Betterman

Keita Aono is an ordinary high school student who loves to chat with his friends about military technology and the girls in their class. One day, Keita is surprised and delighted by a new transfer student in his class, his childhood friend Hinoki Sai. But when Keita tries to catch up with Hinoki after school, he accidentally wanders into Bottom World—an underground amusement park whose opening was canceled due to an unexplained tragedy.

As Keita explores the area, he eventually finds Hinoki in the cockpit of a strange robot. She is here on behalf of Akamatsu Industries, a company contracted with the secretive international organization Mode Warp to investigate strange cases of violence worldwide. After joining Hinoki in the robot, the pair attempt to defend themselves against the various attractions of Bottom World, which have come to life and become violent. However, they are unable to escape until a man with transforming powers—dubbed "Betterman"—joins their struggle. Faced with an enemy he does not understand and a slew of mysterious new technology, Keita joins Akamatsu Industries in a fight against a force they call "Algernon."

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Betterman, Lamia Main

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Sai, Hinoki Main

Hikami, Kyouko Japanese

Aono, Keita Main

Yamaguchi, Kappei Japanese

Sakura Supporting

Iwao, Junko Japanese

Asami, Miyako Supporting

Kuwashima, Houko Japanese

Chandy Supporting

Kuwashima, Houko Japanese

Yanagi, Shou Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Akamatsu, Shigeru Supporting

Chafurin Japanese

Fuchuu, Ritsuko Supporting

Kawakami, Tomoko Japanese

Heichi, Kazuho Supporting

Kuwashima, Houko Japanese

Sasaki, Shirou Producer

Kobayashi, Shinichirou Producer

Kouchiyama, Takashi Assistant Producer

Yonetani, Yoshitomo Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Theme Song Performance, Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Lyrics, Planning, Original Creator

Reviews

Oct 4, 2014

Hatul

Recommended

This is one of the weirdest, most screwed up anime I've ever seen. And in a medium such as this (plus, considering the amount I've seen), that's saying a lot.
But I mean that in the most positive way and I think this title deserves far more attention than it gets. There's simply nothing else I can think of that's quite like it.

This is a spoiler free review.

*Story* 9/10

Down to it, It's about a couple of teenagers who join some secret organization to pilot crude looking mechs and fight against weird creatures they know nothing about, alongside a macho pretty boy with rainbow colored hair who ... transforms in to a giant monster when he eats fruits...
I'm sure that no drugs were consumed during the making.

Alright, In all seriousness, the first thing you'll notice is that the atmosphere in this show is very weird. It's somewhat lighthearted and cartoony, but very dark and creepy at the same time. I'm gonna guess that this is the primary reason this series isn't popular, but I for one found this atmosphere to be very refreshing and exceptional. I can't think of anything that's quite like it and it made me feel all weird inside... The reason this tone works here is because it rarely becomes particularly dramatic or edgy so the lighthearted silliness that while creepy things are going down doesn't have much to clash with and it also helps humanize the characters in various ways.

Another thing you'll notice is that it's not focused as much on the mecha as you'd expect, it's a lot more about its science fiction which also happens to have horror elements in it, while we follow a group of characters in their journey of encounters with the unknown. It feels like the creator threw all of his childhood nightmares in to it and was able connect all of them in to a pretty massive story with rich lore behind it.

The main theme here revolves around genetics and evolution and as implied by the title, making humanity "better" by stepping in to its next stage of evolution. The story also has a strong scientific foundation where nearly everything from how the mechs function to where the creatures came from can be explained through scientific terminology that gets thrown around and is usually excused with some analogy to a fun fact from real life biology.

Although there is a lot of terminology used here, the exposition delivery of it is fantastic. It's always motivated by the characters delivering it and the context of events, it is used exclusively for explaining the science (as opposed to events, which are always shown, NOT told) never feels forced, or like it overstays its welcome and is accompanied by great visuals and fun character interactions.

In terms of the actual story that unfolds, everything that happens eventually feels significant, since many early events that don't seem that important end up triggering ones that come much later. It is pretty complicated, but it's not that hard to follow since they explain most things pretty well.
Some episodes might confuse the hell out of you, but it won't leave you confused for long. It does an excellent job of consistently raising and answering questions as the scope and scale of the series keeps growing. In the end it also wraps things up in quite an epic and solid manner while leaving no loose ends behind and connecting everything that happened previously.

It isn't without its issues though.. It does get a tad chaotic in terms of pacing at certain points (seriously, sometimes major events happen within minutes of each other). Another thing that could be troubling for some is that there's subtle foreshadowing that is purely visual from time to time, which is cool, but might make things confusing for first time viewers. Lastly, the Betterman character interferes in many battles which also means that the weak main characters seem somewhat safe or plot armored, while very narrowly escape death in some cases (there is an ability as well as a motivation that allows him to do this though).
With that said, I think all this is just a small price to pay for such an outstanding narrative.

