The Futaba Detective Agency, being run by Rentarou, who has taken over the family business, after his father's death 3 weeks ago. Along with Sara & Souju, his live-in identical twin assistants. He ends up running afoul of the local Yakuza. (Source: ANN)
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Now, to be honest, I wasn't expecting much when I first laid my eyes on this one. Futakoi didn't impress me and even though I'd heard this was a complete remake with the only similarity being the characters I was far from convinced. However, it would only take the first episode to win me over. My biggest problem with a lot of anime is that I have to force myself not to fast forward past a lot of scenes. Only a few animes I've seen can pride themselves with having me pay full attention to every scene, and Futakoi alternative is actually one of those! Thekey to this is a fast paced and unique story. When watching the first episode, I really had no idea where the story was going, but believe me, I wanted to know! Not only this, but the brilliant mix of action and comedy had me wondering where those 20 minutes had gone. The first episode was funny and filled with action provided by colorful characters. Even though I was stunned after the first episode, one question had me worried, would the remaining episodes be as enjoyable? Don't get me wrong, the first episode's mix of action and comedy was perfect, but action and comedy only goes that far. A good show needs character and story development, and I was wondering whether Futakoi Alternative would provide me with that. However, after watching a few more episodes, this no longer had me worried. The pace was slowed down but instead a solid story replaced it. Even though Futakoi Alternative starts out as a cheerful series, it develops into something deeper, more heart gripping, however, it does all this without losing it's original feel. Even though the story is brilliant, the characters are in no way to be underestimated. Because believe me when I say this, they are simply great. The main character Rentarou really is one of my favourite anime characters. He's tough and can be hilarious, but he has his inner demons and doubts which makes him into more than a simple harem character. You understand his problems, you know they are hard to solve. I guess you could say he feels REAL. Also, without spoiling too much, it really does feel like this anime wraps things up nicely in the end, something that a lot of good animes fails with. Futakoi Alternative is a funny action-filled series which manages to maintain a deep, gripping story despite it's unrealistic setting. Comedy, action, drama and romance all together without getting too mixed up. This anime really has it all, I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to see 13 episodes of pure brilliance.
the first 4 episodes or so, are a bit confusing but after that you start getting the hang of the story. i liked this anime because its got a good amount of comedy, action and romance (*it centers around romance tho*). the story doesnt progress fast rather, it follows a monotonous synopsis and unlike naruto and other anime that has some random episodes that seem to come out of nowhere this one is really focused (w the exception of the squid i dont know why it had to be a squid lol) watching the anime Futakoi before watching this one might be a good idea.
"It'd be tiresome to explain it all logically, but, if I were to try and sum it up with one phrase, it's probably a story about love." -Rentarou Futaba Futakoi Alternative...what I expected was a silly, light-weight, mindless action comedy. Let me tell you now, that is NOT a good description. Futakoi Alternative tries to be something much greater than that, and, in some ways, it succeeds. In other ways, it fails. Overall, though, I think Futakoi Alternative is a pretty darn good show. Story: 5.5 || Art: 9.0 || Sound: 7.5 || Character: 9.5 ||Enjoyment: 8.0 || OVERALL: 8.0 STORY: Futakoi Alternative tells the story of one Rentarou Futaba, self-employed as a detective (more-or-less), and his twin assistants, Sara and Soujyu Shirogane. The first part of the story follows excerpts from their daily lives and adventures, which range from mundane to bizarre and usually involve another pair of twins (most likely a nod to the original source material). This part of the story is mainly action-comedy. The second part of the story is a semi-continuous storyline focusing on Rentarou's relationship with Sara and Soujyu. This part of the story plays out like a romantic drama. The third part of the story details the resolution of the dramatic tension, switching back to action-comedy mode. The first episode of Futakoi Alternative deserves special mention. It plays out kind of like one long action sequence, ridiculously (and hilariously) over-the-top. It operates on two long-standing rules of fiction: things that are incredibly awesome and things that are incredibly funny are both acceptable (even desirable) breaks from reality. Basically, anything goes, so long as it’s cool enough or funny enough. This works fantastically