The story revolves around a guy named Akira who is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He is offered a path to freedom if he agrees to participate in a competition called Igura, and takes down the undefeated Il-re. This is all supposed to take place in the chaotic area of Toshima, where everyone lives by an “eat or be eaten” mentality.
Premise 8/10: Like I said, it had potential. I was based off of the storyline of some pretty popular games, whose plot was pretty solid. The plot, by itself, gives off an air of excitement and danger. There’s violence, drug use, conspiracy, etc.
Writing 1/10: It saddens me to say this, but this anime didn’t deliver in terms of the quality of writing. The dialogue was awful in places; really awkward and unbelievable. The pace was not well thought out. In the first few episodes, nothing happens, and then, you can almost see the writers trying to cram the rest of the story into the last few episodes. The writing created noticeable plot holes. If you didn’t know already, the original games did have some male/male content, but the manga did not. A-1 managed to make it awkward for both sets of fans. I lack the ability to articulate/explain to you how they managed to do this, but it really was eye-roll worthy.
Character 5/10: They seemed interesting enough when introduced. Each character has gone to Toshima for different reasons, and being kept in the dark about their motivations adds to their mystery. Unfortunately, they are never given much depth, even towards the end of the story. There is also the big problem of characters doing things that don’t seem in line with their personality. There is unjustified character derailment by both the main character and several supporting characters. Plus each character's motive becomes so vague, it's difficult to tell what they're fighting for.
Art 4/10: The art varies from episode to episode. I think the key word here is lazy. Sometimes it’s ok, other times, it’s barely passable. The art for the trailer and opening are lovely. I really wish it was the same for the series.
Animation 4/10: Lazy. Not enough frames, poor transition, bad angles, and many mistakes. Sub-par.
Music 8/10: There is a lot of music in TnC. It’s one of the few things that sells the atmosphere of Toshima. There is a different ending song for each episode, most of which are very good. If you’re into J-rock/visual-kei, you’ll probably like the soundtrack. The opening is nice too.
Overall 4/10: This saddens me because I was really looking forward to this anime, and set out to watch it with an optimistic viewpoint. Fans of the game will be disappointed; anime fans will wonder why they wasted their time; BL fans will lament at the destruction of what had the potential to be a STAPLE within the genre.
