On the outside, Agastia is a firm specializing in entertainment, well-known for the theme park it operates. However, beneath such an exterior lies a monumental secret: Agastia is one of various highly advanced evil organizations that aim for world domination. Despite its true nature, the company boasts enticements that make it worthwhile to put up with the work environment. Led by its great leader Akashic, Agastia has recently become a frontrunner in reaching its fellow groups' common goal.
Working for Agastia's Monster Development Division, Touka Kuroitsu is a researcher who primarily does fieldwork due to the eccentricities of her seniors. Kuroitsu's everyday jobs also include giving abrupt presentations and proposals, meeting ridiculous expectations for monster designs, and accompanying said monsters to face inevitable defeat by Agastia's enemies. Nevertheless, nothing will stop Kuroitsu from doing her best if it means getting the promotion she desires!
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
AlexPaulLEWZ
Watching many anime over the years, I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of hidden gems. One type are hidden gems that should remain hidden for people to dig up and come across their value themselves. The other hidden gems need to be exposed so that everyone knows and appreciates them as much as possible. In my opinion, Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san, or in English, Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, belongs to the latter. It is clearly one of the most, if not the most underrated anime this Winter 2022 season. So the story is about Touka Kuroitsu, a monsterdevelopment researcher for the evil organization Agastia. Alongside her senpai Hajime, she, well, develops monsters to fight against "heroes," and in Kuroitsu's case, she fights against Blader. When I tried recommending this to other people, some of them kind of brushed it off as a mere Kamen Rider parody, which it is, don't get me wrong, but of course I'm not reviewing this anime if it's only just that. Moreover, we also have mahou shoujo, so to dismiss this as a mere Kamen Rider parody is not good and it totally undermines this anime's true potential. To be totally honest, my childhood is more on Power Rangers, which is basically the same series, but I'm not really a big fan of either so this anime's connection to Kamen Rider is not that significant as to why I loved Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san.
We don't have an exact story or a deep plot that involves something like Agastia totally ruling over the world, even though that's their ultimate goal. Instead, we have a slice-of-life story that still manages to fit in an episodic story, like your regular superhero series back then, that totally captures the essence of what "Kamen Rider"-esque series should be. But it's not all just fighting. There are also wholesome moments that, once again, make this anime deviate from being just a simple Kamen Rider parody. Yes, people dismissing this anime like that makes me salty. Very salty indeed.
Then there's the comedic parts that make this anime stand out and in my opinion is its strongest point. One of the things that I would especially like to point out is that while I do not think that the trope about "evil organizations" actually being not really that evil and sometimes even law-abiding not uncommon in fiction in general, I think it's really rare for anime and no matter what, I do not find myself getting tired. Most of Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san's comedy stems from the fact that Agastia, dubbed as the leading evil organization, is actually a pretty chill company. They pay their workers well with good benefits, and the work environment is comparable to normal jobs. It's written so well that I wouldn't mind another anime with this kind of trope in the future.
Next up would be the art. While I can't say that the art has been consistent throughout, the art from each new monster and character per episode clearly checks out. Perhaps you can call me out for having a little bit of bias towards anime waifus because it's very true. The best thing I can praise this anime for is for its character designs that are most oddly the most emphasized. For example, Kuroitsu is somehow still too pretty despite her job in a laboratory—especially in a laboratory where literal biological monster… uh… things are developed. Just imagine the stress and the complicated chemicals that are involved in the process that are almost guaranteed to have a negative effect on a person's face. Nevertheless, real world logic doesn't really apply to anime, so I'm not going to cry on spilled milk much further.
In terms of character design, some of the "monsters" like Wolf Bete and Hydra are just so cute and endearing. The same is also true for Agastia's CEO, Akashic, (fbi open up) and the magical girls. As for the Kamen Rider parody characters like Blader and other evil organizations' nemeses, their variations are actually quite good to see, reminding me of the sheer number of Power Rangers and Kamen Rider variations within its years of existence. While I say that I don't like people dismissing this anime as a mere Kamen Rider parody, I still give props to how it pays homage to it which contributes to this anime's goodness.
For sound, I'm only going to critique the opening and ending themes, which are so good that I keep singing their tunes. The opening theme "Special Force" by AXXX1S reminds me of your usual shounen theme, but still hits hard. Not to mention that banger of a refrain!
"itsumo BA-RI-BA-RI-BA-RI tachimukatte
GI-RI-GI-RI-GI-RI kuishibatte
kimi wa “zettai akiramenai”
sore ga chikara sa taisetsu na Special force
kyou mo BA-RI-BA-RI-BA-RI tsukisusunde
GI-RI-GI-RI-GI-RI norikoete
ikou yo Stronger
kimi no utsukushii Special force"
Utterly splendid. The abrupt one-and-a-half beats between the lines are so hard to keep up which makes it even better to sing. Moreover, I never thought I would be hyped up with a boyband like this. As for the ending themes, there are two, both by the idol group Maybe Me, which alternate between episodes. First one is "Destiny," which kind of sounds like an opening, especially with its very upbeat introduction to a mellow strophe, which is staple in J-pop but still is nice.
"Tomose yuuki wo sono yaiba de
Kotae naki michi wo ittou ryoudan mirai he
Ano koro yori mo tsuyoku natteru hazu
Hashiridase yo fuan wo kette"
Then there's "Aimai Identity," which I feel is better than the other because of its easier and clearer lyrical structure. There are almost no accidentals that force the singer to speak an excessive amount of syllables within a set amount of beats like the previous song. Moreover, that refrain! It's the best out of the three songs!
