Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

Series Information

ANN Encyclopedia | AniDB | AnimeNfo
Episode Total: 3
Producers: Anpro
Genres: Action, Drama
OP: “No Name” by Team AAA
ED: “Train” by Kenichi Suzumura (ep1), Junichi Suwabe (ep2), Hiroki Takahashi (ep3)
Bus Gamer

It has nothing to do with buses.

This is going to be my hardest review so far, because an anime like Bus Gamer has potential to be great. Now you probably wonder why I used future tense in the last sentence. Reason is that Bus Gamer never ended properly; the manga ended when the original mangaka had troubles with the magazine that published it, resulting in an anti-clamtic end. Because of this, the anime which is based on the manga is only 3 episodes long, which is a shame because when the show finally starts to show depth, it ends.

What drew me into Bus Gamer is its premise: An illegal match between two teams of three that named away and home. The home team holds a data disc with important information about the corporal worl and the away team needs to snatch it from them and hold it until time runs out. It’s pretty much a cock-fight with human beings set by corporal hot shots for their unadulterated entertainment, and what better reason for a team to fight but for money, a lots of if they manage to stick around the final rounds.

One team in particular that gave no reason for acquiring such big sum of money are our protagonists: Toki Mishiba, the quiet and subtle fighter, Nobuto Nakajou, the reigning tough brute and Kazuo Saitou the goofy and childish one in the bunch that can’t fight. It is alarming to notice how undeveloped the characters are, and the seiyuus that voice them don’t help with the first impression either. Kenichi Suzumura doesn’t have much range in voice and known for grating people’s nerves (Shinn from Gundam Seed Destiny but his voice is most similar to Okita Sougo from Gintama). Junichi Suwabe always voices the tough guys that are more arrogant than they are strong (Atobe from Prince of Tennis and Grimmjaw from Bleach) and Hiroki Takahashi does his annoying Kikumaru voice from Prince of Tennis, which is a little disappointing from a guy that has Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter and Harima Kenji from School Rumble in his resume.

Thankfully the more the series goes on, the better it gets, as much as a 3 episode series can improve. The characters appear as the most one dimensional as possible, as Mishiba doesn’t talk about himself at all, Nakajou is the one who doesn’t want to do anything with his comrade like a lone mercenary and Saitou forces everyone to get alone in his bratty way. As the show move along and the matches gets harder, the team starts to evolve as well. Mishiba shows more interest in his teammates, Nakajou is showing more intelligence than a normal thug and Saitou is starting to take a more serious approach to a game in which your very life is at stake, as serious as an overzealous high school student can be.

What’s also interesting about Bus Gamer is the three are not only competing against other teams, but also trying to cover their tracks from the police, that play a major role in the story in the late phase. Many shows, anime or not, tried to copy the idea of an illegal sport and went with it in a different direction, but Bus Gamer is the first one in a long time that states the fact those matches are illegal. It makes you wonder how come the police allow such thing to happen in the streets until by episode three you understand why such felony is allowed.

It is a shame the story ended before it really took flight. The author is the same one of Saiyuki, and if the beautiful guys don’t show that, the reference to one of his characters in a video game will. It is a unique art-style, but it can turn some people off. The animation is even more underwhelming as the fighting scenes are not very fluid in motion as they should. The animation quality notwhistanding, the battles of Bus Gamer are at least entertaining to watch thanks to the unique scenarios the characters have to undergo and Saitou’s clever solutions to his lack of fighting experience.

Bus Gamer, as flawed as it is due to the length, is still an entertaining for passing time just for the hell of it. Even with its terrible first impression consisting of mundane lead characters and a questionable character design that may look yaoi-ish to some, the quality picks up rather quickly. If there was more story to work with, it could have been good, but you cannot cry over spilled milk, can you?

[Final Score: 76/100]