The Powerpuff Girls: "Man Up" Lacks the Balance it Preaches

There is no winning when you're reviewing a reboot of a series that meant a lot to you as a kid. If it's bad, then, well, it's bad. If it's good, you're going to have to defend it from nitpicky fans for the rest of your life. Alas, the time has come to make my stand. The Powerpuff Girls held its worldwide premiere to much fanfare last night, and today those of us who couldn't make it to SXSW are getting the episode "Man Up" on iTunes for free, which is apparently the second episode.

(I could rant on a while about the problems with not premiering the pilot episode first and how easily it can give potential viewers the wrong idea about the tone of the entire series - Wander Over Yonder anyone? - but let's move on.)

But honestly? I would have settled for good or bad better than I'm handling mediocre, and it's a really weird type of mediocre. The kind of mediocre where I didn't just sit amused through the entire episode, rather I spent about half the episode laughing and the other half rolling my eyes.

CrunchyRoundup: My Love Story!! 4, The Nameko Families, Onee-chan Ga Kita!, Time of Eve: The Movie

I've been getting back into anime something fierce, between the rise of the mini-series, with 5 minute episodes that fit perfectly into my study breaks, and my Crunchyroll sub, so I wondered: Why am I not blogging about all the new stuff I've watched? This is CrunchyRoundup.

Anime Review: Black Bullet Has a Debilitating Lolita Complex

Anime Review

Black Bullet

In the not-so-distant future, a race of giant, zombie-like parasites invades mankind and wipes out most of humanity. Thankfully, the remaining humans find that the parasites dislike a specific metal called Varanium, and use it to both surrounded their town and make weapons... like the Black Bullet.

Black Bullet kind of feels like if Attack on Titan met Alien. Or, it might if it would back off a rather disturbing lolita complex. Rentaro, who suffers through the terrors of the first parasitic attack and becomes part of a resistance movement, fights parasites with his partner Anju. Anju is part of a race of creatures that contain the DNA of the parasites but are somehow immune to turning into giant slimy bug monsters, and suffer from some heavy racism by regular humans.

A few episodes in, it was clear that Anju is the real star of the show. She's got the most backstory and an interesting blend of still being a child and having grown up too quickly. Oh, and she has a crush on her partner, who is either 6 or 13 years older than her depending on what part of the script you ask.

The dynamic between Anju and Rentaro has the chance to be really adorable. Rentaro has a sort of a fatherly complex towards Anju and is frustrated by the hardship the young girl faces. Anju, having presumably never treated nicely by anyone before Rentaro, has a childish crush on him.

Except... it's not so childish. And that's Black Bullet's biggest problem. In the very first episode, Anju makes two attempts to get Rentaro to sleep with her.

Yeaaaah.... that's not creepy at all.

It's rare for me to write off an entire show because of one aspect I dislike, but Black Bullet's treatment of its prepubescent secondary protagonist is too messed up for this critic. This is a shame, because the show has a lot of positive qualities like an interesting world and great pacing. It's one thing to have a character look young. It'd be another thing if Anju's mature behavior was frowned upon and shown as a sad sign of how quickly the cursed children had to grow up. It's another to feature a 10-year old girl in a show's promotional magazine spreads posed suggestively.

Just... ew.

D

Black Bullet is available to watch for free on Crunchyroll.

Adventure Time: Bitter Sweets is a Mouthful

Tie-In Comic Review

Adventure Time: Bitter Sweets OGN

Adventure Time's ongoing line of original graphic novels makes the shift from a screen-toned, black and white work to a full-color book with its fourth installment. "Bitter Sweets" centers around Princess Bubblegum and her pyromaniac assistant, Peppermint Butler, as they go from kingdom to kingdom to recharge a set of gems that keep the Candy Kingdom alive and well. Just as things are going along swimmingly, PB finds out some of the kingdoms are keeping secrets from her that make her question her own capabilities as a princess.

"Bitter Sweets" expands greatly upon the Land of Ooo, featuring several new lands and princesses. In fact, it's a little too much for one graphic novel with large panels and little dialog. The story feels rushed more often than not, and you don't get much chance to connect with Princess Bubblegum's woes at the level the story wants you to. You're far too busy being thrown from one location to the next as the story progresses.

While "Bitter Sweets" fails to hit the emotional level its striving for, it has several laughs throughout. Peppermint Butler steals the show with his creepy demeanor and desire to set everything on fire. I could have read an entire book from Peppermint Butler's perspective as PB goes about her royal duties, and I may have had more fun if that had been the case. We've already seen Bubblegum going about her royal business in the show proper, and Adventure Time already has such an extensive world that putting the regular cast - even minor princesses - on the bus in favor of her characters takes up precious pagespace in what could have been an epic story if handled a little differently.

Also, while I'm aware this is very subjective, I prefered the black-and-white art style of the previous OGNs, especially alongside the manga-esque lineart that "Bitter Sweets" continues to use. It had a more unique vibe than the more generic shaded color in this piece.

With an awkwardly paced story that may have served better for Adventure Time's first original prose novel, "Bitter Sweets" is the weakest installment in the OGN line to date. That isn't to say it's bad, but it lacks a certain charm the previous volumes had.

C+