Streaming: Funimation
Episodes: 12
Source: Offshoot/remake of Tondemo Senshi Muteking
Episode Summary: Muteki arrives in Neo San Francisco to live with his grandmother and doesn’t have a lot of money in his wallet. But what he does have is a good sense of rhythm, something which both allows him to save an old lady crossing the street (using dance!) and also draws the eye of a man named DJ who is, unsurprisingly, a DJ. DJ develops a bit of a fascination for Muteki, who isn’t very happy for the attention from such a strange source. DJ’s obsession with analog sound technology is also a bit against the grain – Neo San-Fran is also the home of a famous tech company with its innovator CEO (literally named “Ceo”).
Muteki is excited to attend a local music event after finding out about it from a flirtatious waitress, but as the main act takes the stage it’s immediately clear that something strange is going on once a giant monster attacks. DJ comes to Muteki’s rescue and provides him the power of Muteking, a transforming hero on roller skates. Once the situation is resolved, Muteki finally reaches his grandmother’s house, only to discover that DJ has already “infiltrated” her home.
Note: Funimation’s updated video player has become entirely hostile to taking screen captures, so for the time being I’m using their app on my cell phone until I can come up with a more permanent solution. Apologies for the unaesthetic subtitles that may be on some of the images.
Impressions: This series was a bit of a “wild card” in my mind. The trailer looked quirky and fun but it’s always really difficult to get a read on something that you’re not especially familiar with. As this is a modern remake of an older series that’s clearly trying to go in its own direction, there were simply a lot of unknowns. However, pleasant surprises often come from unexpected places, and this episode seems to be one.
I realize that this won’t be true for most/many people, but I really loved the sense of humor that this episode exuded. It eschews the typical “yelling loudly = funny” trap of so many anime, and relies on some absolutely ridiculous visual comedy. Muteki’s “Smooth Criminal” leaning that somewhat defies actual human ability and his sense of dancing style as he saves an old woman from an oncoming trolley are only mildly overshadowed by Ceo’s flamboyant threat of taking off his overshirt or the cartoonish way that he angrily tosses examples of old technology into the garbage during a live stream. It’s the type of humor that revels in its own ridiculous actions, and I found it easy to laugh.
That sort of loving near-parody tone that the episode strikes in its early moments carries through the remainder of the episode as the hapless Muteki navigates the ordering system at a very odd taco restaurant, and bumbles in response to the (possibly?) flirtatious behavior of a waitress at a local diner to whom he takes a liking. The ways in which the characters act is completely cartoonish, as is how on-the-nose many occurrences turn out to be. I’m of the opinion that remakes should bring something fresh to the experience, and this kind of self-awareness is certainly one way to do it.
Pros: Speaking of on-the-nose, I find it amusing that this story takes place in future San Francisco and seems to deal so closely with class division, the evolution (or not) of technology, and a manipulative tech CEO with his eyes on world domination (or something akin to it). Modern San Francisco has become one of the poster children for unaffordable housing in the US, as well as for “Silicon Valley,” a hotbed of tech startups that are both nests of innovation, as well as troubling bastions of “bro culture” and the racist, sexist, and generally prejudicial treatment of those who don’t buy into it. DJ, with his old-style boom box and cassette tapes, seems to either represent someone without access to new tech, or one who’s rebelling against it (it seems to be the latter). I realize it’s a lot of depth to ascribe to what’s mostly a kids’ show, but the fact that it’s got me thinking about it must amount to something, right?
I also really love the colorful character designs that seem to run the gamut of ages, races, and body types. There’s just such a pleasant variety in how the characters look.
Cons: There’s a certain clunkiness to the CG animation after Muteki transforms into Muteking. It’s not the worst, but it has the same sort of unnatural quality that a lot of CG character animation tends to have. It’s helpful that the world that Muteking fights in is unnatural looking anyway; that, and the classic theme song that he sings while skating and twirling helps to distract from it a little bit.
I looked over the character list for the show and there appears to be a female character voiced by a man, which is typically something that sets off red flags for me – not because women can’t have deep voices, but because any time anime makes attempts at trans characterization I get worried that it’s going to be really insensitive. It seems like she appears in episode 2, so I guess this isn’t a “con” as of this episode, but definitely something I’ll be keeping an eye out for.
Content Warnings: Cartoonish violence and peril.
Would I Watch More? – I found this episode to be delightful, so I think I’ll definitely watch at least a little more of the show. I certainly want to see if some of my concerns are confirmed or subverted, so there’s motivation there, too.
