βπ½ thing I can say for entertainment that leaves me feeling conflicted is that it isn't boring. N ain't boring. The show is cheeky at every moment, bu++-cheeky most of all.
At the site of the Black Spβ«t, where the heart of Tokyo used to be before the bomb hit, strange people appear. Many of them exhibit terrifying superpowers. The outside world fences them in & calls them Needless... Some shows are too low IQ & a waste of time; then there's show's we might label stoopid, bu++ they're actually fun. I confess, Needless is fun. It never takes itself seriously, yet it's still clever. Oh, it's chocked-up on bad taste, garish colors, nutty characters, bad jokes, & it's as shallow as a reflecting pool, bu++ it all comes together in pithy harmony. We're talking pop, not opera - Let's not overstate it! Nevertheless, it's one to watch when you're in a bad mood.
Needless are the ones who don't bother to stop & grab the gun of their fallen comrade while running to an emergency. They have no need of guns b/c they each possess a fragment that gives them one power. That's a rule: 1 fragment/1 power per Needless. Then there are others who do Needless hunting, which is clearly a play on words. Needless also is one letter away from Needles. Interesting. The Blackβ« is a zone of anarchy & gangs. Simeon, Adam Arclight, & the others who reside in the ominously strange building at the center seem to be the reason there is no peace.
The π¨ is like a tween theme park. People are stylized & fantastical w/ simple features & an edgy color-palette w/ heavy shadows. It's attractive & it enhances the fun tone - it reflects effort. I love the rock music which enhances the fun factor. The πΈ is thumpin superb.
They focus on what they think is good-humored titillation, bu++ provide snacks for the brain as well. For instance, there is sufficient explanation for the plot basis. Needless are a missing link, or the next step in human evolution. In ep2 they must figure out what power a Needless that they are fighting posseses: He can float, create things from air, & create an unbreakable barrier. What 1 power can do all of that? It is imaginative writing & watching them work it out is amusing. They actually get alittle sciencey every now & then. (N plays dumb, bu++ it really isn't). It even has educational breaks: "The upstart knockoff effect is when a character appears that closely resembles a pre-existing character. When this occurs, the previous character appears less, or the upstart might even become more popular. A frightening character indeed." Touches like that make a show hard to hate.
There's quite a band of characters. We follow team Blade. If there is a main protag, it would be the green haired boy, Cruz Schild. We watch him grow thru the episodes. He shows no powers except the power of the grey cells. He's smart. He problem-solves w/ analytical skills rather than physical strength. One character, Eve, has a curious power tagged doppelganger. Her powers are not only extraordinary, bu++ they are also extraordinarily versatile. She even heals people w/ it. How does it work? Per Fandom: "The usage of the fragment allows the user to change its body structure into anything he/she wishes Thus, the user can restructure the composition of his/her body (even to mechanized & complex compounds), gain extra limbs, stretch, merge w/ other constructs (like an iron wall) & even regenerate his/her body & that of the others... It's only weakness is it uses a lot of calories, because of that the user needs to consume lot amounts of calories to restore them if the ability is used to make great deals." D@mm! That girl-band of cuties is so evil!
There's oodles of religiousβreferences, bu++ they don't seem to mean much. It's more like they were thrown in for fun. Blade Adam is the crazy one & he's said to be a priest of an undefined religious order. He opens a book during one fight & says "A long time ago a holy man said, if a person strikes you on the right cheek, give em a pile-driver on the left!" His arch rival, Adam "Ark-light", who claims to be God, travels hwy 666. Another rival is named "Saten." Later we learn that Hwy 666 is named because it leads to the HQ of the 666 project, in which they are trying to create a GOD. (Blade Adam calls HQ a pseudo intellectual rathole.") The 666 project is run by The Simian group. Simian=primate & could refer to mankind. It all steps on many landmines & crazy conspiracy theories that I've got a party in my brain right now. What is on the author's mind? Is he poking fun at a hi-tech Omen style Damien project, or poking fun at us for not paying closer attention to the world's power structure? N is silly, bu++ not low IQ. The kid & Blade do a Harry-Potter-Dumbledore scene similar to the Kings Cross scene in book 7. Dr Gido even quotes Amazing Grace (You saved a wretch like me). In the end, the evil god looks exactly like the Oscar statue. Coincidence? Perhapπ. If there is a theme, it is: Be careful whom you trust. We can't hear that enough. In the end, observational & analytical skills save the day, not superhuman abilities. What a great message for the kids! Bu++ kids shouldn't watch this show... Dilemma.
