The ability to create miracles is not just a supernatural phenomenon; it is a gift which manifests in a limited number of human beings. "Minimum," or small miracles, are special powers that only selected people called "Minimum Holders" possess. The detective agency Yokohama Troubleshooting, or Hamatora for short, is composed of the "Minimum Holder PI Duo," Nice and Murasaki. Their office is a lone table at Cafe Nowhere, where the pair and their coworkers await new clients.
Suddenly, the jobs that they begin to receive seem to have strange connections to the serial killer whom their friend Art, a police officer, is searching for. The murder victims share a single similarity: they are all Minimum Holders. Nice and Murasaki, as holders themselves, are drawn to the case—but what exactly is the link between Nice and the one who orchestrates it all?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
silverwalls
Hamatora was a show I was quite interested in prior to its airing. Looking at the key visuals, the characters looked interesting; and the preview video showed some cool superpowers with flashy and colorful animation. But you may think the synopsis doesn't really sound interesting - cool guys fighting with superpowers are an overused trope in anime, to the point where it gets cliché. But wait, Hamatora throws some detective elements into the mix! So, does that make Hamatora an interesting, outstanding watch that puts the superpower guy cliché into good use? Well, as you can see on my final score, I don't share thatopinion. Frankly, Hamatora - The Animation turns out to be a really underwhelming show that ends up forgettable quickly after completing it.
Set in a city where a small group of people with superpowers - called Minimum Holders - exist, the story follows a detective agency called Hamatora, a detective group made of Minimum Holders. Each episode we follow Hamatora solving various mysteries, always caused by another human who posesses Minimum Holder powers. Art, a superintendent of the police, usually cooperates with them to solve the cases, while it turns out that there is a mastermind behind all these mysterious happenings.
The story of Hamatora really isn't bad - each episode we get faced with a new detective case for our little detective group, and we follow them solve the cases and doing some fighting with their cool Minimum Holder powers. Here and there, we see some hints of an actual plot, which then gets fulfilled during the final few episodes. It could have been developed so much better though.
The first half of Hamatora (with the episodic short cases) was okay in the aspect that it also presented the antagonist and gave a small development up to the final conflict. The problem here is though that the time was not used effectively. Character development was close to zero, and instead we were presented with some filler-like episodes. Like the beach episode, which was used after a quite dramatic development, which was just completely out of place. And don't even get me started on episode 5, honestly.
The last few episodes focus on the actual "plot" of the series, as already mentioned. It definitely is better than the first half, as the plot thickens and the episodes focus on the main conflict. Sadly we get fed up with an extremely disappointing conclusion, which leaves questions open and brings the story down. Additionally, at some point you aren't really interested in following the story anymore and lose interest more and more as the story progresses. This is mostly due to the extremely weak characters.
And this leads me to my next point - the characters, which make up the weakest part in this series. As I've said, with the exception of some backstory hints, there is no real development and we don't get to know much about them. Hell, if they weren't called names like "Birthday" and "Nice" I don't think I would be able to remember much of them. Nice has some backstory, and characters like Murasaki, Art and Three also have some hints on their past here and there. But the rest gets left in the dark.
Especially characters like Koneko, Hajime and Master could have easily been left out in their entity and the story could still progress the same, as they don't play any role in the main plot. At all. Maybe they play a bigger role in the manga or the upcoming video game - at least in the anime, they are completely useless.
Finally there is also our "bad guy" Moral, who makes quite an underwhelming enemy character. I felt his reasoning for being the bad guy was quite a disappointment - you would expect so much more.
Overall, since we barely get to know anything about the characters - thanks to the aforementioned use of filler-like episodes - so we are presented with characters that we can't relate to or connect with at all. I think this also plays a part why the enjoyment is so little - at some point you do not really care how the story progresses anymore since you can't really feel anything for the characters.
The art is one of the more positive aspects, the character design is good and as I've already mentioned, the fighting scenes in their full colorful glory were quite a please to look at. The animation was okay too most of the time, though there were some episodes with lots of quality issues present. The music was decent too, with nice opening and ending songs.
But of course, some art and music don't make an anime, which now leads me to my overall opinion - Hamatora could have been a good and fun show, as the flashy visuals and the superpowers surely pique one's interest, but was brought down by an average plot and unrelateable characters. All this together results in my final score 4/10.
Asfaria
Hamatora is an anime that showed plenty of promise at first. It could have been excellent if not for one major setback: most of the anime is filler. The story is actually great when it gets down to it, but having one of the most thrilling scenes of any show this season followed up by a beach episode before returning to the actual plot just destroys the mood and momentum this show could have built up much more. That's not the only problem, but it certainly is the biggest and most noticeable one. Hamatora is an anime with a similar style to things like Persona 4or Danganronpa which are based on video games (though Hamatora's game has yet to actually be made...). It centers around a group of crime fighting, mystery solving "superhumans" called "Hamatora" and the other similar groups of people that they know. Most of the main characters have abilities called "Minimums" which allow them to use some power when they fulfill a certain requirement (ex. gain super-strength when they take off their glasses). The main characters and members of Hamatora are Nice and Murasaki who are both Minimum Holders (people who have minimums). The story begins with them just doing their usual crime solving and being dirt poor because they don't get enough jobs and a girl named Hajime spends a lot of Nice's money on food. They soon start getting job requests that interconnect and begin to reveal a much larger scale crime.
But before that all happens, the show has filler. Lots of filler. Most episodes have some small connection to the plot, but that will only be just about a minute out of an otherwise filler-filled episode. Whether it's a beach episode, spa episode with sit-ups (and I mean LOTS of sit-ups), or just some random event involving the minor characters, this show just has too much filler. However, the actual story is brilliant. The show overall resembles something like Psycho-Pass and Darker Than Black in the way the world and the minimum powers work and eventually crumble into chaos. The end of the show is excellent and leaves a possibility for a second season, which I would love to happen.
