We have always seen that if ever a third World War comes, the planet will be in such a devastating place to live. And with all the effects of nuclear and chemical weapons, you can bet with the help of some sci-fi elements, some humans will start to gain superhuman powers. At least that is what this series says. In Needless, that said war has created a new bunch of species called Needless from the chaos of war. Wait a minute. Shouldn’t they be called Mutants? No, that’s copyrighted. Freaks? Too insensitive. Super All Powerful Unique Homo Sapiens? Too long. Needless to say (pun not intended) because of our very human nature to shun those different than ours, though these super beings posses exceptional powers, we humans don’t really have a need for it. Therefore the label Needless. Huh?
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If you’re looking for sci-fi action adventure and comedy, then this series which in my opinion is anime’s answer and cousin to Marvel of America’s X-men, should be your cup of tea. It seems that the war in the near distant future has once again made Japan the target of bombings. Therefore a large dark crater in the middle of Japan called the Black Spot emerges and that is where all the Needless are born. There are a few terminologies in this series but it won’t be hard to remember unless you have a memory problem. For instance, the powers of each Needless are called Fragments and as a rule of thumb each Needless can only possess 1 Fragment. If you have seen the Mad Max movies, you have an idea of what the Black Spot is all about. Lawlessness and devastation. And in the midst of it a giant building named Simeon, disguised as a pharmaceutical and technology research company and famous throughout Japan, conducting shady experiments on humans.
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Led by its absolute leader, Adam Arclight (needless to say, he has got to be a Needless), as seen in episode 1, he must be such a hate figure that an odd bunch of 400 Resistance members are setting up an ambush for him. Of course it was a trap and they are easily eliminated by his handful of strong Needless subordinates. Lesson: Quality beats quantity. The only survivor of the massacre is a young boy, Cruz Schild and his older sister Aruka, making a panic escape. In order for his little brother to escape, Aruka sacrifices herself to a Testament (Needless exterminating machines). In the sewers, Cruz is saved yet again from another Testament by a man in a priest-like appearance, Adam Blade. He does a kamikaze move to take out the Testament with his brute force. When Blade regains consciousness, his buddy professor Gido tells him Cruz dragged his unconscious body all the way back to their abandoned church hideout. Cruz also meets Blade’s partner, Eve Neuschwanstein (phew! What a mouthful) but that girl has a habit of giving people names and too bad Cruz has to contend that he will forever be called Yamada. Hey wait a minute. Adam and Eve? She scorns him for being a loser because all he could do is cry over the death of his sister and Resistance’s failure. Anyone would get his feelings hurt so he runs away. How insensitive can she get?
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Arclight receives reports and pictures of a man (Blade) destroying the Testament and wants him killed since he doesn’t seem to show any Fragment power. When Gido points out that Cruz may have a tracker on him and more reinforcements will be sent, Blade and Eve go into action to save Cruz. Arclight’s henchman, Kafka finds Cruz and beats him up to get him to reveal Blade’s hideout. Luckily the heroes arrive and though Kafka’s Fragment of strings seem to be winning, we learn Blade’s Fragment, Memorization, in which he gets to memorize his opponent’s Fragment in a short time and with the help of Eve’s Doppelganger (ability to transform and heal), he turns the tables on him. Judgement: Death Penalty! Cruz is grateful and just when he thinks he seeing visions of Aruka, all the mood is spoiled when it is actually Eve (calling him Yamada gave her away).
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Cruz lives with the motley crew in episode 2 and becomes a bully victim by doing errands for the errant Needless. Eve takes Cruz to buy some drink called Dero Doro which is believed to replenish her powers. Since Testaments are roaming the area, the duo take refuge in a building but comes face to face with one of Simeon’s Strongest Four, Uten. He wants them to reveal Blade’s hideout but of course their lips are tightly sealed. Uten is like some sort of a magician and it confuses the duo because it seems he can unleash several Fragments. Floating in the air, barrier, rapid firing and sudden object appearance. Eve is at her limit since she used too much of her Doppelganger powers. But during a pinch and life-or-death moment, a blind spot gave Cruz an idea of Uten’s Fragment: Invisibility. With his secret and tricks revealed, Eve manages to power up with her Dero Doro drink and gives the magician kid a Death Penalty Judgement.
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In episode 3, some elderly higher-up member, Hishiyama, visits Arclight and talk about some project but Arclight is making his priorities in collecting Fragments. But in this episode, a Fire Fragment Needless, Momiji Teruyama, comes to the church to kill a man named Adam. Blade is the kind of guy where brawns dominate brains and makes the first move to battle Teruyama. Of course Blade memorizes his moves and beats him. Teruyama reveals he is here to seek revenge against him for killing his innocent Needless pals via Needless Hunting programme. However as pointed out, he is the wrong Adam he is looking for. Yup, Arclight. Not Blade. Oops. So looks like he’s part of the gang now since Gido blames him for damaging the church and all, even if it’s not his fault who started the fight. Oh yeah, Eve calls him Uchida for the record. Can this girl get other people’s names right? Lastly, Simeon’s Strongest Four, Saten, is watching them afar but decides not to take on them.
