8 Man After is the sequel to a veeeery old superhero series for kiddies, nobody ever noticed. The sequel is clearly superior in all accounts to the first series, as, well, 30 years are more than enough to see improvements in animation and storytelling.

Animation and Sound

Are fine but not awesome in any way. There is detail to the mechanized world and even the characters look more realistic than the average anime out there. Music and sound effects contribute nicely to making you feel the vibe of the world of the series. The problem is, it never covers anything more than the basic structure of any sci-fi story. A big industrialized city, some robots and lasers and nicely drawn machinery and that is that. Plus, no matter how they try to make it look serious, a man magically transforming into a weird looking battle cyborg is just silly and loses credit in a sci-fi setting.

Story and Characters

Also suffer from being just essentials. I liked at first how the main hero is not an Adam Saddler type of Batman (circus idiot) but a Tim Barton type of Batman (serious, with a sad past). Yet, everyone else besides him were nothing to bother. The investigator and the police and the villains, all existed just to look for, talk too, or fight with him. They didn’t have distinctive personalities or any role other than interacting with him. He just plays it a little emo before transforming into a superhero and fights criminals; big deal. The overall story and cast up to the ending ain’t much to look for. Thanks for nothing.

Personal judgment

Compared to the first series, it looks like a masterpiece. Compared to the time it was made, it is just nice. Compared to today… it has no purpose of existing. For it has nothing you can’t easily find in modern superhero series and furthermore the story is too short to stand out from the lot.

Overall

Enjoyment just ain’t there. Being just white pasta without any sauce for flavor leaves you with a feeling of emptiness and boredom. Surprise, all stories have nowadays an anti-hero with a sad past and a lot extra to keep you interested. This mini series is nothing to bother with for it is nothing other than a dry story of the most basic level.

Suggestion list

Ghost in the Shell, Soul Taker, Casshern Sins