Ranked #358

Jormungand: Perfect Order

TL;DR - Jormungand: PO is a good anime

The crazy hijinks and bold plans with Koko and company continue in the sequel to Jormungand. How does the second coming of Jormungand fare? I’m here to tell you that it’s better this time around. How do you improve Jormungand’s formula, you ask? You make it more focused. Spoilers for the first season finale below.

So, Koko and her friends are still roaming the world and everything is swell. Oh wait, no it’s not. The story takes place right after the end of the previous one. R is a double agent who is spying on Koko for the CIA; Hex, a woman from Kokos past, is here for blood; All this while Operation Undershaft is trying to figure out what the hell Koko is trying to do. So let’s look at the formula set for the previous season and see it it still is in place here.

1. The crew arrives.
2. Stuff goes awry and they need a way out / need to out-think their opponents / straight up kill dudes.
3. Mission completed and on to next arc.

Yep. Although this time around the arcs are longer and more focused on storytelling rather than outmanoeuvring and killing enemies.

Here’s a run-down on the cast if you need to freshen your memory.

Koko Hekmatyar: Arms dealer, handling business mainly in Europe and Africa. Very charismatic and beautiful. Usually very energetic and behaving sometimes like a child, she has a ruthless interior and on multiple occasions called a monster. Although usually cool with a smile on her lips, Koko has one of the most intimidating glares in anime.

Jonah: Child soldier. His parents were killed in an air-strike and he became a child soldier shortly after. Has a strong hate for weapons, but still works for Koko, often serving as her bodyguard. He shows more understanding than expected from a child.

Lehm: Ex-Delta Force operator. Used to be active in Somalia. Second in command of Koko’s crew. Veteran mercenary who takes charge when armed conflict arises. Used to work for Koko’s father. Very versatile in weapon use, ranging from long-distance sniping to close quarters combat.

Valmet: Ex-Major serving for UN forces in Africa. Her unit got slaughtered by Chen Guoming and she lost an eye in the attack. Since then, she suffers from anxiety whenever she sets foot in Africa. Very proficient with knives and pistols. She is also in love with Koko, something which often is used as comedic relief.

Then there are the rest of the cast, that aren’t given much other than support roles most of the time. Technically only Koko and Jonah are the only real main characters, but Valmet and Lehm are given much more time on screen than the other side characters, so they sort of sneak into main roles.

Mao: One of the regular grunts of the group. Was discharged after a training exercise went awry. Picked up by shortly after. The only one of the group to have a family (as in wife + kids). He lied to them in order to leave. Teaches science to Jonah between missions.

R: Former Italian intelligence officer. Revealed in the last episode of the former season to be a mole for the CIA.

Ugo: Former Mafia driver and enforcer. Spared by Koko when his family was destroyed. A behemoth of a man, he possesses immense strength. The crew’s driver when needing a getaway.

Lutz: Former police sniper, part of a counter-terrorist unit. Very hesitant to kill young targets.

Tojo: Previous Japanese black-ops operative, working in places like Cuba. In charge of teaching Jonah maths between missions.

Wilee: Former explosives expert and ex-lieutenant of the 20th Engineer Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps of the US Army. Assigned to give Jonah English lessons between missions. Is the only member aside Koko to be black-listed by the FBI.

The perils of having a huge cast like this is just as apparent in the second season as it was in the first one, but the show does a better job at dealing out screen-time this time around and you quickly get a good vibe where everyone’s at. It’s still the same colourful cast with no subs, so if you liked them in the first season, there’s more goodness here. The opening arc, dealing with R being a double agent and Hex coming after Koko is without a doubt the series’ strongest, with some strong, emotional moments. It sets up a season that is in its entirety better than its predecessor. The stakes are raised for Koko and her compatriots. Nobody’s safe in this crazy world.