well, making episode 1 an example of frenetic anime action-comedy at its peak. It’s pure chaos, and it’s pure FUN. Episode 1, somewhat unfortunately, is an outlier. The series mellows out very quickly, generally dropping the over-the-top awesomeness (but maintaining the comedy) beginning with episode 2 in favor of a more realistic feel. This is definitely not to say that Futakoi Alternative becomes bad; rather, it gains a different sort of charm. The comedy remains gut-bustingly hilarious but does not solely drive the show. It starts to focus more and more on the characters and at times lapses into a pensive melancholy that, when paired with the spectacular presentation, comes across as genuinely artistic. This loose trend from comedy to drama continues for several episodes. Once you hit episode 5, you may start to really notice that Futakoi Alternative is not much of a comedy anymore. It still has funny moments, but they soon start feeling out of place, and perhaps disconcerting. The show morphs into an intense, character-centric drama, complete with heavy atmosphere. Again, this is definitely not to say that Futakoi Alternative becomes bad; it just becomes good for different reasons. As a drama it is entrancing, mainly due to phenomenal presentation and excellent characters. Then, after establishing a realistic and solidly depressing mood, Futakoi Alternative suddenly (and I mean SUDDENLY) switches back to its original state. Unfortunately, it does this by tossing its sense of realism out the window. I cannot emphasize enough how sudden this shift is. The show resumes its original attitude that anything goes, so long as it’s cool enough or funny enough. And yet, in spite of all the ridiculous action sequences this generates, the show keeps bouncing back and forth between that and the dramatic melancholy it established earlier. This whole set of mood-swings is jarring, so much so that it threatens suspension of disbelief. Luckily, if you can weather the storm of episode 11, the mood stabilizes to a reasonable degree. Whether or not you can take Futakoi Alternative seriously enough to care about anything after the Squid Nazis (I am not making this up) and their utterly absurd diabolical plot is an entirely different issue. Overall, the story is really only strong enough to maintain interest. It is never complex or even very creative. Actually, I would go so far as to say that the plot is downright stupid in the last episodes (even ignoring all the problems with the biplane flight). However, Futakoi Alternative is genuinely funny at the beginning; it does drama really well; and it transitions impressively smoothly from comedy to drama (just not vice-versa). It is really effective at establishing strong moods, even if they do bounce around like manic-depressive ping-pong balls on crack. And, if you can manage to stop banging your head against the wall long enough to watch the final episodes, the finale of Futakoi Alternative is pretty awesome, and the final conclusion is somehow satisfying and maybe even beautiful. STORY SCORE: 5.5/10 - AVERAGE ART: At first glance, the art style of Futakoi Alternative seems, in a word, generic. When it comes to the main character designs, I can’t disagree. This does not mean that the show’s design style is bad; the main cast looks quite nice; Sara and Soujyu are cute, and Rentarou is actually rather handsome. Furthermore, the supporting cast has more diverse designs, often fitting for their roles. The art and designs are consistent throughout the show, except for intentional art-shifts. With regard to the art itself, the line-work is crisp, and the color palette is wide and excellently used. The background art is good but generally nothing special. The animation, however, is surprisingly fluid. Where Futakoi Alternative really shines is its style. Think Gainax crossed with Shaft. The action sequences are slick. The camera angles are dynamic. The comedic art-shifts and sight-gags are successful. The scenes of madcap mayhem are composed wonderfully and are full of energy. The cinematography is brilliant, and this extends to the more tranquil scenes as well. The more down-to-earth the show is, the more traditional the camera work and animation style. The more melancholic the show is, the darker the color palette. The more pensive and thoughtful the show is, the more experimental and artistic the animation direction. The use of lighting in this show to enhance or distill the mood is amazing. At times, Futakoi Alternative borders on cinematic in its scene composition, direction, and animation quality. The unfortunate flip-side to this is that all these extraordinary touches can produce heightened expectations for the show. Indeed, at times I began to think I was watching a rare, triumphant example of anime as true art. As strong as Futakoi Alternative’s presentation is, it doesn’t take long with a “true art” mindset for it to remind you that it’s not fundamentally different from other anime series. In the end, Futakoi Alternative isn’t a high-budget anime; there is plenty of typical shortcutting and standard camera-work