Beatless: Season 1/ Episode 1 “Contract” [Series Premiere] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Beatless faces a uphill battle if it doesn’t want to seem like another show which only cares about girls in revealing outfits and lots of explosions.

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Network
Amazon Prime
Creator	Satoshi Hase
Director(s)	Seiji Mizushima
Writer(s)	Tatsuya Takahashi, Gō Zappa
Air Date	1/13/2018
Official URL	http://amzn.to/2r6ShH9
Noted Cast
Arato	Takuto Yoshinaga
Lacia	Nao Toyama
Kaidai	Kaito Ishikawa

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The Introduction

Arato, a nice boy by probably anyone’s account, is the kind of person who looks at hIEs, aka androids, and treats them with human kindness. It is something which some of his friends, such as Kaidai, finds a bit weird. Yet, ultimately, it might be something which saved his life. For after 5 military grade hIEs escape the Memeframe Corporation’s research facility, one of them tries to kill him. Yet, as he is shown to care for this hIE known as Ms. Marie, another one of the escapees, Lacia, not only save him but offers herself to become his tool.

Mind you, she makes it clear a lot of what she says and does is to placate him. Which ultimately leads to the questions of whether Arato may but be an exception to the overall goals and plans of the 5 robots who escaped, if Lacia may not agree with the others goals, or if she simply wants freedom by any means necessary? Something we’ll have to stick around to find out.

Other Noteworthy Facts & Moments

• Strangely, all of Arato’s friends have little sisters.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Why are so many mecha women given skimpy outfits?

Highlights

Loyalty Ambiguity

Perhaps the sole thing that left me curious about the direction of this show is when Lacia plainly states that she is using her AI to placate Arato. With that, so came the question of what ultimately does she want or need this boy for? Is it strictly to blend in as she figures out her next move? Perhaps is he the boy who witnessed the explosion we are greeted with in the beginning of the episode, and she has some sort of attachment to him? If not, maybe, for her to use the full extent of her powers, she needs an owner and would rather someone like Arato than those she was proposed to?

On The Fence

So, About The Other Four hIEs

Here is my issue, I’m not a big fan of sci-fi and android/mecha productions. I can grow to like them if there are interesting characters, but that’s the thing here. When I see a bunch of teen looking girls in skimpy outfits, even if they are highly destructive, it just pushes the idea that it is all about tantalizing the senses with the two big go to things: Sex and violence. Now, it isn’t like Clockwork Planet where any of the hIEs are pushing sexuality into their interactions, but Arato does take notice of Lacia’s cleavage so who knows.

Then, when it comes to the violence, as with any anime or production, between episodes 3 to 5, no matter how violent they get, you’ll get used to it. So, what may make or break this series is whether the backstory of these hIEs is good enough to compensate for the weak ass hook of explosions and girls in skimpy outfits.

First Impression: Mixed (Stick Around)

I have a hard time saying whether or not this show will be good. Lacia noting she is just placating Arato threw me off, but I’m increasingly cautious of first episodes speaking for the series. Though, even with that said, that one moment doesn’t really push this idea you must keep up with this show. It seems like your usual program with girls in outfits which show off their cleavage and small behinds and pairs that with enough explosions to keep you occupied. As for something of substance, that feels more like a hope than guarantee at this point.

Watch: Here [External]

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