Sleepy Impressions: Gunslinger Stratos
Gunslinger Stratos was originally a video game never released outside of Japan, but there are some big names involved with it. Byking developed the game under Taito, and Square Enix published it Gen Urobuchi, the writer of Fate/Zero and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, wrote the concept. The scenario was created by Norimitsu Kaihou from Nitroplus, the visual novel company which created works such as Steins;Gate.
The game itself is a third-person shooter for arcade, with one currently released sequel and another on its way for 2015. None of the titles have been released outside of Japan. A-1 Pictures picked up the video game series and adapted it into anime for Japanese television. It's already been licensed by Aniplex of USA and is being streamed on Crunchyroll.
As for the plot of the anime, it was difficult to make out from the first episode. The setting takes place in a futuristic Japan, in the year 2115, and focuses on Tohru Kazasumi, who wishes for nothing more than to blend in among the crowd. When Tohru and three of his schoolmates become trapped in a past world (which seems to be our current era), they soon find themselves fighting amongst one another.
I'm not too keen on this title as an anime. It seems too promotional for the video game, and since I hadn't played it, I have little idea what's going on. It would help if the video game had been released outside of Japan... But since I cannot play it, I feel that I will always be missing points of the anime that I would have otherwise found cool.
Tohru has the personality of a pushover, yet he is actually very strong when it comes to combat, and he has a strong heart as well, for going out of his way to protect a little girl he didn't know. His friend Kyouka is described by Tohru as a tiger, and she certainly does seem a little outgoing. She's inquisitive, and she followed Tohru straight into that strange world neither of them knew about. They're both pretty plain characters in any case.
A-1 Pictures is my favourite anime studio, and they did do a pretty good job on the visuals this time, though it's nothing fantastic. The theme song is nice, too, but there seems to be little potential for this anime as a story, unfortunately. It's probably much better as a video game.
First Impressions: Poor
