CREATOR

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Yuya Aoki & Rando Ayamine

PlOTLINE

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Midou Ban and Amano Ginji are the two members of the 'Get Backers' team where they basically get back anything you've lost! - provided you pay, of course. ^^;; With their supernatural powers and a whole bunch of other electic characters (also possessing interesting paranormal powers), they go on adventure after adventure, until they were led to a particular case which brings them all the way into the Mugenjou (Infinite Castle), and truly tests the members' strengths and weaknesses.

COMMENTS

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As far as I'm concerned, I LOVE the plotline. Yeah, it's unrealistic, especially when the setting is the modern world. But that's the fun part of the entire story - it IS meant to be crazy and colourful and fantastical anyway! Plus, it's pretty interesting seeing how the different cases that the GB team face are woven into everyday lives and settings.

MAIN CHARACTERS

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For one thing, there are MANY male characters in GB. And because quite a significant number of them keep appearing on and off again, I shall touch on those that I feel leaves more lasting impressions. ^^ Female characters are few and far between, but I did include one of them, simply because she's, well, indispensable in her own way, LOL.

MIDOU BAN. A cool-headed, skilled strategist and mercenary man. His powers include the Jagan (Evil Eye) where he's able to make people hallucinate, and also the Snake Bite where his grip can crush skulls (...I think!). On a personal level, he understands Ginji very well, and is the only one who can help Ginji get over his insecurities.

AMANO GINJI. Or Lightning Emperor as he's known. He's lively, boisterous and harbours an uncompromising loyalty to his friends. However, beneath his sunshiney exterior, he bears the burden of his past, and at times, does lose control of his emotions, and subsequently, his powers. Ginji's weapon is the electricity he generates from his body.

FUUCHOIN KAZUKI. Wields koto strings as weapons, which are kept in bell-spools that he wear on his incredibly long hair. Kazuki's very much the mediator anywhere he happens to be, and he's also pretty popular with everyone since he's mild-tempered and easygoing. But, he does possess a steely strength of character which he isn't hesitant of flexing.

KAKEI JUUBEI. Basically, he's the last descendant of the Kakei clan which is a whole line of master physicians and healers. Their speciality is the use of the Fire Needles - also the weapons which Juubei wields. On a more personal level, his one lifelong mission is to protect Kazuki (let's all say it together - AWWW), because that has always been the way between their respective clans.

FUYUKI SHIDO. A descendant of the Mariudo, Shido has the ability to communicate with animals, and go as far as to imitate the attributes of each animal he chooses to mimic. Personality-wise, he's incredibly loyal once he's identified where his trust could be bestowed upon. He also has a really caustic wit which he flexes whenever Ban is on the scene as well. ^^;;

AKABANE KUROUDO/DR JACKAL. One of the coolest villains around, definitely, right down to his hat and scalpels, which he keep hidden in his body, and shoot from his wrist when he uses them. Additional weapons include his Bloody Cross and Bloody Sword which are uh...slashing weapons formed from his blood, if I'm not wrong (...what is up with this guy?! @_@)

HEV'N. She's the agent for the Get Backers. Basically, she meets up with the clients, understand their requests, and then relays that information to the GB team. It's up to the GBs whether they wanna accept or not (they usually do since they're always starved and broke ^^;;). Also, she makes good eye candy for the guys. ^^

MANGA DETAILS

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Number of volumes : 29
Status : Ongoing

There's the good and bad about it. I like the consistency, and the incredible detail when it comes to action sequences, especially. There is no shying away from gore and all that gross stuff, which I appreciate.

Now the bad. Ok, I don't think 'bad' is the right word, since GB is a popular and very well-done manga. I just don't like the artwork for the characters. It is VERY different from the anime. Maybe I just like minute details when it comes to faces and expressions too, I don't know, but I felt that the manga artwork makes the characters look like teenagers. Also, there's a certain obsession with big breasts. ^^;; Sorry, can't help noticing that, but it isn't all that distasteful, that's all I can say. So, go watch the anime already! ^o^

SAMPLE 1 (3 pics)

ANIME DETAILS

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Director : Kazuhiro Furuhashi
Character Design : Nakajima Atsuko
Episodes : 49
Status : Complete

ANIMATION

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Very good, and crisp animation, and excellent colouring too! ^^ Characters ALL look wonderful. Just a warning for bishounen fans - there is SERIOUS bishounen overload here. Get the fan ready. Action is smooth, well-executed. Even if you don't like the storyline, the animation alone is addictive.

SCREENCAPS

VOICE-ACTING

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We have a star cast of seiyuu here, as you can see. Other famous ones who have voice-acted in this anime and whom I didn't list include Miki Shinichirou, Seki Tomokazu, Sakurai Takahiro, Ogata Megumi, etc.

But anyway, back to the main cast. The great Koyasu Takehito delivers as the funnily wooden Juubei, LOL. Hoshi Soichirou, who does Kazuki, is a pleasant surprise with his smooth, clear tenor (he's perhaps more famously known for his work as the pre-pubescent Son Goku of Saiyuki). Also, Canna Nobutoshi makes a very sexy/volatile Ban, and Morikubo Shoutarou is really cute as Ginji (listen to him when he whines "Baaan-Chaaaan"). And Tobita Nobuo once again stamps his authority on his mastery of voicing twisted/perverse characters.

MUSIC

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The soundtrack's quite an interesting mix of action pieces, as well as dramatic orchestral ones, and the vocal tracks are good :

• Bara Iro no Sekai (OP 2) sung by Pierrot
• Ichibyou no Refrain (ED 2)
• Mr Deja Vu (ED 3) sung by Naja
• Domestic Babylon (Instru)
• Makubex (Instru)
• Reminiscence (Instru)

RESOURCES

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GET BACKERS OFFICIAL SITE (Japanese)

MUGENJOU CREW (Fan site)

GET BACKERS TRANSLATION PROJECT (Fan site)