needless to say…
Categories: episodic review
Tagged: needless
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… I fucking enjoyed Needless.
I thought spring 2009 was kinda weak at first, but Eden of the East came out of nowhere and become a destination show. And K-On! surpassed all my expectations to the point that I’m actually disappointed when Thursday rolls around, and I’m watching Endless Eight instead of Azusa-nyan trying out the new Sawa-chan Meido Fuku Mark II.
But you know what show is surprising me this season? (Besides how Haruhi Suzumiya brought out skies, a boat, and a shark?) Needless. It’s just a completely over-the-top, stupid, cheesy, ridiculous show. And I’m enjoying every minute of it. Now… why do I enjoy it?
It has gags that actually make me laugh. Visceral, instinctive gag laughs. Ones that you just don’t see coming, like Yamanda getting beaten down constantly by Eve and Adam. Ones that you see coming, like Eve giving everyone a ridiculous nickname. I honestly laughed more during Needless than ZSZS, which is kinda like saying, “I enjoyed that Will Ferrel movie more than I enjoyed that Mel Brooks one.”
One of the main characters is named “Adam Blade” (just a fantastic name), he is a Father, and he is a muscle-bound freak of unspeakable manliness. There’s never a dull moment when he’s on the screen. He’s not on the same tier as Kogarashi, but he’s not far from the mark. He needs a catchphrase on par with “Kukuku” and needs to start talking in the third person. I’m a big fan of manly men talking about themselves in the third person. Manly men don’t need no stickin’ first person.
(This anime reminds me of Road House starring Patrick Swayze for whatever reason.)
The other lead male character is Yamada (real name “Cruz”) who is a major siscon. I don’t blame him for that as his sister is hawt. Still, he’s a wuss and whiner and a cross between Luke Skywalker from A New Hope and Shinji Ikari from End of Evangelion. Not a favorable comparison. I hope to make fun of him a few more hundred times before this series is over and done with.
But what really hooked me was the main female character, Eve, breaking out a Giga Drill Break. Goosebumps. There’s a lot to like about Eve besides how clothes just fly off of her. Short temper, likes giving people ridiculous nicknames, likes drills, complete airhead (but in a good way), and enjoys kicking ass. She’s a cross between Simonko, Wolverine, and Melissa Mao.
The animation by Madhouse is smooth and colorful. Definitely well done in a ridiculous comic book-kind of way as opposed to a photorealisitic-kind of way or a Mio is moe-kind of way.
Remember when I wrote about Princess Lover coming in on #2 for perkiest nipples? Needless grabs #1. I feel like you should know these things.
The ED, Aggressive Zone… you just have to see it for yourself. I’ve watched it about a dozen times now, and I could go back for the full baker’s dozen. Needless to say, it includes three girls frolicking, kissing each other, licking each other, and bumping parts of their bodies against each other.
(Madhouse completely seized the fanservice mantle this season. It really should be a yellow jersey a la the Tour de France that gets passed around to the animation studio that does the best fanservice. The yellow jersey of fanservice is yours now, Madhouse.)
(Oddly enough, I have received almost a half-dozen e-mails about Aoi Hana… and zero about Needless. That’s a big reason why I’m writing this post.)
I always enjoyed fighting anime where they ridiculously name the ridiculous fighting moves. Needless is happily in this category. (Needless itself is a ridiculous name… needless to say, “needless” is a word I like using already.)
For the most part, the BGM is wonderful. Wonderfully awful. It’s just nothing but ass rock with really bad guitar work, but it works for this show. It’s not about quality with Needless— it’s about how synergistic the whole package works. The crappy guitar rifts, the gar, the whiner, the nipples, the over-the-top battles– just nothing stands out by themselves, but they all combine together to make one helluva entertaining anime. Just a fun show that will suck you in.
Just a generic, unapologetic setup: there’s a sinister corporation with a sinister cadre of lieutenants that defend it. Now Adam and Eve must go through and defeat each one, with powers more weird than the previous one, to save Cruz and his sister. There’s nothing wrong with a simple plot. Sometimes, it just works. “Crazy girl works at ramen shop”? Genius. “Muscle-bound maid hired to protect big-breasted bimbo”? Utter genius. “Four girls start a rock band?” Super-duper genius.
23 Responses to “needless to say…”
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It might be because I just watched the Gurren Lagann movie, but when I saw that picture at the top I saw Kamina.
Giga Drill Break (cue “IT’S BREAKER” comments) picture and one right below that makes me want to check this out. brb downloadin.
Thing is though, it seems simple plots only work out if there’s extreme amounts of moe or gar. For instance, riffing off of your Seiyuu Replacement Value, let’s look at Butler Replacemnet Value. Imagine replacing Kogarashi with Hayate or Sebastian. *shudder*
I really tried to like this show, but the Yu-Gi-Oh animation and obvious 7 year old demographic made it simply unbearable. I couldn’t even finish the one episode it was so over the top. After reading this blog for years, I just don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve never disagreed with you Jason. But now I feel like I found out Santa Cause is my abusive alcoholic father. I’m going to watch ZSZS 2 now and I hope that it can mend my broken heart.