As for the characters, they are all interesting but none develop very much or at least get enough screen time to develop. As much as I like Nice and Murasaki, they really don't develop as much as characters in similar shows, and the show only gave small glimpses into their pasts which needed much more elaboration as they seemed very interesting. A detective named Art is also interesting and his relationship with Nice is one of the higher points in the character aspect. Hajime, a girl who hangs out with Hamatora, appears to have the potential to be the main female protagonist at first with her intense hunger driving Nice into poverty, but she ends up only having a minor role with just two big appearances (one being the intense sit-up filler episode; you'll know which one I mean when you see it). The rest of the important supporting characters (who all have random English words for names) are just as interesting as the main cast. They were also given some short backstories, but not enough screen-time either. Hopefully a second season will bring about more of the characters' pasts.
However, the best character in this show is actually the villain, Moral. He's just psychotic and and the show does an excellent job of building him up. His scenes with Art and Nice are never bad and are the best scenes in the entire anime. He just wants everyone in the world in to be equal, but that means eliminating those who think differently than him. He's an understandable villain whose goals are similar to those of real life people, but he actually puts his plans into action.
The animation is generally very good despite the show's obviously low budget. The psychedelic look of when minimum holders use their powers make the action scenes very stimulating to the viewer, and all of the characters designs are great (Honey is especially cute). Moral, Nice, and everyone else look cool and their designs fit their parts well. The emotions the characters show really work well especially for showing how insane Moral is (at least compared to what society considers sanity). The urban scenery and everything else looks good as well. Really all that holds the animation back is just the low budget which is especially apparent in some of the filler episodes in the middle of the show, but the creators at least did a good job of saving the budget for more important scenes.
The soundtrack is also one of the better parts. It uses a lot of piano tracks with unique rhythms that speed up and down a lot depending on the mood. During the action scenes, rock songs are used. Nice's signature song that plays whenever he puts his headphones on stands out in particular. The OP is also one of my favorites of this winter season.
Hamatora may have issues with fillers that throw off the pace of the story and a noticeably low animation budget, but it's still very enjoyable. Even with a poor budget, they make it count when it needs to. The characters just needed a little more development to be really good, but the soundtrack is consistently great and sets a great mood to help fix all of the other problems. Some scenes are amazing and some are just frustrating, but Hamatora is still a fun and emotional anime that better get a second season.
ScarletCrystal
“You have no business telling me that I’m strong or alone or whatever. In fact, it’s no one’s business to decide who’s weak or strong.” – Nice Hamatora The Animation is one that will leave you excited, shocked, angry, and confused at some point. Set in the year that this anime aired, people in this world will have a power called a “Minimum”, therefore being called “Minimum Holders.” “It is an extraordinary power beyond the understanding of man that manifests whenever a specific condition is met in the form of an action.” Unfortunately, others won’t have this kind of power because they weren’t born orgifted with it; and that’s when the main conflict starts to head in. They would be seeking power because they are the “weak.”
Hamatora itself is made out of a group of people who accept job offers in order to make money. These jobs are usually ones they need to solve or investigate and are offered to them because Hamatora is known to have pairs with special abilities, or said in the last paragraph, a power called a “Minimum.” These special abilities help solve or conclude those investigations. The main investigation is to stop a serial killer targeting Minimum Holders.
The art in Hamatora is very colorful. One look at this anime and you know there will be flying colors everywhere. Especially when the characters construct their powers, colors are just in there. The characters themselves are also colorful; with what they wear and what item/element they use. There are also very flashy scenes. Other scenes include a bit of gore. The backgrounds are really just casual settings, nothing to fancy and nothing to dull - considering it is set in 2014.
I thought the OP of this anime had that futuristic feel to it. Being set in our current timeline, but with people having superhuman abilities, I think the OP played a pretty good role. The ED, I thought, had that sad feeling to it. It wasn’t gloomy or anything, I just felt like it was playing a sad tune or something. The background music/sounds played pretty well in terms of setting the mood/scene in each episode. But there really wasn't an OST that caught my attention.
With some there to make all the action, some there just to be funny, and some there to explain situations that viewers need explaining to, the characters in Hamatora are pretty cool, in my opinion. Though their names could have been better, the characters' names are pretty easy to remember - especially the ones in Hamatora itself. The top duo in Hamatora are Nice and Murasaki. Nice being the top Minimum Holder and Murasaki following behind. Other characters included, showed some pretty amazing powers. They made me laugh, tear up, angry, confused, and just simply shocked. Character developments weren't as good as how most anime would develop characters. But they're pretty fun to watch.
Overall, I enjoyed this anime from beginning to end. There were quite a few of cliffhangers - especially the last episode - which kept me kind of clinging on to the series. Though, if this series had a better character development and more episodes that went into the main plot, then maybe this show would have a little more fans. But even so, I think it's pretty entertaining.
Stark700
Certain humans born with special powers. How many series have you watched involved some sort of a similar theme? What Hamatora delivers includes a package of characters known as “Minimum Holders”. Yet everything else it comes with is hardly anything but special. In essence, Hamatora is a sour bag of trite cliches formulated by its premise. For what it’s worth, this show’s is dense with minimal value. To trace back a bit, we learn that there are special humans with abilities that are known as “Minimum Holders” in a setting known as Yokohama City. The titular title “Hamatora” is a collectively group of Minimum Holdersfounded by a young man named Nice. Having graduated at the top of his class at Facultas Academy, he forms this group as a detective agency to solve supernatural cases. Whether it puts them in danger or not doesn’t really seem to matter. Because in the end, the goal is to get the job done.
Essentially, the show does its job by presenting various cases on a weekly basis scenario. Later on it shifts to an ongoing arc involving a criminal who is known to go after the heads of other Minimum Holders; or rather precisely what’s inside of their heads. As a supernatural mystery, this should bring together a collection of insight to be explored. Yet, the show often neglects this because of its lazy elements. Even Hamatora itself is known to loft around waiting for clients rather than seeking them out. The whole concept becomes an ennui with the way the story constructs itself. To make matters worse, the characters are generic and lacks connection. What it tries to bring together with a main antagonist often gets sidetracked by non-standardized episodes. It fails to communicate to viewers its point or purpose involving its cases. And the ending? That invites questions from all angles.