*Characters* 8/10

It has a fairly colorful cast consisting of a military geek, some cool old man, a hot scientist chick, some disturbed teenage girl and of course the manliest pretty boy anime has to offer - Better-man himself (and a few others).

The character interactions are quite fun and they generally have very good chemistry together which is what really pulls the characters through in the end.

The cast is a little big and they all play certain roles in the story. All of the major characters have complete arcs and we delve in to them pretty nicely as well as develop their relationships while making them feel more comfortable with one another. Eventually they also have backstories which are revealed that are actually very relevant to the story as well.

With that said, I would still argue that the roles they play do seem to overshadow who they are as characters to an extent because the priority of this show seems to be more on the atmosphere and the events themselves and doesn't bother much to give character drama which normally results in more character defining moments. There is some drama, sure, but it's fairly subdued since a lot of it comes in the form of subtle hints throughout the series about the nature of these characters and their relationships with one another. They usually get along with each other pretty well and the instances in which they don't are resolved fairly quickly because of the urgent situations they're in.
So it may be a little more difficult to connect with some of them in your first viewing.

They generally seem to react accordingly to the bad things surrounding them, but I wouldn't say they're particularly scarred that badly by anything they see. Which may have been warranted at points.

Better-man himself is a cool character that is easy to get behind because of his mannerisms and appearance. But we don't discover what his true motive is until it is revealed late in the series which means we only discover who he is and so he remains fairly static throughout the whole thing.

The series also shows off some disturbing and memorable villains that may not have that much depth but they come off as quite menacing and each of them have motivations that mirror each other and further compliment the central theme of the series.

All in all, this is a great cast of characters. Each one works on their own as well as in a group. They can be campy, they can be serious and each one has a wide range of emotions. They also all get fitting closure by the end of the series.


*Art* 8/10

As one of the last examples of cell animation before everything went digital, The art-style here has a semi cartoonish look to it and with character designs all looking quite colorful and with somewhat silly designs which give you a clear idea of their personalities and allows for them to be very expressive. There's a large variety of creepy and dark locations that contrast a bit with the characters, and yet still fit perfectly due to an excellent use of shading/lighting effects. In terms of animation and the level of detail it's pretty solid but nothing particularly special and there's even a little reused footage a couple of times (that are used purposefully btw) . On the other hand, it has quite a variety of weird looking creatures, character expressions that are always on point, as well as a great deal of action.. The mecha designs are pretty crappy, but when Better-man himself shape shifts in to his different forms, each of his designs look really cool and you get a lot of opportunities to see him duke it out with other monsters/mechs/tanks and whatnot. The creepy imagery in general is stunningly shot with very unique compositions and creative editing techniques to the point where you can easily recognize this anime and distinguish it from others just by watching it for a few seconds.

I should also mention that Betterman is a landmark series since it is the first tv anime to be shown in widescreen or 16/9 aspect ratio, something that was unheard of at the time of its release and didn't become commonplace until the late 2000s. I have a theory for why it had this privilege and it has to do with its horror elements and a possible desire to make the locations look bigger in relation to the characters. But it may just be a simple tech demo with no deeper reason for it.

So overall it really has its own visual identity which is more than I can say about most modern anime and its visual style compliments the bizarre tone of the series perfectly.

*Sound* 8/10

In terms of the (Japanese) voice acting there's an excellent cast here with some famous voices that seasoned anime fans should be familiar with. a wide range of fitting voices, everything from the geeky , to sexy, to incredibly creepy to the badass and the acting is always on point (it's also pretty anime-ish and doesn't attempt to sound too realistic). The only time it might feel a tad dry is in some instances when there's a lot of technobabble, but there's also a great deal of emotion when it needs to be there and that includes pretty much all the characters. The creepy sound effects and the mostly ominous sounding tracks play a significant role in the atmosphere, so it generally sounds very nice, with some outdated effects here and there. Though as effective as it is for the series, I'm honestly not sure how well some of these tracks hold up on their own.

The series also eases you in masterfully with a very quiet and soothing OP song just to make sure you're comfortable before the mind frak kicks in. And the ED song (much like the series as a whole) is weird, intense and simply one of a kind. I can confidently say that it is THE BEST ED song I've ever heard! I can't even describe it, you have to listen to it for yourself.

