Review of The Rolling Girls (2015)

Review of The Rolling Girls (2015)

Hello, everyone. It's time for a new review!

Just a few days ago I finished the first season of the serious anime Black Lagoon. While I felt the show was decent, it has a heavy story, making me not as excited for the following two seasons right away. I was looking for something lighter, with a good amount of comedy, so I selected a new anime series titled The Rolling Girls.

The Rolling Girls is the second anime of 2015 I've watched thus far. The first was Isuca (also archived in the May 2015 blogs), which I felt had potential, but also a fair amount of flaws, earning it an average score. The Rolling Girls, however, I found much more enjoyable.

In general, I like the art, the characters, and the upbeat tone of the series. My major complaint is that there is a lot of information crammed into any given episode, and that the series takes a serious switch in tone towards the end. In all, I think The Rolling Girls is fun, but it's far from perfect.

Story:

Okay, this is probably the first time I have ever written/and probably will write, that it took over half of the series for me to understand what's going on with the plot. It is also important to know that this anime is not meant to be taken seriously. I would also advise to give this show a fair chance before quitting less than halfway. I understand it's confusing at first (and even in the end some things are not explained), but I am overall satisfied by the end.

The first episode begins with little exposition explaining that a war took place that divided Japan into separate countries. Each of  these new countries is protected by and/or governed by a Best--someone who has super powers, believed to have derived from magic heart-shaped stones that rain from the sky, created from a human's deep desire or passion. These powers can range from super strength to elemental manipulation, to the ability to make fantastic works of art. The Best is supported by a team that is referred to as the Rest.

The action begins rather rapidly in which one Best, Shigyou, starts a fight with Masami (Maccha Green as her superhero name) for control of her land. Through the use of a trick, Masami's team wins. In the second episode both fighters are critically injured after a battle and their stones stolen away.

In order to make herself useful Nozomi, the protagonist and close friend of Masami, offers to take her place as a peace broker. Nozomi teams up with three other girls: Chiaya, Ai, and Yukina, to travel via motorcycle to the various Japanese countries in attempts to act as peacemakers among their civil battles.

As payment for their help, they are promised the magic stones. Meanwhile, both Chiaya's mother, and another organization are trying to collect the stones for mysterious purposes.

The plot itself doesn't actually begin until the third episode. The first two episodes focus more on the two Bests Masami and Shigyou. While those episodes are interesting, I do like it better when the plot actually moves.

I would classify this anime as an adventure story in addition to a comedy. The premise is basically four girls on a journey to pretty much help out with whatever they can. It does have a  lot of slice-of-life elements as far as the friendships are concerned. However, the fact that there are a lot of random magic moments keeps the audience reminded that this is still partially a fantasy story.

There is a blend of anime genres here. You have some adventure, some slice of life, tons of comedy, a good dose of magical girl, some shonen battle, a bit of fantasy, some random sci fi moments, and even a pinch of mecha in the last arc. After finishing the series I wonder if this was done intentionally to pay homage to the different styles of anime.

I do like the comedy used here. For one, the humor is clean. The comedy is based around the four main characters' distinct personalities. For one, there is a running gag about a character who is horrible with directions, and is constantly getting lost, yet denies it whenever questioned. Also the fact that the people who asked for help are expecting the heroic Masami, but are receiving four people who have no real skills or talents welcomes good humor.

If you try to take this show seriously, you're not going to like it. However, if you accept it as the light-hearted comedy that it's intended to be, you'll probably enjoy it.

Characters:

For the most part I found the characters to be likable. There's nothing you haven't seen before in anime, but that's not to say it's not a decent cast.

First up is the protagonist, Nozomi. She heavily admires, and is devoted to her city's Best, Masami. When she takes over as Masami's substitute on the road, she tries her hardest to do a job worthy of Masami's name. The problem is that often times Nozomi fails. Add that to the fact that she's working her hardest brings the comedy. Sadly, since she is the main character, compared to everyone else I do find her bland. She has no real personality for the majority of the series. There is some development as the show progresses, but I find everyone else more interesting than her.

Next up is Chiaya, the daughter of the group's president. Of the four mains, I find Chiaya to be the most likable. She is sweet, albeit naive due to  her past of solitude. Her mother is overprotective and keeps Chiaya locked away from people except on special occasions when she is allowed to leave the house. All she wishes for is to have one great adventure with friends. When she is finally given that opportunity, she plans to enjoy it to the very last drop. Chiaya also has several quirks such as constantly taking pictures, and that animals tend to be naturally comfortable around her.

Next is the comic relief character of the show: Yukina. Yukina's main quirk is that she has no sense of direction. When she is first introduced it's mentioned that it took her three days to find a location that should have only taken her minutes to reach. Also, she desires to be an artist, but due to her unique way of drawing faces, her finished products often receive negative (however polite) reactions. She is also portrayed as being clueless, but she is always among the first to volunteer to help, and proves herself to be a good friend time and time again.

The last of the four main girls is Ai. She is portrayed as being selfish and unintentionally rude. Her main goal is to gain possession of one of the heart stones so that she can become a Best. She believes that she is a tough fighter despite having no talent or training, and repeatedly ends up embarrassing herself by instantly losing when starting a fight against a Best. Ai's main quirk is her endless appetite, which sometimes annoys her companions.

