On the islands of Cremona, a vigilante runs amok. Celebrated by some and hunted by others, the notorious "Killer B" takes justice into his own hands, armed with a sharp blade and superhuman abilities. Unable to apprehend this renegade, the Royal Investigation Service (RIS) calls upon the expertise of Keith Flick, a seasoned, yet eccentric detective who was relegated to the Archives Department following a personal loss. As crimes in Cremona begin to escalate, from stealthy executions of wrongdoers to sophisticated strikes on public figures, it soon becomes clear that there is more than one person responsible.
With the help of his impulsive sidekick Lily Hoshina, and unexpected aid from the elusive Killer B himself, Keith begins to unravel plots involving secret organizations, domestic terrorism, and human experiments. When the involvement of the RIS extends beyond the scope of justice, the extent of the government's corruption—as well as the trustworthiness of close allies—are thrown into question.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
RebelPanda
It’s so rare to see an anime of such high quality to take as many risks as B: The Beginning does. Sure it stumbles a bit along the way, but the final result is undeniably an ambitious and thoroughly entertaining ride worth watching. The story is totally insane on paper but is somehow even more bewildering in action thanks to such lovingly crafted visuals by Production I.G. with a talented director at the helm. It is in one part a sci-fi police procedural similar to Psycho-Pass, but simultaneously a game of cat and mouse like Death Note. These wild ideas packed on top of eachother in only a brief 12 episode season makes for slightly underdone execution and lacking development. In my opinion, there’s enough good in this show to outweigh the negatives, but to summarize them before diving into the analysis:
Pros:
+Fantastic Action Scenes
+Great Animation
+Expressive Dub and Good Soundtrack
+Likable Characters
+Shocking Twists that add Rewatch Value
+Emotional Conclusion
Cons:
-Underdone Sci-Fi Setting
-Large Cast of Supporting Characters are Underdeveloped
-Too Fast-Paced at Times
-Confusing Story at First
To start I’ll say, B: The Beginning is a thriller with plenty of twists and turns in its story to keep you interested. It’s not really a traditional mystery because (like Death Note) the titular ‘Killer B’ that the title alludes to is revealed in the first episode and is one of our two protagonists. One being the enigmatic Koku with his black wings and nack for murdering criminals; the other is Keith Flick a gruff former detective who’s helping out the police hunt down killer B. He’s sort of inept in social situations which derives plenty of comedy that I found quite funny. Keith's intelligence makes him a perfect lead to see this investigation from. Whenever he’s in deep thought putting the pieces of a mystery together we see his thoughts visibly through words and diagrams that appear onscreen. It’s all quite neat as well, not cluttering the screen and conveying his organized mind. He even has a tragic backstory to complement his gruff design which ties into the story and is revisited before the end to give him a satisfying conclusion to his character arc.
Our second protagonist, the teenage Koku struggles to maintain relevance until his backstory is fleshed out during the second half. Keith gets the majority of the screen time of the two. All of the characters have some level of charm making them all quite watchable, excluding Koku. He’s just an angsty teenager with black-wings and an arm that turns into a sword… yeah my interest in him was only maintained by his mysterious origin. That origin takes an intruiging shape and justifies all of the insanity we see up until then in an extremely satisfying twist. I found Koku alienating at first, but he proved to be a crucial part of the story as it went on. While I couldn't entirely get invested in his subdued personality, at least I understood why he was so subdued. His backstory and to a greater extent the show's whole story became a mystery I didn't expect to be engaged with but I loved it. I would definitely rewatch this show to understand it with the knowledge of the twists. It was a huge risk making an experience that relies so heavily on ambiguity, thankfully it worked out because the twists are so rewarding.
My favorite member of the supporting cast, Lily stands out with her sarcastic, defiant, and irreverent personality. Working alongside Keith, her lack of experience gives the audience a simpler and more comprehensive perspective on the potentially alienating first half. Her separate scenes were a joy to watch, never hurting the show's overall dark tone. I do wish that she and the other supports had more visible development by the end. At least the protagonists grow a sufficient amount thanks to their backstories being woven into the story.
Throughout the first half of the show, a criminal group creates havoc throughout the show’s fictional sci-fi country Cremona. Sadly the setting becomes little more than an afterthought because the main focus of the show is the game of cat and mouse. Just like the detective Keith and his fellow investigators, we are left in the dark on what exactly is happening in the terror-filled nation of Cremona and why. It's an effective way to immerse us in their struggle to find the truth and put an end to the violent chaos. We get information on the terrorist group as the police do, it rarely feels like the audience is ahead of Keith’s knowledge. Unless of course, we’re seeing the story through Koku’s eyes as he’s fighting at the heart of the cacophony.
Mostly populated by thrilling action sequences, the first half spares very little time on developing the many police officers due to the quick pacing. Instead the talented Kazuto Nakazawa gives us recognizable character designs (oh lord especially the clown makeup cultists), strong English voice performances, and a punchy script that gives the cast enough personality to not be cardboard cutouts fighting a pointless battle. While I did find myself caring about the characters when their lives were threatened, I can’t guarantee everyone else will like their charm. Once the pace settles in the second half, development does come quite plentifully with huge twists that validate the madness seen in the first half. There’s plenty of rewatch value after understanding why the first half is so filled with ambiguity. There's even a teaser at the end of the last episode indicating a potential second season. Even though the story wraps up really well, I'd love to watch another season of it.
Jumping sporadically from one catastrophe to the next, the story showcases Production I.G.’s best abilities. CGI vehicles shake with realistic physics during the many entertaining car chase scenes. The camera is always placed right at the center of the action, never shying away from an abundance of violence, never afraid of blowing its budget on the spectacle. The creator/director Kazuto Nakazawa known for good animation work on series like Samurai Champloo has finally been given a project worthy of his talent. This is the only anime that I can say has a clown makeup wearing cultist skateboarding down the side of a skyscraper while being chased by a black-winged vigilante teenager. All with beautifully fluid animation at high speeds. If that's not ambitious, then I don't know what is.