"Doyagao de TRY
Ponkotsu de CRY
Riaru wa choppiri sechigarai
Kiseki wa matsu mono janai
Jibun no te de tsukamu mono
Akiramenai maketakunai
Dakeredo ganbaritaku ha nai
Konna watashi mo watashi na no
Aimai IDENTITY"
Time to become a Maybe Me fan!
The main character, Touka Kuroitsu, is a hard worker whose goal is actually to become an Agastia executive staff member, so she does all she can to impress them. This actually allows her to have a motive to be such an impressive and quite sassy character which makes it hard to get annoyed by her potentially annoying personality. Instead, it draws you in, because not only does she have the confidence, she has the skills and kindness to back it up. Ironic for an evil organization to have a majority of kind and caring staff, but once again, that's what makes Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san a good anime in its own right. I'd also like to mention Kuroitsu's right hand, Wolf Bete. She, well, he was supposed to be male, but was given a female body. As such, her, uh, his interactions with other characters are more interesting which really gives me a laugh whenever it comes up.
But out of all characters, my favorite one for this series goes to "Camula," the head of Agastia's Pluripotent Cell Department. Her dominant personality was enough to hook me on her from the first frame she appeared, and the fact that she has her gap moe of being an idol fan is truly adorable. Also, Ayana Taketatsu as her voice actress? No surprises there.
Like I said earlier, this anime is a hidden gem that should be known to everyone. This anime is simply not a Kamen Rider parody, and it is utterly preemptive to just dismiss it as that. It is a unique anime in its own right and is an unexpectedly enjoyable masterpiece. Watching the ending episode was also one of the most hyped I have been that not even Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to has given me. And like many anime that preceded it, I want a second season of Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san.
SpRayquaza11
I love this show, it comes in my top 5 of the season! but the problem is this may not appeal much to the younger crowd, that is the only reason I think this is rated so low. Power Rangers, Gojira, samurai Kenshin's, old jap superhero shows if you loved any of these, this show is gonna be a great nostalgia trip. But that s not all of It, It does the fanservice the right way, the nostalgia trip is great and also has a mildly cohesive story on work-life culture and a good Workplace comedy. plot(7/10) The plot is mostly CGDCT, beach episodes, fanservice amusement parks occasional adventurerides with the cast but, mainly on Workplace interaction which are just special episodes on the pretext of the workplace.
characters (8/10)
The characters are best left experienced by oneself hence I won't mention them. Id says they are as quirky, distinguishable and genuine as they should be in a superhero show, BUT it's the evil org peeps that are the main focus which is quite the irony I must say since the Hero do it for PR and money yet the org is the innovator's xD.
sound (9/10)
The OP and ED are custom built for weeb Karaoke, Full of energy and emotions, love the 90 s vibe in it, and definitely singalong once or twice. VAs can do the screamfests that we remember from our favorite Pre DBz era live-action shows and they do a near-perfect replication and the screaming and power up stuff isn't as annoying as the standard shounen BS and is quite bizzare/quirky just like old times.....
Art and animations (8/10)
This is seriously something that is for the child that still remains in all of us.
Now the animation may not be the best but the fights are done exactly how you'd remember (ridden with effects and power moves xD) them from your favorite shows, the character art is awesome and is a great throwback to the villains of yesteryears, the heroes are all REAL people! there was just so much love poured into this show which I sadly feel is being overlooked.
this is a very niche anime, I know many will not be very blown away by this one
Yet those who have been long-time fans of the old Japanese shows are sure to fall in love with the great recreations of the most memorable kaijin and heroes that we miss so much , a definite recommendation if you are into stuff like that!
Pyro81300
Tokusatsu anime are in general a pretty rare thing, and as a somewhat casual fan of the medium this caught my interest. Add on to that a show that actually shows the perspective of the typical evil group of monsters found in toku shows with a female mc from a comedic perspective? Conceptually it’s brilliant, but execution of it is…actually pretty decently good and surprised me in a few ways. Whether you’re a comedy or toku fan, there’s a pretty enjoyable show here. The story is relatively simple enough. Kuriotsu is a researcher in the monster development department at the secret, evil corporation of Agastia. It’sher job along with the main head of the department Shinya to create various monsters to tackle our hero of the story, Blader. Of course being a comedy, the story leans heavily into parodying the genre applying real life work culture, budgets, deadlines, etc. to making these monsters, which is in part where some of the humor comes from. The story doesn’t just follow her though, you’ll see side stories following some of the various monsters, a couple of magical girls that treat it more as a job than actual heroics, a girl just trying to live paycheck to paycheck via being a costumed goon for hire for various toku villains that aren’t Agastia, etc. Blader himself gets a good amount of focus too of course being the main hero, and even he has to work a 2nd job to make ends meet on top of being a hero in almost a Spiderman-esque situation.
One minor note, I will say is that the series is full of references and cameos of various toku series both popular and niche. You get anything from Ultraseven being the narrator of one episode, or various animated appearances of real toku chars/heroes that are on air in Japan. You don’t need to know any of this stuff and the series certainly doesn’t rely on fanservice to be successful, but it’s a nice extra thing to have for hardcore toku fans.
As a comedy, I found the jokes to be kinda hit or miss. I did enjoy the series overall as it doesn’t just rely on comedy, but the actual jokes sometimes rely too much on common anime tropes. There’s a solid dozen boob jokes in the series, and the milage you get out of Wolf’s whole running gag of having a guy brain but being in a girl’s body may vary. Largely, I don’t care about that kinda humor, but they’re not the only type of jokes the series does. The parts that did hit often were the parody of toku tropes, office humor, or just various one off gags that worked well.
