• Title: Crystal Blaze
  • Studio: Fantasia
  • Genre: Fantasy/Mystery

Ratings (out of 5):

  • Story: ♥♥♥

  • Animation: ♥♥½
  • Characters: ♥♥½
  • OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥
  • Overall: ♥♥½

Thoughts:
This has got to be one of the least-enthused-about anime I’ve seen in a while, for a non-kids show. I’m kind of surprised that someone even subbed it, considering how little I’ve heard or seen about it.

That said, Crystal Blaze isn’t half-bad. It’s kind of an old-style fantasy/mystery; Shuu and his brother Akira man a detective/jack-of-all-trades sort of operation with a pair of girls, and they stumble upon a bigger mystery: a glass girl who turns back into a normal human, except that she’s incredibly hot. And I mean that literally: steaming, scalding hot. (She’s pretty good-looking, too.)

It’s hard to tell much about our leading man Shuu based on this first episode because he gets virtually no screen time. Instead his brother spends a good chunk of the episode calling Shuu’s various lovers to try and find him so he can go out on their new job, and the girls sneak out to do it instead.

The worst thing about the show is one of those two girls: Manami, who could be a cute character (a perky go-getter type), except that her voice is extremely obnoxious.

By the same token, the best thing about the show thus far is probably its soundtrack– the OP and ED in particular are these nice, jazzy pieces that contribute to the show’s slightly old-school feel. The art and animation are pretty standard, although I couldn’t help but notice a slight similarity between the aforementioned glass girl and Hataraki Man’s lead, Hiroko– it’s the hair.

I’m not saying that this is an amazing show, but as of one episode in it’s certainly at least average, so I’m surprised I haven’t seen it around much. On the other hand, I wouldn’t expect it to get any better, and there’s nothing particularly good about it, so…yeah, I guess that’s not very helpful, is it? Sorry. I guess I’ll just leave it at: if it sounds like something you might like, don’t have too high expectations, but it could still be worth a watch.