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Get Backers Vol. 1: G & B on the Case
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At one point of another, each and every
one of us has lost something material that we've had problems finding.
Maybe it's our keys that we've lost (I lose mine almost on a weekly basis)
or our wallets (again, for me that's a weekly occurrence) or just about
any other tangible thing. Frantically we search, thinking that it was left
in the kitchen or just about anywhere else, wishing the whole time that
there was someone that could assist with the ongoing search and find the
item in question. Get Backers deals with just such a team of
individuals, though the items that these two are looking for tend to be a
little bit larger than just a key ring.
Set in Tokyo's seedy Shinjuku, the Get Backers are the duo of Ban Midou
and Ginji Amano, two men who have taken it upon themselves to act as
retrievers, a for-hire practice where the two will find anything that is
lost, for a price of course. With a success rate of close to 100 percent,
you'd think that business would be booming, but that isn't the case for
them at all. Instead, Ban and Ginji and constantly finding themselves on
the short end of the deal, and with a huge tab running up at their
favorite eatery, whose owner, Paul, severs as their information gatherer,
these two need a way to get cash, and fast.
Ban and Ginji however aren't your average Joes either. The two of them
have some very interesting and unique abilities. Ban has what is known as
the Snakebite, a powerful grip that packs a force of over 200 kilograms
behind it as well as his Jagan, a piercing gaze that sends its victims
into a dream world of a single minute. Ginji on the other hand can conduct
electricity from his body, much like an electric eel, and together, these
two are a force to be reckoned with.
Get Backers is one of those series that I went into knowing very
little about, and yet have been somewhat familiar with, in name alone, due
to constantly seeing original soundtracks and the pair appearing on covers
of Japanese magazines. Initially, after learning the premise in the first
episode, the nagging question was just how entertaining could this be? The
idea of two guys trying to recover lost of stolen goods not only didn't
sound too appealing, but it's something that didn't seem like it could be
carried on for too terribly long.
That's where I was wrong however, and Get Backers actually is a very
entertaining series with a concept that is comparable to other anime in
some ways, but also stands very well on its own. The series is something
of a "buddy comedy," but with a healthy does of action thrown in to make
it more appealing. At first though, the series seems as though it's going
to be a self-contained endeavor, as the initial two episodes don't extend
their stories beyond what is presented, but there is a method to the
madness. The first episode brings in an additional character, young
Natsumi Mizuki, who hires the two to find a lost item and then ends up
working part time for Paul. It's always important to have a cute girl in
an anime series, even if she is just a minor character.
The last three episodes from this collection however bring an actual story
element into the mix. Ginji and Ban are hired to recover a treasure that
may (or may not) be platinum. The cargo however is in the position of a
rival and under the watchful eye of a group of transporters. Ban has a
past with one of them, Himiko, who has skillfully crafted perfumes that
can cause a variety of results from degeneration to a primitive state to
creating the equivalent of internal combustion within a human. These two
have a sorted past and Himiko is under the belief that Ban killed her
brother, which really doesn't' seem to be the case at all, but he isn't
willing to reveal the truth to her. Himiko is partnered with an insane
driving madman called Mr. No Brake and then the psychotic Dr. Jackal, a
man who has the power to generate scalpels from within his body and enjoys
slicing up his opponents, and if it results in death, that's even better.
Aside from getting a brief bit of past on Ban though, Ginji has a bit of a
dark past as well it seems. At one time, he was the leader of one of the
most dangerous gangs on the streets of Shinjuku, the VOLTS. However, the
exact details on how he and Ban teamed together still isn't quite clear,
though it does seem the two many have faced off against one another at
some point. The partners though, in some ways, are completely opposite.
Ginji seems very compassionate for the most part whereas Ban is a bit more
reserved, taking jobs only if the price is right. Unfortunately though,
the two end up taking on more free jobs that actually getting paid, and so
early on, it seems that they've probably made themselves targets of the
Yakuza as they have managed to get in their way at least twice, and I'm
sure that's not the end of it.
The real problem that the two face most of the time however is that they
just can't seem to make a dollar (or yen) to save their lives. They are
constantly taking jobs for free to repay someone's kindness; at least
Ginji is making it out that way. Ban would much rather have the cash.
Their car gets towed constantly, meaning that's even more money that they
need to sacrifice, and they make some very unwise business decisions in
terms of what payment should be. It's very formulaic and very predictable,
but it adds a nice bit of humor into the mix.
