×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Reviews of 009-1 - Spoilers welcome




Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
lhernan02



Joined: 12 Jun 2005
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:20 pm Reply with quote
This series looked interesting (either a dumber "The Avengers" or a smarter "Charlie's Angels"), but the fansubing stopped when it was licensed and it looked too iffy to buy the singles. But now ADV has it at $2 per ep so I was wondering if it is worth checking out?
Did they develop a plot or remain episodic? (I don't mind either, but if it is episodic then I would just DL a few eps to decide whether to buy the DVDs vs the whole series if there is an arc, also, if there is an arc, when does it begin?)
Did they continue with the "tease" fanservice? (I can't stand the in-between series, either be classy ("The Avengers," sorry, I can't think of an anime series that can manage classy sexy) or be blatant ("Agent Aika," "Najica," or a ton of others), but the forced non-nudity fan service (e.g. Ep 1 when 009 gets out of bed "mummy-wrapped" with the bedsheet) annoys me.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Goodpenguin



Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 457
Location: Hunt Valley, MD
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:13 pm Reply with quote
In a nutshell 009-1 is a very odd show theme wise. On one hand everything about the character designs scream heavy fanservice + heavy action, yet the scripts that came to the party are largely loaded with very angsty, story-driven material.

The first episode is pretty fun, and the beginning of the second has a notably well-animated fight seen, but after that things get inexplicably bogged down in a melodramatic plot-line (per your question it's somewhat episodic, but hues to a greater story). More problematic then being melodramatic, the stories can be awfully sophomoric. Fan-service comes on heavy for brief stretches, but is usually in the background. Very schizophrenic content; one minute the lead is sleeping with a villain then casually dispatching him, the next mooning like a schoolgirl over the handsome opposing spy. Even better, the lead will dispatch a platoon of enemy soldiers, then suddenly stand around helpless as comrades are executed.

I'm not sure what your looking for, but 009-1 really doesn't carry the campy-cool vibe of the Avengers sadly, and fan-service is underplayed for long stretches. Again, an odd series where designs/concepts don't seem to fit with the actual scripts, but if your actually looking for something in the 'angsty spy' genre rather than fun 'camp' it may be worth a handful of bucks to try a few random episodes.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
KyuuA4



Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 1361
Location: America, where anime and manga can be made
PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:45 pm Reply with quote
lhernan02 wrote:
This series looked interesting (either a dumber "The Avengers" or a smarter "Charlie's Angels"),


How does it compare to Totally Spies? Twisted Evil
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:25 am Reply with quote
I have all three DVDs and think it deserves a much better ranking than the current placement (#1509) on ANN. The series continues to be episodic, although the last three episodes fit together as a three parter and characters reappear. The third DVD also has a nice bonus episode which is my favorite episode in the series and there are a good number of extras on these DVDs.

I believe that the first two DVDs are reviewed here, so you might want to look these more extensive reviews and our little follow up posts.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group