Senko no Night Raid is potentially one of the better things so far this year. For those who're too busy watching Angel Beats and have no clue what this is, it's basically 1930's Chinese Ghost in the Shell.
The story follows that squad of four spies, their wily leader and his lanky assistant. Aside from the old man leader, they all have superpowers. The hotblooded main guy has telekinesis which he revels in spamming, his associate is a cool-headed teleporter who dislikes his powers, their girlfriend is a scrying telepath and her bodyguard's got eagle eyes. The aforementioned lanky, silent dude who's in the background of each episode can erase people's minds. Together they form an interesting team with some good dynamics, and so far their stories and outlooks seem pretty interesting. There's potential here.
Episodes basically flow like this: Political babble -> Characters doing stuff -> Crazy Metal Gear spy action. It seems like each episode has a different themed language too, this is the only series I've seen off the top of my head where the characters go from speaking Chinese to Japanese to German to Russian on a whim. Overall the series' pacing is satisfying, but may be too slow for some. I think this is the sort of series that would work a lot better dubbed.
The animation's good, and the backgrounds are gorgeous. I'm assuming they're accurate to the 1930's China setting. There's some use of CG all around, usually for the old-timey cars(btw there are car chases in these. and they are hilariously awesome). The OP animation is all cool and artsy. Not much else to say.
What really sticks out at me though is the music, I'm loving this OST. The OP is catchy as hell and the violin work is amazing, especially the action theme.
So yeah, what we got here is a fun and unique little spy romp with quite a bit of room to grow. If you like spy or historical stories, or are just looking for something non-moe, then this is a good deal. See also: RAINBOW.
I'll make sure to update this if the series turns to trash, but I doubt it'll jump in quality that far judging by what we have now.