By centralizing a small cast of characters as a collective force, one would expect the show to develop them on a deeper level. Unfortunately, Hamatora doesn’t follow that pattern and relies on its more generic concepts. The crass concept of ‘teenagers with superpowers’ comes to mind easily. After all, most of the main characters doesn’t look old enough to be out of higher tier school. At the same time, none of the characters stands out intelligently by themselves. How can we take a character seriously when our main character is named “Nice”? It doesn’t just cast off itself as him being a non-sensational character. Others such as Hajime, Birthday, and Ratio hardly are distinguishing by their personalities. The aloof writing gives them a lack of connection with Nice and with the audience with their lack of backgrounds. One of the only more dynamic connection that may be noticeable is the “Minimum Holder PI duo”, made up of Nice and Murasaki. But to call them dynamic would be an overstatement considering their lack of compatibility. Rather, it would be more simplistic to say they are partners on a professional level. But going any deeper than that would be laughable with the duo’s connection given their conflicting ideologies, Murasaki’s envy for his partner’s skills, and their ways of dealing with cases. In retrospect, their relationship can be described as oafish. It’s not silly in the way since one half of the duo (Murasaki) sheds off the humor with his serious nature. Thus, it just comes off as dull saturated with toppings of boredom.
Throughout the series, there’s a scenario of cat-and-mouse. It won’t feel like it but the concept is there. This is caused by its odd combination of implied humor with its general premise that comes together as frivolous. But what’s to be taken seriously is a criminal named Moral roaming through the streets. He has made it a goal to kill Minimal Users with his ideological mind. In essence, he comes off as a bigot with the stereotypical attributes of an antagonist. Embracing ideas of humanism, we learn of Moral’s goals for the future and his nature. There’s no mistake to describe Moral as a villain as he cares about no one but his ambitions – to make equality. In one specific episode, he even tries to murder a character for rejecting his offer. While this all may spark interest for viewers to see how far his goal comes across, it ultimately demonstrates a cliched and predictable outcome. There’s little insight going about his morality given the lack of characterization in Moral’s character. At the same time, it demoralizes the series’ story with an abject way of structuring its episodes. In other words, the series quickly shifts itself between its main story to its nonsensical episodes aimed for eye candy.
With a concept of super powers, you’d expect a deeper exposition right? Well, on most standards, the series only explains itself with weak effect. Minimum powers are only explored on the surface by showing, rather than telling such as the case of Hajime. Only a few characters such as Honey gets a bit of characterization with their back-stories. But what comes together as a unity ultimately is blend thanks to everything going on at once. It’s not just cliche but just badly formulated together as a whole.
It’s also difficult to fathom this show’s comedy on a variety of levels. This is illustrated by the dialogues delivered with cheesy execution, weak interactions, and jokes that sometimes makes almost no sense on occasions. The more concrete moments involve a deeper conversation between Art and Moral in the latter half of the show. At its climax, it delivers our villain’s message. Yet, this only comes as ephemeral as his lecture may be forgotten easily with the absurd story structure. Also taking on a mystery genre, the cases themselves started out with interest and even demonstrates some mature scenes with its debut. While this works out at first, it dies out quickly as viewers will find themselves questioning why they should care. Most of the cases lacks strength with morality. In general, it doesn’t let viewers draw in what they are interested from these cases. It’s also throws in random gags, background characters that somehow gets caught up with the mystery, and in general weak delivery.
Hamatora isn’t entirely filled with intolerable holes. There are some parts that are worth of praise such as the action. There’s strong evidence given the serious nature of Minimum Holders and why the public holds different opinion of them. By action, Minimum Holders deliver supernatural feats that are astonishing. Fights are intense on most scales and although doesn’t last long can leave an impression. While the characters (mainly Minimum Holders) lacks characterization, they don’t frustrate viewers to give them pity as most of them are capable of fighting themselves. In other words, they don’t come off as weaklings to despise on. There’s also a bit of anticipation coming together in the latter half of the story involving identity issues and what’s to expect from certain truth being potentially discovered. While it lacks a laudable mystery delivery, it does keep viewers from watching this show to anticipate to see what happens next.
Describing Hamatora’s art is easy to see with the eyes. The colorful exposition is there with fantastic action made up of explosions, knuckle sandwiches, and violence. Minimum Users’ abilities is intense as fans may expect and the artwork captures the majority of that. On the other hand, background artwork lacks any distinguishing features and the way characters are designed are generic. It isn’t even original considering that Yuki Kodama, whom previously worked on Blood Lad traces its designs. They don’t look just similar but hardly has anything to write home about.
Soundtrack stands out as one of its strengths. It is noticeable with alternative ways and well-coordinated delivery of its OST. At same time, it can keep up with the momentum and matches it consistently. Similarly, both the OP and ED songs delivers well with appropriate instrumentality. The mixture of its rock and techno notions also captures its moments. In general, it will leave an impressions for the audience. But on the topic of voice acting, some of the characters lacks strength in delivery in particular Nice and Murasaki with their chemistry. Moral’s lectures can also feel monotonous and seemingly forgettable despite his persistence.
This review didn’t take too much thought to write thanks to Hamatora’s lack of thoughtfulness behind its concept. Expectations coming into this show should be minimal with a potential case of being put to the ‘on-hold’ list. The story clustered with cliche characters doesn’t bring out anything special. Neither are the cases with their ridiculous jokes, hopeless messages, and whatever purpose it tries to deliver. Yet, the technical aspects of the show can keep it together at some instances. And as a supernatural mystery how, you’d need patience to get through Hamatora to experience what it has to offer. Still in the end, it’s just another formulaic throwback that doesn’t add anything more for its generic thought.
neropepero
The progression of my reaction to Hamatora can be summed up as the following: "Oh this is interesting..ok..ok?...wait, WHATTT?!?! Hamatora is a mystery/supernatural based anime with some comedy mixed in. Sounds somewhat generic but what sets it apart are the unexpected twists, the small gaps within the story in this series, and the last episode. The artwork and music are both not outstanding in particular. Enjoyable but nothing that screams "NOTICE ME, I WANT YOUR LOVE." There isn't much character development, however, that's not to say that there aren't interesting characters...I can think of at least 4 characters whose character andback story intrigue me.
