Synopsis
A deadly virus has attacked humanity with vicious intent! At the forefront of the battle is the enigmatic Akamatsu Industries. Disguised as a heavy machine factory in Tokyo, this clandestine organization uses neural enhanced weapons known as Awakeners to battle the virus. But will the combined efforts of this secret organization and the mysterious warrior Betterman be enough to save Tokyo?
Review
Humans have searched for the possibility of mortality throughout their past history. Alexander the Great once searched for the fountain of youth in India. Ponce de Leon went on the same mission and ended up discovering the Bahamas and Florida. But despite what science has told us, people in today’s society are persistent in dealing with this issue in maintaining their ‘immortality’ through plastic surgery and ‘miracle’ pills in hopes of looking younger and more revitalized. This is one of the themes we see address in the Anime Betterman.
The name Better Man is pretty self explanatory: he is better than the average man. With the ability to transform into many things by eating different fruit looking objects, Better Man is always there when help is needed. But despite how fancy Betterman looks or how bright and shiny his attacks are, it does nothing to savage the confusing and hopeless trajectory of its plot.
It starts out with Keita who meets his childhood friend Hinoki, as he joins Akamatsu Industries because he possesses the inherited ability to pilot a robot. Asami, an agent of Mode Warp who receives the help of Akamatsu Industries, tags along and takes account for every incident that happens hoping to solve the mysterious illness caused by Algernon. As simple as it sounds, the plot spirals into confusion as the coherency slowly breaks down with each succeeding episode. For example, rather than showing episodes where the audience is allowed to decipher what is going on, information is just being tossed at at the beginning introduction. In fact, most of the time we see Keita and Hikoni running for their life as something is always chasing them that ends with Better Man coming to the rescue. It’s as if the plot is on standby in order to show how bad ass Better Man’s transformations are. Irrelevant information is given every time at the end of each episode which contributs nothing to the identity of Algernon or of Better Man. Only until the last episode is everything explained. But despite these aspects, the Anime still has well crafted themes and ideas. For example as mentioned, the idea of searching for the possibility of immortality. Also, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest is strongly emphasized (as if it isn’t in many other anime). So while there are confusing points in the plot and times when it goes off tangent, the ending did answer many questions previously introduced. However, there is also a lack of character development.
It isn’t rare to see Anime with character flaws and “Betterman” is no exception. First of all, I have no idea what on earth Keita has to do with all of this Algernon and Better Man thing. The reason for why he is in this mess doesn’t add up. For example, why does he even care to go into the robot and risk his life? Just because he can pilot the robot he would? What about his parents? His personal life? What does he feel that the audience can’t just see through his physical reactions? None of these things are present. I think this anime is allowing me to appreciate Evangelion more for some odd reason. And the fact that we do not know anything about Keita, his character becomes out of place and becomes too important when he is, how should I put this, worthless. The same goes for Hinoki. Who is she? What is her past? The only thing that is known is that her parents vanished 4 years ago during an operation called the Dive Inspection and she is looking for them through working with Akamatsu Industries. In fact, the whole cast is literally filled with stale characters as boring to watch as a piece of bread mold. Betterman fails horribly in developing any of the characters since none of the thoughts and feelings of the characters connect with the audience (at least not me). However, I do enjoy some of the misadventures Keita has like the episode when he is attacked by worms. Aside from the characters, the animation and music are conflicting.
When it comes down to art and music, one would expect them to be one sided: either excels or fail in that area. A good example is like Final Fantasy: Unlimited where the animation is horrible in a general sense. Why did I bring that particular Anime up? The reason is because I did not think there would be a worse design than some of the things you see in FF:U. Betterman however beats it by a mile. The idea of worms attacking people then forming into a giant worm as it unites with each other is such a stupid idea I don’t even know how or why it’s applied. I can understand that B.P.L. is a place where one would see earthly creatures like that. But I mean…come on. The artist and mastermind responsible for unique character design couldn’t do any better than a monster that looks like a piece of ramen noodle with a mouth? In addition Kankel, the ultimate immortal creature, has less fashion than a decorated snowman. And I don;t even want to go into the mecha designs. The conflicting reason is because there is nothing wrong with the actual cast of Akamatsu Industries characters or Better Man and it’s transformations art wise. In fact, I think the transformations of Better Man are pretty well designed. So while there are these distinguishing, crappy designs, there are also well crafted ones. It goes the same with the sound track of Betterman. The opening theme is unbearable. It sounds so off tune and the way it’s made looks so cheap with the ocean and characters fading in and out. On the other hand, there are some pretty decent insert songs during episodes.
The Breakdown
All in all, Betterman is an entertaining show to watch. While the plot is confusing at times and seems to be going nowhere, the ending does a good job in explaining a lot of unanswered questions. And while some of the animation is pretty bad, there are some goods eye popping fights between Better Man and whatever else. Check it out for yourself.