Something that did surprise me about this show was that it actually has a good level of worldbuilding. It explores considerably how society looks at monsters and how both Agastia and other evil corporations operate in the world, but never to the point it felt too serious, dark, or nonsensical. Y’know how I mentioned how the show doesn’t just focus on Kuriotsu and Blader? Well yeah, often those parts of the eps that focus on the other chars help flesh out the world, and I’d say it makes the series as a whole more appealing.
The characterization is good enough. There’s definitely better characterization in comedies out there, but you’ll still find a likable cast here. Kuriotsu is a determined young woman, and honestly one of the better female protags I’ve seen in anime. She’s got great leadership skills, looks out for her fellow employees/comrades, is actually pretty strong combat wise, has plenty of tenacity, but still has a cute, relatable side to her. Wolfy is to an extent the deuteragonist of the series, but they have similar qualities to Kuriotsu with a somewhat more aggressive, tsundere side to them. The side cast in general gets alright development, outside of a few I’d say barely any are just one note chars that are just there for some gag. Blader himself gets a good amount of development too, though I’d say it’s sort of just your usual shonen mc development. I’m not sure I’d say its anything unique, outside of him technically being the antagonist.
Animation wise, the show is above average. Characters are certainly expressive, and the visual gags hit well. Otherwise though, I’d say the animation is comparable to your average isekai. I guess one highlight is that I recall there being pretty much no or barely any CGI, so I guess that’s one positive. I think the character designs in general are pretty strong, even if some of the faces on the girls look a bit samey.
Voice acting is fine, I don’t have any complaints here. Standard acting for these sort of comedies. Music I actually quite enjoyed. The OP is bombastic and gets you into the action, and you get 2 EDs one being a hotblooded theme song for Blader, and the other just being a silly ED about Kuriotsu. The general soundtrack I liked, but didn’t feel was very memorable.
Overall, this was a good show. I wouldn’t call it great, but again I think it's highly enjoyable as a toku fan, and still a nice watch for comedy fans. Solid 7/10 series.
bboy_OatsnRice
I’m writing this from the perspective of someone who had no idea this series had anything to do with super sentai, tokusatsu, Kamen Rider, or local heroes. Hell I didn’t even know what any of that was until after finishing the show. So I ended up learning something from a show I thought I could otherwise turn my brain off while watching. And with that said, you don’t even need to know any of that stuff either to enjoy this show. Would it help further your enjoyment? Yeah sure, especially with the last episode and all the narrators/cameos for each episode, but not necessary inthe slightest. In short this show pays tribute, homage, and respect to shows of the tokusatsu genre, featuring live action characters and colorful special effects, and are aimed at children. Super Sentai airs alongside the Kamen Rider series in the Super Hero Time programming block on Sunday mornings. In North America, the Super Sentai series is best known as the source material for the Power Rangers series. Got that? K, good. Now local heroes are fictional Japanese superheroes created to represent a particular region of Japan, such as a prefecture or city. They are typically themed after the locale of their creators, and often perform in special martial arts stage shows, and serve to teach children about certain things such as road traffic and food safety.
This show builds its identity and theme around those concepts. Again, all of which were foreign to me before starting the series. So my first impression was that this was going to be a comedy series that relies on being a monster of the week sort of deal, in the most literal sense. And I would’ve been content with that, as the first episode left me in stitches at a time I was really down on my luck. And also in an otherwise mostly sol, isekai/fantasy, romantic filled season. Now sure there were other comedies airing around the same time too, but I wanted something that was more comedically barebones and didn’t rely on the romance or fantasy aspect for the source of its comedy. So I picked up this series solely based on the poster and positive but small reception it was getting on /a/. And boy am I glad I did, this show was the highlight of my week. It was unpredictable but not lol so random, it had critiques of the japanese work environment without getting its head stuck up its ass, and it did the impossible and got me to genuinely fall head over heels for an idol character.
Speaking of which, all characters in this series are a riot. Wolf-kun, Kuroitsu-san, Canon(a badass bird who can defeat just about anyone except for blader, despite his non-intimidating and feathered exterior), long ranged uncle, the jobber friends, mummy-chan, the magical ‘girl’ duo, and possibly the most awesome of all, Megustas! I could go on and on about the characters and what they bring to the table in terms of jokes and variety. I wish the series focused on certain characters more like spider-chan and the leader, with her room of maidenly conditioned love. But I admire how the series is able to have a large cast, yet retain its focus on the handful that matter. And it’s a good thing that these characters are as likable as they are.
The story usually pertains to how they’ll be able to defeat their rival, local hero Blader! But will sometimes divert from the main plot to focus on other tasks such as job interviews, going to the beach, getting approval from other higher up executives to create a new monster, and even discussing work with other evil companies. The plot is interesting and more than serviceable as a means for the jokes. And while the animation is never stellar, there is a noticeable dip in the quality around the last few episodes, save for the last bit of the final episode. But the show isn’t trying to win you over with its beautiful and articulate backgrounds or animation, it just wants to make your day brighter and give props to all the heroes old and new. This series didn’t nearly get the credit it deserved and was probably my personal highlight of the season even if others seem to disagree, and if there were objectively more well made shows. If you liked Samurai Flamenco, you just might also fall in love with Kuroitsu San.>
Snapshot426
I will always encourage people to watch as much anime as they can from each season. You don’t necessarily have to sit down and watch all of it, but you might find a hidden gem. A show that flies under the radar that you may not have considered watching. This is more important than ever this season because with the amount of shows you look at once and then never touch again, you may have not given this one a chance. Well I’m going to tell you why you should give this one a check. Sit back, relax and work on your awesome Tokusatsu introas I present to you the anime review for Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department. Let’s begin.