Most of all, the background art is always well detailed, sometimes breathtaking. Even if those backgrounds don’t necessarily have details that flesh out the setting much more than ‘it looks pretty much like modern-day America’, they still look damn great.
B: The Beginning may have a confusing and fast-paced first half, with a poorly explained setting and a lack of villain motivations, but at least it’s never boring. Not one bit.
The villains eventually do get explained motivations (and the clown makeup actually makes sense!) but it does come in a twist so you’ll have to find out the answers for yourself! Getting to those motivations will mean you’ll have to get through the bewildering first half, but don’t worry! And besides, the sword duals are so amazing during the early episodes. It’s constant fluidly animated, sakuga that will grab your attention where the writing may not. But like I said before, after watching it I can say confidently there is a reason for everything that happens early on, even if it's confusing for a first time viewer.
On top of the great visuals, the sound design is also spectacular. Everything from the slice of a sword, whirring car engines heard as they drive by, and explosions with intense audiovisual feedback. It’s so impactful at every moment. Even when there isn’t a satisfying sound effect playing, the perfectly cerebral thriller soundtrack is reverberating. The ending song “The Perfect World” is amazing too, performed by Marty Friedman with Man With A Mission’s quite talented vocalist.
It’s common for people to criticize edginess in dark and violent anime like this one. It definitely lives up to the shows that inspired it, but does it break out of the overbearing edginess we’re used to seeing in this Crime-Thriller genre? In my opinion, absolutely. There’s enough comic relief separated from the high stakes action to make the characters seem like real people, not just pawns in a to be moved by the writer. There's an overall silliness that covers much of it, but it knows when to be serious. However, nothing is spared from the craziness that B loves to employ. It's everywhere; from the absurd hacking sequences with foot pedals (for what reason, I don't know!) to the to its occasionally hilarious cast. Also, the cultists' uniform makeup also helps them seem less like a feared undefined entity and more like mentally disturbed clowns that you’d want to run from if you ever saw on the streets. It's a ride, a really fun time that isn't afraid to get its hands dirty and only tries to entertain.
Score Breakdown:
[Story: 5/10] A rollercoaster that takes it’s time to get going, but it makes for great entertainment.
[Character: 5/10] Likable but not much to them.
[Art: 8.5/10] All around great, relatively tame towards the end.
[Sound: 9/10] Solid dub and soundtrack. Mediocre sub.
[Enjoyment: 8/10] Confusing at first, becomes more engaging as it goes.
[Overall Score: 7/10]
It's all too rare for us to get a high budget anime like B: The Beginning that takes so many risks to create a unique and memorable experience. Thankfully those risks paid off and it turned out really good. It's far from perfect, but I'm just happy such a lovingly crafted experience like this got made at all. This is the kind of uncommonly crazy anime that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I'm glad not everything is the same as it.
-Rainy-
B: The Beginning combines two separate stories within each other, one of supernatural mystery and one with a detective searching for a murderer. The fundamental problem with the show is that both stories suck ass and don’t really connect together at all. You could rather easily cut out one of these plot lines from the entire narrative and not lose that much in terms of story quality in the other. Hell, the show may be better for it. So, don’t even read the rest of this review, just write the show off based on the word of one internet stranger alone. Trust me, I’mthe only internet stranger that matters.
I hate when reviews talk about the meaty stuff first and then mention the audiovisuals at the end in much shorter detail, so we’re going to escalate in our meaty bonanza. The production values for this show are great. B: The Beginning does not have any dips in quality, it is consistently good looking and sometimes better than that for its entire run. While not specifically my aesthetic, the visuals are certainly strong, and the animation is quite good the entire show. Kazuto Nakazawa has many important seats visual wise, as the chief animation director, character designer, director in general, and original creator of the show. Other shows he’s had influence on visual wise that you may have heard of are Zankyou no Terror and Samurai Champloo, so if you loved the visuals in those shows, this may be worth a shot for you.
Sound wise, this show is pretty underwhelming. The soundtrack isn’t of poor quality but binging through the entire show it was easy to notice they were just playing the same couple of tracks over and over again per episode, which got grating. This show does have a cool ending theme song as well, though the visuals for it aren’t noteworthy.
I’ll be frank; the supernatural plot of B: The Beginning is a pile of cockshit, getting bad quickly and never recovering. The premise, is that we have “Killer B” who is a non human creature with insane powers. He has wings, his arm can turn into a sword, he has an edgy anime left eye, his skin turns black when he starts fighting people, and has regenerative powers. This part of the show is about him, and the mythos of his species. This isn’t a bad premise on its own although it isn’t especially unique, but fun things could be done with it! Sadly, B: The Beginning does not do anything fun with this. Instead it goes into the most basic direction imaginable in every shape and form. I felt like I had vietnam flashbacks to every anime I’ve ever watched while finding out about this character’s backstory. I don’t mind if a show isn’t unique as long as it is executed in an appealing way, and this show very much does not execute this aspect in an appealing way. In order to do that, I’d need to care about the characters, because every single character in the supernatural plot did not matter to me, including the most important character, Killer B a.k.a Koku. Koku’s entire character basically revolves around the “tragedy” of what happened to him when he was a child and his girlfriend Yuna. When bad things happen to Yuna, he gets mad and yells like the shounen boy he is. He has nothing else going on so his character gets incredibly annoying being on screen so much when he is so uninteresting. Speaking of Yuna, she is a prime example of how this show can not write female characters very well. She is just Koku’s girlfriend and the damsel in distress. She doesn’t have her own character, her own motivations, nor does she do anything of importance in the story. She is just a macguffin, that is her entire character. The other chucklefucks, are all completely inconquestial to everything that it is kinda laughable. Pretty much every single one of the supernatural characters in this show is a stereotypical edgy anime crazy person, and all of them get taken out with little fanfare. Even an antagonist that remained in the shadows and slowly had intrigue building up for his encounter with the main character, ended up not mattering at all. Only one of these characters is an actual threatening adversary to the main character, but he isn’t given enough time or personality to leave an impact on the viewer.
