Profile: S.Cry.Ed

[Revan]

S.Cry.Ed

The Plot
The once pristine landscape of the Kanagawa Prefecture experienced a sudden upheaval of the Earth’s crust 22 years ago. A strange environmental phenomenon caused the land to split and protrude upwards reaching unprecedented heights for an acute crust movement. After the incident, the Japanese capital was relocated to the Mie Prefecture since its economic and governmental operations were interrupted. Due to the abandonment and dilapidated state of the area, they dubbed it The Lost Ground.

A strange incidence of genetic alteration was then discovered after the upheaval. About 2% of the population born after the incident inherited special powers due to the radiation given off from underneath the Earth’s crust. Within the Lost Ground also exists the Alter Forrest where even the animals are endowed with Alter abilities. The explanation for these genetic alterations is still unclear but a new breed of humans called Alter Users have emerged from the natural disaster.

Kazuma, a young mercenary roams the Lost Ground, looking for any work he can find to sustain his livelihood within the harsh environment. As one of the few people that are gifted with the Alter ability, Kazuma can plaster his right arm and torso with a metallic alloy. A number of Alter Users exists within the slums of the Lost Ground as well as the city area. The Alter Users can manipulate and rearrange the atoms around them, thus forming their Alters. Within the slums, many Alter Users run amuck abusing their Alter abilities. To mitigate the effects of these renegade Alter Users within the undeveloped area, the police organization known as HOLD was formed. Within HOLD exists a group of elite Alter Users called HOLY. As their primary objective, HOLY is to suppress and capture what they call Native Alter Users. Those that are incarcerated have two choices. Either join HOLY or be confined indefinitely. Kazuma will meet such a fate and he will fight for his life trying to overturn the ideals of HOLY.

Amongst the elitists of the HOLY Alter Users is a young man named Ryuho. He commands a powerful Alter called Zetsuei. The unforgiving justice of Zetsuei mirrors Ryuho’s cold demeanor. A chance meeting between Kazuma and Ryuho will spawn a rivalry between the two. Their hatred for each other will ensnare the land with chaos and turmoil. It is a battle between the hunter and the hunted; a struggle to rebel against conformity; and a fight to uphold ones ideals and freedom. The epic battles within the Lost Ground will determine the fates of all who dwell there.


Characters

Kazuma
Age:16
Status: Lost Ground Mercenary
Alter: Shell Bullet
Profile: Being part of the small percentage of humans that was infected by the Lost Ground natural disaster, Kazuma developed an alter ability where his right arm and torso are encased in metallic armor. He survives on occasional mercenary jobs he receives from his friend Kimishima. He resides with his younger friend Kanami in the dilapidated slums of the Lost Ground. Both being orphans, Kazuma has a special bond with Kanami and his priority in life is to keep her safe. Kazuma utilizes his special ability to complete these tasks handed to him and can disappear for days on end to finish his mercenary duties. but the monetary compensation is usually insufficient to sustain his livelihood with Kanami.


Ryuho
Age: 17
Status: HOLY member
Alter: Zetsuei
Profile: As one of the elite alter users in the infamous police force HOLY, Ryuho’s main objective is to suppress, capture and reform native alter users. Ryuho has the abilty to summon a humanoid alter that is restrained in what seems like a straight jacket. Equiped with armor-piercing tentacles, his alter is deadly yet displays a reserved posture when dueling with its opponents. Ryuho’s past is what drives him to be the top alter user of HOLY but it also comes with a price. That drive is fueled by anger, revenge and hatred which manifested itself in his cold and uncaring demeanor. Along with the memories of his painful past, Ryuho develops a strong disgust for Kazuma. His passion to defeat Kazuma becomes his obsession.


Kanami Yuta
Age: 8
Status: Citizen of Undeveloped Area
Profile: *Kanami is Kazuma’s little sister figure. They both reside in an abandoned clinic. Despite her young age, she seems to be taking care of Kazuma and all of their household duties. She spends most of her time working on a local farm to help support Kazuma and herself. Kanami often has dreams of Kazuma and his ordeals but is unaware that it is him. Her past is still unknown.


