(This review, nor this series is nothing so pretentious)
Preface:
Ah, Triage X. Heralded as "that" anime that crops up every season, promising huge bra sizes and more swinging breasts and panty shots than you can shake a stick at- Triage X does that and more. In more than one way, it's the spiritual successor to the long pined after season 2 of High School of the Dead, and in its own way ends up being something else entirely. It's kind of the Rugrats: All Grown Up version of HOTD, if you will.
Before I start reviewing, let it suffice to say that nobody went into Triage X looking for an emotionally moving, intellectual, character driven plot... No, it's just dumb fun.
Let's get into it, shall we?
(Note: I'm going to break out the fanservice scale again for this one.)
Artwork and Animation: 7 {Fanservice: 10 Bouncing Boobs out of 10}
I hadn't seen anything by Xebec before, but I have to say that it looked just fine. The bloody gunshots, dismemberments, stabs, rips, gouges, beatings, and many other wounds were appropriately juicy. There are currently censors on the versions that are available to watch now, but I assume it will be filled to the brim with giant breasts and butt shots when the home video release comes out. Truly bringing Shoji Sato's vision of the perfect look to life.
I'm not really sure how low the budget is, but it doesn't bother me. The CGI bike actually looks decent too. (Maybe I've been watching some badly low budget stuff lately and am tainted.)
Sound and Voice Acting: 8 {Fanservice: 8 Sexy Moans out of 10}
Nothing really to complain about here. One standout though, and that's Fuyuka Ooura as Dr. Yuko Sagiri. Also the voice of Miyo Takano, she really brings the chilling, dangerous element to the voice part here.
The opening and ending songs are solid J Rock stuff, and the insert songs are mostly hard rock that fit the action, and string sections for more serious parts.
Characters and Story: 6 {Fanservice: 8 Hyped Up Set Pieces Involving Action Girls!}
Okay, let's be real. These characters' backstories, aside from Hitsugi and Arashi, are NOT explored. In the grand scheme of the show, does it really matter? This show about action girls with implausibly large chests being super badass and not takin' no shit. It's not a character drama, it just needs some people in there that you can watch rip shit up.
This is high action at its best. Ultraviolent at times (Execution style headshot with a crossbow into a burning warehouse, YEAH!). Ultrasexual at others (Bath scene while discussing torture methods- shout out to Higurashi!). They even got the Mad Max (and more recently 'cool' in Walking Dead) *cuffed to something, throws a hack saw* "You can saw through your arm faster than you can get through those handcuffs, if you want to get away". (Lampshaded, too- for good measure)
Overall, full of cool action scenes taken straight out of famous movies- bike chases, crashing through windows, biological weapons, torture, huge shootouts, explosions, skyscrapers- it's a giant mashup of action cliché where everything is over exaggerated. This is the essence of Shoji Sato.
Triage X does actually have a functional episodic plot, objectively speaking. I don't know if you've seen Dexter, the Showtime series, but Mr. Sato ripped the plot off, adding a medical theme and some hot chicks instead of a psychopath who shoots 3s (except for Yvonne Strahovski).
It's that coupled with a late night titty movie with action girls, except in TV form. It's a 10 episode version of those lovably bad B movies that come on really late at night that you watch drunk or when you can't sleep.
This isn't prime time TV, this isn't movie theater stuff. It's a bargain bin item in that sketchy, dark corner of the video store with the stained carpet under that blinky light.
(If you don't know- Dexter is about a forensic investigator who moonlights as a serial killer of people he believes escaped justice).
Enjoyment and Overall: 9, 7 {Fanservice: 10 Jiggly Pairs of Physics Breaking Boobs}
I can't convince anyone else that it's lovable schlock and not utter ecchi harem garbage, but it's in fact the B movie kind of schlocky! (B is for "best"). However, if you fux with High School of the Dead, you probably like Shoji Sato's work, and it's the perfect schlock. I think Shoji Sato is a secret genius.
I also think Triage X and HOTD are both great for what they are- giving these hardcore ecchi fans what they want, no matter how vehemently they deny it! People want ambiguously underage girls with huge boobs shooting stuff up, along with a blank slate main male character who gets all the Tang to project themselves onto.
It's true.
Look at the state of the anime industry today- As I said above, there's always that anime, (or several of them) that does nothing but pander to its sexually repressed audience. Shoji Sato knows his audience, and he is laughing all the way to the bank.
Wrap-up and Recommendation:
If you like High School of the Dead and are looking for even bigger action and boobs (Yuko has a 43.7 inch band size, holy impossible two headed cow!) you have come to the right place. There's just enough story to keep it moving onto bigger and badder set pieces, and is really the only anime this season I've been excited to watch every week. Call me a weirdo, masochist, whatever.
As a friend once told me, "If you eat fancy steak every night, sometimes you just want to eat a greasy hamburger." Triage X is a big, greasy anime hamburger.
Final Score: 7
{Fanservice: 9 Parts Sexy, 1 Part Rule of Cool}
