Hyper Police
Aug. 2nd, 2004 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lilfluffJust finished this one. Going and checking the review on THEM Anime I have to say it's a fair review. I would give it more than three stars, but on a five star scale I have to be honest and say it's not a five either. A four or three and a half stars perhaps.
I do have to give Hyper Police a definite boost on one thing, the ending. Consider the ending of Evangelion (the TV series, not the movies), now consider what that ending could have been like if it had made sense. That in one sentence describes the final episode of Hyper Police.
The Good: Each of the major characters is different from the rest, not simply in appearance but also in their behavior and attitudes. While some of the characters (Batanen, Mudakami, Gray, the cafe owners) change little in the series other do get some development. Natsuki goes from an innocent naive girl who didn't really know what she was getting into by becoming a bounty hunter, to someone who if still innocent and probably naive is at least a bit more confident in her abilities and willing to make a major decision that will effect the whole world. Tommy actually seems by the end to be able to avoid acting like a total idiot around Peau, even managing to be helpful enough that it looks like the pair might have a chance at a relationship. Sakunoshin's arrival causes multiple changes in Sakura's life as well as to her priorities.
Hyper Police also manages to end at the right time. Unlike Betterman which had me wondering just when the story was ever actually going to conclude, Hyper Police brings things to a close as soon as Natsuki makes a definite decision about whether she's on the right path. Certainly there's room for more stories following the characters, but better for those opportunities to be saved for potential sequel series than to start boring the viewer.
The bad: In some ways Hyper Police almost begs for an OVA remake. At 25 episodes the series doesn't begin boring me, but I suspect what's here could be condensed to 12 or 13 episodes without much real loss. The overall arc of the story comes and goes, with some of the elements to are involved in the conclusion suddenly appearing in the last third of the series.
Niftiness! In doing some quick searching on google it appears that Tokyopop is going to be releasing the manga starting in January of next year.
I do have to give Hyper Police a definite boost on one thing, the ending. Consider the ending of Evangelion (the TV series, not the movies), now consider what that ending could have been like if it had made sense. That in one sentence describes the final episode of Hyper Police.
The Good: Each of the major characters is different from the rest, not simply in appearance but also in their behavior and attitudes. While some of the characters (Batanen, Mudakami, Gray, the cafe owners) change little in the series other do get some development. Natsuki goes from an innocent naive girl who didn't really know what she was getting into by becoming a bounty hunter, to someone who if still innocent and probably naive is at least a bit more confident in her abilities and willing to make a major decision that will effect the whole world. Tommy actually seems by the end to be able to avoid acting like a total idiot around Peau, even managing to be helpful enough that it looks like the pair might have a chance at a relationship. Sakunoshin's arrival causes multiple changes in Sakura's life as well as to her priorities.
Hyper Police also manages to end at the right time. Unlike Betterman which had me wondering just when the story was ever actually going to conclude, Hyper Police brings things to a close as soon as Natsuki makes a definite decision about whether she's on the right path. Certainly there's room for more stories following the characters, but better for those opportunities to be saved for potential sequel series than to start boring the viewer.
The bad: In some ways Hyper Police almost begs for an OVA remake. At 25 episodes the series doesn't begin boring me, but I suspect what's here could be condensed to 12 or 13 episodes without much real loss. The overall arc of the story comes and goes, with some of the elements to are involved in the conclusion suddenly appearing in the last third of the series.
Niftiness! In doing some quick searching on google it appears that Tokyopop is going to be releasing the manga starting in January of next year.
