From the light novel series written by Minase Hazuki, comes a story of love, action, and comedy. Yachi Haruaki is a high school boy who is naturally resistant to curses. After his father sends him a mysterious black cube, Haruaki awakes to find a nude girl named Fear standing in his kitchen. She’s the human form of the cursed black cube – and an instrument of torture! Utilizing her special abilities, Fear fights alongside Haruaki to defeat other cursed instruments and their owners.
(Source: FUNimation)
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Comentários
mdz
Why didn’t I drop this? [Contains vague spoilers, then again, it's so predictable a caveman could do it, also contains some offensive language] C³ is best described as an atrocity then again, that might be considered a generous title. This would be the “ideal troll” series to give somebody to watch. It’s not very good in storyline, and the characters are the aggravating type of cliché. It follows the generic harem law of everybody falling in love with the average dude, and it offers incessant and redundant fan service. The series basically follows this extremely unique and innovative storyline: Boy meets unique and strange girl, strange girl issuffering from a curse, boy wants to help girl, girl denies boy’s kindness and runs away after accidentally hurting boy, boy finds girl and basically accepts girl, then girl learns the meaning of friendship. Innovative and original right? Normally, the storyline wouldn’t be aggravating on its own but it’s just portrayed and executed in such an obnoxious way.
The majority of the episodes are generally composed of 60% school/fan service, then 30% actual plot, with the 10% being the OP and ED. The series basically started off as excessive moe fan service followed by an episode or two of melodrama. Then it led into some action, which was surprisingly pretty cool. Then it fell into the inevitable plight of more melodrama, love triangles; then from episode eight onwards, it’s visited by sporadic random tentacles[perhaps, slightly exaggerated].
Surprisingly, the actual plot does actually exist, albeit rushed and poorly told. The small plot is littered with mediocre storytelling and incessant fan service. C³ basically tries to develop a seemingly serious plot, but the plot is about as creative and unpredictable as Bleach’s. The plot basically revolves around trying to alleviate the girl’s curse, but it does it in such a bad way. Numerous questions are raised with each episode, and they are answered, but are done so in such a mediocre way. C3 is titled a harem, ecchi comedy with action elements; if it actually stayed with those genres, rather than attempt an asinine, darker one [which it fails to do], then this review wouldn't exist [It would be like being irritated at the fan service in a series labeled as an ecchi romance; I don't like C3 because it tries to incorporate more genres than it can handle.]
To be fair, most series raise questions, but they answer them. Now how do they answer them? Well, most of them would answer them through subtle hints, actions, and perhaps even some dialogue. How does C³ do it? Well, they do it through dialogue. Not intelligent dialogue, but in blatant “Why did this happen”s and “What was that”s. Now imagine the end of a mystery anime, where everything is resolved, there’s been a few subtle, yet significant clues, and the main detective puts it all together, in blatant monologue. Now, if C³ was a mystery anime, that wouldn’t be so bad, but it does this without any clues. They literally just commune a meeting and go, “What was that?” and well, that’s how the majority of the questions were answered, in Q and A format, intelligent right?
Now C³ isn’t an entirely bad series. It does have a few redeeming “good” points. The art and animation is simple, yet in some scenes it’s done really well. Both openings look great[it's simple, but they actually do look good], and the ending theme fits. The action scenes are also pretty cool, the history behind the torture weapons, and the actual fighting isn’t bad. It’s entertaining when it comes to that, but besides that, it doesn’t have much going for it. Basically, imagine Bleach with more melodrama, and much more boobs, tentacles, and panty shots.
Objective Score: 3/10. It’s the irritating type of below average, it’s not good, and it’s not enjoyable. This show was actually one of the few that I fell behind on due to the incessant bullshit I put through while watching it.
Subjective Score: 3/10: It’s still shit. If you’re into tentacles, panty shots, incessant fan service, and boobs, you’ll probably like this. If you want a decent storyline, or even decent characters, you probably wouldn’t like this. The show is mostly fan service, and the plot itself is mostly ridiculous and only used to further develop the fan service
DangoSadge
Rule 34..... Generally accepted fearsome internet rule that states that pornography or sexually related material exists for any conceivable subject. At first I was like.... "Oh yeah, I bet that rule can't be applied to a freakin CUBE!" ........And thus C3 is born....... Normally I don't review animes on first episodes but I have to give my first impressions on this one as a clarify with those who wants to pick up this series. Will update as the anime progresses. Here we go! Another school battle royale! But this time with tools and objects transforming in gorgeous girls. Yachi Haruaki is a normal high school boy with a travelling parent whomsends him backs souvenirs in the form of girls (oh god I wish my parents did that) but here's a twist. They're all cursed tools! So nne day, Haruaki receives a black cube from his old man. During the night, he encounters a NAKED (yea because that's how we normally encounter girls for the first time right guys?) silver haired girl stealing rice crackers. She is the human-form of the black cube, an instrument of torture called "Fear in Cube". So thus began their newfound companionship in a battle royale against other cursed instruments in the form of girls. Sound familiar?
The art and animation! Blindingly colourful and obviously similar to series such as Baka To Test? That's because the same director Oonuma Shin is in charge of both series. He was also the episode director of Bakemonogatari which is why C3 seem to have a bit of the "SHAFT" aspect to aspect approach.
Character designs are pretty average but the high luminosity design managed to grab my somewhat short attention span. I have nothing much to add about sound. Seiyuus portrayal of their characters are just average as well. However I do enjoy the BGM. It manage to expresses the torn conflict between peace and chaos in the anime.
I will update character review as soon as the plot advances. For now we have our typical hero, Yachi Haruaki, whom is somewhat special ability of not being able to be cursed. What prove do I have?
"Hey Yachi! You're a mother f*****!"
See? I can't curse him. Yeah I know that was lame. But you've read it anyways.
Joining him is Kubrick Fear a typical tsundere whom now have to cope with life as an average girl.
Not much of an innovation to the whole anime scene but this is expected since the themes are comedy and ecchi. I can't complain if authors are to afraid to venture out and try new character development techniques. The easy way out to show character developments is of course employing the "dere" character cards.
And last but not least a childhood friend with no redeeming qualities whatsoever (yet) except accelerated specific regional body growth.
I can't really say I enjoyed watching the first episode. But I don't hate it as well. It is somewhat confusing. Is it trying to be funny? Is it trying to be dramatic? Philosophical? Moe-blob?
Definitely trying to be a Moe-blob anime. So if you enjoy those and you''ve got spare time why not pick up this anime and be the judge for yourself? Or you could think outside of the box and apply rule 34 to other everyday objects.
Haremu Kingu,
Signing off
Benduski
C³ C cube was really rushed in the story, is like if they knew they were not going to make a 2nd season, and they wanted to throw a lot of content in just 12 episodes. Story The story at first is really great, but it goes down every episode, because it's not consistent, it's like there are three different stories on just 12 episodes, the first story was great, was dark and violent and the action was the best in that story, the 2nd one was fine but it wasn't what i expected, like, it slowed down the things and less violent and less dark and thethird one was ok, violent like the fisrt one and kind of dark but not shown like the first one, the ending was like if they are going to continue with a 2nd season because of the end, so if you put all of that together the overall is good.
Art & Animation
It really was very good, at first looked normal but then as the episode continues it has a dark tone and dark feel on the atmosphere, i liked the characters design.
Sound
The sound was very good, the VA and the music was good and the different OP and ED were just great, i really liked them a lot.
Character
The dark past of Fear wasn't expected for me, i really didn't expected that and started to think if i was going to like her or not, but you will find out for yourself, Haruaki was normal but powerful with the help of his childhood friend Konoha, who happens to have her own abilities to help Haruaki, Kirika was great and i felt for what she was going,Kuroe was really adorable and funny and i felt sorry for the loli Amanda, overall was very good.
Enjoyment
What i enjoyed the most were the first and last episodes, the middle ones were ok but not like the others level, the ending was unsatisfying but overall i had a very good enjoyment.
OtakuPrincess010
Story- I think that the plot of the story wasn't very contestant. It added things and just dropped it off. I think that the story is like three different arcs (in away). I like the first two, but the last one was not very interesting and very confusing. I think there was stuff they forgot to wrap up or did do it properly. I will not say what it was because I don't want to give spoilers Art- The art is where this show shined the most. It was very colorful and lively. When it came to a time of a flash back or memories, thestyle look like a puppet show. When it came to fights and intense scenes, the back round color would be greens or red. When humor was in play, there would be bright colors and funny doodles.
