RD Sennou Chousashitsu

After watching episode eight, I said to myself:" Thank god it's over. Now I can finally drop it." And I'm not saying that just because of the female character design, even though I don't understand why the directors thought that the audiences would like to see a bunch of fat girls running around (there is a reason why getting fit has become a trend and not the other way around). IMO, either the writers are all amateurs or the show is aimed for little kids from the start. First of all, RD hasn't shown any signs that it's going to present a serious theme. Up ... to episode eight, all I see is some random happenings caused by the metal. Some people might argue that RD doesn't need to deliver a theme because the whole metal concept is unique enough. I disagree. It might be super unique like twenty years ago for all I care but it's definitely not unique in 2008.

Since RD is mainly plot-driven, there is no need to delve into the characterization. I'll say this though, lack of deep characterization doens't mean that the protagonist has to be stupid. Did you hear what Minamo said in the end of ep8 (in a really loli voice):"But if other people could use your personal space, wouldn't that change your personality? YADA, KOWAI!." and some other noises she made. The idea of sharing personal spaces is a good idea and is worth some serious discussion but Minamo's personality completely ruined it.(What? Haru is the progatonist? You should really take a look at his screen-time).

The main problem with RD is that the plot is even worse. The first episode is ok mainly because it only serves to introduce all the characters. From that point on to episode eight, the show literally becomes "the moe-adventure of a loli and a grandpa", and it just gets more and more stupid. In the first few episodes the audiences at least got to see the grandpa do some diving. Then the adventures soon change to things like looking for a dog, fighting a masked guy, school ghost hunt, reading a book...I think you get my point. That's why I was shocked when I found out that RD is actually a late night anime when clearly this is aimed for little kids.

I know it's still quite early in the game to be writing a review for this series, but after having just finished episode 8, I'm feeling somewhat agitated, and this will help cool me down.

STORY: 3 (Poor)
Thus far, even though it's early, Real Drive seems to have no discernible plot what-so-ever. In fact, it's quite boring. The beginning of the series started out alright and showed a huge amount of promise, leaving me full of wonder and intrigue, but now... Meh, it's all I can do to keep watching (in agony).

ART: 6 (Fair)
Quite frankly, the art for the background scenery, most of the male characters, ... and in general is pretty well done. However, and no I'm not saying that all the female characters have to be "pretty" or "ideal", but the portrayal of the female characters in Real Drive is probably one of the most annoying "features" of the show. Almost every girl in this show is either chubby or outright fat, and if that's not enough to just annoy you a bit, the artists seem to want to rub it in your face some more by (ever second episode or so) having these characters sit down to the fattiest, most sugar-filled calorie-rich feast they can possibly encounter--and glomp it all down. I can stand the fatty characters, but this last point just annoys me on a whole new level. Other than that however, the animation is very well done, and it's a shame the rest of it is the way it is.

SOUND: 9 (Great)
I like the soundtrack for the show so far, and the background music is nice to listen to. Not much more to say here, it's enjoyable.

ENJOYMENT: 3 (Poor)
While I enjoy aspects of this show, what I really want to see is more of the "main" character, Haru. I'm so much more interested in him than I am in Minamo (who can just take a hike for all I care). In fact, I've grown so far as to hate Minamo, and just seeing her on the screen temps me to just close down MPC, delete all my RD episodes and never ever, ever give them another chance. She and her friends are the most annoying characters in all of anime, and have ruined my prospective enjoyment of this show that had so much potential. When Minamo is off-screen, enjoyment goes up. When she appears, mouse goes to the top right corner and I have to fight myself from just dropping this show.

OVERALL: 4 (Decent)
Okay, so there are a lot of things about Real Drive that I do like:

1. Interesting (even though not completely original) concept of the Meta Real
2. Sense of curiosity that revolves around every character excluding Minamo and friends
3. Wondering what the plot is actually going to be (assuming there will be one)
4. All of the art besides that which has to do with Minamo and friends is nicely done and sometimes even breathtaking
5. Wondering what the deal with Kushima is.

What would make RD a great show and boost ratings in almost every category and blast this show up a few hundred spots on this website? Kill of Minamo and friends. Please, do the world a favor, end our suffering and kill her off. Then I would give this show 10's across the board.