English Dub Season Review: Release the Spyce Season One

Time to ruminate on the aftertaste.

Spoilers for Season One below!

Release the Spyce is an anime about teenage girls who fight crime by eating spices — which “increases activity” in their brains, enhancing their physical abilities (how’s that for pop science?) They’re part of an elite, underground spy group known as the Tsukikage. Their goal is to stop the evil crime syndicate, Moryo, from conquering the world — and by the end of the season, they succeed. Through all the trials and tribulations (for both the show and its characters) Release the Spyce managed to form a cohesive narrative in the 12 episodes it was allotted.

But did it have enough spice? Let’s review:

Animation/Art Style
The style of the show is pretty overall. It didn’t suffer terribly from moe syndrome, but certain aspects of the animation direction could have been utilized more (for example, the robot armies usually just stood there while the girls beat them up.) While a lot of backgrounds and shots are beautiful, there’s always been a bit of longing to see the same animation/style used in the ending credits sequence as the series’ main style. If the show had been as dynamic as its credits showcased, there definitely would have been a more eye-catching appeal.

Plot
There’s…some things to unpack here. It all leads back to the most obvious critique of the show, as introduced in the first episode: what is the world-building around the spices they use? It only works on “young girls,” but is this common knowledge in their world, or just for the Tsukikage? Can young, female athletes legally use paprika as a substitute for steroids? On top of that, it seemed as though the spices barely played any real role in the plot, aside from being a gimmick. No one ever questioned the chemical makeup of the spices, or the discovery that it could be utilized in battle. It was never important enough for villains to try and steal. It really is just a gimmick.

Aside from that main critique, though, the general “spies VS villains who want to dominate the world” plot is a bit over-hashed. Of course, adding child soldiers into the mix definitely shakes things up a little, but certain showdowns seemed cheap (gotta love that plot armor!) The Tsukikage have apparently been around for hundreds of years — you would think they’d be able to have more than 5 teenage girls in their squad if they wanted to save the world. Gripes aside, it wasn’t horrible to watch, and the things that were implemented made sense — but just barely.

Characters
Most of the characters got their time in the spotlight in one way or another, but half of them were built around the weird, mentor-apprentice relationship the show had set up. Momo, Goe and Fu were constantly clambering to impress Hanzo, Hatsume and Mei — sometimes in ways that seemed…less than professional, in order to create melodrama. These emotional attachments seemed somewhat forced and actually hindered the “apprentices” in certain ways. Goe’s entire character is practically two things: shy, and obsessed with Hatsume (yandere alert!) Considering that the show wanted to arc their development as Tsukikage members, though, it makes sense there was so much focus on it. There would have been more of an emotional impact if there had been actual scenes where the characters are bonding together (like how the credits imply they do.) Theresia and Hatsume’s relationship had so much emotional focus that it was easier to get invested in their relationship, rather than a duo within the Tsukikage itself. Then again, another episode like “Never Say Never Together” could make anyone roll their eyes. Eugh.

When it comes to outside characters, some of them just seemed unnecessary. The viking girl (whose name doesn’t even ring a bell) is a prime example of a character who is solely there to advance the plot. Katrina was basically just there to enhance the illusion of the traitor arc. Most of the villains aren’t even memorable (except for Byakko, Theresia, and Tendo.)

Design wise…things could have been better. “Why are they fighting in those outfits, where’s their armor, where are their parents,” etc. etc. — obvious questions. The important thing is that the characters all wound up with a significant amount of growth by the end of the season, which was admittedly heartwarming to watch (especially on Momo’s part.) There are a few interesting twists and turns that are taken from start to finish (Hatsume’s baller poison moment, Mei’s “betrayal,” Hanzo’s retirement, etc.) that do deliver a fun punch.

Sound Design
The voice acting was interesting. Momo’s VA did a splendid job at portraying someone who was simultaneously driven, yet unsure. Fu’s VA seemed a bit older for her, considering her status as the youngest of the group. As for everyone else, there were times where they would sound older than anticipated, but overall, had a pretty steady performance. Villains were fine. Minor characters didn’t seem to have as much heart, but that’s why they’re minor. There aren’t a lot of “big names” in this cast list, so it was nice to see (or hear) them shine.

The music was actually way more catchy than expected. It’s hard not to admit that the ending song — and even the OP — are addictive. Plus, the use of the songs in-show made for quite an emotional impact. If anything, there’s a great music takeaway from the whole experience.

Did it do its genre justice?

Girl group anime was made with the intent of empowering young women — and Release the Spyce has quite a few inspiring statements made on hard work and dedication when it comes to dream chasing. Lessons on confidence, perseverance and fortitude allow this to pass for this genre, but funnily enough, Release the Spyce is filed under the seinen genre — which usually markets to a mature, male audience. It’s rather odd to see this anime be in the same realm of existence as Attack on Titan, but perhaps this is because of the particular bloody deaths in the show. Personally, it doesn’t seem dark enough to warrant being called labeled as seinen, and definitely seems to be more shojo oriented (hey, there were deaths in Sailor Moon, too.) Identity crisis or not, the only new and unique thing it brings to anime in general is the fact that anyone can ride out a gimmick successfully if they try hard enough.

On the whole, this isn’t something that warranted a recommendation to anyone, and there wasn’t anything worth revisiting. If it gets a second season, that’s good news for the people working on it — but it’ll be a shock if Release the Spyce ever becomes a mainstream favorite among anime fans. Spice rating? Mild.