Title: Needless Part 2
Published by: Siren Visual (Australia)
Based on: The manga series under the same name released by Kami Imai
Genre: Action, Sci-fi and Fanservice
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Full Frame
Runtime: 280 minutes
Cost: $49.95
Classification: This title is classified MA15+ for Strong Animated Violence and Sexual References
Blurb: The second and final part in the Needless anime series. Unfortunately, the strory drags on for the first half of this set, whilst attempting to cram everything into the last few episodes which led to a rather confusing watch. However, for those that like EXTREME levels of violence and EXTREME levels of fanservice, this might still be up your alley. Design and Music quality remains the same, however there is a nice set of extra content to go with the set.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to Siren Visual for providing me with a sample of this title.
There are without a doubt many series on the market promoting fanservice to its viewers and equal numbers that promote action-derrived storylines to a different set of viewers. It isn’t too uncommon to see a series on fanservice sporting violence, with yandere girls being a normal staple of such genres however it is more-so uncommon to see an action-oriented series sporting fanservice undertones…. and that is what sets Needless out from the crowd. In my previous review the series obtained a B-Grade overall, with each the story and design obtaining a B grade. How has this series improved since then? Read on to find out.
IN AD 200X, World War 3 began…
All of Earth’s cities became targets of bombings and were bathed in frightful red flames. Half a century has passed since then. The contaminated former epicenter is still isolated from the city of Tokyo, creating a hole in the middle of Japan common;y known as the Black Spot.
As time passed, people began to inhabit this wasteland. They were deemed unnecessary by those who lived in cities. Among these people were the ones who could command strange abilities – fire, wind, gravity… they had the ability to control these supernatural powers. Thus, those who possessed fragments were regarded as… THE NEEDLESS!
Remember that one room that the three loli girls dragged Priest into around halfway through the first set and still hadn’t left by the end of it. What if I was to tell you that more then half of the series takes place in that one (now very bland looking) room? Disbelieve me all you want, however with the exception of flashbacks and delusions, you will be seeing this room until around Episode 19ish and even then, the characters only change rooms in the tower. As well, several of the same concepts keep popping up that get repetitive and tiring: Cruz’s dependency on and desire to be with his sister, especially when the truth is revealed about her, the running concept of Priest’s ability to copy others abilities and perhaps the most annoying, that most of the characters end up dead at the start of every freaking battle.
Despite this series having several flaws in the storyline department, I cannot dislike the underlying storyline presented to the viewer. Essentially the story surrounds the two characters Priest and Arklight who have been part of an experiment to create a God more or less, with Eve coming into the storyline at some point. If this was built up on more instead of replacing the storyline with (pointless) violence, then I might have been able to appreciate the storyline further, how with all this story crammed into the last few episodes, I feel that the pacing might leave some viewers confused or uninterested.
To be honest, I feel that the antagonistic characters: Including Arklight, the three girls, Satan and a certain someone’s sister have much more development and screentime then the protagonist characters, probably because they are usually overpowered in comparison. With the exception of the above mentioned protagonists, Cruz and Disk (For the sake of enemy analysis) are the only characters that hold any value to the story, with the others usually off-screen knocked out or incapacitated. This is disappointing as I do think the protagonist characters had more of a story to tell then they were showing.
To conclude, the character development varies however the storyline is lacking in the content and writing I would have expected from a series such as this. If anything, I will say that occasionally there were some battle moves that I thought were well thought out and that there was the occasional line that made me chuckle, however this is only a slight redeeming quality in compraison to the rest of the storyline.
In terms of both design and music, nothing much has changed in either of these areas in comparison to part one, so the full review can be found on the first review article HERE. The series was no doubt a mix of violence and fanservice, however unlike the first half of the series where the series was forcefully putting across fanservice in every scene, I felt that this half was more driven by violence with the occasionally addition of fanservice from the dwindling number of female characters. They also chose to be more flashy with their skills, often building up the attacks more then previously with ‘special effects’ and I didn’t mind it so much, however the overall animation quality hasn’t changed, nor has the overall design itself. Inconsistencies in the environment were also present, where damage to ‘the room’ taking place in one episode, was sometimes not represented in the episodes further down the track. In terms of the music, I have no new comments, as I felt the music wasn’t special, but was well suited to the action-based enviornment. Voice acting was average as well, but I still maintain that Andrew Love was very well suited for Priest.
Opening Sequence #2
Scarlet Bomb! by Aki Misato
In comparison to the original Opening Sequence, I would say these are both around the same quality. This opening might be a bit more softer in terms of the animation but has thankfully been updated to cover the new characters in the series.
Ending Sequence #2
WANTED! for the love by Needless Girls
Just like the opening sequence, the second ending sequence was toned down a bit from the first one, which allowed it to become less focused on fanservice and instead focus on…. well fanservice with less awkward scenes. Overall, a creative ending sequence!
The packaging is almost identical in terms of design, which is beneficial to those who want to store the slipcases on your bookshelf. I thought the first part’s design was good, and I maintain that belief with this set. However, I will point out that the spelling mistake on the slipcase of the first part is still present in this part “Half a century has pssd since then.”. In terms of extra content, I am actually pleased with what was incluided. With the exception of the slipcase, they also included a compilation of trailers on the first disc, cleaning opening and closing sequences and a 12-part English dubbed mini-series titled “The Secret of Saint Lilly Academy”, where Cruz crossdresses and goes undercover at an all-girls school to investigate. Honestly, whilst it is nothing but a means of passing off more fanservice, I found it comedic at moments and think this was a nice addition to the set – considering most Siren Visual titles don’t usually have extra content.
Finally, in my personal opinion, I cannot say I enjoyed this part as much as the first. Whilst I had some high hopes for these episodes, I felt let down by the fact that they spent more episodes in the same room doing repetitive fighting then doing something else, however this might be a series for those who enjoy fighting and fanservice animes… as there is sure a lot of that crammed in here.
Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: D
Design: C+
OP/ED Sequences: A
Music/Voice Acting: B
Packaging/Extras: B
Personal Opinion: C-
Overall Score: C