mixed in with the clever bits of cinematography. The animation studio just took what little it had and made the best of it. And, through their own skill, they turned it into something that is, at the very least, respectable. At the very most, it’s nearly a masterpiece. ART SCORE: 9.0/10 - EXCELLENT SOUND: The background music of Futakoi Alternative varies a great deal in terms of both style and quality. We have groovy breakbeats, light orchestral themes, big band numbers, mellow solo pianos, whistling, acoustic guitar pieces, rock ‘n’ roll riffs, and obviously-synthesized orchestral pieces with little nuance to them. Despite that the composition and production are often below top-tier, the BGM is quite effective in both setting and supporting the mood, whatever it may be at any given moment (an impressive feat, considering how volatile the show’s mood is). Futakoi Alternative also demonstrates that silence can be just as expressive as a symphony. Sound effects are very well-used, but I don’t recall anything extraordinary other than the disk-scratches in episode 1. The opening theme starts off as a sort of synth-pop-orchestral piece, but quickly switches to hard rock. It is very fast and energetic, which captures the spirit of Futakoi Alternative’s action-comedy aspect rather well. The accompanying animation parallels the style of the song perfectly; it starts with a cheesy scrolling view of some of the cast, which gives off an unoriginal harem anime feel, and then it bursts out into a continuous action sequence starring the female cast members and a whole lot of firepower. It’s pretty cool, but, as Futakoi Alternative shifts genres and tonality, it starts seeming more and more out of place, only serving as a reminder of what the show no longer is. The ending theme is more remarkable for its animation than for its music. The song itself is a wistful pop ballad. It consists of an acoustic guitar, a four-piece string ensemble, some very light drumwork, and the singer. The vocals have a breathy quality to them, but it contributes to the relaxing feel of the song. Overall, it’s rather pleasant, but it’s really nothing you haven’t heard before. The accompanying animation is notable in that it uses stop-motion animation with figurines, which is certainly creative. The ending theme changes briefly about two-thirds of the way into the show to a different arrangement of the same song with just piano and vocals. It gives off a different feel from the original. The vocalist drops some of her breathiness, grounding it a bit more in reality. The lyrics also change, as does the accompanying animation, although it is still stop-motion. I just have to mention the music that plays during the preview segment at the very end of each episode. It’s a lilting, hauntingly hopeful piece for woodwind and music box, with intentionally degraded audio, as if it were an old record. I really, really like it. In fact, the overall style for the previews is inexplicably enjoyable. In general, I do not watch episode previews, but I watched every single one in Futakoi Alternative. For some reason, they fill me with nostalgia… Last on the list of things to discuss about the sound is the voice acting. Considering that the mood of Futakoi Alternative swings around like a chimpanzee on a jungle gym mounted on a colossal playground swing set, and considering that the show can be very intense with any given mood, this is a difficult show to act. That said, the voice actors perform wonderfully in roles that require a large amount of versatility. It feels like a lot of passion went into the voice-work. Mizuhashi Kaori and Kadowaki Mai do fantastic jobs bringing to life both the subtle and not-so-subtle aspects of Sara and Soujyu. Seki Tomokazu does a good job modulating his voice to give Rentarou depth, occasionally even giving deliberately flat delivery of lines for optimal effect (one priceless instance is his “scream” in episode 1). Unfortunately, he occasionally comes across as more hot-blooded (excited or agitated) than is appropriate. The supporting cast is also pretty strong, with fitting voices and at least solid acting. The one thing that really bothers me about the voice acting is the annoying polyphony generated by Rara and Ruru. Their voices are already annoyingly high; adding unison to that borders on painful. Thankfully, they don’t have many lines. SOUND SCORE: 7.5/10 – PRETTY GOOD CHARACTER: Futakoi Alternative manages to work some amazing magic in the realm of characterization. The main characters are very likable (and well-characterized), and the side characters, though not particularly well-characterized, range from unobtrusive to downright fun to watch. Sara and Soujyu are certainly based on the tsundere and yamato nadeshiko archetypes, but they are never slaves to them. Sara is impulsive, aggressive, and standoffish, but she is also playful, affectionate, and sometimes even reserved; Soujyu is kind, calm, and accepting, but she is also playful, determined, and sometimes even uncontrolled. The twins somehow manage to really come alive. It helps, more than one could