hm...it seems interesting. I may consider buying it. ^_^
Matantei Loki Ragnarok tv Review
Loki, god of Mischief has been banished from the world of the gods and sent to Midgard. There he meets a human girl named Mayura Daidouji. He is told that he needs to collect evil auras to return to the world of the gods. In order to collect evil auras, he starts a detective agency which specializes in the paranormal. Along with other gods that have been sent to assasinate Loki for reasons previously unknown.
Is it possible for the ancient god of evil to survive in and unfamiliar world in the form of a eight-year-old child, lacking his former abilities?
Story & Characters
Loki was a god (literally). And he loved nothing more than to play tricks on other gods and goddesses – hence his
title as the Trickster. Through these tricks he made many enemies, but nothing prepared him for the day the powerful
Odin, All-Father of the gods, stripped him of his powers and banished him to the mortal realm.
For some reason, removing his powers left him in the form of a 6-year old boy. I'm sure he HATED that part.
Now Loki and his faithful servant Yamino, who followed Loki even in banishment, are putzing around Japan, trying to
figure out how to return to the realm of the gods. Oh, and they solve mysteries on the side.
Detective Boy Loki, anyone?
One day a teenaged girl, Mayura, appears at their detective agency. She's a mystery nut. No, cut that –
she's a mystery OTAKU. Anything mysteriously strange and fishy and she's on it like butter on bread, and ready
with about 142408 wacky explanations that are anything but right. After Loki helps free her from the influences of a
possessed doll (seriously, I am NOT making this up) she latches herself onto the detective agency, eager for more
mysteries.
As Loki, Yamino and Mayura go around solving mysteries (usually looking for mysteries to solve, and usually Mayura ends
up dragging Loki along) numerous enemies of Loki from the gods' realm begin to show up. Some are relatively
friendly, like the loyal but dumb-as-a-brick Thor, God of Thunder. Others are mortal enemies, like the one-eyed
Heimdall, whom is destined to fight Loki to the death during Ragnarok, the end of the world. Others are madly in love
with Loki, like the buxom Freya, or jealous of him, like Freya's brother Frey.
Kids, this is not your father's Norse Mythology. What entails is basically a relatively episodic, comedic show in
which everyone and their mother is out to get Loki, and Loki <i>really doesn't care</i>. The story
lurches around trying to get to the point of explaining WHY Odin banished Loki but never actually reaches it, getting
mired down in a mixed bag of character exposition and inane detective mysteries.
If you want a detective show, try Spiral or Case Closed/Detective Boy Conan. If you want Norse mythology, check out the
originals at a library, or if you want a silly yet thoughtful take on the gods, try Kittyhawk's webcomic, <a
href="http://sgvy.com">Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki</a>. If you want to go constantly,
"WTF", Loki is perfect for you.
Rating:
Art
Loki aired in 2003 (I think) so the art is crisp and clean with a vibrant color palette. The character designs are
serviceable, with everyone distinct and fitting their personalities, but generally rather plain, when they could have
gotten relatively elaborate especially with the costuming of some of the goddesses like Freya. Instead, we usually see
people in school uniforms or street clothes. The artwork and the stylings are relatively shoujo in nature, with lots of
sparkling effects (Loki takes advantage of this aspect on several occasions) and soft edges.
It seems obvious that the animators were on a fairly tight budget based on the above, but nothing says overblown shoujo
love like RECYCLED TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCES. In this case it's not a transformation, but Loki summoning his wooden
crescent staff in almost EVERY EPISODE in order to defeat the evil of the day. Needless to say, it quickly grows old and
tiring, even after it gets upgraded to a different sequence in the second half of the series.
There aren't really any special effects, no 3D animation (which is good because it would just look really out of
place) and nothing really splashy. The art suits its purpose, and that's about all it does.
Rating:
Sound
Like the rest of the production, the music of the show serves its purpose but is otherwise wholly forgettable. It's
been some time since I saw the series and I can't remember a single bar out of either the opening or ending. Sure,
this is partially due to the fact that I usually skip opening and ending sequences for most shows, but I skipped the
op/ed sequences for Loki because they weren't interesting at all. The background music is the same – I
can't remember a single bit of theme or other music from the show. It must have suited the series fairly well
because I don't ever remember getting annoyed by the music, but it's definitely no Yuki Kajiura.
Vocal performances come in from a mixture of well-known voice actors. Mayura (main female character) is played by Yui
Horie (Naru/Love Hina, Rio Takeuchi/Spiral, Tohru/Fruits Basket) while Loki (main male character) is played by Yuriko
Fuchizaki for young Loki (Anthy/Utena, Megumi/AMG) and Takahiro Sakurai for older Loki (Yuri/Kyou Kara Maou,
Suzumu/PMK). Other well-known actors include Takehito Koyasu (Frey), Romi Paku (Heimdall) and Shinichiro Miki (Yamino).
They do a good job in matching their voice to the character's personality (Koyasu, well known for his deep voice in
numerous bishounen roles, raises the pitch and cadence of his voice to portray Frey as the bumbling idiot he is) but
their performances are mostly wasted on a limp story with limp characters.
Rating:
Presentation
Loki is not a show to be taken seriously. In fact, a lot of entertainment can be gained by pretending the overarching
"deeper" plotline doesn't exist and just laugh at how silly the gags can get – I mean, how many
anime make fun of Iron Chef? The characters mess up so badly it's funny, especially because as I mentioned before,
Loki <i>really doesn't care</i>. If the show was only focused on Loki, it would be very, very boring,
because all Loki seems to do is sit around the detective agency and occasionally stir himself to figure out how to
regain his powers and return to the realm of the gods. It's everyone else's insane personalities that make the
show even worth watching, even though their sheer ineptness makes me want to hit something with a very large mallet.
This isn't a very rewatchable show – once you've seen it, there's not much else. The gags are good
the first time, but would only grow tedious if rewatched. There's not a lot holding this series together, and by
the time you've finished the 26 episodes you've already seen all that's worth watching.
However, if you have some time and want to laugh, Loki isn't a bad choice. Just don't shell out $20 for a DVD.
Try renting it or something instead.
For me, I find that this page of <a href="http://nyahnyah.net/blog/loki/loki.html">Loki Screencap
Recaps</a> with shrewd and amusing commentary more than enough. Still, it's only a worthwhile read if
you've seen the series and know just what the author is trying to convey.
Rating:
Final Verdict
5.0000 (moderate)
Reviewed by Tama-Neko, Jun 26, 2005
Comments
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Criox Jun 27, 2005
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SebastianvonKane Aug 27, 2005
It looks like crap.
Non original and kinda poor.
Staying away from it!!! -
rinikittybabe Apr 24, 2006
I personally love this show. It's just that weird mix between Witch Hunter Robin, Serial Experiments Lain, and some random magical girl anime that I find irrisitable. Right now this anime is my second favorite (second to Kino no Tabi of course) which is saying a lot. I think the dark undertones and the intresting use of Norse Mythology more than makes up for the slight "monster of the day" aspect.
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UberDog Mar 23, 2015
Nice and solid review, nice depth and details to the anime. Can't argue against the ratings either.
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