Forum - View topicActive Raid (TV).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Active Raid (TV) Genres: Mecha, Police, Sci-fi Themes: Plot Summary: Set in a part of Tokyo that has descended into a quagmire, the story follows Unit 8 of the 5th Special Public Security Section's 3rd Mobile Assault Division — popularly called "The Eighth" — who don powered armor "Willware" exoskeletons to counter the rise in crime. ---------------------------------- I’m a fan of most sci-fi series so the premise immediately caught my interest. It’s by the director of Code Geass so we might see something out of ordinary. The character design is by the guy who did Food Wars so I expect some high quality stuff, at least in terms of visuals. The preview seems to suggest so at least. |
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Stark700
Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Episode 1:
ACTIVATE Felt kinda odd for the pilot episode. OP song is somewhat catchy though imo while other parts felt silly. I mean, the usage of the OST didn't give me a thrilling feel. Although based on the episode, the technology and stuff was interesting in some ways. Kazari seems like somewhat of an interesting character even though she has somewhat of a childish side. Otherwise, not sold on this just yet. Lol, the Engrish was funny though. "Excuse me boss!" The action was okay in terms of the police activation mechanics. I hope we find out more about their development in the future episodes. |
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ookamigirl
 Posts: 2274 Location: Croatia |
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Mecha!
Standard so far. Just not feeling it. Skipping this one. |
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2480 |
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Episode 1
Pretty fun. The way everyone kind of talked over each other while trying to do an exposition dump felt so much better than what Phantom World did, and the pacing was pretty fast but on point. It gave me some Planetes' first episode vibes all throughout. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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This is a fun start and I hope the follow up is worthwhile.
I can dig the idea of what amounts to a SWAT Unit that uses Sentai Power Up armor, the characters are enjoyable enough if leaning very much on the often used anime tropes. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I don't think I liked the first episode very much. Perhaps it was because I spent this day going over academic journals, but it just felt too confusing and fast pace to be eased into explaining the world.
I did like little touches like police following rules in level of engagement, perhaps akin to like what level an officer would take out their gun. But it just felt like a mess with so much information thrown out that it was difficult not only to follow our heroine, but the situation she is taking in. How are we meant to believe that she is some skilled agent if she spent the entire episode apparently being wrong? It becomes only an informed ability, where she gets corrected by a guy who I think was a technician of some kind of google glasses, who apparently is let in on the meeting of this secret agency, along with a criminal they brought in for pickpocketing. "We are an experimental agency, so we have to keep our faces hidden." But it is totally okay to have a technician and arrested pickpocketer in your command centre. "You have to run in and do the arrest." But isn't it like her first day, she like barely got an orientation, plus why does she have to run in when your agency is literally known as a mobile unit? And she is underage, this used as reasoning for why an agent would scream in horror in seeing their police officer colleagues in their underwear, but only highlights the fact they sent her in so suddenly. "I had to carry the suspect here because she fell ill while I was escorting her." No you didn't, you could probably have taken her to any officer out on their beats that prevent petty crime like that, not take her to what I think is special forces against terrorists. And why was she tied up in rope fetish like that, is it following policy to make show that rope that shows boobs off is used instead of handcuffs? I went off it more than I expected, I know crime shows in general pull some BS when showing how things are done, but I think this was extra guilty. Perhaps it will get better. |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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To me, it felt like it tried to do a lot of things at once, and wasn't particularly good at any of them. I'll give it another episode or two, but I really wasn't feeling it with the first episode.
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OldCharlieStoletheHandle
 Posts: 1288 Location: Mastic Beach, NY |
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I was hoping this might have a bit of Patlabor vibe to it (misfit cops + mecha) but no, more like what would happen if Patlabor was remade with a lot of CG after being given a lobotomy. Sorry if that sounds harsh but this looks like kind of a dumb show to me, though it might still manage to be entertaining. I might give it one more episode if I have time.
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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Less given a lobotomy, and more "Let's take some Patlabor, throw in some Super Sentai, a dash of Psycho Pass, oh, can't forget..." Everything in it, I could pick out another show that did something similar, and better.
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Don't forget Rail Wars.
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10030 Location: Virginia |
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Even though I can't argue with everyone's complaints about this show, I found it to be enjoyable. I intend to give it a couple of episodes at least.