*Enjoyment* 10/10

Love it to the point of obsession! I've been watching anime for a very long time so coming across something like this made me feel like I was still in my early days because of how unique and strange it is. It was creepy, thought provoking, weird, action packed and it even had some light and tasteful fan-service. The weirdness might not be for everybody.. But seriously, if this turns you off why are you watching anime in the first place? For the cute girls? Well then frak you! I'm watching it for weird stuff that I can't find in western mediums, thank you very much.

*Overall* 9/10

Honestly, this review was quite difficult for me to write since this is a very tough series to review properly and do it justice.. It's just strange to such a degree that makes it hard to talk about it.
All in all, Betterman is one of a kind. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anybody, but it's really something you have to see to believe.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 28, 2023

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Mixed Feelings

A brainchild of the late 90s, Betterman is a dark sci-fi about a very bleak future engulfed by twisted technology. Like most b-grade anime of that time, the budgets were not the best and the animators were often resorting to simple tricks such as using live action footage instead of bothering to animate something. It’s why the opening looks so weird, combining the actual ocean with generic anime designs. And yes, they are generic despite having weird multi-colored hair like Yugioh characters. It was a trend at the time.

Following the path brought forth by Neon Genesis a few years back, whenever you don’t have the ... money to show something, go for minimalism and keep things vague or unfocused. The lead monster definitely looks and usually moves around amazingly, but everyone else is very cartoony with very choppy animation. The addition of low brow fan service and slapstick humor don’t help either, since they are used to chew time and excuse the lack of fluent animation by making it seem it is some sort of gag comedy. When it isn’t; it’s psychological horror.

It excels at maintaining a thriller atmosphere for as long as it’s keeping the monsters hidden from the viewer. Remember how creepy the fog effect was in the first Silent Hill games? Well, think of something similar but with darkness. You never see something as it really is because it is either hiding in the dark, behind a wall, or looks intentionally blurry. It makes it ten times scarier, and adds to the dementia. Unfortunately this trick is ruined when eventually they show the monsters, and they are not that scary in broad daylight.

The characters are as I mentioned already overall plain. So are their designs. The protagonist is your generic beta male dork with glasses, paired with a tom boy girl, whose only distinctive feature is a multi-colored lock of hair, that is somehow an inherited trait, since her brother has it too. The same plainness extends to how all other characters and monsters look. They are also so colorful compared to the mostly dark sceneries and stick out like a sore thumb. They also do typical anime ero-crap that feel very out of place with the eerie tone of the story.

The plot is all over the place. The set up is quite generic; teenagers with sexual awkwardness and a dramatic past, become part of a secret organization that fights genetic freaks with a mecha. On one side it is usually semi-episodic, meaning that elements from one event cross over immediately to the next one, like a slowly developing detective mystery. On the other hand, the majority of the duration is spent on silly school comedy and battles with monsters of the week, which almost always have a very predictable outcome; this macho dude always pops up and saves the good guys when they are in trouble. Also most of the cool ideas don’t last more than a single episode. Here you are with a great bio-ultra-killing worm that can annihilate all life on Earth and you hardly see it for more than two episodes. There are a hundred awesome concepts for recurring villains and world threats that last less than 30 minutes each. Meaning that the mystery part is done quite well but there is very little of it as a whole.

The themes of forced evolution of life and its dehumanizing effect are also looked into to a satisfying degree, I remember my pretentious overthinking younger self having a blast with the way they kept bringing up mythology, science, religion, and philosophy into the mix, making it feel far bigger than how it actually plays out. What can make a man better than he already is? The initial approach is genetics; enter gruesome biological experiments. Then there is the state of mind. You can’t have a great body without an appropriate mind to come along. Revelations and master plans come up. And then we have the perfection of the soul, so here comes enlightment, shedding of the physical boundaries, and disgust for inferior beings by ascended beings. Really, the story gives a lot of food for thought, and it’s almost sad to see how they are treated as an afterthought for comedy and battles.

At least they bother to explain and explore all that, plus the ending is solid. Ok, it’s also vague since you are not exactly sure what happened to most of the characters, but it definitely wraps up all major plot threads. But I can’t defend the writing as crafty either; Betterman is a walking plot devise that exists to save the heroes in almost every episode with hax powers. There will always be a way to beat a super monster in 5 minutes, the villains appear and disappear at will, stunts get killed in a flash, but the main characters survive more effectively than cockroaches.

Not a great show by any means, it’s worthwhile for its atmosphere and philosophical concepts and passable for everything else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 19, 2022

Zanryu1337

Not Recommended

It is honestly astounding how self-secure and pretentious one anime can be while simultaneously crash-landing so hard as a flaming hot soup of mumbo jumbo. Betterman tries to juggle so many different topics, genres and minor plot lines that all of them fall out of their hands, creating an inconclusive something of a story with more questions than answers.

