Completed Series: Code:Breaker

[catystorm]

 Title: Code:Breaker (コードブレイカ―)

Episodes: 13
Year: 2012
Animation Studio: Kinema Citrus

So, Code:Breaker is about kids with super-powers who are enlisted by the government to be secret assassins. Which, is about as generic a shounen plot as you can get these days, it's nothing particularly stand-out or extraordinary. We've got the ex-Code:Breaker who has gone rogue and decides to go terrorist at the same time and start blowing everything up, we've got the cool-and-off-putting one, the femme (who their gender is left vague, and the subtitles refer to as both), the 'innocent' one who is all kitties and cartoons, the class president, and the bad boy. Each and every character is a stereotyped walking trope.

That being said, this isn't a bad show, so long as you're not looking for anything new or revolutionary. I did appreciate the fact that several characters that you would anticipate being on one side of the conflict were actually on the opposite side (despite what the opening animation would lead you to think). I enjoy mindless shounen, and this fit the bill. A nice, self-contained series with decent animation ... although the last two episodes could have definitely been rolled into one, and oh my god I was wanting to stab my eyes out by the end. 

There were several aggravating things - the villain's motivation was at first sound, and then started to fall apart upon flashback. The main female character obviously had a backstory that needed explanation and it was completely glossed over. I want to check out the manga now just to see if they go into more depth. I liked her, although her litany against killing got old right around the third episode - especially since Rei ignored her. I also really did not care for Rei, the obvious series protagonist. He was just flat-out unlikable. Played too cool, too mysterious, too unaffected. Whatever.

Like I said, not a bad series. Nothing stand-out about it, but not nearly the worst of what's out there.