Season Review: Dimension W Season One

Find out if we should have a second go.

After the success of Space Dandy, Funimation thought they could crank out another potential sci-fi-hit anime for the Toonami audience. However, what made Space Dandy work was the fact it was concurrently simulcasted so in other words when we got the episode, so did Japan and everywhere else making it unpredictably enjoyable for audiences who blindly went into it whenever an episode premiered.

Dimension W is based off a Manga by Yuji Iwahara and first came out in 2011.

When Dimension W was Dubbed on Toonami, it was 7 episodes ahead in Japan since it premiered in Japan on January 10th 2016 while the Dub came out on Toonami in March 27th 2016.

Every episode in the first half of the season we’re greeted with the description of Dimension W and the infinite power it possesses supplying the world with newly found power. All through the use of these special coils used to harness the energy in Dimension W.

Despite what is introduced to us, Dimension W does an excellent job of easing us into the setting. It takes place in a futuristic world completely utilizing these coils to power most of its functions. The description of the coils and Dimension W tell us that technology has moved forward and the views of ancient Egypt and even places like Easter Island being uncovered with highly advanced machinery powered by the titular dimension really push the fact that mankind has progressed rapidly into the future because the power of W being harnessed.

The art is really versatile in the anime, ranging from dark alleys to a beautiful scenery of the town and to various buildings like a kimono shop, a palace and even random shots of flowers or animals.

Although the anime only had 12 episodes It did have some enjoyable moments here and there. From the development and past of Kyoma, to action-filled action scenes and some truly sad moments. All the conspiracies including coils were really interesting as the creation of them was shown in the anime despite the “Bullshit Science” Jargon behind them. Every episode brought something new to the show like a new character or an important plot point.

The action & fight scenes are done so well, I’m just gonna say this: When Kyoma gets serious shit gets real.

 

 

The music in the opening and the ending fits so great to the show, Though Funimation felt the need to change the credits end music during Toonami’s American broadcast to some sort of hispanic guitar music  juxtaposed to Japan’s version of the credits.

Here’s some glaring examples.

Opening (both versions.)

U.S. Toonami Credits.

Original Japanese Credits.

The show as a whole does give the viewer a twist on the sci-fi genre. It also has great characters and music. If you have not seen it yet, It was at some level engaging. The story, the plot, the characters, and well the animation was awesome too. Kyoma’s character-arc was intriguing. His story was emotional, and sometimes heartfelt. This whole anime felt like a Final Fantasy game in all the right ways. (Which is funny since square Enix publishes the manga this Anime is based on.)

The story I loved because it was about possibilities and how different things can make big changes in the world. Mira as a character and how her story slowly unraveled and tied with Kyoma was well thought-out even if it moved at a snails pace.

Loser was completely badass and had a sorrowful story. The others were very intriguing in different ways. I loved the world of how everything was powered by coils using energy from another dimension and how Kyoma fought without using them that he was just really skilled. The action and the mystery were near-perfect.

The Dub is near-verbatim to the Subbed version as I’ve seen both versions of each episode to see how much they changed and while the changes were minimal, They were mostly to either keep up with the flaps (mouth movements) or censor something deragatory.

While it’s a fun show to watch, it’s also pretty confusing when it comes to how Dimension W’s “Bullshit Science” works. Also, some of the bigger characters seem to just drop out half way through. I did like the main characters though, the music was good, the animation was vibrant, the story, while confusing, kept me interested.

At the time of this review, The Manga this Anime adaptation is based on is still ongoing so they’d have to make enough manga chapters to condense into episodes if they wanna go that route. (For example: Attack on Titan’s first season only covered the first 33 chapters of the Manga.)

I feel that Dimension W was really underrated and slightly disappointing. It feels like it was mean’t for american audiences with it’s Phillip K. Dick & Isaac Asimov-influences and if your going into it without knowing the works of those influential writers, you might not like it, but I suggest viewing before you consider buying it to see if it’s your cup of tea.