Scheris Adjani
Age: 15
Status: HOLY member
Profile: *Recruited by Ryuho to be in HOLY from the undeveloped slums of the Lost Ground, Scheris is by his side constantly. She secretly harbors feelings for Ryuho but that love is not reciprocated. This unrequited love is often turned into jealousy when she sees Mimori Kiryu near Ryuho. Scheris is often high-spirited but despite her typical teenage whimsical attitude, she has a great sense of duty as a member of HOLY.


Kunihiko Kimishima
Age: 17
Status: Citizen of Undeveloped Area
Profile: Kimishima is also a dweller of the undeveloped Lost Ground area. He often pays visits to Kazuma and offers him odd jobs which require the use of his Alter powers and abilities. Kimishima does not possess any Alter powers so he needs Kazuma’s assistance when performing these tasks. These jobs range from fights with other Alter Users to rescue missions. The two will bicker and haggle over the payment amount but is done in a playful manner. Kimishima is Kazuma’s closest friend besides Kanami and are practically family since they have no other relatives in the Lost Ground.


Mimori Kiryu
Age: 18
Status: HOLY scientist
Profile: Mimori is the daughter of a wealthy investor from the mainland. Her father helps fund the organization called HOLD. Mimori is child genius that skipped 7 grades and has already graduated from graduate school by the age of 18. As a young girl, she met Ryuho and became acquainted with the Ryu family. Her childhood romance with Ryuho is what drove her to join HOLY in hopes of reuniting with him. As someone that grew up in the mainland, she realizes her principles and idealisms are not suitable for the HOLD’s political agenda and the Lost Ground.


Straight Cougar
Age: 21
Status: HOLY member
Profile: Cougar is the fastest of member of HOLY in terms of speed. He has the ability to physically change the appearance of any vehicle to a super high-speed machine which is his main form of transportation. Everything about Cougar revolves around speed. His speech, demeanor and attitude are constantly in hyperactivity. He may be fast but he often gets people’s names wrong especially Mimori’s name.


Asuka Tachibana
Age: 16
Status: HOLY member
Profile: As one of the youngest members of HOLY, Asuka takes pride in being apart of the elite Alter Users. The pride also comes with a fear of failing his duties. Asuka wants to maintain his competency as a member of HOLY. He fears that he may have his HOLY privileges taken away if he does not perform well and ultimately lose his girlfriend Cammy.


Ayase Terada
Age: Unknown
Status: Citizen of Undeveloped Area
Profile: *Ayase is a native Alter User but she doesn’t openly divulge this secret due to fear of discrimination. Her only family member is her younger brother, Akira. Ayase’s priority in life is to keep her brother safe from the dangers of the Lost Ground. Through her alter ability, Ayase is able to convert objects into water.


Review

There are a ton of anime series about good-looking guys and gals reinforced with psychokinetic powers. The quality of these series goes up and down; at the top of the heap you have things like X TV, probably one of the best anime series ever created, and at the bottom, wallowing in horrifying mediocrity, you have trash like Psychic Force. Thankfully Bandai’s newest entry into the psychic action genre, confusingly titled s-CRY-ed, is good enough to rank right below CLAMP’s hallowed television effort. Fans of the genre need to run out and scoop this baby up as soon as possible, and other fans will undoubtedly find plenty to like herein.

The basic premise of the show is pretty simple: Kazuma trots around the Lost Ground like Han Solo, taking out bad guys but always making sure there’s something in it for himself. Snotty anti-heroes like Kazuma are always a little less popular than the stoic bishounen types you’d find in most other psychic action series, but Kazuma is a little more interesting to watch than you’d expect. The character development in s-CRY-ed is well done if a little choppy and overwhelming at times. It’s hard to know exactly what’s going on right at the start of the series, but things are slowly explained, and they spend enough time on the individual characters (and there are quite a few of them) to make the viewer care about what’s happening in the series.

