Secret Santa: Hatenkou Yuugi (Dazzle)

 

So here is my review of Hatenkou Yuugi also known as Dazzle. If you ever meet me in real life and ask me to pronounce or say the name of this anime then I will yell at you to get out of my house! haha Still really, I don't know how to say the name of this anime and I don't think I want to try. I am not sure if this will be a good review. Don't get me wrong, the anime is good. I just don't think I am very good with reviews since I think most of the things I watch are good. Still how about we sit down and take a look at Hatenkou Yuugi.


Summary
Rahzel is a girl that got kicked out of her home by her dad. She later meets up with two guys named Alzeid, a guy that wants revenge on the person who killed his dad, and BaroqueHeat, some guy. Together this trio travel from place to place helping other people and doing odd jobs.

Why Hatenkou Yuugi?
So why did I choose Haenkou Yuugi for my Secret Santa anime for Reverse Thieves? Well I read the description and it sounded really cool. It is about three people who travel around which to me is a cool concept. Sounds really One Piece-ish so that what drew me in. Also this was a ten episode series so I thought it meant I would be able to finish this really fast. Well I didn't finish it really fast but it helped that it was only ten episodes long since I don't think anything longer would have worked for me.

Though the idea of the show really interested to me. Three people just traveling around doing things. It really does sound like what they do in One Piece but to a much simpler level. People who travel and are on an adventure is kind of romantic to me you can say. It always seem to draw me in since I always wanted to do something like that. Move from place to place and meeting new people. Seems like fun. So I went into this anime really interested in this idea and how it works.

The Characters
How about we start with our threesome so we know who Mikey is talking about later on in the post. That sounds smart.

Rahzel Anadis

Rahzel is an interesting girl. If you want to compare her to anybody then it could be Haruhi except maybe a bit deeper. haha She was a real laugh and most of the comedy came out from her. That may explain why she was my favorite from the whole series. She had spunk and class all in her cute little body. Her outfits were really nice too. Each episode she wore a different outfit that was just as cute as the one before.

And boy can she fight. I mean the girl has magic on her hands but really when you can kick people like that then sometimes magic isn't needed. haha Still she had a good way of fighting and it fun to see magic being used that isn't abused.

Alzeid

Alzeid is a funny kind of character. I mean he is basically the silent character that doesn't talk much but there are moments when he is silly. The guy and his history is a bit serious though from what I got from the anime. He been stuck inside a room for some of his life because he is a bit pale then his dad gets killed. You really don't notice it since Alzeid mentions it a few times. This guy I am sure can be very deep if the anime was a bit longer but he was treated pretty nicely and you can tell there is a bond between him and Rahzel.

Alzeid likes to use that gun that you see in his hand in the picture above. It is pretty cool since guns and magic are rare things to see in the same anime without magic being more powerful. This show did a good job in showing both are equal or at least make the gun seem usable in a world that had magic users. So that was cool to see and I was happy to see that since when I saw magic was involve and found this guy uses a gun. I was thinking this guy was mostly talk but apparently he can do the walk too.

BaroqueHeat

This was a good character but I only wish we got more development and information on him. We  got  things here and there about him but that was all. Heat liked to hit a lot on girls and mostly on Rahzel which was funny overall and didn't get old. I am thinking that maybe it was because this series was only ten episodes long. Still Heat was really cool though.

This is where I wish they would explain a bit more. Heat was a good fighter but he also had this cool ability to make a sword appear in his hand which he used a few times in the anime. The thing that I didn't like was that they didn't explain where this came from. Was it some sort of magic? Just something he can do? It was just another thing that was kind of annoying when it came to this character. The character was cool overall but it annoy me that that there was no development on this character. Heck, the first time we see this guy,  he was on the roof asking Rahzel  what kind of clothes she wants in episode one for a few seconds.

Thoughts

After all, I'll make your damned boring life more interesting  and mysterious for you! Bang!
-Rahzel

And that is one of the first things you hear when you start watching the anime and it carries on throughout the series. Rahzel was able to make almost every moment in the series interesting and each turn she led you down another mysterious event as you go though the series. May it be with the hidden past of herself or her companions or the different people that they met. Each episode was able to be enjoyable as you wonder what will happen. It kept you on your toes.

