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What They Say:
Episode 1: “King of Rookies”
Nozomi Moritomo is an average girl who just wants to help, but can a lowly Rest like her make a difference in the battle of the Bests?
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The latest anime original series has hit like a flower-filled hurricane. Brought to us by Studio Wit, the industry veteran cast and crew seem to have come from across multiple projects, which made it hard for anyone to pinpoint what exactly the Rolling Girls was going to be.
The opening wastes not a second in quickly dropping everything about the backstory on an unsuspecting audiences heads. Rather than not bothering to tell us what lead to the unusual dynamics of the world of The Rolling Girls, a brief history of nearly everything occurs in the first thirty seconds of the show. Even the narrator hand-waves the past as not that important. It can be summed up as Japan being split into self-governing districts where the conflicts are resolved by teams of young people who operate as peacebrokers.
That doesn’t explain the massive amounts of superhuman powers that the ‘Best’ are tossing at each other in massive, glittering spectacles of animated bliss. I don’t expect this impressive animation to last, but it would be great if it could. Watching and cheering from the sidelines are the ‘Rest,’ the average ordinary citizens that aren’t capable of such feats. One of the Best is a sentai suited hero known as Maccha Green, who is a member of the Hiyoshicho Propellers group, but in reality she’s a woman named Masami Utoku. She’s protecting Tokorozawa, but it’s clear that there’s a rivalry at work more-so than an actual land grab attempt. Just don’t tell the kids from up north that.
Facing off against her is the woman known as Kuniko Shigyo, who wields a mean giant safety pin. Her goal? To claim Maccha Green’s battle suit. (Or it might be a grab-ass attempt, as Kuniko seems awfully flirtatious with her rival.) There’s a hinted at past between the two women, but every time they meet it’s a clash of wills. Masami seems to be going to great lengths to guard her secret identity, but Kuniko figures it out and the two women end up running into each other at a ramen shop. What follows is a hot-blooded contest to eat and get out. The animation during the accidental contest is sublime.
In fact the animation and music for the whole episode is impressive. There’s a pervasive sense of fun permeating everything. Even the background characters are lively and not static. It brings to mind Kyousougiga and Tsuritama with it’s bright colors and sense of life.
Following in Masami’s footsteps is the actual lead of the show, Nozomi. Nozomi just wants to be a member of the Propellers, and to help out Maccha Green. She doesn’t quite seem to realize her friend is her idol, and goes rushing off to join the motley crew. (One member is always wearing an alligator mask.) Masami doesn’t want Nozomi getting hurt, recalling a time when the younger girl almost drowned.
Of course Nozomi is perfectly average and has no powers of her own, like the other ‘rests.’ She ends up joining the Propellers and getting roped into the trap that Kuniko laid for the group. The plot? To send them plummeting off a roller-coaster at the local amusement park in order to lure out Maccha Green. The episode ends with everyone climbing the last coaster hill to their doom, with Masami riding to their rescue. No pressure!
In Summary:
The Rolling Girls is gonna hit us with everything that it’s got, in a nonstop stream of bright fast action and hot rivalry inside showers of glitter. We don’t learn much about our lead, and while we’ve caught glimpses of all of the future members of the Rolling Girls the team is far from assembled yet. Blink and you’ll miss any number of organization or character names, and keeping everything straight as it flies past at light speed is a challenge. This is no sleepy slice-of-life show, although it shows signs of quiet at times that hit at that hometown feel. The literal cliffhanger of an ending makes me wonder if Nozomi is suddenly going to awaken to some Best powers of her own. Either way, the show has my attention!
Episode Grade: A –
Streamed by: Funimation
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.10.1, via Safari 8.0.2, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
