ZephSilver

Have you ever had trouble spotting a bottom-of-the-barrel title? Finding the product of studio algorithm, where the intent is solely that of a product and nothing more? Shows with as much integrity as a used car salesman with a tacky poker-dot tie, or as much validity as McDonald's promoting "health" through thinly cut apple slices and a bottle of processed milk? Hogwash that pretends to have artistic merit? And if so, would you like to sift through bottom-tier anime before so much as letting it occupy time on your media device? If you've answered yes to this, here are some quick tips to help youout: ▸Is there a typical school setting? ☑ ▸Is the protagonist a pussy magnet? ☑ ▸Is there a beach or hot spring episode? ☑ ▸Is there a love interest story that goes nowhere? ☑ ▸Is there unnecessary fanservice in the cover photo? ☑ ▸Is the lead easily flustered by anything involving females? ☑ ▸Does it go from tensionless fights to school rom-com at the drop of a hat? ☑ ▸Is there some kind of a pussy beta-male protagonist with a "unique"/hax superpower? ☑ ▸Is there a lot of instances where your lead is viewed as a pervert due to stupid misunderstandings? ☑ ▸Is there at least one obligatory scene where this meta-male either walks in on a girl changing or accidentally gropes them? ☑ If you answered "yes" to most, if not, all of those, then congrats! You've just found yourself a mouth-breather tier anime title. Either that or you've accidentally watched this piece of garbage, Absolute Duo. Absolute Duo does absolutely nothing new. It's the same cookie-cutter assembly-line product regurgitated yearly from the anime industry. With a few slight tweaks here and there, and a fresh coat of paint to mask the stench of unoriginality, these titles are excreted out by the dozen on constant demand. Absolute Duo is just another statistic. Why bother writing a compelling narrative when excessive info-dumps and monologuing could do the trick? Why bother to make something with a modicum of artistic expression when you would just flash a few pantsu to win over mouth-breathers? Why bother trying when the audience being pandered to don't even demand anything more? It's hard not to be sardonic about titles like these, especially when the problem stems far deeper than simply "the studio's fault." And in the case of Duo, what we have here is a symptom of audience complacency. Here's a world that exists byways of audience participation to do all the legwork for it. The show doesn't try because it's effectively harvested a viewership that doesn't expect it to. The world of Absolute Duo is that of a dystopian future. A detail that's rendered entirely pointless given that it all takes place in a high school setting, with the purpose of even addressing the nature of the world's construct only coming to play to allow these teens the ability to wield supernatural weaponry—no, that's not a joke, the show is really that lazy. And as is the tradition for these kinds of stories, we're given hints of a manipulative government faction. We're given hints at a budding school romance. We're given hints that the powers in the show have something more behind its mechanics than what's being told. We're given hints at a troubled backstory for our protagonist. We're given A LOT of hints but that's all, as this is yet another "read the manga" kind of title, where its entire purpose of existing hints towards being an advertisement for the source material. An ugly-looking, drably produced advertisement at that. The color placement is flat. Its environment evenly lit, like the backlight of a computer monitor or the glow of a tracing table. This is an anime that can't be bothered with the trivial task of having a personality. It would much rather slouch about. Cardboard cutout characters designed with no discernable feature from its usual counterparts. Personalities equally as stock-piled, their behavior as lackluster as the color choices used to bring them to life. Not a single characteristic that expresses passion. Just a heartless product pumped out by the iron presses of a studio machine looking to make a quick profit with as little effort as possible. It's hard to find anything here worth mentioning, as the only thing interesting about Duo is just how much it manages to fail. All you simply have to do is look at all the genres it's supposedly made up of and see it misses the mark with all of them: ▸It doesn't work as a school title since the school is just a backdrop and was never truly utilized. ▸It doesn't work as a romance since nothing ever happens between the main love interest and the protagonist. ▸It doesn't work as an action title since the fight sequences were barely animated with any sort of energy or dynamics. ▸It doesn't work as a supernatural show since none of the power mechanics or lore gets fleshed out beyond face value. ▸It doesn't work as a harem since the protagonist is a typical beta-male that freezes up at the thought of a woman's touch. ▸It doesn't work as an ecchi title since it's not titillating, made worse when titles like Queen's Blade exists with amazing "plot." This is a title that quite literally fails at everything it attempts to cover, and as such, I can't see how this could be anything less than a waste of 4 hours of your life. Overall: Duo/10 Absolute Duo is Absolute Garbage. It's a cheaply made cash-grab that serves no other purpose than selling the source material it's adapted from. A quick glimpse into the ugly side of the entertainment industry, showing just how far a studio is willing to compromise its principals to make a quick buck.

