Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge: First Impressions

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As we begin the first few days (officially) of the Spring season, our first look comes in the form of Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge.  A tale of hair fetishes and dark fantasy action; no, I'm not kidding.

If I didn't know better I'd say the Spring season is cursed or simply trying to frustrate me.  I only bring up the topic since the first few series to have aired have been intriguing.  Not good, not bad but just intriguing.  Rarely a bad thing, but when you're trying to select only a few series to watch it makes the task more difficult.  Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge is another one of those that makes it hard to say 'yay or nay' to.

Much like Red Data Girl, I find Crime Edge to be an interesting premise but with poor execution.  Unlike the former series, this one actually fascinates me a lot more.  It may or may not have to do with the potential for strange romantic development or the down-right bizarre take on the dark fantasy action genre, but the first episode doesn't draw me in like I'd hoped for.  In fact, it doesn't do a good job in setting the stage for the series.

There's a sense of disconnect with the story telling, that doesn't clearly outline the story or give us enough insight into the characters.  All we find out via the most disjointed flow of the episode is the existence of Hair Queen, the assassination group Killing Goods and our rather creepy main character.  We don't learn anything about them besides the bare minimum, making it hard to care about the story from the get-go.  It's because of this, that it becomes easy to label the Iwai as nothing more than a helpless female character whose sole purpose is to get fans to swoon and say 'moe.'

If that wasn't enough, a hint at the end of the episode as to the direction of Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge leaves me a little worried.  By the looks of it, this will quickly turn into a battle royale series, making full use of the strange weapons bestowed upon the assassin group Killing Goods.  This could be the deciding factor for whether I carry on with the series or drop it.

For all my moaning, I am still interested in what Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge has to offer.  The art direction and score in particular were well done, and I couldn't help but enjoy the dark atmosphere the series has created.  I'd even go as far as to say I'm interested in what the battle royale is going to turn out like, but I have reservations.  If the story becomes more coherent and fluid in the next episodes - not straying too far into the ridiculous - I may have something interesting to watch.  For now, it's an approach of apprehension from me.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge Episode 02 Preview

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