Ranked #1403

Needless

NEEDLESS to say....

While Needless bears many similarities to a previous anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, I feel that these comparisons are unfair and often lead to many people rating this series down. Comparing one's work of art with the Mona Lisa is an unfair one, after all.

Needless begins off on a very good note, full of high-octane energy and very manly characters. While it is admittedly similar to Gurren Lagann, it really stands in a class of its own. The story... what story? Fans of this series aren't really interested in the story, or at least in my point of view. Its a generic setting with generic characters. A badass hero, a moe heroine, a kid, an old guy. The characters don't exactly set themselves apart either, with very unoriginal backgrounds.

Now that the bad parts are out of the way, let's talk about the good. Where do I start? Needless is full of incredibly good stuff, with fantastic art (although there are some dips in quality here and there, but little enough to ignore). The music, is brilliant. While pretty much unnoticible in most parts of the show, it is when the action kicks off that the music really gets going. Heavy metal riffs with fast beats really serve to get your heart racing during the epic battle scenes. The visuals are good, with a suitable style for a show of its type. They really don't spare on the blood either, which is a good thing (for most people, I trust).

Ultimately, NEEDLESS is a series that really focuses on what its good at, and cuts away pretty much else. And what its good at, is providing ENJOYMENT. Yes, the slapstick humour, funny (though not very interesting) characters, the epic battle scenes and heavy metal guitar all combine together to provide an extremely enjoyable series. If you want to have a good time, and aren't really interested in heavy plots, emotional baggage, and complex character development, then NEEDLESS is for you! read more

NOTE: I have not read the manga, so manga readers can go to the manga page for this show and talk about it there. This review is for the anime only.

Although I've only seen 3 episodes at this point, I think I've seen enough to write a fair review. I'll update it later of course to reflect the future scope of the story, because at this time it's still not completely clear what's really going on. Besides the fact that we know Simeon is evil, what the Needless are, and that they are after Adam Blade.

STORY: 7 (Good)

The story so far is typical of a shounen, with nothing really outstanding to set it apart from the rest. It's not overly simple though, so I believe it's worthy of being called "Good".

The evil organization, Simeon, is out to exterminate the Needless, which are a sort of "super-human" who possess varying abilities (usually one per Needless). One of the main characters, Adam Blade, possesses the strange ability to copy the powers of other Needless he comes in contact with (think Sharingan), and use them all at his leisure. Eve has the Doppleganger ability, and can take the form of others using either a picture, description, or by coming in contact with them. So far, we don't know much about Cruz (such as whether or not he may be a Needless but just doesn't know it yet), so for now, he plays the part of the currently-weak, developing character that might turn out to be more useful later on.

Throw in a couple of thought-provoking elements such as the Black Spot and Adam Arclight, and the stage is set for (potentially) a moderately interesting shounen.

ART: 8 (Very Good)

While the art isn't really top-notch, it's well done, and there's not much to complain about. Some found that in episode 2 the special attacks were rather bland, due to reused animation and the fact that each character took longer to "call out" their attack rather than to actually do it... But I found this little problem less obvious in episode 3. It seems like they cleaned up their act a bit. Episode 3 bumped up my judgement to "Very Good".

SOUND: 10 (Outstanding)

Let's face it, the OP rocks. I like the rock music played throughout other parts of the show as well. It's nice. I'm a bit WTF'd by the ED though, I actually find myself skipping past it every time due to it making my IQ take a temporary plunge, but I won't take points away for that... It's at the end anyway.

CHARACTER: 7 (Good)

It's about what I'd expect from a show of its genre. Each character has room to grow, so it has potential. I liked Adam right off the bat, and Eve is definitely doing a good job of keeping the show fun. I'm not partial to Cruz at all but maybe that will change. As I said, they have room to grow, but by the same token, they're nothing special at the moment.

ENJOYMENT: 9 (Great)

At the end of the day, I enjoy watching this show. This is not the kind of show I have to force myself to get to watching, unlike some other shows I'm watching at the moment (*cough* Haruhi S2 Endless Eight *cough*). Seeing Adam kick some ass, I'll admit, is mindless, plain-old fun. And you're always curious as to what Eve will do that episode. Curiosity is a big part of what keeps me coming back for more.

OVERALL: 7 (Good)

This show has room to grow, and for those of you who judged it after episode 2, at least give it one more. Episode 2 didn't sit well with me either particularly, but I found the third episode redeemed everything a little. And after all, who knows where it's really going yet?

I'll keep watching it for sure. I vastly prefer shows that are more thought-provoking, have deep stories, and well developed characters, but to be honest, this show is just fun in it's own way. Sometimes it's good to throw away the rules and rock out to some over-the-top action.

Go watch the OP. I bet that'll have some of you at least trying it out. read more