Sound- the voice acting was very enjoyable. Every characters' voice fit their attitude and personalty. A few voices i didn't like. there is no dub so I can't judge it. The opening really reflected the show. The first one was upbeat and lively, but a a quick dark moment to reflect the sadness and anger in the show. the second one was darker and more down toned.
Character- The character were very nice and enjoyable. Some that only stayed for a few episodes I like because most of them weren't one dimensional.
Enjoyment- I like this show for the virus reasons I have list above. I just didn't enjoy the amount of fan service it had.
DreamyGhost
Starting off as a comedy and, then, getting total serious and violent, this was surely an unique experience... We can see Fear as a clumsy girl on the entire first episode, destroying everything on Haruaki's house. However, things get more interesting as her true nature is shown right on the next episode: a killing machine... Gattering all pain and suffer caused by the Inquisiton and turning that into a human with feelings and the sole desire to forget her past, Fear is "delivered" to Haruaki as a cube, sent by his weird father. Maybe he already knew Haruaki would be able to help her out, ashe was born with some kind of "curse resistance" and also lives on a sanctuary, a symbol of mind peace and tranquility...
Still, would Fear be able lock her bloodthirsty alter ego and turn herself into a good person? First step is forgetting about killing people... Tough matter, as others try to pursue her... So, she has to count on her new friends to help with that and with her overall "rehabilitation" as well...
Visually gorgeous, CxCxC uses every possible animation trick to improve enjoyment. Short, special cutscenes, everyone of them with an unique style, are simply amazing! Overall design may look basic, but reminds of classic visual novels, those where characters had even bigger eyes, that attract me so much... It also features two different OP/ED themes, despite being 12 episodes long... I had never seen a short anime where that happened... Moreover, we get the chance to see some of the most famous torture tools ever used by humankind, redesigned... Fantastic!
There are few characters, but more are introduced on last episode's ending, giving strong hopes for a new season in the future. Just like a VN, characters don't differ to much from each other on appearance matters, they all have the same base design... Still, they have their own personalities, some really awkward...
Fear is a kind of metaphor, cleverly created to show us that even the most despicable being, responsible for many people's suffering and death, is able to get complete forgiveness after paying for his sins and, by helping others and showing appreciation for those who helped him. We all make mistakes, some of them may seem unforgivable... We are imperfect, but anyone can change... That's the main lesson taken from CxCxC...
astro-kun
I am going to be completely unbiased - this is an outstanding anime so far with an original plot. ** It is unfair to judge this anime based on the character's hairstyle, and give it a low rating just because it has some ecchi scenes. I certainly will not be doing that. ** For starters, the character names. They fit really well with the characters themselves. First up - Kubrick Fear. As stated in the synopsis, she is basically a torture machine in the form of a girl; Fear. Her actual form, and primary weapon would be the 'cube'. Kubrick being 'Cube' and 'Brick'.. get it?Get it?! :D
'Yachi Haruaki', the main male protagonist in the story. "Yachi" in Japanese means fortune, or good luck. I'd have to concur, as Haruaki claims that curses do NOT affect him whatsoever.
The plot is fantastic and original. Materializing 'torture' machines to do away with your opponents. And the way they are summoned and the incantation (in my opinion) is way cool! It is not your typical 'Swordfight' anime or 'Trigger-happy' anime. It gives a medieval feel, because torture machines were created way back when they were necessary for interrogations.
I always thought Muramasa Konoha (I never noticed her surname, 'Muramasa' until now) was only going to be the typical USELESS (emphasis on useless) 'big-breasted' friend who would always try to steal the main character away from the female protagonist (references to Yoshida from 'Shakugan no Shana', and Siesta from 'Zero no Tsukaima'). I was horribly mistaken... SHE CAN TRANSFORM INTO A FREAKING SWORD! I should have seen that coming, though; her last name is 'Muramasa'.
The Opening song is pleasant to the ears. It kind of reminds me of something out of CLANNAD, or Touhou. I found Fear's dance really cute and charming.
I said I was going to be unbiased, but that was a lie. I have a fetish for tsunderes (although, you know who you tsundere-fans are!), and Fear is an ADORABLE one. Her actions, her expressions, her love for food. Wow. 10/10
On top of the vocal/musical masterpieces, we have visual artwork. I really like how the eyes were done in this Anime, and also I like how Fear's hair shines rainbow. It's very appealing to the eyes, in my humble opinion.
Character development is a big one. Unlike other animes, where they pour all this information on you (most of the information being irrelevant or useless), Cube x Cursed x Curious slowly thickens the plot, and distributes background information on each character at a nice pace. Right now, we know very crucial details about Fear, Haruaki, and Konoha that help us digest the story a lot easier.
Overall, I give this anime 10/10!
Stormydays
This is simply my opinion so you may disagree with it, but i do hope you enjoy reading this :3 Brief review: For those who don't wish to spend too much time reading other peoples thoughts. Story 4/10: Nothing ground breaking. I don't really care much if it has been done before... but the story just doesn't flow too nicely. Art 8/10: The art was good. I liked the art. A number of scenes are used a few times too many. The effects where nice but i feel that if they added a bit more variation to the "OOO SHINY!! OOO SPARKLY!!" thing going on every time someonegrabs a weapon, things may have turned out better.
Sound 6/10: The seiyuu did a lovely job with the characters voices. Although many sound effects sound slightly out of place and the OP & ED's don't seem to fit well with the anime, i think the sound was just fine.
Characters 6/10: Cliche? Not a problem. Uninteresting, predictable and unnecessary... kind of a problem.
Enjoyment 6/10: I had fun for the majority of the episodes... the last few ones felt really rushed and made less and less sense with each passing minute. Needs a season two to clear things up and fix the story.
Overall 6/10: Give this anime a go if you've got time to spend on a mediocre anime. It's nothing to awesome, but if you find yourself incapable of thinking then this anime might be the one for you.
Not so brief review: Just the above with lots more words really. May contain some spoilers if you haven't watched episode 1 :3
Lets start with LE GENRE TAGS!!!
First up we have action, CHECK!
Then we have comedy, Check... nothing that will genuinely make you laugh, but you might crack a smile here and there.
Next up is Ecchi, check.
SCHOOL!!! Check!
Shounen, a big fat check!
Looks like thats covered. Some might want to add "romance" but i urge them to rethink that decision.
SO! C3, aka CubexCursedxCurios, is an anime that stars Konata Izumi-errr- Fear Kubrick who is an ancient...box... Yes, a BOX. She is an ancient tool of slaughtery and murdery (those are, from today onwards, official words) who was sent to this boy-who-happens-to-be-very-good-and-cant-be-affected-by-curses-cause-hes-good-or-something by his dad. His dad is an explorer/adventurer type thing that sends him cursed items (like the BOX) so they may rid themselves of their curse. This is the story.
Thats kinda boring eh? Well, no worries. Stuff happens.
How does stuff happen you might ask... well... random people show up and cause random problems and then they get their ass handed to them. WHOA! How... interesting... Well... no. The problem with random people showing up is that the story doesn't progress on it's own anymore. Our main characters apparently cant provide the necessary drive to move on with the MAIN PURPOSE of whatever it is they are trying to do (removing curses from cursed objects like a BOX).
Random people appear and force the story to move forward. Is that a problem? Not if it was necessary... Is it necessary? No...
I won't go on and on about this... The story has some very good potential that is wasted because it rushes a lot. For a 12 episode anime, rushing never solves anything.
Ok... lets leave the story for at that... ON TO LE CHARACTERS!
Lets start with the star of the show, Konata izu--- FEAR KUBRICK. Fear, or Fear-in-cube (said in english, not japanese. Pronounced Fe-a - een - Quu-beh) is a device, or box, of pain and suffering. She is good at killing stuff.
"Hey stooorm!!! why do you keep referring to a box as she!?" Well my dear imaginary reader, that is because this BOX has developed a human form... with emotions et al. Yes, she is practically a human.
So she is sent to this boy, yuuchi haruki, whom we will talk about later. Anywayz, so fear is a cursed object. She is sent to this boy so that she may live as a normal human and lift the curse. Her favorite phrase happens to be "I'll curse you!" Interesting character yea? Seriously, its actually interesting for 1 episode... how much does her character develop? not much... not much at all... BUT!!! shes the only one who really develops.
Ok, now we have our good guy. Yuuchi haruki is a kid who cant get cursed. Whoooo. He's our sweety pie. Our needle in a haystack. How does he develop? Not in any particular way. His dad sends him cursed objects (i'd love it if my dad sent me any kind of objects, cursed or otherwise...) and yuuchi helps them lift their curse. Thats it. We find out why he indulges in his dads antics early in the anime and its nothing special, btw no info on the dad.
