Anime Hajime Review: Akiba's Trip - The Animation

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Akiba’s Trip – The Animation. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

For fans of anime, video games, and everything nerdy, there’s one place where a person can find it all. The otaku capital of the world, Akihabara.

Tamotsu Denkigai (voiced by Haruki Ishiya) is an Akihabara regular. He knows this town like the back of his hand. Then one day, he stumbles across a secret war that has been waging for years. A war that will determine the fate of the city.

Looking to control humanity are dangerous beings known as Bugged Ones. With the ability to turn people into mindless servants, there is almost nothing that can stop them. Except for one person. Matome Mayonaka (voiced by Rie Takahashi) is herself a Bugged One who seeks to protect Akihabara.

During one fight, Matome gets overwhelmed. Without thinking, Tamotsu saves her life at the cost of his own. To spare him, Matome turns Tamotsu into a Bugged One. Though this gives him superhuman strength, it comes at a cost.

One, Tamotsu can no longer leave the city limits. Two, he must face a never-ending wave of enemies. Enemies whose only weakness is stripping them of their clothes. Since they are Bugged Ones themselves, should Tamotsu or Matome ever get naked, they will die.

This battle will be fierce. But never underestimate the obsessive nature of an otaku.

Series Positives

There’s one thing that needs saying about Akiba’s Trip. Any show set in Akihabara is bound to be a little strange.

It goes without saying, given this hobby of mine, Akihabara is a must stop every time I’m in Tokyo. Even if I don’t end up buying anything, it never feels like a wasted outing. I know the place well, but I always end up finding something new. If you’re a fan of anime, games, or electronics, you’re bound to come across something you’ll like. Should you be planning your first visit, let me offer three pieces of advice.

One, avoid weekends and holidays. The crowds can be overwhelming.

Two, there are a ton of small, easy to miss shops. Check any place that appears even the tiniest bit interesting. You never know what you’ll find. These are often the stores that have the neatest stuff. To add to that, please be aware of your surroundings. It doesn’t take much to wander into a more adult section.

Third, and this is the key to enjoying the most out of Akihabara. Do not feel embarrassed to buy anything. Whatever it is you may want, I guarantee it’s not the weirdest thing going on in that city.

When it comes to this show, this wasn’t a bad representation of Akihabara. Over the top and over ridiculous, sure. Except, the goofiness was coming from an actual source. This was a decent depiction of the different aspects of otaku culture within its borders.

There was, of course, the expected anime, manga, and video game side of things. Then there were the military enthusiasts, the card collectors, and idol group followers. Those aren’t my thing, but I can tell where to find them.

Akiba’s Trip also did a faithful job of keeping everything where it should be. There were many times where I knew the exact corner characters were standing at. Not just that, this series got permission to use a lot of real world stores and symbols. It was a bit like a scavenger hunt to find them all.

A few examples of things this show wasn’t allowed to use includes JR Railways and McDonald's. What it could use were Atre malls and Street Fighter. Hell, there was an entire episode that was a blatant promotion of Street Fighter V. This wasn't even the most outlandish instance.

The most surprising product placement was Carl’s Jr. of all things. Or Hardee’s for my US east coast readers. To have this sponsorship, because that’s what it had to be, doesn’t make any sense for anywhere in Japan. Except for Akihabara. There's a Carl’s Jr. restaurant there. The only one, to my knowledge, in the entire country. At least at the time of this review. If there are more, they are not outside Tokyo or military bases.

Still, seeing that cheery star wasn’t the most shocking appearance in Akiba’s Trip. I don’t why. I don’t know for what reason. But out of nowhere, a, let’s say, “controversial” figure, alright figures, made an appearance. Even though it was for the briefest of moments, they were impossible to miss. This cameo is not reason enough to watch this show. But if you do choose to watch, I’ll let you come across it.

This show was also aware. It played around with a lot of different troupes. Problems often got solved through conveniences. Akiba’s Trip didn’t try to hide this. Instead, it lived it up. The ending alone resolved itself through the use a powerful deus ex machina plot device. This kind of stuff eats at me to no end. Yet given how random and silly this series was, why would logic come into play?

Plus, the fights were imaginative. They were big. They were crazy. They were entertaining. They were cool to look at. Then having the key to victory be undressing the opponent, I mean, why wouldn’t that be the case. An offshoot to that, this series’ fan service found a nice middle ground.

These single aspects of Akiba’s Trip made the series fun enough. I did enjoy it. As a full package, this wasn’t a fantastic show. It had problems. In spite of those problems, I liked it nonetheless. Although, there’s a reason for that which I’ll get into.

One last important note. Akiba’s Trip is based off the video game series of the same name. I’ve never played them. I didn’t even know the games existed before this series. I cannot comment on how the anime served as an adaptation. What I can say is, I’m now interested in the games. 

