| Poor
Kazuki has some problems. First, as the series opens he
is the only one who can see this battle taking place right
in his backyard; a battle between giant robots. He often
finds himself dodging missiles, debris and anything else
you can think of, while his unknowing classmates sit and
watch him acting crazy.
His
second problem, enter Mitsuki Sanada, one of the school’s
most popular students. She has been reading what is essentially
Kazuki’s blog about these robot battles he sees, and
has mentioned them in passing to her Father who turns out
to be a bit of a mad scientist. Mitsuki’s father wishes
to meet this boy that can see the parallel world, so Mitsuki
attempts to befriend him, and after being chased by the
school’s jocks when they see him walking with their
beloved Mitsuki, they arrive at Mitsuki’s house.
His
third problem is found in Mitsuki’s house, where Mitsuki
introduces Kazuki to her father, Ken Sanada. Wasting little
time, Ken sits Kazuki in his latest invention, a device
to send matter to the other world that Kazuki is seeing.
This
is the start of his biggest problems yet. Kazuki becomes
a pilot of a human like robot and then becomes the boy for
which 4 ladies have an attraction!
Overall
this series from AIC (Tenchi) follows the Tenchi “harem”
show model to a T. All of the women are attracted to Kazuki,
all of the women have their unique characteristics and all
are attractive. The problem with this however, is the fact
that this formula these days is over used. Does Dual have
anything that these other series (granted harem shows from
the time of the original release were just reaching their
stride) do not, something to make it stand out? Well, how
about being a light hearted take on Evangelion?
Why
do I consider this Evangelion with differences? The robot
designs are clearly ripped right out of the Evangelion book.
The characters all have a basis in an Evangelion counterpart,
especially the alien girl D who is a shoe in for Rei. Ken
Sanada would play the part of Gendou, without the sinister/dark
attitude. There are also scenes that are clearly based on
Evangelion scenes, such as the elevator ride that D and
Kazuki share while preparing to look for Mitsuki’s
diary.
Another,
and significant way these series intersect, is the ending.
I don’t want to give too much away, but both have
a basis on a rebirth of sorts.
From
start to finish the series is a lot of fun to watch. Will
it win awards for originality? No, but then again, would
any harem show win an award for originality these days?
It does take all of the elements one expects in a harem
show, attractive females, crazy situations and plenty of
embarrassing fun for the guy involved. |
