Muteking the Dancing Hero

If you want an unique but niche series to watch in the Fall 2021 season, look no further than Tatsunoko's Super Hero series of a long lost IP, starting with the 1980-81 show Muteking The Dashing Warror, rehashed as Muteking The Dancing Hero for a reboot/remake. And I feel that because of the recent success of Tsuburaya Productions with the reboot of the classic 1994-95 Gridman The Hyper Agent series done by Trigger (rehashed as the SSSS.Gridman universe), the big guns over at Tatsunoko wanted their own causal Renaissance period as well. And unless you're the type that really wanted to feel what's like of ... the long lost magic of Japanese shows in the early period of the 1980s, then the appeal will be just right for you.

Muteking The Dancing Hero is the epitomy of a wacky and goofy weekend morning kids show that you can just turn off your brain and thoroughly enjoy, and it is just that because the period of the 70s and 80s used to be Tatsunoko's golden age doing shows that aren't like the modern day example of the anime industry. Everything was fresh back then and being in the mindset of kids, it's no wonder that Tatsunoko have made a name for themselves as one of Japan's top premier animation companies in the 20th Century (alongside studios such as Toei Animation and Sunrise) with varied works across the board. Gouging research for Tatsunoko in the 1980s isn't easy, and it's well worth it for at least a history lesson of sorts.

But enough about that, let's go back to what Muteking The Dancing Hero is all about. For context and to link back to the original franchise, only the aliens with their nefarious plan to take over the world with their science and shape-changing powers remain the same, everything else is all new. Directed by VOTOMS director Ryousuke Takahashi alongside Tatsunoko in-house directors Hiroshi Sasagawa (executive) and Yuuzou Satou (assistant), the reboot of Muteking is set in a dystopian 1980s version of Neo San Francisco, where music is lively and there is evil lurking around in the form of aliens forming around the OctinQ coporation (the parody of the modern-day Silicon Valley), advertising their products in the city and with the help of a virtual idol which turns ordinary people into black gold for the aliens to store energy. And who are you gonna call? Muteking, the hero who only knows how to dance and sing his way out to save those in captivity!

For a show like Muteking, it's easy to really have the nostalgia bit of a time forlorn because everything is so simplified, from the story to even the aesthetics that's rife with the standards of a Tokusatsu-esque show back in the day. And especially for a superhero such as Muteking that has been lost in time, the reboot/remake gives enough chance for the current generation to ever wonder how a 20th Century made show would transition to the 21st Century. In the same way, some hits or misses. Let's start with the bad, because the current state of the anime industry is rife with so much superhero business shows and source materials that Muteking can feel absent or absconded, lost within the confines of so much there is to the fame of the Tokusatsu genre. The good thing is that people like Ryousuke Takahashi and Hiroshi Sasagawa are still very dedicated to the business model of the old Tatsunoko ways, and still want to bring their influence into the 21st Century for all to see, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but props for at least trying to stand out in a desolate state of the anime industry.

I mean, the premise is this: DJ meets Muteki, he directs him to become the Muteking hero that saves people from becoming black waste, wash, rinse and repeat until the final moments with the virtual idol Aurora and mastermind Ceo Eight's unwavering confidence of prevail. You can't ask much for a simple story such as this, but it definitely fits into the 1980s era of when kids are just starting to grow up watching the popularity of anime rise up as their childhood. You have to put yourself in the mindset of times past to really enjoy this one wholeheartedly, and I can see why some people do.

Otherwise, I'd thought that since Ryousuke Takahashi of Sunrise chimed in this show would label it as a Tatsunoko X Sunrise collab, but handing the reigns over to Tezuka Productions also works the same way, because both studios go way back with their respective well-known founders. It really gives Muteking a sleek and psychedelic feel that appeals to the children that have now grown up into adults. As much as I kinda hate the fact that Tatsunoko is trying so hard after the fall from grace of their more recent work (Winter 2019's Egao no Daika), this show is but only yet another statement piece that Tatsunoko should stick to producing children's shows instead. At least the OST was really good with ORANGE RANGE's OP and KALMA's ED.

Muteking The Dancing Hero won't ever break the bank for trying to be different, and this reboot/remake will once again be lost to time. But if you ever pick Muteking up, please watch it with an open and unhinged mind, and just enjoy it while the journey lasts. Can't say I enjoy the show, but I can at least appreciate it for what it is and the history of the franchise as but a small footnote in Tatsunoko's long history.

I went into this show blind now knowing there's been a previous incarnation of Muteking and after watching 12 episodes of this... I can't say I'm dying to check out the series but maybe someday the curiosity in me might check it out.

One thing this show does well is it's presentation which gives a good mix of the era it's pining for and how current day nostalgia thinks of this kitschy aesthetic. It's bold use of Plastic Love in the very first scene may evoke the show's want to go retro but it's story is actually more of a jab towards modern pop scenery. This ... doesn't mean the show has anything particularly biting to say about the pop industry but at the very least it keeps each episode fun and keeps characters relatable. I actually found myself more interested in the side characters since the MC was fairly bland but he does the job well. The 3D was a bit whack but personally I found them fun though if the season had ran any longer the novelty would wear off (faster for most people to be honest).

The music can range from WOAH I KNOW THIS CITY POP SONG, into boring. Granted most licensed songs that are featured in this show are classics for a good reason. Muteking's themes are fun and really fits the hero and his goofy dance moves. On the flipside the antagonist's "Pop Songs" were okay at best but boring at worst.

Overall I enjoyed the show for what it is. I probably won't come back to this one anytime soon but it was a fun enough watch that I'm curious what the OG series had going for it with this premise.

Muteking is an odd one, and not just the plot.

After watching the first few episodes I was very ready to give this a 3 out of 10 max or drop the series entirely.
It's at its worst when it first has to introduce the characters, setting, and basic premise. I kind of get the impression that as Muteking is a pre-established property (see the 80s anime), that it didn't care so much for these establishing episodes. The pacing is awful at the start, and scenes either feel haphazardly put together or have characters dumping plot at you, interspersed with cheesy jokes. I can well see this ... failing many people's three episode test.

But when the series starts finding its way (probably either mid-episode 3 or 4) it's actually very good at what it does. I can see this being some people's favourite anime as easily as I can see people dropping it. It's still cheesy, but if you came to see a roller skating superhero fight monsters by dancing, you probably should be expecting it to be a little cheesy. It also develops an on-going plot, which is not something I really saw coming despite the reoccurring villain.

I'm giving this a 6/10 (though I may waver) because I can't quite forgive those earlier episodes but I can't quite let them drag the series down either. Just know that this would be a 5.5 out of ten if MAL would let me, and might've been a 7 if it had been the same quality throughout.