Active Raid – 03

When you spring a trap on a trap

Hey guys, I just ate half a dozen macarons and now I’m in sugar heaven. I need to finish writing this before I fall into SUGAR HELL.

Oh Active Raid, you just get goofier and goofier. It’s funny because last week they opened with a brief changing scene as the first thing we see and now we start with Kazari singing in skimpy clothes. So if you haven’t guessed by now, Active Raid is very serious about being silly. That’s just fine by me. It would have been nice if they took those glimmers of great ideas and brought them to new heights…but I guess I can live with hologram robo-idol concerts mimicking a transgendered idol while a hacking battle is raging on in the background. How can I complain about that?

Never underestimate the power of autotune

That final scene really just brought it all together for me. It took all the ridiculous ideas being throw around during the episode and mixed them into one spectacularly goofy finale. It was an interesting experience, because before all that I was groaning at how stupid everything was. I think I was still in the mindset of an action-packed police drama with a few laughs thrown in, kind of like Tiger & Bunny. It was only until things got so unbelievably campy that my brain officially broke down and I started to enjoy it. That moment was when I crossed over from thinking this was a garbage show and not liking it to still thinking it was a garbage show but actually liking it!

Maybe it’s not fair to just call it dumb without a little explanation, so let’s go through what actually happened here to get to this spectacle, shall we?

(That’s not really a rhetorical question because I’m going to do it whether you say yes or no)

We start off, of course, with some cosplay karaoke. From there, I will admit there is an attempt at giving more depth to Kuroki and Sena. It seems like they don’t really talk much (or at all), but they manage to work together on the battlefield. At least, that’s what Kuroki says, but they look pretty messy when they’re in action too. I don’t think punching each other in the face by accident while trying to take out a bad guy counts as teamwork. Still, the two find some sort of weird harmony of recklessness and rigidity. They also bring up the issue of Sena contemplating leaving Unit 8, but it’s resolved so quickly that it just comes off as a superficial attempt to create drama. I mean, of course he’s gonna stay! He’s the only other hot guy in the show and the series just started!

Then the weird stuff really starts. The computer genius who is hoarding a mute loli in his room has his “sister”(????) come in and suggestively feed him a tomato by mouth….which was just so ridiculous on so many levels that I don’t know where to begin so I’m just gonna, uh, end. Then things get weirder (which I didn’t think was possible) as a fat, naked idol otaku tries to molest an idol while wearing a baby pink camera mech. Holy shit was that creepy. I felt like I needed a shower immediately. He was such a stereotypical otaku, all the way down to resisting his orders to hurt Amu-chan in a last ditch effort to prove his worth. It was predictable and just….sad.

Never underestimate the power of barbie pink hot pants either

But of course, once I realized that this kind of lunacy was par for the course, I started to loosen up and enjoy it more. Yes, it was stupid, but it was the kind of stupid I could enjoy. Kazari starting her mech idol dance was my tipping point. I’m actually glad Active Raid turned out to be a hot mess, because I feel like that’s the kind of show I’m craving to blog right now. Everyone wins. Except Unit 8 who had their reputation completely ruined. But I win so that’s all that matters, right?

Finally, proof that it’s useful to be able to tell seiyuu apart to avoid things like this from happening

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.