Erik's Favorite Things: Tokyo Underground

I've mentioned this series before in my "Top Eleven Openings From Anime" (which for some reason is having trouble loading the videos).  However, having finally tracked down where I can get the DVDs for dirt cheap, I figured I was due to give a bit more information about it.

So here's the summary in a nutshell:

Underneath the city of Tokyo is a small civilization of people who have command over elements.  Each person can control one "element" (though not everything they control is really an "element" but work with me here).  One of these people, named Ruri Sarasa, has a mystical healing ability, able to repair harm to any person she touches.  Her bodyguard, Chelsea, helps her escape from the underground world where evil forces were planning to use her power for some big secret plan.  Chelsea has control over gravity, which she regularly utilizes by creating spheres of ... you know, I'm not even sure how to describe it, but when she punches someone, it's like they're getting hit much, much harder than a young girl could hit them with.

The two wind up in the care of Rumina Asagi, a high school boy who dreams of being a swordsman.  His best friend, Ginnosuke Isuzu, is a complete and total nerd.  The two shelter Ruri and Chelsea until a new stranger arrives with the ability to wield fire powers.  Rumina stands up to him, using his skills as a swordsman, and is promptly killed.

Yeah.  That's all within the first two episodes.  This series doesn't mess around.

Fortunately, Ruri is able to use her abilities to bring Rumina back to life, and in the process unlocks an innate ability in Rumina to control the wind.  They chase off the first attacker, but soon others arrive and they are overwhelmed.  Ruri is taken back to the Underground.  Chelsea, Rumina, and Ginnosuke naturally band together to go back down to the "Underground" kingdom and get her back.

The three make their way into the kingdom, gathering allies and fighting enemies with a wide variety of powers.  You have fire, ice, lightning, magnetism, and others all making appearances, leaving you wondering if maybe this isn't actually some version of human Pokemon you're watching.

Pika....chu?

Trust me, it's better than that.

The Underground kingdom is fleshed out really well, with details about how even a civilization that lives underground can still have a class structure, including a slum section that people need to win fighting championships to get out of.  There's some interesting plot twists, some well developed character growth, and you actually get to spend some time learning about each character, even if they're initially an antagonist.

You have some of the standard tropes for an anime series.  The guy falls in love with a girl within a ridiculously short amount of time and will go to any length to get her back (though, to be fair, he's mostly just trying to save her in general), you have the huge fangirl who you're pretty sure is actually in love with one of the female characters, you have a lot of young people wielding powers and fighting skills that would take quite some time to develop, and you have huge ancient technology that could ravage the world if it was unleashed.

But honestly, I don't mind, because there's enough cleverness involved in scripting the fights to make the whole thing extremely enjoyable.  There are enough moments where everybody gets to prove how much of a "badass" they can be that you never really feel like any characters are unnecessary, and there are enough subplots surrounding the "what plans do the bad guys have for Ruri" to keep you pulled in as the mystery deepens.

The animation is clean and crisp, and while I preferred the Japanese voices the first time I watched it, I've warmed to the English ones.  There's always that slight disconnect when you see a mouth moving and the words don't quite line up, but after you've watched enough programming like this, you can get over it.

I guess my only real complaint is the ending.  It's not a cliffhanger, and it doesn't really pull anything cheap, it just... it just felt kind of rushed.  It's like the writers kept building up something and then at the last minute realized they were almost out of time so they cobbled together something quickly and threw it in there.  It's not bad, it's just...not what I expected.  But the ride to it isn't lessened any by it.

You can actually find all of the episodes on Youtube if you want to watch them, just search for "Tokyo Underground Episode 1" to start them.  I don't know how long they'll be up, so take the time now to get through the series.  If you like clever fights, some great character design, and an engaging mystery, you'll enjoy the show.