Ranked #1346

Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Well, I was only expecting to watch Special A at the time, but found this instead. Since it was the weekend then, I was able to watch 4..or 5 episodes of this, from around episode 4 I believe. Initially, I expected something like Detective Conan, but of course that was wrong. MaLoki is a show that focuses on Norse mythos, the main character obviously being one of the deities.

The show is good for laughs, I'll admit, but if you're looking for detective work here, the manga does a better job, though of course the manga's focus isn't on that so it's still a far cry from any mystery novels and such.

It's surprising for me to find out that the mangaka who made the series which this anime is based on is also the co-creator of another anime/manga I watched and somewhat liked, Tactics.

Honestly, I like Yamino-kun here better than Loki, though he has his moments. Mayura is a bit more loopy here than in the manga, but she has her "fushigi mystery!" moments in the manga too..just not that often.

This series, manga or otherwise, I feel needs a little more fan love and I recommend it, as it's a funny series, but also delves into mythology (if a little bit distorted from the actual Norse myths) but as usual, I would rather people go for the manga instead, although the anime does have good clean animation and the episodes are nice, they just don't have that same feel as what the manga had. But maybe that's just me, missing the murder elements in the manga...ah well. read more

The overall story is definitely good and to a point original. The idea of a god stuck on Earth forced to collect evil souls is a good one and the anime even gives you a small amount of information on Norse Mythology (the manga tells you more but what it doesn't tell you, you can look up).
I was mostly pleased with the fact that the anime didn't have the standard characters that comedy animes usually have; the lecherous pervert who somehow gets away with only a hit on the head, the klutzy girl/guy who trips over her/his own feet all the time, or the immature adult who can't act his own age. The fact that these three highly annoying character types are NOT present in this anime is a definite bonus.
The anime does follows the manga to a point but as per usual, changes the story a little bit as needed. Some scenes in the anime are completely different than the chapters they mimic in the manga and some scenes in the anime just plain don't exist in the manga.
The only thing I didn't like about the anime is the ending. It seemed rushed and hastily thrown together. Despite the shoddy job on the ending, it doesn't leave too many questions and any it does leave can be answered by doing a little homework on Norse Mythology (hint: Ragnarok).
The anime is pretty much anything but serious but it does have it moments. The series would have been better had they stretched out some of the episodes from one to two. The actual serious points of the anime could not be brought across to the audience in half an hour and should have followed Black Butler in stretching one episode into two.
I recommend this series to anyone looking for a laugh but also something that older viewers can watch without feeling like they're five. read more