Now, the other half of B: The Beginning is a story about Keith Flick hunting down the criminal that murdered someone close to him, and the bonds he has with the people in his life. While this side of B: The Beginning is better than everything related to Koku, it isn’t good by any stretch. The police force have some fun personalities in them, most notably Hoshino Lily, but they don’t leave much of an impact at all. Keith himself is just an eccentric genius character and this is shown to the audience in a terrible way, because the show doesn’t actually know how to represent this so it just throws bullshit at you. Keith solves the answer to a certain problem in episode 1 after writing a bunch of mathematical gibberish on a board, which is not the only the time that the show attempts to make him look smart despite the staff having little idea on how to present a character that actually is as smart as Keith. I found him quite dull. The main villain of this story line isn’t very good either. The show takes too long to start delving into his mindset and motivations that by the time it even attempted to do any fleshing out of the character my patience had already been worn out. Kaela, a side character, is similar to Keith in that they are supposed to be crazy good at something, but the show doesn’t know how to show it. She is the classic hacker dude of the group. She has a bunch of monitors, four fucking keyboards, that's right, four keyboards, weird foot pedals for some reason, you get the gist. Again, it is all just bullshit. Lily is the single most engaging character in the show due to her spunky personality, but the show doesn’t use her as much as they should have. In the finale she is just a tool for the last section of this storyline instead of getting to do something on her own. Like I said earlier in the review, this show does not write its female characters very well. While I don’t think the male characters are any good either, the writing and presentation of the female characters is fairly sexist. It isn’t to an extreme amount, but it is still a detriment to the show.
B: The Beginning… is pretty bad. haHAA get it, cause of the letter B bayBEEEE. I honestly regret ever watching a single episode of anime in my life.
ButadonMeitantei
Have you ever thought to yourself: "Hey, I wonder what would it be like if someone combined Terror in Resonance with Tokyo Ghoul." ? or "What if someone combined Psycho Pass with Death Note?" No? Well, me neither. However, it seems B: The Beginning is here to fulfil your non-existent needs... But this isn't even exactly true either. Story: Whilst the central story borrows many elements like that which I have mentioned, it is, with all elements combined, very different to most Anime of the genre. Although I have to say the synopsis given on MAL is very vague and misleading. To start off with, Koku, the seemingly-angsty teencharacter, is not the protagonist, or at least, the only protagonist. The older, ragged Keith Flick, a smart but relatable detective in the Royal Police Force, is the other, and it's this combination of two intertwining plots that make the story so much different.
Without any spoilers, there are twists and turns at various points in the story. However, some twists fall in the 'predictable' category, some seem to come from nowhere, yet, the few twists other than those definitely make up for them. The pacing is also noticeably erratic, but I didn't notice that as much.
Don't come into this show expecting a drawn-out fight each episode, nor an entire gore-fest (although gore is prevalent), nor a 100%-realistic psychological battle of wits. But trust me, the story is mostly unpredictable, actually quite complicated too, and overall, that's a major advantage. 7/10
Art/Animation: There's not much to say here. As for the art, the characters are rarely off-model nor act unrealistically, although sometimes it's intentional and for comedic effect (I also have to give attention to the attention to detail for Keith's stubble).
The animation for the fight scenes is good when it's close-up, but may be seen as lacking in the long-shots, although very rarely, I do notice bad animation that make it look like a screenshot of a character is just being moved by an invisible mouse, but those scenes are few and far-between. CG is also used for animating the cars, although it's not too bad till too much of it is used, but then again, that is not often. 7/10
Sound: Although not as good nor unique as Netflix's Devilman Crybaby OST, the soundtrack is a lot better than standard TV anime. The soundtrack isn't especially jarring, but is most of the time woven well into every scene. Tense moment? Tense soundtrack. There's one fight scene in particular early on where they use a track very, very suitable to the setting, without spoilers, which I have to give props for.
The ED is nothing special, but I like the use of English lyrics sung actually well. 8/10
Characters: This is probably the weakest area of the show. Although each and every character's face, personality and body type is very different from each-other, as expected of the studio that did Attack on Titan... In comparison to other series? Not so much.
For example, one character has black hair, and one different-coloured eye. If I gave you that description alone, you could probably think of loads of characters. Another character is a short, bald fat guy. Another is a tall guy with long blonde hair. The list goes on. I don't expect every single character to look different to any other character that came before it, but it is noticeable.
Personalities mostly suffer from being 1-dimensional. One character just seems to just follow one or two particular motives, without any particular character flaws. Another character isn't even given a backstory and is killed off without really meaning anything. No characters particularly develop as the story goes on, yet some characters, important characters, DO have more complex and well-built personalities. In all, 6/10
Overall: B The Beginning is nothing amazing. But it is nothing terrible either, and for sure, it's entertaining, and kept me hooked for the entire time I was watching. There's probably a lot more religious and ideas about life and death and humanity sprinkled in the story than I found from my first viewing, and the ending of the series is actually relatively conclusive. Sometimes things aren't explained in the series, and a lot is left for the viewer to work out, but overall, I'd give B: The Beginning a 7/10. A B Grade. After all, this is just the beginning, right...?
(This is my first review so sorry if I made any mistakes, thanks for reading!)
maxmolen
At first I thought this was going to be an simple cat and mouse game. Where the police would go after the murderer only to find him in ep 12 as the nice boy no one would suspect, but that wasn't the case and I loved it. I got more and more hooked on the story as I progressed. The mystery started to unravel. Who was the real murderer? and to find it out in ep 12 got me fired up, everything fell into place, everything became clear I always love it when an anime resolves everything in the end. One minor side-note I wouldhave liked it more if there was just an tad bit more of an explanation. also there are certain comedic scenes to lighten up the dark tones of the series. I would easily give the story an 8/10.
the art lets just say it was great it looked good it felt right and the information that was written over the screen felt like it had an certain elegance. 9/10.
the sound while the intro was quite intresting and there was an song that was unique most of the songs didn't stick very well. i would give it no more than an 7/10
the characters in the serie are quite intresting, espacially their backgrounds. 8/10
Overal I can say the creator of this story put alot of time in it and it shows, this story will take for an ride it might get weird but it will make sense in the end.
