Zettai Karen Children
(13 episodes watched):
As I think back about watching the first episode, I remember no particularly hilarious jokes, but an all-around atmosphere of silliness and pleasing absurdity comes to mind. Perhaps the nearest match I can think of would be Ultimate Girls, except ZKC seems better in every way. A little risque but not sleazy, that is. The plot seems to be going somewhere, which is reassuring since a show with such a premise might rely on pedophilia. It looks like this will be the story of the three "Absolutely Lovely Children" from the time they teamed up with their new "handler" Koichi onwards. Actually, one good joke was the one regarding Koichi's bloody nose. This one definitely ranks above Kanokon or Special A in my opinion. So, I like this show!
Episode two leaves me with an attitude of encouragement about this show. The tour of the bizarre but not altogether implausible BABEL institute was fun and interesting. We are introduced to the procedure by which the ZK Children are dispatched on missions, which makes some sense. It was nice to see Kouichi reason out what was going wrong with one and solve it--he's not just a loser to be kicked around by the girls. Whereas some early reviewers felt this show was cheap and sleazy, it's seeming unusually well thought-out to me. Again, I'm getting the impression that this is a pretty good show that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves.
When I asked myself what was making me laugh during episode four, the answer I came up with was unpredictable weirdness. I don't know what the characters are going to say or do next, but I can be confident that it will be pretty strange (and funny, too). The way characters say something nonsensical during the station breaks reminds me of Hayate no Gotoku!; it wasn't just a coincidence, either, since Hayate and Nagi actually appear briefly in episode nine. Also nice is the way the characters have a dash of common sense, which is all too rare in anime comedies nowadays. ZKC is one of the Spring comedies which I most like, and which I try not to watch more than one of each day, so that I won't run out of them before the next week's shows become available.
"This is pretty good!" I unwittingly said to myself during episode nine--the most honest and sincere form of flattery I can give. ZKC is definitely significantly funnier than the bulk of anime comedy, perhaps because it dares to be a little risque in an adult manner. Instead of seemingly setting it's sights on the lowest common denominator as a target audience, this show employs some genuine wit rather than just jaw-dropping fanservice. Episode nine, by the way, involved Koichi being hypnotized to see the girls as voluptuous young women instead of the ten-year-olds that they really are.
I don't exactly see why Major whats-his-name (the guy with a psychic hamster) is supposed to be so dangerous; I'd rather spend more time with the Kouichi and the children. But that's because they are so much fun (I especially liked the SD faces in this episode). The episode as a whole would have made a lot more sense if it had been a submarine, not a fishing boat, which had sunk with survivors trapped inside.
Episode 13 reminded me of why I love this show. I paused it to read a subtitle, then glanced at the frame itself and was startled by it's quality. There was both a beautiful sunset in the background, and a hilarious facial expression on Kaoru's face. So much extra effort that I often miss goes into this show.
My favorite line: "Psychic domestic violence!" --Kaoru
Last updated Thursday, August 07 2008.
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