Continuing our review of current anime, here is episode 13 of "Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation."

"Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation" is a 2013 Japanese anime tv show that derives from a video game. The background music has that bouncy video-game repetitive beat, and the sound effects lean toward the "boing boing boing" category which you either like or drives you crazy. The animation quality is good, though, and is fairly representative of current anime production quality - which, quite frankly, just blows away current US tv animation.

Riding to the other dimension.

The storyline, which is different than that of the video game, follows Goddesses in the world of Gamindustri. They rule the countries of Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. After fighting each other, the Goddesses eventually signed a peace treaty, though certain tensions remain. The Goddesses have certain similarities to Barbarella in terms of their provocative attire and battles, but this is a series for general audiences and they emit the usual girlish squeals and laughs that are typical for anime.


Episode 13 is titled "The Promised True End," so if you haven't seen the rest of the series, this sort of ties everything together in an understandable way. Trying to make sense of the storyline is difficult - just rest assured that there are lots of goddesses running around doing daring deeds. In this episode, the goddesses are having nightmares and have to travel to another dimension to cure themselves. There is a "shimmering flower" that they need to get there, and to obtain the flower they have to climb a tall skyscraper. Things don't go quite as planned, but all ends well.

The series derives from the video game Hyperdimension Neptunia and is produced by David Production of Japan. The director is Masahiro Mukai. There are 13 episodes total, and they stream in the US and Canada through Funimation Entertainment. "Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation" aired on Tokyo MX during the summer of 2013. Reversing the usual process, a manga created by Mikage Baku and entitled "Hyperdimension Neptune: The Animation - Hello New World" resulted from the animated series, and there have been other spin-offs as well.

Anime is not for everyone. However, it is worth presenting it because it is quality work that, for some Western viewers, is quite enjoyable. It is a shame that these shows are not more widely known outside Japan. Only you can decide if it is to your particular taste.


2020