Side note I hope there will be an season 2 its teased in the end credits of ep 12.
Arachnophobic
Before watching: Damn, this show has a really good OP! Hopefully the show lives up to it. And the PV makes it seem like it'll be a nice crime thriller. After watching: Okay, thanks for The Perfect World, which was apparently the ED, but I want my 5 hours back. No one told me this was Botched: The Beginning. I wanted to like this show, I really did. I want the new shows coming out on Netflix to do justice to the medium, since they'll be available to a wide global audience who aren't exposed to anime. I wouldn't say it didn't keep me engaged throughout, but overall myimpression is definitely negative, and I would recommend most people to give it a miss. I'll try and sum up why.
This show has a severe identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be, and tries to be many things at once - throwing one idea after another, hoping that it sticks, but failing to execute even a single one of them well. It's what you get when you throw Psycho Pass, Tokyo Ghoul and Darker than Black in a grinder and try to shape resulting slop into a plot.
It was an utter mess in terms of writing. There was little cohesion between the two major plot threads and within them, not much sensibility, no semblance of an underlying message or theme, and it didn't sell any of the characters well enough to make me worry about them, except one spunky detective who reminded me a little of Akane from Psycho-Pass. Otherwise, the cast consists of:
1) Bad Sherlock rip-off who uses calculus to solve crimes somehow
2) Bargain-bin Serial Killer with standard mental issues
3) Emo teen with powers who wants to save (4)
4) Damsel in distress
5) Emo teen #2 who hates (3) and steals (4)
6) Hacker lady who likes to add pedals to her computer setups.. for the boost?
There were some more characters, all inconsequential.
5/10 overall, and it's not a 4 because of the good production values that were consistent throughout the show, and a genuinely great dub.
Needless to say I won't be tuning in for the sequel, unless it's somehow hailed as the saviour of anime. It's not possible to even retroactively fix this mess of a plot.
KiddishBambino
Where to begin. Pretentious. Plain and simple. This anime is awful. In all the anime I have seen I believe an overwhelming majority of them had something to say and left the viewer with at least one thought at its conclusion. This does not do that in the slightest. That is not without it trying to do so. Story: Garbage confusing and says nothing. IN the end it left me feeling and asking for what reason was this made. Art: The art was very impressive and fluid. I will without a doubt mention that merit which it indeed deserves. The action scenes are very well choreographedand in full attention as well as the character designs which were absolutely inspired... EXCEPT the annoying blushed cheeks on Lily which I hate to a point of rage but the annoyance of the cheeks is minor compared to my hatred of Lily as a character which ill discuss further down.
Sound: The sound was good i guess I don't really pay attention to that. I could probably watch any anime on sub on mute no issue. But the English voice actors were good fit the characters well again I don't really care much about the sound.
Characters: Lily.. Lily... Lily... Oh Lily another Nami-Sakura character. by that i mean loud aggressive overbearing piece of anime rubbish. In all honestly she did not do one single thing in the entire series of importance or added to the plot whatsoever. NOT ONE SINGLE THING. As i am typing this i feel so upset but i can say calmly i just want the people making anime to stop making characters ]like this. I know there supposed to be loud and scream at the protagonist in a loving jovial way that is supposed to be light-hearted but please STOP. Characters like this are the most annoying worthless upsetting part if the anime. Looking at the tone of this anime this character does not belong. even in a comedy anime. And I am not saying there shouldn't be lighthearted and funny moments but don't make everytime a character like this come on screen in ruins the whole atmosphere. And I want to make something clear I love over the top loud characters examples being Kamina from Gurren Lagann. But there is a point where it goes overboard./ I mean look at the way Lily talks to her superiors at work. SHe is a cop have some respect. Im gonna stop because I could do an essay on Nami-Sakura characters and i want to stop.
Otherwise the other characters were okay there was no development in characters at all. If you examine all the characters from beginning to end you notice that nothing changes AT ALL. Yes things happen there was a beginning middle and end in a story and characters received more information and did things as the story progressed. NOTHING CHANGES IN THE STORY AT ALL development wise.
Overall: I didn't like it. I want to say I DIDN"T LIKE IT AT ALL but i would be lying at the sole fact that I enjoyed the first fight on the train and the characters looked great apart from LIly's cheeks.
But i would be remiss if I didn't recommend an alternative to this waste of time so I will say that if you watched this for the same reason I did which is it looked cool and the trailers showed good action and an amazing story of mystery. You should and I say you should again. Make sure you watch Monster and Hunter X Hunter. Give monster 2 episode and I promise you will love it. and i dont really have to mention why you should watch HXH ask anybody who have seen it.
excuse grammer and punctuation mistakes just wanted to get my opions off directly and accurately while ignoring spelling and such
TakaCode
One very cold morning in London I went on Netflix to look for new anime to watch upon clicking on Netflix anime it showed a new series called B: The Beginning which was brand new. Unlike Devilman Crybaby this show upon its release didn’t get much attention from anime fans. It did get same attention and hype but it wasn’t in the same level as Crybaby where everyone was literally hyping the living hell of the show to a point where it’s now the second coming of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately I wasn’t a fan of Crybaby not because it was simply a Netflix show butthe show simply disappointed me in terms of the tone, writing characters, pacing to even the visuals which were disappointing for a Masaaki Yuasa show where it was inconstant, didn’t flow well half of the time and it was mostly style over substance. For me I found Devilman Crybaby to be very average and it’s is easily Masaaki Yuasa at his worst. Before I watched B: The Beginning I was very worried because I didn’t want to see a repeat of Devilman Crybaby where it heavily disappointed me. Then I binged watching the whole thing dubbed and after watching all 12 episodes on Netflix I can defiantly say this. B: The Beginning is easily the best Netflix anime show that I have seen not only because of its writing and characters but the show was fun and very engaging to watch from start to finish.
Now with all that said Hello everyone this is Shawn aka PhantomKurata and welcome to my review of B: The Beginning and with all that said let’s begin.
