Kurogane Communication

Kurogane Communication is definitely a show that had an interesting premise, though it wasn’t able to skillfully follow up on it.

It follows Haruka—the last surviving human in the aftermath of a vague, catastrophic war—as she lives her days with her 5 robotic friends. The series can be divided into two narrative halves: the first, more episodic half which focuses either on a specific character or a certain dilemma per episode; and the second which focuses on a longer narrative arc. Though initially interesting in the beginning, the series never becomes very captivating or does much to hold one's interest. The main reasons for this are ... the lack of interesting characters, story, and substantial worldbuilding. The series sets itself in a somewhat slice of life, episodic rhythm, without a real overarching narrative. Due to this, when the second half introduces a new, focused narrative, it fits oddly with the first half and doesn't feel as if it is going towards a conclusive ending. In addition, some main issues lie with the way the series approaches certain aspects, which generally makes it feel off-putting as a whole. This can be attributed to the series' bare-minimum approach to worldbuilding.

First, Kurogane Communication has a very, very vague plot background which doesn't adequately explain what really happened in the war. Questions like "What parties were involved?" and "How were all the humans annihilated?" pop up, but are not answered. The show only explores this at the surface level. This is only becomes a concern as the characters repeat again and again how certain they are that everyone has been wiped out and that Haruka is irrefutably the last human left alive. This isn't really convincing however. For one, they are only living in a one city and they haven't explored outside of it, so how can they account for the entire world? Also, since Haruka was able to survive, why can't anyone else? It's not like her survival method was particularly complicated or unique (literally anyone could have survived the same way she did, like, she just got in a random safety pod). Every character seems to share this viewpoint of the world, even when they’re clearly presented with info that should disprove this. It doesn't really make sense why the characters should think like this. This could have simply been solved by actually addressing what happened in the war and how every human could have been annihilated. However, the series never tries to. This really wouldn't have been that much of an issue if the show didn't bring it up so much. (Really though, did someone press a "human delete" button or something?)

Secondly, the robots in this series are incredibly non-robotic. These robots cry, sweat, blush, get tired, and sleep. They even feel pain, have complex dilemmas, and are troubled by painful memories. It's all very... human. This only becomes a problem when the show starts to address its own definition of robots. While it's common for fiction to portray complex robots and deliberately blur the line between robot and human, Kurogane Communication never makes it clear what kind of robots we're dealing with, nor does it intend to focus on such themes (i.e. it is not trying to be that type of show). The series just introduces us to these human-like robots without much background and merely explains that the robots are "intelligent" and meant to serve humans, but this doesn't even come close to how they can be so human. This becomes a bigger issue when the series tries to raise various themes of living with robots and such, for instance, how lonely Haruka must feel. These attempts fall flat as it never truly feels like Haruka is surrounded by robots given how they act. Other times, superficial aspects are attached, such as the set of specific robotic rules that they must follow, but these merely feel tacked on to fulfill some narrative goal. Again, it would only be a minor annoyance if it wasn't for the show trying making it a central issue.

As a whole, these problems are due to the series' lack of exploration and worldbuilding. KC doesn't cover enough of its more interesting aspects, throwing in only in bits and pieces but not much beyond that. This is also what makes what the series decides to focus on a bit irritating.

Characters are somewhat more enjoyable, though they too are a mixed bag. Initially, the cast of characters are quite fun and interesting to follow, but as the series develops, they fit into certain molds that they don't grow out of. Spike becomes the series' worrywart, making him quite annoying and whiny; Trigger is initially decent comedy relief but his shenanigans get a bit tiresome; Reeves and Cleric don't get much exploration and aren't distinguished enough, so it feels they could have been merged into one character as they seem to serve the same role. Our main character Haruka's development isn't very interesting. More annoyingly, she's often used as a damsel in distress, as if the writers couldn't figure out what else to do with a female character. Angela, the series' badass, is probably the most fulfilling and entertaining character due to her deeper and continual development. Later characters bring the same sort of mix as the main cast; some are explored well, some shallowly, and others not at all.

Production-wise, the series is decent. I enjoyed the varying designs of the robots though the backgrounds and art were just perfunctory. While I enjoyed the opening and ending songs (I mean the OP is an underrated bop!), they are essentially love songs that don't really fit with the series' themes at all, although sections of the lyrical content can. The opening animation unfortunately gives away parts of the second half of the series, which takes away some of the surprise. Background music is perfunctory though pretty repetitive, as if there is only one track for each mood. Animation unfortunately is subpar, and action scenes suffer in particular and can be quite muddled in presentation.

KC overall needed more world-building and exploration of both characters and setting.

(originally written in 2018/2019)