***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Aria the Scarlet Ammo. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
To combat rising crime rates the world has relied on the talents of the Butei. Butei are special agents trained in various tactical and law enforcement techniques. They have the skills to wield a wide array of weaponry as well as the authority to make arrests on the international level. Due to their responsibilities, the job of a Butei is a dangerous one.
That is why only the best can succeed. And it is part of the reason Kinji Touyama (voiced by Junji Majima) wants out.
A student at Butei High School in Tokyo, Kinji wishes for a normal life. He has even sabotaged his standing at the academy in his attempt to get out. Currently, with the lowest rank possible for a Butei, Kinji is holding back his actual abilities.
Inheriting a mysterious family trait, Kinji, under the right conditions, can enter Hysteria Mode. While in this state, he can perform superhuman feats of strength and battle awareness. Because of his desire to quit, he tries to suppress what he can do. That becomes much more difficult upon meeting a petite, twin-tailed haired girl.
Aria H. Kanzaki (voiced by Rie Kugimiya) is a prodigy. As one of the top-ranked Butei, she develops an interest in Kinji upon seeing his Hysteria Mode, although she couldn’t figure out how he triggered it. Through her refusal to accept "no" as an answer, Aria and Kinji become partners.
Despite his intentions, Kinji has jumped right into the occupation he tried to leave. As for Aria, she strives to live up to the legend of her ancestor who was one of the greatest crime fighters in history. Series Positives
Aria the Scarlet Ammo, I will admit, isn't the most obvious choice for a month such as this. There were plenty of candidates from my past shows that I could have and maybe even should have chosen.
I know I was thinking as such when I sat down to re-watch this series.
Aria is a show I didn't much care for. Nor is it a series, like Kore wa Zombie Desu ka or Corpse Party, that has a big following. Or at least I have never gotten that sense as I did with those other two. If there is such a following and you are a part of it, I am not.
Regardless, Aria still isn't a series I despise. But I do recall it being on the more boring side. From my recollection, there wasn't much to this show that was anything special. A standard story with standard action by standard characters. It happened, I watched it, there was no need to come back. Nevertheless, here I am.
Why?
For one, I never said Aria was unmemorable. There are several aspects to this show I haven't forgotten. Too bad most of those aspects aren't positives. There are few things to this series I found to be baffling the first time I saw it.
My other, more significant reason has to do with Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA. The fact this series has a continuation has caught my attention. That may not be for the best, but this is a similar situation with Ai Mai Mi. Except the difference is, I enjoy Ai Mai Mi quite a bit. There is a more excited explanation for why I want to return to that series.
Also, calling AA a "continuation" is a force of habit. It was what I assumed the show was when it aired back in 2015. When preparing to return to this series though, I learned that might not be the case.
AA appears to be a spin-off story. That has me scratching my head even more. I can see where such an idea could come from, but that doesn't look like what AA is.
I came back to Aria because I want to review its next installment. And the next installment has me wondering something. If a follow up to a show I didn't care for has my interest, how does that work?
To give Aria the benefit, I went into this re-watch with an even more open mind than I thought possible. I figured, "Who knows?" There was always the chance I would manage to get into this series upon giving it a second look.
After sitting through Aria the Scarlet Ammo again, what's the result?
Well, I now remember the real reason why any possible continuation had my interest. And I will tell you what that is, in the Negative section of this review. I still can't say this was a good show.
That being as it is, there were a lot more things of note I noticed this time around. The idea of a continuation, any continuation of this series isn't the worst thing in the world. If AA is a spin-off, that's the type of set-up that could lead to the best-case scenario.
In a different light, the outstanding elements of Aria may get a breath of fresh air. This arrangement could result in a decent series. I'm not going to bet my entire wallet on that, but the prospects aren't dismal.
I can't promise when I will get to AA, yet I can say this. When I do get around to reviewing the show, I won't be dreading it. There will be reserved optimism on my end. That's a much better spot than where the original series was. In that sense, this return did elevate Aria to an extent.