Story.
I can’t really say much about the plot because one it starts off simple but the show quickly becomes very complex to a point where it becomes quite confusing and two I don’t want to spoil anything for this great series. However, I can say this much about the story. It starts off as a cat and mouse were the Royal Investigation forces have to capture a serial killer for the chain of crimes that are committed and from there the show becomes much more complex as it showcases themes, features a lot of psychology elements and plot twists.
I honestly liked the story.
It’s very engaging, well told, it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and it had a satisfying ending
The only problems that I had with the story are the plot can be pretty confusing at times and the pacing of the show at times is way too fast. Don’t get me wrong the pacing of this show is great that keeps the viewer interested but at times the show can go way too fast.
Other than that the story for B: The Beginning is pretty great.
8.5/10
Characters.
When it comes to the characters I found them to be pretty great overall, however, most of the side characters were sadly underdeveloped
Keith is very good main protagonist sure he may come off as a grumpy individual but there is a reason for his grumpy nature due to a tragic backstory that was justified the person that he has become due to tragic events
Kotu is an interesting character as he’s the angsty teenager who has a mysterious origin. He was fun in the first half but he became more interesting and likable in the second due to certain events in the show as well he’s back-story.
If I had to pick my favorite character in this show than it would be Lily. She is so relatable and likable that while lacking experience of being serious while doing a job. Not to mention she’s always fun to watch everything she comes on screen during the first half. However, I wish she had a bit more screen time in the second half.
Other than that she is a great character.
The rest of the characters are pretty good but most of them are feeling rather underdeveloped.
9/10
Visuals.
When it comes to the visuals it's honestly beautiful and well animated.
The background scenery is top notch that is very well detailed as every scene has great cinematography and lighting. The character designs were great and they very appealing to look at not to mention the CGI is well handed and directed.
As for the actual animation itself its great overall. Character movement is fluent, all the fights have great fight choreography and the show hardly became inconstant in terms of animation.
Overall the visuals in B: The Beginning was pretty great. Great job Production I.G
9.5/10
Sound.
The soundtrack for B: The beginning is pretty good.
All of the tracks were great, memorable and fit well with the setting and tone of the series.
Now I never watched this subbed however the English dub is brilliant. All of the voice actors did a wonderful job with the roles as they are well acted and they brought more life to these characters. My favorite performance coin the dub was Faye Mata as Lily and Kyle McCarley as Koku. Easily one of the best English dubs I have seen in a long while.
9/10
Final Thoughts.
What a great ride. No, seriously this show was a blast to watch from start to finish. Sure this show had some rough bumps along the journey for having most of the supporting characters being underdeveloped as well way too fast at times when it comes with the pacing, however, the pros outweigh the cons easily. The story was very engaging to watch, the themes were well handed and explored, the writing, for the most part, was excellent, the main characters great and very likable, the production values and sound were brilliant. Finally, the dub for this is a masterpiece.
E: The beginning is the only Netflix original anime that I actually liked. I wasn’t a fan of Devilman Crybaby due to the show disappointing me in a lot of areas. Not saying that the show was bad or anything but that show could have been a lot better than it actually was. This was the show that made me raise my expectations for future Netflix anime original projects in the future.
If you’re looking for a great anime thriller that has an engaging story that is well told and having strong main characters than I highly recommend checking out this show.
Final Score 8.5/10
CrimsonIblis
B: The Beginning is an interesting anime that is flawlessly put together as an anime that has no manga or resources to begin with. It starts off pretty strange as another one of those shows that has crime and they solve the murders, but each murder and each episode builds off each other fits into place and makes the story unique. The story is good at shockers and confusion into making you question what everything means and the best part is the journey of how it gets there and how all the puzzles pieces fit together. Story: 10 Most animes can't get a good story going andmake it bland and the "protaganist" is overpowered and always wins making the villain useless and we all know the outcome. B is very good at throwing away the cliches and starting something new. The plotline example is a triangle. The RIS is looking for "Killer B" and other murderers while "Killer B" is looking for the murderers they are pursuing intertwining each other in their fates. Whatever the RIS does affects what "Killer B" does. Its an elaborate scheme as the villains are luring "Killer B" out while also taking on the RIS who is caught in the crossfire. As the ending goes very satisfying all the pieces fit together and its a masterpiece.
Art: 10
Of course good ol' I.G. Productions never fails to disappoint with art. Some scenes are mixed with CGI such as the cars but everything else seems animated wonderfully.
Sound: 8
The opening could use some work. MOST people skip it because it sucks. I think they could of came up with something better than a creepy opera. Now the ending, "Perfect World" is amazingly done and very catchy. It gives little punk feel. The soundtrack is also pretty good as well.
Character: 10
I have mixed-feelings about the characters but none the less they all have their roles. The main character isn't OP! Congratulations that cliche is gone! The character development with Keith, "Killer B" and the baddies are splendid. You learn more and more about them as the show goes on. What's best is just when you think you know the character, you really don't. Each character plays a roll in the story except a few members of RIS I deem useless but still have their best moments.
Enjoyment: 10
I enjoyed watching the plotline pieces fall into place and in my mind I knew somethings were to happen but how they would play out is surprising and the unexpected twists and the people you think you trust aren't who they say they are. Finding out their true colors and finding out how even at the beginning the things they did laid the foundation to what's to come later and it doesn't fail to disappoint in all three of its plotlines.
Overall: 9.5
For an anime with no manga or resources, I have to say it is extremely interesting and I would watch it all again to feel the same thrills and feel the same amazing feeling of watching a mystery unfold. The ending is extremely satisfying and no cliffhangers at all. Best part is, its possible the show will get a second season and I pray it will get more amazing as ever. The guys did a great job creating this.
Shinobu191
I think this anime was good, I rate it 8/10. If you liked Death Note you will probably like this one as well :) It has a lot of psychology and mystery involved :) I would say that the art is very well made, one of my favorites. Story - 8.5 / 10 . Looks like whoever wrote this had given it a deep thought, cause, in my opinion, it's pretty good :) Sound - (?) I didn't pay attention :) but the original Japanese dub can sometimes be awful :D Character-9/10. Oh man, the things I enjoyed most are the stories and traumas behind them. I do notwant to spoil so I will not extend much, but it really is exciting.