Yes, the beginning is somewhat slow, there is a random filler here and there. The entire series snowballs quickly after the last filler and turns into an avalanche that is only stymied by a wall known as "Second Season." I normally don't go too crazy over second seasons but this is one of those animes that makes me wish I knew how to speak Japanese so that I could somehow bribe the creators to release the second season soon (perhaps, next week soon?) and to please not screw the second season. If it goes the way most of us would want it to go, there will be more explanation of certain characters and of course, what happened in the last episode.
If I had to give only one reason as to why someone should watch Hamatora, (as if I haven't repeated it enough times) I'd say do it for the ending. In the words of Nike," just do it".
BlueOla
“All human beings can only perceive the world through the filter of their values. Mediocre values may be harmless, but they are also utterly worthless.” - Moral Story (7/10) Hamatora is the collective name of a group of detectives, who solve various cases in order to earn a living. Sounds rather standard, doesn’t it? Well, not exactly. All the members of Hamatora poses some superhuman power, be it incredible speed, or inhuman strength. These are known as ‘minimums’, rare innate abilities which only a small percentage of humans can use. Of course, regular citizens have no idea of existence of such individuals, in order to protect theminimum holders from discrimination due to envy. A safe balance, allowing for a normal life for all humans. What happens when a certain someone who desires to tip the balance and send the established world into chaos appears? That you will have to see for yourself.
Mostly, when people speak of Hamatora, they mention the genres ‘superpowers’, ‘comedy’ and ‘mystery’. While this is true, I believe Hamatora deserves another tag, namely ‘psychological’. Once you watch a few of the first episodes and get down to the plot and the main villain, strong reasons for such a category emerge.
Though many accuse the series to be avoiding its own plot with episodes known as so-called ‘fillers’, this isn’t entirely true. Yes, there are quite a few episode which don’t exactly pertain to the plot, but there is a method in this madness. This is the producers’ sneaky measure of slowly revealing the plot to us. We are introduced to the characters and have some time to become familiar with them and the relationships between them. Meanwhile, as our brave detectives continue solving supposedly unconnected cases, all of them start to connect and suddenly the plot is right in front of our eyes. True, it may not be the most effective and interesting way of presenting the story, but in this case it works. Even during later episodes where some of them seem to have not much in common with the development of events, there is usually at least one connector to the main plot, which reveals more of the truth to us. Certainly, there were animes which have done it better than Hamatora, but this was a pretty good attempt at this strategy. Or at least, not a painfully bad one.
Art (7/10)
The art in this series is absolute eye-candy. The colorful character designs and the no less vivid backgrounds are simply pretty and enjoyable to look at, as well as serving the purpose of creating a certain atmosphere. The slight issue which I had with the graphics was the odd-looking gradient on certain objects and characters, but this is more of a personal preference. As for a low-budget series, the graphics are kept at a surprisingly high standard.
Sound (7/10)
The soundtrack may not be a particularly memorable part of the series, but it left me with a good impression. Sometimes cheery and invigorating, other times grim and eerie, the soundtrack reflects the atmosphere of the series in all aspects. This also goes for the opening and ending. They simply fit the style of the anime. I particularly enjoyed the ending “Hikari” performed by Wataru Hatano. It had a certain sense of power and intensity to it.
Characters (8/10)
These days it has become increasingly difficult to create a series with relatively original characters, but Hamatora seems to have done a pretty decent job in this field. Most of the main characters don’t fit into the standard archetypes we have become so familiar with. Moreover, the writers managed to keep all the characters varied. Whether it was personality, appearance, clothing or even attitude, they were all different in each of the main characters.
Many reviewers write about the lack of character development in the series. While this is true, it is also worth mention that with the amount of characters we were presented with and only 12 episodes to fit this part of the story in, this should be understandable, at least in a small extent.
As you’ve probably figured out, the members of Hamatora are our protagonists. I shall not go
into detail about most of the MCs, since it would take quite some space. However, there is one character I would like to present closer, as he may just be the trump card, which makes this series worthwhile – the antagonist.
Moral’s ideology is simple and straightforward, yet his means of achieving his ultimate goal are wicked, but logical in a way. But psychotic as he may be, he is relatable. He is by far, one of the best antagonists I have seen in an anime so far. Why? Any guy can do bad things for the sole reason of being evil, but Moral? Oh, no, he believes he is doing the right thing. He is trying to save humanity, after all. He is the best type of villain a series could get – a villain, who considers himself the hero.
Enjoyment and Overall (7,5/10)
I will admit, Hamatora is neither a masterpiece, nor a breakthrough in the anime world. Even so, it was an enjoyable series, which kept me curious through all 12 episodes. There were moments which got me excited, left me hanging or even made me shed a tear or two. It was a solid position, but also nothing that you would regret missing. I wouldn’t recommend this series for people expecting a fast pace and quick development of events . I’d say it’s more of a… reserved, relaxed series for watching during a longer weekend.
If you have the time and the patience, give the series a try. Who knows, perhaps you might turn out to love it?
Swagstorm
The concept of Hamatora sounded interesting, but its execution was horrid. *Tiny bit of spoilers Story 3 More then four of the episodes felt like filler episodes. Honestly can't remember the plot because they were so boring. The main story is very lackluster on top of that as it is little deeper then the description provided for an explanation of what the series is about. Art 8 This is where this show excelled and made me watch the rest. The fights were so evenly distributed to all the characters you didn't begin to get bored of their lack of deviation of abilities or how they used theydoing fights till the last episode. It almost felt like the numerous boring characters were just there to be pretty to look at and watch fight.
Sound 6
Was decent suffered from the same problems as the art as it got stale after awhile and wasn't memorable. Still enjoyable rock and normally used at appropriate times. It got a 6 simply because the OP was pretty bad.
