The first impression is disastrous and in the end I was gobsmacked that it took me three months to endure these 13 episodes. If you read something that makes you curious about the series, you have been fooled in my opinion! Story: Focused on the manga's Ark project, but poorly implemented (3/10) The barely visible common thread of the series is that a terrorist group is trying to destroy the existing order, which is based on the fact that bioroids (=genetically engineered human beings) create a balance to human emotions in society and thus enable peaceful coexistence. The story structure follows that of the 1988 OVA, inwhich Deunen and Briareos are already in the city of Olympus and in the special unit E-S.W.A.T. So it's a different route than the one we know from the OVA 2004. Unfortunately, the plot is so poorly written that you don't feel guided through the story. On the contrary, the plot elements feel more like cobblestones being thrown at you. The allusions to Greek mythology are not well integrated into the plot and since they are not self explanatory, the viewer wonders what the background is? It is a pity how uncharitably the mythology has been treated. Basically it is much ado about nothing and the only episode that creates a tangible reference to the mythology for the viewer is episode no. 10 Hydra (Lernaean serpent). The incarnations of Greek mythology are omnipresent. The city is called Olympus and is administered by an AI called Gaia and the names e.g. Athena and Nike would actually be hint enough. But the series refers to the tasks of Heracles again in the opening credits and each episode title bears the name of one of the twelve tasks. This is followed by scenes with statues of heroes, pictures and mosaics made of ceramics in the ancient Greek style, alluding to the myths discussed in this episode. Literally every few minutes you get a metaphorical paving stone thrown at your head asking whether you understand that there is a reference to ancient Greek mythology. This is, if you'll pardon the expression, not profound, but a slight case of overbombing and terribly annoying!
Characters: Compared to the OVAs, the cast is a bitter pill indeed (3/10)
The cast is the next downer. On the one hand, they are pretty unsympathetic and on the other hand, they are simply not believable in their roles. Why do I say that, because they actually know what's going on halfway through the series at the latest, and yet they let the opponents act with practically no resistance worth mentioning.
Knute Deunan:
Unfortunately, her character development is a step backwards. In the OVAs, she was a cheeky but militarily well-trained, responsible young woman carried out her duties with pride. In Appleseed XIII she appeares as childish, immature, selfish and by times vulgar brat. She drinks more than she can handle, everything is a big kerfuffle, whether it's her relationship or holidays. As sad as it is, her character is just plain unappealing.
Briareos:
He is Deunan's partner in the series, both professionally and privately. You can't blame him for taking on the role of the mother goose, as childish and immature as Deunan behaves. Compared to the films, however, the characters in the series are only a shadow of their former selves.
Hitomi:
The change in her character is almost grotesque. As a bioroid, she should ensure harmony in the community free of emotions. That she asks Briareos for help while he is on duty, just because a baby is crying a little, completely contradicts this idea.
Visuals: Out of the frying pan and into the fire (3/10)
The artistic effort is ambitious, but that doesn't mean that the idea of having each episode animated by a different studio results in an appealing anime. In short, it doesn't! The design of the characters and backgrounds does follow a uniform structure overall, but that does not apply to the quality standard in general. The art is not of consistent quality. The backgrounds are good and look very appealing with the technology used. This is true for buildings, roads and airplanes, for example. With the character designs, on the other hand, the world seems upside down. Deunan looks like a shiny Baribie doll and her hair rather resembles the scales of a fish. On the other hand, Briareo's appearance as a cyborg seems rather incongruous due to the manually sketchy textures of his outer shell. In addition, light and shadow effects as well as the colouring vary in quality. If it weren't so sad, one could laugh about the fact that the films are better because the computer technology was less sophisticated and the characters fitted better into the overall picture.
Like the films, Appleseed XIII was created with CGI and cel-shading, but the animation quality is often below average. The level of detail is often too low in relation to the possibilities of the technology used and to add insult to injury, the rotoscopic process in the animation is not a feast for the eyes. The quality of the animation is very different. On the one hand, the fighting sequences are well realised, you get a good sense for the space in which the characters move. On the other hand, simple movements, such as walking, very often appear choppy and the posture of the character seems unnatural. The attempt to create a greater variety of suitable facial expressions using motion capture technology is unfortunately only moderately successful. The characters remain alien to the viewer, so that one cannot identify with them. Overall, the series is theatrical, but this loses its effect due to the poor rendering of textures that go beyond the outlines of the character models. The overall picture can best be compared with video sequences from old computer games.
Sounds: Basically the best part of the anime, but still just average (5/10)
The BGM was composed by the Japanese music producer Conisch (Konishi Hiroaki), who is also responsible for the music in several Mardock series. In keeping with the composer's preference, the music arrangements are focused on the use of synthesizers and therefore oriented towards the electronic genre, as well as a jazz-like tonality. The music is largely appropriate, but unfortunately can not improve the overall score.
The opening and ending of the series is a track called "Polovetsian Dances". With a lot of good will, one can relate it to Alexander Borodin's opera "Prince Igor - Dance of the Maidens (end of the second act of the opera) with the eponymous title "Polovetsian Dances". Since the animation once again refers to the twelve tasks of Heracles, I don't feel like going into it any further.
As always at the end of the sound section, I'd like to mention the voice actors who caught my eye. In this case, among the male actors Uchida Naoya as the voice of the chief officer of the E-S.W.A.T. He has good pronunciation and a strong ability to change. He is also very experienced, maybe you know his voice from series, such as Naruto (Suien) and Drifters (Oda, Nobunaga). Among the female voice actors, I liked the voice of Hitomi, spoken by Takahashi Mikako. She has a supporting role, but I really enjoyed her tender, feminine voice and her empathy with the character she portrays.
The series is miserable and it's a shame that Masamune Shirow's great manga idea is butchered in this way. The series has far too many lows to overcome the first negative impression. For me personally, along with Elysium (2003) and Berserk (2016, 2017), it is another example of the negative side of using CGI. I am still puzzled and wonder what episode 13 was good for? But I guess for nothing.
I would not recommend this series to anyone. It is a waste of time!
As always, thanks for reading.
