12.25
Oh yeah I completely forgot about this didn’t I?
It was inevitable...
So as you may know, I kinda stopped blogging Gatchaman Crowds Insight after 2 ½ episodes last summer. I blame it on a combination of general procrastination, overwork on various other projects (many of which are also incomplete), and that lousy behind-the-scenes soap opera that exploded between myself, Mahou, Foggle, and a certain youknowwho who’s forcing me to write this shitty article and has generally been the source of everything that has gone wrong for me professionally in 2015. To say the least, I haven’t enjoyed being on the internet or watching anime that much this year.
But anyhoo! Crowds! What did you miss? Well Gelsadra used to be Kana Hanazawa but then ate enough emoticons to turn into Joseph Joestar! (or at least be voiced by Sugita) Then he was successfully elected Prime Minister of Japan over that boring guy from last season by running his own cult of personality! The he ate too many emotions and he kinda started spitting out incredibly patriotic iguanas! Then Hajime beat herself up! And that’s all you need to know about what’s been happening on Glee-er Gatchaman!
AND NOW THE CONCLUSION…
KATZE SMAAAAAASH!!!!
So our final episode begins with an overview of Hajime’s dumbass plan to “kill” Gelsadra by using the power of Berg-katze to impersonate her. This does not sit well with the other Gatchamen, especially newbie Tsubasa. We then get a replay of the fight (or should I say beat down) of Not-Sadra from last week, albeit now with footage of Hajime getting clobbered inside her suit…
…and this is where the episode takes a turn for the disturbing.
Ew.
The sight of a battered and bloody Hajime is admittedly something I’ve desired to see for some time (like five minutes into episode 1 of Series 1!!!), but the way this episode goes about it comes off as overkill. Well anyway, Gelsadra is alive and Hajime is in a coma. Not even Tsubasa’s grandpa’s fireworks display is able to lull her out of it. A vote is held to determine the fate of Gelsadra on Earth which she wins. And the episode just sorta ends without any real resolution.
OR DOES IT?!?!
A few months later the surviving iguanas are playing soccer with the CROWDS. Sugane and Jou continue to get drunk. And Hajime comes out of her coma in time to engage in hot yuri with Tsubasa. All is right with the world. Yeah whatever, this show sucks.
No Tsubasa, thank YOU!!!!
The thing about the Insight finale is…its actually pretty decent. I remember how bad the original Crowds ending was that they had to shove an additional final episode in just to explain exactly what the hell happened in the last two minutes. Not so much here. While the first half of the episode does feel like its retreading ground from the previous week, its done in a way that still feels kinda fresh since we’re getting the Gatchamen’s angle on the fight and not that of their captive studio audience. Did it need Hajime’s surprise goreathon though? Not really. But hey! At least the coda this time feels fully developed and not something that was literally tacked on at the last minute.
So what about Crowds Insight in general? Well I’ll be frank in saying that this show overall was a hell of a lot worse than the original Crowds. Why pray-tell? Well its simple really. Everything Crowds did wrong, Insight managed to make even worse. Annoying insufferable characters? Here have some more. Confusing storyline that seemed to shift focus every five minutes? Try 2 and a half! Mamoru Miyano’s acting? Seriously it sounds like he’s INTENTIONALLY trying to impersonate Barney in this series! I could go on but I’m just repeating myself at this stage.
NOT BUYING IT.
At the very least though, this appears to be the end of the Crowds franchise as we’re out of old Gatchaman villains to cannibalize and render as moe girls and psychomaniacs. Maybe Tatsunoko will get the impression that Yatterman Night is a better way to go to do these edgy half-reboots than this weird ass hipster pandering bullshit. Only time, and money, will tell in the end.