hopeful_monster
Thousand Master
The war between the Royal Empire and the Frost Republic has come to an end, and the problems of restoration have begun. 3 years later despite improvements there are still problems, the infrastructure is still buggered, de-mobs soldiers are turning into bandits, mass unemployment and relief supplies go missing. Enter Section 3 ‘Pumpkin Scissors, war relief unit to sort out the mess. Problem is they are seen as a joke or a propaganda tool by both public and the rest of the army. Hardly surprising considering that the entire unit is 5 people and a dog.
One mission is to investigate a group of ex-soldiers turned bandits holed up in a damn with a tank. While 3 people against a tank (plus another 20 or so bandits) may seem like suicide they decide to go against it, which impresses Randel Oland another ex soldier with a mysterious past (wiggle your finger when you say it) who decides to lend a hand. Which is useful as their request for re-enforcements is denied. Why? The bandits were part of the ‘Invisible Nine’ a group of experimental units which used things like chemical, biological and psychological weapons, all of which where highly illegal. Since the government can’t acknowledge their existence (as that would admit wrong doing) no help. Thing is Randel was also part of the ‘Invisible Nine’ was well, and he shows why the nine were a thing of urban legends.
Animation is fairly solid and expressive, if a little drab but to be expected (well they are all in military uniforms most of the time and post war scenery isn’t exactly vibrant). The OP is very stirring and up beat, if a little warblely and irritating after a bit, the end theme is fun in a comical way.
Easiest way to describe the style of the show is to say it is part of an ongoing Shonen series, and it is really quite obvious. Episodic plots (especially at the start) generally either focusing on one mission or character each but with subtle hints at a greater plot (generally at the end of an episode), and easy to understand characters (gentle giant, brash but brave commander, determined bookings one).
There in lies the one of the problems with the series, it is fairly easy to predict what is going to happen and how people are going to act and react. Pretty much paint by numbers anime. The other problem is what it tries to be, which is everything, sometimes it is a comedy, sometimes romantic drama, sometimes tense thriller, sometimes action adventure, sometimes supernatural spook show, and it never quite manages to pull it off. Also with so many plots getting tangled trying to work out whose fingers are in which pies gets tad boring especially as none of the plot threads are tired up in any way by the end of the series.
While all in all a solid series the fact it can’t decide what it is and how much it wants to do reduces the overall quality of the show. 71%
One mission is to investigate a group of ex-soldiers turned bandits holed up in a damn with a tank. While 3 people against a tank (plus another 20 or so bandits) may seem like suicide they decide to go against it, which impresses Randel Oland another ex soldier with a mysterious past (wiggle your finger when you say it) who decides to lend a hand. Which is useful as their request for re-enforcements is denied. Why? The bandits were part of the ‘Invisible Nine’ a group of experimental units which used things like chemical, biological and psychological weapons, all of which where highly illegal. Since the government can’t acknowledge their existence (as that would admit wrong doing) no help. Thing is Randel was also part of the ‘Invisible Nine’ was well, and he shows why the nine were a thing of urban legends.
Animation is fairly solid and expressive, if a little drab but to be expected (well they are all in military uniforms most of the time and post war scenery isn’t exactly vibrant). The OP is very stirring and up beat, if a little warblely and irritating after a bit, the end theme is fun in a comical way.
Easiest way to describe the style of the show is to say it is part of an ongoing Shonen series, and it is really quite obvious. Episodic plots (especially at the start) generally either focusing on one mission or character each but with subtle hints at a greater plot (generally at the end of an episode), and easy to understand characters (gentle giant, brash but brave commander, determined bookings one).
There in lies the one of the problems with the series, it is fairly easy to predict what is going to happen and how people are going to act and react. Pretty much paint by numbers anime. The other problem is what it tries to be, which is everything, sometimes it is a comedy, sometimes romantic drama, sometimes tense thriller, sometimes action adventure, sometimes supernatural spook show, and it never quite manages to pull it off. Also with so many plots getting tangled trying to work out whose fingers are in which pies gets tad boring especially as none of the plot threads are tired up in any way by the end of the series.
While all in all a solid series the fact it can’t decide what it is and how much it wants to do reduces the overall quality of the show. 71%