Next we have Muramasa Konata. She is... well... take a look at her name, you'll know what she is. Oh, she is labelled as Ms. Cow tits by Fear... cause you know... her udder is easily accessible-ERR, her boobs are big. She is kind and likes yuuchi... Oh, she also has a slightly darker side that she shows to Fear... but theres a silly reason for that. Her character doesn't develop either. Really... thats it... the highlight of this MAIN CHARACTER is her tits. That is all... i guess big boobs do get you all the good jobs...
SO, last character is the sadomasochist... she also likes a certain someone and helps him out. Shes starts off all secret agent like but then sorta gets closer and keeps less secrets. Does her character develop? Only if revealing secrets count.
We still have a few, just a few, more characters involved... but they are introduced fairy late in the anime for us to give a shit about.
They seem to want to play a big part in the story, but they just come in so late that we simply cant appreciate their company. This includes the baddies who appear and disappear randomly. Them baddies don't seem to serve any particular reason other than to agitate the story. Sigh... all in all, the characters aren't something you'd remember and think "ah, arent they special" in a good way.
Ok ok... ART TIME!!!
LE ART IS LE GOOD! Seriously, the art is nice. Movements are fluid, a nice number of backgrounds and a few scenes are very detailed and really add to the feel of the anime. Characters are nicely drawn, abit too moe moe, but still very nicely drawn. Weapons looks kinda funky, and it is that funkyness that prevents me from giving this a perfect score. They could have done much much better and added some nice variations... but meh, oh well. an 8/10 is still very very good in my book!
SOUND TIME!!!
Not Le great... just good. Characters have a nice matching seiyuu that really helps bring them to life. I gave it a low score because i really didn't feel that the OP's & ED's matched the anime and the sound effects were really bland. Nothing fantastic, but atleast its decent enough to not make me want to stick a pencil in my left ear.
Enjoyment! Better off watching porn.
I managed to somehow enjoy this anime till it got near the last 3 eps. It felt like it was going to become a hopeless rat race to the finish... and it did. It really stopped me from appreciating all the work and effort, or lack thereof, put into the anime.
Final Score 6/10: I'd suggest you go watch this when your brain needs a break from all the thinking. If the anime just sort of said "here deal with what is happening" i would really not be able to even recommend it (that would be cruel) but since it actually shows us what is happening, it doesn't fail miserably. It could have been much better with a few more episodes... and i really dislike the horrible ending because they are just teasing us with more plot holes... they seem to want to make a 2nd season pretty badly... oh well... a semi-decent watch nonetheless.
I hope you found my review helpful or at the very least enjoyable!
BL2W
Curses, curses, curses--there are certainly a large number of anime having centered their plots around some sort of curse, whether it be part of a major story arc or even the axis of which the story turns. So, what makes C3 (otherwise known as "CubexCursedxCurious") different from all the rest? Well, putting this as frankly as I can, C3 tries to make everything about its story center around the idea, methodology, and practice of curses, but instead, its brain-scattering plot, absolutely tragic pacing, and tired, stereotypical characters make what could have been an interesting plot into something degrading and lousy. Starting-off with the opening song, allI can say is that its appropriate enough, but very standard. It's a studio-done song, so, as one can imagine, Yukari Tamura, the voice of the main character of this show, is singing with musical accompaniment. However, while the opening song itself is fine, I can't say the same for the visuals; frankly, they're completely pointless, add nothing to the overall plot, and leave the audience in the dark as to what they're in for. I can only guess as to why Silver Link decided to do this: because they wanted to go for shock value. What sort of "shock value"?
Here's the long answer:
Fear Kubrick is a cubic entity that has been used for generations as a tool for torture and killing; she is essentially the active hive for torture devices and cursed objects. Understandably, after seeing so much pain for as long as she's existed, Fear wishes to simply live among the humans--not as a killing machine, but as a kind, gentle person who gives back to others with respect. Haruaki Yachi is one such person who can help Fear to reach her goal, as she is quite literally delivered at his doorstep (initially, in her cubic form); he holds a gift that allows himself to be unafflicted by curses. However, Fear's journey to enlightenment will not come without its fair share of trials and consequences, as not only are there deadly organizations that wish to utilize her power, but there is also the berserk nature inside herself that is always pushing to come out.
But, for anyone who doesn't care for any of that, here's the short answer:
Fanservice, fanservice, fanservice--oh, and there's some fighting, too! The fighting's pretty neat--oh, and there's some blabbing about curses and pretentious bull, but that's not important. Ooo, look! There's lots of blood and gore and yandere-type crazy faces mixed-in as well! I know certain Higurashi fans out there that will love this!
As for the cast, there's Fear, the sorta-kinda-tsundere cube girl, Konoha, the glasses chick with huge knockers, and Haruaki, the chillin' dude with a heart of gold; there's also Kirika, the class president who--and I must admit--isn't really all that important to the story, except for maybe one or two episodes, but certainly not the conclusion. Anyway, I'm glad to see that the cardboard cut-outs are all accounted for, and if that's not enough, there's plenty more of them later on--more breasts, a loli, MORE breasts. Perfect./sarcasm
Yes, one of the issues with C3 is that it can get extreme in many departments--with its violence, with its drama, with its fanservice; but, that's just the one brick in this cubic disaster, as this leads me to explaining the show's true issue. I can deal with some violence, I can deal with sappy drama and ridiculous amounts of ecchi service, but what is it that makes this whole show really fall to pieces?
C3's pacing is ATROCIOUS. Period.
This show doesn't know what it wants to be, and even when it does, it's all over the place. Sometimes, C3 is a cute, adorable, light-hearted, romantic-comedy romp--as with its first episode; other times, C3 is a bloody, gruesome, violent, dramatic mish-mash of pretension and battling--as with its second and third episodes. If all of those descriptive words were too much and/or too sweeping in terms of genre, that's my point exactly. In fact, to hammer this point in even further, take a look at MAL's genres listing for this show, and then take a look at its rating. Doesn't really mesh well, right?
Not only that, but the speed of which this anime attempts to cram its plot together in twelve episodes is astonishingly bad; understandably, this can be a somewhat prominent issue with shows that are twelve episodes or less due to time constraints, but C3 takes the problem leaps and bounds forward. The show goes through three, separate villains; a number of extensive fight scenes, some taking at least half of an episode; full episodes devoted to "rom-com" material; several-minute-long comedic scenes; time spent on philosophical dialogue; flashbacks, back-stories, and long, expository monologues--
Phew! Give me time to breathe, please!
Granted, if the show hadn't gone for blatant sequel-baiting at the end of its run, I would have just chalked this up as Silver Link trying to fit too much material from the original light novels into too little time--for example, sort of like Chaos;Head. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst offenders I've ever seen of becoming a completely crushed and compressed product, but that's only about four-fifths of this cube analogy. What about the final piece?
For those who don't know of Silver Link's origin, here's a little history lesson:
Director Shin Oonuma, the director of both the much-beloved Baka to Test and this, once worked as a director of many of the earlier projects in another studio--SHAFT, which is now famous for their much later work, such as Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari, and, of course, Madoka Magica. He eventually split-off from them to help form Silver Link, but my guess is Mr. Oonuma knew the guy who did the trippy, layered artwork used in all three of those shows and decided to replicate what he had seen to be used in one of his own anime.
In fact, why stop there? Why not just be like SHAFT entirely, using all sorts of weird, seemingly out-of-place imagery? Apparently, Mr. Oonuma didn't understand the imagery he had seen in SHAFT's latest work, and the result was... well, even more things for me to complain about, in terms of this show not knowing what it wants to be.
All sorts of symbols are used, different art styles can be seen--heck, they might as well even use the old-style camera start-up trick that SHAFT has used a lot at the beginning of several of their anime (including Zetsubou Sensei, Vampire Bund, Madoka, etc.). None of this is able to stand up on its own, though; it just makes C3 look like its going for gimmicks rather than actual substance.
Nonetheless, I can safely say that when the art is normal and without any of the gimmicks, it's actually pretty visually appealing; it's colorful, it's cute, and keeps what would have been an otherwise even worse show from being completely disappointing. The soundtrack, too, does its job and isn't all that bad, but it isn't all that remarkable, either.
