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~AA Staff
Dual
First off, this is yet another ensemble comedy by the makers of Tenchi, and it follows the same basic formula: A normal, slightly nerdy guy suddenly becomes the love interest of many unusual and very attractive women, and somehow ends up living with them. Throw in some weird, loosely-explained plot and you're done. Well, although it follows that basic formula, I was surprised at both the relative uniqueness of Dual, and how much I ended up enjoying it. It's really more like a wildly different take on Evangelion, with the same format as the 2nd El Hazard TV series (although Dual is a stand alone series, it's the same length, has approximately the same blend of humor and straight drama/romance with a quirky twist, and follows the same pattern of tacking an extra, for-fun-only episode onto the end).
Enough of the analogies. When it first starts out, Dual sets up an interesting and appropriately strange concept--a school boy with a problem: "I see mecha". Aside from an unintended 6th Sense reference, this made for some cool imagery--giant robots silently involved in fierce ghostly battles in the middle of the city. Before long, he finds himself in a parrallel version of his own world, only this time the mecha are very real. Here as well, we're treated to some strange, vaguely disturbing images of the "war" in this world. The Evangelion parallel is rather obvious--our protagonist has a similar, slightly numb air to him, there are ill-understood EVA-styled robots battling in eerily empty cities, and several other characters also have Evangelion parallels. But once things start to come into focus, it becomes clear that this isn't as much an Evangelion parody as a Pioneer-style remake of it. This parallel world is plenty strange, but not in the way you'd think--the epic war turns out to be kind of pathetic, and although there is some emotional wrestling about how to handle the situation, as much of the human drama turns out to be whose cooking Kazuki will decide to eat at dinner. Then again, the human drama is backed by lots of Pioneer's trademark weird and wild plot, doled out in vague hints and partially explained fragments as the story progresses, which held my interest. Of course, it's fundamentally all pretty silly, and nothing ever does get explained completely, but it's still fun to piece things together from the hints.
Although I really liked some of the imagery early on in the series, and most of the characters were believable in their reaction to this exceedingly odd situation, the story didn't quite come together as satisfyingly as it could have. On one hand, there was a lot of surprisingly low-key character-driven drama. This was handled quite well, in that the characters' reactions weren't over the top, and in fact several of them had personalities that weren't explained bluntly, leaving the viewer to try and figure out exactly what was going on in their heads. The plot had a similar feel, with a lot of strange, very important-seeming things going on, and no clear explanation given. However, at the same time as all this, some major points in the plot were very silly, several others hinged on minor issues stretched out into overly dramatic plot points, and some other parts were funny but just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Many series have managed to pull both serious and somewhat silly stories off successfully, but the drama in Dual was low key, the humor was also on the subtler side of wacky, and the two were so close together that I was left a little uncomfortable with the transitions some of the time.
Still, that wasn't a major flaw. The biggest problem I had with the whole production was that it had a huge potential for absolutely hilarious scenes that was wasn't fully exploited. Had they gone all out with the humor, it would have had a detrimental effect on the serious parts, and as it was, I was only left feeling a bit uneasy with some of the comedy. But when you've got something with as much potential as a suit designed to make our male hero look like a cute girl and you only pull one really funny moment out of it (albeit a subtly hilarous one) before it becomes a source of drama, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. There were other, similar examples, but basically I just wish it had taken the humor one step farther--I think the drama still would have worked, and even if it didn't, it would have been a heck of a lot more fun. At least the end did the right thing--after a rather strange and fairly heavy climax, the final episode started out looking like a too-cleanly wrapped up conclusion (though that was exactly the kind you expected this series to have)... until it became clear it wasn't quite as clean as it first appeared, and then the whole thing took an entirely unexpected turn toward the hilariously bizzare. That left me with a good taste in my mouth.
In the end, I actually did enjoy Dual. The story and humor were part of the reason, but what made Dual stick in my mind was what Pioneer does best--characters you can't help but love. Even the requisite cute normal girl had a bit of a twist, and the rest of the bunch was not quite as formula as they look, with a distinctly modern, worldly air to their personalities, setting them out from the standard assortment of cute girls stuck on one guy. There's Mitsuki--slightly cold, matter of fact, and short-tempered, but still a remarkably belivable normal girl; Yayoi, a teacher older and more mature than the average high-school love interest with an ambiguous but apparently more than platonic interest in Kazuki; and the emotionless alien D. I particularly liked D (and no, I'm not a big Rei fan) because she showed no exterior signs of emotion, and barely spoke, but clearly expressed through her actions that she did have emotions--you just couldn't see them in her face or hear them in her voice. I thought that was an interesting take on this sort of character. Our "everyboy" hero was a bit different too--he started out as quite an introvert and didn't warm to the concept of being part of this whole mess for quite a while... and yet he did think the giant robots were cool (he even gave them random fancy names in his stories). Even the wacked-out scientist had an interesting blend of serious commander and mischivous mad scientist. There were several other characters who were much more two-dimensional (though even most of them, like the other wacked-out scientist, were a lot of fun), but the primary crew was a quirky bunch that felt more realistic than those in a lot of series like Dual. The romantic interplay between them was never overt, but was a distinct overtone throughout the production, and again felt more realistic than similar takes on the same thing.
