Overall Rating
Excellent
Story: 4
Dialogue: 5
Animation: 5
Entertainment: 4
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See that little genre tag above? The one that says āactionā? It means it. Fast-paced, vicious, amoral, more than hardcore, and definitely not advised for pacifistsā¦ like me. Whatās a pacifist doing in action genre? Seeking a change from the shoujo, expecting something Fate/Zero-style (cāmon, the title āJormungandā stems straight from Nordic legends). I didnāt get legends, or Fate/Zero, but I got something about as far from shoujo as anime can go. āJormungandā is nothing short of thoroughly insane.
Story (4/5) -- First things first: No, the original story doesnāt snugly fit into twelve episodes. All youāll get here is a set of sub-stories made rather for the purpose of getting to know the characters than for one overarching plot. Thereās a hint of the main story towards the end, but the time frame simply has it breaking off. Thereās a second season (Perfect Order) announced for October, but whoever is annoyed by the break will be better off reading the manga. 49 chapters out according to Manga-Access (I just hope that site is halfway informed for once ^^Ā°). On the upside though, none of the sub-stories is entirely predictable, and completely shoving side stories aside, the concept is fresh and quite intriguing where it doesnāt try all too hard.
The whole concept plays on one highly twisted and violent conflict for peace, providing unusual takes on common themes such as teamwork and professionalism. It strives for realism, giving background info that, despite seemingly a little exaggerated here or there, is close to reality. Overall? It displays. But it doesnāt judge. Thereās no good, no bad in āJormungandā. The main characters are killers for the sake of business, and where their customers arenāt any better, their enemies are no worse.
That in itself might evoke a lot of questioning and ethical problems if you care to dig behind bad guys and gallons of cinematic blood. But āJormungandā doesnāt make you rack your brain. Original, fast, badass, comparably realisticā¦ itās all that. But it never takes a stance on what it tells. If thatās a good or bad thing depends on its viewersā¦ itās certainly a change, at the very least. The main problem with the storyline isnāt that it doesnāt judge itself, but that itās incomplete and unforgiven. Might change with the next season, but thereās no telling that quite yet.
Title -- I donāt usually include notes on the title. Titles are a way to identify the show, they fit or they donāt, theyāre interesting or boring, and thatās that. Rarely though does a title add so much to a show as it does in āJormungandā.
I mentioned before that āJormungandā as a term is taken from Nordic mythology. Let me try to keep things short and sweet: In Nordic mythology, Jormungand (originally Jƶrmungandr) is a kind of giant serpent (wound itself around the world and grasped its own tail when tossed into the oceanā¦) that antagonises the main god Thor, battling him a number of times and twice ending the whole thing in pretty much of a draw. I donāt want to unravel the whole legend (more on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jormungand), but try and connect the whole thing to Koko and her serpentine smileā¦ I donāt want to spoiler things, but this opens about a dozen number of ways to interpret the whole thing.
Anime isnāt meant to be interpreted like Shakespearean sonnets? Okay, youāre right. Sorry for the sidetrack. Moving on to the topic of characters.
Sure enough that in a reality where āmundaneā means āin a hardcore fight for survivalā, the characters canāt be wimps. And thatās another of the seriesā main draws. The characters are richly designed individuals, both in visual and psychological design, each with their own quirks and personality. Koko especially is probably one of the most mysterious, cold-blooded, and intriguing females in anime history. While twelve episodes seem like little time to get to know a bunch of characters, and itās true that many side characters are still missing more or less explanation, the few background stories revealed so far are quite touching and add depth to the respective characters; also, chara development is finely done for a series of this length, and adds to the story where the set of sub-stories doesnāt make for a consistent plot of any kind. Character interaction, if at times a little odd, is likable and has its funny moments, and the trust among the members of Kokoās bodyguard group (?) is well displayed. The main problem here would be that due to the rather violent atmosphere and some charactersā pretty business-like attitude, the majority of the bunch comes across as phony or sadistic at first. I guess thatās what you call āgiving off the wrong impressionā. Sigh.
Dialogue (4.5/5) -- Itās not without its flaws, but itās relatively intelligent and easy to follow. Tends to feel out of place in many predominantly action-packed scenes (Iām all for intelligent dialogue, but when thereās a rain of bullets in the air at the same time, it can get rather ridiculous), but itās still above average, and thereās no obvious faults in the voice-acting.
Technical aspects (5/5)
Music -- Opening and closer fit the show oddly well, and especially the openerās a title that could probably be nominated for āgetting stuck in most listenersā earsā. Anything pales compared to that, so naturally the background music throughout the show is a little less memorable, but itās without a doubt well-done and rich.
Animation -- Recent quality. The action is plentiful, fast, and ruthless, with well-done tactics, dozens of guns, and tons of cinematic blood. Itās not a second Elfen Lied in terms of gore, but where it comes to violence, I must say Iām really not sure which one tops the other. >.< Ā“
Artwork -- Itās as rich as music and action. Thereās one pretty odd point of grey/red in the beginning, as the colouring tends to become washed-out where it doesnāt come to either blood or charactersā eyes, but once you get used to the colouring, the art canāt be complained about. Distinctive character design with plausible eye and hair colours, clothing, and facial shapes. The line-art in general is meticulous, with many detailed and modern settings; even military hardware is displayed accurately.
Entertainment (4/5) -- In the endā¦ itās all about the viewersā liking for action and cinematic blood. Thereās some decent character development, a number of comedic moments, some emotion (thatās generally rather extreme rage than anything else ^^"), an intriguing concept and title, and the characters are interesting without a doubt. The story is interesting as well, were it not for the fact that the end will leave every viewer hanging (and possibly disappointed). All of that however pales if compared to the action. And right there, it simply tries too hard for me. Itās a dream for lovers of guns, gore, and overall badassness; yet it also borders on insanely sadistic and bloodlust-y. Itās something I personally had a hard time with. Iāve never minded action that knew its limits, but I simply didnāt expect a show that could at times rival Elfen Lied in terms of violence. It is intriguing without a doubt, but intriguing in quite a cruel way sometimes.
Personally, I wish theyād focused a little more on a consistent story and a little less on gun-fights. Now that I did make it through the first season and that Iāve seen a hint of a consistent main story, Iām willing to stick around for another while to see where this thing goes. But eventually, itās not the action and gore that attracts me, itās the story with its connection to reality. In terms of fights, the show simply tends to go overboard for me. I guess thereās no helping it, though. Maybe I should rather read the manga, seeing as action tends to get less haunting if it loses its sound.
Itās not that I detest this show. Itās quite intriguing, even for me, and itās definitely one of the better and more realistic in the action genre with its hints of comedy as long as you donāt mind, or even happen to like, overboarding violence. No changing it -- but I personally simply wish theyād cut it a little on the āobjectionable contentā. As it is, itās 18+ at the very least. NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS
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