Oh boy, where do I start? I suppose a categorical analysis would do, but words couldn't describe the inner turmoil that I felt watching this train wreck, but I digress...
Story
My Synopsis: The weird megaman power ranger, Breakin (a shitty name in it of itself) challenges the guy that looks like King Harkinian from the Zelda CD (King of Dancing or something) to a dance off, and after a hilariously awful dance scene (see the animation section for details). The King guy wins by doing absolutely nothing, and says that Breakin's MacGuffin Dance Powers are no match for his not dancing skills, and banishes him to the vast world of Earth... well, specifically Japan. Shit ensues.
Quality... Or the Lack Therof: My god this story is generic. "Seemingly perfect X doesn't understand the true meaning of Y, so learned oldster sends him to Nippon land to learn the true meaning of Y, but he'll need the help of Z to do so. X and Z will soon team up to gain all of the MacGuffin -Insert Plot Items Here-." Well you know the rest, and another reason why this is less than 1 is because this show is about dancing, among other things... and I've yet to encounter a properly executed dance show. (Feel free to show me a good dancing anime, by the way. I'll be waiting).
Animation
It's Colorful or Something: Welcome to Generica, where the characters are given ridiculous character designs to make up for their inevitable lack of interesting character. Lets take a look at MC-kun. I'll admit they didn't go TOO overboard with this kid, but they couldn't resist giving him incredibly bright blue eyes with triangles at the corner of them, as well as a red jacket with incredibly eccentuated, flipped out collars, that's also too short for him, exposing his midriff. Ironically enough when the non kid characters are shown, then the animation is almost passable. The mother and teacher's character designs are well complimented by the animation as a whole, which further proves that you don't need to have ridiculous hair to be noticed and appreciated.
When looking at the style and color palate of the show, it honestly isn't that bad. The colors are bright, and though they aren't warm (which I prefer for the most part), they serve the purpose of fitting the setting. But unfortunately enough, the execution of this style was wasted on ridiculous CGI and ridiculous character designs. (I know the thought that's running through all of your heads by the way, but read on. That one thought will be brought up in my closing thoughts).
The 3D Animation: Ok, animators, let papa Ogrelord tell you a secret... IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO INTEGRATE 3D ANIMATION INTO YOUR EXISTING 2D ANIMATION, THEN IT WOULDN'T SEEM SO AWFUL AND OUT OF PLACE! Seriously, your super awesome special dance sequences are so jarring compared to the rest of your show, that they just look like a shitty Vocaloid animation dance plugin. Again and again I see shows that poorly integrate 2D and 3D, and I just see wasted potential. If this show had taken time to make the dancing (the entire focus of this show) presentable and polished, then I'd gladly look over the fact that it was about dancing and have action to look forward to, but you just couldn't do that, could you? You had to just scrape the bottom of the barrel just so you can churn out episodes, and hope that it sells.
Sound
Well... It's Certainly There: The sound in this show is very techno-y and upbeat, which matches the tone of the show well. All in all it was well executed, however what I heard wasn't impressive in the slightest, especially compared to most other shows. I felt like they just took the soundtrack that an amateur musician made in his free time. I say this due to the very little complexity in it, as well as one other thing: it fits, but just barely. A good soundtrack does more than match a show, it draws out it's flavor. I get the impression that the producers of this show pulled a track that worked, but just didn't see how it interacts and mixes with the scenes themselves. If the artist had made his/her track for the SOLE purpose of mixing and driving these scenes forward, then I may have rated it higher. But alas, the music barely fits the tone of the show, the tracks lack any real complexity, and what I hear is incredibly lackluster.
Characters
The Finest Citizens of Generica: MC-kun is totally interested uninterested in love not love interest MG (main girl)-chan. He, nice guy friend who likes running, fat guy who likes food, and scrawny nerd don't want to participate in the -slightly femenine thing- because it's lame and'll give them cuties. It's been incredibly overdone and everyone's sick of it. There are ways of establishing good character within one episode, however this show didn't feel like executing them, and stuck with cookie cutter characters that you'd find in "Anime Characters for Dummies." The closest thing to character complexity doesn't even involve MC-kun. I'm referring to how running guy isn't satisfied with his running power and draws out MacGuffin Dance Power to become fast, but of course MC-kun tells him "that way of doing X isn't true to your kokoro!"
^Can You Guess Which One Likes Food and Which One is the Nerd?^
Needless to say that these characters have offered me no reasons to raise my 0.5 rating. Case and point.
Overall
Well that concludes my review. This is an incredibly poorly executed show that is perfectly content to hide inside the crowd of generic crap. Overused characters are not only thrown at you every moment of the show, but we have to look at them as ridiculously animated ploys to get your attention, all while inhabiting an awful story, accompanied by mediocre music.
Oh, and remember how I'd address "that thought"? Well I'm no liar, so here it is:
Just Because it's for Kids, Doesn't Mean that it's Immune to Criticism:
It's true. As a critic I read and review things at base value. Your intended audience has little effect on my reviews. It gets tiring to hear people make excuses for poor quality shows by saying that they're for kids. If anything that makes their quality more inexcusable. As a studio, producer, writer, or artist, does your job mean so little to you that you'd rather cater to the lowest common denominator, and knowingly produce garbage? A real artist has something called integrity, which means that no matter who, what, where, or when it's for, you'll try your damnest to create your best work, every moment of the time you spend doing it. Another thing to consider is that if these are the standards that we set for our youngest anime viewers, then they'll end up looking at other shows with an awful and incorrect perception of how anime truly is.
So no. I won't forgive this show's, or any other show's sins becasue they're for children. Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, Spongebob (seasons 1-3), and Powerpuff Girls are intended for children, but their quality and work put into them rival some movies. So that, among other reasons, is why kids shows shouldn't be immune to criticism
Well, kids, that's it.
I'm Not Sorry,
TheOgrelord
