Story:
Kimimaro is a dirt-poor student who for some reason is given the opportunity to enter a psychedelic dimension called the Financial District and compete with his pokemon, er, no, asset, Msyu (creative spelling here I see, sounds like a sneeze). If he wins he is given creepy black Monopoly money to use in the outside world. If he loses he loses his entire future.
The threeway struggle between present, future vs. money is the selling point in this anime. Despite the fact that this point is being subtly bludgeoned into your brain every episode by every character, it is by no means too corny. For a twelve-episode anime, the story progresses amazingly well. No episode is wasted with filler or useless events. Structurally, this anime is impeccable. Logically, not so much. A lot of things are never really explained but that's okay, you can live with a little-- no, make that a lot-- of mystery. There is a lot of economic jargon thrown around; hell, even the pokemon-ish fights read like a frigging textbook. My advice is, don't take it too seriously, it doesn't make any sense even in the real world.
Characters:
Well, first of all, we have Kimimaro, who is as interesting as a plank of wood. Even when he finally overcomes his passive nature he still is a boring character.
Then we have Msyu, his scantily-clad pokemon-asset girl. She is a tsundere at first and we all know how that goes, don't we?
Moving on to Mikuni, number one player in the psychedelic money arena, looking very much like he escaped from a sparkly shojo. Much more interesting as a character since he's actually motivated to do something. Even if it is the wrong thing to do.
The rest of the characters are quite interesting and distinct. For shame, the main character is so generic and the rest of the cast are totally interesting. Y U do that, writers?
Animation:
Well done. Consistent and imaginative. The psychedelic dimension scenes really do make you wonder if the animation staff were on drugs just to come up with all of that stuff. CG does not claw your eyes out despite being obvious and there is no deterioration in quality as the anime progresses. In fact, the final episode is very fluidly animated.
Music:
It’s there. Seriously, I did not pay much attention to either the background score or the OP/ED which means that they are simply functional and nothing to write home about.
Overview:
This is worth a watch but it definitely is not a keeper. There is more talking than action and requires the viewer to engage their brain a little bit. It also throws moral dilemmas at you. If that sort of thing appeals to you then give it a go. If not and you are looking for just action and fights go watch Pokemon.
