Review of Absolute Duo

Anime cliches have been around for a good many years now. The characters troupes that we become accustomed to, certain kinds of scenes, as well as genres have all become rather well known in the anime community. It is with this that finding anything really out of the ordinary becomes a somewhat hard task. And then we have Absolute Duo, a show that touches on both sides of the argument. Story (6.44/10): In the world of Absolute Duo, there is a kind of people known as Exceeds, people who are able to harness the power of their soul to form weaponsknown as blazes, ranging from all forms of pre-gun weapons from swords, to daggers, bows, lances, and even a snakeblade. It is here where we follow the story of Kokonoe Tor, a boy who goes to attend Koryo Academy, a place where they train Exceeds so that one day, they can reach the highest level of power, Absolute Duo.

From a story standpoint, Absolute Duo does show promising development. A lot of anime that involve a lot of sci-fi/fantasy elements do have that little spark that make them different from the others, thus expressing the uniqueness of a show that I feel is necessary to earn any viewers. With the idea of the Duo System (which is basically a battle partnership) that this series has, as well as the idea of weapons made from the soul, I felt like Absolute Duo did have quite a bit to promise in terms of story idea, and it did, to a certain degree.

What I felt was lacking a lot about the show is more or less the amount of detail that was being expressed at a given time. Throughout the show, the story hints at these past events that our main two protagonists have that drive them to becoming a soul weapon wielding badasses. Rather than fleshing that out, the show puts that in the backseat of the show and progresses along with a plot that really at times, wasn't all that exciting. A major gripe I have about the show in regards to the backstory, is just how forced it feels, thus creating the "vengeance" cliche, as I call it. Basically, this means that the ONLY reason our characters really bother in becoming an Exceed in the first place, is to hunt down and seek vengeance on the person who slaughtered someone near and dear to them without ANY indication over who that person is or what their purpose was. To me, it hurts the story more than anything because an idea like this is guaranteed to never be touched on again, and that really is a shame since a lot of anime share this cliche, and none of them follow through.

Another fault I find is the fact that the show really doesn't try to be different. While the story idea may be interesting enough, the actual scenes, aren't. What this means is that the show falls back on cliches whenever it's trying to tell a story. In any given bit of plot progression the show relies on a reused scene idea used hundreds of times in order to explain what is going on. Having a conversation during a battle is fine, but saying that your only reason to fight is to get more powerful and power is the only thing that matters is dumb. Having a girl make a full 180 on her character after the MC beats her? Seen it, used it, copyrighted it. The impact from this mostly equates to making the series just lackluster in presentation.

Overall though, Absolute Duo's story was more disappointing than anything. While I didn't expect very much from the people who made Infinite Stratos, I felt like Absolute Duo could've turned into something just a little bit more. The series simply just solves the problems that the series created during the spur of the moment, and not any of the underlying problems like the revenge that Tor is so sought after.

Overview:
+ Interesting story idea
- Lackluster presentation
- Original problems not solved
- Very cliched storytelling

Characters (6.42/10): Characters, similar to story, follow a similar path to the story, riddled with cliche anime troupes everywhere, and that one interesting character that sorta turns your head.

Up first, Kokonoe Tor. Or, as everyone else likes to say: Kokonoe-kun, Tor, KOKONOE TOR!, Danna-sama, Toru, etc. As expected by someone who is played by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Tor is the harem lead character of the series, being nice to everyone, spouting the "I will protect everyone" speech, and overall being the affection of several girls' desires. However, unlike the other characters of the series, Tor's Blaze is a shield. (Unlike a certain swordsman played by the same seiyuu.) Aside from that one difference, Tor doesn't really play off as any real unique character. Because he plays the chivalry card, there really isn't much you can say about him other than the fact that he wants to protect people, resulting in the fact that he barely changes in the series. But at the very least, you won't forget his name! Cause it's not like they mention his name every 3 minutes or anything like that, maybe consecutive times for the antagonist.

And then we have Sigtuna Julie, our main female protagonist. As the main female protagonist of the series, Julie is the Duo of Tor, aka his battle partner and roommate. (Try and imagine all the non-H things they did. Whatever you're thinking, the show probably did it.) Similar to Tor, Julie bears the vengeance ideal, seeking revenge on the person that killed her father using two swords that allow her to spin and slice through whatever the hell she wants. While Julie herself isn't a bad character, she does come off a little weak in any actual development, similar to Tor. There really isn't enough emphasis on either one of them, rather putting them both together to make them like a whole with each of them as a half for the other. Because of this, she, like her Duo, doesn't stand up by themselves as a proper character, and the way I see it, isn't smart to have characters that rely on each other on personality.

