Senkou no Night Raid – First Episode Review

Episode Summary: It's Shanghai, 1931, and the Sakurai Kikan spy organization is on a mission to rescue a Japanese businessman from the clutches of a renegade Chinese military group.  They believe that they may have found their man, but after a hectic chase through town and a couple of fistfights later they find out that he was just a decoy.  They regroup and some new intelligence and varying demands by the kidnappers suggest that the game may have changed somewhat. They plan to infiltrate the military group's base under cover of darkness to snatch the businessman right from under their noses.

Two of the spies, the brash, unpredictable Aoi and the more conservative Kazura, parachute into the compound and, with help from their teammates, make their way to where the executive is being held.  What they discover is that he's had a pretty comfortable life in captivity due to some underhanded deal-making with his captors, so their rescue mission suddenly takes on an entirely different tone.  After barely escaping the compound with a little help from a rival military faction, they turn in their prisoner and manage to justify their tenuous existence as an organization.

Thoughts: I was a big fan of the previous Anime no Chikara project, Sora no Woto (and perhaps one of the few people who enjoyed it for exactly what it was and wasn't bogged down by what I expected it would be) so I've been eagerly awaiting the follow up. I was pleased to find that, much as Sora no Woto took the military genre and added in a dose of fantasy, mystery, and slice-of-life, Senkou no Night Raid takes the action spy genre and mixes it up with a bit of science fiction and historical context. The success of the overall series remains to be seen but, judging from the first episode, my expectations are definitely more positive than negative.

First thing's first, though: if anyone out there is expecting a straight-up spy adventure, be warned that, in addition to action and intrigue, each of the characters wields a sort of thus-far-unexplained supernatural power, some of which make their appearance in this episode.  Aoi has telekinetic abilities which he uses to deflect bullets and enhance his fighting prowess.  Kazura can teleport across great distances (a feat which helps make their retrieval mission a success rather than a dismal failure). Yukina, the token female of the group, uses telepathy.  Where do these powers come from? It's not explained directly in this episode, but it does appear that the powers have a time limit; the characters are glued to their watches as they battle their way towards success.  While I was thrown off balance by the inclusion of these superhuman enhancements, I think that they could add some much-needed dimension to the characters, who thus far seem very by-the-book.

If the teams behind the Anime no Chikara productions have demonstrated anything thus far, it's that they seem to flounder in the character development department.  Sora no Woto drew heavily from the moe playbook, and while each of the characters received some back story, their personalities always seemed formulated to draw in as many otaku as possible.  Senkou no Night Raid introduces a fairly typical ensemble cast, complete with a leading man who scoffs at authority and dislikes playing by the book, a stoic, conservative co-star, and a bubbly token female who might be powerful, but still finds time to trip and fall on her butt.  There's also the big guy, but we haven't seen much of him yet.  Much like Samurai Champloo, another series which balanced its cast similarly, the proof will be in the execution - characters who begin life as archetypes certainly aren't doomed to stay that way.  For now, though, it may be a bit more satisfying to enjoy the action-oriented parts of the story instead.

The action was definitely the high point of the episode.  The story begins with a ridiculous vehicle chase through the city where Aoi rides his motorcycle up some bridge supports and makes a daring leap onto a boat before beating them up.  Aoi and Kazura's escape from the military compound is chock full of well-animated hand-to-hand combat.  If anything, it would be easy to forgive any other shortcomings if the action always looked this polished from week to week.  It's a bit more difficult to make a judgment call on the background artwork, since so much of the action takes place in the dark, but I'm hopeful that in future episodes the artwork will do the location the justice it deserves.

The elephant in the room here, and a question that anyone familiar with Asian history has probably already asked, is how the series will handle some of the more distasteful events that occur during the time period in which the series is set.  The Japanese invasion of Manchuria was sparked by the bombing of a Japanese-owned section of railway, an act which Japan has traditionally accused the Chinese of committing, but which is generally thought to have been a ploy by Japan itself in order to justify going to war.  If this event is even portrayed in the anime, which it may not be, I wonder whether the producers will attempt to remain neutral, or whether they'll attempt to glorify the Japanese position on the matter.  I'll be curious to see if and how this touchy little piece of history will manifest itself, though I suppose I would understand if it's glossed-over in favor of less-controversial entertainment.

On a lighter note, the show's use of multiple languages may turn out to be a source of unintentional humor if it continues the way it does.  Many characters, especially Aoi, speak a lot of their lines in Chinese.  While the native characters actually sound halfway decent to my ears (with no experience in the language I can only guess), Aoi's lines  always sound so laborious and stilted in comparison.  Even so, I have to congratulate the writers for even attempting such a thing.  Much like the German language that made an appearance in Sora no Woto, perhaps the fact that the writers made an effort to keep from glossing-over any linguistic differences is worth a pat on the back, even if the end product is a little bit giggle-worthy.

This production is clearly imperfect, but it tries so hard - it would be almost cruel not to acknowledge its attempts to be a little different.  I'm encouraged by the sentiment behind the series - creating an anime series from scratch without basing it on previous material - and believe that even though this series might not be a major revolution in animation, it might still be darned fun to watch.

Pros:

• There's plenty of action and it's well-animated, too!
• I'm encouraged by the fact that this is an original production, even if it borrows quite a bit from other places.
• The setting is lively and potentially interesting.

Cons:

• The characters seem drawn from an overused play book.
• The Chinese language is a bit laughable.
• There are potentially some sticky historical situations to come.

Recommended? Yes, despite the series having quite a few flaws.  The end product is enjoyable enough and my hope is that it will continue in the same vein.