▸It doesn't work as an ecchi title since it's not titillating, made worse when titles like Queen's Blade exists with amazing "plot." ▸It doesn't work as a harem since the protagonist is a typical beta-male that freezes up at the thought of a woman's touch. ▸It doesn't work as a supernatural show since none of the power mechanics or lore gets fleshed out beyond face value. ▸It doesn't work as an action title since the fight sequences were barely animated with any sort of energy or dynamics. ▸It doesn't work as a romance since nothing ever happens between the main love interest and the protagonist. ▸It doesn't work as a school title since the school is just a backdrop and was never truly utilized. All you simply have to do is look at all the genres it's supposedly made up of and see it misses the mark with all of them: It's hard to find anything here worth mentioning, as the only thing interesting about Duo is just how much it manages to fail. Just a heartless product pumped out by the iron presses of a studio machine looking to make a quick profit with as little effort as possible. Not a single characteristic that expresses passion. Personalities equally as stock-piled, their behavior as lackluster as the color choices used to bring them to life. Cardboard cutout characters designed with no discernable feature from its usual counterparts. This is an anime that can't be bothered with the trivial task of having a personality. Its environment evenly lit, like the backlight of a computer monitor or the glow of a tracing table. An ugly-looking, drably produced advertisement at that. We're given A LOT of hints but that's all, as this is yet another "read the manga" kind of title, where its entire purpose of existing hints towards being an advertisement for the source material. We're given hints at a troubled backstory for our protagonist. We're given hints that the powers in the show have something more behind its mechanics than what's being told. We're given hints at a budding school romance. And as is the tradition for these kinds of stories, we're given hints of a manipulative government faction. A detail that's rendered entirely pointless given that it all takes place in a high school setting, with the purpose of even addressing the nature of the world's construct only coming to play to allow these teens the ability to wield supernatural weaponry-no, that's not a joke, the show is really that lazy. The world of Absolute Duo is that of a dystopian future. The show doesn't try because it's effectively harvested a viewership that doesn't expect it to. Here's a world that exists byways of audience participation to do all the legwork for it. Why bother writing a compelling narrative when excessive info-dumps and monologuing could do the trick? Why bother to make something with a modicum of artistic expression when you would just flash a few pantsu to win over mouth-breathers? Why bother trying when the audience being pandered to don't even demand anything more? It's hard not to be sardonic about titles like these, especially when the problem stems far deeper than simply "the studio's fault." And in the case of Duo, what we have here is a symptom of audience complacency. With a few slight tweaks here and there, and a fresh coat of paint to mask the stench of unoriginality, these titles are excreted out by the dozen on constant demand. It's the same cookie-cutter assembly-line product regurgitated yearly from the anime industry. Absolute Duo does absolutely nothing new. Either that or you've accidentally watched this piece of garbage, Absolute Duo. If you answered "yes" to most, if not, all of those, then congrats! You've just found yourself a mouth-breather tier anime title. ▸Is there at least one obligatory scene where this meta-male either walks in on a girl changing or accidentally gropes them? ☑ ▸Is there a lot of instances where your lead is viewed as a pervert due to stupid misunderstandings? ☑ ▸Is there some kind of a pussy beta-male protagonist with a "unique"/hax superpower? ☑ ▸Does it go from tensionless fights to school rom-com at the drop of a hat? ☑ ▸Is the lead easily flustered by anything involving females? ☑ ▸Is there unnecessary fanservice in the cover photo? ☑ ▸Is there a love interest story that goes nowhere? ☑ ▸Is there a beach or hot spring episode? ☑ Have you ever had trouble spotting a bottom-of-the-barrel title? Finding the product of studio algorithm, where the intent is solely that of a product and nothing more? Shows with as much integrity as a used car salesman with a tacky poker-dot tie, or as much validity as McDonald's promoting "health" through thinly cut apple slices and a bottle of processed milk? Hogwash that pretends to have artistic merit? And if so, would you like to sift through bottom-tier anime before so much as letting it occupy time on your media device? If you've answered yes to this, here are some quick tips to help you
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