I was unsure what to expect when going into Technoroid Overmind, as I do not have much experience with idol-themed anime. After twelve episodes, I… still don't have a good grasp on what I watched, to be honest.

Technoroid Overmind is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. The elements are all there for something great, yet the series cannot seem to settle on what it wants to do in the admittedly short window of only twelve episodes.

The characters are the main draw and are fine enough. Cobalt, Neon, Kei, and Chrom have interesting color-coded character designs. There's a stylistic choice to have all of the characters' highlights be a garish color, not directly tied to a light source, which is interesting. Their personalities fall into expected archetypes - you can probably guess what they are like from the first time you are introduced to them - but the side story episodes focusing on each character have just enough unique texture to make them enjoyable.

The idol portions are what surprised me the most. Firstly, there are fully choreographed dance numbers with the animation switching to a cel-shaded look over CG frames. This is the norm these days, and I've seen similar effects used in other works (like One Piece's Film Red which starred Uta as a prominent idol character). Everything seems solid, though I don't have enough familiarity in this space to know whether Technoroid Overmind's offerings are exceptional or below average. The songs were catchy bops while being played, but I can't remember them once the music stopped - maybe that's all one can say in the end.

What surprised me was that the idol group component was almost an afterthought. The show establishes pretty early on that there's Babel and the Climb Stages, and I assumed that was what the majority of the show would be about; four capable but ignorant-of-the-world androids navigating the cutthroat world of pop music sounds like an interesting premise. To my confusion, the idol music aspect was an afterthought. Each episode would have another primary focus, and the music scenes were tacked on at the end. Sometimes the transition could be very jarring, and I had a bit of tonal whiplash more than once.

So the show isn't really about idol music, fine… then what is it about? I'm not entirely sure I can answer that, either. At first, I thought it was angling to be a slice-of-life offering with characters running around having light-hearted fun in silly situations. The initial premise of the androids not knowing what rent is or how to make it lends itself to this idea. But then it started to seem like each episode would be more intent on deep character development and unique premises.

Ah, okay, a series of character studies then, right?

Wrong.

The cour's back half introduces several high-concept sci-fi elements and more profound plot points. Reborn personalities and transfer of consciousness. Creating human-like dolls to make up for failed interpersonal reactions. Machines carry on the will of the dead. Discrimination and antagonism against new groups.

This is a lot of ground to cover for a twelve-episode series.

Technoroid Overmind has some terrific individual elements and episodes. I particularly enjoyed the one about Chrom learning to care for the older, overweight cat. He learns about how living things operate, why we care for such creatures even if their lifespan is short, and ultimately provides the most moving tribute in such a way that I got a little emotional.

Sadly, these moments are overrun by how much else is happening in the series. There's too much trying to fit in too small a package. It's hard to grab on to any one element when it feels like such a grab bag of ideas and concepts and emotions, and oh yeah, the episode is ending in four minutes, so I guess we need to have a choreographed dance number… oh right this is a show about an idol group?

Honestly, it made me think of the structure of many of the tokusatsu shows I enjoy, except for replacing rubber suit fights with idol dance numbers. Whatever happens in the episode, no matter how strange or unrelated, know there will be a fight/dance scene right before the end credits. Instead of having 25-50 episodes to work with, the entire arc of a season is condensed to only twelve episodes. Combine that with the fact that this is a tie-in to a mobile game and other media - meaning we are likely not getting the complete picture of what's going on - and no wonder it feels disjointed.

An obvious example is the climate change dimension, mentioned right from the jump and... never really explored. Sea level rise just facilitates better idol groups, I guess.

Technoroid Overmind is not a bad series, but it tries to cover a lot of complicated ground quickly. Despite engaging moments and a solid baseline of quality, the limitations imposed by the short length and the scattershot nature of the content make for an odd experience that never lets the audience down but never settles on one topic long enough to truly satisfy.