Speed Grapher

Ten years after the Bubble War, the dichotomy between the rich and the poor in the world becomes more prominent and Japan is no exception. The rich seek to satisfy their desires and derive pleasure for themselves, and Tokyo has materialized into such a city as a result. Saiga, once a war photographer, works for Hibara Ginza in the capitalist state of Tokyo. He infiltrates the Roppongi Club, a secretive base located in the red light district of the city, to collect information about them. However, he was caught in the process and brought forward to a girl called Kagura who was in the midst of a ritual. His contact with Kagura awakens his special ability: the power to make things explode when photographed. In order to unravel the mystery behind the Roppongi Club and Kagura, Saiga begins his solitary battle.

Saiga, Tatsumi Main

Takada, Yuji Japanese

Suitenguu, Chouji Main

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Tennouzu, Kagura Main

Shindou, Kei Japanese

Ginza, Hibari Supporting

Honda, Takako Japanese

Tsujidou Supporting

Yuuki, Hiro Japanese

Bob Supporting

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

Ryougoku, Genba Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Tsurumaki, Miharu Supporting

Okamoto, Maya Japanese

Niihari, Ginji Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Makabe Supporting

Egawa, Hisao Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Hashimoto, Taichi Producer

Shibata, Tomonori Producer

Nishiguchi, Naomi Producer

Reviews

Feb 22, 2023

MeanEYE

Recommended

Didn't expect to like this one but I did. While story is somewhat predictable it's refreshing that we have adult themes and cast without screaming children and tournaments in school. Animation is a bit stiff at times but serviceable. Music leaves a lot to be desired but overall it was a good show. You will get occasionally upset at stupid decisions some characters make but overall it wasn't 24 episodes of tedium.

My only disappointment was that Ginza wasn't more present in the story. Romance between her and main character only started to develop before they abandoned the idea and just made them comrades. She is ... a well rounded character, a bit weird but true to herself and strong.

Well worth the watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 7, 2021

weabooslayer69er

Mixed Feelings

This anime is okay.

I will say that the premise of this anime is quite unique. In a society of near complete corruption, our protagonist (Saiga) has to work to protect the life of the person he saves from bondage (Kagura). Kagura is known as a goddess who grants powers unknowingly to those she comes in contact with. This makes her a prime target for Japan's elites who desire her abilities in order to give them superhuman gifts.

The setting of the show provides a baseline for which the plot progresses and we can see the main characters interact. A lot of the characters are fairly ... one dimensional (at least on the villain spectrum). The exception to this is the series main antagonist Suitengu. When finishing the series, I found that I really sympathized with Suitengu and even wanted him to accomplish his goal to a certain extent. In fact, both he and saiga seem to have the same goal of wanting to expose corruption within Japanese society, however they have different ways of accomplishing this goal. This makes for an interesting conflict between the two.

The viewer is able to emphasize with both Kagura and Saiga because both strongly seek the goal of freedom. A lot of series is getting to see the two develop a bond. While this is enjoyable, the show isn't as captivating because kagura is a character archtype most are already too familiar with seeing in anime with minimal development.

The fights in the series don't add up to much. They are enjoyable, but the fights don't have much plot tied to them. They exist merely to explore Saiga's powers as he and Kagura repeatedly try to run away. I must say that the fights are enjoyable and the way the powers are implemented are unique.

Although the plot is fairly slow and not as interesting at times, the anime is very captivating near the end and it wraps up nicely, which is rare for a lot of anime. If you want a show that is enjoyable, has a unique premise and provides a complete package, then this anime is good for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 20, 2025

SgtSalamander

Not Recommended

What if Epstein Island was underneath Tokyo instead? That's this series summed up in a single sentence, and admittedly it's a fascinating core concept. It approaches a critique of capitalism from a unique perspective, driving at the fact that unfettered capitalism and monied politics invariably leads to moral decay and national enslavement to the degenerate interests of a corrupt and sociopathic elite. However, instead of doing more than a surface-level analysis of this problem, it goes the route of focusing on this other storyline of how certain people infected with a certain virus can gain certain fetish-related powers by kissing a certain 15 year old ... girl who has a certain genetic substance that "activates" the virus. This whole thing gets pretty off the rails, with the main character, Saiga, gaining the ability to make things explode by taking pictures of them. We're supposed to believe this whole thing isn't magic, but they don't do a very good job of making it seem grounded when you have a dentist who turns into a spider with dental tool weapons, or a guy who turns into a giant speaker system. Even this could have been cool, with a monster-of-the-week setup of different enemies and different challenges, but it just feels a little silly partway through when they kind of give up on making them unique or interesting. So, the story of this show squanders two of its main avenues to good storytelling- A complicated political thriller storyline, and a high-octane badass monster-hunting storyline. In the end, it ends up doing both and doing neither, becoming a fundamentally unserious story, loading up on sex, violence, and gross-out moments to distract from this sense that they didn't really give too much thought to what they were putting together here. I will give it credit for doing well enough until about episode 11 or 12, but beyond that point it just doesn't feel worth watching. It even struggles to keep its own world consistent- If the use of their powers degrades their bodies over time, then why is Saiga's camera power the only one which degrades his health at all? If the virus is a bioengineered agent, how do members of the club seemingly get infected by chance? Why was Saiga doing war photography embedded in a top-secret military raid on an isolated island compound which governments didn't want anybody to know about? It's all just plothole after plothole, with none of the complexity or nuance one would hope for from a story with a premise such as this one.

The art is fine, with a dark, gritty, stylized visual language that works well for the tone they're trying to go for, and even goes a long way in distracting from the fact the story doesn't have a handle on what it's doing. This makes it the strongest aspect of the show overall.

The sound, meanwhile, is a very close second. The music is varied and engaging, with complicated and multilayered instrumentation across various genres, like jazz, classical, and rock, with tracks that radiate coolness or saturate the viewer with a genuine sense of unease. The sounds of life are also excellent, with a constant and nuanced sense of sound and lived environments, from the shattering of bone to the squelching of inhuman biology. Even the voice work is great, with Saiga sounding grizzled and cool, Suitengu sounding aloof and powerful, and Kagura sounding innocent and authentic. However, there is one huge exception here that costs the sound the top spot, that that is the positively atrocious engrish throughout. I watched the sub, and the show insists on showcasing characters speaking English with way too much confidence and frequency. The goofy, stilted, almost unintelligible lines are delivered in some of the sloppiest, most embarrassing examples of engrish ever put to screen, which does not help when this anime wants so badly to be taken seriously. Just the worst.

The characters are fine, though I didn't really find myself all that invested in them. While Saiga and Kagura come off kind of flat, there are a great many characters who are deeply annoying and unbearable whenever they're onscreen, which includes his vaguely-raced and flamboyantly gay illegal immigrant neighbor Bob, the fat and excitable accountant Sasazuka, the selfish and perverted professor Nishiya, and the entire employee pool of this cabaret club they hide out in for a while. The best characters by far were Suitengu and his cast of henchmen, Niihari, Makebe, and Tsujidou, to the point where I almost wish the show was entirely about them instead. They just stand out as so much more interesting because they avoid the pitfalls of being boring or cringe, which is the case for almost everybody else here. Suitengu is well-designed, interesting, effortlessly badass, and, above all, his power isn't dumb or gross, which is a huge plus. Overall, this was a disappointing experience, and unless you're a Gonzo superfan who can't leave any work of theirs unwatched, I'd recommend skipping this title.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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