[DreamSword]

Episode #11: Menace

I have a love-hate relationship with this episode.

Because half this episode is really engaging with a character who's quickly making himself to be rather likable, and the other half... isn't.

Let's start with the "love" half first. Much of this episode has to do with Agent Hughes' investigation into who exactly the "ghost" of Center City(Heroman) is, and the logic of his deductions.

All throughout, Hughes shows himself to suave, smooth, and most of all, reasonable. He's able to figure out that Minami is up to something at a glance, respects the input of the townsfolk, and even when he sets a trap to see Heroman for himself, he's calm and civil all throughout.

And then we have the "hate" half with another new character: Holly. She's the exact opposite of Hughes in every way. She's bossy, annoying, selfish, obnoxious, rude, all around unpleasant to be around, and worst of all, embodies something I hate in almost every single anime it pops up in: The stock "mean girl idol" tropes found in anime that want to sell soundtrack CDs.

Don't even try to give me that "oh well that just makes for some thematically fitting duality" crap either, because "thematic" or not, the end result is still that every time Holly is on screen I'm tempted to stop watching this show that I otherwise really love. Her being Joey's' sister and making it a point to torment him in increasingly abusive ways doesn't help anything. Infact I dare say it makes everything even worse.

Where I gave up on Holly entirely was at the end of the episode, wherein we get the tired, annoying trope of "Oh well you see, she might be horrible to everyone she talks to, but she can sing well, so deep down she's a beautiful soul and you should like her!" Yeah, I don't care if the very basic pop song she sings sounds nice, that doesn't change the fact that she actively torments not just Joey, but also Psy who is now crippled. Holly is actively the worst thing in Heroman, and you will not read me having any nice thoughts about her during her time on the show. Idol or not, she's trash.

[DreamSword]

Episode #12: Stalkers

Joey and Lina go on their date. That should tell you everything about this episode.

It's the sort of scenario that has been in American media since like, forever. The friends stalking the two love birds, "Mr. Blue Sky" playing, the works.

And yes, that means that you can probably guess exactly how about 90% of this episode goes. And as far as cliche date episodes go, this one isn't bad. There's some fun character humor to be had, and nothing about it really annoyed me.

It just leaves me with not too much to talk about. Even the fight at the end is moreso to move the plot with Hughes along a bit more, as Joey being connected the Heroman is discovered due to Joey's' own heroic nature. Props for the irony of Hughes being the one to help Joey with the date though.

But on that note, there was one very nice highlight for me in all of this, and that's the showing of how Joey isn't dumb. Not only does he catch on to his friends getting in on his business, but he also realizes pretty quick that the fight with Minami's' robot is a setup. Even so, he doesn't let anything stop him from doing what he feels is right, and is even able to make the day a memorable one with Lina regardless.

Is the episode anything super special? No, but for what it is, it's done well.

[DreamSword]

Episode #13: Getaway

The government has officially labeled Heroman an enemy.

Notably, Hughes isn't thrilled about the situation, but he's got a job to do, and that's to arrest Joey.

Thus, the whole episode deals with Joey's' attempts to escape Center City, which has been placed on lockdown by the local authorities. And surprisingly, Psy and Denton are sticking by Joey's' side.

While the episode isn't exactly "detailed" in any way, it's a fun ride throughout. We get to see one of Heroman's' new attacks (which these subs call "Magnecto" instead of "Magnet" for some reason), the planning stages from both sides are interesting to see play out, and the promise of a shake-up in locale is exciting.

Although everything technically works out in the end, with Joey escaping capture, it's clear that the victory is fleeting, if not coming at the cost of Joey's' old life. It's a victory, sure, but it all ends on a bit of a somber note.

Which sure can't be said about the new opening that Heroman now has, starting with this episode. "Missing" by Kylee is an energetic song with an equally action packed animation to match. Don't get me wrong, I love "Roulette" too, but I think this second opening blows the first out of the water in terms of both music and visuals. It's such a cool opener all around and I love every second of it.

[DreamSword]

Episode #14: Beleaguer

"...then they can fight without holding back."

