"Hyoubu Kyousuke is just freaking cool"
I'm very surprised, at the lack of reviews for this anime avaliable at myanimelist.net. Since this is a pretty good show, evidenced by the average high score by the reviews at myanimelist.net
Maybe viewers avoided this show due to the name "Zettai Karen Children". An anime with a more kiddy style, aiming for a lower age group. From what I have seen from "Zettai" (which isn't much to be honest). "The Unlimited" could almost be a separate anime itself, Art style, Pacing, Character Design and Music are all different. Maybe the action sequences are similar in that the battles are really well animated and fluid.
Story (8/10)
The story revolves around 2 protaganists "Hyoubu Kyousuke" and undercover investigator "Andy Hinomiya". Hyoubu Kyousuke seems to be a major villain from the "Zettai Karen Children" anime, and seems his popularity was so high, he now has his own anime series!
Story's pacing is well done, introducing the massive personality that is Hyoubu and then slowly showing us more and more of this villain's life. Stories written around villains are very very rare, this is one of those that probably depicts a tragic hero turned villain.
Art (8/10)
The art style in "The Unlimited" is widely different from the more kiddy "Zettai Karen Children". The tones, colour and style is much darker and moodier, very fitting as Hyoubu and his organisation commits mass murder and destruction.... The emphasis was on the "Cool" factor of the characters and the battle scenes.
Sound (8/10)
Voice acting is superb, Hyoubu really sounds like the cool, powerful, confident villain that he is. The voice acting of all the P.A.N.D.R.A terrorist members are well done too. Everyone of them sounds cool and composed, butchering tens and hundreds of enemies like its just another day in the office. Andy Hinomiya sounds exactly like a unconfident, but heroic self sacrificing investigator, and Yugiri sounds like a pure loli trap.
Character (9/10)
Like my opening statement said, "Hyoubu Kyousuke" is so cool, that I think he is the coolest anime character I have ever seen.
" Hyoubu sits relaxed in his chair, calm and uncaring, eyes half closed with a half smile on his lips. He lazily snaps his fingers, and suddenly everything and everyone around him blows up in a vortex of psychic powers.... At the end of it all, Hyoubu still sits, eyes half closed with a half smile on his lips, untouched......"
The above scene personifies Hyoubu and this anime, dangerous, cool and confident of his powers. Hyoubu could probably dominate many girls' wet dreams, his aura of danger, confidence, and intelligence combined is massively alluring. He also shows compassion and humanity, adding to his dark charm and charisma that just oozes from the screen.
Andy Hinomiya is the exact counterpart of Hyoubu. Unsure of his enemy,but noble and self sacrificing. Self sacrificing enough to go undercover into a terrorist organisation of mind reading psychics who can kill you with a snap of their fingers.
Andy's character design is slightly weak in my opinion, maybe he will feature more in the later stages. However Andy's lack of confidence and flaws work to emphasize Hyoubu Kyousuke's coolness.
Overall (8/10)
Overall a highly enjoyable action anime. It is rare to see animes with murdering villains as their protagonist, and "The Unliimited" pulls this off perfectly. From the lack of reviews my guess is that due to the Zettai Karen Children label, viewers aren't even checking out episode 1. I highly recommend action anime fans to check this out. This anime is cool, action heavy with fluid battle scenes. Viewers don't need to have watched "Zettai Karen Children" to enjoy this anime.
This anime could be the sleeper hit among the spring 2013 anime season releases.
Being bad now seems oh so cool......
