NEEDLESS - ARE YOU READY TO THE ACTION?

There are anime. There are MANLY anime. And then there are anime that are so MANLY that you get testosterone poisoning just from watching them. NEEDLESS (yes, the title is supposed to be entirely capitalized) is of the third category. Think Scryed, but with more T&A, more muscles, and much more comedy. But enough about that, let's get to the review.

STORY: 4/10

In the near future, mankind suffered from World War III, leaving extreme damage across the globe. One area in particular, located smack dab in the middle of Japan, gave birth to a new species of human with supernatural powers, dubbed "Needless." The government has quarantined off the Needless in a lawless area known as the Black Spot, where only the strongest survive. A young boy named Cruz Schild is taken in by a priest, Adam Blade, who is one of the strongest Needlesses and is opposing the oppressive Simeon Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Yeah, the series has basically one of the most cliche plots you could find out there, but the presentation makes it come off more as a parody than anything else. Honestly, the plot isn't even the main focus here (no, the main focus of NEEDLESS is being awesome and laugh-out-loud funny) so I could give it a pass. I'll give it points for originality in that it takes the idea and setting for what would be a generic post apocalyptic/superpower series and basically just says, "Yeah, yeah, now let's get SILLY."

One thing that is a bit strange is that when you see all the badass longcoats and brigades of lolis (I'm not making that up) it creates this weird contrast with the setting. It's almost like the writer only had the post apocalyptic setting since he liked drawing destroyed buildings. Though I will give it credit: when the writer says, "One power per Needless," that rule is stuck with and it is always portrayed consistently. Even when characters start pulling out dozens of tricks, it's all through manipulation of a single ability. Points there.

Regardless, the plot is honestly just there to get things moving. Once Simeon starts taking action, things go in sort of the normal shonen beats complete with a story arc that eats up around 30% of the entire run time. Now, I have read the manga and the manga is better, but this is a review of the anime. I'd say that the anime's plot is just below average.

Premise: 0.5/2
Pacing: 1/2
Immersion: 1/2
Setting: 1/2
Theme: 0/1
Complexity: 0.5/1

ART: 6.5/10

It's from the manga... But the idea is the important thing.

NEEDLESS is unique in that the art style is like you took two entirely different series - a gory superpower action manga and a harem light novel, I'd say - and just crammed both into one. It certainly has an unmistakable style if nothing else. The presence of huge, muscle-bound men and tiny loli girls is around for the whole series, smacking the viewer over the head with the style. I think that it'd be a love it or hate it sort of deal, and I like it. It keeps NEEDLESS in the parody territory that it works best in.

Designs are the same way, in that pretty much everyone dresses in completely bizarre and impractical outfits (exception: the Pretty Girls Squad - yes, that's a real thing in this series - dress fairly professionally. Well, except for the mini-skirts). Add to this that each [female] character has at least two "main" outfits, and I think the design is decent. It's not the most original design with a lot of longcoats and miniskirts, but it looks cool (for guys) or cute (for girls... And Cruz...) and that's sort of what they're going for.

Backgrounds are what you'd expect from a post-apocalyptic story. Lots of big piles of dirt and blown-out buildings. Some of the locales get more exotic, such as the giant kid's room (it makes sense in context) but otherwise they don't leave much of an impression.

Animation is fairly consistent, and I think it's decent for the most part. Only a couple of times does it get noticeably bad (though those times are pretty high in QUALITY with scraggly lines and no shading). The action is crisp and has a lot of awesome special effects tossed around to punctuate the superpowers, and if you like fanservice, well, it has that in spades. NEEDLESS really benefits from Imai Kami's art style, since it his writing and art match so well together. It's one of those series you don't forget.

General Presence: 2/2
Visual Design: 1/2
Backgrounds: 1/2
Animation: 1/2
Attention to Detail: 0.5/1
Visual Effects: 1/1

SOUND: 7.5/10 (sub) 6.5/10 (dub)

NEEDLESS is one of the few series I've seen both subbed and dubbed (don't ask me why). I'd say that there's nothing terrible with the dub but the sub still comes out on top. The sub just has a lot more of a natural flow to it, the actors fit their roles a little more (one of the shortcomings with the American dubbing industry is the limited range of female voice actresses, so the loli Mio is probably the weakest part of the dub), and I think the actors' comedic timing is slightly better. You aren't missing out on anything really by watching the dub outside of (Koyasu's glorious scenery chewing as Blade and Endo's hilarious acting as Cruz... Oh, and also that the dub mispronounces Saten's name), so watch whatever you feel more comfortable with, I'd say.

The music is awesome. Whoever composed this took one look at the art style and said, "Heavy metal." which is the most appropriate choice for the series. Though since the series mixes musclebound manly men with lolis, there are also some more mellow tunes that wouldn't sound out of place in a slice of life anime. The endings are especially hilarious, since they look like they came out of an entirely different show. The music is striking and memorable, and the composer manages to fit in a track for pretty much every situation. Oh, and the first opening, "Modern Strange Cowboy," by Granrodeo, is simply amazing. That's actually what made me want to watch the show in the first place.

Sound effects are cool, but not the best. Most of the time they blend fairly well with the action and you don't really notice them. The echo effect they apply when attacks are called is awesome, but other than that I can't remember any time I could recall sound effects being that great. Overall they're decent.

Voice Acting: 3.5/4 (sub) 2.5/4 (dub)
Music: 3/4
Sound Effects: 1/2

CHARACTERS: 5.5/10

To be honest, the characters in NEEDLESS are more set pieces than they are serving the narrative. I'm not sure if this ties back to the shonen roots, but NEEDLESS has a bad habit of forgetting anyone other than Blade, Eve, and sometimes Cruz exist in the main party. A lot of characters are introduced and promptly forgotten about. I will again state that the manga was better in this regard, especially after the point where the anime diverged from it, but I'm talking about the anime here.

Antagonists are fairly stock, with the Big Bad who wants to become a God, the manipulative Dragon, the spider-themed starter boss, and the like. It's possible the Pretty Girls Squad was tossed in to give the antagonists a more unique feel to it (which worked).

Still, I'd say that the characters are actually above average when compared to most Shonen (though NEEDLESS is a Seinen...) They have solid personalities and unique character quirks that keep them from getting too bland. While the characters are used mainly to set up the comedy and action beats, they still manage to have their own identities in the world of anime. I've seen better, but I've also seen worse.

Honestly, the real show-stealers are the Pretty Girls Squad. They're funny, cool, and I honestly was hoping for them to get more screen time (not like the way they did in the end of the manga... Ouch). They also had Kuchinashi, who is probably the goofiest character in the show and I love her for that. Just to give an idea of how great they are: the hilarious St. Lily Academy Specials focused entirely on the Pretty Girls Squad (and crossdressing Cruz).

Presence: 1/2
Personality: 1.5/2
Complexity: 0.5/2
Memorability: 1.5/2
Development: 0.5/1
Pathos: 0.5/1

FINAL JUDGMENT : EXECUTION! That is to say, 7/10

At the end of the day, I think NEEDLESS is the sort of anime that ends up being a "Love it or Hate it" sort of deal. I think a viewer should be able to tell from the first few episodes how much they're going to like it. It's hardly a smart, deep, or original series, but it's definitely an entertaining one. If you can enjoy it for the action and comedy, it's a really exciting ride that will leave you laughing all the way through. Personally, I got a lot of fun out of it, and that's really all I can say on that end.