It’s so rare to see an anime of such high quality to take as many risks as B: The Beginning does. Sure it stumbles a bit along the way, but the final result is undeniably an ambitious and thoroughly entertaining ride worth watching.
The story is totally insane on paper but is somehow even more bewildering in action thanks to such lovingly crafted visuals by Production I.G. with a talented director at the helm. It is in one part a sci-fi police procedural similar to Psycho-Pass, but simultaneously a game of cat and mouse like Death Note. These wild ideas packed on top of each ... other in only a brief 12 episode season makes for slightly underdone execution and lacking development. In my opinion, there’s enough good in this show to outweigh the negatives, but to summarize them before diving into the analysis:
Pros:
+Fantastic Action Scenes
+Great Animation
+Expressive Dub and Good Soundtrack
+Likable Characters
+Shocking Twists that add Rewatch Value
+Emotional Conclusion
Cons:
-Underdone Sci-Fi Setting
-Large Cast of Supporting Characters are Underdeveloped
-Too Fast-Paced at Times
-Confusing Story at First
To start I’ll say, B: The Beginning is a thriller with plenty of twists and turns in its story to keep you interested. It’s not really a traditional mystery because (like Death Note) the titular ‘Killer B’ that the title alludes to is revealed in the first episode and is one of our two protagonists. One being the enigmatic Koku with his black wings and nack for murdering criminals; the other is Keith Flick a gruff former detective who’s helping out the police hunt down killer B. He’s sort of inept in social situations which derives plenty of comedy that I found quite funny. Keith's intelligence makes him a perfect lead to see this investigation from. Whenever he’s in deep thought putting the pieces of a mystery together we see his thoughts visibly through words and diagrams that appear onscreen. It’s all quite neat as well, not cluttering the screen and conveying his organized mind. He even has a tragic backstory to complement his gruff design which ties into the story and is revisited before the end to give him a satisfying conclusion to his character arc.
Our second protagonist, the teenage Koku struggles to maintain relevance until his backstory is fleshed out during the second half. Keith gets the majority of the screen time of the two. All of the characters have some level of charm making them all quite watchable, excluding Koku. He’s just an angsty teenager with black-wings and an arm that turns into a sword… yeah my interest in him was only maintained by his mysterious origin. That origin takes an intruiging shape and justifies all of the insanity we see up until then in an extremely satisfying twist. I found Koku alienating at first, but he proved to be a crucial part of the story as it went on. While I couldn't entirely get invested in his subdued personality, at least I understood why he was so subdued. His backstory and to a greater extent the show's whole story became a mystery I didn't expect to be engaged with but I loved it. I would definitely rewatch this show to understand it with the knowledge of the twists. It was a huge risk making an experience that relies so heavily on ambiguity, thankfully it worked out because the twists are so rewarding.
My favorite member of the supporting cast, Lily stands out with her sarcastic, defiant, and irreverent personality. Working alongside Keith, her lack of experience gives the audience a simpler and more comprehensive perspective on the potentially alienating first half. Her separate scenes were a joy to watch, never hurting the show's overall dark tone. I do wish that she and the other supports had more visible development by the end. At least the protagonists grow a sufficient amount thanks to their backstories being woven into the story.
Throughout the first half of the show, a criminal group creates havoc throughout the show’s fictional sci-fi country Cremona. Sadly the setting becomes little more than an afterthought because the main focus of the show is the game of cat and mouse. Just like the detective Keith and his fellow investigators, we are left in the dark on what exactly is happening in the terror-filled nation of Cremona and why. It's an effective way to immerse us in their struggle to find the truth and put an end to the violent chaos. We get information on the terrorist group as the police do, it rarely feels like the audience is ahead of Keith’s knowledge. Unless of course, we’re seeing the story through Koku’s eyes as he’s fighting at the heart of the cacophony.