Story: 8.5/10
“As long as good exists in this world, so, too, shall evil thrive. But behind this eternal clash of good and evil, there is another battle that goes unseen.”
Which usually leads us to our main protagonist, Touka Kuroitsu. Touka is part of the evil Agasita organisation and works for the branch of developing monsters to beat the various Tokusatsu heroes scattered around Japan. However, the team struggles to develop a monster capable to defeat the hero “Kenshin Blader.” So Touka is determined to develop a monster that will defeat Blader and get what she desires the most. A promotion to the executive branch.
What I like the most about this show and becomes more obvious as time goes on is that this show likes to wear multiple hats. What I thought was going to be a simple parody of the Tokusatsu genre from the villains perspective turned into more of a parody of common, Japanese businesses and shows off multiple instances where it can give workers headaches. Budget costs, compromises, working and agreeing with other departments, presentations, both planned and emergency, recalls and executive meddling. It all happens across the series and manages to blend well with the evil organisation part of this show. It was what kept me interested in the show and see what they were going to do next. Sure, the villain perspective of the Tokusatsu genre was pretty interesting, but it was this added element that made the story as enjoyable as it was. It isn’t so obvious at first but once you start to realise that it is a parody of Japanese businesses, it changes your perspective of this show because they are doing more than they could’ve done. They could’ve just poked holes at the tokusatsu shows (and trust me, they do), but this addedd element to the story makes it more engaging to watch and was the highlight of the whole show for me.
There is also a couple of side plots as well that were pretty interesting and connected nicely to the Japanese business elements of the story. There is one side plot following Karen Mizuki as she takes temp jobs working as evil henchman that usually happens at the end of each episode. Then there is another subplot for a couple of episodes following a rival evil organisation, Black Lore (which I believe is making a mockery of a Black Company, aka bad company) and how they treat their workers more poorly compared to Agasita where they treat their workers with care. While they don’t influence the main plot, they do act as nice compliments towards the main themes of this show.
Also, because its more of parody, it doesn’t take itself that seriously and as such, is relying on its comedy as well to keep the viewer engaged. To which I think that they did a pretty good job. Sure it wasn’t always “haha” funny, although it did have some scenes that made me laugh, there were plenty of chuckle scenes that made me amused at the situation. It helps alleviate the truth about how these businesses work but it doesn’t muddle them down to the point where it doesn’t make it believable (well as believable you can get with an evil organisation).
Characters: 7.5/10
This is one of those cast of characters where they don’t generally stand out much but it would feel like the cast was lacking if they weren’t included. That might sound like a “What are you talking about?” moment but hear me out. This cast of characters is very solid by the fact that they all carry their own weight and play their own part and use that to help elevate the cast around them. When the majority of this cast is doing that, it elevates the cast of characters as a whole and as such, making this cast of characters more likeable.
Now there are some characters that do slightly stand out from the rest for me. Touka does do her role well as the main protagonist and acts as the determined worker to do her best to get that promotion. Though, she is never in your face about it and is just trying to do her best which is nice that we don’t need to be constantly reminded. Megistus is probably my favourite supporting character. Second in command of Agasita, Megistus looks like someone who would throw you across the room if you did something wrong. But instead, he is a man who’s best interest is the care of his employees and to make sure everything is running smoothly by taking care of their interests and do what is best for Agasita. He is the kind of person who actually runs the company rather than Akashic, the leader of Agasita, who just uses her position for her best interests, hence where the executive meddling comes from. There are other characters like Cannon Thunderbird, Wolf and Camula but it is the fact they all hold their own weight that makes this cast of characters as a whole likeable and fun to watch. Do I wish some of these characters stood out more? Sure, but they are recognisable in their own way that makes them likeable.
Animation: 6/10
Animation is fine. I would say it is slightly above average because it doesn’t over rely on still images and does animate alright. Really, the standout bit is the character designs as I do like them. From the monster girls to the hero costumes, they look thematically appropriate for the genre we are parodying here, especially the monster girls because you can tell the Akashic has had her executive hands all over them to make then cute. Also, give credit to Megistus to keeping his mask on and still rock wearing a business suit every now and then. For a debut title for Studio Quad, it’s an alright first attempt.
Sound: 6.5/10
I actually do like some of the soundtracks in this show but once again, it feels thematically appropriate and only really enhances the scene. Some parts of the soundtrack are simple to go with the light hearted tone and don’t really offer much but some of the more action scenes have a soundtrack that helps get in to the mood that this is also a Tokusatsu show. Although I do like that all the heroes have their own little theme song.
The opening is very upbeat with a very nice rhythm to it as well. Called "Special Force" by AXXX1S. The lyrics and visuals help give a nice motivation that no matter how hard the challenge, If you give it your all and persevere, you will come out better on the other side. It also acts a nice quick intro to get a glimpse of this large cast of characters. It is a rather underrated opening in my opinion and really helps get into the mood of the show. It being catchy as well also helps.