Without making this review much longer, I will conclude by saying that if the pacing wasn't so incredibly distracting as being the absolute worst item about this show, C3 would at least be mediocre. Heck, Fear is actually demoted from the main heroine to comedic relief after just over two-thirds of the series is up; because of this and everything else I have already mentioned, the pacing is simply inexcusable. C3 tries so hard to be something memorable like its older sister, Baka to Test, but it falls short of nearly every target; the story is too jumbled, the characters don't bear any staying power, and it overshoots by aiming arrogantly in the face of what made series prior to its creation work so well. What? Did a child write this?
Precisely, C3 is the equivalent of a kid who thinks too highly of himself and steals candy from adults instead of babies within the anime world; it just ends up choking on some Sour Skittles just before getting a good slap on its bottom. Now, if I could be excused for a moment, I have a Rubik's Cube to go play with~
Tzu
Short or mid size reviews are best, nn tl;dr. Once again we are rained down upon from the Japanese animation industry with a new series of adaptations and stand alone projects. The last few seasons we were graced by some greats such as Ano Hana, Steins Gate, and Usagi Drop; shows that showed nothing special but proved themselves with a above excellent plot scheme or brilliant story telling. I have to admit im still in the phase of watching anything that looks remotely interesting in each new season line up and I can say I have had some negative and positive experiences. C³ - CubexCursedxCurious was aseries I put my eyes on this season just because I needed to fill the void. My first impression was that this was just another ecchi/shounen combo(these rarely work out) but as the episodes went it progressed. Although the series itself is not finished it does have potential to become a decent show. My rating for this is open book mainly because a series can really only be rated at the following points: Beginning, middle, and end hence so many drops at the start air of any show.
Story wise there is no evidence of any real exposure of full plot, this looks like it may follow a traditional plot sequence and I hope it does. The art is more computer look a like with the cube animations that are thrown in, minus the boob bouncing or slashing events its nothing that I would consider special. The sound effects are generic and bland, of course sound is I mean we hear so much everyday its impossible to filter everything out. The characters again are nothing special minus Fear Cube which really is the only thing keeping me gripped while I watch this.
If you like being first in line for a show you might just pick this up, but be warned do not expect greatness until its finished.
Asfaria
For a long time I have had an odd relationship with the anime "C3" also known by the much longer title "CubexCursexCurious." It took me three tries to actually motivate myself to watch this anime: on my first attempt a year ago I managed to make it through the first 3 minutes of the first episode; then on my second attempt a month later, I made it through the entire first episode; and then, just this past week, I managed to watch the remaining 11 episodes. My conclusion, C3 has one of the absolute worst and most misleading first episodes of any show I haveever come across. Not that the anime really improves much throughout the rest of the show, but it's at least a slight improvement.
What the first episode implies that this show will be is a very lighthearted, ecchi, comedic (albeit idiotic and not funny at all) anime about a humanoid weapon (who of course looks like a young girl) as she discovers the wonders of the human world from television to the warmth of human interaction. Episode 3 turns the entire lighthearted atmosphere upside down and shows that this anime can also have a VERY dark atmosphere at times. However, the show is inconsistent with that atmosphere and it comes and goes so much that it loses most of its effect.
Anyway, onto the story. The show begins with our generic "help everyone else before myself" protagonist named Haruaki (voiced by Yuki Kaji). One day, an odd package from his father arrives at his house where he lives alone. This box is no ordinary box as it is impenetrable and baffles Haruaki to the point where he just decides to leave it alone. But, the box ends up turning into our flat-chested, energetic female protagonist named Fear. Haruaki then proceeds to go through the fastest acceptance of a strange supernatural girl appearing at his house I have ever seen. It makes some sense since it turns out that his tsundere childhood friend, Konoha, is also the same kind of "cursed weapon" as Fear. The rest of the first episode consists of Fear being left alone in Haruaki's house while the other two go to school (what a great idea) and it just follows Fear as she discovers different things about the world.
After that, the actual plot begins and we find out more about what Fear and Konoha are and about the curses that go along with them. However for a reason that is never explained, Haruaki is immune to these curses which allows him to fight with Konoha (who can become a sword) without suffering the consequences like most people would. The story never really focuses on one objective and in the end, is in dire need of a second season as it keeps introducing characters right up until the end credits of the last episode. The different plots tend to focus on different characters like Fear, another girl who is Haruaki's class president named Kirika, and a few other minor characters who aren't Konoha because she never gets to be a focal character despite being a main character. The series also has very poor villains who only stick around for a few episodes at a time and more annoyed me than anything else.
The animation and soundtrack are some of the better aspects of this show. The first opening is actually what interested me in the anime originally (before the first episode killed that interest twice) and the first ending is a beautiful ballad which stands above most generic ballad ending songs in my opinion. The show switches openings and endings later in the show (despite this being only 12 episodes) and neither really impressed me as much as the first ones. The second opening puts focus on Kirika rather than Fear despite that never actually happening in the show.
The characters' designs are good but none really stand out all that much. Fear is your typical flat-chested girl, Konoha (aka "Cow Tits") is the busty girl who Fear envies, and Kirika looks like your typical "mature girl" on the "outside." The characters also wear their school uniforms about 75% of the time. To top it all off, I have no idea why they would have a villain who wears clothes that make her look like a nun (she's not one in case you're wondering), but they did. Most of the action scenes look great, especially the VERY dark ones, however, there are some moments where things (like smoke in the background of a fight) seem a little awkwardly animated. There are also some moments where the show tries its hand at some more surreal animation tricks like making a clock tick and appear every so often during a speech or showing a character on a white background with only their shadow around them. I generally like things like this, but this show did not know how to time them correctly and they just ended up as random moments where the animation sometimes even contradicted how the characters were feeling.
The soundtrack, aside from what I mentioned before, is good but nothing outstanding. It's pretty forgettable especially during the lighthearted scenes and only makes itself noticeable during some of the darker fights.
"C3" is a great example of an anime that didn't know what it wanted to be. It tries to be a lighthearted high school comedy, a VERY dark psychological action story, a story about how humans really aren't as bad as they may seem, a story of redemption (which ties into the dark one as well), etc. It introduces and then moves on from its poor villains.....I would say too quickly for development but I was glad when they were finally gone. The main characters have hardly any development, the "behind the scenes" organizations are never explained, what exactly these "cursed weapons" are and why Haruaki is immune to their curses are never explained, and the show ends crying out for a second season by showing a few new characters right at the very end. Considering it came out two years ago and doesn't seem to be very well received, I do not expect it to receive a second season. On that note, I would recommend passing on "C3," and only watch the great first opening and ending if you think you can avoid getting interested in watching this way below average anime.
The_Pro_At_Stuff
C3... At first i thought it would turn out to be yet another generic harem/ecchi anime. Well, it still turned out to be a generic harem/ecchi anime (in my opinion), but the direction it took really surprised me. The first episode did not set a very good base for the whole series. It felt nothing like the other 11 episodes that followed. My first thought when i saw episode 2/3 was "What the heck?? Oh god is this going to turn out like Elfen Lied or something?". Well with Elfen lied, they atleast had the decency to show just how whacked out the series was inthe first episode. C3 hides it until around the third episode which is very misleading and just bad planning in my opinion.
The only reason i even gave this anime a shot was because i didn't have that many new anime that i wanted to watch. I was already hesitant to continue after the first few episodes, but i went and finished the whole series anyways. Let me just say that it was more or less what i expected it to be, boring and full of fanservice (not in the good way).
The art is probably the only thing that stopped me from dropping this anime after each episode i watched. The fight scenes were pretty well done (especially the last one). It was really good of course because the studio that made it was Silver Link (Baka to test ftw), but it is quite sad when that is really the only thing keeping the viewers from dropping it.
The music was nice as well. The opening song , Curios, was one of those few openings that i wouldn't skip over every episode. It was nice and soothing, and the OSTs were pretty well done as well.
The characters... there is not much to say about them. They stay pretty static throughout the whole series and are quite boring. If i had to say, the two most interesting character are probably Kirika Ningyouhara (side character/part of the harem) and Peavey Barowi (pyscho villain). Interesting does not mean i like them though.
When i first read the synopsis for C3, i thought it was quite interesting. It was still a bit interesting when i watched it, but i felt that it was very badly portrayed in the anime. I find myself forgetting what the story is about from one episode to another. In the end, it seems like they just wanted to rush through and finish the anime.
The ending left me very unsatisfied and i felt like i just wasted a few hours of my life. They were probably trying to get people to read the light novel, but i probably won't be doing it. This show overall did not keep me very entertained with its mediocre story line, but it was still decent enough for me to push through and finish it. I would recommend watching this only if you have nothing else to do, or if you are very Curios about it.