Mostly populated by thrilling action sequences, the first half spares very little time on developing the many police officers due to the quick pacing. Instead the talented Kazuto Nakazawa gives us recognizable character designs (oh lord especially the clown makeup cultists), strong English voice performances, and a punchy script that gives the cast enough personality to not be cardboard cutouts fighting a pointless battle. While I did find myself caring about the characters when their lives were threatened, I can’t guarantee everyone else will like their charm. Once the pace settles in the second half, development does come quite plentifully with huge twists that validate the madness seen in the first half. There’s plenty of rewatch value after understanding why the first half is so filled with ambiguity. There's even a teaser at the end of the last episode indicating a potential second season. Even though the story wraps up really well, I'd love to watch another season of it.
Jumping sporadically from one catastrophe to the next, the story showcases Production I.G.’s best abilities. CGI vehicles shake with realistic physics during the many entertaining car chase scenes. The camera is always placed right at the center of the action, never shying away from an abundance of violence, never afraid of blowing its budget on the spectacle. The creator/director Kazuto Nakazawa known for good animation work on series like Samurai Champloo has finally been given a project worthy of his talent. This is the only anime that I can say has a clown makeup wearing cultist skateboarding down the side of a skyscraper while being chased by a black-winged vigilante teenager. All with beautifully fluid animation at high speeds. If that's not ambitious, then I don't know what is.
Most of all, the background art is always well detailed, sometimes breathtaking. Even if those backgrounds don’t necessarily have details that flesh out the setting much more than ‘it looks pretty much like modern-day America’, they still look damn great.
B: The Beginning may have a confusing and fast-paced first half, with a poorly explained setting and a lack of villain motivations, but at least it’s never boring. Not one bit.
The villains eventually do get explained motivations (and the clown makeup actually makes sense!) but it does come in a twist so you’ll have to find out the answers for yourself! Getting to those motivations will mean you’ll have to get through the bewildering first half, but don’t worry! And besides, the sword duals are so amazing during the early episodes. It’s constant fluidly animated, sakuga that will grab your attention where the writing may not. But like I said before, after watching it I can say confidently there is a reason for everything that happens early on, even if it's confusing for a first time viewer.
On top of the great visuals, the sound design is also spectacular. Everything from the slice of a sword, whirring car engines heard as they drive by, and explosions with intense audiovisual feedback. It’s so impactful at every moment. Even when there isn’t a satisfying sound effect playing, the perfectly cerebral thriller soundtrack is reverberating. The ending song “The Perfect World” is amazing too, performed by Marty Friedman with Man With A Mission’s quite talented vocalist.
It’s common for people to criticize edginess in dark and violent anime like this one. It definitely lives up to the shows that inspired it, but does it break out of the overbearing edginess we’re used to seeing in this Crime-Thriller genre? In my opinion, absolutely. There’s enough comic relief separated from the high stakes action to make the characters seem like real people, not just pawns in a to be moved by the writer. There's an overall silliness that covers much of it, but it knows when to be serious. However, nothing is spared from the craziness that B loves to employ. It's everywhere; from the absurd hacking sequences with foot pedals (for what reason, I don't know!) to the to its occasionally hilarious cast. Also, the cultists' uniform makeup also helps them seem less like a feared undefined entity and more like mentally disturbed clowns that you’d want to run from if you ever saw on the streets. It's a ride, a really fun time that isn't afraid to get its hands dirty and only tries to entertain.
Score Breakdown:
[Story: 5/10] A rollercoaster that takes it’s time to get going, but it makes for great entertainment.
[Character: 5/10] Likable but not much to them.
[Art: 8.5/10] All around great, relatively tame towards the end.
[Sound: 9/10] Solid dub and soundtrack. Mediocre sub.
[Enjoyment: 8/10] Confusing at first, becomes more engaging as it goes.
[Overall Score: 7/10]
It's all too rare for us to get a high budget anime like B: The Beginning that takes so many risks to create a unique and memorable experience. Thankfully those risks paid off and it turned out really good. It's far from perfect, but I'm just happy such a lovingly crafted experience like this got made at all. This is the kind of uncommonly crazy anime that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I'm glad not everything is the same as it.
Alternative Titles Japanese: B: The Beginning Information Type: ONA Episodes: 12 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Mar 2, 2018 Producers: Netflix Licensors: None found, add some Studios: Production I.G Source: Original Duration: 23 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 7.161 (scored by 175,883 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #34782 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #677 Members: 346,853 Favorites: 1,400 Available AtResources |
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