Now there are two EDs in this show and one is better than the other. "Aimai Identity" by Maybe Me, just feels like an inferior version of “Special Force” as it gives off the same vibes but isn’t as done as well, although I do like the visuals. Rather, I prefer "Destiny" by Maybe Me because it pretty much acts like Kamen Rider’s intro sequence if he had his own show and will change from time to time, depending on what other hero show up near the end of the episode. It certainly captures the vibe the Tokusatsu shows present and it just makes me laugh as how this show just embraces it and this ED is the cherry on top.
Conclusion:
Trust me when I say this that this show offers a lot more enjoyment than it initially seems. The heart and soul of this series is its corporate working predicaments disguised as a Tokusatsu series and it does that so god damn well. It is also complimented by a fun cast of characters and a good art style that help make this show that much better. I would say this show is my sleeper of the season. The show’s good writing and characters make this show a really good time and I think it offers something different that should have made it stand out.
This season has been weak on good shows to watch with only a handful that are worth watching besides sequels. This is one of those shows as it offers something different that it executes really well. So between generic shounen against Daemons, an unexciting, extreme Baseball series or another mobile game anime featuring cute girls, I do recommend that you give this one a go and please don’t let it fall under the cracks.
My Personal Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall Score: 7.3/10 Recommendation: Watch It
Spirit_Chaser
The most ambitious and cleverly written series of the season with unique humor came from the dark corner of the 2022 Spring anime season. Nobody around me watched Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, and the discussions were low and barely had. Right from the start I felt this was going to be my personal anime of the season and I was right for once. Uniquely, the story revolves around the villains rather than the heroes. Agastia is a secret evil organization that specializes in creating monsters to take over the world. Because of the harsh and rather ridiculous corporate politics taking place behind thescenes, the monsters they create are often laughable and defective. Trying to make this realistic in a series is clever in that it becomes comically absurd. Even though they are evil, they have high morals when making decisions, because this series does not take itself seriously at all and makes fun of everything in it that it can. Off the clock, these are decent people. From absurdly long episode titles, awkward timing between scenes done on purpose, ridiculously cheese hero lines and moments, random jokes thrown all over the place, a giant cast of characters with many based on real life local heroes from Japan, an android with an absurdly overexaggerated robotic voice, it's impressive how creative this series is and how it all blends in.
My only real complaint is that the animation implodes and falls apart in the last two episodes. That doesn't take away the fact it had a great grand finale and more.
Agastia is going up against Blader, the comically overpowered hero that stands in their way. As schedules run tight, budgets run low, and bugs and glitches emerge during production, Miss Koroitsu tries her best to create the right monster to defeat him. At the same time, her attitude towards this makes it look as if she isn't very serious about it and failure feels like something she just gets used to. As a result, a wide cast of colorful monsters appear. My favorite is Cannon. A monster that during development had a fearsome giant design with all sorts of horrifying powers. However, after some help from the clumsy Leader with strict budget limitations taken into account, the final product ends up being a big goofy bird with a scouter and handgun. Just writing about this still makes me laugh.
This series treats it's characters well, and even minor characters come full circle and become relevant. As comical as this series is, and as huge as it's ocean of corny hero lines are, this can still feel inspirational with it's messages of defying evil, refusing to lose, and carrying out your destiny with an unshakable will. The cast's job of creating monsters can be difficult, lots of obstacles get in the way, and the amount of overtime can be exhausting, but they don't give up and keep going. Combined with this is a great soundtrack, one of my favorite Ending Sequences, and clever humor I cannot get enough of.
At first it seems Blader and Kuroitsu are just fighting a simple war. Then it's shown there is much more to them off the clock, as they are much closer than they think. This goes along with the ridiculous plot twists in this series that usually had me laughing.
Megistus is definitely my favorite character. He is the mind of the organization and chief strategist. His character is interesting in that despite the organization being evil, his code of conduct is very honorable, and his treatment of his subordinates is comically compassionate. He's serious, but feels as if he is just messing with everyone with the politics of his organization. It's funny to see him be the most professional of professional and ideal boss of an evil monster developing organization wanting to take over the world.
After a very satisfying ending, it surprised me that I was not even close to being the target audience for this, and missed a barrage of references. Still, I can't deny this one was special, and worth the watch.
Lost-Night
It's a comedy show with a fair bit of references to different media with comedy with its monster development. But one part of its comedy that leaves a distasteful taste in my mouth is the character Bete Wolf, a monster created with a male body and mind but was forced into a female body by the head of the facility's whims. My problem is that one of the show's primary sources of “comedy” is making fun of Bete Wolf's situation, and they do not understand what norms are for them regarding male or female standards. With that constantly being brought up, it ruins a majorityof the anime for me.
Ainosora
Kaijin Kaihatsu is a good show. It is solid in all respects with above average animation and a fun plot. Overall this is a slice of life seinen comedy with workplace and super hero humor. It seems they included a lot of existing Super Sentai/Power Rangers heroes into the series which I found to be quite endearing. Kaijin Kaihatsu focuses on the villains however, and it does a great job in doing so. To be more precise it focuses on developing all the strange monsters normally featured in Super Sentai type shows. It also includes power ups, giant robots, all the usual Japanese Super Herostuff. It is a great series to watch and fun to see the villain side and efforts put in to create their "evil" monsters.
The workplace humor is quite great and had many amusing moments. The titular character Kuroitsu is also a great character. There's a lot of modern humor featured as well but with the Japanese anime style comedy. Basically if you like anime style comedy, this show is likely for you. The modern gags I personally believe were well done and achieved creating a fun modern comedy show. There's also little bits of lore here and there for many of the characters. The entire evil company featured in the show was completely filled with great characters too.