Enjoyment- 8/10, I don't have much to say here, it's a good detective and mystery anime :)
Overall - 8/10.
(Don't get triggered if you do not agree this is just my opinion :) )
Hope you enjoyed it too :)
ArchStanton
This is a series that’s never what it seems. When you turn it on it seems to be an odd mix of Psycho Pass and Death Note. It’s obvious that the series is going to be a police procedural with a quirky and antisocial cop chasing after a supernatural demon boy who hunts serial killers. Except that it isn’t. The hunt is pretty perfunctory and they drop it as soon as they can. Same with the serial killer-hunting stuff. The detective and the boy aren’t even fierce opponents, they just happen to be following different plotlines. The boy’s story isn’t what you expect either. Fromsomeone hunting killers you expect a strong moral desire to inflict vigilante justice. Turns out that’s just a coincidence. He’s really killing specific people (who just happen to be engaged in murder) to send someone a message. I can’t say what that is without giving things away. Basically, most of what you think you know at the beginning is wrong, particularly when it comes to the direction things will take.
Normally I’d be praising such unpredictability, but when you put it all together it’s a jumbled mess. None of the stories work together. The magic boy is hunting for someone in the hands of a massive supernatural organization with ties to the government. The detective is hunting a human serial killer who murdered his sister for personal reasons. Completely different enemies with completely different motives. There’s no mesh. And when they do briefly manage to force the storylines together it’s ridiculously contrived. And soon they go their separate ways again, except now they don’t even pretend that they’re connected. This attempted connection leads to some of the worst exposition I’ve ever heard. Both boy and man explain to us the complicated story that takes what looked like an everyday police procedural with superhuman villains (normal!) and takes it straight down the rabbit hole. It’s crazy stuff, made worse for not fitting in with the more serious elements.
With a series this inconsistent characterization is going to suffer too. They’re so busy rewriting the series away from the police procedural setting that they have precious little time to waste on characterization. And just to make the brief linking of the boy and detective stories work they need to make some serious narrative leaps and irrational character choices. The boy Koku never really recovers from this. His backstory is so monumentally stupid that it’s hard to take him seriously once you know it. After some early attempts to expand his character by showing his skill with musical instruments and their repair they drop all personality and just use him as a tool for action scenes. Oh, and he loses any intelligence he may once have had and goes into the final boss fight with the worst battle plan I’ve ever heard.
Detective Keith fares rather better. He’s a sort of cross between L and the entire department of Psycho Pass. A pretty typical loner detective in many ways, he’s rude, direct, sees patterns where nobody else does, and is an absolute failure at everything else. Where he stands out is his puppetmaster qualities and generally detached personality. Somehow it’s less irritating when he does his own thing without explanation than when most anime characters do it. At least he’s convincingly able to act like he has a plan. This doesn’t make his forced backstory any less silly, but he’s always fun to watch regardless. The less said about the villains the better. Their motivations (such as they are) are tied to Koku’s and make no sense at all. Indeed, they could have ended the entire series at the halfway point and it would have made a whole lot more sense.
The art is at least pretty. The series is set in the fictional European nation of Cremonia, an archipelago kingdom of modern cities, medieval castles, and pointy islands. It looks stunning, although I find it rather odd how little they seem to want this. The mid-series battle takes place in a random Buddhist temple and from that point on they seem determined to hide the visuals indoors or in a series of caves. Character design is a mixed bag. I like Keith, who looks a lot more realistic than most anime protagonists (he could step right into an episode of CSI) but I find Koku to be bland and boring, in whatever form he takes. The rest are a mixed bag. Some are good, others are generic. Only the villains stand out as hideously over-the-top. The realistic and exaggerated styles really don’t mix well here. You can actually tell which plot line a character is a part of by their visual style.
Be warned: the series is rather gruesome, with numerous deaths and tortures happening onscreen. It’s a bit exploitative in nature. Oddly, this cruelty doesn’t extent to anyone we actually care about. The show’s surprisingly protective of its leads. Less so the killers, who suffer more deaths due to random murders than they ever do from our heroes.
I did enjoy the first half of the series, before it switched from police procedural to I don’t even know what. The basic dynamics of the police department were interesting and the setting seemed fresh as well. But it quickly burns out its promising elements and tries to fit a lot of irreconcilable elements together into a single plot. If it had just chosen one (Keith’s story ideally) it could have been fine, but they tried to do too many things and ended up undermining themselves. Ah well, at least it’s short.
magaiverix
The time came, when you wanted to watch anime like Psycho-Pass, I looked at the list of recommendations and I decided to look at, what netflix had prepared for us. Story 8/10- I want to say now, anime would have deserved a masterpiece if there were 24 episodes than 12- the whole story was suppressed. Kazama Flick, Keith- his own story I liked more then Koku's because it was really interesting to look at it, deep investigation and enough for 12 episodes, but Koku's- could have devoted another 12 episodes, because his story from the past seems to me abnormally short, he and his school remindedme of some X men's school, but in general the story is well deserved 8/10- very good and Kazama Flick, Keith thank you! for your story.
Art 9/10- By this type I can say that appropriate art for storytelling, something like that :D the main thing that I liked a feeling when creators really tried to make things look real.
Sound 8/10- I appreciate the sound and the music all in one, so thanks to the music and melodies that made me get better in this atmosphere especially moments of joy of sorrow and thinking, many thanks to the creators of this anime.
Character 9/10- Here is something mystically interesting, let's start with the police the feeling that you really watch the psycho pass- Kougami, Shinya is Kazama Flick, Keith by character and Tsunemori, Akane is Hoshina, Lily and Karanomori, Shion is like a Yoshinaga, Kaela and I really enjoyed it very much then we have Koku he reminds me Hei from anime called Darker then black, because in the day he lives in a normal human life but at night he becomes a hero either something like that. And the rest (evil heroes) are the original idea, overall, I'm greatly excited.