Possibly the biggest problem for this Anime was in how inefficiently every minute was used as most of the episodes follow a clearly distinguished pattern. First of all, most of the episodes are mini-arcs as they follow certain events. Some of them are only one episode but ... some are two or more.
I'll start with the middle section where usually the stuff happens. Action, Drama, et cetera. Now comes the first interesting part. Most of the episodes lack an ending. More often than not a minor cliffhanger is placed at the very end before the ending song (with no after credits whatsoever). The very next episode usually has a summary at the beginning of what transpired between the end of last episode and the beginning of the next. This is absolutely considered as one of the worst offenders against Show, Don't Tell. Because the characters tell us everything, often over the course of 5 to 10 minutes. Most of the time, they could just skip the section and have us watch what happened, but that covers the next problem this Anime has.

Betterman loves to TRY to explain everything. Extra emphasis of try, as most of the time they just spout random nonsense trying to make sense of it. And I leave the fantasy word names of abilities aside here, as most of them could come out of a Harry Potter Book. One of the weirdest moments came at end of the first season when out of nowhere this statement was made: "Plants can read minds of humans like a polygraph."
A bit of minor context: The first season big bad utilized plant pheromone to control an insect army. After stopping of machinery behind the plant that statement was made out of nowhere. There was no further reason to elaborate this, except to sound smart. This feature is prominent throughout the whole series. Really simply things are explained often in such a convoluted manner that the viewer can hardly follow them. Controversially the cast often make the right assumptions out of nowhere, often accompanied with attempts of scientifically explaining them, especially when they are in dire situations. It artificially extends the scene and diminishes the tension severely as all of the battles in the series are won by brawn and not by brain.

The brawn aspect has such a prevalent presence in this anime, that I mostly call this Anime Betterman Ex Machina, as in every single occasion the assumed main-cast fails, Betterman (the character) comes to the rescue and the day is saved, most of the times if not, even he gets saved by another person and the enemy flees.

<The next few sections will contain character and story details and thus possible spoilers.>

While I mention the main-cast: One day, Keita stumbles through an unopened theme park where he's assaulted by the park robots. And because a mass murdering has happened the night before an specialized robot enforcement team tries to find out why and by whom. As one of the pilots has died Keita fills the unoccupied seat and literally falls into the story of this Anime.
Everything about this feels contrived. First of all the robots, have to, for some reason, be controlled by two persons at the same time, one for the bottom and one for the top half. It is never really explained of why and is just so weird. Especially when they start to shout at the bot for voice commands, which must be the single most dumbest idea in the whole anime, but I digress. Aside the voice commands, the bot also features a mind-reading particle converting ability which basically can do everything and more. Melt robots? Yes. Create an ice-storm? Of course. Electrify the water? Surely. The robots itself are such a big Deus Ex Machina device that more isn't really needed.
Ironically the story proves us wrong at every single instance, because Betterman has to show up. He is the namesake after all. Betterman basically are an old lifeform which can transform with the help of certain flowers which grow on freshly departed people. Those transformation cover a small range, from dragon to manta ray and rhinoceros. If one doesn't do the job, he is most likely to switch to another one until he succeeds. The strangest about his character is that he almost has none. Despite the fact that he is somehow connected to the secondary protagonist. But that is also never explained. His sole motivation lies in the protection of his "hope", which encompasses the two main characters, but those didn't do anything at the end, except getting smacked into a wall.

<End of spoilers>

The secondary cast is similar to the main cast. Most of them seem to be involved in the plot, somehow, but don't contribute anything meaningful to it, besides commentary and stalling time.

Especially with some members having, lack of a better term, superpowers, which mostly range in premonition and dowsing (way finding), the prominence of topics this anime tries to handle is far beyond their capabilities. Super Powers, Mecha, Science, Drama, Mystery, Horror, Action, Adventure, School Life. And I probably have forgotten some of them. Not to mention the psychological aspects many of the cast go through. "Verbally abusing their child" and "living with ADHD" are touched upon, but never really addressed.

In many regards, especially with the wide arrange of topics, themes and especially the time this was made: There are many overlaps between Betterman and Neon Genesis Evangelion, whose Anime aired 4 years before the former. At first glance they may seem similar but the difference become apparent fast, as Betterman simply lacks the vision, direction and the nuances NGE had.

Betterman is a weird anime with so many technical terms, fantasy words and explanation that you quickly forget that there is something of an underlying plot in all of this. It mostly covers the hubris of humans in their search for immortality. But everything falls flat in this mess of genres and Deus Ex Machinas. It is an interesting premise dumbed down by its attempts to sound smart without knowing what it wants to do with the words except stringing them together.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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