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Episode 4 begins with Arclight getting up from a horrible nightmare and thinks this body of his can’t take it anymore and wants the Needless Hunt to be expedited. Soon he receives information about the man he’s supposed to kill shares the same body. So he recalls Saten to stop pursuing him. However Saten denies knowing his whereabouts when Arclight asks about it. Arclight’s other Strongest Four, Riru Roukakuji, decides to send her Bishoujo Squad to do the job. Meanwhile Teruyama explains to the rest about Needless Hunting and he offers them to bring them to see a mysterious know-it-all informant only known as Disc. Facing with only a computer, Disc didn’t reveal anything further and wants them all to come to Iron Mountain, a place at the border of Black Spot supposedly where all data and archives are kept. On the way there and disposing several small fries, the gang spot a little girl, Mio being chased by punks. If you think Blade has no weakness, think again because he is a lolicon! Oh sh*t! He goes to great lengths to save Mio and even has her join their journey to Iron Mountain. When they arrive they are greeted by old but modified Testament versions but easily take them all out. They reach the main arrive and are surprised to learn that Disc is a little girl. Oh dear. You know what this means to Blade. She recognizes Blade as one of the failed experiments of Adam Project.
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Apparently don’t judge a book by its cover because Disc may be several hundred years old and the fact she’s part cyborg means she is like a living computer. In episode 5, she tells the gang of The Second. Supposedly the most powerful Needless-cum-saviour who possess all Fragments and was like God. He sacrificed himself to save the people and his powers scattered and inherited by other Needless, thus the term Fragment. Their conversation is cut short when the Bishoujo Squad arrive and take out all the Testaments in split seconds. They are Setsuna and the dialogue-less Kuchinashi (aptly named because she communicates by writing on her sketchbook! Does this look familiar like some character in some anime?). Disc needs time to activate the security system so the Needless go into action. While Eve takes on Setsuna and her Speed Fragment, Blade encounters Kuchinashi’s Fragrance (ability to paralyze one’s nerves upon inhaling) Fragment. Disc manages to lock down the security walls so both sides regroup. As Mio requests Cruz to accompany her to the toilet, he sensed something amiss and true enough, Mio is part of the Bishoujo Squad and her Fragment is Power. She takes Cruz as a hostage back to her comrades but Eve who was eavesdropping intercepts and creates chaos. When the Bishoujo Squad are ready to leave, Setsuna realizes they have the wrong hostage. Eve created that distraction to confuse the trio. She could have singlehandedly beat them all up and caught them by surprise if not for a self blooper that knocked herself out. The Bishoujo Squad leaves and has to contend with Eve as their hostage.
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In episode 6, the gang decides to regroup back at the church and devise a plan to save Eve. Disc joins them and it seems her Fragment is Scan. During a stopover, the Bishoujo Squad realizes that Eve managed to escape and enter a hidden mansion belonging to Kanematsu. What’s so scary about this mansion? Though the cash rich guy is long dead, the deadly security system, Goldilocks is still activated and working in tip top condition (lock the gold in, geddit?). So in this episode, expect to see lots of fanservice as the Bishoujo Squad try to go through obstacles by removing bits and pieces of their clothing in order to capture Eve. In the end, everyone is naked and some blooper has all four of them in a stuck and ambiguous position. How embarrassing. The defence system then blasts them all back to Simeon building. At the same time, Arclight draws first blood by making a public announcement via large hologram interface in the sky to tell all denizens of Black Spot to congregate at Simeon building for free food and shelter. And for those not wanting to come, they’ll be considered as hostile Needless and will be exterminated. Like everyone’s got a choice, eh? The Bishoujo Squad is being complimented by Riru for being the first team to come back alive after fighting those misfits and Eve is seen tied down to a machine.
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Arclight confronts Eve in episode 7 but the latter uses her last ounce of Doppelganger powers to pierce through him. (Un)fortunately, he too has Doppelganger attributes and regenerates. Meanwhile a pair of other Bishoujo Squad members, Nanami and Misaki, aren’t pleased about the trio representing the squad. They threaten to release scandalous ecchi pics of them so a catfight ensued. Riru decides to hold a fair and square competition and the winning team will represent Bishoujo Squad. That mission is to collect a sum of money from a filthy rich guy, President Vonsangar. Team Setsuna got duped so Team Nanami got a head start. Vonsangar isn’t happy to give more of his money to Simeon because he has already given them half his revenue every month. Would they take no for an answer? Yeah, a bunch of machine gun wielding bodyguards couldn’t possibly beat a team of Earth and Water Fragment of Misaki and Nanami respectively. Soon Team Setsuna arrives and all hell breaks loose. Vonsangar’s mansion is reduced to rubbles. In the end, Team Setsuna emerges victorious (now they post ecchi pics of Team Nanami). Everyone gathers at Simeon in fear of being exterminated. Arclight makes his appearance and offers them their lives in exchange of becoming his servants and to start worshipping him as God. Of course the people aren’t happy. Then a bunch of heroic Needless show up but Arclight easily absorbs them all into his body. So much for a flashy entrance. All that introduction wasted. Then he starts lifting a boy in the air after sensing a little Fragment in him. Blade tells Cruz to keep it cool and that they can’t blow their cover and ruin their rescue mission just for 1 kid. But when Arclight starts lifting a little girl, Blade blasts his way to the top to face Arclight. Who’s the hypocrite?