Dammit, Jason! Stop giving me these awesome recommendations! I’m already watching seven shows this season! I don’t know how much more entertainment I can take!
every picture looks like it could be from gurren lagann
“super-duper” is a fantastic word
>>(Oddly enough, I have received almost a half-dozen e-mails about Aoi Hana… and zero about Needless. That’s a big reason why I’m writing this post.)
Aoi Hana? The quiet x genki couple in Kanamemo is much more awesome. CPR practice in the porta-potty FTW. With Needless, Kanamemo, Aoi Hana, CANAAN, and Sea Story (and a few others that I wouldn’t be surprised if they went down that route) this seems to be the season for yuri.
I cracked up when the girl pretended to be his sister, and then called him the wrong name. Just when you thought it was going to try and be a little bit serious/dramatic, pulls the rug out from under you.
This season is simply awesome. Also lots of yuri.
crappy guitar rifts <<< Jason it's "guitar riffs". I don't think they're creating fissures in the ground with shitty guitar-playing.
Anyhoo, Needless is entertaining, but I don't think it'll ever be a top tier show. I'll enjoy it while it lasts, then archive it for all eternity.
Just watched it, and wtf is up with that ending? I think Chris Hansen is going to have a word with Madhouse.
“(Madhouse completely seized the fanservice mantle this season. It really should be a yellow jersey a la the Tour de France that gets passed around to the animation studio that does the best fanservice. The yellow jersey of fanservice is yours now, Madhouse.)”
Shouldn’t it be a pink panty? Or a white laced one? A yellow jersey is so… unbroken.
Will check out the first ep.
You want Fanservice?
I can’t wait for your comments on Bakemonogatari 2. Can. Not. Wait.
Saw the first ep: not my cup of tea. I do feel like I *should* have liked it though (especially the ending, but the girls are so… loli!), my brokenedness is rather underleveled.
Aoi Hana promises cute lesbians up front, but after watching the first episode, it seems that it will probably take most of the season for them to finally declare their love for each other, and there has to be an episode before that where they have an argument or a misunderstanding before they finally realize their yuri side for each other.
Needless, however…
Right out of left field, a dump truck pulls up. The driver gets out and says “HI, GHOST OF BILLY MAYS HERE! You want lesbians? Here’s some extra moe Kanako-killa lesbians right here, and all you need to do is wait 22 minutes! But wait, there’s more! I’ll throw in a third lesbian at NO EXTRA COST!” and the yuri truck spills, to the surprise and delight of the key demographic.
I still maintain that I’m around for the hot-blooded awesomeness. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Man, this is going to be a great season. Time to watch some Zetsubou-sensei.
@Jim
Nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone. They are human, so are you. You won’t always like the same things every time. Best to leave it at that.
That said, I DID like Needless, and NOT because of the ED (ok, not JUST because :P). Jason had it right: it’s over the top, “shut your brain down and just stop caring” insanity. If you dislike OverTheTop then you’ll hate this show. If you love it, you’ll love this. Myself, I needed a silly show to balance out the deeper stuff I have listed (and replace Tears, which isn’t doing much for me anymore). Cruz, though, really hurts things though. Ep2 focuses on him and, hearing “OMG We’re going to die!” over and over is NOT as much fun as slamming a hand grenade into a robot and letting it explode IN your hand. Maybe he’ll bulk up and go crazy-go-nuts.
So here’s hoping that it keeps going crazy as in Ep1. If not, well, Princess Lover’s Charlotte has proven herself epic enough to fill the gap overall, though I doubt she’d start shooting at giant robots with an automatic.
@jim
…Did you just compare Yugioh! with Gurren-Lagann? Please, for the love of Jason-ko, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.
When I checked out a rip of the ED after hearing all about the “controversy”, it felt like a betrayal. I thought, “Gundammit, Madhouse, you’ve sold out to the moeblob too?!?” Thankfully the show itself proved otherwise. The awesome is as strong as ever.
Personally though, emo Cruz is the only minus in this show. Here’s hoping his balls drop by episode 9 or less.
@jim: Whoah, whoah…they let 7 year-olds watch this?
I like how Adam in the first picture looks like a mix between Kamina (the glasses and grin) and Arawn (from Tears to Tiara).
Kukuku. Stupid anime blogger recommends yet another silly anime. Maid Guy wonders why he mentions him in same breath as stupid characters. Maid Guy cannot be compared to any other character – Maid Guy occupies every spot in any top ten.
Maid Guy has not topped the brokenness scale. Those broken by Kana Minami still control that sector.
>>Whoah, whoah…they let 7 year-olds watch this?
It is very educational. The ED should be required viewing in schools.
The ED really has to be watched frame-by-frame (e.g. with AvsP) to be appreciated. I think there’s even a nudie crotch shot for one frame before it pans up.