Plagus777
Goodness gracious, this is one delicious shit sandwich... Might as well get right down to it... Story - 4 I'm not sure what the damn story is. This is just one of those animes, packed with such random shit and dialogue, to make sure it looks as dramatic and dark as possible. Gimmick here Gimmick there. It manages to leave me feeling like an idiot, wondering whether I was too stupid to understand what it was trying to tell me or that it really wasn't trying to say anything at all. It's a mess, a big mess. It confuses you... If you're looking for a good plot, goelsewhere. You have better chances of being served a Big Mac at Burger King for your retarded ass.
Art - 9
"Well at least the art was good."
There it is. That excuse. And yes, there is absolutely nothing to say against it. I watched this crap for the art. Boy was the animation spectacular. Random yes, interesting? Of course. Awesome compared to the garbage art I've seen in my day. At least it had this.
If they only had put as much effort into the damn story than they did the art. I would have agreed to have middle grade art in exchange for a good story, that made sense.
Sound - 6
All that noise... OP and ED, did not capture my interests nor my attention.
Characters - 6
Shallow, underdeveloped, unrelatable. You won't be crying if any of them died. Nope, not even the slightest change in facial expression. Sure I kind of liked some of them, but not enough to go into detail in this review.
Alright... one word. Bondage.
Enjoyment - 5
I was wiping the drool off my table every time I finished an episode. Not because I was too engrossed to keep my mouth closed, but because I did not give a shit about what happened next and was blankly staring at the subs waiting for it to end or for something interesting to happen.
Overall - 5
Remember that sandwich I mentioned at the start of this review?
The art was good, but now that I think about it, there really isn't such a thing as a delicious shit sandwich is there? Good art or not, I have other animes piled up that are willing to and able to give me more, for less suffering.
-------------------------------tl;dr?-------------------------------
Do not waste your time. Unless you want to appreciate the art with a Blue Ray copy which I feel is a complete waste of resources in itself.
WildNeptune
C3 is the next anime in the line of what I'd call "Shana Clones" mainly because of the tsundere lolicon lead and the overall formatting. Likewise, it's very similar to Dragon Crisis. The story consists of Yachi Harukai, a boy who is supposedly immune to curses, finds a mysterious box in his house. He finds out it's really Fear Kubrick, a cursed tool. After a talk he decides to lift the curse from Fear so she can live a normal life. More characters are introduced and it becomes kind of like a harem, but without any real romantic feelings. The show is presented in short arcsconsisting of 2 or 3 episodes. Each one has a new antagonist that the group has to defeat. One of the issues with the series is that there is almost no continuity with the antagonists at all. While almost all of them just want Fear (or to destroy her) but other than that you know nothing about their motives.
Also, while actually a great deal of lose ends are actually cleared up before the next arc starts, it's usually done through some of the worst dialogue I have ever read in an anime. At times they just go on after they cleared it up, something like a Soap opera.
Each character has some past history, Yachi has helped decurse tools before, like his childhood friend Konoha, but we don't really learn anything about that. Likewise, the class president Kirika has a secret past, but we don't really learn much about that either. In fact, we don't really learn anything at all. Like, Yachi says he is curse immune, and it is kind of hinted he is, but we never get any proof of this.
I will say that Fear had some parts (first episode) when she look very similar to Konata Izumi, like remember Yuripe from Angel Beats being purple haired Haruhi?
C3 is dotted with fan service. But it's not arousing or funny, it's just kind of there. Fear is a loli, but there's an even lolier loli down the road where you get even more panty shots from. Konoha is also often referred to as "Cow Udder/Tits" And Kirika is often sexually harassed and also dons an "interesting tool".
There are fights too, but just about ALL of them end up being the exact same thing. Even Naruto who uses the same two moves basically in all his battles had more diversity.
The art and animation are actually decent, but that's really it. C3 was stuck in a season with a lot of impressive titles. The OP is nice, err it's basically a girl (Fear) dancing to some Jpop, but it has nice smooth animation.
Overall I gave this a 1, which might actually be kinda harsh, but I can really see no way around it. It was hard to care about the characters, story, or really anything that was going on. C3 should have stayed in the box.
finalchance531
I watched C3 on a whim. I figured it was something that would pull in my attention and keep me on the edge of my seat. This, however, was not the case in the end. I no sooner started when I realized that it was almost over and I had no idea where the story was going. This is spoiler free outside of general anime plot formulas. I also want to make this quick and easy to understand for those that might want see this show and not know what to think from the cover. I'm also very easy when it comes to animes, so keep thatin mind.
Story: 5
I really find it hard to see a logical decent story unfold within 12-13 episodes. This is the case once again. It's not that the plot was something mysterious from the get go, rather it was to much to explain and prepare the audience for. Where some shows give you every detail of the situation in great length, this show tells you to grab a combat knife and barrel roll out of a moving vehicle. In the end, your half confused and half bored but you wish you weren't.
Art: 9
I'm a sucker for eye candy animation and this show has it. The artwork is well above par for my standards and helps me coast through each episode. It's a shame that the plot isn't as interesting as the art is wonderful.
Sound: 4
The sound was nothing more than average. You pick up on it only in certain situations.
Characters: 4
Characters make a show sink or swim, it's that simple. The group that you'll watch in this series is nothing more than mediocre. I really believed that the characters would get better and make things much more entertaining but no. The male character is as bland and boring as ever, with no intention of romance. That's the best I can say without spoiling anything. As for the girls in the group, they are much better to watch. They have a stronger presence than the male character. You'll notice pretty quick that the women make the show worth your time, but not by much.
Enjoyment: 4
I was very "with" the show from the first few episodes. Once again, spoiler free. Some characters show a truly dark side and with battles you could die for. We're talking grade A material that tweaks one's mind. Remember though, I said the first few episodes. Its predictable and bland once a certain point is reached. Sadly enough.
Overall/Conclusion: 5
This show was absolutely something different than what I imagined. I will be more cautious in the future as a result. Nevertheless, this show IS pretty and the story maybe too much at times. I wouldn't recommend this if you enjoy any kind of left over feelings from emotional anime's because there simply aren't any. Some may find this fun and passes the time by but other may see it as a waste of time. This is just one of those kind of shows.
Yemi_Hikari
C³ draws the viewer in with the overall concept and the interesting character ideas. This all falls flat in the long run and the show ends up leaving a lot to be desired. The storyline for C³ starts off at a very nice pace. However, the plot then begins to drag. There was stuff that could have easily been cut from the storyline. For example, quite a few characters ramble on about their personal belief system, both on the good and bad sides. I think the viewer got the message the first time around. There was also stuff that could ave been added to the storyline,stuff that would have added actual character depth to the various characters.
The art work is at first glance looks beautiful, because of all the colors used with in the actual art designs. The bright colors don't help to camouflage the faults in the animation. There were a few scenes that looked off in the proportions and perspectives. There were also times that an experiment would be thrown in, that wasn't consistent with the rest of the animation that had been going on, either because they became lazy, or because they decided to do something cool, rather then for real experimental reasons. There were also action scenes that just felt wrong.
As for the sound, I loved the opening and closing. The regular sound track though PALED in comparison to these opening and closing songs, to the point it felt like it was no existent.
Character wise, every single character was interesting concept wise. However, the Anime didn't really add any depth to any of the characters. No, I have to take that back. The Anime did a good job of giving character depth to Amanda Carlot, also known as Mummy Maker. She was the only character I could feel anything. That may have something to do with the fact that everyone else was constantly angsting about stuff, or they were throwing tantrums, or they were indifferent.
As for my enjoyment, I had parts I enjoyed. I felt that there were things that took away from it, some of which I listed above. I thought the whole concept of Haruaki being a pervert was over dramatized. A lot of the misunderstandings didn't feel like misunderstandings, but more like the creator of the Anime was trying to force them to be misunderstandings.
Overall, this Anime is going to be hard for people to give an actual chance on. I mean, it has its enjoyable moments, and the characters are interesting. It is the kind of show that if the viewer isn't careful, it can grate on ones nerves.
