DNA²

DNA^2 is... well, its good. Simple as that. If I had to say one thing about it from the get go, it would have to be that the art style and animation are it's strongpoints. If you want to know more, then by all means read on.

Story – To be honest, this is the reason I originally decided to watch this. It’s actually an interesting premise with the main character’s allergy to girls and his mega playboy alter ego threatening the future from overpopulation. The parts where his allergy is exploited are probably some of my favourites. Though, the whole mega-playboy thing is kind of ... underplayed. That’s probably for the better, since Junta is kind of dull in that form. There are some fanservice bits here and there, but they are there to exploit Junta’s weakness towards girls. This means there will be no unnecessary fanservice you see in a lot of animes these days, just so people can get their jollies off or in hopes of boosting sales. As the story progresses it tends to rush a bit, which could have been solved if they extended the series to let’s say 14 episodes. Even 24 doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but I’m sure the budget had a lot to do with it (which happens a lot unfortunately, even today). The first half of the series is a lot better in my opinion, with a heavier dose of laughs and better pacing. I couldn’t help but feel cheated with the rushed ending though. Not even the OVAs solved this, but that’s a whole different story. All in all, DNA2 does a fair enough job at keeping things interesting.

Art/Animation – For a show that aired in ’94 it does a good job from an animation point of view. There’s still a fair amount of the typical shortcuts being used like single cel pans, repeat cycles and stills. The characters however, are fairly detailed and are even better than in the manga counterpart. I must say that I rather like Masakazu Katsura’s girl character designs a lot. Even now in ’09, the designs don’t seem all that outdated. Just goes to show you that Katsura has an appealing style that can withstand the test of time. On the background side of things, there’s nothing really worth mentioning here. They work with the characters and that’s that. Occasionally you’ll see an interesting shot that stands out, but for the most part they are average.

Sound – I really enjoyed the OP song, but the ED is forgettable. There is a distinct ’90s feel to the sound design, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It works well here. The voice work is executed nicely and Karin’s is probably my favourite out of the lot. The range of emotions she goes through is nicely played out through the voice acting of Miina Tominaga. Word of advice though - do not watch the English dub because it’s horrid.

Characters – Karin steals the show here. She’s very likeable and is the source of many of the laughs. Of course, Junta is an amusing character as well. You can’t help but feel sorry for him one minute and laugh at him the next. His mega playboy alter ego is less amusing however. He seems somewhat robotic and emotionless in his interactions with the others. Originally his actions were misleading me, as I wasn’t sure what to make of his other self. The rest of the cast, play out their supporting roles admirably, but some will make you wish they didn’t exist at all sometimes.

Overall Experience:

I liked it a lot for the first 7-8 episodes and then it got progressively less fun to watch, although it never got bad. The last arc made me shake my head and yet in the end I couldn’t help myself from liking it as a whole. Most of the reason lies in the art and Karin no doubt. Overall DNA2 wasn’t amazing, but definitely worth a watch. Now, whether this is your cup of tea or not, will likely depend on whether you grew up on old or new school anime. Keep in mind that this has very little action, even though the cover might suggest otherwise. Same goes for fanservice, if that’s what you’re looking for. The whole playboy bit of the summary might seem like it will lead to all kinds of ecchi scenes, but it keeps things on a tame level. In the end, if you don’t mind the retro feel this gives off then by all means check it out.

DNA^2,

Story:
The story is a bit odd, but is pretty good and is like any harem anime, silly but good enough. This anime lacks a lot and I have to say it really does shame the manga. This anime is very rushed and most plotlines are skipped, however it does have it's moments and the anime can be just one big joke. It's funny from time to time, also wierd, but it's not to bad.

Art:
For when this was made the art is definitely top notch.

Sound:
Soundtrack is good nothing special. Japanese voices ... are good but english dub sucks.

Character:
Character's are good, main character is the highlight of the show and really makes it what it is. Some characters just make me want to laugh, not in a good way.

Why did I like this anime?
I'm torn on this anime, they completely messed up the anime and rushed it so fast it turned out to be borderline bad. I don't know if the production crew didn't have enough funding, or if they blew it all on the animation from Madhouse studios, but it puts the manga to shame. However it is kinda good due to the characters, they are the reason this anime is arguably good.

