Ranked #2984

First Squad

First Squad is a music video, of sorts. Made by Studio 4°C, the anime short is set to a song by Russian rap artist Ligalayz.

This being a music video, it was very difficult to piece together a story from it based on what you see. What can be gathered is that a group of rebel young adults and teenagers are fighting against an army. In this war-torn world, these kids with extraordinary fighting and mercenary skill battle against the enemy for their survival. Are they fighting for themselves? A cause? Are they good or bad? We never know, it isn't revealed. The weak point of this short is that the images shown were so scattered, so convoluted that it was difficult to string together exactly what was happening on-screen amidst the violence and explosions.

Personally, this has to be Studio 4°C's best artwork to date. It looks amazing. The use of the kaleidoscope colour schemes, the crisp background, the defined character designs; to me, this is one good-looking music video. The animation is also excellent. The battle sequences, ranged and close combat, are animated fluidly and done quite expertly. Studio 4°C has more experimental art to its name, and now it offers a thoroughly professional art style.

The music to me was incredible. I am not limited to any particular genre of music, so I had no problem listening to and enjoying a Russian rap song. Even if this genre isn't your thing, the actual music is pretty good. You get this sense of military uniformity from the refrains of the song. There is the feel of desolation in the simple beats. It completely fits with the theme of rebellion of these youths. It sounds like a song of protest, and this is what this music video is about.

Unfortunately, not much can be said about any of the characters. The anime simply showed us who is who, and that was about it. We see them firing guns at some points, caught in lover's spats, onlooking, brutally fighting, but that's about it. However, each character does have their own look and with fleshing out, I do not doubt that this would have been a semi-interesting cast.

Overall, I loved this music video. The art and the sound won it over for me, but everything else was incredibly weak.

If you like Russian rap music, then by all means, check this one out. I can also recommend it to people who like seeing anime music videos that are actual music videos made for songs and not AMVs. Other than that, I think First Squad fits well as a music video. It's short, never leaves you bored with what you're seeing, and the visuals complement the music very well. read more