The Characters

On an individual basis, everyone got their job done. There wasn’t anyone who was annoying. There wasn’t anyone who was unwelcomed. There were plenty who felt unnecessary and forgotten. That’s a different story.

There were also characters who didn’t have much to do. Matome, for instance, got the short end of the cast. Considering she was the main female lead, she almost could’ve been taken out.

Granted, with our her, this show couldn’t have existed. Her turning Tamotsu into a Bugged One was necessary. From the show’s own rules, there was no other way that could’ve happened and Tamotsu still be the protagonist.

After that, Matome slid into the background. It was hard to imagine her as the counterpart to Tomotsu. She was around. Too bad she never did much else. Despite her being the most experienced and best fighter. Even in the idol group she formed, Matome wasn’t the focal point.

It wasn’t until the final few episodes when Matome got to be one of the two main characters. The was a story to her this series chose not to explore.

Why am I mentioning this in the positive section? It’s because I did like Matome. She was funny. She was good to have around. Believe it or not, she was the straight man of the group and a pretty good one at that. Besides, there was a part of this series involving her character that I actually didn’t like.

Of the people allowed to be interesting, Arisa Ahokainen (voiced by Yuki Nagaku) was great. She was the series' catch all. Possessing inhuman strength and knowledge about everything otaku, she was invaluable. Given the nature of this show, this worked in her favor. That and her affinity for cosplay. She was almost never in the same outfit twice and her costumes only got more ridiculous. Again, setting the feel of Akiba’s Trip.

Rounding off the cast was Tamotsu. He was a good lead in general. But for this series, he was perfect. He was lazy, obsessive, and a cry baby. Except that never slowed him down. Tamotsu was quick to accept the madness surrounding him. In fact, he didn’t care whatsoever. That go-with-the-flow attitude was what made Matome the straight man.

Tamotsu was more comfortable in Akihabara. This was his kind of town. For Matome, the city grew on her. There was no doubt she loved it and would do anything to protect it. Tamotsu, on the other hand, grew up in the city. It shaped him. That’s why it would make less sense for him to question anything.

Akiba’s Trip succeeded in giving characters you would be willing to follow along for the ride. The problem was this show kind of neglected to give us the ride.

Series Negatives

Why did I like this series? It’s because I like Akihabara. This show did Akihabara well. This was an enjoyment based on familiarity. Rather than actual quality. Yeah, Akiba's Trip was fun, but I’m not going to pretend it was good.

That’s a shame too since this series started off strong. It was goofy in the enduring kind of way. A lot of things happened for no good reason other than they happened. Which was deliberate. This show used this for its comedy. Which worked and was often quite hilarious.

Too bad it didn’t do this all the time.

Akiba’s Trip struggled to follow its own rules. Whenever a Bugged One got stripped of their clothes, that was the end of the fight. This was one hundred percent just a reason to put girls in their underwear.

To the show’s credit, it tried balancing this by not holding back with the male character. Though girls did tend end up in more revealing positions. This was fine. It’s not what I’m getting at.

For Tamotsu and Matome, losing their clothes was life threatening. They could not afford to get naked. With that in mind, Matome should’ve died in almost every single episode. She never went nude, but the show established that bras and panties weren’t enough protection.

I said earlier that this series had good action. True, when this series had action, it was good. Fights and battles, I thought, were the focus. That was what the first few episodes indicated anyway. While there was a new threat for each episode, many plot lines had little to do with them. Akiba’s Trip was stale at parts.

Then there was one thing this show screwed up in its entirety.

Character Relationships

Yes, the characters themselves were fine. Together, there was nothing there.

Everyone was friends. Thus, it would’ve been nice to see them do things as friends. There were a few specific character centric episodes. All others were around. Inconsequential, but around.

The biggest offense was Tamotsu and Matome’s relationship.

Throughout the series, Matome had a crush on Tamotsu. I don’t know when this started. I can guess why it started. But it just came into existence. There was no build up to it. Then through most of the series, this wasn’t much of a factor. Again, Matome and Tamotsu didn’t spend much time alone.

There’s no reason this should’ve been the case. This would’ve required almost no effort. Matome and Tamotsu together was believable. It made sense. There was nothing wrong with this idea. I guess the show thought this was a given. Like it was natural or something. Here’s the issue.

Natural means easy. It doesn’t mean skippable.

Final Thoughts

I know how I’m going to advise this show. If you’re a fan of the video games, I don’t see why you would pass on this series. Unless it completely misses the mark. Which it might, I don’t know.

If you’re someone like me who's familiar with Akihabara, then yeah. You’d get a total kick out of this.

If you’re not either of those things, this wouldn’t be a bad watch. Except there wouldn’t be much to it. The characters are fine. The action's nice. The comedy is serviceable. It’s not strung together in the smoothest of ways. But it works.

If at any point during this review Akiba’s Trip sounded interesting to you, then all’s well. If not, I understand.

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