Gaččaman Crowds

I have to agree with others saying this show was quite surprising. It is sometimes just as colorful as the Rio Carnival and has a similarly lively and slightly crazy musical element. This anime series has some incredibly crazy characters. I thought Hajime Ichinose must be taking something; Utsutsu is ripe for a shrink, and the main antagonist plus O.D. are also escapees from some institution. In addition, the main male protagonist Sugane seems like he is not even there. The anime's creators must have been on something, and all I can say is that I am incredibly glad for it! Liking the insanely upbeat Hajime and falling in love with the cute and quirky Utsutsu was just inevitable. Most of the other characters were either incredibly easy to enjoy or at least cute and funny. I thought Pai-pai was great too, even though I do not usually like these "mascots" very much. I was most entertained by O.D. and Katze, who looked like they just came back from the marquee of some crazy circus, I did not expect that at all. Furthermore, it is not just completely insane; the anime's creators are very skillfully playing with really interesting and big subject matters like the dangers of social networks, the nature of heroism, the ideal society. In other words, it is insanely brilliant and brilliantly insane at the same time, and I enjoyed it to the last episode. 9/10. (2015.07.05)

The second season of Gatchaman Crowds is slightly weaker than the first. I would never have believed how much it would mean for me if characters like O.D. or Berg Katze were only playing supporting roles. Hajime could not pull it off on the same level of entertaining insanity that the first season had, plus it seems like Katze's disembodied voice takes away from her insane optimism. The new characters were supposed to save the day. However, the first antagonist, who gives the impression of a cold intellectual, did not fit in with the colorful craziness, and the new girls who did not impress me much at first (Tsubasa, Gel) did not help much either. Fortunately, though, time began to show why they were there, and perhaps Gel got my full attention. Otherwise, this anime series is quite original with some really big and interesting subject matter, so I enjoyed watching it and even like what the anime's creators wanted (or what I think they wanted) to tell us. However, this reconsidering does not appeal to me personally that much. It does not feel as "brilliantly insane" as the first season did, so, in my opinion, the second season deserves one less star and two points short of 7/10. (2015.07.11)