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So a super power battle begins in episode 8. Arclight also possesses Memorization Fragment and it’s mind blowing to see each other memorize and use each other’s recently learned moves. Even so, Arclight’s movements and punches pack more power. You know the saying when 2 elephants collide? Yeah, the people don’t want to get involved so they try to make a run but Riru keeps them in with her Testaments and demonstrates to them her powerful Psychokinesis Fragment. Arclight’s body can’t handle it anymore so he stops the fight and tells Blade he was just testing to see if his body is worthy to be his. He challenges the lolicon to come after him, in which he did after Mio’s greeting. Elsewhere, Saten approaches Eve and beats her up. However Eve notices he is holding back. Then another Bishoujo Squad member, Kurumi, proceeds to get yuri with Eve as she unleashes her Black Attraction. Blade is being led by the Bishoujo Squad trio to the 3rd Shelter where his next battle will take place. Seems like an oversized bedroom if you ask me. Don’t worry, the walls and furniture are tough enough to withstand all the shocks and impacts. It is a fight among Needless, right? As for Cruz and co, they are attempting to infiltrate Simeon by hacking into a Testament furthest away from Riru that is also at her blind spot. Can Disc take control before Teruyama gets smashed?
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Of course. Except that in episode 9, Disc noticed the machine stopped just seconds before she could finish her hacking. As the gang gets inside it, the ‘damaged’ Testament is taken into the building for repair. They surprise the maintenance crew and the alarm is sound. Better get away quickly before security arrives. During their crawl through the air ventilation, Disc tells them about Simeon’s Strongest Four. Saten and Uten are mere titles and have been replaced countless time in the past. As Riru is the third, Disc has no information about the fourth because she has rarely been seen until recently. Meanwhile Blade is having a tough time with the Bishoujo Squad. They are hammering him so fast and so badly that he has no time to memorize any of their skills. He’s sure taken a heavy beating. He just can’t handle three against one. Disc does another round of hacking to locate where Blade is. They pass through some creepy experimental lab but the security has found them. Things get worse when they are cornered by Testaments. Before the Bishoujo Squad could finish Blade, they are being pinned down by some gravitational force. Cruz and co arrive with new comrades of Blade, a girl with a humongous death sword Seto and a maid-outfit split character Solva. They were the ones responsible for saving our heroes a few times from being Needless casualties (pun intended).
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The flashback about Blade’s relationship with Seto and Solva begins in episode 10. Blade and Seto were part of The Guild and were sent to an area in the Black Spot upon a request to rid the town of an evil group called Predators seeking its treasure. They meet the terrorized villagers which include Solva. Seto is in for the money while Blade, you know what lah. And yeah. The head of the pack seems to be a little girl, Kana and have both Fragments of fire and ice. Of course when you think about the rule, it is impossible. Then it is revealed she is a fake Needless and just an ordinary human (she had some hidden machine firing both fire and ice). The real Predators are Solva and her gang. Their giveaway was that Solva new Blade and Seto’s name when they first met since The Guild don’t give out names of those coming to help. Plus, Kana’s group has only 3 members. So it’s Seto’s Graviton Fragment versus Solva’s Magnetic Fragment. With the help of Blade, it is Solva’s lost. In the end, the treasure which Kana was protecting all along was a plot of land bearing sunflowers. What does this mean? The entire Black Spot’s soil is dead and this plot is the only fertile land. Solva decides to team up with Seto so that they could take over Black Spot with their powers. And that’s how a ‘beautiful’ friendship was formed.
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The odds have turned to Blade’s favour in episode 11 as it is now four against three (note that Cruz, Gido and Disc do not have fighting abilities. So cast them aside if you wish). The Bishoujo Squad are no match for them so Setsuna gives up and tells them to take Eve. Serious? She’s not pulling any underhanded tricks? Blade goes to free Eve but Eve stabs him through his chest. It seems Eve has become their slave courtesy of Kurumi’s Black Attraction Fragment, the ability to infect living things and turn them into her slaves with just 1 kiss. With Blade down, the odds are stacked against our heroes. Four to three. Disc does emergency treatment on Blade (not his organs fused and reinforced with special metal machines) but it isn’t enough as they need Eve’s Doppelganger’s attributes to heal him. So the plan is to make Eve regain her consciousness by defeating Kurumi. However Kurumi’s appearance is just a hologram because her Fragment isn’t suitable for combat so she is sitting somewhere safe. Cruz thinks hard and concludes that they need to tire Eve out since her Fragment uses a considerable amount of power. But to his horror, Setsuna shows them all that a tiny Dero Doro machine has been embedded into her body and that means she can fight all day without getting tired. Just like Duracell. It goes on and on and on and on and on and on.
