STEEL ANGEL KURUMI ZERO
From frilly costumes to no frills at all
Review by: Craig "Dreams in Binary" Norris
Length: 3 episode OAV, 12 minutes each
Genre: Drama
Watched: 1-3, subbed
Would someone please tell me what is going on with this franchise? First, it's about super female robots from the future trying to save all of humanity; then it's about super female robots from the future trying to kiss each other and other girls; now it's about depressed female robots in the future sitting around an apartment and complaining. If you thought the second series didn't stay true to form, wait till you get a load of this.
Plot synopsis: Kurumi comes home from school one day with an exciting announcement: she's in love! But after she finally works up the courage to tell her schoolmate how she feels, she finds out he's going away. Even so, they try to maintain a long-distance relationship. But after a time, Kurumi's boyfriend comes down with a mysterious illness, and she must come to terms with the possibility that she may never see him again.
Artwork: About the same as the first series, with maybe a bit more attention to detail due to its shorter length. Character designs were really downgraded, though; the faces look the same, but the outfits are drab and uninteresting, consisting mainly of drab gray school uniforms and monotone nightshirts. Backgrounds are adequate but unimpressive. There's not much room for it to impress anyway, due to the entire OAV taking place in the same apartment.
Music: Hardly noticeable. The opening theme is a departure from the hyperactive j-pop openings of the first two series, being much more subdued. Totaling at just under 40 minutes of total run time, this OAV obviously doesn't have the length to incorporate an expansive soundtrack, so simple mood-setting and background pieces were chosen. For the most part, it stays in the background and lets the characters do the talking.
Characters: Those who are already familiar with Kurumi, Saki, and Karinka will probably feel as though this OAV chronicles not them, but Ritalin-saturated doppelgangers from the Depression Nebula. They most certainly are not the hyperactive, sometimes over-the-top girls that forcibly made their presences felt in the first two series. Instead, they are very subdued, and even bland at times. Kurumi is almost completely out of character from her first two roles; she is shy, insecure, and easily slips into deep melancholy. Her new personality is hard to get used to, to say the least. Saki and Karinka are relegated to the roles of supportive sisters, who sit back and listen to Kurumi's complaining and offer predictable advice. Both of them have completely lost their edge, and their demeanor became as drab and uninteresting as their outfits did. To round out the cast, a token human is thrown into the mix, that being the Steel Angels' bespectacled landlady Excelia. She takes much personal interest in Kurumi's problems and tries to be her third sister, but her personality is much more morose, making her seem far less approachable than any of the Steel Angels. Besides Kurumi, she's the only one that gets developed to any great degree. And while a rate of 50% on character development is usually good, it seems much less impressive considering only four characters ever show their faces.
Plot: The approach was unique in a minimalist sort of way, with everything happening in the same apartment. This OAV flows like a soap opera, complete with shocking revelation that influences the struggle of the main character. All the humor and action that entertained me throughout the first series, and at least a little through the second series, was traded in in favor of melodrama and angst. While it may have been a noble attempt to inject some real drama into the franchise, it really resulted in a complete bastardization of the overarching theme and characters. Basically, in order to appreciate the plot one must forget everything he knows about Steel Angel Kurumi, and I don't think I'm comfortable doing that, especially for such a short OAV.
CHICKS!: This is the first ever anime I have seen that has a perfect 100% chick ratio. That's right, not a single male face to be found throughout. So it's like "The Bachelor" without... the bachelor. Unfortunately, the appeal of these four girls is limited. Sure, all the Steel Angels have the same dimensions, and Excelia is cute, but there seems to be nothing unique and attention-grabbing about them at all. In the first two series I was drawn in by Kurumi's innocent energy, Saki's shy charm, and Karinka's boisterous confrontationalism. But all of those traits were wiped clean for this OAV, leaving them as nothing but pretty vanilla. And I don't watch anime to see vanilla. Except for Galaxy Angel, where one of the characters is named Vanilla. But other than that, no vanilla for me, thank you.
Overall: To say that this OAV is not what I expected is putting it mildly. I was hoping for something that at least gave me the same characters I had grown accustomed, and maybe even a little attached, to. Instead, this OAV took everything endearing about the first two series and twisted it all into a lifeless bout with depression and angst. If I wanted to hear about the problems of people I don't even care about, I would have become a psychiatrist.
IN A NUTSHELL:
+ Unique minimalist approach
+ Full of real emotion
- Too radical a departure from the franchise
- Very bland characters
- No energy at all
Rating: 4/10
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