009-1

This anime is kinda old comparing to the day i'm writting this which is 15-10-2015 this was realeased in 2006 so keep this in mind if you are considering watching this. I liked 009-1 it's a story about an special ops assasin that works for a company in security mainly, the action part is really good in the anime the plot itself kinda feels it could give us more. Watch this with the intent of watching an action based anime don't go for the story which is nice but nothing from the other world. Overall an good anime to pass the time watching and for ... the year it was realised the anime is actually quite good.

This anime is just the best of all !! 10/10


summary :
Most of the missions portrayed in the series are finsihed during one episode. One of the fortes of 009-1 are the bad guys: most of them have history and personalities instead of being just nameless enemies, destined to be killed by the heroine. 009-1 carefully and loyally maintains the stereotypical propaganda of evilness of the Eastern Block that was typical for James Bond and the like, but still manages to make that evilness interesting and intricate.

On the other hand, small and practically separate stories make the stroryline as a whole seem fragmented. 009-1 isn't ... as 'addicitve' as many other series. There is very little to look forward to in the next episode, no cliff hangers or an actual progress in the story. While the last few episodes try to tie loose ends together and there are revelations from the heroines past, it isn't quite enough. It is as the series is done mainly for the secrent agent theme and action, not because there would be a story to tell. Sometimes the characters end up being only tools for the plot but in 009-1, the plot is just a tool for characters.

If girls in action and secret agents are your thing, this series is definetly worth watching. If not, you will most likely end up waiting the real plot to unfold itself all up until the series ends.

009-1 is an action/drama series, which tries to rekindle the spark of the Old School way of drawing. It has a 60s feeling to it, boosted with modern day flashy graphics. Based on an old title by the now deceased Shotaro Ishinomori (mostly famous for his Kamen Rider and Super Sentai Tokusatsu live action series), it has been animated by the homonymous company he left behind. It is quite close to the feeling of the original; they did a good job at retaining his trademark gloomy and a bit morbid atmosphere. Which is exactly why this show is not for everyone. It won’t be enjoyable ... for most of the modern audience and will be appreciated only by retro fans or middle aged men who grew up with Ishinomori’s shows and are fans of his work.

PRODUCTION VALUES

Its retro style helps it stand out from most other newer anime series, assuming you got tired of the cop-out looks of most modern shows. It is all about curvy ladies (for all you pervs), packed with cybernetic limbs and a hundred gadgets, a combination of Bionic Woman and James Bond (for all you action weebs). Remarkable at first, unless you get bothered by the facial structures which is where most of the retro aesthetic is based on (doesn’t look like modern anime).

Aside from that there are plenty of detailed backgrounds, dressed with nicely made lighting effects. They are pretty dark-colored, with a mostly cold mechanical/industrial look on them, making them claustrophobic and creepy. If you prefer cheery atmospheres, look elsewhere.

Movements are fluid for the time the show was made, backed up with computers to look more real when they turn around or spin, and there is basic battle choreography in every fight. Being a rule of cool action show also means you must not try to reason how everything works out, since you get a lot of bad guys freezing whenever the heroines pull out their secret high-tech gadgets and beat them out of the blue. Basically the bad guys suddenly move like slowpokes when the heroines go on the offensive.

SCRIPT

In an alternative history, where the Cold War still rages on and both sides still use spies, now cybernetic in nature, a team of female cyber-spies takes up missions that involve the protection of their leader/creator’s status quo. The backdrop is interesting but they use it in a very light manner. Most episodes are stand-alones and from time to time a flashback occurs to give a few simple twists to the story or to flesh out one of the characters.

They went easy with the technology; there is no elaborate explanation regarding how all these hi-tech gizmos work. How does that cybernetic woman move around with a smokescreen grenade launcher inside her kneecap? After awhile the sci-fi setting doesn’t differ from any generic fantasy realm full of magic. It’s a kinda mindless sci-fi series not bogged down by technobabble.

The ending is nothing major. You will get to know the characters better but that’s it. You’ve probably seen the same scenario on dozens of spy films and most likely won’t remember anything special about it after it’s over. Also the series is short and ends before it becomes annoying.

CAST

Girls with hi-tech gadgets, sexy bodies, and retro-style faces that will be a major turn off for younger viewers. Besides that they will never make you wanna cheer for them. The atmosphere of the show ends up being more captivating than them.

I mean, every girl has a dramatic past, it’s not like they are left paper-thin in characterization, but it’s not detailed. It feels rather basic and can get overblown with cheesy drama at points. For the same reason there isn’t much character development, it’s more like colorizing them through flashbacks.

Certainly not people you will relate with; a common trait of most retro shows where the atmosphere was more important than the characters. You will probably only care about their gadgets and their sexy bodies instead of their tragic pasts.

ENJOYMENT

Can’t say I enjoyed it much. I liked the retro feeling but most of the plot was quite boring and although the drama and the action were fine on their own, I’ve seen it all before, in a lot better settings than this one. It was mostly the visual aspect that I enjoyed; which tends to be a small part of the whole. The battles were not exciting, the stories lasted too little, and the characters felt basic.

It is a typical story dressed handsomely to appeal to the older viewers’ emotions, a time waster at best and eventually a forgettable title. It has no actual replay value and is not some great spy/sci-fi series. As far as mainstream appeal goes it never had much and got forgotten fast.