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Cruz can’t give up now so he continues his analysis of the room in episode 12. Concluding there is only 1 camera in this room, they try to locate where Kurumi is. The team power battle continues. Our heroes pretend to target Eve but in actual fact that was just a distraction to beat down Bishoujo Squad first. Then they unleash their combo of hitting a giant baseball into the giant cupboard. Good news, they found Kurumi’s hiding spot. Bad news, she gets a huge nasty wood right through her body. Okay, maybe that’s good news to the good guys. Cruz explains how he deduced Kurumi’s location via blind spots and the commands she gave to her comrades based on everyone’s positions and such. However Eve catches the gang by surprise by continuing to attack and wound. As explained by Setsuna, although Kurumi is dead, it seems the virus is still present in her system and that means Eve will forever follow the last orders of her master though she may never receive new orders and still be on the enemy’s side. Cruz falls into despair as all capable fighting members on his side are down.
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But Disc says there is another way to regain control of Eve. In episode 13, that method is to have Blade memorize Kurumi’s Fragment. She has only been dead a short while ago but it takes time for the brain to shut down completely so it’s a race against time. But Blade himself is unconscious. Well apparently there are 2 ways he can memorize Fragments. One is by observing his opponents and the other by using the white crystal embedded on his forehead, Byakugou. They need to connect Byakugou directly to his enemy’s forehead to memorize the ability by force. Gido tries to buy Cruz time to retrieve Kurumi’s body at the other hand but I guess the professor was so pathetic that the Bishoujo Squad just beat him up for the sake of it. Cruz encounters Saten. The latter ‘warns’ the girls that they’re taking their sweet time. Apparently they’re scared of him so they go into full battle mode to finish the job. To complicate matters, Saten kicks Kurumi’s body along with Cruz towards Blade before vanishing. Thankfully before Bishoujo Squad could deliver the final blow, Blade gets up and has memorized Kurumi’s Fragment. He frees Eve from her control. Now that he is fully healed and back from hell, he takes on the trio with ease like as though this fight is child’s play. Eve goes to heal the rest when Setsuna tells Kuchinashi to unleash her ultimate attack, Lilith Temptation. It wasn’t about what kind of Fragrance attack she will release, but rather SHE SPOKE WORDS!!!
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It seems this Fragrance has everyone in paradise in episode 14. Everyone except Disc (because she’s part cyborg) is caught up in their ideal illusion like Seto’s money-filled dream, Eve getting everyone’s name correct in a quiz (except for Cruz. I guess nobody’s perfect) and Cruz’s reunion with Aruka. The Bishoujo Squad beats up everyone though they feel no pain as they’re trapped in paradise. All that’s left is Blade. They are going to bash him but he counters and hits back. How did he break free of the spell? Actually he didn’t. The current reality is his paradise because there are little girls surrounding him! I’m not sure if you’re supposed to laugh or feel disgusted about his sicko condition. Yeah, he needs help. Big help because he is seen executing his Judgement ecchi style on the Bishoujo Squad! Cruz has freed himself from his own illusion after his rational thoughts has him conclude his sister is already dead. Kuchinashi and Mio are knocked out and this frees the rest from the illusion. Setsuna is left standing so Blade is on a rage and gives it his all against her. Setsuna could have been a goner not only in terms of being beaten up but modesty outraged by his erotic Judgement if Saten didn’t show up and lock horns with the lolicon priest.
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So now it’s Saten’s turn to battle Blade in episode 15. He freezes Kurumi’s body and tells the Bishoujo Squad to take the corpse away and leave. Another power battle in store but the gang are left stumped because Saten seems to display more than 1 Fragment power. Four of them as observed. Water, fire, absorption and wind. Disc’s scanning doesn’t reveal so Blade bangs head with him to steal Saten’s Fourth Wave via Byakugou. But when Blade prepares to use it, it doesn’t seem to work. Saten explains he may have memorized them but not understanding how it works renders it useless. For easier reference, he gives a car example. Blade buys a cool car Saten has but since he has no licence, he can’t use it. Since Blade considers Saten of no further use, our heroes gang up to take him out. But the 4th and mysterious member of Simeon’s Strongest Four makes her appearance. While the masked lady faces off with Teruyama, Seto and Solva, Saten handles Blade and Eve. Cruz goes into analyzing mode once more to figure out his Fragment and feels like he is purposely revealing all his skills.
