As far back as I can remember, I've enjoyed animated shows where something arbitrary is used to save the world. Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal (subbed) and Bakugan (dubbed) come to mind. Naturally, when this animation came onto the scene, I was stoked to watch it.
It had everything: interesting mysteries, quirky characters, and a decent setup for a plot (in this case, the missing memories... and the mystery of
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As far back as I can remember, I've enjoyed animated shows where something arbitrary is used to save the world. Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal (subbed) and Bakugan (dubbed) come to mind. Naturally, when this animation came onto the scene, I was stoked to watch it.
It had everything: interesting mysteries, quirky characters, and a decent setup for a plot (in this case, the missing memories... and the mystery of Ren's color-changing hair XD). As MS went on, it kept getting better. More questions, vague answers and an interesting conflict, since the protagonist's goal is being hindered by the team member he replaced.
Nothing could go wrong, right?
Wrong.
Starting from the second story arc (where the main cast go on a quest to find Haruma, an old teammate), I felt something was wrong. The plot felt wackier- more... padded and slow.
Since I heard about the 3DS game (sadly, no localization ;_;) having a similar story to the animation, I watched a Japanese Youtuber play through it and I enjoyed the story- or what I could infer from it.
Oh my gosh, that ending! That was perfect! Cheesy, but perfect! The villain was threatening, as was the final arc for the story! This was a great game!
Back to the ONA, though. The short episodes made me come back for more. Since there was nothing major happening, it felt like I was being led on- lead to become hyped for a major twist near the end.
This is where the show just throws itself off a cliff.
The War Gods sounded interesting, and I was expecting the show to invoke the Eldritch Abomination trope. Sadly, they just turned out to be humanoid gods with flashy CGI powers. Their battles were kinda lowering my standards for the show, too- often relying on comedy to keep you watching.
And then there's the final arc of the story- where the hero and his partner must stand against all odds to defeat the great evil they defeated in the past. Being a fan of how the 3DS game's climax went, I was pumped after such stagnant episodes. It was at this moment, that I grew to despise the animated series.
Among many of the problems with the final arc, there was the fact that Oragon's true form was never revealed (he's just a massive flaming dragon, woo-hoo...), the contents of the characters' memories never being revealed (literally, it's the same shot of them playing together as kids over and over) and the final showdown not being as climactic as I had hoped (the hero literally gets shot with energy bullets... and just sits there while the runtime for the episode dwindles.... only to come back out of nowhere and win). Also, Ren's hair changing color was never explained.
I know that the "movie" is the climax to the series itself. And, sure, it explains a lot of plot holes in the series itself. But I would've liked this closure in the series proper!!
"But Manga!" you say. "This is intended for people who play the game! Not you!"
Shut your yap. If it's a Japanese cartoon, I'm watching. Nuff said.
Also, I would have liked for Oblivion (final boss of the 3DS game) to have been the big bad of the animated series. As a one-eyed bio-mechanical monster of doom and destruction, he looked threatening- more threatening than a white-haired, red-eyed shirtless dude with standard magic powers and creepy rocks.
Overall, Monster Strike is an animated series that some people may like. But personally- and a LOT of people agree with me on this- I think it's a worthless pile of garbage.
This show deserves at least 2 stars for a good concept, but its flaws (mainly in my opinion) that nullify that second star.
Don't watch unless you want to be irritated.
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