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jroa
Posts: 548 |
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The first episode of Active Raid spent a fair amount of its running time telling a newly introduced member of the police force that she shouldn't jump to conclusions so fast and would be better off taking her job less seriously.
I think those who want to give the series a legitimate chance should at least make an honest attempt to take that advice to heart. I cannot possibly stress how such a simple thing would go a long way here. To save everyone some time and not respond to every single criticism, I will quickly sum up that a lot of the issues raised in DuskyPredator's first post can be answered as follows: -One, this is a goofy series that is often aiming for humor and amusement, not a realistic police procedural. -Two, the chaos of the episode mirrored how a new member felt when she came face-to-face with the unit. -Three, this was only the very first episode, so we don't know everything about these characters yet. I will also add that we should not selectively forget just how silly and dumb many Super Sentai series, Metal Hero shows, Tokusatsu productions, the original Bubblegum Crisis, You're Under Arrest and even much of Patlabor itself could be. In retrospect, I have come to the practical conclusion that the series would have greatly benefitted from a more orthodox introductory episode. I do not think, both personally and intellectually, that this was an inherently "wrong" way to start, but it is just a little far from what many people are comfortable with (or used to). In other words, it probably wasn't the best possible way to convince certain sectors of the audience that they should relax and have some dumb fun. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I am watching a few goofy anime, one I gave a pass to in terms of being not serious had things like hyper energetic main character who wants to hug a catgirl. This first episode wanted to explain what they can and cannot do by quoting police procedures and various political aspects. To say it wants to be treated like a goofy anime and forgive plot holes would be letting it have its cake and eat it too. Going off another recent series, Classroom Crisis comes to mind, and if the show decides to similarly focus on such details, it should be consistent. Following levels like by the book levels of response like they did are not merely world building, it is setting the level of professionalism of the team.
But we are told at the beginning that she is not a bumbling recruit, that she quite able, but the episode let her do almost nothing to prove it. We are not even given a good frame of mind for the current world which she seems rather comfortable in, but that ease is not passed over into the audience, instead we get a clunky exposition of "as you know" followed by a "of course I know".
We know things like one hot guy is the serious clean one, while the other is unorthodox yet still able one. Rather than being well put to the audience it instead feels thrown down our throats like it is the story it really wants to tell. I am going to say like the pair from Haikyuu thrown into a team like from Plastic Memories, but they are cops istead, with sentai like battle. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 10030 Location: Virginia |
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Just because the higher up types told the new girl that she was being sent there to report on them doesn't mean it is true. It is possible that they were faced with a new recruit who was very capable but very rigid and by the book. She may have been sent there to find out that real life doesn't work by the book.
Just a possibility. |
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jroa
Posts: 548 |
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There are very different yet still valid ways of producing goofy anime, as well as varying degrees of goofiness, not only one standard model intended for universal use. That is why I don't see this as a zero sum game, where either the lack of realism in the show must be criticized at every corner as if it were a truly serious series, which it objectively isn't, or the series can only avoid questioning if it exclusively becomes an absolutely mindless fanservice comedy instead. The lighthearted tone was never aping a serious detective drama (Psycho-Pass comes to mind for that). Quite the opposite. I think it's more important to consider exactly how the regulations and political elements were treated by the characters themselves. In this show, they were often making light of said political elements and regulations right after acknowledging their existence. These were not impossible obstacles, no, but rather they were easily overcome. Like having the section chief call a politician and scare him off to get authorization.
Strictly speaking, that's not the only scene where we get to see she does have an idea about how to operate. We can tell that from her attitude as well as other responses that are not "as you know" in nature (plus, for the record, briefings in professional settings that are welcoming a new member can and do include "as you know" information on occasion). She is supposed to be competent, in theory, but the situation is not normal nor serious enough for her to be right. Furthermore, it is not strange for a character's abilities to be partially informed until he or she gets the chance to take direct action, which can easily happen in future episodes. The idea that every series must present all of its cards, or show us every trait about each character, within a single episode seems alien to me.
Whereas I think the show simply gave us a very basic -and incomplete- overview of the cast members involved. Not a definitive presentation. Some of them will probably receive more focus later on, even if they keep the same quirks as well, and others might not. Hard to speculate too much so soon. |
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