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| 2. Tempy
Set in the not-so-distant future where human-like beasts live
together with humans but not always in harmony. Crime is rampant, requiring the
use of bounty hunter groups to chase after the criminals. The main character is
bounty hunter and catgirl Natsuki, who's very cute, caring, and a lot of fun,
without being overly dim. She's part of a fairly large cast of fun anthropomorphic
characters, notably werewolf Batanen who has a thing for Natsuki, and nine-tail
fox Sakura who wants to eat Sakura for her powers so that she can finally grow
that 9th tail. Hyper Police is episodic,
with at most 2-episode arcs, but it's also quite silly fun, relying a lot on the
different animal characteristics for inspiration, romantic hijinks, and beating
up bad guys. There is the occasional serious moment, but the show stays light
most of the time, with some fanservice thrown in. The
production values are strictly average, but does feature nice character designs
by Keiji Goto (Martian Successor Nadesico). While there is a fair
amount of action, the main attraction remains the interactions between the many
enjoyable characters and the fun situations they end up in. |
| 1. Iodine
 
In a strange future version of Shinjuku, "monsters"
now coexist with humans in a hectic, crime-ridden city. Cat-girl Natsumi and her
friends work as bounty hunters, using magic and technology to bring in the crooks,
but they're always in trouble and constantly short on funds. Hyper Police
can be considered the fuzzy version of Dirty Pair. The plot centers on
Natsumi and her ambitious fox-woman partner, Sakura, through good times and bad,
from chasing baddies to surviving each other's company. Borrowing heavily from
other cop-shows, this is a nice, consistently entertaining little series that
takes its premise and runs wild with it. Lots of romantic relationships are suggested
and toyed with, but nothing ever comes to pass, save for one delightful exception.
Though the story moves briskly, and a lot of ground is covered, there aren't really
any story arcs holding the series together. So, the open-ended finale can hardly
be called disappointing for not delivering on what was never built up to in the
first place. The technical elements are pretty standard,
with average animation and effects. The designs are built for the comedic elements,
and the crook-catching action is pretty pedestrian stuff. The show is as much
slice-of-life as it is a police series, so the character interations definitely
take precedence above the shoot-em-ups. Plenty of fantastic bits lend some spice,
but aren't anything more than minor eye-candy. Darker and more serious themes
are mentioned, but barely addressed. Fortunately, the characters are a fun bunch
to watch, and the short segment of their lives we get to see doesn't need any
extra drama to keep it interesting. |
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