Tokyo Project Review

story 5.5/10

The storyline of Tokyo Project is fairly convoluted at best, and wasn't always entirely clear as to what was going on. Essentially, Akira, Junpei and two females make up a detective agency, though this isn't apparantly clear. Junpei doubles as a rock star, and witnesses a man dying. He hands over a disk, and thus the troubles of the four begins. The disk, it seems, contains top secret information about a weapon, as well as other things. This information would point a finger at politicians and an influential company, which means the target of their guns are none other than the four themselves!

Genre-wise, Tokyo Project sometimes seems to be a sci-fi thriller, and sometimes just a generic action-filled investigation type show. I really enjoyed the parts that were seemingly based on sci-fi, with the giant robot and all the computer hacking. Other than that, while it wasn't a bad story, there was nothing exciting about it and it seemed very generic. While watching, I kept thinking "I swear, I've seen so many series like this", but couldn't remember the names. The length (50 minutes), as well, contributes to the confusion and lack of depth with plot and characters, which doesn't help the story score either. It also doesn't help that there are some seemingly absurd things that happen, such as Junpei getting up and going to help the others after being in a terrible accident on his bike. In real life, not only would the patient not be able to escape so easily, but he'd probably be in TOO MUCH PAIN TO RUN AWAY.

animation 7/10

The animation in Tokyo Project is definitely its strongest point, but still ends up being nothing exceptional. Backgrounds were detailed at times, especially with the robots and machinery. Characters look very much like they did in the early 90s, with different shaped eyes (a peeve of mine), some vertically oval and huge, some small and round. The color scheme was quite dark and neutral the entire time, mostly browns and blues. Explosions and other special effects seemed decent, but again, nothing special. The animation in general was crisp and clean, so I feel obligated to give it a moderately decent score. But if you want eye candy, don't pick this one up in hope.

sound 6.5/10

Looking for wailing buttrock that makes you want to grow your hair out and wear tight jeans? Look no further, for Tokyo Project exists. It reminded me of The Enemy's the Pirates, to be honest, with how excessive the hair metal was all the time. Super cheesy and super terrible made the music laughable, but still fit the tone of the series decently. I do think that it could have been a little more mellow some of the time, hence the somewhat lower score. Voice acting seemed just fine for everyone involved.

characters 5/10

The characters definitely were not a strong point of Tokyo Project by any means. The length contributed to this, but the overall tone and focus of the OVA was the true culprit. We had no idea who anyone was, really, and to be honest, even the basic information such as that they all belonged to a detective agency, wasn't clear at all. We see no one's past, no development, and nothing else of note. It truly is an action flick, hands down. Now, nothing happens that should make us emotional in the first place towards the characters, which is good since it wouldn't have worked anyways. For the most part, the characters did fit their very shaky roles decently, but there just wasn't enough there for me.

overall 6/10

Tokyo Project is a mediocre anime that will probably only amuse those that really like short action-filled detective shows. There is nothing blatantly bad about the OVA (well, except the lack of character development), but it still falls short as being something unique and original which would warrant a good watch. So, if you fit the person I described above, check this out for a short watch. Else, choose something else, I'd say.