Betterman

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.

y' know.. this is the best mecha I've ever senn far more better than NGE NGE in my opoinion was pretty booooooring.. but in betterman there was action giong on all the time.. thats why i love this anime.. but there was one thing that reaalyy pissed me off. KEITA AONO that guy is one of the most hated anime characters of mine.. in my opinion he is such a @#$%...but story line is very well made-orirginal plot...

Betterman is a show that crosses sci-fi tech, supernatural elements, and at times, straight up magic. I'll be reviewing Betterman with my personal rating system consisting of rating five categories out of 100 points, and then multiplying them out by a weighting factor to get a score between 0, and 100. The categories are Acting/Characters, Plot, Enjoyment, Atmosphere/Theme/Setting, and Visuals/Audio/Effects.

Acting/Characters
The show consists almost entirely of a central cast of characters you'll be seeing a lot of. Most secondary characters that don't become major later in the plot aren't shown in detail. While the characters are not particularly complex, none of them are played up ... for a single trait. Each has several traits, and are, within reason, believable. The characters are also used well, and in balance, with some acting as comedic relief, but also being serious as the situation requires. While some of the characters can seem annoying or flat, you learn more and more about them as time goes on, and they become far more likable.
The characters were solid, and enjoyable, but nothing special, and that's why I gave this category 75 points.

Plot
The plot of Betterman is perhaps one of the best, and one of the worst traits of the series. Betterman will leave you constantly guessing as it does not try to explain the majority of what's going on. While the series does bring everything back to a solid conclusion which ties together all the confusing elements throughout the show, and resolves the central conflict, it can be a deal-breaker if you're not the type of person who is willing to wait 26 episodes to get a firm grip on what's going on. At the same time, the entire show has a multitude of themes running through it, about genetics, evolution, spirituality, and so on, that are enjoyable, and occasionally make you stop and think. Another complaint about the series is that while everything ties in at the end, there's still a huge variety of threats, and elements to the plot that are largely disparate logically, if not thematically. One might, perhaps, see this as someone having a lot of ideas, and just tossing them all in and trying to make them fit together after. Whichever it is, they are linked together competently, and so it's not a major concern. Be advised, however, that some things may not be explained satisfyingly, such as the Animus flowers.
While the plot itself seems like a tangled mess as you go through it, it wraps up and clarifies in a way that makes sense when you look back on it. Still, this leads to a less enjoyable experience, as well as there being other weak points. I gave this category 70 points.

Enjoyment
While this wraps up enjoyably, though, perhaps, to a slightly unsatisfying conclusion, Betterman's seemingly tangled plot lead me to not enjoying a fair amount of the series, especially early on, as much as I would have liked. Characters are solid, and pleasant. Comedy is sufficient to not make the series dry. At the same time, it stays serious when it needs to.
While Betterman had the potential to be far more enjoyable, the plot issues definitely brought down the enjoyment. 65 points.

Atmosphere/Theme/Setting
The setting is... well, it's all over the damn place, and doesn't really result in any cohesion. At the same time, I had nothing bad to say about most of the locations. The theme of the show, however, was a solid and enjoyable look at Humanity's goals, and the role of evolution and, to an extent, spirituality. The atmosphere of the show was very creepy. The show plays a lot on things happening in the mind, and raises creepy concerns that are never really resolved. The way they portray a lot of characters is disturbing, and is used to creepy effect both when it is something, and when it isn't. A lot of the locations are dark and creepy, as are a lot of the events, and plot elements. Perhaps the most creepy part of the series is a flashback that occurs later on in the series that takes the hiding of faces to a whole new level.
The atmosphere and themes were pretty solid, while the setting could have used more work. Overall an 80.

Visuals/Audio/Effects
These are lumped because they're things I don't generally care as much about unless they're extremely good, or extremely bad, and they all run along the same vein. The visuals and effects were enjoyable. The animation was at no point disturbing, and the visuals and audio really played into the creepy atmosphere. At the same time, a lot of the attacks and the like in the show seemed very same-y and could have benefited from a little more variety. The voice acting seemed decent, though at times the analytic monotone of Miyako became somewhat annoying.
Where the visuals fall short, the audio backs it up making this a solid 75 points.

Overall a solid show. It's not great, but it's very good, and unlike pretty much any other series I've seen. Definitely worth a watch if any of the themes running throughout the show interest you. Betterman is a solid 73/100 or 7/10.