possibly expect, to see that they have hobbies utterly unrelated to the plot. Both their personalities are multifaceted, and they are often influenced by the people around them. The obvious example is Rentarou, who frees the inner child in each and allows them to drop the barriers that the harsh, uncaring world forced them to erect. Rentarou is likewise affected by the twins; their dependence and love brings out the father in him (his competence and reliability), which allows him to finally respect himself; their frolicsomeness and immaturity bring out his own childishness (playfulness, happiness) which allows him to finally like himself. Without them - without those aspects of himself that the twins enable - he is but an angsty teenager forever trapped, living in his father's shadow. Sara and Soujyu complete him, and he completes them. They love him and make him capable of loving them back. However, the nature of this love is complex (and confusing to him), as he is both a father and a peer to them. Precisely WHY the twins and Rentarou happen to interact in this mutually-self-actualizing way is unclear, but this complaint is inane. Real life is rarely clearer, and real life gives us far more than 13 episodes to figure out our relationships. All you have to do is watch, and Futakoi Alternative will let you bask in it until you simply FEEL that it's right. Getting over the possible twincest vibes is something entirely different. I somehow managed to get through Futakoi Alternative without really thinking about it, thus avoiding the problem. I'm sure I could discuss the issue in further detail...but this is hardly the right place. CHARACTER SCORE: 9.5/10 – FANTASTIC ENJOYMENT: Futakoi Alternative is immensely (and surprisingly) enjoyable to watch, although for different reasons at different points in the series. Notably, the first episode is one of the best single episodes in all of anime. As for the remainder of the series, it excels as an action-comedy in the early and the later episodes, and it excels as an artistic drama in the middle episodes. However, the transition from the latter to the former is unpleasantly jarring, making it a bit misleading to call the series, as a whole, enjoyable. This transition really is bad enough to endanger enjoyment of the entire series, and, as such, a lot depends on any given viewer’s ability to cope with sudden genre shifts and mood whiplash. If you can tolerate that structural problem, Futakoi Alternative has some extraordinary qualities. The presentation of the series is downright impressive; whether the style is experimental or traditional, the cinematography ranks among the best of the best in terms of scene composition and directing. More importantly, though, the main cast is truly top-tier; rarely does a character come alive to the same extent that Rentarou, Sara, and Soujyu do. The bottom line is that they are simply a joy to watch, and the series does an outstanding job telling their stories. ENJOYMENT SCORE: 8.0/10 – GREAT OVERALL: Futakoi Alternative is a diamond in the rough. Although it appears generic on the surface, it quickly proves itself to be anything but. This does not, however, mean it is a flawless production. The story itself is most certainly not a work of brilliance, and one of the genre/mood shifts near the end is so awful that it threatens the quality of the entire series. However, these weaknesses are far outweighed by its strengths: remarkably powerful characterization and superb artistic direction. These qualities earn Futakoi Alternative a place in my heart, and I think they should earn it a place in your “Plan to Watch” lists. OVERALL SCORE: 8.0/10 – GREAT
Well... The original Futakoi was alright in some aspects, but this one was a lot better. It may have been a bit random and some may go 'wtf?' but it gets better as it progresses. [Story] The storyline is about a boy/man/teen w/e called Futaba Rentarou who lives with the twins Sara and Sojyu in an apartment that looks like a bomb shelter. They undertake the wierdest missions in which they find things for clients. The story gets a 7 from me since i only understood half of what they were trying to achieve. The romance between the three gets well underway much later in the animearound the middle, and the first half is mainly setting the story up and 'localizing' you with the characters. [Art] Much better than Futakoi. It seems they took the time and effort to get it right this time round, with the artwork suiting the atmosphere of the anime. [Sound] Hmm.. cant really say its good or bad. I didnt mind any of the audio, but it didnt really captivate me either. [Character] This one goes into some depth with the three main characters and some side characters, such as twin teacher sisters with one of them hiring Rentarou's services to find info on her twin. A so-so effort to develop the characters. [Enjoyment] Reasonably fast-paced action with half of it romance and a bit of humour here and there. If you hated Futakoi, you'll definately like this one better. [Overall] It wouldnt say this was mediocre, but i wouldnt say it was outstanding.