Enjoyment 10/10- The weather ran very quickly, watching all the episodes, 3 days and I have finished.
Overall 9/10- Despite the fact that the start seemed tedious with each series remains more interesting= GREAT anime for ppl who like Crime,detective, and have seen so much anime and understands that we need more like this.
AAAAAAAAND BONUS!- ED song watching each series until the end of the song= 11/11 song is just true masterpiece!
B_Hill
I love mystery anime genre so I was extremely happy to find this series is out. Felt that the beginning looks so much promising, I immediately knew that I am going to binge-watch this. Then, the downfall was imminent from the end of the first episode. From that point on, it bleeds the flaws and the story flops at times. Sadly and surprisingly it couldn't recover till the end. Although it didn't take advantage of many chances of interluding motives between characters, I like some character compilations. But as many reviewers point out, I feel they are largely underdeveloped. AND there's an annoying shrewish female character(as always in any manga); why is this a norm in Japan?And the ending was so absurd. Everyone can tell Gilbert Ross character is a part of the bigger scheme. But it flops in delivering his true motivation; I know it's there but not convincing.
Only thing I give it a lot of credits is artfully crafted fighting scenes. Some are truly exhilarating and entertaining. However, using too many references makes those artful works look cheap and "half-hatched" job. I think all animator should know A Clockwork Orange reference is way overused in anime world. I can't understand why many animator try to regurgitate it in every possible ways.
Gwynevyr
I have never had a bigger disappointment than when I watched B: the beginning. I initially was exited to see it, the premise was promising, a somewhat supernatural mystery with a cool vigilante guy. In addition to the seemingly great fight scenes. However, this very quickly was dropped to focus an a half-assed story that had me checking every five minutes if I accidentally skipped to the second season. B: the beginning felt that a mystery means not letting the audience know anything about the world or the characters until the very end, having the reveal be incurably boring having me wish that they let mejust imagine my own ending as any monkey with a keyboard can come up with a better one.
the show seemed like it couldn't decide to focus on the slightly better serial killer plot line or the brain dead secret soldier plot line. Not to mention that the only thing connecting them was a character tangentially relating them.
When writing the show someone accidentally picked up a book on creating the perfect blank slate character and made that the MC. I cannot for the life of me tell you one interesting detail about him other than his powers being a cool sword limb.
The only part I could enjoy was when Kokuu fought Izanami, I would not be surprised if the entire budget was sunk into that one scene and the janitor for the studio was left to finish this mess.
anime-prime
B: The Beginning had a lot of hype being the follow up ONA of Devilman Crybaby on netflix which was a smash hit. It had a lot to live up to and I was curious to see if netflix would start a trend of licensing good quality shows. I saw it the moment it aired and binged it in under six hours. So it obviously held my attention, but did it live up to the hype or did it crash and burn? Fortunately and unfortunately, neither. Animation: B: The Beginning is an original anime produced by the master of CGI vehicles itself, Production I.G. (Ghost inthe Shell, Psycho pass, etc.). Their animation style is always top notch and it makes no exception here as the animation is crisp and the action sequences smooth. Full marks for the animation (although the CGI was obvious at some times more than others, but nothing too distracting). The character designs are the same as from Terror in Resonance and samurai champloo, drawn by Nakazawa, Kazuto. In fact, I thought it was a sequel to Terror in Resonance when I saw the trailer since there are characters who are nearly identical to one another. I really like his realistic art style. It especially fits well with this type of show.
Sound: I did not see the original dub but I heard it wasn't good, but since I usually watch english dubbed either way, I can testify that it was very well done. Not a single cringe-worthy performance. The music was subtle for the most part and fit in nicely with the show. Nothing stood out that much. The ending on the other hand (although some call it the opening) was fantastic. I have a soft spot for english songs and I really liked the song and thought that it fit well with the show. Good job Marty Friedman.
Story: This is the biggest weakness of the show. Just copy and paste Terror in Resonance but switch 9 and 12 with 4 and 13, and instead of highly intelligent teenagers, make them genetically enhanced humans. Pretty much Nakazawa, Kazuto took his experience from just animating Terror in Resonance and decided to direct a show with the same premise and plot, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but he wasn't the only director. In comes Yamakawa, Yoshiki who hasn't directed anything amazing, but all of his shows have supernatural fighting elements involved, which clashes with the more set in reality touch of Nakazawa, Kazuto. It seems like they both made their own show and then decided to put them together. It really doesn't fit and it really ruins the overall quality of the show. On one hand you have a mystery thriller and on the other you have "science enhanced" humans who are pretty much a rip off of the ghouls from Tokyo Ghoul riding down vertical buildings on a skateboard. It looked cool but distracted from the more interesting aspect of the show. It sucked even more in the end that there was no reason for the "ghouls" to exist in the first place other than to make the real villain seem more twisted. Additionally, the whole backstory on how the entire "ghoul" project came to be is unrealistically stupid.
Characters: I liked all of the characters, especially on the investigation team, however all of the "ghouls" were massively underdeveloped and while they looked cool, they were all just there for an episode or two and then gone. Even after the twist of the final "ghoul", there was another twist that rendered it completely pointless. The main "ghoul" Koku lacked sorely needed screen time and his entire purpose in the show seemed tacked on. The detective was great and the real villain, while obvious, was still a competent villain.
Enjoyment: I enjoyed the series despite its faults, but this series had so much potential that was just wasted. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it stuck to the investigation teams plot.
Overall: I liked the show, but I can't ignore the storytelling problems. It had potential but there are many unresolved plot points and plot holes. There is a second season coming allegedly, so that might clear a few things up, but I am not holding my breath. It definitely isn't a failure, but it makes me less excited to see A.I.C.O.:Incarnation which is the next of the netflix ONAs.
If you liked Terror in Resonance and Tokyo Ghoul, then give this anime a shot.
I was sure that I would give it a ten when I saw the first episode...but it wasn't to be.
