Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge - 13 (END)

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After sticking with Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge for thirteen weeks, I shouldn't be surprised that even the finale left me both happy and annoyed.  A testament to the series' polarising effect.

I mentioned in my previous post that the penultimate episode had pretty much layed out a roadmap for the final episode.  A roadmap that was pretty easy to guess, and one that I saw being used but ultimately there were a few detours I wasn't expecting.  For one, the extended bath scene was an unwelcome surprise.

Part of Crime Edge's negatives have been the occasional bouts of bizarre fan service.  Ignoring the fetishes - for the sake of this argument, let's not dwell on the long-standing part of the series - the problem I had was with the loli fan service taking up such a prominent part of the last episode.  We've had some of this before in small doses, though I find it baffling why it had to become an integral part of the last episode.

That was my main complaint for the finale.  It just feels like Crime Edge didn't have anything better to do than to entertain its fans, even with the need to bring some closure to the series.  It served as a delay tactic for the rest of the episode.  A remainder that was more of what I liked about the series; the strange, beautiful romance.

There wasn't any obvious romance, but Kiri's longing for Iwai and self-reflection, coupled with Violet Witche's advances felt like the right way to leave things.  Now that their love life is facing a series of roadblocks, it's appropriate for there to be some uncertainty in the form of busty blondes with killer instincts.  That scene in particular embodied the darker side of Crime Edge to contrast the out-of-place cutesy bath scene between Emily and Iwai.

And of course there was the happy ending.  Again, no complaints here seeing as how much suffering both Iwai and Kiri went through in the 13 episodes.  They deserve a happy ending, even it was overshadowed in part by the uneasiness of the Violet Witch scene.
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Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Mini) Series Review

To sum up my feelings on this series is not the easiest of tasks.  Many series have ups and downs, and that includes Crime Edge, though not in the traditional sense.  The ups and downs for this series were sometimes within the same episode, making it a little harder to give a clear overview of the good and the bad.

One thing I will give it credit for is being a decent "alternative" series for the Spring 2013 season.  It was an interesting take on the Battle Royale scenario, with some out-of-the-box romantic development reminiscent of Bakemonogatari and some great character development.

Where it didn't deliver was the action, which wouldn't have been an issue had a few episodes been about more than just the fight scenes.  This was perhaps one the biggest flaw the series faced, and without knowing the source material, I'm inclined to pin it on the animation team.

On the other hand, it did extremely well with everything else.  A great soundtrack, great pacing and at times some of the best animation direction of the season.  All of which helped pull up the status of Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge from regular, to good.  I don't expect it to be good enough for a second season - commercially it doesn't look good - but one wouldn't be a bad thing whatsoever.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge - Teaser Screen Shots

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Just some animated teasers of events that happen later on in the manga.