FriendlyOverlord
C3: the One With the Rubik’s Cube I’ve been watching anime for quite a while now. Not counting Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z, which I watched when I was too young to know what anime was, I probably started about six years ago, give or take. In that timeframe, you can watch quite a few series. That’s why My Anime List (MAL) is such an important resource! Being able to keep a record of everything you’ve watched as well as record how you felt about a series and see it all in a list isn’t only helpful, it’s incredibly satisfying. It affects that part of yourbrain that makes you want to watch more and keep the list going. When I first started watching anime I never used MAL, nor did I know of its existence. That means that by the time I did start using it a little over two years ago, I had already racked up a good many series to register. Now, I consider myself to have a decent enough memory, I usually don’t forget all that much and when I made my MAL account, I could remember everything I had seen prior. Well, almost everything. I have a bit of a story to tell. You can imagine how years of watching anime without keeping a record, then suddenly trying to remember everything you’ve seen could be tricky. I don’t care how good your memory is, something will slip through the cracks. C3 was that for me. I couldn’t remember anything about it really and certainly not the name. All I could recall was what the main character looked like, that she had something to do with a cube and just one scene from the show. That was it. You could imagine how finding a specific anime with just that information could be difficult. And it was. I kept it in my mind for a while and kept trying to think of the name but to no avail. Then, finally, for some reason I can’t even remember, it just came to me: C3! Perhaps I had seen a character somewhere, or a video related to it, I honestly don’t know. Whatever gear started turning in my head, I typed it into MAL and sure enough, I got the right series. Ok, yes, I watched all 12 episodes. Oh, now I have to rate it? Oh, yeah! That’s pretty hard when I don’t remember anything about it. And that was the thought process that led to this moment. That was about a year ago, and as I was trying to find an anime to talk about this month I was reminded of C3 and I decided to satiate my cursed curiosity for this conundrum of a cube once and for all.
C3 (pronounced either C-Cubed, C-three, or CubeXCursedXCurious) is an action, supernatural, harem series that started as a light novel written by Hazuki Minase (a writer who has done some scriptwriting for Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya) in 2007. It ran for seventeen volumes over six years, had three volumes of manga made, and finally in 2011 made its anime debut. It was adapted by Silver Link, a studio who has done quite a few recognizable works, Baka & Test, WataMote, Chivalry of a Failed Knight, to name some, and was directed by Shin Ōnuma who directed all the things I listed above and much more. The soundtrack was composed by Jun Ichikawa who I suppose most prominently did the arrangement of the first Pokemon Diamond and Pearl OP, and as a Sinnoh fan myself, I can appreciate that. Something else that’s interesting to note is that C3 has a TV-MA rating, which not a whole lot of series has. Was I surprised when I found that out? Sort of. I kind of get why, but we’ll get to that later. Let’s find out if C3 is any good, shall we? What? I should have remembered from before so I didn’t have to watch it again? I mean, y-yes you have a point, but, uh, well...shut up! I’ll curse you!
Our story begins with a delivery man, who likely doesn’t get paid enough for his job, carrying a giant black cube to a doorstep. But this doorstep doesn’t belong to just anyone, no, it belongs to Haruaki Yachi, our high schooler protagonist. Yachi’s father who is overseas sends him weird stuff all the time, so he’s fairly desensitized to his shenanigans and throws the cube in storage. That night as Yachi is asleep, he hears strange noises coming from somewhere in the house. What dangers could it be? A murderer? A thief? A violent psychopath? No, it’s just a stark naked girl with long blue hair eating the young man’s rice crackers...and all of the other things I mentioned. Ahem! The girl’s name is Fear Kubrick and she was a “cursed tool” made during the height of the inquisitions, who after being filled with so many negative feelings of hatred, gained consciousness and took on human form. Now, along with her dark past, she comes with a curse: whoever’s her owner will be driven mad and eventually use her for torture, as they revel in their victim's pain. Our friendly neighborhood protagonist, Yachi, is unswayed by this, as he is a nice guy and has a strange immunity to all curses. Fear could never drive him mad...well, at least not from the curse anyway. He informs Fear that she could break her curse by replacing people's negative feelings of her with positive ones. Feeling deep regret for so long, she is overjoyed by this. And so Yachi and friends live their lives trying to protect the cursed cube from those who wish her harm as she gradually tries to repent for her sins and become more human and along the way, help save even more cursed tools.
Ok, so a story about a girl that’s a cube? Or is it the other way around? I can get behind that! I like both of those...things? Rubik's cubes are neat, right? Wait, she fights with one!? My first impressions of C3 overall I must say was pretty good, far better than I remembered or expected, though I didn’t remember anything in the first place. From the first episode, you’re quickly thrown into things headfirst and get a good enough understanding of what the series has to offer. That fast pace is something that stays for the whole anime, but thankfully doesn’t ever feel rushed. I was also pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of the plot. Through Fear, we learn of this story built around cursed items that take on human form. It’s an interesting concept that can potentially lead to some interesting scenarios. It creates this story about tools growing consciousness, about tools that can’t or won’t think for themselves breaking free from their masters. Tools that won’t commit the crimes they're told to do. It’s oddly a motivational story in a lot of ways. And we see it through not only Fear but through the other cursed items as well, like Konoha Muramasa, one of Yachi’s friends. She starts to lose her grip when she sees blood, but she manages to control herself. Fear’s the same way when she hears screams. But they’re both trying to change, despite the world seeming not wanting them to. The main point in Fear’s arc is this question of if she even deserves salvation in the first place. Does a cursed tool have any right to be happy? Do they have any right to live at all?
Questions like these are at the forefront of the plot and it also gives way for some interesting motivations for villains. One the one hand, there are the villains you would expect: ones that want to destroy Fear because they see her and all cursed tools as a plague, but there’s also another type of villain, one that loves cursed tools. I thought this was especially interesting because the whole plot centers around Fear trying to break her curse and live a happy life. Yet this new villain wants more or less the same thing: to see cursed tools be happy. The goal is the same however, the difference is the means at which they accomplish that goal. While Yachi prefers to break their curses and let them live happily as humans, you have villains who wish to fulfill their curses, ones who wish for the cursed tools to stop fighting their “true selves.” Villains that actively try to make Fear and Konoha go back to their old selves. To give in. It has you questioning the characters, especially Fear. Is she really worth defending? Was she really just a tool, unable to fight the will of her master, or did she just suddenly grow a conscience? Which one is her true self? The sometimes gentle, always hot-headed, rice cracker loving human, or the quite frankly homicidal maniac? Fear struggles with these questions throughout the plot and so do you, the viewer. There’s this sense of an identity crisis. One that really every character goes through at one point or another. An example is Kirika Ueno, who although being human also suffers from being a tool to a master, and her arc is about becoming more than that and following what she herself wants and not what others tell her. However, one character is an exception to this theme and that’s Yachi. He doesn’t suffer from an identity crisis, but unfortunately, he is afflicted with “bland main character” disease. What is perhaps the exact opposite of an identity crisis, and a crippling illness to be sure. For the most part, C3 is a story about overcoming your past, regardless of whether you’re a human or not. It’s about breaking the shackles chaining you to that past and heading towards the future. I think perhaps the most fitting epitome for the story as a whole is a scene right at the end of the series. A melancholic Fear asks Yachi a question as they overlook their quiet town from the rooftop: “there are humans who act like tools and tools that act like humans, what’s the difference?” Which are the other cursed tools? Which is she? Yachi smiles and simply says, in a sentence that sums everything in the series up perfectly “a simple tool never wonders whether it’s a tool or a human.”
For as interesting and unique as I find the plot to be, it isn’t all hunky-dory. There are a few unanswered questions the anime leaves you with, mostly about the cursed tools themselves. First and most importantly just what exactly are the cursed tools? We’re never giving anything concrete about them. We don’t know how they’re made, what exactly they are, or how they even take human form in the first place. We’re left completely in the dark. From Fear, all we know is she was used during the inquisitions and had so many negative feelings funneled into her that she became sentient. We don’t know how that works, or why she can turn into a human and switch whenever she wants. We even see later on that cursed tools don’t necessarily have to choose a human form, it can even be a doll. But why, or how it works we never know. In that way, we hardly know which form is their true form. We’re also never really shown how curses work either. We know that the cursed tools are trying to break them and that positive feelings are how (which again is never explained) but we don’t really see how they work. Because Yachi is immune, it seems as if the curses aren’t really there in the first place, so they don’t really seem necessary to break. I suppose it’s so they can live without Yachi, but let’s be honest, it’s a harem series so that will never happen. Perhaps making the curses affect him in some way but have him struggle to fight it for the cursed tool's sake would have been more interesting. We do get to see a little about curses and their potential tolls from Kirika, but she isn’t a cursed tool like Fear or Konoha. So it’s hard to know just how devastating they could be.