Score: 8=Good and had a lot of great elements, but I wouldn't rewatch it.
PuppetMasterEN
I’m giving this a 9/10 because I think the average score should be higher than it is currently. For those that think the writing is “messy” and that the story lines “don’t connect”, I have to disagree with you. This story just takes a little more brain power to piece together. I personally find the complexity engaging. The animation is great. The cinematic fight scenes are masterful. The characters are complex as is the story. I had no idea what was happening for the first 5 episodes and I was still completely engaged. This anime unravels its story in an unusual and insightful way. Thewriting always kept me guessing.
The only reason I didn’t give this anime a 10 is because of its pacing. I could have used a little more time to breath between plot points. But then again, I’m a sucker for good fillers ;)
Honestly, this anime is a breath of fresh air from the one-dimensional shows we see in the “Top 10” on Netflix these days.
If you want an anime that engages your mind and thrills your senses, I highly recommend giving this one a try.
HelenaHills
Okay, so what exactly makes B: The Beginning special? What you need to know here is that this isn't just one story. It's composed by two different stories of different genres, (and ultimately two different protagonists) intersecting and complementing nicely each other until the end. The first story and strongest one, is a crime/police drama, the kind of "guess who the killer is", while the second and weakest one is the classic route where people who were experimented on were granted supernatural abilities. Even though the second one sounds like the one which would be at the center, it only serves as fodder to explain themotives and mechanisms behind the mystery of the first. Its characters are nowhere near as sympathetic and in the end they only served as tools for the absolutely mind-blowing and cathartic finale of the first one. This makes the series seem like stepping on un-even ground, especially towards the end, because even if the characters of the first one had earned your griping attention and empathy, planting you at the edge of your seat, the characters of the second story failed. Thus, when the focus shifted to the second story, you can't find yourself to care about them and it disrupts your level of engagement, which remains undivided towards the climax of the first story.
But in the end, this just results as a minor inconvenience to your enjoyment. The overall plot and the way those stories cover each other, the mystery that keeps you guessing the details until the end, providing you in the meanwhile with enough clues to lead you into the right direction, the stellar character writing of the first story's characters, (especially of the villain/antagonist), the absolutely stunning scenery, direction, character designs... all these make it nothing sort of superb.
The weak part deduces one and a half point. It doesn't allow the series to ascend into "great" status, but it's not just "very good" either. In the end, I guess it's up to how much the characters of the second story will seem annoying to you or if you will be able to shrug them off and wait for the first story to pay off. It's a clear 8.5/10, but I'm giving it a 9/10 trying to persuade people to watch it, because I think it's really worth your time.
MuieLaHateri
The story is relatively complex, you will enjoy it, the art is just really unique, the fighting scenes are 10000/10 it is very fluid and very nicely drawn, the characters are really charming and quite fleshed out even if some of them look like generic anime characters, but they have their own desires and motives. This show just feels like watching a mix of Monster,Psycho-Pass and Death Note. The main character, and his best friend, I can actually relate to their friendship and the ending, never expected it to end that way actually, pretty much shocked. Overall this is anime was a treat, something we deservedfor a long time but never actually got.
light333
This anime is pretty good, but it is not for everyone. In the simplest way possible, it could be described as Death Note with more supernatural elements to it. Sure, Death Note had Shinigami's and a special book, but outside of that, it had a realistic setting. B is about a "righteous murderer" that has supernatural abilities. The police are trying to catch the person to bring them to justice while a criminal organization full of people with similar supernatural gifts are trying to capture the person for their own purposes. Story: Similar to Death Note, it purposely leaves you confused for a bit until thewriter decides to let you in on the secret. I felt the story was pretty good, with plenty of twists and turns (some you see coming and some you do not).
Art: You can tell Netflix has some seriously deep pockets and was not constrained. The characters look great, the action scenes are pretty damn good. There is gore in this series, but it never became too much for me. Even as an adult, I am not a big fan of "gore-y" anime, but I was fine watching this.
Sound: Not a fan of the opening song, but the ending song is very good. The music throughout the episodes fit the mood pretty well. For an english VA anime, it is very good. For the most part, the voice acting was great, there are a few characters that have a voice that does not really match their vibe, but they are usually just side characters that will not be there for long periods of time. Seriously though, the English VA is not to be feared here, it is more than watchable.
Characters: I wont say much because it can spoil a lot of things, but I liked majority of the characters. Oddly enough, I felt as though the main character needed more screen time early on. There are no horrible characters here... you know, the ones that you just want to skip every time they come on screen.
Overall: I enjoyed the series and it did remind me a little bit of Death Note. However, I know that Death Note is a very popular anime, so I will say that do not go in expecting a clone or something to the same level as Death Note. It is similar, but the plot twists and mind games are not masterpieces like Death Note had. I will say that if you liked Death Note, give this one a shot. Otherwise, try this if you like crime mysteries sprinkled in with supernatural organizations.
jaisan
This anime piles on information and backstory like it's all going to add up towards a big reveal of some super plot twists at the end but it really lets you down and 90% of that information/backstory is completely useless and irrelevant. the last episode is all convoluted exposition that tries to fool you into thinking it's all deep and the first 11 episodes were worth the payoff, but as you see from my summary above it clearly wasn't. The characters are lame and/or unimportant. They try to paint kieth as some super genius but he really doesn't do anything to earn it. lucy? or whateverthe girl's name is has probably the best written character but the show can't seem to figure out if she's smart or dumb and flops back and forth between the two. She certainly has no business on any police force. The black wing kid has no personality. He just wants to save the girl and gets mad when he is impeded. The only other character I remember is the computer chick. she types fast. thats it. I finished watching this yesterday.
The supernatural side plot never makes any sense, even at the end. The detective side plot is one you could never really figure out on your own which is why it takes 20 minutes of exposition to explain it to you in the last episode. The whole thing was a slap in the face.
As others have noted, the fight scenes are well-done and the overall animation is too. I don't know how anyone could possibly pull any other positives from it. My jaw dropped when I saw it's current score (~7.7)
5/10 mostly for the animation quality