While I don't care for this show, there are more things I found to highlight in its favor.
The Action
There is a statement I wrote earlier that I need to amend. I said this was a "standard story with standard action by standard characters." That conclusion from my memory is wrong.
What I should be saying is as follows.
"This was a story that ran unchecked with decent characters. Too bad most of these characters the show either underused or underutilized. What held the package together were moments of fun, enough, action."
I won't pretend there weren't times when Aria managed to get the adrenaline going. There were plenty of well-done action scenes in this series. And these weren't well-done in the sole sense of being exciting. Some were comedic. Some were tense. Some were a bit over-the-top. That last bit got problematic, but I will hold off on the details for now.
If you are willing to accept the craziness, you will do fine.
To dip into the negatives points of Aria, these action pieces were where you could find some of the show’s issues. The main one being, the use of, or rather lack of use of certain characters. The person who comes to mind the loudest was Reki (voiced by Kaori Ishihara).
With such a person in this series, it brings about the reoccurring question. Why bother having a neat character and giving them nothing to do? Through her primary main bullet points alone, Reki had a lot going for her. She was a world-class sniper with a tactical, almost emotionless mind. You give her a task, and she is going to get it done. This quality made her one of the most reliable characters of the series. Almost to the point where she could have become a little overpowered.
Knowing Reki had their backs, a considerable element of concern no longer needed to go into Kinji and Aria’s planning. “Overpowered” doesn’t have the greatest connotation to it. For this show though, such a designation wouldn’t have been awful.
Reki allowed Kinji and Aria to focus their entire energy on the task at hand. When they knew no one was around to get them when they had their backs turned, they could fight to their max abilities. Except there were few scenarios that allowed Reiki the chance to do this. And when she was around, she wasn’t necessary.
This reality didn’t make Reki any less awesome. On the one or two occasions when she did have something to do, it was nice to see her in action. Aria did indicate there was something more to her story. I believe that. Nothing came of it, but the signs were there.
A character who fared much better than Reki was Shirayuki Hotogi (voiced by Mikado Takahashi). When I saw her again, she triggered a memory. Except it wasn’t a clear one. I knew she had a role to play in this show. What I was having trouble with was remembering what that was. As it turned out, Shirayuki was one of the most interesting characters of the show.
If this is your first time watching, give Shirayuki a chance. She is not impressive and won’t leave much of an impression during her introduction. Upon learning what she can do, and her one major personality flaw, she made up for her lackluster start. She is the type of character you wouldn't want to anger, which is what Aria did. The rivalry formed between these two girls was a lot more engaging than what was the actual faceoff of the series.
The show, I would say to its credit, dedicated a fair amount of time to Shirayuki’s development. The timing of this was odd, but it was no less pleasant to see. It was this kind of segment, along with the growth of Kinji and Aria’s relationship, which made the series enjoyable. It also made things that much more disappointing when it lost that focus.
Aria's saving grace was Kinji’s Hysteria Mode. His ability to trigger this made the show so much more fun. This type of plot mechanic is one I am a fan of. Having a character be the best at what they do, can make for an exciting story. Sure, flaws and imperfections create a more relatable personality. The occasional perfectionist isn’t bad once in a while, especially when a series knows how to implement it and not overuse it.
With the many areas this shows stumbled in, this was one place Aria nailed. The story was well-balanced in using Kinji’s power. Hysteria Mode wasn’t something the characters would forget about until the last minute. It also wasn’t an instant fix. Once in this state, Kinji made things more manageable. But he had to put in some work to overcome what he was facing. That and he didn’t hog the entire spotlight.
Both Hysteria Mode and normal Kinji made for an efficient team up with Aria. They were strong partners. When they fought together, they fought together. Kinji didn’t always come in to save Aria. She was more than capable of protecting herself. Plus, there was a scene with Kinji, Aria, and Shirayuki which was great.