Anime began in the late 18th century and was invented by Walt Disney. One-hundred and thirty-two years later Haruki Murakami, head of Toyota and designer of the album cover of KanYe West’s 4th sophomore album, The Barter 3, stole the Krabby Patty secret formula required to steal children from money and set up Studio Ghibli. He was soon fired by his employees, numbered six total, and was replaced by Mamoru Oshii, who went on to create FLCL, a six-episode OVA featuring David Beckham in the leading role. Oshii won seven little Oscars for his debut and was later arrested for child exploitation, where he would spendthe remainder of his days complaining about how no one was around anymore to make the anime that he wanted to make. The anime he had in mind was Futakoi Alternative, and was originally conceived on a napkin in a coffee shop in a series of ideas which would form the basis of Pixar’s greatest hits in the years to come. The show was made by ufotable, a studio who are very easy to hate, because they have a trademark style that shortcuts the need for consistent, high-fidelity animation. They layer every show they make in a heap of digital lighting effects and shaders, giving everything a kind of glossy, smooth sheen, an effect that gives the impression that what you’re staring at is obscured in fog and isn’t as real as you’d like it to be. Futakoi Alternative however comes before the digital deep-frier era, before ufotable sold their soul to the Nasuverse and decided to make Fate for the rest of their existence, or this was the narrative anyway, before they made Demon Slayer. The setting is impossible to take seriously. They’re driving motor-cycles up walls, shooting the mafia, basically all nonsense. Then the writer sits down across from you, literally – he literally came into my house, and sat down – he was taking food out of my refrigerator, he was eating yoghurt, I asked him about it, he said: “It’s rude to speak with your mouth open”. He was then explaining to me the conceit of his novel because like every terrible writer, he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut about the process of how he wrote it, because to him it was like magic. I couldn’t care less. He was explaining to me the idea behind writing Futakoi Alternative as a serious story, and he had one reason or another, I wasn’t listening, and then he started drinking milk straight out of the carton, not even opening the lid, he pulled out a machete, and lopped off the top of it, and started just guzzling it, and getting milk all over himself and the floor, and was generally just making a real nuisance of himself. I went to call the police, but he’d done something to the electricity, so I had to endure listening to him explain the plot of Futakoi Alternative, and the underlying meaning of the twins in the show. Sara apparently represents the desire to have an older sister to depend on while Soujyu represents the desire to have a younger sister to dote on. I told him he was just rehashing what was written in SubaHibi but then he claimed that he wrote SubaHibi. Something about Futakoi Alternative’s plot structure is very contrived in how it is set up. The happy, comical moments, the only good parts of the show, are treated as mere fluff to the supposed real meat of the story, which is this contrived and very boring slow-burning who-cares quote-unquote tragedy about these girls who are condemned to an arranged marriage to a rich heir of some made-up rich company, and this is all linked to a World War 2 criminal organization who produce squid-human immortal hybrids in an attempt to take over the world, and it takes way too much time for it to be resolved, and it tries to play to your nostalgia of the prior fun moments despite these moments existing only to evoke a sense of nostalgia later on, which makes these happy moments feel very disingenuous and insincere. To provide a similar example, it’d be that scene in Oyasumi Punpun, where all the kids and Punpun are staring up at the beautiful night sky: a moment designed explicitly to evoke nostalgia later on, something impossible to buy into because of how contrived and insincere it is from the get-go. You’re not going to want to shoot yourself after watching these scenes, but it is very easy to be indifferent to Sara and Soujyou’s struggles and not care about them bawling about Rentarou this and Rentarou that like they’re behind on their apartment payments. So basically because of this I consider Alternative to be badly written, but I don’t mean that as an insult. There’s a certain artistry to bad writing. It takes a lot of effort and goodwill and knowledge and effort to write something mediocre. With something mediocre, you know that the effort has been put in. Mediocrity isn’t something you luck into. It’s achieved with guts, courage, hard work, and determination. A mediocre writer can look back on his mediocrity and say that at least they did something today, which is something mediocre. Tomorrow seem better, and not so uncertain, because they can always do tomorrow what they’ve done today, which is piling on the same mediocre drivel they’ve been churning out before. This may seem a fate worse than hell, but fear not! It is not a barrier to success. Much like dyslexia, there are far more famous people with the condition than you’d realize.