Character 1
Its been along time since I have been so uninterested in an entire cast of characters. To start their motivations are either overly petty or so completely looked over one can never tell why they are doing things. The only person who thats clear with is Moral who they developed little to no back story for. The characters they gave back story for was either hastily told (Birthday and Ratio) or so blatantly obvious of a cliche (Three) there was no need. Also the amount of time they dedicated to three was unnecessary. Also those two kids who they saved early in the show keep reoccurring for NO APPARENT REASON. They were boring had no powers didnt help progress the story character development or anything else in the show. With an already overly large cast for a 12 episode season why in the hell would you add focus on more characters? Honestly if you want to see what not to do when making characters for a story just watch this.
Enjoyment 4
It didnt capture me in anyway shape or form except for the art style. If I hadn't begun watching this the week before it ended I would have never finished it. It has its moments however but they are never the scripted ones (if a "dramatic" scene is coming up be prepared to be disappointed) however the fight heavy episodes were fun to watch. Also I found the first 3 episodes enjoyable and if it had solely stuck with the Private investigator thing it could have been a better series.
Overall 4
Feels rushed in every sense. Wouldnt suggest watching it
xDarkrai
Alright, first review. Anyways I felt the need to write this because this Anime is a hidden gem and it's also one of my favorites. Story 7/10 - The plot had an interesting premise. People are born with super powers and they keep it hidden because they might get oppressed due to it. Hmm...sounds like X-Men. Anyways I don't know enough about X-Men to compare them further. The story starts out episodic with the Main Characters running a detective agency, doing whatever jobs they can to support themselves. All the while in the background the main plot slowly blooms until it matures and comes out. Youget the main villain etc. It's not really deep either, and the episodic start and jumping around might turn people off. It's not bad by any means though.
Art 8/10 - Personally, I think the Art is great, 10/10. But it's extremely colorful and some things may seem off, which can turn people off. Not much else to say, it doesn't diverge too far from the norm really.
Sound 8/10 - Just like with the Art, the sound is good. It's a nice mix of Techno and J-Rock. Which aren't for everyone, but the Techno really fits with this Anime. So it really depends on individual preference.
Characters 8/10 - I think this is where the Anime really shines. The main duo is done well enough. The MC, Nice, is a genius, he's quirky, but can get serious very fast. He is also the strongest out of the Protagonists. Then we have his friend Murasaki, he is the calculative more mature type. Although he secretly envies Nice. There are a few more, Ratio, Birthday, Hajime and more all with varying personalities and agendas. Honey and Three are probably the second best duo and they're done well. Especially Three's back story. So yeah, main draw point is the cast and their interactions.
Overall 8/10 - If you're into something kind of hidden, but enjoyable definitely give this a shot. Season 1 is only 12 Episodes after all. You can blast through it, or if you don't like it drop it early. But it doesn't hurt to try it. Especially if you're looking for some nice Action with a great cast and OST.
Keikaku2871
Tried to keep spoilers to a minimum. I am personally not a fan of animes with the tag "The Animation". My first was Persona4, which was a huge disappointment, followed by Devil Survivor 2 which was ok, and Danganronpa which had potential to become better but was needlessly butchered. But Hamatora The Animation is on a different league, and it probably wouldn't be good to club it with others with the same tag. The art (not the character Art, no pun intended) was good, decent at its best, and nowadays most animes have great visuals and since it is not disturbing or anything imo Hamatora shouldn't reallybe judged too much on this factor. The sound though was cool and definitely flows with the atmosphere, in fact moral's ost is one of the best I have heard in horror genre.
According to the story, there are some people with minimum's ability, which is a special ability and allows them to carry out superhuman jobs and they need to do something in order to activate their ability. This isn't new as the idea has already been explored in animes like Darker than Black, or Law of Ueki. But the different setting played, apparently gave the vibe of an episodic anime with interesting cases, and with each case the story moves forward in a slow but steady manner. It gradually picked up correct pace after the initial plot was set, and then on there wasn't any reason to look behind. It clearly established itself to be different from all its rivals, of its genre and success is attributed to strong main storyline. In short it takes some time to develop the story. The actual plot is quite interesting, it is a clash of ideologies, clash of instincts, clash of power, clash of emotions, between the mc and antagonist. Hamatora as we are introduced in the initial eps is a detective agency, and as we might expect they work on different cases. And is just as one may predict that this being a 12 ep anime would primarily focus on the mastermind of all the crimes. This added with few action packed scenes makes it watchable for the first few eps. Each episode comes with the character development of one or the other side characters and has an adhesive effect which keeps us glued to the anime. Even then tbh, I had grown an incentive to drop the series, but thank god, I didn't do such a regretful thing, because it became really interesting in the latter half.
The characters is what really made the story incredible, and prompted me to give a 9/10 overall. Everything is very distinct about the characters, starting off with the names (seriously names like Nice, Art, Ratio felt a bit peculiar), to their roles. Nice is one of the best and op mc and to know the reason one has to watch the anime. His partner Murasaki and other side characters mostly serve to connect different strings of cases, and exists as a tool for us to know what is in mc's mind. Apart from connecting different cases they, mostly add to the narration, comedy, and are just an added spice to the anime. Moreover some characters also receive a backstory, and their characters are amply developed mostly through their adventures in cases. And finally, the antagonist (to avoid spoiling I will name him X). Just like one can't clap with one hand, awesomeness of the MC can't be exhibited without a strong antagonist. In fact whatever X did can't be called as wrong, nor what the mc does can be certified right. Following Doflamingo's(one piece ref) words "justice shall always prevail, because the winner claims justice", I wouldnt be surprised if a new anime came and reversed the role of mc, x. At few instances I had no counter to x's views, everything he said seemed piercingly right, but all this shall be cleared once one has watched the whole anime. All in one, both the MC and X are responsible for the good storyline.
Some other factors which contributed to the enjoyment were the realistic deaths, and somewhat psychological acts of people, and characters perception of strong vs weak. The only con I can spot is that it kinda wasted the first few eps, and escalated in the later half, but this has been a law rather than exception. As a side note I wrote this review before watching the last ep! and something very very unusual thing happened. If it was gonna be 24 ep long I might have even given this an unbiased 10.
