Zettai Karen Children is such an underrated anime. It's one of the funniest I've seen yet!
The story is that while on a mission, the three most powerful ESPers known in the world meet Minamoto, who (unknown to him at that time) eventually becomes their guardian. They are all part of the organization, B.A.B.E.L. (BAse of Backing ESP Laboratory), which is one that is focused on stopping crimes before they happen. The show is a battle between good and evil as the main villain, Hyoubu Kyosuke, tries to get The Children to become the predicted "demons" of the future, while Minamoto is trying to raise them to become "angels" instead.
ZKC is a Shonen anime that parodies the magical girl genre, including catchphrases, quick transformation scenes, and even jokes poking fun at some of the things you will likely question as you watch magical girl shows (eg. The enemies mention that they have to wait for the girls to finish speaking before the enemies attack them.).
Although ZKC parodies the magical girl genre, there are other parodies and jokes people can find the humor in. One example I'll give is an episode that parodies Death Note. Even in the eye-catch card, a character gives an expression that is unmistakably referencing Light Yagami.
The show not only has comedic moments, but serious ones, as well as some cool fight scenes. The best example of this is episode 37. It's the most serious episode with good fight scenes in there. The really interesting parts don't really happen until later in the series when Kaoru gets her wings.
The music is nothing special, really. The opening and ending songs are really good, but the other music is somewhat unmemorable. I believe the first opening, Over the Future, is very overused, and I'm sure you'll feel the same. Break Your Destiny is probably the best song in the series.
The animation is not extremely detailed, but pleases the eye. It has a somewhat unique style that can probably be easily recognized. The movement is pretty fluid, as well.
The characters... I'll say it right now: Zettai Karen Children has a good cast. The characters are fun and memorable. Minamoto is their guardian, and practically their mom, despite being a male. He makes food for them, and tends to be protective of them. He's always being picked on by The Children, as well as being flirted with by women. He's often falsely accused of being a lolicon, as well. (Such bullies! >:V) Kaoru is the perverted old man, even if she's a ten year old girl. She talks about how great women's bodies are, and even used "Geezer powers" in one episode!
Shiho is dark and psychotic, even commenting that she used to play with bug poison as if it were a toy when she was really young.
Aoi is the most normal member of The Children. She's a little sarcastic and talked to Kaoru about being like an old perverted man.
Hyoubu Kyosuke is the main villain, watching over Kaoru and raising her up so she can become the Queen of Catastrophe, destined to start a war between ESPers and normals. He's got a dark past, but don't let that fool you! He's a very immature character who likes to mess with Minamoto a lot, (Poor Minamoto! XD) even shape-shifting into a female character and nearly kissing him!
Although the anime is very good, I think it's very watered down. Although they are cool to watch, the fight scenes show this a lot. I think airing it at 10 A.M. every Sunday kept it from being the best it could be. I haven't read the manga much myself, but from what I could tell, it definitely seemed a bit more mature than the anime was, which is why I would recommend it before the anime.
So all in all, it has a good premise, it has good jokes, good animation, a decent soundtrack, a great cast, but was sadly watered down due to the time slot.
The story is that while on a mission, the three most powerful ESPers known in the world meet Minamoto, who (unknown to him at that time) eventually becomes their guardian. They are all part of the organization, B.A.B.E.L. (BAse of Backing ESP Laboratory), which is one that is focused on stopping crimes before they happen. The show is a battle between good and evil as the main villain, Hyoubu Kyosuke, tries to get The Children to become the predicted "demons" of the future, while Minamoto is trying to raise them to become "angels" instead.
ZKC is a Shonen anime that parodies the magical girl genre, including catchphrases, quick transformation scenes, and even jokes poking fun at some of the things you will likely question as you watch magical girl shows (eg. The enemies mention that they have to wait for the girls to finish speaking before the enemies attack them.).
Although ZKC parodies the magical girl genre, there are other parodies and jokes people can find the humor in. One example I'll give is an episode that parodies Death Note. Even in the eye-catch card, a character gives an expression that is unmistakably referencing Light Yagami.
The show not only has comedic moments, but serious ones, as well as some cool fight scenes. The best example of this is episode 37. It's the most serious episode with good fight scenes in there. The really interesting parts don't really happen until later in the series when Kaoru gets her wings.
The music is nothing special, really. The opening and ending songs are really good, but the other music is somewhat unmemorable. I believe the first opening, Over the Future, is very overused, and I'm sure you'll feel the same. Break Your Destiny is probably the best song in the series.
The animation is not extremely detailed, but pleases the eye. It has a somewhat unique style that can probably be easily recognized. The movement is pretty fluid, as well.
The characters... I'll say it right now: Zettai Karen Children has a good cast. The characters are fun and memorable. Minamoto is their guardian, and practically their mom, despite being a male. He makes food for them, and tends to be protective of them. He's always being picked on by The Children, as well as being flirted with by women. He's often falsely accused of being a lolicon, as well. (Such bullies! >:V) Kaoru is the perverted old man, even if she's a ten year old girl. She talks about how great women's bodies are, and even used "Geezer powers" in one episode!
Shiho is dark and psychotic, even commenting that she used to play with bug poison as if it were a toy when she was really young.
Aoi is the most normal member of The Children. She's a little sarcastic and talked to Kaoru about being like an old perverted man.
Hyoubu Kyosuke is the main villain, watching over Kaoru and raising her up so she can become the Queen of Catastrophe, destined to start a war between ESPers and normals. He's got a dark past, but don't let that fool you! He's a very immature character who likes to mess with Minamoto a lot, (Poor Minamoto! XD) even shape-shifting into a female character and nearly kissing him!
Although the anime is very good, I think it's very watered down. Although they are cool to watch, the fight scenes show this a lot. I think airing it at 10 A.M. every Sunday kept it from being the best it could be. I haven't read the manga much myself, but from what I could tell, it definitely seemed a bit more mature than the anime was, which is why I would recommend it before the anime.
So all in all, it has a good premise, it has good jokes, good animation, a decent soundtrack, a great cast, but was sadly watered down due to the time slot.