*Please excuse my reviewing skills, this is my first. Also instead of writing super long reviews, I'll write short ones. To be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed Futakoi Alternative.If you are reading this review right after watching 2-3 episodes and you are thinking of dropping it, then please don't. I also thought of dropping it after the first two episodes. At first, it was really strange, all the scenes were everywhere and it leaves the viewer assuming what's going on a lot. I was really confused. However, once you get into probably 4-5 episodes in, it gets better because you get used to the way Futakoi Alternativeworks things and it also kind of fixes the "scrambled" scenes. This anime certainly isn't your typical one step at a time anime, if you know what I'm referring to. One of the most important things I look for in an anime, is the story line. The general idea of this anime is a pretty interesting one. It captivates you, making you wonder what is going to happen in the next episode. However, the way they executed the idea for the storyline is strange with...uhm...squid/human hybrids.I won't spoil anymore... One of the big selling points of this anime are the characters. I just love the Sera and Soujyu! The writers or whoever, make you feel like you are actually Rentarou. You just can't choose either Sera or Soujyu! This is a great anime to watch and I just wish it was longer (What a typical anime fan says). I'm sorry for the amateur review. Also, some of the things I mentioned here probably doesn't make sense to people who aren't halfway through yet.
Futakoi Alternative is a surprisingly engaging show in spite of its bizarre and over-the-top story elements. From what I gather, the series is a spinoff of an anime that is based on a dating sim whose gimmick was a male lead having a harem involving several sets of twin girls attracted to him. While that would seem to make the original Futakoi anime rather forgettable and typical fare, Futakoi Alternative is a whole different beast as it takes many of the characters from the original series and goes in a completely different story direction that mashes up sci-fi action, manic comedy, and romantic drama inits focus on freelance detective Rentaro and his assistants, twin high school students Sara and Soju. Before I get to the core of the series, I suppose I should explore the major element of the series that will make or break your enjoyment and that is in the form of its multiple genre mash-ups mentioned from the prior paragraph. I suppose a comparable series you could think of this to be like would be FLCL with parodies of some anime tropes, gun-action, tangling with yakuza, and a final battle with a secret society making mutant squids (seriously), though Futakoi Alternative does not get as ridiculously over-the-top as Gainax's famous title. The comedy does lead its major characters to take on a super-deformed state at points when things get ridiculous. The manic elements of the series did have their moments where they had me snickering at the lunacy of events playing out, though it did have its moments that did not click with me. At the core of the series though, Futakoi Alternative focuses on the polyamorous love involving Rentaro, Sara, and Soju. The twins clearly have a strong amount of affection for the young man and while Rentaro does care a good deal for them, he does have his reservations for wanting to go to another level with their relationship due to a harsh past and struggling financially to support himself and the twins. Whereas many titles would try to fetishize this sort of romance, Futakoi Alternative instead chooses to seriously explore the developments of the relationship as all three are considerate of the feelings of one another and think carefully about more intimate elements of pursuing a romantic relationship, including considering intercourse. When one of the twins wind up leaving during the second half of the anime, Rentaro and the remaining twin understandably feel a hole in their lives without the other twin and come to grips with wanting her to return to their regular living routine. With these two different sides to Futakoi Alternative, it would be easy for many titles to fall apart in quality since they can't properly balance focus on manic comedy and serious drama. But the series manages to effectively balance these story elements effectively well as it knows when to get silly and when to dial back the comedy to seriously focus on the developments in the polyamorous love between Rentaro, Sara, and Soju. Still, there are some who have been turned off by this genre mash-up in the same vain as FLCL and I can see where this may not be everybody's cup of tea if they are looking for a series more geared toward a specific genre. In addition to this, the focus on a polyamorous relationship may offend some conservative viewers if they are into more traditional male-female relationship pairings. Overall, Futakoi Alternative made for a surprisingly engaging series with its effective mix of manic comedy and romantic drama focused on its main threesome of Rentaro, Sara, and Soju. The genre mash-up and focus on polyamorous love may not be everybody's cup of tea. But if you can look past both of these matters, you will find yourself enjoying this hidden 2000s gem.
