Master Keaton

If variety is the spice of life then Master Keaton delivers one hell of a spicy dish. It is hard to say what genre the shows is because it is almost everything. But is variety by itself enough? Master Keaton's greatest asset is its variety. One episode it is a mystery, the next it is an action show, and the one after that it is a slice of life. The show really does end up getting it fingers in to almost every genre there is. To go along with the different genre, the show is in a different place every episode. In the rice patties ofJapan and then in the hills of Scotland. Walking into the beginning of every episode and not knowing exactly what to expect is probably my favorite part. Unfortunately as much as variety is the show's greatest strength it is also its greatest weakness. Any RPG player can tell you a jack of all trades is a master of none. The show ends up falling into that same problem. I wouldn't say that the show does anything down right poorly but it definitely doesn't do anything extremely well. Mr. Keaton himself is kind of a James Bond meets MacGyver except he is really dorky. He plays the buffoon and no one ever really expects him to be good at anything until he makes his move and it is too late. Keaton has basically had every job in existence. I really like how the show handled Keaton's past. The show gives you little bits of information here and there; in almost every episode there is something new introduced about Keaton. It could be something important and explored the whole episode, or it could just end up being a few lines where one more job is added to his already long resume. Most of the other characters are only one episode characters. There are a few recurring characters, like Yuriko his daughter and Daniel O'Connell a friend of his. But even these characters only get a few episodes. I think all the characters are likable and well done for the time given to them but not a whole lot is done with any of them. The animation is kind of interesting in that it looks older then what it is. The show came out in 1998 but I would have guess the early 90's to maybe even little earlier. I don't mean to saying the animation is poor, it just seems that art style is from a earlier era. Characters in the background tend not to be draw as well. It also has a more realistic looking than most anime but at the same time it is just cartoony enough to not look overly realistic either. The quality varies a little episode to episode and it false to do anything particularly well. On the other hand it has great variety and I really enjoyed the lead character. Master Keaton didn't exactly WOW me but I could see someone else falling it love with it. I would probably recommend some other shows before this one to someone but I think it could end up being worth wild to check it out and see for yourself.

More people need to check this out, it’s great as an episodic show and at trying out many different genres and has a genius main, always a plus ;) Everything applies exactly the same to the OVA as well, be sure to check out one if you like the other. Plot: ? This varies from episode to episode to be honest, some are solid 10s, others are lower, but there’s no real bad ones to be fair, just ones that are more interesting than others. Plot episodes vary greatly, one episode Keaton might be disarming a bomb with chocolate, surviving in the desert, or making a windmillto bring water to local plants so he can finally have his perfect pudding. Therefore how much you’ll like the series depends almost entirely on.... Character: 9 Taichi Keaton is a great character, plain and simple. The only other non-episodic characters include his daughter, his business partner, and his father, none of whom get a lot of development, but that’s ok because Keaton himself is more than interesting enough. If you like watching smart characters, you will probably like this show. Presentation: 6 Eh, it’s just not overly memorable. Naoki Urasawa’s signature character designs are well executed, but music, not bad nor good nor memorable and animation and art? So-so. It doesn’t bring the series down by much though unless you really really care about that stuff. Overall: 8 This is the type of show you watch for Keaton alone, if he sounds like a character who interests you, go for it without hesitation! The dub has a lot of iffy sounding accents that I don’t think quite work, not the best of dubs either, but certainly and underdog that needs more watching. Everything I’ve said applies to the OVA equally as well.

Master Keaton is a great episodic anime eager to offer something new in every episode. Due to its episodic nature, it lacks a great plotline and significant character growth. But this does not make Keaton a dull anime, because of the fact that the original creator pours his vast knowledge of European history into the work and creates something interesting in every episode. The story feels like the creator really loved history and countries of Europe and wanted to make a story to share his knowledge. Because of that the story though not great is kind of encyclopedic. Some episodes can be easily incorporated intothe great anime Monster. Main characters of both anime wander mainly in different parts of Europe (although for different reasons). Characters are enjoyable. Majority of them appear in one or two episodes, and although they are not impressive, all secure their distinct places. Maybe more important, the story and characters excellently merge together, which in return guarantees better enjoyment. Moreover, the viewer learns something new in every episode. That is the main reason I enjoyed this anime. Each character's life is related to some real historic events, and they brilliantly fit together. The main character, Taichi Keaton, has impressive skills. He is an archeologist and war veteran. He travels solving mysteries all around the world. He is likable but not memorable. He is dull. Many times he plays the role of catalyst in bringing characters together and relating their history/story. Story and interesting facts are the main selling points of the anime. Animation and sound quality isn’t impressive. First of all, this is an old anime. But even in its own time there were a lot of anime with better animation than Master Keaton. Music is fine. You may not remember after finishing it, but while watching I listened opening and ending in every episode. Overall Master Keaton is a good anime. If you are interested in the history of Europe I can guarantee enjoyment. If you are looking for high-quality animation and sound then this isn’t for you. The same applies to the OVA as well. It is the direct continuation of the TV series.

This series is all about the characters. It is episodic; and every episode has its own main characters aside from Master Keaton which are really well written and developed and so emotionally relatable in one way or another. This series accomplishes something that most of today's long running anime/tv series can't even accomplish, in only 20 minutes of screen-time i.e. making you care for the characters. I didn't care much about the plot in Master Keaton. I was too busy feeling for the characters. Most of the stories in the episodes were based on some historical events, myths or some classical like poisoning in Shakespeare's Hamlet.Theepisodes are arbitrary like in one episode Keaton helps a German businessman to locate his long-lost daughter, in the next one we meet an old lady looking for her childhood love in some foreign land, and in another we get to see Keaton's past. I do have to say that some episodes are kinda predictable mostly in the second season. But who cares about the story when you have such great cast. Modern anime try really hard to be over-convoluted just to look cool but characters remain "shallow" as ever e.g. FMAB. On the other hand, Master Keaton is simple and therefore drama feels so realistic even in obviously predictable episodes. Keaton is ethical who even sometimes helps people outside of his job and seems unrealistically perfect at first glance but later we see that he has his family issues, he is not socially well-off, he has no stable job and he is quite indecisive of what he wants to do with his life as an archaeologist and is not satisfied. He is only professional as an SAS agent and ends up saving the day because of his qualifications. He learned history, served army, taken survival courses so no doubt he is perceptive, strong, dependable. But there a few ass-pulls here and there. But like I said before, our main character for every episode is different and we care about that character even more than Keaton at the end of the day. The animation and music are brilliant. Naoki Urasawa's art is undoubtedly one of the best. The character designs are so realistic and the art really fits the atmosphere like in Monster. I highly recommend you to watch it in dubbed as it takes place in Europe. English voice actors did a great job and they even used different european accents for different countries, really well done. Master Keaton is serious, mature and at the same time lighthearted and optimistic and has realistic characters full of depth which modern anime lack. So underrated... it deserves so much more...

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