In the 8 years since it started, Cardfight Vanguard has created a number of unique and interesting clans that inhabit the world of Cray, in which this story takes place. These include: Robot Dinosaurs; Ninja Dragons; Angel Doctors; Ghost Pirates; the Insect Mafia; and many more, not least of which is Bermuda Triangle: a force consisting solely of mermaid idols. As you can probably guess, this clan is the primary focus of Colourful Pastrale, the first Vanguard series dedicated to exploring Cray itself, rather than the people playing the card game. And I must say, as a fan of both the clan itself, and of entertaining anime, my expectations were not met even slightly.
The story of Colourful Pastrale follows a group of 5 young mermaids as they revitalise and then run the local movie theatre. At least, it pretends to. In reality, the majority of the anime’s runtime is spent on watching the girls mess around and eat cake, with little to nothing actually happening. The characters are equally weak, the main difference between each of the main 5 being their costume and hair colours. They have no development, virtually no backstory, and very little chemistry with one another, which, for a genre focused primarily on character interaction, is even worse than a lack of plot.
But, most telling of all, it just isn’t enjoyable to watch. It’s mindless and terribly dull. For a show set at the bottom of the ocean, it’s ironically lacking in depth, and it comes across as incredibly joyless and by-the-numbers.
Don’t watch Bermuda Triangle: Colourful Pastrale. I’m sure there are hundreds of anime that do everything it does better, and without the shadow of wasted potential hanging over them.