Finally, a note for all those who dropped the anime after first five eps, plz reconsider as shit gets real after that.
gaysocks
Wasn't gonna write a review for this one. Did it anyways. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Story: 9 Hamatora gets a 9 in my book. Maybe I'm a sucker for episodic animes with a hidden plot backbone (Akuma no Riddle was a personal favorite of mine in this category) but I really feel like Hamatora took its plot in the right direction. Some episodes seem fillerish or too forced, but then by the end you realize that the events of the episode connected back to the plot all along! The last episode left me needing more, and when I found Re:_Hamatora, I was incredibly disappointed in the quality of thesecond season (I could go more into that, but let's just say I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as season 1). The only real problem I have with it is the direction season 2 took, but maybe I should leave that out of my review for Hamatora? Eh, who knows.
Art: 8
Honestly this would get a 9 if the distance models weren't... interesting. The closeups and backgrounds were stunning, and the take on flashy colors and glitches gave a stylistic feel to it, but when it all got down to it, the distance renders were SOOOO BAD. Otherwise, good job with the art.
Sound: 9
Okay the first opening was mediocre at best. The visuals were great but the song was basic and didn't leave an impression, nor did it really catch my eye. Re:_Hamatora certainly had an incredible opening, but that's its only salvation. Despite the OP, I gave sound a 9 because the OST was always pretty fitting and the voice actors were always really convincing.
Character: 6
EEEEHHHHH.... Hamatora's characters in the first season had little depth. They really seemed like they never developed by the end of it, ESPECIALLY Hajime. She had a lot of potential as a character, but she hardly spoke in the first season and then became a ditzy love interest in the second season. Birthday and Ratio got one episode of development and backstory and then their characters weren't touched on again. Murasaki, a MAIN CHARACTER, PART OF TEAM HAMATORA, got less screen time than Art, a character who lost his relevance half way through the series, and not even half the amount of development! If you want an anime for its characters, Hamatora isn't a good choice for you.
Enjoyment: 9
My own personal experience with Hamatora was a good one, honestly. I really loved the story and its uniqueness, and the art was really alluring. I could go on for days about Hamatora and Re:_Hamatora's flaws, but honestly they didn't affect my enjoyment THAT much. It was a fun anime to watch in my free time and I really did like it. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an episodic anime with a plot in the back. It's kind of a low-maintenance anime which I really liked, since I watched it in the hospital on my tiny phone screen with IVs in my arms. If you're looking to pass time, go for Hamatora, but be prepared for a god-awful second season and a LOT of plotholes.
KatrinLouiseo24
Synopsis: The story revolves around "Minimum" —special hereditary powers discovered only in an extremely limited number of humans. Those who possess such powers are known as "Minimum Holders." The Hamatora is a group of freelancers that'll do anything in exchange for money and they do their jobs in pairs (Nice&Murasaki, Ratio&Birthday). The police, led by Art, usually asks help to the Hamatora. Story:10 The story is very interesting. It leaves me hanging on every episode so I was like "I need to watch the next one!" "What will happen next?!". Everything is very awesome, It was very mind-shaking.. It'll leave you thinking. Also, added the intentions of everycharacters, it'll give you questions that'll make you curious of what's behind it.
"Hamatora the Animation", an anime that'll make you think "What's next?".
Art: 9
The art was very great-- full of colors and details. The art isn't dull and shabby. In fact, I find the characters charming and well-drawn. Their powers ( when the characters are powering up), the blood, the clothing, everything.. thumbs up for the art!
Sound: 10
The sounds help you cope up with the situation. So when there are fighting scenes, the background music has fast rhythms and beats, which makes you excited too. As for me, it makes me tensed and I get really pumped up lol. The music suits every scenes, very well chosen indeed. So yeah.. I liked it.
Character: 8
I find the characters' pasts very shady. Though there are some scenes that explained who they were before, still, there are some point that it wasn't enough. The anime didn't even put much of a highlight to their pasts. In fact there were some that wasn't explained and given much of attention (and that leaves me puzzled). Well, I bet the author will reveal it in the next season (I hope he does). Overall, about the characters, I like their attitude and characteristics. Especially, Nice's. Their badass personalities were pretty awesome. For me, all of them are cool and very powerful-- and that makes me pumped up when they're battling.
Enjoyment: 9
The anime was very entertaining, very thrilling. Even the humor is great! Not even a bit that I was bored.
Overall: 9
The overall anime, it was very awesome-- what a masterpiece. It didn't disappoint me-- not a bit! Watch out for the twist. This is a must watch! Until the very end of the episode, it'll leave you hanging and wanting to watch for more!!
pyrogate
STORY (7) Hamatora the Animation takes place in a world and time similar to ours except that there are people with supernatural abilities or "minimums". The story focuses on an odd jobs / detective group composed of minimum holders called Hamatora. The series is mostly episodic following the adventures of the main protagonist, Nice, and his partner Murasaki. Majority of the episodes follow a format where each pair of Hamatora minimum holders take separate cases and as the episode concludes, it is revealed that all the cases are related. This would've been okay for the first few of the 12 episodes just to introduce what Hamatora doesbut it drags almost until the end. In my opinion, there were episodes which could've been better spent focusing on the main plot. If the series was longer, it would've been more acceptable.
There's a major plot in the story as we are introduced to the main antagonist, Moral, and it unravels bit by bit per episode. That was probably the only thing that kept me watching this show every week. Without spoiling, the main plot is nothing out of the ordinary but how each portion is revealed was satisfyingly done.
The show loves to drastically switch between absurd humor to shockingly tragic with occasional gore and violence. Prepare for your emotions to get toyed around.
I won't comment on the ending since there's a possibility of a second season or OVA.
ART (7)
The art of Hamatora the Animation is on par with most series nowadays. I love anime with very bright colors and this show is one of them.
There are scenes which felt under budget or poorly made. I can dismiss badly drawn parts but there are scenes in the show that they even skipped a few frames in the animation. Most of the backgrounds had enough detail which is probably the only saving grace in this area.
They also play around with textures overlayed on the screen. I thought my TV had some smudge because of this. They also used rainbow-like filters whenever a minimum gets activated. Whether you like or hate these is your personal preference. CG is decent in the show overall.
