Ranked #2402

Mezzo DSA

Overall/Enjoyment:
I personally liked the show, but not sure if I liked it enough to own it, or even recommend it. It's not that the show was bad, but that there's nothing really outstanding or amazing about it. It was fine to watch and I finished it in about two days, but after I was done the only thought that came to mind was "ok, what to watch next..."

Story:
The story was about what one would expect from an action oriented show. It was good in so far as it didn't do anything unforgivably stupid or inane. The action was also decent, but surprisingly, not as much as I was craving. The first episode is pretty much the high point as far as the action goes and it never quite meets or surpasses that level again. The most surprising thing about the show was, compared to Gurren Lagann or Kiddy Grade, the amount of fan service present was almost negligible.

The series seems to continue from the OVA, and in that sense it's a good addendum for those curious to know a little more about the characters backgrounds and the workings of their world. Each episode tells a little story with a very thinly strung together overall plot that wraps up neatly at the end.

Still, all-in-all there's this inescapable feeling of "averageness". Something about it just didn't feel very inspired. The most interesting thing about the show, ironically, were some of the side plots. As an action fan, watching a show geared towards action, I think this says a lot. It would also explain why the OVA stands out and the series gets little mention. So there's a good chance you'll be entertained watching this series, and you'd have nothing to lose, but I'm not sure how much you'd gain either...

Characters:
This was probably my biggest problem with the show. It's not that there was anything wrong with the characters personalities, or development or anything like that. But they introduce this little sidekick girl that felt completely unnecessary and they give Mikura this younger/cuter makeover that just made things more awkward. I understand the logic behind it, probably to draw in more of the average fandom, but it's hard(er) to take shoot outs, over-the-top-ass-kicking, and the occasional perversion "seriously" when little girls are involved.

THAT aside, the characters were fine... they more or less retained their original persona's and each one had something different and interesting about them. I think the show would've benefited more from just concentrating on the three main characters and probably more focus on the three main antagonists, who did very little antagonizing in all actuality.

Art:
The art was solid. I liked quite a few of the designs and backgrounds and whatnot, but much like the action and the story, there was a very run-of-the-mill feel to this too. A lot of times the colors seemed flat and too many times the characters seemed too shiny or had weird facial proportions. The other weird thing about the art was that in two of the episodes they would "flashback" with scenes cut straight from the OVA. So it was a little weird (cheap?) seeing two different animations spliced together.

Sound:
The sound was ok, of course, nothing (good or bad) stood out. Well, except for the opening/ending songs, those were pretty terrible. The dub seemed ok as well, except for anything remotely emotional, those moments sounded really forced and cheesy. The dub also uses some swearing which isn't present in the subs. I don't have anything against this necessarily, but it doesn't do anything to undo or counter the whole younger/cuter element I mentioned earlier. read more