First Impression – Scared Rider Xechs
Cool guys don’t look at explosions
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Well, Ozamafia wasn’t what I expected it to be, but maybe this otome game adaptation will be more faithful to the source. Not that I would know though, since I never got around to playing this. Regardless though, I saw that the motorcycles seemed to shoot lasers in the OP, so if anything, I’m going to stick around just to watch that. |
The episode didn’t seem too interested in offering exposition, and I guess it came out alright. At least, the dialogue felt way more natural this way than if they had lines like “Ah, yes. The Nightfly O’Notes. Our greatest enemy who is destroying the planet, and whom we must defeat using our Substance.” There was still action as a hook too, so it wasn’t like the entire episode was the scientist/military people talking about things of great importance, while expecting the audience to follow along with the terms used. Hopefully they’ll get to that eventually though. For example, I have absolutely no idea what a Dirigent is (aside from that it seems important and also apparently a female), so hopefully there’s going to be some sort of explanation about it in the next episode.
At this point, I wonder if the visual novel also played out like this. I’m pretty sure Rejet was the company that made the game originally, and they usually have a dictionary that will explain the meaning behind words when they pop up in text. So if they’re taking dialogue from the game directly, that might explain why it felt like there was a lot of missing information since the anime obviously can’t come with it’s own dictionary.
The action seemed interesting though. Nightfly O’Notes, despite winning this year’s award for most creative villain name that seems to have nothing to do with their designs, seem pretty generic. Though I guess in sentai, the mobs are generally pretty generic, and at least the boss of the mob seemed to have an interesting power. Plus they seem to be some kind of threat to the Earth regardless of their appearance, and might be an interesting villain as the series goes on depending on how threatening they are.
I guess at this point, I should mention that from what I’ve read about this, they aren’t quite on Earth. They’re actually in the Blue World (yeah, they didn’t even mention this in the episode), and the Nightfly O’Notes are from the Red World. Also, they did mention this in passing, but God is kind of gone, which has to do with the existence of the two worlds. I kind of wish they had included this information, since it’s a bit easier to understand and maybe a better hook for the first episode rather than “We are LAG who fight the Nightfly O’Notes through Resonance with our Substance” (which actually doesn’t sound as complicated as I found it in the episode now that I write it out). …But if they spent too long on that, maybe we wouldn’t have gotten the fabulous sentai fight sequence, so there is that, I guess.
They also only really decided to introduce a few unnamed characters, Yosuke, and Takt. A lot of the episode focused on Yosuke though. The impact of having him unable to transform was kind of lost in the episode, since it didn’t seem like too hard of a struggle for him to do it, but I guess it was a big deal. From his intro, he seemed like an angsty loner (though Takt seemed like he might even be angstier). It might be interesting to see how the characters all interact as a team (especially Engrish guy), but as for this episode, they mostly left Yosuke alone and that fight happened pretty much without him.
I wish I could say more about the mysterious blonde girl, but she’s not even the main heroine Akira, so I’m not entirely sure about what her role is in this series. She might take the role of Female Friend A, or she might be more important, so that should be interesting to find out.
If this is Akira though, she certainly had a cool introduction
Well the terminology lost me a lot during this episode, but it seems to be an interesting concept. The first episode treated this anime like it was a sentai action series as opposed to an otome game adaptation too (which seems to be a trend lately, with how Ozmafia and Prince of Stride were adapted), which might make the series work better story-wise. There seem to be a lot of story elements to this plot, so that was probably the best course of action too, though we’ll see how the other episodes go. Aside from that, I guess the animation wasn’t terrible and the characters, while angsty, don’t seem to be annoyingly angsty. I just hope that they actually get around to explaining a few things. I don’t mind what they did with this episode (and I do like the more natural dialogue), but I don’t know how interested I can stay if they just throw around terms without explaining a lot. I did like the small bit of exposition with the girl asking questions about the Substance, so if they can include bits like that once in a while, it would be great.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I wish I could say more about the mysterious blonde girl.
The blonde girl’s an anime original character, so I’m interested to see how she’ll be fitted into the game’s story.
The PS Vita version of this game was released in Japan last year, so I’m thinking the anime was made to raise awareness of the game and its new port (The original was a PS2 release back in 2010).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If there’s an original character squeezed into an already established story, you know things will diverge and those who are already familiar will notice the differences right away. Depending on who, some may not take kindly to that.
Well, I’m good since this is my first exposure.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Was a Vita version released? I never even noticed… But yeah, I knew about the PS2 version.
That’s interesting about the new girl though.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
The Vita version’s called Scared Rider Xecs Rev.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
They were still making PS2 games at that time? 2010 was already 4 years into the PS3 console era. I’d have thought all PS2 game productions would have ceased completely by then.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I guess they were? I know they were also making otoge for PSP until maybe 2 years ago, so maybe console life lasts longer over there.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Consoles are very popular for general Japanese gaming, and are considered mainstream over there.
In comparison, PC gaming is less common, mostly limited to indie games and hentai visual novels.
That’s why hentai visual novels that get a console port over there are edited to remove the sexual content (or imply it if total removal is harder).
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was released to the English world on the PS2 in 2010. Which I still haven’t played and after-market prices are expensive =S
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This is an adaptation from an otome game? A bit of an odd revelation looking at what transpired throughout. I usually expect anything related to otome material would be easy-going and almost fluffy.
Anyway, I wasn’t sold on this show’s first episode and found myself very uncaring. Nothing seemed to click. Not even the action had an effect and at present, I can’t remember a single character’s name. I can tell my interest will evaporate quicker than yours, Kara, if nothing more than what’s already on the table is offered.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
I usually expect anything related to otome material would be easy-going and almost fluffy.
Nowadays some otome games go down the dark and twisted path, with bad ends and (semi) crazy love interests galore. Diabolik Lovers is one such example.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Diabolik Lovers? Oh, yeah. I forgot that was an adaptation from an otome game. I finished the first season and went 8 episodes into the second then decided to wait until the rest were available. Guess it’s time to wrap that one up.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
This and DiaLovers were both made by Rejet too, which was the company that seems to have made the whole dark and edgy otome game genre more popular (or at least as far as I know).