Taboo Tattoo

Nothing like a good action show to get the blood pumping. The animation looks great, especially during fights that are also amazingly choreographed. The plot looks simple but engaging, and I like the characters, especially Izzie who's both badass and adorable. That's how heroines should be. Definitely goes on my watchlist.

I thought that while the action scenes were beautifully animated and choreographed, the animation of the rest of the episode was a little odd, not bad per say just odd.

I do like the twist they put into the Late for School cliché with Izzie smashing Seigi in the face.

edited 5th Jul '16 12:01:13 PM by SebastianGray

I didn't really notice anything odd about the animation.

Oh yeah, that scene was hilarious. I'm really enjoying the contrast between Izzie professionalism and skill and her quirkiness.

Hmmm. Could just be me then.

Any idea how long the series is going to be as, from the characters in the opening, it seems it is going to cover all the currently translated chapters.

As far as I can tel, there's no info on the matter yet.

Hmm, I wonder where the plot will go. Judging from the first episode, it seems there's some secret war against that one kingdom they mentioned gearing up.

I don't want to spoil so all I will say is that, in my opinion at least, the plot isn't quite as clichéd as it seems at first but I am not a great judge of clichés.

I'll take your word for it. Still... the main character name is literally Justice. That's not exactly subtle.

Episode 2: The plot begins properly with the arrival of the bad guys. The episode also shows off the series Mood Whiplash to good effect.

Yep, Mood Whiplash was pretty powerful this episode.

Izzy becomes a new transfer student, that's such a classic.

I can't get enough of Izzy antics, she hilarious. Also I like how smoothly she can switch between comical and badass.

I hope Seigi gets a bit less whiny as time goes on, because he sure whines a lot right now.

So tattoos are ancient technology? That at least explains why not much is understood about them.

The Princess is a total monster, isn't she? And her subordinates don't seem any better.

Ugh, Touko was sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and got in trouble and now she'll have to be saved. Why do I get a feeling that it will happen fairly frequently?

Aww yeah, Izzy is about to kick some ass. Should be awesome.

Yeah, Izzy is great.

The ones so far introduced, yes they are monsters, entertaining ones though. I also really like the name of their group, the Brahman. I have rarely seen much Hindu influence in anime.

edited 12th Jul '16 11:55:07 AM by SebastianGray

Well admittedly she couldn't of known that some creepy girl with a brainwashing power would attack her and take over her body....

You know, as far as side effects of gaining a great power go, "not aging" is actually pretty good deal.

Yeah, they are such a delightful bunch of psychos aren't they. Guess, that's what we should expect from people following Princess McEvil.

I wonder if there's more to it, or if they just choose a cool sounding name.

Well no, she obviously couldn't, but it doesn't bode well for her role in the story. Also, i really dislike the nosy, overbearing childhood friend type characters. Get a life girl!

While I don't think they have said exactly where it is, the Kingdom of Selinistan is somewhere in Southern Asia so it is probably located where India is today.

Yeah, it gives that impression. Though they don't particularly look like Southeast Asians for the most part.

Episode 3:

The Princess is crazy and generally creepy. She even molests the Schrodinger Cat girl who's like 13 maybe.

On the whole, I don't think attacking Izzy inside a school was a good idea.

Seigi is still a walking cliche, but I'll give him props for not hesitating to headbutt Touko. And speaking of Touko she's probably even more one dimensional that Seigi. Hopefully they'll do something interesting with her for a change, now that she apparently has a tattoo for some reason.

Void Maker is dangerous.

Izzy still tries to hide Seigi from the army. I'm not sure if that's the best course of action but at least she means well.

Izzy in that frilly dress was hilarious.

So next week they will be attacking Izzy's contact? I hope nothing happens to her, she seems fun.

The Princess definitely has issues.

I do like Schrodinger's Cat, she can be both creepy and cute at various points. My favourite part of the episode was Izzy telling Tom off for allowing his internal organs to show.

It could be because it has been a while since I read the beginning of the manga but things seem to be advancing far faster than I was expecting.

The more I see of the Princess, the more I think she has a whole subscription.

Schrodinger's Cat is also pretty warped, though in her case we can at least see where it came from as her life was pretty sucky. Her tirade on justice was rather incoherent and she seem to empathize greatly with the abandoned kitten.

Yeah, Izzy antics are always the highlight of the show.

Yeah, it goes much faster than I expected.

Episode 4: Where the stupid happens.

For a second I though he punched a hole through that guy. Still, that looked pretty lethal

How does no one notice a glowing Tattoo in the middle of her forehead.