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Cruz figures out the secret behind Saten’s Fourth Wave in episode 16. It’s not that Blade didn’t memorize them, it’s just that he got his procedures wrong. In short, Saten’s Fragment is the ability to absorb heat and turn it into an energy attack. So the attacks like wind powers was made believable by absorbing and creating the difference in atmospheric pressure (damn my science is a failure here) and display different attacks to make it seem like he has different abilities. Meanwhile the other fight has the masked lady reveal her true face. Guess who she is? She is Aruka! Sure Cruz can’t believe it all but Aruka reveals she is a spy for Simeon and that she faked her death. Still finding hard to believe, Cruz? Well yeah, he shows big sister about the pendant with a picture of her from the late Resistance captain, Zakard. He claims she gave it to Zakard who then gave it to him. That’s when Aruka realized that the data chip is hidden inside it. She realized Zakard didn’t think she would kill her own brother and that’s why left the chip in Cruz’s hands (something that Cruz is unaware about either). Aruka unleashes her Fragment, Agnischiwatas, supposedly an ability to alter molecules hence making objects to lose their form via extreme molecular motion (like getting melted). Not only she wounds the Needless heroes, she also seriously wounds Cruz. Aruka is ready to kill her little brother to retrieve the chip to complete her mission but Blade isn’t going to allow that.
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I guess Cruz’s life must be flashing before his eyes just like how everyone who is about to depart to the next world. Thus, another flashback on the Resistance in episode 17. Back then, Cruz did little errands for the Resistance members and Aruka seemed like a pretty nice sister that every kid wants to have. Zakard and his men are planning to attack Arclight after receiving information that he will be surveying Black Spot alone without any bodyguards or escort. His body language indicates he doesn’t trust Aruka much. The night before the ambush, Zakard calls Cruz to his room and hands him the pendant. Next day, a total of 400 Resistance members gather to take out Arclight. But as we have seen in the beginning, it was a trap and everyone perished like ants. No escape. Zakard comes face to face with Arclight and he orders him to hand over the chip. Since his lips are tightly sealed, Arclight kills him. Gruesome death. So the part Aruka let Cruz escaped while she handled the Testament was actually herself destroying the machine. And Cruz is so guilty that he is a useless brother always depending on someone else, he thinks he is just a burden and the reason she hates him. And all the reason for him to take his next step to the after world. Come on guys. If Cruz’s really gone, who are you going to pick on?
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Back to reality in episode 18, they need Eve’s abilities to save Cruz but she’s busy handling Saten while Blade against Aruka. The rest are down and out. Cruz’s life is hanging in the balance. Eve once again notices Saten going easy on her. He even gives her a hint of his next move and a chance to finish him off. Eve doesn’t believe and do the opposite but Saten anticipated that and went the other way. This results in him being out of commission for the time being. She goes to Cruz’s side while the battle shifts focus to Blade-Aruka. We here some Missing Link explanation about unlocking some unused region of the brain, not that I understand because you know, I’m not really using my brain at that time to watch this mindless mashing anime. Blade has a hard time memorizing because if he gets into contact, he’ll get burned. Speaking of which, shouldn’t she go easy on his body? I mean, Arclight wants his body, right? So why is she blasting and burning his body like nobody’s business? But Blade manages to absorb Agnischiwatas because (here goes another round of explanation) something about how her Fragment and Fourth Wave overlap in terms of heat manipulation (and something about unlocking multiple restrictions in the brain simultaneously. I seriously don’t get it), though he still can’t use the latter properly. He improvises a couple of Teruyama’s fire abilities and gives Aruka a taste of his evolved ultimate attack. Feel the pain! This one is for your little bro!
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Probably the fight took too long (damn right. How about 10 episodes!) with the tides perpetually turning back and forth so Arclight stops the match by restricting Aruka’s move in episode 19 (since she was soundly beaten by Blade but got back up to her feet to exact revenge). Plus, their fight was dragging on and even could’ve beaten Dragonball’s record so the crowd outside is getting restless. Arclight takes care of them by sending another group of Bishoujo Squad. Did they kill them all? Nope. They put up a splendid concert performance and they’re loving it. Is everyone in the crowd an anime otaku? Arclight takes the gang to the top floor of the building and reveals his damaged right eye and heart, the reason he needs Blade’s body to complete his evolution into God. Will the priest allow it? Damn right. Round 2, fight! Arclight is still superior since he possesses more Fragments. He demonstrates his ultimate Positive Feedback Zero power which amplifies the power of a Fragment. Blade uses his body as a diversion and gets stabbed by Arclight so that he could use his Byakugou and steal his power. Both sides try to counter each other and the result is explosive. Literally. I mean, there’s this huge impact of energy forming and it doesn’t look good. Negative rejection reaction, says Disc? Sure, you can’t expect candies falling out of the sky when you’re witnessing time and space distortion, right?
