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EP. REVIEW: Back Arrow


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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 1:59 pm Reply with quote
This show is dumb and knows it, and I love it. It's the kind of silly show I like best - one that knows it's silly and has tons of fun with it, but doesn't let the self-awareness overwhelm it. Its overall attitude so far reminds me a lot of Double Decker and Active Raid, two shows I loved, so that's already a good sign for me.
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TranceLimit174



Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 958
PostPosted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:19 pm Reply with quote
It’s been a while since anime got some fresh BME (Big Mecha Energy).

I’ll have to start watching this. Thanks for spotlighting Back Arrow & putting it on my radar!
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:21 am Reply with quote
This is a pretty fun series so far. I think Yuuki Kaji really brings Back Arrow to life and provides a solid center for the show. I like how easy-going the guy is about pretty much everything. I also like Shu Bi, though his sidekick is kind of off-putting to me. Not sure exactly why.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4784
PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:28 pm Reply with quote
I tried to get into this one but it's just almost too over the top and silly for me and it feels like they're trying to throw so much at the audience at once. It's a bit weird since I really loved Promare and Gurren Lagann and this is by the same writer but this just didn't gel with me. Maybe I'll binge it when the season is over but this just made me think of G Recon.
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jroa



Joined: 08 Aug 2012
Posts: 537
PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 11:37 pm Reply with quote
I've been greatly enjoying the show myself plus it does have a nostalgic tone and feel.

In particular, I like that Arrow himself is a very silly yet quite charismatic individual and the 3DCG action is quite good most of the time.

They've only recently started to pull off some extra character work on the side (episode 4 looks like one that will further develop the Rekka cast such as Shu Bi and Kai), but the overall intrigue of the setting is decent enough. I can see a few of these other characters growing on me by the time we're done with the first cour.

Oh, I also happen to think the music is excellent and fits the current narrative flow.

Perhaps my only real complaint is that the visuals are definitely modest outside of a few key sequences. Then again, this isn't made by a major anime studio but a relatively new and mid-tier one, so I don't expect the sort of unrealistic stylization that late era Gainax or Trigger would bring to the table. At the same time, I respect the skills of those two studios yet strongly refuse to accept that angle as the only possible way of making anime or approaching this type of material.

Again, Back Arrow's definitely got something of a late 90's to early 00's spirit in terms of both presentation and design that works well with the more "Super Robot meets Tokusatsu" feel of the contents. Nonetheless, I'm expecting quite a few twists and turns down the road.

Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
I tried to get into this one but it's just almost too over the top and silly for me and it feels like they're trying to throw so much at the audience at once. It's a bit weird since I really loved Promare and Gurren Lagann and this is by the same writer but this just didn't gel with me. Maybe I'll binge it when the season is over but this just made me think of G Recon.


I don't know about that, I found this much easier to follow and understand than G-Reco.

It does have a lot of stuff happening, but the events are comparatively straightforward and there's really only a few new terms thus far, which they've either already show to us in practice or outright explained.

That said, I do think there is a certain density of events at this stage. They probably want to get past the introduction rather fast and move on beyond it, which at least for me is a good thing. It'll likely be easier to handle in marathon format if that's an issue for you.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:28 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
This is a pretty fun series so far. I think Yuuki Kaji really brings Back Arrow to life and provides a solid center for the show.

Yes, I also think Kaji adds a lot to the character. He's had a lot of similar roles where he had to play the hero character straight, so I guess he probably has a lot of fun with Back Arrow.

Rather than Kaji though, I was really surprised by Sugita Tomokazu. It's been literally years since the last time I heard him actually act instead of just giving Sugita Tomokazu. It's kind of refreshing, really.
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rob_krol



Joined: 21 Jan 2018
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:36 pm Reply with quote
hmm or this is only my imagination or our main character look similar to Star Driver main hero this is accident or maybe staff who work on Back Arrow work previously on the SD anime ??
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:45 am Reply with quote
Shu Bi is starting to remind me of a certain silver-haired enigmatic vape-daddy.
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NicoleNippah



Joined: 12 Nov 2016
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:35 pm Reply with quote
I'm really liking this show, every episode keeps getting better. I love the chances they have been making to both the Op and Ed.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:20 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:


Rather than Kaji though, I was really surprised by Sugita Tomokazu. It's been literally years since the last time I heard him actually act instead of just giving Sugita Tomokazu. It's kind of refreshing, really.


Every time I think it's him, I just as quickly think it's not until some Kyon or Yuichi creeps back in and I then remember "Oh yeah...". It helps that Shu is not only delighted by himself and his intellect but all the new stuff around him. He's jaded but also hopeful that he doesn't have to be jaded forever.