That nigga that brought you such poorly received reviews for Chrome Shell Regios, Starship Operators, and Rumbling Hearts is back again by infamous demand and mistrust to bring you his latest review for DNA2. I try to avoid watching shows that take themselves too seriously and because of that its hard to make critical reviews for shows that don't take themselves seriously anyway. Lucky for the my millions of fanboys and tramps I've found yet another show worthy of reviewing.
Nigga DNA2 is flat out stupid. I revolves around a guy whos supposed to be a looser that has potential for a rare genetic ... trait that would allow him to take over the world. No not really he could just bang and impregnate a hundred hoochies ( apparently this is supposed to be uncommon).It should have been calledl the "Antonio Cromartie Story" or Cromartie High School( I think someone already did that). This is near and dear to my heart because I know niggas like this,shit my brother is like this. I had seven nieces and nephews by the same guy before I was ten, seriously.I saw all seven of them at the club last week. That ability however was not passed to me, I feel lucky enough to get some action that I wouldnt even consider askin for raw sex because I might not get no bunz at all if she say no. Anyway someone from the future is sent to stop this gene from activating so he won't overpopulate the planet when he passes it along to his one hundred seeds. They not only fail they partially activate the gene. Once again what fuckin gene? There are a lot more of these guys then people would think. Why bother stopping the gene? make him pay child support (hell of a contraceptive). He transforms a ton of times but sadly enough getting girls pregnant doesnt seem to be number one on his to do list, pun intended. More so he seems to just like seducing them.
The art sucked but it had to be ok for the time. Same for sound.

I have seen too little reviews here, so I'll add my two cents about the anime.

To be honest, what made me give this anime a try was its synopsis, I mean, an average guy with some allergy towards girls ends up being a mega playboy due to a bullet from the future and impregnates a lot of women, sounds not as cliche as the shows of today right? I actually didn't know what to expect here, maybe just some rom-com which it's, in fact, something like that.

The show's indeed somewhat cliche after all this anime was from the previous century, but the plot ... it's fun and odd at the same time. I think this show has a good pace for the most part, but that's the thing 'most', it starts well, three episodes later it fully hooked me but at some point on the 8 or 9 episode the plot devolves instead of going up, all this because of the inclusion of the antagonist and his ridiculous power and toxic behavior, the cast of characters is generally ok with some flaws but the antagonist is really awful both in the plot and on the writing side.

Another thing's that even if I didn't know what to expect from this I knew this wasn't supposed to be a battle shounen anime but toward the end, it heads toward that direction (BTW I heard that DNA2 mangaka and Dragon ball creator are friends so it's clear he received some inspiration from that). And I won't spoil anything but the end is good and bad, decent, but a questionable execution.

summary:
Story - 7: Interesting premise with a rom-com feel and a simple development but I think it works for the most part.
Art - 8: Decent, but being a 1994 anime it has very good animation and a nice art style
Sound - 8: I liked very much the opening performed by L'arc~en~Ciel and has good ending and insert songs.
Character - 7: I especially liked the mc and Kotomi, Karin it's alright, but I especially disliked Ryuji which I think is 'somewhat' intended as he's the antagonist.
Enjoyment - 7: Good at the beginning and middle part of the show but it lost its charm in the last episodes.
Overall - 7

As I said, the most interesting about this was the premise which has some elements of time travel on it, I liked the first 8-9 episodes but after that was like watching Dragon-ball with the super saiyan transformation and all, and the ending is acceptable but left some bitter taste on my mouth.

*This anime was watched due to the Wheel of Obligation Anime Watching Challenge*
*This will be a review for both DNA² and DNA² OVA (episodes 01-15)*

INTRODUCTION:

DNA², an adaptaton from the manga, is set in our world during the nineties - the current decade when the anime was released. There is nothing unusual in this anime regarding to the setting - that is, besides the fact that a person came from the future to change another one and, possibly, save Earth's future. In that timeline, earth was suffering with overpopulation, which was mainly a single man's fault.

The anime, despite being mainly a comedic, romantic ecchi, features some ... battle shounen elements. Dragon Ball had been finding tremendous success by then, and a number of animes tried to implement some of its characteristics, with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, DNA² is no exception to this.


