluated
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: ISHIGAMI Shizuka
OZAWA Ari
SAKURAI Takahiro
SHIMAZAKI Nobunaga
Set in a part of Tokyo that has descended into a quagmire, the story follows Unit 8 of the 5th Special Public Security Section's 3rd Mobile Assault Division — popularly called "The Eighth" — who don powered armor "Willware" exoskeletons to counter the rise in crime. Assistant inspector Asami Kazari is assigned to The Eighth with the task of assessing the unit's status and reporting it to her superiors. But her true goal is to rehabilitate this sloppy, haphazard, justice-less group.
(Synopsis courtesy of ANN)

12 episodes
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated Stretch [series:3135#628]
(One episode watched):

A lackadaisical police unit that employs mecha; does that sound familiar (hint: Patlabor)? Patlabor, however, was much better than this show. In Patlabor, the focus was on the characters, and the mecha supported them; here, it seems to be the other way round. I have written off so many anime recently because I found the characters to be uninteresting that my reviews may sound repetitive and generic. I sometimes wonder if it's just me--do I hold the characters in an anime to be much more important than the average person does? Do I not give them enough time to develop? But Active Raid only seems to reinforce my opinion. Namely, I cannot get interested in a story if I am not interested in the characters in it. And the characters of Active Raid do not interest me at all. Perhaps there were too many of them to introduce any of them thoroughly. But in such a situation at least the protagonist ought to get some development, and I don't detect much. She is bossy and... well, I can't think of a second word to describe her. Instead of the characters, this show seems to be relying on gee whiz technology to thrill us, but mobile suits aren't all that novel. I think Patlabor is around 30 years old. The Willware system must cost billions of dollars yet is apparently left in the hands of a sloppy, carefree crew; I can't believe that would ever happen. The technique used to get the Willware operators to the scene of the crime is about the only semi-original piece of the system, and even it doesn't exactly thrill me. Jokes about corruption and incompetence within Japanese government are common. The music seems like it could have been better chosen for action scenes (and music has to be pretty mediocre before I notice a problem). All the high tech in the world will go to waste if I don't give a damn about the characters who are employing it. I can only conclude that yes, there is indeed a major shortage of the talent that is required to create interesting characters in anime. Initially, the title of this show seemed to promise some sort of excitement but in the end I could only wish it would hurry up and be over. I have episodes of Patlabor on VHS tape, and a still working VHS player, so why would I want to watch this?

Last updated Friday, January 08 2016. Created Friday, January 08 2016.

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