by
Esjee on
2017-03-29 01:29
Rating:
4
Approval:
39.1% (1 votes)
Those of you who have read the description of Hand Shakers may have gotten the impression that this show is really generic, at best 'average'. Well... You'd be correct. This show is both 'average' and 'generic', which is a lot of the reason why it's rated so poorly here on AniDB.
This show is a typical "shounen action battle tournament" show. A reluctant boy gets cornered into fighting in a tournament for the sake of a girl. Naturally, for the girl, the stakes are 'life and death', which adds a level of angst to the plot. And the concept here-- that 'holding hands' charges a warrior's powers and allows them to use a tool called a 'Nimrod' (name clarification to follow) really doesn't sound like an appealing concept to a typical 'shounen' viewer. Basically, this show shot itself in the foot before it even aired by using such a... squeamish? premise. Teenaged boys might be willing to accept 'holding hands' in a romcom, but 'holding hands' in a battle-action show really just seems odd. And to a Western (specifically, American) audience, using the word 'Nimrod' has connotations that the creators of the show most likely never considered...
For anyone that might be confused about the use of the word 'Nimrod'... From Merriam Webster: Definition of Nimrod. 1: a descendant of Ham represented in Genesis as a mighty hunter and a king of Shinar. 2 not capitalized: hunter. 3 not capitalized, slang: idiot, jerk. For further reference: Wiktionary: In most English-speaking countries, Nimrod is used to denote a hunter or warrior, because the biblical Nimrod is described as "a mighty hunter". In American English, however, the term has assumed a derogatory meaning, probably because of Bugs Bunny's references to Elmer Fudd as a "poor little Nimrod".
Thus, by 'holding hands' to charge their powers, Hand Shakers are able to enter a parallel dimension called the Ziggurat and wield weapons called Nimrods (becoming mighty hunters, not 'idiots') to fight in a tournament where the winner has the opportunity to address 'God' and, presumably, have a wish granted. Generic to a tee.
Furthermore, with the exception of a pointlesss BDSM theme in the first/second episodes, the plot and script of this show are very much appropriate for a 10-15 age audience instead of "shounen's" typical 15+ audience. So the show gets tagged here with tags sounding pretty... adult... only to discover that this is basically a middle-schoolers' show. Seems easy to understand why the show is rated below average instead of just average. Furthermore, the show's plot feels like it was either designed by an executive committee or by one person who had a 'vision' of pandering to the audience as hard as they could, which generally means the show's an utter dud.
What makes this show really interesting, indeed even potentially good, is the somewhat experimental animation. It makes heavy use of computer rendering, both for special effects and for lighting/shading. Some of the visuals are quite stunning. It would look beautiful on a 60" LED television at 60fps... But on a typical laptop or tablet's screen, it's wasted effort and the nuances of the details in rendering are pretty much lost. Furthermore, most streaming sites where you can watch this show subtitled will use an encoding that drops details for the sake of saving bandwidth for streaming purposes, further degrading the visual quality. Also, the CGI animators did a good job with stunning visuals, but they got pretty lazy with the 'details' of animation. There are portions of the show that look downright plastic. A perfect example is the enemy's "chains" weapon used in the first/second episodes. Later on in the show, our hero learns that he can 'ride' his weapon, so what we see is a stationary character just gliding across the screen with no real dynamics involved. My description is inadequate, but I'm describing something that's inadequate, so I hope you'll forgive me.
Level of Taboo/Ecchi/Fanservice: First of all, the basic premise of this show has biblical themes even though the content frankly has nothing to do with the biblical theme aside from the use of names and the overall goal of 'speaking with God'. The first/second episodes quite prominently feature BDSM themes including the use of a foot to um... stimulate... female genitalia, as well as some pretty ridiculously plastic breast physics. Without rewatching the show (just can't bring myself to do it), I'd say the rest of the show is pretty clean. If you're able to sit through the first/second episodes, then nothing later on will surprise or particularly bug you, I'm thinking.
Intended Audience: This is a battle tournament shounen show through and through. There are some Slice of Life moments, various friendships explored, and every enemy 'having a story', but all of that is to be expected in shounen. Although there are romantic themes, there really isn't much in the way of romance, and there's no harem. It's very much a one-boy-one-girl show. Because of ecchi content, a 10-15 age range in my mind basically becomes a 16+ age range enough though the plot and script are both solidly simplistic.
So here's my breakdown:
Art & Animation - 7 - Although the animators drop the ball and get lazy at several points during the show, the wide variety of Nimrods and their unique animations/particles explain why the budget's corners were cut in some areas. This much CGI is undoubtedly expensive to create. But the artwork-- once one gets used to the chosen color palette-- is honestly really stunning at times. I have to give the art/animation crew credit even while I notch off points for being lazy.
Sound - 6 - I found nothing wrong with the 'sound' in this show. The soundtrack's generic, but it adds just the right amount of ambiance to the show. Likewise, the use of 'sound effects' is pretty much average, as is the case in just about every show ever produced. It's rare for sound to be noteworthy because it's 'above average'. Best I can say is that this show has a unique, perhaps even melancholic, ambiance to it and the sound does just fine maintaining that feel.
Story - 2 - Generic to a tee. Not a bad story, but this show obviously pandered as hard as it could, using a BDSM theme in the first two episodes as a plot hook and totally throwing off the 'intended audience' of the show. I'd call it a classic bait-and-switch. If not for that mistake of pandering, I'd probably bump the story up 2 notches, accepting the show as a typical shounen tournament with an intended audience of early-teens boys. Which would have been just fine.
Character(s) - 4 - Generic and average. Leading male is a 'decent human being' who reluctantly-at-first becomes involved out of a sense of moral duty. The leading female in the show is-- almost literally-- an animated doll for the first half of the show, virtually incapable of expressing emotion, as well as being mute aside from 'affirmative grunts'. I hate it when shows unnecessarily weaken a female in order to make her more appealing to a male's "protective nature". The secondary cast is more interesting than the primary cast, particularly the opponents in the tournament who are all "enemies for a reason". Although all of their reasons are borrowed from templates, I found myself at least marginally interested in those reasons... but only marginally.
Value - 2 - Almost none at all. This show is generic, basically existing as little more than a showcase for the animation technology.
Enjoyment - 3 - If you're going to pander to the audience, at least do so consistently. BDSM in the first/second episode indicates an ecchi or at least fanservice show. Leaving both out for the rest of the show is a bait and switch that is obviously intended solely as a hook to get people to watch more of the show. And although the visuals were stunning at times, the total dropping of the ball during 'less important' scenes is a distraction from the show. Poor animation through and through would have been bad, but poor animation when convenient is also bad. If you're going to make a technology-showcasing show, then you'd best be putting effort into showcasing the technology instead of cutting corners with dismal results. On top of a generic plot and script, I can honestly say that sitting through every episode of this show was a chore. I only did so because I wanted to be able to write an honest review at the end. I certainly wasn't interested in the characters or curious about the plot.
Conclusion - 4 - Don't bother unless you're curious about what sorts of animation technologies are out there where CGI is concerned. With the added BDSM theme at the start, this show isn't even suitable as a generic middle-school-aged show, which is what it was clearly written for, intentionally or not.
