Project Scard: Scar on the Praeter

Have you ever counted the times you wished you had special abilities? Whether the story took place in our world or one of make-believe, the enchantment was the same. In retrospect, we cannot help but laugh at how embarrassing it was. Still, we will have a lifetime of beautiful memories to look back on. Let us check out an anime that centers around Superpowers and see if we can not recapture that feeling all over again!

“Project Scard: Praeter no Kizu,” also known as “Scar on the Praeter,” is a TV anime series that aired from the 9th of January until the 3rd of April in Winter 2021. It ran for 13 episodes, each with a runtime of 23 minutes. Studio GoHands brought the anime to life, and Frontier Works and Glovision produced it under license from Funimation.

The central staff behind it are producers Kamei Hiroshi, Yamazaki Fumiki, Matsumoto Takuya, and Hasegawa Kazuhiko. Sourced from mixed media, it falls under the action genre and the superpowers theme. It was adapted from a single-volume manga titled “Project Scard: Kemono-tachi no Seigi,” also known as “Project Scard: The Justice of Beasts.” It began publication on September 17, 2020, and concluded on February 17, 2021. Targeted at the Shounen demographic, it was serialized in Shounen Magazine Edge thanks to the work of Authors and Artist Kuroe Yui.

The story is set in the Akatsuki Special Ward, an area under siege by numerous foreign organizations. It is a bloody battlefield painted with greed and violence in every corner—a place so bad that it has entirely abandoned its citizens who got caught in the crossfire. But when such injustice transpires, a resistive force typically emerges to oppose it.

To combat this anarchic turmoil, the Scard emerged, a group of vigilantes wielding supernatural abilities. Why do they have such powers? Because they were gifted to them by divine tattoos. Amid their ranks is Eiji Arashiba, a man hailed as the valiant hero of Akatsuki. He is a man who is determined to protect the district from tyrannical outsiders.

On one fateful day, amidst the hectic chaos, Eiji is forced to deal with Dusk, a mafia syndicate, and the only person there to aid him is Yamato Kai, a boy he had only met recently. In the heat of battle, Yamato attempts to block a sniper bullet headed right toward Eiji, but the shot still strikes his tattoo despite Yamato's best efforts. To save the injured Yamato, Eiji decides to pass on the tattoo to him, and by doing so, he entrusts him with protecting the Akatsuki Special Ward in his sacrifice.

This did not mark the end of conflict for the Ward, as it continued to collapse under the pressure. So, will the young and aspiring hero be able to use his newfound Scard powers to protect the ones he loves? Or will he tumble and fall on the way to becoming the new Hero of Akatsuki?

If you had seen other Anime done by Studio GoHands, like W'z and Handshakers, you would most probably be wary going into this one. This is justified, too, because we know where they tend to go wrong. But before you throw this one away, know that this work isn’t bad.

But it makes you wonder: how often will GoHands just lazily copy-paste their past works? They are essentially plagiarizing themselves at this point, and most viewers do not like it. If you are a fan of K Project, rejoice, as its aesthetic makes a return here.

How about we begin with the tale? Once it gets going, this is a decent story, but it takes a while to fully develop and show us how dire the situation in the Special Zone is. They lay out a story in which the protagonists and antagonists are propelled by their own goals, ideals, desires, and concerns and introduce us to the various Factions.

On the other hand, this anime and its story are too reminiscent of the K series, Hand Shakers, and W'z, all of which are Studio GoHands’ works. They are just very similar thanks to their color gangs and related conflicts. GoHands was clearly aiming to cash in on the success of their previous work, making it lose its unique feel.

The premise is exceedingly simple: an exploitable item can throw the whole world out of balance; this, in turn, pits the characters against each other in a hectic cat-and-mouse chase, and we can witness who gets to outplay, outwit, and outlast who.

Also, everyone with "Tattoos" references Greek mythology regarding both names and fashion senses, which I suppose is a nice little touch. If this series had a distinct vibe, it would have been a much better series, but it is what it is.

The anime also does a respectable job with the characters. Having a power that will almost certainly get them killed in battle gives each member of the main cast their own set of motivations and inner insecurities. Props to the creators for highlighting these aspects so well! Even with only 13 episodes, the show gives some of the supporting cast enough screen time to show what drives them.

For the sake of discussion, let us talk about Yamato, the protagonist. He is the type of guy who is willing to forgive any wrongdoing. He has severe PTSD on the side, but this fits in with the story and his personality. The audience can decide whether this trait is positive or negative, but I found it to be an interesting contrast to the rest of the cast.

If I had any significant criticisms, it would be Yamato's lack of distinct reactions to the inevitable reveal because we expect more from our MC. Furthermore, you cannot help but feel that the characters exist solely to serve the plot. For example, the new generation "hero" must assume the mantle of the old generation "hero" while challenging the entire status quo.

Studio GoHands also loves their K-inspired double-team of Bishounens (handsome young men) for added exposition effect, so you can bet your socks this anime has its versions.

In the visual department, GoHands did a good job once again. While the art style is quite similar to that of K, it uses bright colors, vivid filters, intricate detail, and stunning backgrounds. But if you directly compare it to K, you’ll notice how they graphically messed up a bit here.

For those of you who don’t know, K's backgrounds were all very detailed and appeared distinctly 2D. This allowed the character animation studio to blend in really well without looking weird. But Project Scard’s backgrounds are rendered in 3D and contain a lot of detailing. This creates an odd contrast with the characters, who are all clearly 2D, making a bit of a visual mess.

The backgrounds also need to be more relaxed at times. For example, you can be watching a character sit down on a bed, and usually, such an act would at least affect the topmost layer of the bed fabric. But here, the bed in the background does not move and remains unaffected.

These may sound like minor issues, but they are significant visual distractions during your watch. It’s a shame because this department could have been perfected with more effort. Regardless, you can expect GoHands’ usual 3D CG to work its “magic” as the studio's bread and butter throughout the show.

In the Department of Sounds and Music, they did just alright. The opening theme is "Praeter no Kizu," performed by Yamato Kai (Arthur Lounsbery), Kazuma Arashiba (Shouya Chiba), Kagami Sakishima (Junya Enoki), Ran Washimine (Takeaki Masuyama), Jin Karasue (Shou Nogami), Kouga Tatsuma (Taku Yashiro'), and Itsuki Torataka (Tasuku Hat). Yes, they attempted to get as many voice actors as possible into singing the Opening, making it a mess of a song with too many Voices. Its style is consistent with the visuals, though, and it reminds you of K yet again.

The ending theme is Ryosuke Kojima's "BUSTLING SHOW," but this instrumental is not particularly memorable. The OSTs are there when needed and do their job without causing problems. The voice acting is also good, provided you choose the subtitled version over the dubbed version. After viewing both, the Japanese version was more imaginative. Again, that's my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

On a final note, Project Scard: Praeter no Kizu is too reminiscent of the K series and other similar works by Studio GoHands. It’s honestly painful to see a capable studio trying so hard to cash in on the success of previous work and then falling flat.

No, this isn’t a bad series, but it had the potential to be so much better, and they completely threw that chance out the window. I would recommend it to you if it has a unique feel, but unfortunately, that is not the case. GoHands can’t seem to move past the issues we’ve seen with Tokyo Babylon 2021; by that, I mean the acts of blatant plagiarism. As such, I don’t recommend this unless you are a huge fan of Project K, Hand Shakers, and W'z.