Tesla Note

Tesla Note is a textbook example of so bad it's good content, and one of the most misunderstood series alongside Sonny Boy. It feels like I'm the only one in the world who thought it was amazing, but I wouldn't give it any less of a 10/10. It has permanently scarred me forever in how horrifying it is, but it was merciful. Nearly every episode I was crying from laughter. This is a series that is going to break you. It feels like they made the animation terrible on purpose to make it funnier. I could write a book about all the animation errors and ... awkward execution in this series, and yet it became the most enjoyable series of the season for me other than Sonny Boy.

One problem with this series is that it was ignorantly treated unfairly. Many viewers were going by word of mouth, MAL scores of all things, a few seconds of the first episode, or by an image or short clip. Then they would instantly give it a 1/10 and bash it. I saw viewers do this. It's fine if they hated it, but Tesla Note deserves a chance.

Tesla Note feels to me like the beginning of something I mostly don't want to start in anime. CGI/2D mixing in anime has been a mistake overall though eventually it might get a little better as the technology improves, and every now and then a hit comes out using it.

Animation aside, Tesla Note is very good with solid writing overall. Without the awful animation it is still hilarious. Tesla is one of the most interesting people to have ever lived, and governments made sure to seize all his work and hide it from the public. I'm sure much of the best technology out today was made in secret with the documents he left over after he died a penniless man. But the hilarious thing about this being a series based on science, is that the series itself hardly follows the laws of science with its animation.

There's an organization that is out to prevent the world from misuse of the Tesla shards, which have many incredible powers. Botan is a ninja that was raised as a weapon but for whatever reason can't kill at first. She cares for life as far as to willingly give up her life and disobey orders to do so. Even if her life is threatened, she'll find the time to come to clumsy realizations and joke around. She is very durable seeing as though Elmo's Rhino fists don't seem to do any damage to her. She has a clever perception and is as cute as a button. Her interactions with Kuruma are hilarious and some of the best parts in the series.

Kuruma is a very angry spy who thinks he's the best and who feels forced to have to work with Botan. They constantly butt heads, but he does care and is very protective of her. He wears a distractingly colorful sweater and has some of the worst mouth animations I have ever seen.

The most interesting character, however, is Mickey. I despise the CIA, but I'll make an exception for him and Oliver. His comedy is awkwardly funny as he moves majestically in his deliverance.

Oliver is a good boy and I'm sure I wasn't the only one getting Kircheis/Reinhard vibes from him and Mickey.

I'm not going to mention every character, but they are all loveable, funny, and memorable characters. Una Casita is a sad excuse of a villainous organization, but the arc of the spies is a great and touching story overall.

I'll have fond memories of screaming out in laughter from awkward whistling scenes, Una Casita jokes, Mickey's fabulous personality, awkward scene transitions, frozen frames, choppy frames, awful dog growling, soundless explosions, off timing sound effects, shapeshifting off model animation, nonexistent and confusing fighting choreography, characters getting roasted, characters relaxing casually while on fire, Oliver sniping drones from a high speed raft, homicidal priests, constant misspelling of words, Claydo people in the background, the camera constantly zooming into the sun during important scenes, lifeless movements, floating people, thrones that look like urinals, Play Station 1 tier cut scenes, long still frame shots with audio around them, the worst AI fight I have ever seen, and that awful circus song that keeps playing, even during tense moments.

Jeez. I had to do a review here because this anime is getting so much hate and disrespect even If It is NOT THAT BAD.

Tesla Note is a interesting anime with a decent comedy and a cool, but not that brilliant, story. Basically, we have spys, action scenes that looks like hollywood movies, some nice adventures and tense moments, a bunch of different characters and, mainly, some letal ''crystals'', capable of ''destroying the world.'' Yeah, It's not a big deal but the general idea does work. The thing here is, the 3D animation makes the overall idea looks bad. Action scenes require a good and ... smooth animation, and making it on CGI can be really hard, specially when you are a begginer(studio).

BUT, here is the real thing: Tesla Note's animation is NOT THAT BAD AS IT SEEMS. Comparing it to ''Ex-arm'' is a insult. Of course, It's not that good too, but, as soon as you start watching it, you can see that they(the animators) are, at least, trying. The characters expressions is notable, and they try to add some extra movements on some scenes to compensate the lack of 2D animation. There is some weird moments, like 2D characters in the background with some 3D around, or when a character get ''2D animated'' suddenly, but It's not something too shameful to see happening.

When talking about the characters, you can see that each one has it own personality and role on the comedy. They are actually ok, not memorable, just ok. The dialogues are somehow funny to hear, and the main characters makes everything more watchable because of their dynamic and interactions, along with their personalities. Botan is a extroverted teen with a big heart, always wanting to save or help people, while Kuruma is that classic ''angry and dumb but nice'' guy.
As I said, they make the thing work. There is some other characters that provide us some funny or exciting moments, but the highlight goes to Botan and Kuruma.

