Kiddy Grade Review
Saturday, January 14th, 2006Often I make judgment of anime series very, very early. I tend to favour anime that can make an impact in the early episodes. But there are anime that serve as exceptions and Kiddy Grade - one of the many anime series that were stuck in my backlog - is one of them. Warning: Spoilers ahead. The first few episodes of Kiddy Grade merely scratch the surface of the plot. It is the final portions of episode five that even begin the intriguing portion of Kiddy Grade - where we are prompted to question the history behind Eclair and Lumiere. But as this type of plot normally goes, nothing is revealed until later.
To go on though, I’ll have to briefly describe the world of Kiddy Grade. Kiddy Grade is a sci-fi anime series with its primary protagonists being Eclair and Lumiere - two C-Class ES-members of the Galactic Organisation of Trade and Tarriffs (GOTT). On the surface they work as receptionists as SO-members (SO-members are normal GOTT officers, while ES-members are the elite, underground GOTT special force). Their real jobs, however, are to perform tasks that traditional SO-members are unable to: Capturing hardened criminals, suppressing planetary riots and so on. Initially, the series focuses on individual missions with episode one to four having a mission each. Yes, with the exception of the introduction of other ES-members (such as Tumbledee/Tumbledum and Alv/Dvenger), it’s pretty mundane stuff.
But when the real action starts, it most definitely starts. From episode eight onwards, we are taken on a story focused on Eclair - her hidden past. At first, it seems that this mini-story seems to wrap up a bit too quickly. Within a few episodes, Eclair learns about her other murderous “selves” - split personalities or more specifically, “erased” memories, that have existed a long time before her current awareness - and quickly shuts it out, intending to live her life the way she wants it.
Quickly I was proven wrong, however, as the plot thickens from then on. Eclair and Lumiere are soon purged from GOTT due to Eclair’s refusal to obey a direct order to suppress a (rightful) revolution against the Nobles on some planet. From Tumbledee/Tumbledum to Alv/Dvengr, our two maidens are forced to fight their ex-coworkers and friends. They eventually “kill” Eclipse - GOTT’s Director, and GOTT collapses.
That’s merely the end of just one subplot Kiddy Grade has in store for its viewers though, but continuing the summary from here on would be difficult. We see many surprises coming out with the truth behind Eclipse’s “death” as the first. Later, the final twist in store for Kiddy Grade’s viewers finally begins with the realisation that the Atlas Colonisation Ship was meant as a Ark for the survival of the Nobles (and the eventual destruction of the commoners) rather than a mere high-tech planet coloniser. Alv - the true murderer of Eclipse - somehow takes over the all-powerful Atlas and attempts to use it to destroy Earth - the homeword of the pure-blooded Nobles.
And what do you expect next but an all out battle between Alv (Atlas) and all the other ES-members, including Eclair and Lumiere of course. The victor is, as expected, Eclair, Lumiere and the remaining ES-members. Let’s not forget the not-dead Eclipse as well. The traditional happy ending emerges.
Conclusion:
As far as my opinion goes, Kiddy Grade is good. I’d say that Kiddy Grade even had the potential to be one of those ‘great’ anime in my book, but the series somehow failed to completely mesmerize me. Kiddy Grade attempted to weave multi-layer story, one mystery (or subplot) ending with the beginning of another. Perhaps it was a bit too much to handle in a 24 episode series. There’s just a little too much. If you didn’t understand anything about what the short plot summary I wrote, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’d need at least another page to explain everything properly. (Of course, there’s my rather lousy summarising and elaboration skills as well)
But I think it was just me losing patience with continuous anti-climaxes at the end of every layer of mystery. The cool, adventure-thriller like mood built up from episode eight onwards was destroyed by the “mystery” involving Alv and Dvengr, never to be recovered even by the final battle. However, on the various mysteries, I have to admit that I’d never have expected the Chief Secretary (Chevalier) to be Eclair’s son. It’s easy to forget how old Eclair and the rest of the ES members really are, with the ahmm… fanservice and all.
On another note, the animation is good, with the design of certain characters fit to please lolicons (Oh, Lumiere!). But soundtrack wise, there’s nothing spectacular.
What actually struck me about this anime was how parts of it seem to parallel reality or our possible futures. The GOTT are not so much different from certain governments when it comes to using “illegal” means (e.g. alleged wiretapping by US government) to do what is supposedly in the interest of everybody. The fact that the GOTT is merely a tool of the Nobles - pure, unmodified and unaugmented humans - isn’t very much different from how some people perceive the World Trade Organisation. Nobles ruling the galaxy and suppressing the genetically and mechanically modified lower class is a segregation scenario commonly argued by anti-cloning supporters.
So, that’s the end of a good and very backlogged series. Oh yes, please don’t take the previous paragraph too seriously. They are just simplistic observations from an anime enthusiast.