Modern Triggerfare
What They Say:
Osamu Mikumo is a member of Border, an organization designed to protect Mikado City the from alien invaders knows as Neighbors. One day a mysterious new student named Yuma Kuga transfers to his school and turns out to be a humanoid neighbor himself. The two are supposed to be natural enemies, but could there be more to neighbors than Osamu has bargained for…
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Fight scenes, fight scenes, and more fight scenes. This pair of World Trigger episodes is on the action heavy side as the show continues to chug along through this battle heavy arc. Thankfully unlike the previous instance, the action here is centered around characters we’re actually somewhat familiar with so it makes for a much better investment.
Before fully getting into things though, it seems like Toei’s finally finished the animation for the new “opening” and it turns out it is indeed an opening song (or midway through song in this show’s case but I digress). The beginning of it features what is quite possibly some of the goofiest looking lip syncing I’ve ever seen in animation, but the rest of the animation matches the song pretty well, which in a sense kind of makes that stand out more. Overall though it’s an improvement over the first one since it’s a slightly better song and the art’s not off model compared to the ridiculous degree the other one was.
So continuing off from where things were the last time, Jin and Yuma attempt to meet up with Osamu so they can prevent the future that ends in his death. Meanwhile, Osamu himself is saved by Reiji who steps into deal with a pair of humanoid neighbors named Hyuse and Viza. Before quite getting to the outcome of that though, the show instead focuses on another fight featuring Yoneya and Midorikawa, who we’re somewhat familiar with along with another agent named Izumi (not as much so) against a humanoid neighbor named Ranbanein.
I know I’ve said this before numerous times, but one of the things that really works for World Trigger as an action show compared to most shonen is the emphasis on shooter video game-like tactics rather than simple displays of raw strength or abilities. There’s no better example than this fight as it features a lot of back and forth strategizing. The Border agents try to use the terrain to their advantage to blast away at him from multiple angles, but Ranbanein in turn decides to go for the method of dealing with them one at a time instead of trying to go for them all at once. However doing so ends up luring him into their own little trap and while it’s not intially enough to take him down, he’s defeated by Yoneya. What’s interesting though is that even though Yoneya delivers the final blow himself, what wins the day in this instance is the agents taking advantage of their superior numbers to win the battle, and it’s a nice aversion to the usual 1 on 1 scenario that most shonen battles are founded on. It also helps that the show’s battle choreography has really improved from it’s earlier days and while the animation’s not great, the direction done for the battle really plays out the show’s urban warfare style to it’s fullest.
The other major battle on the other hand though plays slightly more predictably when things shift back to focus on Reiji’s efforts. He does a pretty good job of keeping Hyuse and Viza occupied thanks to some well laid traps but things go south pretty fast when Viza busts out a special Black Trigger called Oreganon and effortlessly defeats him. Although Replica notes that Viza’s usage of that Trigger is strange given how valuable it is to Afrokrator and it suggests there’s more to the invasion that meets the eye. Thankfully though, actual goal of the battle isn’t quite as straightforward as the fight itself, since Reiji’s role was to them occupied while the other agents escaped. That plan doesn’t quite work out as it doesn’t take very long for the two to catch up with Osamu and co., but Yuma and Jin arrive on the scene just in time so it’s looking like those two sides get to square off the next time.
In Summary:
World Trigger’s continuing to improve in the action department as it delivers on a pair of solid battle heavy episodes. Given that battles seem to more or less be the future of the show as it progresses through this story arc, it’s greatly appreciated.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