The sound is ok. Nothing too impressive. There is some cool OSTs with ok sound effects and that's it.

I'd say that Tesla Note is not a real bad experience, It can make you laugh sometimes, not mattering if it is because of the animation or just the comedy itself. The story is dynamic enough to keep you interested in the upcoming episodes. Of course, I would not recomment it to anyone, there is a lot of better things to watch, but It is not bad like people are saying it is.

Overall, I am giving to this anime(for now) a 6/10. This show is getting crucified for minor things.

I know what you're thinking: Is Tesla Note the second coming of the boldly acclaimed "SF show that declared war to end all SF shows"? The short answer...yes. The long answer...not quite so, so don't get your pitchforks and lay crucifixes on this show just yet.

Before I jump ahead to give you the full details, I'm pretty sure that 6,942.0 of you should at least know the brains behind Tesla Note: Masafumi Nishida and Tadayoshi Kubo. Not so much with the latter as this is his first time writing a manga, but the former has a track record to his name: the creator of the ... much acclaimed Tiger & Bunny. For reference, last season's MAPPA-produced water polo show Re-Main was his chance to create something original and different by being the head honcho of the usual anime production aspects (creator, director, script and sound), but depending on how you view that show, it can come off as the stereotypical "love it or hate it" rhetoric. This is pretty much the exact same scenario with Tesla Note, which the manga only started serializing this year, and the anime pretty much adapted the entire source material (if going off by sources alone) so there's not an incentive to read the soon-to-be translated manga anyways.

If anything, Tesla Note in Masafumi Nishida's writing is the epitome of a classic action-heavy, comedy-spliced spy/espionage show with a simple premise: locate, seek and destroy the source of power from evil who's using that power to take over the world. And that power is inspired from the deep down by the legendary Nikola Tesla, in the form of the Shards of Tesla: different numbered Shards that all emit different types of powers, that when combined together, create the basis of an atomic structure that is powerful enough to bring the world to its knees. Not the most unique of ideas, but that's one heft of a concept work. The overall execution though will "amaze-balls" you at how shallow it can be at times, but at least it serves as tension relief.

That concept work is paired with characters that are walking tropes, but at least they're self-aware so there's some "comedic fun" to be had within each of them. Going off on the Japanese spy side of things with Japan Safety & Promotion Co., you have teenage spies Botan Negoro and Kuruma, strategist Kyouhei Himi, negotiator Ryuunosuke Takamatsu, and heading this "agency" is Botan's grandfather Jingo. It's actually impressive how Botan and Kuruma are so characteristically and dynamically different but alike as well, they're like yin and yang to always have small, bickering arguments that during operations, they operate with one mind to save loved ones, that actually makes Tesla Note watchable for once. The one extroverted softie, and the other being a crude and rude guy, both having a heart of compassion when it comes down to the crunch. Kyouhei and Ryuunosuke are there as mere guides, but also do a fairly good job too with the plot twists in the series. The CIA with agent Mickey Miller and assistant Oliver Thornton, one a very extravagant charismatic, and the other serving as background support. I've gotta say that VA Junichi Suwabe really fits Mickey's character, especially with all the quote-unquote "complex wording explanation overlay" to make him more professional "smart aleck" sounding than he actually is. Others are there to fill their roles, and just come off as being subpar to at best decent.

The elephant in the room is the ironic decision to produce this in a 2D-3DCG mix just like Ex-Arm (like come on, what are you guys thinking to do?), but to be fair, while it's still jarring to see the exact same "puke" moments of the 2D and 3D mix, in defense of Tesla Note, this show is at least trying to be more expressful than the pure abomination of the former. One thing to note is that although Gambit is credited for the main production, it's not an animation company, but rather a casting company. The production assistance comes from 3 studios: creative studio Risemore and CG studios Studio Bokan and Type Zero. For their efforts from coming fresh off from the horrible job of Visual Flight being all "live-action" like, at least this was in the right direction of getting the expressions down, while feeling so cheap. But still, this feels like a stretch in frustration, the realization of a 2D-3DCG mix for primetime anime will never be ready, not even for light years to come.

At least the OST does sound kinda cool. Most especially with TOKYO MONSTERS's OP, it has a cool lick to it that gets the pumpin' driving beats, you most certainly can't deny that the more this gets a listen, the more this song is low-key certified banger though. Though I can't say the same for Yui Ninomiya's ED which is just a contrast to the show overall.

Tesla Note really had the unfortunate fate of being branded as Ex-Arm 2.0 because of the sole decision to go exactly the way that it went in the animation department. Like why, is this supposed to be the next "quantum leap" forward in anime? I most certainly don't think so. Even if the other aspects of the show were or weren't able to cover up the fact that THIS specific animation style was chosen to highlight how it would've looked like in the first place, it was just a case of a bad call which made everyone's day worse.

Stray away from Tesla Note unless you want to be electrically brainwashed, but it's isn't as bad as anyone would think.