The character designs were also noteworthy; Kazuki looked exactly the same as Tenchi, Makoto, and the rest of their clones, but the rest of the crew were very distinctive, original, and quite attractive. In fact, the only standard cute girl in the bunch was that gender-bending suit I mentioned above, and even that only lasted for half an episode. The clean, modern-style art had the crisp, appealing look that you'd expect from AIC. The backgrounds were a little stark on occasion, but in the case of some of the intra-city battles that worked as something of an advantage, contrasting the somewhat sterile locales with the large mess the robots inevitably made. Slightly more of a problem were a couple of oft-repeated computer animated robot launch sequences that didn't mesh terribly well with the rest of the animation, but the rest of the battles among the vaguely EVA-styled robots were smoothly animated in traditional cel art and plenty exciting. There was enough action to keep mecha-heads satisfied, although a few of the attacks were a bit too wild for my taste, and the battle at the end got a little out of hand. Speaking of mech-heads, the robot designs weren't terribly original (except for one big, flashy one), although they did feature high heels of all things.
I can't speak for the dub, but rounding out the picture on the characters was a very solid Japanese cast consisting of mostly new faces (er, voices), and unlike a lot of newer series with low-budget no-name voice actresses who all sound the same, I hope we'll see more of some of this crew. Giving life to the distinctive cast of characters was everything from Mitsuki, split between a dry, annoyed voice and a normal girl, to D's almost robotic monotone. The wackier characters--the two Professors, for example, voiced by veterans--likewise had distinctive and fun voices. All in all, the cast stood out both for their distinctive voices, as well as for the solid mix of comedy and dramatic acting as appropriate. The music was small-scale but high quality and not synthesized, ranging from a melancholy piano theme to slightly funky little tunes for amusing scenes, although the lack of music set the tone for the many low-key scenes in Dual. The opening was a lively, classic song (and it actually related to the plot!), but the end was an unremarkable acoustic guitar piece accompanied by some rather odd, intentionally crude computer animation.
When all was said and done, Dual was notably more serious and mellow than it looked like it would be, or the rather odd plot implied it would be. Even so, it still had a healthy share of humor, plenty of vaguely explained and very weird plot, and a lot of very likable characters. It was a bit short for a series like this--by the time the status quo was established, we were on to the finale--but made for a fun watch good enough to leave me wanting more when it was over. It's not going to go down in anime history, but if you like El Hazard-style ensemble comedies with a healthy dose of drama, light giant robot shows, or are wiling to give a funny take on Evangelion a shot, you might get a kick out of Dual.
-Akemi's Anime World
Dual
You know what I love about Dual? It's so easy to describe. Just think "El-Hazard meets Evangelion". Or "Tenchi Muyo meets Evangelion". Or "Hand Maid May meets Evangel...". I think you get the point.
Dual centers on Kazuki Yotsuga, your typical high school student in a typical high school uniform attending a typical high school. But Kazuki also suffers from not-so-typical visions of giant robots battling in the streets; visions so vivid that Kazuki often reacts hysterically, much the bemusement of bystanders. Kazuki deals with the visions by publishing them as stories on the Internet. This attracts the attention of classmate Mitsuki, who is naturally the most beautiful girl in school. Mitsuki is intrigued by his stories and takes Kazuki to meet her eccentric scientist father, Ken Sanada. Mr. Sanada is equally receptive to Kazuki, if only to use him as a guinea pig for an experiment with parallel dimensions. And lo-and-behold, Kazuki is sent into an alternate world where the giant robots from his visions are real.
It turns out there is a war going on in this alternate world, between the Earth Defense Force and the armies of one Hiroshi Rara. Back in Kazuki's dimension Ken Sanada and Hiroshi Rara are competing scientists; here, they are competing generals. Kazuki winds up in the hands of the EDF and meets the alternate Ken Sanada. It also turns out that Mitsuki has been sent over, although through some trick of interdimensional physics, arrived a month earlier. She, too, is a member of the EDF-a pilot of one of the giant robots, in fact. And soon enough, so is Kazuki.
If the plot sounds even remotely familiar, you're not alone. Dual almost shamelessly combines various anime conventions together into a single package. You've got your lone male protagonist sent to another dimension to battle the forces of evil, an gaggle of females to fawn over him, Evangelion-inspired mecha, the list goes on. Even the characters are cookie-cutter stereotypes from other anime. And while Dual's storytelling does bring everything together, it was nothing I hadn't seen before.
For the most part, Dual is quite a bit of fun. Even the conflict itself is lighthearted. Battles are scheduled in advance, giving plenty of time to evacuate civilians. The two sides fight until one side surrenders and apparently there are never causalities. It's like a game of chess, except with giant robots for the pieces and lots of innocuous collateral damage.
When Dual isn't serving up giant mechas wrecking the city, it focuses on the harem-style romance between Kazuki and almost the entire female cast. This aspect of the plot provides more comic relief than tension, and Dual goes a bit overboard, with as many as four women at any given moment fawning over Kazuki. The hijinks of the characters are amusing, as the female characters try to win over Kazuki by going straight to his stomach. I don't think I've seen an anime with so many scenes of characters just eating.
Produced by AIC, it's a given that Dual will pack solid production values. While the animation is a touch sparse in places, the character designs and artwork are good. A few 3D rendered sequences are also used, and while slightly jarring, they get the job done. The music in Dual is another highlight, particularly the bouncy opening theme. Dubbing is decent, although I found myself favoring the original Japanese language track.
The biggest disappointment about Dual is its lack of originality. For an unseasoned fan this won't matter, and in many respects, Dual is just plain fun. But if you've seen anime like El-Hazard, Tenchi Muyo, and Evangelion, there's nothing in Dual that will surprise you.
- Anime Critic