Characters are very unique compared to most animes, making each easily distinguishable and memorable. Aside from this, most of the Hamatora minimum holder have some kind of distinct element in their character design that's related to their powers (e.g. Nice and his headphones, Three and his lion-like appearance).
SOUND (8)
The show has a good sound track. Nothing that would make you wow but good enough to build up the scenes. The OP and ED tracks are likable as well.
The VA's did an okay job throughout the show. However, there's barely any scene in the series that drew out intense emotion from a character. And for those few scenes, it wasn't the VA that pulled me in but rather the shock of the sudden change in the plot.
CHARACTER (6)
There are so many characters in this show. The Hamatora group alone has 10 characters. You also have major characters like Art and Moral. And on top of that, you have supporting characters and not-so-significant characters that are shown even in the ending. I liked the wide range of characters. It reminded me of Durarara!! and Bacano! But this does not go without a toll for the limited 12 episodes.
There's no major development for any character. There's also a lot of imbalance as to who gets screen time. For example, Honey and Three gets a decent character background and revelation of
their powers whereas Hajime (whom you'd think at the beginning of the is the 3rd most important protagonist) is almost always shown eating and she's barely involved any of the Hamatora cases.
Nice, the main protagonist, feels too easy-going. And when coupled with him being a prodigy minimum holder, he's almost never shaken throughout the series.
The spotlight goes to the main antagonist, Moral. He's your typical psychotic bad guy who's obsessed with the main protagonist, Nice. But because the storytelling of Hamatora's major plot was executed well, you're most of the time caught off guard by Moral's schemes.
Characters are very uniquely named. Nice, Art, Honey, Three, Moral... This was very peculiar for me but it made remembering names easier.
ENJOYMENT (8)
I have mixed feelings for this show overall. For the story, I hated when the plot seems to escalate and then next episode, we're back to the slow-paced detective cases. Again, the only thing that kept me was my curiosity of the major plot that was unraveling. It's a show that's okay to watch but not too excellent that I'd re-watch one more time.
Despite everything, I continued to watch this show until the end and I'm looking forward for the next season or OVA as hinted by the last episode.
Republic
All the colours of the rainbow!!! The best thing to say about the show is it's really colourful in a fresh way. This supplements the opening and endings really well. Next to that there's not much to this show. There's some really cool character designs, though it's just a shame they weren't given real character. Any character development is outshined by it's plot development. Which is funny 'cause... it's pretty awful. Just as it seems like knows what direction it wants to go, it takes a very confusing turn everytime. Don't mistake this for plot twists 'cause it's nothing more than bad writing. There's potential here, with the cool characterdesigns and a chance to make a good story, asking questions on what is morally correct in this world.
The show gives you this sensation. It's like you can feel everyone viewing this, cheering it on. Saying something like "Come on you can do it". But it gets shut down in a manner in which the show makes a joke on that very trope in anime. (Gotta give it props for that. That was kinda funny.)
There's not really any build-up to anything and the ending is just god awful.
My personal greatest problem with this show is the character Hajime.
One of my first reactions was "Hajime seems like a really cool character". Seemed like she'd become something great, not disappointing on the badass factor either. All the way through though, she's just someone in the background. When she finally gets a moment in the spotlight it's so incredibly weak, it's unbelievable. Such a cool character design, not put to its full potential is a damn shame.
I guess you could say that for just about any of the characters, really.
I namely liked the character called Birthday... Until everything that made the character seem interesting got brushed aside.
There was potential here. There really was. But oh well...
From what I can understand, there's a video game coming out too. I feel like this show was just to promote that, really. And for that, the art style delivers. This show could make for a great game. Though that's no excuse. It won't save this anime from getting harsh critique.
Hamatora: The Animation is visually appealing, but completely forgettable and avoidable.
Oixo
When it comes to cliff hanger endings this should win a award. ---Story--- (7/10) The story follows Nice and his adventures with the group of Hamatora a group of people who take up tasks for money and complete them with there Mininum powers. ---Art--- (9/10) When it comes to the art of Hamatora it is above average and different. It is flashy and uses practially ever color in the rainbow. The fight seens are different and can get a bit gorie. ---Sound--- (6/10) Music is nothing special the opening and ending are nothing really special or catchy.---Characters--- (8/10)
There is nothing better then having interesting and different characters. When you have characters that are all different in fashion, powers, ways of thinking, personality. Its better then having your generic school enviroment with standard clothing.
---Enjoyment & Overall--- (7/10)
The anime is different but now amazing our something you need to go out of your way to watch. When i watch anime i watch to enjoy and if i do i stay till the ending and if im writing a review it clearly kept me there till the end.
---Warning---
If you cant handle having a huge cliff hanger with some left unanswed questions. I will suggest waiting till the 2nd season comes out which is announced at the end of the series with a "To Be Continued".
Naoki__
Well, I'm sure I can't say anything new, more than these reviews already did, however, I'd like to give my personal opinion about this. I happened to watch Hamatora because I love Pyscho-Pass, and this anime was in the recommendations. At first, I had faith, but then I lost it in the second episode I lost it. This is nothing like Psycho-Pass. The characters are so poorly built is obnoxious to look at them, there's no background, the story is not interesting, rarely appealing. And if anyone can compare these two (Nice and Moral with Kogami and Makishima) please refrain yourself from committing such a crime. Moralis just another white-haired villain, as every other villain of every other anime. Nice is your average anti-hero who knows he's powerful but who's not willing to help. Seriously, it's just a copy of Psycho-Pass for kids. Basically.