I have a lot of things to say about Back Arrow but I can't start until I mention the thing that's been bugging me since episode 1: Kai(ju) Rhodan and his mech Gigan. Me upon hearing that: "What?" And yes, I know Rodan is Radon in Japan, that's what makes it odd. Because to pronounce it right in English, it IS literally "Rho- Dan".

There, I said it and now I can move on... to Ren Sin. Ling Shen? Chinese translated to Japanese translated to English isn't a lost art, only a lost cause.
Shen Ling? Given Name Family Name to Family Given to Given Family.? So then what about Shu Bi?
I don't think the creators know either.

Atlee... @Lee? Elsha? I still think a nagging Frozen reference is lurking somewhere here but maybe I'm reading too much into names like Anna and Elsa.
Atlee and Elsha I mean.
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phia_one



Joined: 15 Jan 2012
Posts: 1654
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:36 pm Reply with quote
I started watching this show for the hell of it and it's quickly become my favorite of the season so far (still need to start a few other series though). The characters, aside from Bit (he's the worst part of the show for me) are fun, especially Shu Bi. Count me as another person that's mind blown he's voiced by Sugita. We did get some trademark Sugita in episode 6 though.

While I think the whole conviction manifests as a mecha thing is neat, I find the show far more engaging when it focuses on the characters and lore.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:33 am Reply with quote
I was under the impression that Kyo was actually on Kai and Ren's side, but was playing the rule-bound heavy for spying eyes and ears. Yes, he wants to keep his new job, but he doesn't really like the worm he reports to.

Animegomaniac wrote:
I have a lot of things to say about Back Arrow but I can't start until I mention the thing that's been bugging me since episode 1: Kai(ju) Rhodan and his mech Gigan. Me upon hearing that: "What?"

I'm not sure why those are the names that tripped you up. What about Sola Athin (Athrun Zala) or (groan) Demyne Shaft? There's also a character named Annie if you're looking for a Frozen nod. And if anything, I'd expect Atlee Ariel to be a reference to Little Mermaid.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:59 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
I was under the impression that Kyo was actually on Kai and Ren's side, but was playing the rule-bound heavy for spying eyes and ears. Yes, he wants to keep his new job, but he doesn't really like the worm he reports to.

Animegomaniac wrote:
I have a lot of things to say about Back Arrow but I can't start until I mention the thing that's been bugging me since episode 1: Kai(ju) Rhodan and his mech Gigan. Me upon hearing that: "What?"

I'm not sure why those are the names that tripped you up. What about Sola Athin (Athrun Zala) or (groan) Demyne Shaft? There's also a character named Annie if you're looking for a Frozen nod. And if anything, I'd expect Atlee Ariel to be a reference to Little Mermaid.


I expected that wasn't it but "Elsha" just kept going at me. The English monster names have Japanese copyrights so for a industry that's afraid to use the term "Gundam" when parodying Gundams to outright borrow names that always have the copyright symbols after them in official material is fairly daring.

With that out of the way, I can talk about the plot now. It's an unabashed Space Western where the grand space battlecruiser is a stagecoach. So while I love the setting and the plot involving the Wall concept as a really unsubtle metaphor regarding isolation, a condition that troubled Japan's history just as much as the USA, I'm more unconvinced about the Convictioned based mecha.

Unless there's a readout in the cockpit telling the driver what's fueling the machine, I doubt the pilot can properly gauge the emotion that assembled it. Fine, it's probably more the strength of that conviction, like in Gurran Lagann, rather than what it is that powers the creation but the characters seem more focused on its meaning that its strength. Example: While Back doesn't have a definable conviction himself, perhaps, he clearly has goals, morals and definite opinions.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:54 am Reply with quote
Has it been established how high the Wall is? Or is it just that no one will get near it and seems reeealy high? I was kinda disappointed that they didn't try to find out before blasting away at it. Maybe they could fly over it, seeing as they have a ship and all.

I like Prax too, so far. She's a welcome counter to Queen Weepy Faintingcouch.
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jroa



Joined: 08 Aug 2012
Posts: 537
PostPosted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:34 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Has it been established how high the Wall is? Or is it just that no one will get near it and seems reeealy high? I was kinda disappointed that they didn't try to find out before blasting away at it. Maybe they could fly over it, seeing as they have a ship and all.

I like Prax too, so far. She's a welcome counter to Queen Weepy Faintingcouch.


I believe they did give us a unit of measure for the wall, back in the second episode.

Given that Arrow and the doctor are staying behind, at least briefly, I think that may be one of the topics they discuss.

Prax is a pretty good character so far, and does seem like a decent enough person, but obviously things are likely to get more complicated on that front rather quickly.
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