That was pretty brutal. Also those are some vague powers. IT hides her presence, it allows her to phase through walls and posses people?

Schrodinger's Cat gets more annoying with her sudo-philosophy.

So they have a device that renders people with active tattoos helpless, which should be a big game changer. Also, he doesn't kill Izzy immediately for some stupid reason, and it of course doesn't work on Seigi since he's so special. All those contrivances just so Seigi can go there, have a shouting match with the Cat, fail to accomplish anything and angst. Sigh.

Those two give me the creeps each time I see them. Keep your hand to yourself.

Touko is one of the most pointless characters I've seen. She doesn't really add anything of value as far as I can tell.

Tom really sucks at his job. Also, Seigi acts like a selfish brat, but of course the plot will validate him next episode.

Wouldn't just shooting them before they activate the tattoos the best course of actions.

I hope Izzy kicks ass next episode.

The manga explains it better. I will spoiler it just incase they use the explanation in a future episode Schrodinger's original ability was just possession through extra-dimensional manipulation but her spell-crest (the proper name of the tattoos) over-assimilated with her body, expanding her powers so that she can use her dimensional manipulation to pass through solid matter. Still very iffy science but better explained.

While it could be because of the tattoo, the manga explains that the range of the Noise Canceller system used by the kingdom is very short ranged so he could have just been outside its range. (It is a bit ambiguous).

Overall I would say that thus wasn't a great episode as it seems like they were trying to save their budget for the fights in the next episode or two.

On the plus side, only a couple more episodes until the best character in the series turns up.

Okay, that explanation for Schrodinger's Cat's power makes sense, and in fact fits her epithet.

Wouldn't just shooting them before they activate the tattoos the best course of actions.

Look, once you start wondering about why nobody in these series ever seems to have heard of using a proper sniper to put down those threats, you'll never stop.

Episode 5: Things felt a bit rushed again (I was expecting the episode to finish with the end of the fight at the port) but there was some nice action and comedy as the Mood Whiplash returns full force. We did get B.B. introduced this episode as well and he is just great.

I find it really hard to get a handle on this show. The constant Mood Whiplash gives the whole thing a very dissonant feel. By the time of the table tennis duel I was wondering if I was watching a bonus episode based on those silly yonkoma authors often add to the tankobon as opposed to the actual series. Just what are they going for here?

Well, at least I can appreciate them for hanging the occasional lampshade. This is just me, but I like to think of a lampshade as a promise of sorts. "Yeah, we know it's been done, but we promise there's cool stuff coming your way if you'd please bear with us through the obligatory clichés." They also have the decency to go trough the clichés at a fast pace to get at the good stuff.

Also, slick, slick violence. Well choreographed, nice sound effects, and a nice helping of brutality to give a sense of the stakes at hand, though perhaps a bit overboard on occasion. Don't see that often in a television series, and definitely not with this kind of frequency.

Shame that the characters are pretty bad so far. Series like these thrive on a colourful cast, but for what we've seen so far, most are just completely unrelatable. The heroes are cardboard cut-outs and the villains are insane. Hoping to see some serious development there.

Verdict so far: Just Here for Godzilla, hoping that whatever it is they're building up to is going to be actually interesting.

Man, the action sequences were pretty sweet. I have to question why did they even bother bringing the muggle soldiers with them. They could just as well bring potato bags for all they were useful for.

But still, the action scenes looked phenomenal, except when Seigi beat Schrodringer Cat, because I have no idea what actually occurred. He jumped after them, but then she was somehow above him and he just punched he in the stomach...? Also, we could use less moralizing by Seigi.

Izzy beating the Mcperv with a literal air gun was awesome. Her power has so many uses. And that double kick, pffft.

Then the princess shows up and villains take exit stage left. How convenient.

The second part of the episode was like WTF. Touko challenges the insane, murderous Princess to a table tennis match, loses and is molested. Seigi thinks she died? Izzy punishment for breaking the rules is... to keep doing what she was already doing. Izzy moves in with Seigi, and Princess fucks underage girls. The hell?

Also, Mr Shades attacks Seigi post credits.

This felt like two different episodes crammed into one.

So, new episode.

Okay, seriously; Blood Blackstone? The guy's name is seriously Blood Blackstone? Good heavens, I do not envy the actors that need to keep a straight face saying that name during tense scenes. His mother must be an interesting woman, though.

Other than that, little (real) action, lots of plot, and only two instances of random molestations. Could've been a lot worse.

Finally: Kiss her, you fool!