The second season takes a step back from the group dynamic at times and focuses solely on Jonah and Koko. They’re interesting contrasts. Koko is the daughter of a shipping magnate and presumably had a very peaceful, or at least pampered life as she grew up. Jonah meanwhile, grew up in a war-zone and had his parents blown up by a bomber, coincidentally sold by Koko’s brother, Kasper. Jonah hates weapons with all his being, and Koko sells them for a living. The two make a fantastic leading duo and represent the tension and morals towards the end of a magnificent series.

The morality of the characters are brought froward into the centre this time around, and when Koko reveals her master plan that she’s been working on for a long time, it’s surprising it wasn’t brought up earlier. I can understand the reason why it’s hidden for so long, but I don’t agree with the choice. It would have been interesting to have it in the open for longer and see how it affected the supporting characters.

So, the story. It’s better, considering there’s actually a story this time. From the first episode to the last, every episode is connected to Koko’s goal, which is revealed a bit into the season. The series sheds its episodic skin, and so the arcs are more focused and character-driven, much to my joy.

The art is just as clean and well-done as it was in the first series. Maybe even better. Some backdrops are absolutely stunning. The character design is much like the first series, although a bit more realistic in general this time around, when it comes to the supporting cast of revolving antagonists/partners.

The voice acting and soundtrack of the series is way better than the first season. Actors have more opportunities to get heated here and some excellent dramatic episodes bring out the best of all. The music is still top-notch, and the opening song especially is fantastic.

The theme and pacing are still the same in this second serving of Koko’s adventures. The more story-focused approach leads to a better balanced product, with the episodes being better structured and the tone being a bit darker. With it, my pleas for the show to have less comedy are answered, as the show did turn towards the more serious in this venture, and the show is better off without the forced comedic elements.

The antagonists and threatening forces this time around are more realistic and grim. There’s not a crazy villain with ridiculous fighting techniques. It’s guns vs guns and tactics + strategy in a wild dance of death.

Enjoyment-wise, Jormungand: PO lands a step above its former series with more thrilling planning; cooler action; better humour; and tear-inducing, heart-wrenching drama. Once again with a Jormungand series, the variance is its strength, balancing several genres and giving them good time. It’s one of those series’ where you finish one episode and keep watching. Not because there’s a crazy cliffhanger, but because the atmosphere, characterisation and execution of the series is so fantastic that you can help wanting to spend more time in Koko’s mad world. Jormungand: Perfect Order is a rare gem to find in today’s anime world, a show with an identity so unique and fresh you can’t help but be swept away by its charm. read more

“Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility” - Robin Morgan.

War indeed can be viewed as an inescapable and integral aspect of human culture. Sources claim 14,500 wars have taken place between 3500 BC and the late 20th century, costing 3.5 billion lives, leaving only 300 years of peace, but one dynamic concept of war has always been the tools used to wage it. We’ve seen the early man start with stones and clubs to advance to swords and with the discovery of gunpowder, bullets have also come into the fray, and the deadly nuclear and atomic warfare have also taken flight. The latest addition to this devastation inflicting family is information technology, but does this seemingly docile and easily accessible piece of technology be considered the most deadly weapon man has ever created?

The second season of Jormungand, sub-named ‘Perfect Order’ comes with some changes in plot devices as the arms dealing takes a back seat in place of informational warfare. We are introduced to the fact that Koko has some sort of plan in the making as we see her send several rockets into space with the viewer kept completely in the dark as to what could be the reason for this. Although not a mystery series, the way the plot and secrets nicely unfolds is both smart and entertaining at the same time.

Unlike the first season, intelligence agencies such as the CIA play a bigger role in the story. Viewers kept in the dark as to Koko’s plans are smartly inserted into the shoes of intelligence agencies as they try to discover what it is she is up to, this somewhat different approach is a welcome addition as it requires a bit of intuition from the viewer to keep up with the story unlike most series that just require you to simply look at the screen and diffuse any useless information that comes your way. The prequel was never presented with an antagonist that seemed would be able to go toe to toe against Koko in terms of wit but the second season states a claim on this with the introduction of new characters such as Hex and George Black who definitely seem to have the potential to push Koko and her crew to the wall.

