A sequel to last year’s series Code-E, about a girl whose emotions interfere electromagnetically with the technology that surrounds her. This season takes place five years after the last.

Episode Summary

Miharu Katsura has the strange feeling that she’s been followed by someone after leaving work. She also seems to have the strange talent of breaking down just about every electronic device she puts her hand on. After an outing with friends, she feels once again that she’s being followed, and is confronted by some investigators who tell her that she’s been under surveillance because she’s in danger. Suddenly they’re all attacked by a couple of women in strange bodysuits, one of whom grabs Katsura and flies away with her, the other taking on the agents. Once safe, the women explain to Katsura about her powers, and that they share her skills as Type-E individuals. They’re from an organization called OZ that gives protection to such individuals, and they use the electrical devices in the room to demonstrate to her quite clearly why their lives are far from normal.

Little do they know that Katsura has a homing device attached to her clothing, and the other organization, Foundation, is about to pounce on her. They cause a convenient fire and escape the building during the subsequent evacuation. Their escape route is foiled by an enemy blockade, but they make the choice to try and break through using some of their more special powers to create a makeshift launch ramp for their car. At OZ they tell Katsura that after a year of training she should be able to control her powers.

Thoughts

I only watched a single episode of the previous season of this show and I have to admit I didn’t really remember much of it after a year, and I think I now know why. The whole concept, while kind of interesting as a study in how connected the Japanese are to their technology now and how inextricably entwined they’ll still be with it in the future, is presented in a very mediocre manner. When in doubt, just sprinkle in some cute girls in tight outfits and you’ll be well on your way to completely removing any impact a good idea might have in more skilled hands.

I think I would like things better if they spent more time looking at how the characters deal individually with not being able to use things that most of us take for granted, like cell phones and email (and it’s possible that they do in subsequent episodes, but this is Season One, Episode One, not Season One, Episode All of Them). In essence I think the show would be more interesting if it were more about the characters and less about the tight outfits and silly situations. Did I mention that the preview for the next episode reveals that Maori and Chinami, the main characters, will be dressing up in cute pink school uniforms? I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from here.

Just as the writing is bland and mediocre, so too is the animation, which manages to appear somewhat retro and very “anime” without injecting any sort of style at all. I know people might laugh at me for stating that the fact that it looks “anime” is a fault, because it is an anime after all. I suppose what I mean is that it sticks to the big-eyes and stupid-hair school of anime production, and I can’t really find any inkling of individuality in it. Add to that the fact that I personally am not interested in looking at tightly-clad anime booties, and you get a whole lot of “I don’t want to watch any more of this” going on.

Sometimes I wonder to myself if I should be less harsh on shows that don’t really do anything epically-bad. I mean, this show is uninteresting to me but it’s not horribly fanservicey or downright terrible or anything. And then I realize that I don’t have enough time to waste on unfulfilling anime.

Pros

• Not a complete epic failure

Cons

• Boring writing
• Doesn’t take interesting concepts to the next level
• Lacks visual flair

By Jessi – 08/31/08