English Dub Review: The Reflection “Survivor”

Otherwise known as Episode One: Extended Cut.

Spoilers Below

After the pilot left us with a bunch of questions, we’re going to take a step back. Maybe take a look at the events of the Times Square attack from a few more perspectives. Let’s vantage point that shiz. First, the baddies. The operation that I-Guy broke up was more than just a couple of monsters, and there was a bit more going on that we didn’t see. Literally, every villain was part of the same team, all working together with a few more behind the scenes, like Mister Mystic, a telepath. He’s coordinating their actions, apparently attempting to draw the hero X-On out to make a show. Meanwhile, Flaming Fury interrupts the mayor during the ceremony. She claims that the world has forgotten about the Reflected, remembering them only in words, but not actually addressing their issues. We also see another baddie, a martial artist with the power to enlarge parts of his body to hit harder. X-On beats him and steals his power. This explains the moment when X-On enlarged his first. After that, we fast forward. After the battle, X-On confronts Eleanor about her stalking him. She reveals that she can’t control her teleporting power and needs his help as a mentor. She wants to use her powers for good. He… wants none of it. Instead, he tells her that if she’s gonna stalk someone, she should stalk Wraith. Doesn’t bother mentioning who Wraith is, though…

Are we done with that? Yeah. Time to focus on someone else. How about I-Guy? Real name, Ian Izzet. Well, this Tony Stark clone arrives home by hitching a ride on the wing of a jetliner. As he does so, a team of guys helps him out of his suit. The rocker proceeds to barf off to the side. The experience was too much for him. As he recovers, we get a flashback to the Reflection, which occurred while he was drunk at his own party, funded by the royalties on his one-hit wonder, Sky Show. He got hit by the smoke and light from the event, which apparently ended his rock career. An unnamed businessman supplied him with his power armor, and now he can fight crime as a performance instead. We then get a glimpse of life for this super hero, as the team surrounding him not only act as a second set of eyes but can hack the televisions and other things around him to give him the music that fuels his suit. All the same, this rocker-turned-hero has a big head, walking down rodeo drive on a red carpet in his armor. This won’t end well. Meanwhile, in Japan, teenagers discuss the Times Square attack, as a group of four girls gathers together to decide their team name. I have a feeling this isn’t for a sports team.

I want to like this show. Let’s start there. There is plenty of mystery. The characters are being revealed bit by bit, and we still have no idea what caused the Reflection, or even what it was. I like the lines that the characters are saying, and the narrative is interesting. It is willing to experiment with this “Vantage Point” concept, although I’m not sure if it was clear in its execution of said concept. I like X-On and Eleanor as characters. I think they are interesting, and just a few degrees off of what I expect out of characters with similar archetypes and tropes. This is good. I want to dive into this universe and figure out more. I would read the paper out of a graphic novel of this.

Unfortunately, the medium through which this show is presented is complete and utter dung. The art is supposed to be reminiscent of comic book art. It succeeds, but it isn’t the good comic book art. It’s that art you get when the comic’s cover is absolutely amazing, and the art on the inside looks like it was done by a high schooler with MS Paint. Then you put the comic back because you aren’t paying for that junk. That’s the comic artwork this looks like. The animation is limbo-low quality. I’m pretty sure this was made by three dudes in Adobe Flash and Illustrator. There are many times throughout the episode where the characters stand there in unmoving silence… for no reason… for two to four seconds… and then the show switches shots. Almost as if the characters are all unsure if it was their line or if the hero was supposed to do something and they forgot. Just awkward silence. So, you know, I had figure out why the animation was so bad. I went to look up Studio Deen. See if they might be new or they never worked on an anime befo- 1976!?! Studio Deen has been in the anime business longer than I have been alive! Ranma 1/2, DNA², Eat Man, Rorouni Kenshin, Fate/Stay Night, all the way up to one of my favorite shows, Log Horizon! This studio has been involved in shaping the anime industry and styles from the beginning, and they churned this junk out? What? Was this a way to get the interns out of your hair for a month or so?

Then, we bring it back over stateside, and the voice acting isn’t a whole heck of a lot better. Outside scenes are muddy, indoor scenes are loaded up with bad voice acting by the bit characters, and mediocre acting from the major characters. I know they didn’t have much to work with in connecting up with the animation, but the acting was campy and forced. Furthermore, as nice as it was that they tried to go a bit more experimental with the vantage point storytelling, it ended up as a mess. So many characters with overlapping plots, while flashbacking and flashforwards. It just didn’t flow well and got a little confusing at times. So, between all the negatives, and the few positives, I have to give this episode five out of ten. It better start getting its act together.