Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

Series Information
ANN Encyclopedia | AniDB | AnimeNfo
OP: “Aoi Kakera (青いかけら)” by Chara
ED: “Polaris no Namida (ポラリスの涙)” by onso9line
Production: TMS Entertainment

[ Episode 1: Ran, Telepathy! ]

Here’s what I find to be one of the more decent shows for the summer season this year. Frankly speaking, the amount of new shows this summer were really huge and so were the expectations. However, just like E3 2008, it left most of us displeased with the results…

More specifically, I thought I might try out this show just because it had it’s genre under mystery. After watching the premiere, I could say that it might turn out that way a bit more drastically that I would imagined. In the beginning, everything was all calm and just like an ordinary drama or romance story. We’re first treated to a nice, relaxing opening theme song. A really nice song that sounds just perfect for summer. The scenes are cute too. Next we see Ran running track and she hears a voice saying “I found you.” Well, okay, besides that plus the dog incident that occurred during the night, it really did seem like something not so dark in tone. Speaking of which, how the heck did a dog use a lighter that was in its mouth? It seemed more like a flamethrower too… But anyways, nothing totally serious happened until the end of the episode when Midori (who looks just like Natsuki from My-HiME) and Ran telepathically duke it out. I gotta say, that went by really quickly and I was surprised to see Ran give Midori a good slap in the face. I can say that was probably uncalled for, but when you’ve got somebody you care about in grave threat then you gotta take action.

I gotta say though, this was a pretty comfortable change from the usual series. Instead of high schoolers, you’ve got middle schoolers with telepathic powers, yet it’s not only about talking through your mind or reading other people’s thoughts. A mix of DBZ beams, you could probably say, though less manly and less muscle of course. It’s probably just me but I think Ran has a pretty wealthy family. Just look at her house, so fancy and totally non-traditional.

There weren’t too many complaints I have, especially for a first episode. I rather like the pacing they’re at. It’s slightly faster than what I think it should be but I think it’s reasonable. What I did like seeing was a little bit of Ran’s past to one of the first times she heard voices. We even get a little insight on Midori’s past, a much more traumatic one. Overall, a decent start. A nice presentation and a lot of well known seiyuu present. Katou Emiri, Ueda Kana, Seki Tomokazu, Orikasa Fumiko, Satou Rina, even Sakaguchi Daisuke! Looks charming, but it gets pretty intense at the end. I’m very much looking forward to more.

Episode 1:
+ Nice animation, great cast
- Not enough background information, though it is the first episode and they did have show a bit of the characters’ pasts.