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Yeah. Here we go another round of flashback in episode 20. Just how far did they go back in time? A time when Gido had hair over his bald head and it was brown as a grizzly bear. Back then, he was part of the Adam Project besides the Eve Project with his colleagues, Kasumi (possible love interest) and Kannazuki. They needed good results of their experiment by planting Eden Seeds into the specimen but each time it ended in failure as the Seeds are being rejected. After 77 times, you think the government (represented by Hishiyama) would pull the plug, right? Right. I’m not sure how this project is deemed to revitalize Japan but something shady must be going on. After spending so much, they can’t just stop, right? Yup. So Gido’s team are secretly assigned to continue to project with 2 specimens dubbed A-78 and A-79 or A-A and A-B respectively. Kasumi decides to give names to the specimens though Gido was against it for fear she might get attached to them. She names A-A and A-B Adam Arclight and Adam Blade respectively. Sure, we’re feeling livelier with those kind of names. On a day to produce the desired results, A-78 seems to start rejecting the Seeds and it resulted in the lost of his right eye and heart. However A-79 showed no signs of rejection so the excited team shifted their focus on him and completely abandoned A-78 and dumped his body into the Black Spot. Gido and Kasumi couldn’t get their chemistry started because soon after she died in an accident so Gido and Kannazuki have no choice but to carry on her work. A few years later, we see a young polite Blade as he is being introduced by Gido to young Eve.
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The flashback continues in episode 21. Eve loves spending time with Blade and she even calls him Ishida. I guess this memory problem goes a long way back. So as revealed the reason Eve is made to be friendly with Blade is because she’s the only female capable of bearing Blade’s offspring due to his irregular DNA. Trying to make an invincible army? Blade has to undergo strict training and this doesn’t sit well with Eve who only wants to play with him. She got so bored that one day she snuck him out of his room and they doze off on a rooftop while everyone else frantically searches for them. A mysterious cloaked creature infiltrates the lab and starts killing everyone. Blade confronts him but he escapes after being damaged (he has Doppelganger abilities). The creature wanders to a forbidden area because he felt some power calling out to him. That place seems to store the remains of The Second (looking a lot like Arclight). As Gido find out, he didn’t sacrificed himself and was rather killed, most probably by the 666 (pronounced Triple Six) Committee. The creature did the unthinkable by coming into contact with The Second. Does this large powerful energy, time and space distortion seem familiar? Everybody run for your lives! The creature gets absorbed and before you know it, the entire area is decimated worse than the Hiroshima nuclear bombings. No survivors. However Gido was the only survivor because a barrier was created by Eve’s Doppelganger to protect him and Blade. With Blade losing his memories (well Eve never did could remember properly, right?), Gido vows to protect them both as they both escaped to Black Spot. So back in reality, Gido remembers this black spot (no pun intended) in his memory and tells everyone to run because a super explosion is inevitable. Talk about history repeating itself.
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However no explosion occurred in episode 22, an episode of backstabbing and revelation. Based on the observing 666 Committee, they have learned from the past and reinforced the building with field generators to absorb the shock. As explained by Hishiyama there are 3 stages of the negative rejection reaction. I’m not sure if I understand a rule states that only 1 God can exist at 1 time and 1 place. So if there are 2, that flashback was necessary based on an assumption there’s a mistake in time or space. Say what? The next stage has their Fragments sealed. This means Blade (new hairdo?) and Arclight has no more powers and their fight is just a mere brute slug fest. With only their Godly bodies remaining, the last stage will have only 1 of them remain and the other being converted into energy. I don’t get it. Is it that hard to be God? 666 Committee reveals their true purpose to dominate the world for eternity under the guise of Simeon (so what’s new?). They found the creature (Arclight) after the explosion aftermath then and secretly continued the project. They made him head of Simeon and helped him in his Needless Hunt for immorality he desired so much while advancing their agenda. Over time, Arclight gather his own allies that 666 Committee don’t see beneficial to their cause so that’s when they set up this whole thingy to find Blade and neutralize Arclight’s power. The Committee wants Saten (a spy for the Committee) to finish the job and once he is done, he’ll be the new head of Simeon. However Saten betrays and kills them all because he has a gut feeling that he too will receive the same fate if he follows their orders. So the reason why he went easy on Eve was because he needed her Doppelganger powers for maintenance, thus not relying on the Committee anymore. And what’s this? Saten too has Byakugou! The fight between Blade and Arclight is interrupted when Saten makes his appearance. He surprises both comrades and enemies with his multiple Fragments and admits he has the Memorization Fragment as well. And a spy like Aruka couldn’t even tell. More shock for the gang because he reveals his real name: Kannazuki. Oh sh*t! I didn’t see that coming. Apparently he miraculously survived the explosion. He then kills Arclight and faces off with Blade. So much for that. A worse enemy couldn’t show up at the worse time.