There was another thing I was kind of surprised at, we never get any information about Konoha. Someone who has supposedly been Yachi’s close friend for a good while. We know her “trigger”: when she sees blood, but not exactly what happens if she loses herself. We can take a wild guess from Fear, but we don’t know for sure and as we’re never given a backstory, it’s hard to make assumptions. So I suppose I would have just liked to see a little more about what makes the cursed tools tick. A little about who or what they are. And maybe that is explained in the light novels. The anime only adapted a small portion of it, but in just the context of the anime, we’re left with a lot of questions about the concept the story itself is centered around. And that’s hardly ever a good thing.
Generally, C3 takes itself fairly seriously. Of course, it has some comedy along with it, but much of the plot involves themes of murder, sometimes torture, and the occasional character might get dismembered. Now, this is all true, but another true thing is C3 is a harem anime and as a result has some fan service. I’ll say this, the fanservice feels largely unnecessary, (as it usually is) with the occasional upskirt shot or innuendos here and there and sometimes quite forced boob humor as Fear (as everyone will remind you) has a flat chest. It’s nothing new for the genre, but to give C3 credit the fanservice never cancels out the serious portions of it. There’s none during fight scenes and moments where anything important happens. It’s usually just for comedy, however, how funny you find it will vary. At the very least, it isn’t overbearing, though it doesn’t need to be there at all.
I’ve been waiting to talk about this! So there’s one aspect of C3 that helps convey the story wonderfully, but I have one main qualm with it: that’s the art. The art does a lot of things right, which I’ll get to in a second, but I want to start instead, with something I didn’t like about it. I do not like the character design of C3 much at all. I’ve already talked about Yachi and how you couldn’t pick him out of a crowd if you tried, but that carries to the rest of the cast as well. Konoha is the super generic more mature looking glasses-wearing girl that we’ve seen about a hundred times and I can think of multiple examples off the top of my head. Fear’s alright but she looks like 90% of small tsundere characters in the world. Though I will say I quite like how in battle she fights with a Rubik's cube and uses all sorts of grizzly looking tools. It shows a great (and borderline humorous) duality to her cute appearance. The only character design I really find interesting (bar the villains which I think are pretty good) is Kirika, both for her actual design not looking like a million other characters, and how that design is partly a byproduct of her backstory, which is a pretty interesting one. I suppose I like Kuroe Ningyohara’s design as well as her powers, but her, uh, forceful(?) personality mixed with the questionable fanservice, and her design was a little off-putting.
However, I overall adore the artwork in C3 and think that it is one of, if not the best part of the series. Not only is it just good looking being colorful, vibrant, bubbly and just a pleasure to look at, but it also does quite a few other things well. The fight scenes and the various ways the characters can fight are well done. I mentioned before about Fear in battle, and I really do like it. From a drill, a giant sword and chain, or even a breaking wheel to an iron maiden, she has just about all the horrible punishments you don’t ever want to imagine at her disposal, and using them as she does in battle is surprisingly cool to see. Don’t worry though, no torture here. She’s beyond that now. But my reason for loving the art goes beyond that, it’s used in C3 in a way that gives it an identity. The anime is almost trippy to watch, with it cutting to different styles of character's faces or towards what the subject of conversation is. It’s sporadic in what the camera focuses on and it does this all in time with the soundtrack as well. To give my favorite example, there’s a time when what is essentially a ransom tape is being recorded and as the villain is talking this menacing music plays in the background. In time with that music, every 10 seconds or so, it will cut to a monochrome view of a clock, its hand jerking forward with a ticking sound. Not only does it signify that the video is recording, but it also adds to the severity of the situation. With everything combined it almost becomes stressful to watch. There are also other clever parts in which the art is used to convey violence but in a less violent way. For instance, when a character might receive a nasty cut, rather than show it, it flashes quickly to an all-white background as you see little red lines start to appear and drip down. It turns something that isn’t so artsy like violence and turns it into something that almost looks like an abstract painting, but is obvious enough for you to know what just happened. It’s incredibly well done and something I have never seen before. I think it’s wonderful.
As I mentioned briefly the OST is also a strong point. Not only does the soundtrack accompany the visuals well, but it also pops out. Rarely have I ever watched an anime where I immediately notice the soundtrack. Once you start hearing that a cappella track in the first episode you’ll be hooked. The OPs and EDs are quite good as well, with some very Japanese sounding tracks, along with some quite good art. Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, but I loved the visuals in the first opening. Fear dances gracefully to the song and looks beautiful while doing it. I think it’s funny how later in the series she tries to learn how to dance to that exact song but fails miserably. It’s a subtle but great joke. Back to the tunes, there are all sorts of tracks from super lighthearted stuff, to menacing “you know it’s about to go down” tracks. And I said it before but the a cappella was great! I never heard something like that used in an anime. I was actually hoping to see Jun (not Jim autocorrect!) Ichikawa’s other work, but it seems he still hasn’t done all that much. A shame really. However, the uniqueness of C3’s soundtrack will stand as a testament to the work he can do.
I suppose now I’ll talk about the elephant in the room: the TV-MA rating. So, do I think it deserves it? Yes, probably. Not for the fanservice, because it rarely goes past being suggestive and there’s no nudity or anything. If anything I’d say it’s because of the plot more than anything. I mean when you really get down to it, it is a story about a homicidal killer trying to repent for her sins, regardless of how deceptively adorable that killer may be. There are also quite a few scenes of graphic violence. I mentioned how it’s usually down in an artsy way, which it is, but not the whole time. I mean in one scene a character has their stomach cut open and the villain shoves their hand inside and starts squeezing. I mean the art makes it look like somebody’s just reaching into a bag to find the right color jelly bean, but I’ll tell you this, you wouldn’t want to eat those ones. And it’s not like they can do that all the time. After someone gets dismembered, you’ll still have to see a bloody stump in its place, y’know? And, I mean there is a part where someone gets violently drilled to death, clone or not, they have blood and the art can’t cover that up. Though I admit, that scene was one of the most clever and evil things I’ve ever seen a villain do, so I liked it quite a lot. Oh no, maybe the curse is getting to me? I’ll say there’s certainly worse violence but it isn’t exactly mild either. It’s more than you’ll probably see in your Naruto’s or you Dragon Ball Z’s (I suppose dismemberment happened in that quite a lot too!) or whatever the kids are watching these days. If you’re squeamish, maybe stay away. It’s up to you! It’s not my job to watch after you, youngins!
I really debated whether or not to do this. I’m generally of the mindset that I don’t watch things multiple times (especially if they aren’t great) because there are so many other things I could watch. But I made an exception for C3, purely because I’ve had a fascination with it ever since I forgot its name. I hate giving a rating for something I barely remember, so I really wanted to fix that. And because of this whole review thing It gave me a chance to, for that, I’m grateful. I really did enjoy C3 quite a lot, far more than I thought I would. A series that in my mind I would have been like “oh, yeah the cube one,” I can now go like “oh, yeah the cube one, it was pretty good.” It honestly made me want to go back and rewatch some other series that my memory is a bit foggy on. Well, that will have to wait for another time. I’d still rather add something new than something I’ve already seen. But if anything C3 showed me that it’s worth going back and experiencing something a second time. You never know how your opinions may change. Another reason I probably feel this way is because when I had watched C3, I was very early in my anime career, only having a handful of series under my belt. I wasn’t able to tell what C3 had done right, and on the flip side, what it had done wrong. But now I could. And for that, I’m grateful to it. C3, when I decide to take a look at an older series (and maybe even talk about it) I’ll owe it to you. Thank you, C3, and thank you, Fear, you adorable monster you.
As always that was just my opinion and isn’t any more or less valid than yours. If you don’t like that, Fear will curse you! Your punishment? Forced to have a Rubik’s cube glued to your hand until you solve it. Oh, the horror! As always, I highly recommend you don’t listen to me, your grandmother, your friend’s cousin, or anyone else, and instead watch C3 and form your own opinion. Forming opinions is fun and like milk keeps your bones and your body strong!
Thank you very much for reading ~
I have a strange desire to go mess with a Rubik’s cube now. Wait! I can’t believe it! I finally finished it! Well, one side that is. Funny story, I had never used a Rubik’s cube when I was younger so I assumed once you did one side that meant you completed them all. What a poor innocent idiot I was.