All four girls have their own personalities, and each of them add to the story and the comedy in their own way. While each of them fail to equal Masami, it is interesting to watch how they will solve the current problem at hand.

The next character is not a main, but still I find to be important, that is Momiyama. Momiyama works for Chiaya's mother, and he is assigned to collect the stones in addition to bringing Chiaya back home. One of the major subplots is the mystery behind Chiaya's mother not wanting her daughter to socialize. Momiyama acts as a foil for her mother, as being someone who does understand Chiaya, provides her with a motorcycle, and acts as a guardian for her by allowing her to enjoy this road trip instead of intervening the way his boss wants him to. I do like that he offers support for Chiaya. What more, Momiyama has quite a few awesome moments himself during his action scenes in which he resembles a secret agent.

Throughout the series the girls come in contact with a variety of characters in the various countries they visit. Probably the most notable would be Kaguya who is pretty much the only person who asked Nozomi to butt out. In my opinion she is the most developed of the minor characters, and even more so than the protagonist herself. I did enjoy Kaguya's inclusion in the final battle.

Other than Kaguya, I did enjoy the two episode arc that takes place in Kyoto. I do like the characters of Misa (the rocker) and Mamechiyo (geisha in training). Even the antagonist of that arc is likable and funny. I will admit that episodes seven and eight are my favorites, thanks in large parts to the side characters presented.

Art:

If there is one word I can use to describe the art style of The Rolling Girls it would be: colorful. There is such a good use of color in this anime. The characters' costumes, the settings, the attacks. Even the stones they are collecting are bright pink. The fight scenes use burst of colorful energy. One of my favorite moments of animation is in episode eight, where a fire punch takes out a rocket and creates a rainbow cloud. Some of the settings such as Tokyo and Kyoto have bright and distinct color. In the Tokyo arc, the colorful settings are a nice contrast to the black cloaks the characters wear.

The character designs are cute without being overly so that it distracts from the story. I do like that each character has their own style. Even the designs of the side characters reflect that specific culture. Of all the character designs I like Kukino's the most (the antagonist in episode eleven): the fact that she is dressed so cutesy and in pink despite her age and the demon name she is given.

The animation is great. This show has a lot of high energy which is matched with the animation. I love watching the fight scenes. Everything is so fluid with the movements, periodically followed by colorful energy waves. I like the animation of the motorcycle race in episode six. I like that there are some cute and funny facial expressions as is common in anime, but they're not exaggerated.

Music:

The opening theme song is cute and catchy. I think it is cute that the girls are singing the opening song as if they are a band giving a concert; it's just a nice and creative touch that matches the tone of the anime. The same can be said about the song itself: it's cheerful and upbeat.

I also like the song that is played during the concert in episode eight. In my opinion, it is one of the best moments in the series.

Other than that, I don't remember much else about the music in this show.

Flaws:

The last third of the anime changes its tone. Something I enjoyed about this show is the fact that it is so cheerful and comedic, but then it tries to be more serious in the last three episodes, which I won't say ruins it, but it's such a sharp turn. I've seen this done several times in anime (both seasons of Black Butler for instance) where the show is mostly comedy, then for a dramatic ending will change its tone so late in the series that it can be difficult to adjust to. For the most part the story had included drama, but presented it in a humorous manner, but the last third was a huge tone shift. However, before it dove in too deep, the mood returned to its earlier state again, so I won't deduct too much for this one.

Secondly, there is a major plot twist concerning one of the characters that seemed abrupt. There is only one brief allusion to this plot point earlier in the series, so quick that it is easy to miss. I even misinterpreted it the first time I saw it. I think that twist still works in favor of the story, so I'm not going to consider that a flaw in itself, just the way that it is suddenly presented without much foreshadowing.

Thirdly, I found the main antagonist of the story to be a major letdown. Even now as I'm reviewing, I'm not sure what her motive, or even her goals were. She is introduced about halfway through the series as another who has an interest in collecting the heart stones. I'm not sure of her reason for collecting those stones. It's never explained what she wants with so many, and her overall plan doesn't even include them. I just feel she fell victim to the "twelve episode--not enough time for development of character or plot" syndrome.

Lastly, on that same note, I do feel that the plot itself could have been expanded were it not for the limit of twelve episodes. Even an extention to sixteen or twenty could have made room for more development. I do like the ending, I feel it's one of my favorite endings in anime, but there could have been a little more in each arc instead of trying to cram the arc into two episodes. Trust me, there is a lot happening in each episode.

Conclusion:

In all, I found this anime to be enjoyable. I like the characters, the art and animation is wonderful, I found the comedy to be genuinely funny. The story, albeit odd at times, is original. I looked forward to watching the next episode when finishing the previous. I also like getting a good glimpse at many different aspects of Japanese culture throughout this series.

However, there is a lot happening in each episode that could have been resolved by allowing it to flow into additional episodes instead of containing it within an even twelve. Also, the tone shift, and major plot twist were too sudden for my liking.

Overall, I did enjoy The Rolling Girls. If I have some free time, I wouldn't mind watching the entirety of the series a second time. It's humor and story is not for everyone, but I still would recommend it.

The Rolling Girls: 7/10

Beverage: Green Tea