Story:
Betterman is a Sci-fi/Horror series set in the Gao-Gai-Gar setting taking place a few years after that series conclusion. From its roots in that franchise it retains the same level of varied and well designed but not well developed characters, heavily detailed but not well researched or internally consistent technobabble, and well engineered but quickly and jarringly switched tones and atmospheres. Where GGG explored physical and technological sci-fi concepts, BM similarly explores biological and transhuman concepts. What BM does not carry over from its preceding story, however, is an attitude that the exploration of these concepts is a good thing.
Where GGG played with the ideas of the awesome things people could do with technologies like AI, space travel and physics bending machines, BM will go at lengths, stumbling at every turn, to show you how only petty people will actively explore biological technologies that veer things off the "natural course". It ends in a moral that trying to use life sciences to do honest good is likely futile, and anyone who tries to explore such venues for any other reason is explicitly doing so for terrible reasons. At only one point, during the final fight, does it even suggest an idea contrary to this narrative, but this was but a one-time gimmick to defeat the final enemy. Whatever ideas that could have been developed with that instance, of working together to ensure that mankind can surpass the limits of its own hubris and slippery slopes of technology misuse while still embracing the technology, were quickly ignored for returning to its narrative of leaving life alone. Instead of showing the hope of what mankind could someday achieve by following through with exploring the sciences depicted as GGG did, it attempts to spin a tale of how altering the organism is inherently wrong, and to interfere with the natural order or improve yourself in any way will only bring catastrophe. It ends with a message that if you just give up trying to improve yourself, and just embrace being an unaltered cog in the natural process, you'll be happy, without very strong exploration into the contrary, despite GGG having a variety of transhumans or otherwise augmented individuals with no detriment to their character or antagonism to their existence. While GGG depicted bad people using technology for evil, they never once really depicted any technology itself as inherently evil, instead playing with the motivations behind the uses for or against good, and I think that's where my beef here lies. GGG had fun with its science, while BM antagonized it, and I don't really think that should ever be cool.
In reference to an earlier statement, the series completely ignores or omits things like the Evolders or cyborgs to promote its anti-transhuman narrative, despite the former being well known figures in the world at this time, and the latter being something not uncommon at this point in time, supposedly. These are not the only things BM seems to forget, and in fact references the preceding franchise so rarely that it almost appears as though the references they do make are there solely to remind you that they are supposedly related. If I am to be honest, it almost feels forced, like with the Cloverfield films that weren't originally supposed to be Cloverfield films, and I have to wonder if the references are there for the same reasons.
Beyond the less than savory moral about augmentive technology, the story is your standard "mosnter of the week with overarching mystery and light romantic subplot" story, with little if anything new to add. If you like those kinds of stories, you'll like this, but if you don't like those, you're going to get nothing out of this besides horror. Horror, I would like to comment, that it does well. While the motives and morals behind why some of the things depicted in the show are "horrific" do not sit well with me, the spookiness, tension and grotesque designs are often quite on point, so I guess that's fine.
Art:
Really solid art. Looks older than it is, but this does not actually detriment for its art quality. I've complained a lot, but I can't complain at the way it looks. That, and them monster fights where hella rad, despite the sour narrative context. Only negative is the use of still frames was sometimes a little too noticeable, but honestly everything looks pretty swell.
Sound:
Some audio was fine, some sound effects were cheesy, and some of the music was better than average. Very little to comment here.
Characters:
The characters were quite diverse, and very few really fit into any specific stereotypes, but beyond that damn near none of them got any development, and the main character was of almost as little use to the plot as Indie was for Raiders of the Lost Ark. The cast functions better as a showcase for interesting and rarely used character concepts to be applied elsewhere than it does as the driving force behind this show. The only really distracting thing in the characters was the implication that Betterman's fucking pangolin hair was something inherited, but by that point the character could in no way be taken seriously, so it only added to the humor value.
Enjoyment:
Was down for the horror, and the humor of each episode having a goddamn dinosaur come out of nearly nowhere to save everyone, but as soon as it tried to articulate a message, and struggle to explain why its anti-science angle was totally right, my enjoyment started to dip, and after the very end it had me sitting there with a very sour taste in my mouth, especially after having watched GGG immediately before it.
But hey, if you share its moral opinion I'm sure you'll have a blast. In that case, I'd also recommend Earth Girl Arjuna, for a similar story, despite a dramatically different selection of genres.