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After blasting Blade away in episode 23, Saten proclaims himself as Simeon’s head and new God who will rule the world. So what else is new? He mentions about the inability for a normal human woman to bear God’s child thus the need for Project Eve. Therefore you can say Eve was made for that intention. Hey, as in the bible’s Adam and Eve, right? Saten hints Kasumi died in that accident and her corpse was made as a specimen for that said project. He then forcefully takes Eve. Oh great. Here we go again. Another round of rescuing Eve. Our heroes go into battle mode but lost to Saten. However it is part of their plan to have Blade memorize their moves (he lost them during the reaction, remember?). I guess having a handful is better than nothing. Oh wait. It won’t be enough to even scratch Saten. Even if the Bishoujo Squad joins in, I don’t think a few more Fragments will cut it. Meanwhile Riru is reminiscing her days with Arclight and since she’s confident he isn’t dead but just that he needs a new form, she sacrifices herself and absorbs her body into his. She catches Saten off by surprise before he could finish Blade but what is even more surprising is that she possesses multiple Fragments. Another one of those Byakugou users? Not. Apparently she was Riru and now the newly reborn Arclight. Oh yeah. He is back and badder. Note his heart and right eye completely healed. More mumbo jumbo explanations that I don’t understand about how his death and injection of Eden Seeds (which Riru had) made it possible to heal them. Arclight is going to memorize all of Saten’s moves via Byakugou but what about that reaction? He’s bloody confident that won’t happen because he’ll memorize it all and make Saten’s body disappear before the reaction can happen. Arclight isn’t that dumb so he mentions about modifying the field generators in case event like this happens. What I understand from all that hocus-pocus is that it will convert and absorb all energy from Saten and make him ‘disappear’ from the world. Must be a painful process. To late regretting it now, buddy. I guess death makes a person humble as he releases Eve back to Gido and co before vanishing for good. And now it’s Arclight’s turn to gloat the return of God. Ding dong here and there, what’s the difference?
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So yeah, Arclight is going to show them all the perfect God he has become in episode 24 by merging with a huge ball of Needless DNA and cells collected from Needless Hunting. Uh huh. He turned into a naked golden guy with a new hairdo. No, not that Oscar Award. Furthermore, he is going to annihilate all Needless seeing that they are not on par with God. This is why everyone breathing on this planet cannot be God. It gets to one’s head. With his comrades in total shock, Aruka questions Arclight’s decision so she got fried. Who is she to talk back to God? Then it’s Cruz’s turn. Again. That kid has experienced near-deaths so many times. Don’t worry, Eve will heal him soon. So everyone friend or foe gangs up against Arclight but he’s too powerful. Before he could finish Blade, he starts experiencing pain. Something about the Eden Seeds that were of Riru is rejecting him. This causes violent tentacles to burst out of his body and created a dome with his body several hundred metres high on top. The tentacles are endlessly attacking the gang and due to some energy build-up in Arclight, another big bang will occur and will wipe out entire Japan! That’s got to be worse than a nuclear bomb. Cruz is depressed that they’re never going to win so that’s when barely alive Aruka tells him to use his ability. No, he has no Fragment, but rather his keen observation skills which has kept him alive all the while. So the plan is to have Blade do another negative rejection reaction so that both sides will have their Fragments sealed. With the help of the rest, Blade manages to do so and since we’re short of time, we’re not going to see another round of flashback. So we have both guys duking it out naked in some who-knows-where dimension. It ends with Blade defeating Arclight with his Death Penalty Judgement. What a short fight that was. Heck, we’ve seen so much fighting, we’re kinda numb already. In the aftermath, Simeon withdraws from Black Spot and the denizens continue to live in peace. Everyone goes back to their normal lives as Cruz lives independently. He seems a little stronger now as he meet up with comrades on a new mission: Blade and Eve.
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I have to admit that from start to finish, there has never been a bored moment. Not lying. I enjoyed every action and humorous bit of this series. Even if the explanation parts seem hard for me to grasp even when I rewind and replayed the scenario over and over again, it was probably my keen interest to try and understand it all so that I could enjoy the action further. I may not like flashbacks but the ones here are exceptional. You could say that this entire series’ main arc was focused on infiltrating Simeon to rescue Eve which eventually turned into an epic battle of the Gods. So when they ‘interrupted’ the fight with 3 flashbacks, it didn’t break any momentum of mine. Like I said, I completely enjoyed this show. Before I knew it, everything had come to an end. I didn’t mind the ding dong moments in the sense that the fight seems to shift in favour from Blade’s group to Arclight’s subordinates from match to match. Hey, it’s a give and take thingy. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Of course there had to be 1 winner in the end and we all know pretty well who that was.
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The main characters especially Blade and Eve are likeable themselves. You just got to love Blade’s anti-hero character. It makes you wonder where did Gido had gone wrong turning Blade from a nice little kid to a crude demon. Not to mention a big time lolicon. I guess that’s what being an action anti-hero is all about. All brawns now and brains later. He may not be the preaching type but he does his talking with his fists and you’d better listen to them if you know what’s good for you. As for Eve, I’m amused by her memory problem to remember names. How did she remember Blade’s name in the first place? I guess she herself can’t remember. Haha. Anyhow, she still has that imposing attitude. Cruz may have been a weakling all the while but like his sister said that his brains is his forte and he has definitely helped everyone during much needed times with his analytical thinking.