Produced back in 2002, Get Backers has a very good look about it as
far as the animation goes. There is a little computer animation used, but
sparingly fortunately. I would have to compare the quality of the
animation to a number of different things. At first, the series reminded
me of Someday's Dreamers, especially with the backgrounds and the
occasional usage of background blurs to create dimension. The character
designs however bring Saiyuki to mind, especially with the fact
that the animators like to throw in some of those "cute" facial
expressions (cat-looks, etc.) like Goku got when he was in the presence of
anything edible. Ginji however also reminds me of video game characters.
Appearance wise, he reminds me a great deal of Final Fantasy VIII's Zell,
but I'm also taken back to some of the characters from the Tekken series,
Paul for example. This isn't to say though that Get Backers is an
exact rip-off of any of these, and again, it can stand very well on it's
own.
With the extras, ADV is again trying to go for commentary tracks, and
although that normally would be fine, I'm simply not a fan of dubbed
anime. I know there are many people out there that will only watch
something in English, but for me, I'd much rather get the dirt from the
Japanese seiyuu that were involved since really, they are the ones that
brought the true life to the characters. There is also a behind the scenes
features, but unfortunately again, this is with the English crew. There
should be no big surprise that there are clean version of the open and
closing animations included as well.
Packed with action, comedy, and an interesting concept, Get Backers
looks to be a very promising series right from the start. The idea of
finding and returning items seems to be a bit far-fetched, but it's all
presented and pulled off very well. It's going to be interesting to see
exactly what direction the series takes, but with a teaser or two of an
on-going story thrown in for good measure, Get Backers already has
a right formula in place to make it a big hit with fans.
Episode 1 - The Initials Are "G" (Ginji) and "B" (Band)
A young girl who has lost something very precious to her, a stuff cat that
her deceased mother has made for her, approaches the Get Backers for help.
They know who has the item, but getting it is going to be the real problem
since it's in the possession of a police officer, and he has ties to the
Yakuza, and believing that Natsumi knows of this, he takes her hostage in
hopes of luring her accomplishes out.
Episode 2 - Get Back the Rusted Bonds
Ban and Ginji have been forbidden to eat at Paul's restaurant until they
find the means to pay off their tab. Starved and half dead (or so they
believe) they encounter the kindness of a homeless old man. Discovering
what the two do for a living, he hopes that they will find his daughter
who was taken prisoner by the Yakuza after he couldn't pay back his bank
load. Ginji once again decides that they should repay someone's kindness,
but they find that the young girl has a very different story to tell.
Episode 3 - Operation Recover the Platinum!
Hven, an attractive but rather unwanted acquaintance of Ban and Ginji, has
a proposition for them, and it's going to have a very healthy price
attached to it. They are to recover a box that has a value equal to
platinum. Recovering the mystery item isn't going to be easy however when
the two discover they are faced with a transporting group with some rather
unique individuals on board, including someone from Ban's past.
Episode 4 - Recovery Service vs. Transporter Service
The battle lines have been drawn, and the Transporters aren't willing to
give up their precious cargo, making things even more difficult than
before. It's going to take both Ginji and Ban's skills to come out on top
of this one, and they are faced with a psychotic madman who enjoys
butchering his victims as well as Lady Poison, a beautiful but deadly foe
from Ban's past who aims to eliminate both the them for good.
Episode 5 - Deathmatch at Sunrise: The Lightning Emperor vs. Dr. J
Ginji and Ban have managed to recover the item they have been sent in
search for, but the transporters aren't going to sit idly by. They follow
and corner them, resulting in a battle where Ban must face his past and
Ginji must face the insane Dr. Jackal, a man who seems to have no
weakness.
-mike-
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Genre:
Action
Series Directors:
Kazuhiro Furuhashi & Keitarou Motonaga
Directed by:
Episode 1 & 2 - Keitarou Motonaga
Episode 3 - Shunji Yoshida
Episode 4 - Tomoko Hiramuki
Episode 5 - Makoto Sokuza
Written
by:
Episode 1 & 3 - Akemi Omode
Episode 2, 4 & 5 - Toshizou Nemoto
Original Story by:
Yuuya Aoki
Based Upon the Manga by:
Rando Ayamine
Voice
Cast:
Nobutoshi Kanna (Ban Midou)
Showtaro Morikubo (Ginji Amano)
Yasunori Matsumoto (Paul)
Otoha (Natsumi Mizuki)
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DVD
Features:
Dual Language Japanese/English
English
subtitles
Clean Openings/Closings
Behind the Scenes
Commentaries on Episodes 1 & 5
Contains Episodes
1 - 5
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