Why does N make me feel conflicted? It's a p@nty-peeper's extravaganza. You'll know some of these girls by their undies as much as their faces. The show creators unleash some noxious views of women. All in good fun? Mehbeee... If so, it's a failed attempt & it's so... NEEDLESS! Eve is scantily clad & overly bimbofied. The sides of her wardrobe are missing. I'm angry-outrage-weary (absolutely everything gets overdone) so I'll just say: 'Eyeπroller'. She ends up in tattered clothes & subservient positions. She is no daft wimp, bu++ the treatment of her character is demeaning & sadistic. I'm just dispassionately pointing out a fact. In another scene AB boots her in the face, which is awful optics. It particularly bothers me when it's man on woman violence. I promise I'll drop that perspective as soon as women catch up to men in terms of physical prowess. By then the NFL, NBA, & even auto racing will have an even distribution of the genders. Until then, men should keep their ππΌ & π off of women.
Here's the biggest problem: Adam Blade, THE PRIEST, has a weakness for "young (looking) girls". He's a Lolicon. Per Wiki - Lolicon: "Genre of seΓualized young girl characters. In Japanese popular culture, lolicon... is a genre of fictional media in which young (or young-looking) girl characters appear in romantic or seΓual contexts. The term also refers to desire & affection for such characters & fans of such characters & works. Associated w/ unrealistic & stylized imagery... the culture is understood as distinct from desires for realistic depictions of girls, or real girls as such, & is associated w/ the concept of moe, or feelings of affection & love for fictional characters... According to editor & critic Akira Akagi, the term's meaning moved away from the pairing of an older man & a young girl, & instead came to describe desire for "cuteness" & "girl-ness"... Other critics defined lolicon as the desire for "cute things", "manga-like" or "anime-like" characters, "roundness", & the "two-dimensional", as opposed to "real".
Fairly new to anime, I'm glad I ran into this as I'll be doing less head-scratching now. It's nothing new for men to think a young girl is more "pure" & to be attracted to that. Men commonly display issues w/ ego, such as jealousy, or a desire for importance/dominance/relevance that all feed into this. Child safety advocates see blazing red lights, of course. Blade Adam is supposedly a 'priest', though evidence points to that being an empty title. It is still a head-shaker that they went Β°thereΒ°. For anyone that doesn't have a sensitivity to the issue, Adam Blade is funny. I am determined to maintain a robust sense of humor. The makers of N didn't create this fiΓation, but they are acting like they are poking fun while actively attempting to get away w/ it. Most people would probably say that they do go a couple inches over the line, bu++ it's fair to say it's a close call. I've always thought that young-thang stuff was very overdone in anime - it comes out that a girl is 13 or 15 -or even 20 - though she looks a prepubescent 9. I've been giving them the benefit of the doubt on the issue because part of the magic of anime is kid magic. Anime, for a large part, is a medium that maintains a sense of childish wonder. It's made by big kids that loved being kids. As long as they are clear that the girl is age-appropriate we can afford them some leewayβ.
Compared to what we see coming out of Hollywood, N is tame. Grins are tossed out in every scene. What can I say? The show is wrong, bu++ the fun is so right. The awesome final battle seems like half of the show (I didn't count the actual eps, bu++ it goes on for a long time). The show causes a battle in ourselves between our sense of humor & our sense of good taste. How it plays out is subject to individual measures.
Watch through to the B&W credits.
QUOTEπ’
Are you all right? You're not gonna curl up & die on some girl's lap, are you?
You're still nursing the wounds of a petty debt from the past.
γ°π IMHO
π¬76 π72 π76 ππ¦ π 55 π¨74 β‘80 π΅/π78 π
68 π50 π±49 π―48 π40 π€40 π€0 π 10
Age 17+ R language & gore/There's a reference to being erect
(After a huge fight, a mysterious gust of wind blows up the skirts again & Adam Blade's nose bleeds some. They point out to him that for the duration of this long fight he's seen nothing bu++ those teal stripes, pink teddies, & tidy-whiteys, to which he replies: "There's always room for more p@nty-shots." The show creators think themselves hilarious, sigh)
Once the viewer realizes that the show is cheeky at every moment, the above can be chalked up to (at least attempted) humor, not that it all works, mind you. I got cr0+ch weary.
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