It's an unfortunate way that things tend to work. Propaganda is a powerful tool, even unto today.

As the trio of Joey, Psy, and Denton continue to be on the run from the feds, Hughes and Minami stand on very opposites sides of how to approach the job they've been given.

This episode is full of nice character dynamics playing out. There's the obvious, big things, like how Hughes is trying to keep everything as low key and peaceful as Minami wants to use as much brute force as possible, but there's also alot of smaller stuff like Joey calling Lina to make sure she's okay.

Often true to many scuffles though, brain outmatches brawn, and unfortunately, despite our heroes' best efforts, Hughes is a professional when it comes to this sort of thing, and he's not only able to keep up with all of the group's' tactics, but outplay them at many points as well. And all without ever having to raise a gun himself. Minami though, well, he has other ideas. And is often outwitted.

It's an episode that's all about the tension of the chase, and in that regard, I think it handles itself rather well. I'm never not impressed by just how well Heroman is able to balance its more talky nature with spurts of exciting action, and this episode is no exception to that.

This song with the unpronounceable name comes from Mass Alert, and serves as the anime's' second ending song. I like the song a bunch, but the visuals that go along with it... not so much. Like, I get the general idea: To provide a sort of snapshot montage of the character's' lives, but it's not only not exactly engrossing in the way it's done, but I feel it's a major step down from the rather creative credits sequence that came before it.

Also said ED has a massive spoiler in it, so that's not cool.

[DreamSword]

Episode #15: Revolt

This episode could've gone so much darker than what it had.

But luckily for both us and Joey, Hughes is a man of integrity, and does his best to keep his word. Minami, well, not as much.

In alot of the shows that I've seen, the military is often treated with scorn. The US military especially. And I'm not saying that such an attitude is entirely unfounded, given the history of, well, every country ever.

So imagine my surprise when Heroman comes in and, rather than take the easy potshots so many stories have of the military being outright evil and/or incompetent, is treated as an organization with many sides to it. With those who wish to do right by others just as much as those who abuse their power.

It's a surprisingly balanced view on things, even in regards to Heroman's' usual bout of optimism. And even then, it's not like the threat of Minami's' abuse of power is completely negated. Because while the first half of the episode is Hughes bonding with Joey, the second is Minami wreaking havoc in order to satisfy his own ego, in an intense bout that caught me by surprise.

Heroman suffers his first loss.

And going along with Minami taking everything in the episode personally, today I highlight the song "Mechanical" which tends to play whenever there's about to be a bout with one of Minami's' mecha. It featured a hardened, industrial sound that's very fitting for both the scenes it plays in as well as a song centered around robots created by mad scientists.

[DreamSword]

Episode #16: Decision

I was only half lying in the previous post, I swear!

This episode is all about the final battle with Dr. Minami, and it's a rather intense one all throughout.

The thing that makes it quite the scene to see play out is that Heroman is actually on the ropes throughout alot of it. Either due to some surprisingly smart tactics by Minami, or the fact that Heroman isn't willing to put others in danger.

Minami's' one and only goal is the destruction of Heroman, and he doesn't care what gets destroyed or who gets hurt in the process. Joey and Heroman, however, take an exact opposite stance. And it's that sort of integrity and more open minded thinking that not only allows them to win, but be seen as heroes.

I was very swept up in the emotions of this one(as I often am with this show). Not just in terms of the fight itself, but also the little glimpses of other things such as the live broadcast from the press who want to set things right, to the happy ending where everything works out. All charges against Joey and friends are dropped, and Minami and his cronies end up in jail.

Curiously though, Minami's' secretary doesn't end up arrested. Odd, that.

Speaking of Minami though, while "Mechanical" was most often associated with his machines, "Madness" is more akin to a theme song for Minami himself. The way the song is structured, it reminds of the sort of song you'd hear in a Sonic the Hedgehog game associated with Dr. Robotnik. It's a funkadelic electro-beat that matches the eccentric personality of the mad doctor wonderfully, and I like it a bunch.