Overall this show is very good in general to relax to. It is a modern Super Sentai from the point of view of the evil side, endearing characters all over, and it is a show that is also mostly a comedy anime.
Jozuwa-_-
A pretty good Tokusatsu-themed parody Anime. Most of the theme-specific comedy bits hit quite well. I wouldn't say it's very funny as I don't remember laughing out loud once but, there are a lot of brilliant comical Tokusatsu genre references. My only nitpick is that at some point, they started loosening the concept and started doing some basic work-life bits instead of villain organization work-related bits. But overall, this is a good Parody Anime entry. I'd watch the 2nd season if there'll be one. Hopefully, with more comical situations involving Super Sentai characters. STORY (5/10): The story didn't really have any worth-it payoff, even for comedy Animestandards. The Agastia's Monster Development Division's main purpose is to make monsters, which they did make a lot earlier on. But in the end, the final project that Miss Kuroitsu made was a Super Sentai armor which helped them win the battle. The point about treating the created monsters right wasn't really pushed enough. Other than Wolf Bete, we don't really get to see much love for the other monsters as we only get to see them during some filler comical episodes doing non-monster-specific gags. The only ones that really contributed something to the theme are Cannon and Hydra's snake sisters, and the Anti-Blader turned Idol for one episode.
There's also the side-story about the odd-jobber girl that kept getting herself hired to do dangerous goon jobs by her supervisor. I thought that was gonna end up playing an important part in the finale but, it had a disappointing conclusion.
The dynamic between Kenshin Blader and Kuroitsu meeting in person on regular days unaware of each other's secret identities was the only one that has a payoff in the end. That was fun to see but, at some point, Kenshin Blader wasn't really on screen much so, it didn't hit hard in the end. Still a good moment though.
CHARACTER (5/10):
There are lots of them, but most of them we don't really get to see much substance from. Not to say they were unlikeable. They just weren't fleshed out enough.
Wolf immediately took the spotlight after appearing. Some noteworthy characters for me are Hydra's Snake sisters, Megistus, and Uncle Long-range. Karen and her supervisor Heike also did a lot of end-credit skits which was fun while it lasted. Kenshin Blader could've been fun with a little more of his normal life bits but there wasn't enough. So other than Kuroitsu and Wolf, the rest are mostly just one-offs.
Hopefully, if there's gonna be a 2nd season, we get to see characters be involved in situations where their character-specific gags will shine.
ART and SOUND (5/10):
Character designs are good. But art quality is definitely low and inconsistent.
The only thing I scored for SOUND is the OP theme. It's too catchy for me to ignore (*SPECIAL FORCE!!!*). The ED was generic. And it's so forgetful that I had to listen to it just to remember how it sounded for this review. VA's wasn't that impressive as well. No one stood out as a unique character voice.
OVERALL (6.5/10):
I still enjoyed it even with all of my nitpicks but, my expectation for this wasn't really that high in the first place. All I wanted from this was for them to properly deliver the Tokusatsu-parody concept, and for me, that they did. At least for the most part. And credits to them for not pulling too much ecchi stuff. I'm not sure if I want to recommend this but, all I know is that I quite had fun with it. Maybe put it on your list if you're a fan of parody/spoof, sketch-based genre, and give it a try when you're in the mood for it.
SanaeK10
Despite not being a regular watcher of most normal tokusatsu shows, I somehow found that a lot of my favorites anime ended up being heavily based on tokusatsu. Things like Ore Twintail or Samumenco, or even Sentouin Hasshin Shimasu. For some reason, tokusatsu anime works really well when paired with another genre, and in the case of Kuroitsu-san, that other genre is a work comedy. I hadn't even known such a manga existed before this, but I have been a big fan of the author ever since his doujin days as Suichuu Hanabi, even buying some doujins personally from him at Comiket, and I'm happy toreport that Kuroitsu-san is very much evocative of his style of work, his style of comedy that I have been in love with since many years ago. This show has made me feel a sense of nostalgia that is very personal to me as someone who is very familiar with the author's work, so please do excuse me if my biases leak out in the following review.
Kuroitsu-san is at its heart a work comedy with the skin of a tokusatsu show. The kicker is that the company Kuroitsu-san is working for isn't a "black company", but one that seems like a decent place to work for with supportive bosses and only the very occasional workplace bullshit that is depressingly resonant with reality. Work comedies need to straddle the line in finding the right place to mine its comedy without reminding the viewer of the soul crushing realities of the workplace. If the show can't achieve this balancing act, you'll end up with something like Senko-san where it's genuinely difficult to sit through without being reminded of overtime and all the nights spent in the office. Kuroitsu-san, thankfully, successfully provides a reliable and comfortable watching experience every weekend.
Reframing the whole tokusatsu genre itself as a work comedy does lend the show some very interesting topics. Concepts like supply and demand get reframed as building monsters for the consumer (hero) to defeat, or how evil companies like Agastia still has to go through proper compliance and regulations. It's often very fresh to see how these tropes so common to the genre get reimagined in a different context, and each week provides something new to look forward to.
Production wise the show is very rough. The animation is generally passable but, especially towards the end, it does deteriorate, though not to the point of any glaring animation issues. The voices for the main duo are kind of bland and do not grow on you, where it's clear a good chunk of the budget is dedicated to the supporting cast instead.
