Picture this, a city full of magic and technology. A place where New York City and Tokyo meet. The city sits at the intersection of all kinds of lifestyles. It's known as the greatest city in the wold all over the world. That city is Neo Yokio. I wish I could say the anime was as good as the city is described, but that would be a lie. Instead, Neo Yokio is something I like to call so bad that it's good.
Kaz Kaan is the main character. He's a demon hunter who has a love for fashion, women and himself. Kaz is played by Jaden Smith and throughout the first episode I often wondered if they just gave Jaden a blank script and told him to figure it out. The supporting cast mainly features: his friends, the dynamic duo of Lexy and Gottlieb, his Aunt Agatha who runs the family business, his robot butler Charles, Helena St. Tessero, his crush, Archangelo, his rival in love and life, lastly a big Toblerone.
I don't think there's really an overarching story. Sure there's certain things that run into other episodes. In one episode Lexy and Gottlieb create a popular martini and in another they start a bar named after the martini, but it never gets brought up again. The episodes are mainly self contained and feature Kaz hunting after some kind of demon. They're generally kind of silly and that's okay because like I said, it's not a good show.
At some points you can even tell they knew it was a bad show. The first episode features Kaz spouting some random nonsense every thirty seconds. Mainly because he's played by Jaden Smith, and people love to hear Jaden Smith say random nonsense. It just got overdone in that first episode and I think they knew it. While he would still spout off random things in later episodes it was cut way back from every 30 seconds to maybe once an episode. Later episodes really did improve in overall story telling and character development. The problem is, there's only six episodes so it came a little too late.
The animation style is like a slice of life anime and that works, because it's very slice of life. The problem comes when Kaz starts fighting with demons and the style just doesn't work anymore. There's some cool moments, but most of it doesn't really match with the style. There's also this issue with voice acting. All the main characters sync up just fine with their voices. Side characters on the other hand have about a fifty percent chance of syncing up.
I know I said the show is so bad that it's good so let me explain what it does well. It's just funny. Kaz is just so vain and over dramatic. Everyone else tells hims, and they deal with it, but he just doesn't see it and it is hilarious. He's told he doesn't treat anyone well and refuses to believe it as Charles' battery dies only to reveal a tiny old lady inside of Charles. It's at that point where it is revealed everyone knows robot butlers are just mechs with pilots, except Kaz who never cared to do much more than yell out orders.
Kaz also thinks he's depressed, but he's not. One of the running jokes is that he's prone to bouts of melancholy. Everything just sends him down that road, and nobody takes him serious. At one point he's laying in bed, refusing to leave and his aunt mentions squid ink pasta, he jumps up in excitement. But, that's not cool so at the restaurant he plays sad again. It's part of his whole vibe and he doesn't realize how silly it is when everyone else does. It's like how he shops for clothes based on how they feel and nobody but the shop keeper takes him serious. He's obsessed with fashion, even using it when attacking demons. At one point he he yells "Demon be gone from this Chanel suit, Coco Chanel may her memory be blessed" just for no reason.
They also poke fun at a lot of anime tropes. There's an episode where Lexi is transformed into a woman. There's an episode where Kaz goes back to high school. Kaz and friends play field hockey, just because they want to get some sports anime tropes in there. It's all in good fun and that seems to be why the anime is enjoyable.
Actually, I take back what I said earlier. It is a good anime. It may not be the most technically sound in the production department. The story isn't necessarily fleshed out well. The voice acting and dialogue can both leave you confused at times. Yet, through all of it's issues, I still found myself laughing at every episode. Even if it was how ridiculous some moments were like Kaz telling Hellena, "you don't deserve this big Toblerone," only for her to come back a few episodes later to tell him, "I had a dream a Toblerone was in trouble, and you were that Toblerone." It is good, because it makes you laugh and enjoy it. Is that no the purpose? Neo Yokio isn't going to be for everyone, and that's okay, but a lot of people are going to get a joy out of it. Watch the first two episodes and if you don't laugh, turn it off. But, if you do laugh, keep watching because it only picks up from there.
You should buy Darrell's Book, watch him on the Blerds Online YouTube Channel or The CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts.
Tags:
Anime/Manga