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There may be some questions bugging me like for instance if each Needless can only have 1 Fragment, then wouldn’t Blade and Arclight’s Memorization Fragment override that rule? Some sort of a loophole, eh? I mean, if they memorize by watching or stealing other Needless’ Fragments, I thought the recent Fragment should override the previous one. Ah well, maybe that’s why they are candidates for being The Second. Then another question is of the Doppelganger ability. I am wondering if it is a Fragment. Because if it is so, then Blade and Arclight could have memorized it and healed themselves when they are injured. Get what I’m saying? If it isn’t so, then Eve can’t be called a Needless theoretically, right? Unless she’s a Needless of a different kind. Concerning Disc, initially she claimed to have all the knowledge known to men but as the series progresses, I felt that her inability to come up on information about certain important stuff rendered her a little ineffective. Just excess baggage like the senior citizen of the pack Gido, eh? Teruyama, Seto and Solva may have their fighting abilities but I feel that they were just there to show that Blade is superior and that he is the only guy who can clean this mess up. You know what I’m saying? Yeah, even Blade did say that he knew those losers weren’t going to win. Then there’s that chip in Cruz’s pendant. I don’t remember Arclight ever wanting it after its location was discovered. I wonder what important data could be inside it. Maybe that did not matter anymore when he turned into God, eh?
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I’m not sure if this is the fashion statement of the future because the females’ dresses are somewhat revealing and too sexy. Maybe it’s the aftermath of the terrible bombing. Lack of proper clothing. Like real. Honestly, I still prefer The Bishoujo Squad’s original outfit when they first made their appearance instead of the uniform which they later don. But I guess they lost it during the Goldilocks incident. So you could say such revealing fashion is mainly for ecchi fanservice amidst the action. The Bishoujo Squad has that honour since every time we see them in action, viewers can get a glimpsed of what’s underneath. Oh yeah, I’m sure Blade loves that. On a trivial note, each of the episode title is either named after a character, group, place or fighting technique. Makes it easier to remember what happened in that episode, no? Speaking of the last one, whenever a Needless unleashes his/her move, you can see the name of the technique been written across the screen in kanji, hiragana or katakana. I suppose it adds to the dramatic effect. In my opinion, the most widely used Fragment would belong to Teruyama’s Little Boy and Vulcan Shock Ignition and Kafka’s Kandata String. Yeah, the latter is already dead in the first episode so I guess by using his Fragment so that we won’t forget him.
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The first opening theme by GRANRODEO is Modern Strange Cowboy and is a hard rock piece which perfectly fits the action theme of the series. The second opening theme by Aki Misato, Scarlet Bomb, is also rock based however I find the tune and pace of the song to be unsuitable as compared to the first one. Seems very much toned down. But what thrown me off was the ending themes. Both are sung by the seiyuus of the Needless girls with the first ending called Aggressive Zone and the second ending entitled Wanted! For The Love. Well, nothing wrong about the song as they sound more like Japanese anime pop but the first ending credits animation, we see yuri ecchi fanservice of the Bishoujo Squad. I don’t know why they’re being so close and suggestive that first time viewers may mistake this to be a yuri show. Girls kissing each other anyone? The second ending credits animation isn’t that bad as we see the characters in chibi form going about with their antics and the Needless girls playing as a music band.
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Of course if you buy the DVD, there’ll be extra specials. No, you will not get Fragment powers but rather short clips that last around over 2 minutes. I’m not sure how many specials there are as I only saw a couple of them. It seems to be called The Secret of St Lily Academy whereby Cruz disguises and cross-dresses himself as a female transfer student called Nadeshiko Yamada to investigate an incident. So we have Disc as the teacher and the other Needless girls as students. Expect some fanservice and comical moments like Special 1 whereby Cruz gets a full view of the girls stripping and changing into their PE uniforms. Do you think bloomers would look good on him? And some weird exercising method using the horizontal bars. Hanging like a monkey from it to seduce men? Riding on it like a witch’s broomstick to bewitch males? Since Cruz didn’t do it well, Eve kicks him and he landed on the pole where it hurts most. Ouch.
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So is it possible for a nuclear fallout to produce such new species? If we ever survive them in the first place, that is. But it is a good thing that we don’t have such powers whether multiple or restricted to just one. As humans, we can never be too careful to let power get over our head. If you ask me which Fragment I would like to have, I would say none because I would very much prefer to sit back, do nothing else but enjoy watching animes like this. Maybe we should create a new name for this species. Oh, wait a minute. I realized that it has already existed and I’m part of it. Not really endangered or on the verge of extinction for a long time to come. No, it is not otakuism. Guess again if you think it’s hikikomori (shut in). Heh, it’s called Useless! Do we really need that?
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Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 