Rahzel was truly the moving force of Hatenkou Yuugi since she was the unofficial leader of the three. Heat and Alzeid had their own goals to fulfill and Alzeid didn't like some of ideas or things Rahzel had or did but they really stuck together though thick and thin This could especially be seen toward the end of the series when their friendship is put to the test.

Surprising, this only happen once when it could have happen many times. haha

There are some things that I didn't like about this series. One of those things is the lack of background we get on each character especially for Heat. As the series moves along, you get a bit more information about each character's past and what they been though before the time they joined up with Rahzel. In the first episode you see what happens to Rahzel as she is (what seems like literally) kicked out of her house and how she stumble upon on Alzeid. Then though other episodes we see more of each person's past but you are left with that huge gap for a good while.

This issue wasn't really a bother in the early episodes since they had a good plot but it stuck out a bit in the first episode since in one scene you this little girl talking to this white hair dude then next you see them together in the woods. Hatenkou Yuugi is guilty of scene skipping a lot even in the later episodes. It gets a bit confusing since you be into what is going on in one scene then you find yourself somewhere else. Random flashback. How fun.

Another thing that I found frustrating about Hatenkou Yuugi was the treatment of Heat. As I said earlier, he was really neglected in the realm of character development. I have a good feeling that this was intentional since the series mainly focus on Rahzel and Alzeid but I just get annoyed a bit when other main characters just don't get the attention that they deserve especially when they are so cool and/or funny. There are times when Heat will appear out of nowhere while other times he is there so it makes it interesting to wonder how the heck Heat gets to places when he wonders away from Rahzel and Alzeid.  Then sometimes you will get bits and pieces of Heat's past just out of normal conversations but that is about all.

This was an awkward scene...One of many....

Hatenkou Yuugi has a lot of strange moments...Which is good since it really made you wonder what was happening in each episode. Still sometimes by the end of the episode when it is revealed as in what is going on you tend to regret it. haha I mean that in a good way. Each episode is very suspense driven to where you want to know what is going on. I feel that you can actually watch this series out of order if you wanted to except for a few since they are part of a small story arc so you have to watch the episode before it. Still each episode is a good watch as you try to figure out what is going on and this was only made worse with the two part episodes since it pulled you into the next episode. Will this person join the merry trio or is there something bigger going on here? What the heck is going on? This kind of trait is good in any anime series since that what it wants to do. Pull you into watch the next episode and hold on to you tight.

The world itself that Hatenkou Yuugi is in really helps in these strange moments. From a creepy circus to the normal looking town to the several eerie towns, it only helps to paint the episode and situations that Rahzel, Alzeid and Heat find themselves in. Perfect for a story that is based on the travels of three people since it would be boring if each place that is visited is just boring and plain.

Bang!

This series is so asking to be continued on as a sequel or something. Hatenkou Yuugi is only ten episodes long and as far as I can tell the manga is still on going. I hate when an anime series ends and has an ongoing manga series. It is a shame that the anime had to end like this. I can only hope that there will be some sort of sequel somewhere in the horizon so I can see what happens afterwards because that last episode was so pointing towards one. Haruhi got one and it looks like K-On! will get one so how about one for this small anime eh? That would be really nice. I will sure watch it.

So lets review eh?

The Good: Great episodes and characters.

The Bad:  Tends to scene jump and strange character development.

Overall: Good series to watch. I admit Hatenkou Yuugi didn't make me want to marathon watch each episode like I do with One Piece but each episode of Hatenkou Yuugi was enjoyable to watch and made me want to keep watching to find out what was going on. This was especially true for the two part episodes. I would suggest to give the show a watch and see it though. Not a boring moment from it.

And that is my review of Hatenkou Yuugi! Not sure if it counts as a review but it is something. I had a good time watching this series and even if this review doesn't convince you to watch it then just take my word. The series is a good watch.