PLOT:

Aoi Karin, a teenager from about one hundred years from when the story happens, is tasked to return to the past to prevent Momonari Junta from turning into Mega-Playboy - the one who impregnated a hundred different women, generating a cascade effect. By shooting him with a DNA altering bullet, he would never become Mega-Playboy, and the world would be saved. However, Karin is your typical clumsy protagonist, and she shoots a wrong DNA altering bullet through Junta, which prompts him to have eventual spasms of "Mega-Playboyness". When in that form, Junta has three main changes: women simply can't resist his manliness and immediately fall in love with him; he becomes stronger and more agile; and, lastly, he starts acting like... well... a ladiesman. Still, the change is not permanent, so Karin still tries to make things right.

The interesting thing is that Junta has this weird disease in which he is allergic to girls - even though he wants to hang out with girls, when he sees a female body, he simply can't resist puking. Poor guy.

The concept itself is as absurd as it sounds and, despite the initial curiosity one might feel, the plot isn't something to marvel at. It is, in fact, the anime's main weakness - don't expect complex events nor major plot twists. Knowing this, you can enjoy the show for what it is - a comedic (major trait) romance (minor trait), which it does impeccably. There are some simply genius situations which made me literally laugh out loud, unexpectedly.

I found the entire cast pretty likeable (except for Ryuji, F this guy). Junta makes you feel unconfortable, whereas his MP counterpart makes you cheer for him. Karin is probably what others would call "moe material", as she is cute and quite pretty. Kurimoto Ami is probably the most relatable person in the entire anime. Saeki Tomoko and Takanashi Kotomi are both great characters as well, and their lives are pretty well explored. When the anime ended, the reason I felt the most sorrowful was that I wouldn't be seeing the characters again.

The art style is definitely on-par with the epoch in which it was released. Episode's 1 prologue made me feel I was watching Buma coming out of the aircraft. Shadows are well explored, as are the expressions. Character's design are 90's standard material - Junta looks like a Yami Yugi and Goku mashup, which I do appreciate. Despite that, some special effects are simply terrible - the transformation to Mega-Playboy Junta is what comes to my mind. all in all, the art is fine. The sound direction at first did not amaze me - however, as the anime went on, I felt that it did fit the atmosphere. There is one small arc towards the middle of the anime in which music is somewhat important - that part was simply the most memorable for me.

Unfortunately, as I pointed out in the introduction, DNA² features battle shounen elements. Notably, this change happens mainly towards the end - I felt that from episode 11 onwards I was watching another anime. Gone was what made the anime fun - Junta's interaction with all different females, Karin's clumsiness, Ami's insecurities, and all the small details that were featured here and there. "Well, at least the story moved forward", is what I can say about the ending. Episodes 11 and 12 were mostly awful due to a mini-arc. The OVA was also unsatisfying - its main problem is that it had three single episodes - by all that happened, it feels like it could have been at least half a season. The entire ending felt rushed and inadequate - I wasn't watching the anime for action, but that is what I got. The characters then introduced had no time to be developed at all, I simply couldn't care for them. I read somewhere that the manga does a better job regarding this, so the anime must have suffered from a budget problem.

There are some other things I want to point out as well. Some interactions are bittersweet, making you care for the characters in question. The initial battle-shounen reference at the beginning of the anime was actually pretty good, it did catch me by surprise (in a good manner). As this is an ecchi, the female body was frequently depicted semi-naked or in tight clothing, and the camera angles favoured this as well. Also, for some reason, the fact that Karin could contact her boss from the future while still in the present made me mildly amused. Oh, and Junta's mom is the best.


CONCLUSION:

Despite the ending, I can safely say that DNA² was a blast to watch. I can't stress enough that my time with the show was over the top - up until episode 10 it was a solid 8, perhaps even deserving a 9. The problem is that the ending did leave a bad taste in my mouth - it was not what the fans deserved, it was not what the anime needed; it was simply a product of its time's popular shows. I will still recommend it to people, though I'll make sure to warn them about its flaws. One of these days I may check out the manga to know what the anime missed, changed or added.