The show does contain anime original moments where local tokusatsu heroes guest star in either cameo roles or very minor arcs with Mizuki's side of the story. These were all really nice though it does wear out its welcome by the halfway point where the schtick gets kind of old and you realize they're not doing anything significant. I do like Mizuki's arc though, it's developed well and is also a nice reference to how some actors start out as bit roles before finally branching out into something major, and it's still framed in that wonderful workplace theme I mentioned earlier.
Overall, while I very much do like this show in spite of its faults, I feel like a show like this would only appeal to someone like myself. Strange weird comedies like these are sadly often overlooked, and especially ones with its humor pulled from two very disparate sources. Still, if you're up for something that's really different, or if you're like me and have a penchant for tokusatsu AND work comedies AND have your childhood be defined by the 2000s, then this show is tailor made for you. It even has not one, but TWO gender bending moments. This is as retro as it gets, and I love it dearly because of it.
7/10
PixelB
Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san has a really fun and interesting premise. A comedy based on the classic evil organization vs hero trope. No, this isn't one of those anime where the MC is OP and decides to join the evil organization to get revenge on the hero party, nor is it the type of anime where the MC decides to introduce technology from their home world to get an edge on their competitors. This is a show that focuses on the worldbuilding and slice of life of a "realistically" depicted evil organization that fights against heroes in conquest for "world domination." I say "realistically," but theshow obviously is still comedically focused, but the worldbuilding does show its charm and is the reason I stuck out with it all the way to the end. How does monster development logistically work, and how do they churn out the monster of the week for the heroes? Take a look into the inner workings of evil organization, Agastia. Complete with merit based promotions, company compliances, deadlines, and budgets, the show does put the effort of making an evil organization into an actual company.
How do monsters get developed to fight the heroes? Of course, through research. Whether this be functional capabilities in the brain, designing the perfect cellular structure, and the whole beaucracy of juggling between different research departments to meet the demands of the design of the customer, there are a lot of factors to creating a monster, and is what this show is all about. Of course, this also creates the fun slice of life for the show. What happens when a monster that is created loses to the hero? Well, you're going to have a bunch of interactions with all of the monsters that have been created and how they integrate to modern life. One of the main characters is a wolf monster that got completely remodeled to have a female body due to a last second whimsical decision by the organization head, and is forced to work as a research at the monster development team.
Yes, you have all of the process of creating the monster, as well as their subsequent interactions later on, but you also have a wide range of characters that the show never gets stale, focusing on one thing. You have distinct executives of other departments, rival company research departments, the erratic and playful leader, as well as the cool-headed chief of staff. All of these bring a large array, but not too overwhelming set of characters
This show hones in on the monster development department, but it also touches base with all of the other endeavors of Agastia, like other investment ventures, recruitment, and its relationship with heroes, which is more of a work relationship than a "killing each other at all costs" one. Evil organizations are for profit, after all. The heroes, too, are depicted as part of the world building process. Magical girls, small time heroes are shown to have their own network of heroes to fight off all sorts of evil organizations, and what they're like when they're off the clock.
Overall, a show that has variety, showing things like making a valentine's themed monster, how contractors work as evil henchmen for various organizations, or the painful beaucracy of getting the signature of all executives for approval of a project
Animation-wise, the show is also below average, as indicated with the cutting corners of all fight scenes, usually being abstracted in some shape of form. But I'll be honest, the fight scenes are the least relevant thing in the show, and is not the focus at all, so it didn't really hinder my viewing experience.
It seems like I'm singing only praises, and that my score does not reflect this review. That much is true, and that's because despite my love of the show and how much I enjoy the world-building, the comedy-a major aspect of the show is lacking. The comedic timing and execution does not match the fun worldbuilding that the show introduces. Despite all of the different scenarios that the show throws at you, they all lack in some shape or form. I chuckled a couple of times, here and there, but for the most part, it wasn't super funny.
DrMechano
Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department is a series about an evil organization that wants to take over the world - specifically, their branch of scientists who create monsters to fight the heroes! We follow the misadventures of Kuroitsu and the various monsters she creates. This is such a fun premise, and for the most part, the show delivers on this potential spectacularly. The evil organization Agastia is set up like a typical company - with executives, financial oversight, shell companies, etc. While world domination is their ultimate goal, it's clear that the day-to-day of running a business is also a major part of theiroperations. This alone provides a ton of fun stories and is rife with great comedy.
The characters are really fun. Kuroitsu herself is smart and focused - but she has a bit of an ego, and can still get carried away with her ambitions at times, which elevates her from a typical cute nerd girl into a proper mad scientist. What I like about Kuroitsu is that she has a genuine love for the monsters she creates. They're not just minions or products or a way for her to get ahead in Agastia; They're her beloved creations, her children in a sense. I like how, despite being a villain, she's so truly compassionate to her creations. The total package is that Kuroitsu is a remarkably well-realized character for such a short anime (it's only 12 episodes); she's legitimately cool and competent, but also funny and flawed, and has that very human pathos to her that makes her both very entertaining and very easy to root for.
The supporting cast is just as great. Agastia's leader, Lady Akashic, is a supremely childish woman who's obsessed with cuteness (one wonders what the world would be like if she ever successfully took it over), and is aided by her right-hand man, the ever-comically-serious Lord Megistus. Kuroitsu's monsters range from Wolfe Bete (a male wolf whose body was changed to a woman at the last minute, much to his chagrin), Cannon (a monster developed by committee, resulting in a "too many cooks" creation), Hydra (a multi-headed monster), Mummy (an initially voiceless monster who just wants to sing), and more. All of these characters are fun and memorable in their own way. And that's not even getting into the heroes; Blader, the magical girls, the Assassin Rangers, all of these characters are fun enemies for Kuroitsu and her monsters to go up against.
