Anime Review: RobiHachi Episode 1

RobiHachi Episode 1

Studio: Studio Comet

Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy

Stream: Funimation & Hulu

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this series and from the beginning intro of a colourful futuristic city and wacky character designs, I knew this was going to be one of the more unusual entries of the anime season. RobiHachi (the title combines the two lead characters names together to form a composite), is a quirky action, sci-fi show, with a good chunk of comedy thrown into the mix.

The episode starts by introducing one of our protagonists, Robby Yaji as he pursues down a thief who has stolen a bag of his. Through this chase scene, we get to see some of the city and its inhabitants, making it clear that this is definitely futuristic from the aliens (reminiscent of Toy Story’s green alien mascots) crossing the road to the screens advertising a miracle world called Isekander. Colour is definitely something which is strong in this series – everything is bright and pops and it helps to show that whilst this is a sci-fi series, this is definitely not going to be a dark, gritty one (a la, Psycho Pass), but something a little more fun. I mean, one of the protagonists has an acerbic robot bunny for a butler…

Robby’s bag is retrieved by our second protagonist, a young man, who introduces himself as Hachi Kita and to thank him, Robby treats him to dinner where the two chat and seem to hit it off, despite their opposing personalities. Robby is an easy-going, cad with a knack for falling into unlucky situations, whilst Hachi is an honour student, used to the straight and narrow but incredibly bored because of this. The two are chalk and cheese but strangely they get on and Hachi seems to take great interest in Robby’s way of living. The two part ways, but meet again the next day when it turns out that Hachi is acting as a debt collector for someone Robby owes a lot of money to form yet another failed venture. The situation escalates further when Hachi’s boss decides to come to collect in person and Robby now finds himself being pursued. This is when things take a big turn and Robby and Hachi find themselves teaming up unexpectedly in a space battle which has a surprise in store of them both.

Whilst the colourful design of the show and its characters is quite striking, the soundtrack also catches your attention – mostly jazz music which adds to the feel of the show and fits the tone nicely. Robby as a character comes across as fairly likable but without any real depth in this first episode – however, due to the frenetic pacing and action-filled scenes, there didn’t seem much time for development. There are some hints however such as a brief flashback to his rich parents and that his ‘pent-house’ turns out to be a spaceship, complete with rocket fighters. The opening video however features Robby and Hachi having fun in favourite situations so it does suggest that action will not always dominate the storyline. Hachi is the more interesting of the two initially, as the more thoughtful and unpredictable one as he easily brushes off his role of a debt collector and switches sides to Robby simply because he finds the situation interesting. Genre-wise the series flits between comedy, action, and sci-fi and then even venturing into mecha towards the end (although the end credits amusingly mention that this isn’t going to be a mech show).

The first episode ends on something of a cliff-hanger, but it’s a strong start and whilst not going to appeal to everyone, there’s some potential here for a really fun series.