This trio was excellent. Although I get why they weren’t working together during the climax, it was a shame we only got this once. That said, the group that was in the final battle wasn't awful either. Everyone who fought was never dead weight. Everyone contributed something to the final outcome. To have that within a story with an element such as Hysteria Mode is impressive.
That notwithstanding, how Kinji entered Hysteria Mode was nothing close to clever. Aria had plenty of pretty female characters in its roster. This wasn’t the kind of show that was above using that. Thus, is it any surprise Kinji’s metamorphosis linked itself to whenever he felt sexually aroused?
To be fair though, Aria didn’t go overboard with this. There were several moments where stereotypical anime “accidents” occurred. I’ll let your imagination do with that as it will. There were points though that were more deliberate and had a purpose. Some of the characters knew what Kinji could do and what would set it off.
Also, it was never Kinji himself that instigated the more eye-rolling instances. Had he had his way, he wouldn't have chosen to enter Hysteria Mode. He only resorted to using his ability when it was necessary.
Hysteria Mode is one of the more memorable aspects of this series that isn’t irritating. And it was only a small part of what was a decent action show. If AA retains this aspect, that will be fantastic. It will make it hard for the next chapter be much worse than its predecessor. The possibility doesn’t go away though.
Should AA double down on what made this one a bit of a mess, that is going to make for a disappointing sit. However, even the slightest improvements to this series’ faults will go a long way.
I am hoping for the latter.
I am hoping for the latter.
Series Negatives
There is a laundry list of issues with Aria the Scarlet Ammo. These issues range from tiny flaws that added up to create big annoyances to problems that were annoying from the moment they appeared.
I can’t even claim one element to be the worst offender. Several aspects are vying for that title. And even among those, it is difficult to single out one. If I could, I would want to say them all at once.
That being the case, why don’t we begin with the issues I have the least to say about. Before I do, know that there isn’t much I can say about these things. One deals with spoilers, and the other is me not having much to work with being the problem. I’ll let you try to figure out which is which.
Kinji and Aria’s relationship wasn’t awful. As I said, they made for a good team. To think of it in another way, let’s compare them to a far more famous duo. Aria was to Kinji as Watson was to Sherlock. The two halves of each respective pair were what made them work. It’s hard to think of one without the other. Except few would say the Watson of each team is the one more ingrained in people’s consciousness.
While it makes sense Kinji would have more of the spotlight given how he was the lead protagonist, Aria was still his equal. Except she was the one looking for a partner, not the other way around. Kinji should have come off as the Watson of the pair. The fact that he didn’t and given what this story was basing its premise on, this was a massive problem. If anything, Aria needed to be the person who could use Hysteria Mode.
At the top of this review, I said I remembered the reason why any possible continuation caught my attention. This series one hundred percent requires one because there were so many loose ends left by the end. There was no excuse for why this was the case either. Remove a few details that had zero effect on the narrative, and there would have been no issue.
Aria dropped in way too many tidbits and boxed itself into a corner. The only thing you can blame this on is the show itself. Why would you ever, ever, EVER name drop someone out of the blue and then never give any hint of a resolution. Making matters worse the story appeared to have dropped this plotline because it didn’t come back up. Until the last few minutes of the series right before the final credits, that is. This was damn near the last shot.
If AA turns out to have any continuing elements, this might become a moot point. I won’t hold my breath on this since I have already forgotten about this series once. There is a high chance the same could happen again. Should that occur, it only adds credence to the pointlessness of this detail. As well as the oddness.
Where this was an example of Aria sharing too much information, there were other times the story didn’t give us anything. This was the issue with the show that I have never been able to forget.It didn’t sit well with me then, and it doesn’t sit well with me now.
Riko
Riko Mine (voiced by Mariya Ise) isn’t a bad character. She is not the cause of this problem. But the show did everything it could to ruin what should have been a reliable addition to the cast.
For an earlier issue, I didn’t want to give spoilers away. Here I don’t have much choice. I need to mention this series’ twist because it is a perfect illustration of how not to do a twist.