And then we have the other characters for the series, such as the rest of the harem girls, Miyabi, Tomoe, and my personal favorite, Lilith Bristol, who wields a freaking rifle. In addition, we also Tora, Tatsu, Imari, and a couple other characters making up the side cast. Aside from Lilith, the rest of the student characters that bear any importance suffer a similar problem to the mascot characters of the show, which is not being able to stand up on their own. A lot of the time, you see the characters fall back on their partner for support and conversation, which for a series that has this for its main plot point, does make a lot of sense. However, the way it's done makes it so that no one character can really make him/herself stand on their own two feet. They are restricted to getting their minimal amount of character growth from other characters and individually, they feel hollow and incomplete. (Also, I kinda hate the bunny teacher. I know that there's a fandom devoted to her, but I honestly can't take characters like her, what with that stupid bing-bong crap and the dual personality.)

Overall, the characters of Absolute Duo weren't really shining examples of what could've been. I didn't expect much actual character development from a show such as this, but I wanted something more than just troupes and character reliance. No one really stood out as unique, (except Usa-sensei, sadly.) and the series did fall in that regard. Antagonists in Absolute Duo are also lackluster as well, so don't expect anything deep or meaningful with their evil plots. (Like seriously, who the hell obsesses THAT much over a guy whose only real weapon is a goddamn shield?)

Overview:
+/- Anime character troupes. (Helps ease the characters into the character's heads, not so much in terms of significant development.)
- Character reliance for personality
- Stereotypical and overused villain troupe

Art and Sound (7.21/10): Absolute Duo was produced by 8-bit, the same studio that made La Fruit de Grisaia, Avengelion Ewol, and the show featuring out favorite harem MC, Infinite Stratos. (Fucking Ichika.) Likewise, Absolute Duo is done in a similar quality to those shows. The art for the series does look rather aesthetically pleasing with some pretty nice designs for the Blazes. The art for the series is standard for the current age of anime, so there's really not much to say beyond that.

There are however, some...bugs in the artwork. At times, the art quality both dips and raises up a little bit, making the show waver in appearances from one scene to the next. In addition to the lack of artistic regularity, 8-bit also pulled up its IS schematics and used a bit of the wonderful... wonderful CGI. More than anything, it just looks awkward, and glaringly so.

On the music side of things, Absolute Duo hosts a somewhat decent soundtrack. The most memorable of the bunch being its opening, Absolute Soul, which is a song that I have grown to love. The opening has a very unique sound and rhythm to it that makes it feel actually quite memorable. Aside from the kickass opening that you could probably listen to for hours on end, the rest of the soundtrack is kind of lacking as nothing else really stands out.

Overview:
+ Decent art
+ Kickass opening
- Art wavers in quality a lot
- rest of the soundtrack isn't as memorable

Personal Enjoyment (7.00/10): While I may have been hacking and slashing away at this show for all its worth throughout this entire review, I can't honestly say that this show isn't completely bad. While unwanted and tired cliches are prominent and plentiful throughout this series, the show itself isn't completely unwatchable. Of course, the show does literally shoot its characters down with guns of all sorts, but that's not what we're worried about at the moment.

Did I like this show?

From an entertainment standpoint, the show gets good marks. Absolute Duo isn't as far as I can see a show that should be taken with the thought of being wowed. I went into this show thinking that there were going to be some disappointing elements, and I turned out to be right. That being said, the idea of the soul weapons "Blazes" and some of the fights do actually make up slightly for the mountain full of troupes and cliches that make up a lot of the show's screentime.

What didn't I like about this show?

What I didn't like was simply just how cliched it was. (Yes, yes. I am aware that me writing cliched a bunch is turning into a cliche.) A lot of the show could've been handled in a way that would've made for a more interesting storyline and/or view. The show goes from one of its more higher points into one that comes from a troupe you've probably seen several times before, and it's this where I find the majority of the problems for the series, aside from, you know, giving us a read the manga ending cause neither one of the main characters have completed their self-appointed task.

Would I recommend it?

Absolute Duo in my opinion serves more like a bit of fluff entertainment more than anything. The show wasn't executed in a way that I felt was worth more than just a show you could watch in your downtime, as reused story points plague its entire 12 episode run with old, tired harem troupes. (In addition, 5 of the girls in this series basically have balloons sticking out of their chest. I'll leave the rest to you.) Absolute Duo could've potentially become more than it already was, it had a good bit of groundwork it could've used. Sadly though, it relied too much on established anime harem scenes, troupes, and characters that I think hurt the show in the long run. If you want a harem sci-fi show, Absolute Duo does fit the bill.

Overall Score: 6.45/10