The storytelling is balanced but confusing and a little murky. Most psychic action series are pretty confusing (X TV comes with a little booklet to help you keep track of the characters; the recent E’s Otherwise will probably need one when it comes across the pacific), but s-CRY-ed only stays confusing for the first few episodes or so. It may take you a while to figure out who’s working for who, which organization is which, and who’s the good guy. Reading the back of the box is, surprisingly, the best solution to the problematic way that the plot elements are introduced, since it explains things the show does not within the first episode or two. The storyline picks up right away, which is pretty amazing for the first disc of a series. Judging from the first five episodes, the story arc will not disappoint.

Animation-wise, s-CRY-ed is fairly impressive. Obviously an all-digital production, the animation is fairly smooth and fluid for a television series. The show is heavily CG-enhanced, which is to be expected when people are slinging gigantic psychokinetic robots around. Surprisingly enough, the blend is well done in this instance and looks polished. Too many series these days rely on clunky, awkward CG effects, but this series manages to do it convincingly. There are a few moments where it seems like they applied too many Photoshop filters at once to the frame, but the show is far from ugly.

From a design standpoint, there’s a lot to like here. The character designs were done by Hisashi Hirai, responsible for the unique look of Infinite Ryvius, another quality sci-fi series, and the wildly popular Gundam Seed. The faces may take some getting used to at first; they defy the typical laws of anime character design, eschewing gigantic eyes and squashed faces for a slightly more realistic look. It’s a welcome change from the norm and Hirai should become an instant fan favorite when his three major works (this, Ryvius and Gundam Seed) find their respective audiences in America. The color palette of the series is bright and well coordinated, thankfully veering away from the garish look it could have easily had.

The sound of the series is a mixed bag. The music is haunting and appropriate; lots of choir-style choruses fill the background. The opening and closing themes are disparate in tone and execution and given the relatively somber tone of the show, it’s up for debate whether or not they’re appropriate. The Japanese voice acting is a little overworked but suitable overall. It’s hard to say the same for the dub. The spotty track record of Bang Zoom! Entertainment rears its ugly head. While it’s nice to hear the English voice actors pronouncing the Japanese words properly, the acting is atrocious in spots. Kazuma is portrayed as well as can be expected, but Scheris, the blue-haired girl working for HOLD, is unbelievably miscast. In fact, most of the female voices in s-CRY-ed are terrible. The males seem to have made it out mostly unscathed, and although a lot of them sound as though one guy is doing multiple prominent characters, at least that one guy could probably act his way out of a paper bag. That’s a lot more than you could say for the females. In particular, Mimori, a character spotlighted in episode two, has perhaps the fakest "little polite girl" voice I’ve ever heard. If you thought Natalie Portman was cardboard in the Star Wars prequels, wait until you hear this particular hunk of balsa wood. Unbelievable. Do yourself a favor and watch the subtitled version.

The opening seems to try and sell s-CRY-ed as an all-out, balls-to-the-wall action series, but in reality, this show is mostly plot. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of action, but the show isn’t brainless by any stretch of the imagination, and it will require your full attention in order to make sense. s-CRY-ed is receiving a surprising amount of fanfare from Bandai upon release, and it’s well worth it. Here we have a quality series that should please fans of the psychic action genre and open-minded fans in general to no end.

10/10


Information

Director: Goro Taniguchi
Screenplay: Yousuke Kuroda
Storyboard:
Masamitsu Hidaka
Mitsuko Kase
Masaki Kitamura
Rion Kujo
Fuyu Kuroki
Shinji Takamatsu
Goro Taniguchi
Sumio Watanabe
Kazuo Yamazaki
Takeshi Yoshimoto
Naoyuki Yoshinaga
Music: Kotaro Nakagawa
Character Design: Hisashi Hirai
Art director: Akira Suzuki
Cgi director: Masato Miyoshi

[MaKo]

s.CRY.ed is awesomesauce, i've watched it like 4 times. Straight Cougar ftw. MINORI-SAN!

[Xtreme_7]

where you get anth?:p

I only seen it once, and that was bad quality aswel lol