Riko becomes one of the main antagonists of the show. You wouldn’t see that coming with the actions the story did with her before revealing this. That is to say, Aria the Scarlet Ammo did nothing with her. Riko got about as much screen time as Reki did before this moment. So basically nothing.
When we met Riko, she came off as this bumbling air head. She was loud and loved cute things. Nothing was threatening about her, and this was a brilliant cover. To have the level of non-suspicion she had, any antagonist would kill for. The show was not in the wrong for doing this. Too bad you are going to know what episode her reveal happens in.
Without warning, Riko becomes far more intense then she had ever been. This was the first hint that there was more to her than met the eye. How long did the series hold on this side of her? It was about half an episode. Riko went from zero to bad guy with no build up in between.
Along with this, the show introduced a whole bunch of new elements that had not been a thing. One of them being the inclusion of espers and telekinetic powers. Where did this come from?
While Hysteria Mode isn’t what you would call average, it’s a far cry away from the actual supernatural and magic. That’s right; I said magic. There was a freaking ice mage in this show. Excuse me but why?
The Butei used guns, knives, swords, and other real-world weapons. The fiction came from how skilled these agents were with these tools. Were talking deflecting bullets with bullets heights of proficiency. Such a thing was fantastical on its own. Except the show did an excellent job of establishing this was the kind of world its story took place in. Anything more mystical came off as an easy out.
When there was a fight between Aria and Riko, their skills in hand to hand, close-range combat were on par with each other. Their battle was heading to a draw. Except the story needed Riko to get away. Therefore, she could control her long hair like any other appendage on her body. That’s not clever, that’s lazy.
The existence of supernatural powers was an element to Aria I had forgotten. If I had to guess, my brain drained it out of my head due to how absurd it was in context with the story. But to be honest, Riko being able to do what she did shouldn’t have been enough to block this out. No, the thing that did that came much later.
The Ending
Wow, this was dumb.
If we want to speak regarding pure randomness, look no further than the ending to Aria the Scarlet Ammo. What did I miss? I had to have missed something. For what reason did anyone think this finale made any sense.
I can handle Hysteria Mode. I can handle the sudden inclusion of magic. I can handle the telekinesis, the unbelievable physics, and the fact high schoolers were running around fighting crime. You give me enough establishment and I can handle anything. But do you know what I can’t handle?
Surprise, the final boss is Dracula. Not some nickname. Not a copycat. Not some eccentric wealthy villain. No, it was, honest to goodness, the legendary blood-sucking vampire himself, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And do you know what’s worse? There was the tiniest hint at why this was possible in the world of Aria.
Works of fiction do not exist in this story. The famous literary characters known the world over, they weren’t the creation of some author. They were actual figures from history in this universe. The same was true for Aria and Riko’s ancestors. Except there was one critical difference.
Aria and Riko’s ancestors were at least human.
This series had no concept of foundation building. This story did things because it could. And Aria the Scarlet Ammo was not remotely smart enough to throw in these kinds of turning points.
What am I looking for out of AA? I am praying this kind of utter nonsense died here.
Final Thoughts
Despite my little rant at the end, this wasn’t the worst show of Pre-Blog Month 2. If anything, it was the one that saw the most improvement. Not enough for me to change my mind about it, but credit where its due.
This series, when it decided to use them, had decent enough characters. They were fun to follow, and they worked well with each other. They could be funny, charming, and likable which was great when there was an action scene. And there a few of those. Plus, Kinji and his Hysteria Mode were always entertaining.
Too bad the good that was in this show couldn’t support the weight of the misguided story. Some plot lines went nowhere. Certain critical details never got an explanation. The inclusion of random supernatural elements littered what could have been a decent watch.
The best thing that can happen to this series is if any follow up cleans up this mess. We will see when the time comes. For the moment though, Aria the Scarlet Ammo is a show you can skip.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Aria the Scarlet Ammo? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
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Others in the Aria the Scarlet Ammo Series
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