Aug 17, 2016
Under the Dog is very good at what it tries to be, so long as the viewer also understands what Under the Dog is trying to be, which is a pilot show for something more.
PREFACE:
For those unaware of the history behind this anime, Under the Dog was financed via a Kickstarter campaign, which is unusual, to say the least. After a couple years in development, Under the Dog was released as a single episode lasting just over 30 minutes in length. A sizeable number of fans and supporters were disgruntled with the final result as many had expected something more expansive.
However, many fans
...
fail to realize the tremendous cost that goes into creating an anime series. Even with a successful Kickstarter campaign, the creators of the show had to make a decision as to how much they were going to attempt to produce. In the end, they opted to produce a single very well made episode in the hopes of garnering support for a full series from a studio rather than to produce a few sub-par quality episodes by stretching their budget to its absolute limits.
ART:
With the context of the production history in mind, I praise the final product that has been presented to us! The art is of masterful quality, and there was no blatant use of CGI as a means of saving money during production! In truth, there were more than a few scenes that I expected would employ CGI to save cost, but I was pleasantly surprised by the general absence of CGI!
STORY:
The story is lacking and not heavily fleshed out, but in the context of Under the Dog currently being a mere pilot episode, this is not all that surprising. The key thing to take away from the story is that it was not forced and was presented in such a way that it leaves the viewer wanting to know more, which would bode well for a continuation of the series.
SOUND:
The soundtrack is very good and fitting for the main action taking place; if anything, I would have liked to hear it a bit more. The voice acting was good on the Japanese side of things with none of the performances standing out as either superb or mediocre. The English dubbing of certain characters was far superior to what could have been awful "Engrish", but that is not to say that the English voice actors were impressive in their performances.
CHARACTERS:
The characters are perhaps the weakest part of Under the Dog, but they are not so weak that they detract from the show's enjoyment. I believe that the producers of Under the Dog were actually rather wise in their development of the characters, though I cannot elaborate on that further without delving into spoilers.
ENJOYMENT:
To me, the most important thing an anime needs to get right is the enjoyment factor, especially in a pilot trying to start a new fanbase. Thankfully, Under the Dog is spot on when it comes to enjoyment, so long as you're not a disgruntled supporter who was expecting to see something else.
As someone who has only loosely been following Under the Dog's development, I thoroughly enjoyed watching every minute of this show! The show didn't try to cram in too much exposition or bore the viewer with 25 minutes of establishing the setting. Instead, Under the Dog engages the viewer from start to finish with a healthy dose of action, mystery, and suspense!
CONCLUSION:
Under the Dog is by no means perfect, nor will it likely leave its viewers fully satisfied. However, that is the hidden brilliance of the show! Viewers, myself certainly included, will demand more from Under the Dog because, after merely a single episode, they will care enough about the IP to want more of it!
In leaving the viewer wanting more, Under the Dog succeeds in its goal of drawing in a new fanbase. Fans of the franchise should keep pushing for more because this pilot shows that there is potential to be found in a full Under the Dog series!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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