Just as in the first season the series progresses in bi-episodic arcs, while this is a good strategy that helps the writer to focus completely on one aspect of the story, it also poses a problem of connection. Once one arc is over, the connection between the previous and the next arc is most of the time thread-thin. Only very brief conversations about the previous arc serves as the basis to connecting two story joints which can make the series seems a bit disjointed a times. Fortunately only being a 12 episode show it manages not to suffer the long term effects of such a predicament as it poses serious problem to character growth.

White fox have of course done a great job with the visuals, some nice notables was the studios use of shading, shadows were nicely placed in appropriate locations such as faces that depicted facial buildup of the characters and especially on the clothes. Some stressed emotions such as rage are also nicely conveyed by use of shading right under characters eyes. Being a show that depicted modern warfare it also consisted of mechanical parts such as vehicles and helicopters, the studio decided to use CGI to animate this. The CGI most of the times remains seamless with the surroundings and impressively a times we see mesh perfectly when interacting with hand drawn characters however those CGI elements that used a somewhat darker color tone seemed a bit sloppy and carried with it all that most anime fans resent of CGI animation. The second season also placed strong emphasis on location, as the team traveled to a large number of different cities around the world and white fox of course did not slack off on doing their research to make sure they capture a city’s scenery and populace accurately into the fray.

The place where the second season seemed to outdo itself far more than the first was with its choices of soundtracks. The soundtrack of the first season was great and honestly it was really unexpected that it would be something that could be built upon, but regardless it was done and with brilliant execution if i may add. The soundtrack consists of tracks from the first season, remixes of those tracks as well instrumentals that spanned into several genres such as rock, rap and even electro. Insert songs were included that to my surprise even included some Indian and French tracks.

In the first season Koko has always seemed one dimensional in her emotions, always reserving a cool, calm and collected demeanor, so it was with great joy that this mask of hers is cast away at certain places as we see a different side to her emotions; Fear, grief and rage are ultimately introduced into her character in certain places that went a long way in making her character seem ‘human’. The relationship between Koko and Jonah is also put to the test as their already seemingly weird unpronounced relationship is put under serious strain in some places and the overall decisions and actions they choose to take make up a big turning point in the show itself.

One of the first departments the series decided to give attention to was with the development of side characters, an aspect that was left barely touched from the first season. We get to see the past of the remaining members such as Tojo, R and Wilee up to their meeting with Koko. Instead of the show simply showing an entire episode of a characters’ past, it approaches it smartly by interchanging events between the past and the present, this ensured both development and advancement of the story at the same time, a “killing two birds with one stone” strategy if you’d like to call it. The lack of development in the first season that would no doubt leave fans with either Koko, Jonah or Lehm as character favorites are immediately put at risk as characters such as Wilee are presented to us in such an entertaining manner that one has to re-think their plans of favorite character.

While we do get to see the whole characters in the series finally developed and create a stronger connection to them emotionally, the end- result however was never built upon. A character immediately having their arcs completed are afterwards seemingly put back under the rock from which they were picked up from and revert to be nothing more than filling spaces as they once were. This blatant disregard and ignorance on the part of the writers will prove to be an extremely wasted potential as it was basically a great chance that opened new pathways and possibilities that the series could have and should have advanced in but never did.

With a mere 4 months between the first and second season we didn’t see too many improvements to the overall series as a whole, but there are little improvements here and there as we see in the thickening plot and the music. The series does still harbor it’s set of entertaining gun fights that with the help of great animation from white fox will leave most audiences dazzled.

As time moves on, man will continue to advance his science and technology, and with information warfare being his latest weapon, we have to wait and see what new toy we can make in future to better and effectively kill each another.
read more