poormeate

The writers might as well take out the "duo" and slap in "harem" instead cuz duo just isn't cutting it. A bland anime with some generic harem characters. Absolute duo may seem like your average action/harem anime, because it is. Story: 2/10 First off let me remind you that the plot is set in a world far, far away where girls possess all the cup sizes from A to Z cups. So don't be suprised if they turn out to be the only thing worth watching in the whole show. Absolute Duo is about your average male protagonist who gains a special power and wants to seekrevenge for his deceased family. Tooru Kokonoe is a teenager who has the ability to materialize “Blazes” out of his soul. But he has no ordinary Blaze his blaze is an irregular, while other people generate Weapons Tooru can generate a shield. (Big deal right?) He then uses his special ability and enrolls himself into a school that teaches him to become stronger (even though he’s a bit overpowered already). At this school he is forced to kick some booty, which then leads the female protagonist, Julie, to realize his existence. She takes interest in him, and by some random chance they are forced into the dorm room, and as the series goes on they become an “absolute duo” which also forges an intimate relationship with each other. The anime throws you a couple curve balls later on, which keeps the story somewhat interesting. Sound: 7/10 -Great Choice of voice actors, Matsuoka who voiced Sora and Kirito from NGNL and Sao voiced Tooru. -The OP’s and ED’s so far are pretty great, in my opinion. -Great soundtracks for most scenes especially the romantic scenes. -Did a good job of using music for suspense and such. -They need better soundtracks for action scenes.(not really many action scenes so far tbh) Characters: 3/10 Most of the characters are a bit bland and unoriginal. -Tooru- Your average male lead who has a harem, he cares for his peers, and has overpowered combat abilities. -Julie- Your average shy airheaded dandere who’s a few slices short of a fruit cake, also has good combat abilities -Miyabi- Your average shy useless character who’s afraid of males and her only job is to piss the audience off. (At least for me) -Tomoe- Your average female protagonist who doesn’t know what love is, but then realizes she falls in love with the male protagonist. (So let the awkwardness ensue) -Lilith- A bratty rich girl, who is apparently from England, and also an irregular, she has mastered the fine arts of Engrish. -Usa Sensei- Their homeroom teacher who has two personalities. (Probably the most interesting character in the show) Needless to say if all of these females had the brains the size of their bust it would make the show a whole lot more interesting. Art: 8/10 The only thing that was good in this anime. -Characters have big boobs. -Great use of vibrant colors. -Good contrast between light and dark. -Nicely animated action scenes. I’d say 8-bit studios did a pretty great job. Enjoyment: 3/10 The anime definitely wasn't worth my time. The anime was pretty horrid from it's stupidly broad plot to it's equally broad characters. It's sad to see the anime end up so horribly because it actually had a lot of potential, but the directors or whoever does the screenplay ruined the whole show by making the show 99% fanservice with no plot. Overall: 4/10 I gave the anime an overall score of 4. Taking all things into consideration I had high hopes for this anime and I'd hoped it wont let me down. But several episodes in, I'd realized that even Jesus couldn't save this anime. The genre and tone seemed to be right up my alley, which is action, harem, and a slight dab of comedy. But after watching this many episodes I think my opinions were most likely clouded. I gave it a chance, but it's a pretty big let down. Recommended For- People who have watched all the good action/harem/romance anime's and have a lot of spare time. Or if you just love action/harems so much you want to watch it. Not Recommended For- People who want a action/harem with a good plot, and interesting characters, because I assure you this isn't something worth your time.