Saber_Princess
Hamatora The Animation is exciting at one point and confusing at another point. Nevertheless, there are actually a number of good reasons why you can enjoy this anime. :) Story: 7/10 This anime is centralized in a detective-mystery-investigation theme that involves super-human powers and intertwined narratives that tell us an interesting and rather complicated story. As the series goes deep, the story actually becomes crazy and confusing at a certain point, and confusing it actually ends. Nevertheless, I really liked how it was portrayed as a surreal environment and yet it actually touches realistic concepts of discrimination and social systems. I find the individual cases itself interesting,since despite its shallow slash dark nature, it actually presents to be case closed but later be revealed to be a part of something even more complicated and confusing. The relationship of each individual cases is actually a strong point of the story of the series. It is unique in its own way. There is a strong point of comedy shown, it is usually hidden and uninterpreted, which makes me appreciate it. Its arguments rather presents a solid value and the weight it brings actually depends on the watcher's perspective in watching the series. However, I dislike how the story progresses, although I can bear its craziness and confusing side, I can't bear how everything was just presented in a shallow manner. The story unfolds not that neatly, everything feels connected but that's just it. Metaphorically, I only get to see the tip of the iceberg and not much the thicker surface that binds it. The super-human power is actually interesting and unique, but again, I can only see the tip of the iceberg.
Art: 10/10
This is a strong point of the series. Animation was very colorful and flashy. It is clear-cut, the characters are drawn in a way that they match the surreal environment. I like how the series artfully present a certain thematic-action aura. The next thing I knew, everything becomes colorful and me close to schizophrenic. I find it actually cool that the art drove me to much craziness. I liked how the characters are drawn, it gives you a cool and exciting feeling. I have come to love the characters not much of how they develop and progress in the series but much of how they were presented artfully. the art of the series would actually contribute to the "unique" feeling I felt when watching this show and the instant "drive" to finish watching it.
Sound: 9/10
Sound is more than average for me. Aside from the opening song, I like the sound effects and sound backgrounds used in the series. Some of these sounds ranges from eerie-scary-cute. Sound timings are very clear cut and it synchronize well with still-blank atmospheres. I like the quality of sound and music presented.
Character: 8/10
Character development is less likely seen in this anime series. I liked the characters' individual personalities and specialty, but some of the characters' progression actually confuses me at midpoint. Nevertheless, The protagonists of the series have very likable personalities that I have come to love, despite having some crazy and confusing elements. The different personalities presented in a way that I have come to love some, dread a few, and hate exceptionally.
Enjoyment: 8/10
I honestly enjoyed the series despite being crazy and confused with the story. For one, it is because of the artfully designed characters. I like that it was presented colorful and flashy. Another is because of the combination of sound effects and still-blank settings. It is uniquely presented and actually contributed to the confusion theme. Another one is that because of the web relationship of cases and scenes and characters. This is a challenging part, but as much as it confuses you, it actually gives you some certain answers and lessons. Although, I find it shallow and unfinished, it is quite a show.
In the end, It is not one of the best that I have watched, but it is definitely entertaining. I laughed and get shocked simultaneously at some point. I have over a number of wrinkles in my forehead while watching the show, but at some times I also remember smiling while watching the show. I don't know how my face looked at the ending, but I'm certain that it is not a nice sight. I think the show spells uniqueness in many aspects, names and settings are quite the example. Its a crazy entertaining flashy show that gives you an :O in the end.
I recommend this to mystery-detective-investigation fanatic like me or borderline bishie-fetish also like me or super-power and action maniac also like me.
Elfster
Hamatora the Animation takes place in the world where some humans are born with superpowers. Pretty typical setting. Let's try again. Hamatora the Animation takes place in the world where people are born inequal. Sounds vaguely familiar. I think I've seen this before. /looks around/ Hamatora the Animation takes place in the world where some of the powerful have The Idea how the world should be made right. Now /this/, depending on what they have in mind and how far they are ready to go, just might become interesting. Did it? Well, it depends. On a surface it's somewhat entertaining story, with a few plot twists and afew seemingly random episodes (beach!), presented in bright acid-colored animation. Not bad overall, not particularly good either. On the other hand though underlying themes felt unusually relevant.
To give a brief overview: Outlook on the world and personal relations of those strong and weak. Power and responsibility (or lack of thereof). Different perspectives of those on top, those striving to move up and those who just want anything not fitting in their little world to disappear. Xenophobia. Dismantling security as a necessary condition to bring changes to society... Some of it was pretty far-fetched, some almost scary in its realism.
I can't say the themes were developed very well. At the end preaching of main villain became simply annoying, so forceful and repetitive it was, but I have to commend authors for a decent attempt regardless.
To sum it up, for me it was one of those titles which don't look like much on the outside, but at the same time have enough hooks and sharp edges to wake up your mind and a bucketload of messy social issues to chew on if you are so inclined.
freemums
I started watching Hamatora at random, I was just bored one day and decided to go on Crunchyroll to see what was available and I saw Hamatora. I've seen a lot about it before so I decided to give it a shot. I agree with some comments here saying that the anime is a lot of filler, but it certainly isn't useless filler. It really gives you a feel on what Minimum Holders can do, and it shows you what Hamatora's average everyday life would be. I really enjoyed the storyline, and I cannot wait for Re:_Hamatora to release more episodes so I could findout more about it. I was lucky that I finished the series while the second season was airing, because the ending is a huge cliffhanger.
A lot of the parts in the anime shocked and disturbed me, but in a good way. Some parts left me crying like a baby, and some made my jaw drop. It's a very shocking anime, dealing with crime for a lot of the episodes, which may be triggering to some.
The characters were all loveable and hateable in their own ways. A lot of these character's actions were among the things that shocked me, and I liked that a lot.
I finished this anime about a half an hour before writing this review, and I am still in shock and suspence. This anime, although it may not be for everyone, will definitely leave you at the edge of your seat. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes mystery and a plot that revolves around superhuman qualities. In short, this anime in my own opinion was great to say the least.
Ewinaaa
I loved this anime. The story is catching and interesting but some points could have been improved. Like the reason of the big bad boy to do big bad things. But I really liked it and wasn't bothered at all by it. Things are different when it comes to the second season though. You can't say the art is not amazing, I mean, look at all these colors this is really the point that I like the most about this anime! The characters could have been more developped and more, I wish there was an evolution between the beginning and the end of the animeand the thing is there is none. But some characters are still interesting. Even though it has bad point I really really enjoyed watching this anime and I like how the plot develops, until some point. Overall I give an 8 because I still think this is a good anime, the story isn't bad at all, the art is great and well, there is a good coherence between the story, the art and the sound.