At the end of the day, Miss Kuroitsu is a very funny series that has a surprising amount of heart for being a goofy parody of tokusatsu villains. I fell in love with these characters, and I hope someday the (still ongoing as of this review) manga gets a full translation, so I can experience even more fun with the evil secret organization Agastia! I highly recommend giving Miss Kuroitsu a watch.
uWuDesuWooWoo
SPOILERS AHEAD I'm a sucker for cute girls, this literally has them as both the main characters and the side characters. Story isn't anything to write home about, it's a flavor of the week episodic thing with 2-3 tie-ins from last episode. The show is driven by character interactions, comedy and references. If you don't like those, you're not gonna like this show. I love those, so I like this show a lot. Art is subpar, yes, but it gets the job done, and even if this show had Fate Zero style fight scenes, the shounen watchers would complain that this show doesn't take itself seriously, that theplot is nonexistent, the jokes are occasionally cliche, and the character design is predictably boring.
The show is _actually_ funny if you like watching Kamen Rider without context clips on youtube, or if you liked akibaranger, the live action super sentai spoof show. It's not as good as say Full Metal Alchemist Fumoffu, or Ghost Stories dub but it's better than Desert Punk dub. It's probably about as good as Inferno Cop or Panty and Stocking dub.
I looked forward to watching this show as I was going through it (I can't say the same of many shounen/seinen that I've seen, particularly fate or re:zero), and the dialogue was actually _not_ terrible because of how accurate/intelligent it was. For example, there's an idol episode, where a mute girl wants to become a singing idol, but she literally does not have vocal chords. There's a fast paced series of actions that supporting characters do to actually do a small debut at a mall, and it wraps up rather cleanly, but the logistics of actually doing the event are somewhat explained.
Oh and the final episode is literally about how mergers and acquisitions from giant corporations are flawed when it comes to actually delivering product in a reasonable fashion. This show does not shy from real world scenarios/premises, and does a convincing job of going through some thought experiments.
8/10, would recommend to anyone that liked Robot Girl Z
XhionPime
If you know a little about the japanese way of working, or you were a fan of sentai series (like power-rangers) , this is a series not to be missed. Although the theme and characters are not new concepts and fall into the typical tropes of series of this style, the series manages to give each one a fun "twist" that adds to the plot, which is not often seen in series like this. And although the animation and audio quailty are quite poor, the anime makes up for it in plot and humor; it is a pity that this series is overlooked, when it is agem, especially the final chapter.
Raentri
Kaijin Kaihatsu at first may seem like a show that's gonna be super epic! Epic may be one of the last words to describe this show, and I don't mean that in a bad way. The monsters in the show are often designed with a mix between a cute moe feel, practicality and personality. A lot of the premise of the show is about how all the monsters from the main organisation are made to be able to do things beyond their primary goal of defeating the hero. So a lot of the stories become more about the monsters themselves then anything about defeating thehero. It's a very enjoyable cute rather slice of life anime. The characters have incredibly cute designs, one of the monsters even becomes an idol in the show. This show very much can bring a refreshing taste to viewers as it has it's own charm.
Kaijin Kaihatsu is definitely not a show without issues though. While it has so many beautiful character designs, a few characters are unfortunately pretty lackluster or shallow. The show focuses so much on it's worldbuilding and making the world feel global but then it doesn't capitalise on that worldbuilding at all. They don't take advantage of the entire world they've built in any regard and the anime for the most part sticks to it's own area in the world. The show also doesn't really have a story in any regard, it uses basic premises or things surrounding the monsters they create to fill the episode.
Definitely a beautiful anime with an interesting premise. Overall I think they did a good job at executing the premise in a unique and fun way. I loved this cute little anime a lot. Definitely a good show to check out if you want to watch something relaxing with so many beautiful characters you'll love.
robert788
Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san (2022) This was a lot more fun of a show than I expected it to be, especially with the final episode which was a right fun episode. The story is a simple day in the life of _____ sort of show. It is a fun time too. The art is good and basic for the sort of show it is. If it was too crazy in detail it wouldn't suit this sort of show. Whilst the sound lacks oomph it is fine but then also lacking. The sounds generally are pretty fun. The characters are just wild and unexpected which makes fora great time.
Honestly, the show is good nothing more. It feels like if it was in the 1990s/2000s it would be a serious show but here in 2022 it is not and that makes it so much better.
7/10.
Limey_Lassen
Kuroitsu the monster designer has a creative philosophy: monsters shouldn't be designed for a single purpose, but should the flexibility to take on many roles and be themselves. This feels like a manifesto by the creative staff of the anime, because it seems to completely defy genre, target audience, and industry common sense. It's a total Frankenstein of a TV show and yet for some reason it just works. The show is both an advertisement for IRL prefectural sentai mascots and a satire of Japanese work culture. It's a slapstick comedy and a conventional adventure story, with occasional rather dark and cynical character writing buta lot of heart as well.
Most episodes are fairly unique, with some being totally stand alone stories, like the episode where one of the monsters wants to be a pop idol despite being a mute war machine, the holiday-themed monster that risks missing its production deadline, or a whole episode exploring the trans-male wolf boy's gender identity. It's hard to predict what this show will do next, it's all over the place.
It's inevitable this show was going to be a hidden gem. I'm sure the authors knew it would be. But I think someday it may also be considered a cult classic.