Anyways, I’ll see you next month!
yuumega
C3 (C "cubed") or also known as CubexCursexCurious. Is an Anime that's centered around a weapons that turn human (sound's familiar... ) these guys are known as cursed tools. the anime talks about lifting curses and understanding. Although the concept seems nice, i warn you... this anime throws information out of no where so fast that you need to pause, think and process. you will find that there is information there that needs explaining, information that seems vital to the story. with that in mind the character development seemed a bit hollow or somewhat feel somewhat empty... if a character was in trouble I feltnothing apart from "oh, your going to be attacked...", i reckon that the characters need more depth in order to do really make it shine.
The art of C3 is really good, the colours, the art style does that eerie effect that they might be going for. the cute characters design and weapons where very nice. I do warn you though does contain a little ecchi scenes
All in all this anime is a decent watch is you are a lover of mindless violence. I think this anime had potential if it was made right. It seems to me that they tried but it turn in to a bit of a flop. It may make more sense if you read the manga ( i didn't :x)
Zumorito
C³ Ever heard about the ''cliché harem anime's which are utterly annoying''? most harem anime have no progress, no real story and are mostly pushed forward on fanservice and very lame humor. C³ right here, screams to all corners of the world; ''YES WE CAN''. Rather overwhelming the viewer with images you would hide from your family and friends, and almost start crying NOT because of seeing a scene of Clannad but because the humor is SO bad, you should just take this from me; C³ is for the people who have been vomiting their last reserve of useable ''clear mind'', and just CAN'T enjoy harem any longer.not a lousy backstory, not a lousy intro and give a reason ''WHY'' he meets that person. he's just thrown in the situation after 2 minutes, without any explaination why and what. it's just a story stripped from it's ''expected'' lousy and lame moments.
From the normal anime where we get told why and where the girl comes from (see: random cliché anime), we just simply skip that part and get thrown into teaching the girl that roasted tea fits with rice crackers. No sentimental reason, no why or what's. Only that she was a gift sent from his father, which doesn't get explained either. Practically, you can compare it to the food being chewed for you or just given to you and you need to sort out how to eat it. you'll eventually get it swallowed anyway. Some might hate it, but i'm sure most will love it. It's a harem, so why not make the best out of it? this show has no dignity; no hiding... no shame at ALL.
If it changes to fan service, it's REAL fanservice. if it changes to action and gore, it's REAL action and gore. if it changes to humor, it's REAL humor. It's like the company wanted to show that not every harem is mostly lame, and shout ''YES WE CAN'' over the roofs. The anime has alot of very light hints to the plot,
and some might say ''there weren't any''. I'm sorry, but with some anime you need to pay attention, and this is one of these. For the co-reviewers; a big flip off for you sir!
The start and background story are simple: Guy receives a box from his dad from a far away country, as the box reacts on his touching.
the box changes into a girl that appears 30 seconds later on the episode. The start is so simple, where is the story? Well, that's the development of the story. You could compare the progress as a Detective anime, where the answers all explode infront of you at the end. A simple, but rather genius way to gain content over the anime. Rather then trying to find new ways to explain a story in the category harem, Silver link decided to take the best ways to sort out, and strip away anything unnecessary. i could start spoiling about the story, but that's already tough not to since it's, after all, a harem(see; much fanservice, not alot of story). Just take it that this is one to watch if you love Harem in mix with Supernatural.
Art.
The Art director of Da Capo and Sakurasou no Pet kanojo; otherwords, the art is just as it should be. it's simple on the moments you see quick animations, which makes it easy NOT to turn out confused and get the ''what just happened'' feeling,
as on the more slow movement scenes you get a rich outlay of lots of details and background information, which also point out hints about the plot. subtle and enjoyable.
8/10.
story
''Story? What story?'' Said the harem-critic. Yes. it's true that most Harem do not contain a proper story as with Clannad, Sword art online or Mirai Nikki. What you find in C³, though, is a much, MUCH darker story then you would expect in the first place. It's easy going, and is thinned over the action, comedy and fanservice.
But, here's the cookie(i will give you one later): it's not overused as in most Harem. Most people combine Harem and Ecchi together, as this one clearly does not use the overused lousy attributions,
but makes it actually enjoyable for people. it's a bit dissapointing that they DO try to spread their story over too many themes, which can be a utter failure for some fans.
It is, and always be, a harem.
7/10
sound
nothing wrong with the intro theme. it's good music combined with a utterly fancy Video. same for the music trough the anime as it has plenty music for different scenes. The ending theme is Okay. nothing special compared to the Intro and music troughout the anime. The voice acting is pretty decent, but mainly Yukari Tamura, the voice-over of Fear, is extremely well done. the high pitching voices in the cute comedy scenes but the maniacal voicing in the action scenes really make you shiver.
8/10
characters
we've got Haruaki, the main guy which is just being dragged everywhere in the first place but does contain character development, but mainly leads the other main characters in changing personalities. he's just the joker in the show, what is one of the main characteristics in random harems. sad they did copy this, but else it wouldn't be a harem theme. next to that we have Fear, the main female Protagonist, which has a dark curse, and wants to lift this to finally be relieved of her duty; which i will NOT spoil. She's a shy girl who screams ''i'll curse you'' on the moment she's brought in embarressment. cute, but she also contains a very dark and murderous side. As last we have Muramasa, first introduced as the neighbor friend of Haruaki, but contains a hidden power to change in a deadly weapon of justice; which Haruaki can handle to atleast defend himself against dark and magical opposers.
the characters in general all contain something interesting; although they do not go far into their past, they all are explained just enough to follow the story. there isn't more information necessary to delay the story, because there is just enough content to change the personalities and ways how to act in the characters.
They are just stripped from information no one really gives a damn about. Thats why, suprisingly, it's more entertaining and rather refreshing then most Harems.
7/10
enjoyment
It is and always will be a harem. The difference is that this one KNOWS it's a harem, and tries to expand those limits they all reach at some point. They accept the challenge to expand the theme and by this they came out of a unexpected corner and hit the watcher right in the face. they go beyond most harems, which scream out as they all show too many of this or that particular theme. Silver Link knew that this is the reason why Harems made a dive in ratings, and only the best survived. You only find Clannad, Freezing and kanon in those lists, while these are not even OFFICIALLY harems. That's why it's pretty sad this anime has not reached those rankings as they have the theme, and have the potentional to grow up in the harem ratings.
it's refreshing, funny and something else then the mainstream anime like Naruto and Fairy Tail.
9/10
With this i'll end my review. i hope to see you next time ;)
- Zumorito
Nebarto
I'll have to say this in advance, while watching the first few episodes I've never been more annoyed at the word "Bitch", because of how often I heard it. Please remember that this is my own opinion about the series and whether or not you choose to think well of it is yours to think. Story: I gave the story such a low score because the lack of luster it showed me, throughout the 12 episodes I found myself watching a circle of events followed by conflict and action, with little overall plot development. It was like replaying a level in a video game about 3times in a row. Besides the repetitive feeling C^3 gave me, there were some aspects that gave it it's own unique feel. So far I haven't met a concept where cursed tools are from the fault of humans etc. Yet finding that theme mixed in with ecchi and harem, well, IMO it didn't mix very well.It attempted to mix a harem like aspect of cursed tools that were used for killing somewhat attracted to the main character, who didn't stand out very much either. Still, this anime plot line had its ups and downs, which persuaded me to finish the series.
Art and Sound: The art was pretty good, and I liked the music enough for me to put it on my "to download and listen to later" list. Conflict moments that included combat were displayed fantastically and animations for the "powers" each Waas/Worse/Cursed tool had were pretty cool.
Characters: As seen in standard ecchi/harem/highschool anime, the personalities of the characters were easily relate-able to similarly themed anime. The main character seemed as a more supporting role, and from each 2-3 episodes it centered around a different character but ultimately returning to Fear-in-Cube going through a similar circle of events.
I somewhat enjoyed this series. I managed to suffer through the cliche'ness of it all. Which brings me to a SPOILER. What kind of last ending boss fight was that? Completely rushed and cliche, the ending resolution pushed the story score down the lowest I have ever rated in a series. But in some ways I was enlightened with comedy and action. (Shout out to Konoe and her camera skills, XD). For people starting to watch anime and haven't seen many like this I recommend you watch it. If you have seen anime similar to this one, I wouldn't really watch it unless you are looking for a time killer. Just to state clearly the main flaws I found were: The amount of cliche moments, the repetitiveness of the plot line, and the awkward mix of ecchi/harem with bloody cursed tools with traumatizing backgrounds etc.
Overall, I wouldn't look down on this series too much, IMO I've just seen too many like it that are superior, and it bored me. If you were offended in some way, refer to my message at the top. But if not, have fun watching the series!
-Sincerely, Nebarto
