Revisions

Teens Transported to Fight Cyborgs in Post-Apocalyptic Shibuya

What would happen if you were suddenly teleported centuries into the past or future? Will you be able to adapt quickly, or will the sudden transition end up breaking you? Honestly, there’s no way to know for sure because too many factors affect the answers. So a better question would be, would you try to return to your own time if something like that happened? Each person would have a different answer depending on the life they’re leading right now. But sometimes, just sometimes, a change of pace is quite essential for people to simply move forward.

Revisions is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired on the 10th of January until the 28th of March in Winter 2019. Sentai Filmworks obtained the license, Fuji TV and Slow Curve produced it, and Studio Shirogumi brought it to life. It featured the genres of action and sci-fi alongside the theme of Mecha. Each episode ran for 22 minutes, and the series received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

This is an original series with a manga by the same name. The manga ran for two volumes from the 26th of November 2018 until the 26th of June 2019. Targeted at the Shounen demographic, it was serialized in Shounen Sirius thanks to the work of author Kimura Kou and artist Kuro.

This quote summarizes this series: "This is a prophecy for you, where five people will meet huge adversaries, and only you can protect everyone." The protagonist, Daisuke Dojima, is a second-year high school student who was abducted while still young. He then gets involved in an extraordinary phenomenon known as the “Shibuya Drift" alongside his childhood friends Gai, Lu, Marimari, and Keisaku. Thanks to this occurrence, the group gets transferred to the center of Shibuya city, but over 300 years in the future.

Here, they will face an infinite wasteland, scattered ruins, inhabitants of the future, and, finally, "Revisions"—huge mechanical beasts. Daisuke, like any other regular person, nearly succumbs to monsters in the midst of his confusion in this strange environment. Thankfully, a girl named Milo comes to his rescue.

She then provides them with a mobile suit known as the "String Puppet" and tells them to save Shibuya! Now faced with adversaries, destined prophecies, and separated paths, the boys and girls embark on a journey to return to their original time.

The story of Revisions is lamentable; it tries so hard to be complex using extremely tricky plot devices, which ruin everything along its breadcrumbs of execution. I honestly feel this would’ve been a better series if they stuck to a more straightforward story, but the writers here clearly hated the very thought of simplicity.

Whether the execution is straightforward or intricate ultimately determines whether the audience will be interested and attentive throughout. The story is overly complicated, with "Time Travel" as a plot device, which is made difficult due to the sheer complexity. Revisions give us more questions and plot holes with each passing episode, rather than giving the story any depth. Are these issues resolved by the end? No, we just have to accept the horrible explanations or ignore them.

It is common for protagonists to develop a "hero complex," which occurs when Milo implants the notion of a predetermined fate in the MC's mind. Although this characteristic distinguishes him as a protagonist, it never elevates his quality, as the execution is once again botched. Daisuke seizes every opportunity to demonstrate his heroism whenever something occurs, after which everything seems to fall into place for no apparent reason. As a result, their dangers are rather monotonous and predictable; everything is merely "determined by fate."

Maybe it was the hands of fate that the other characters just believed Milo was from the future and simply allowed these inexperienced children to pilot the String Puppets. When asked why the String Puppets can only be piloted by them, Milo just says, "That's how they were designed.". After obtaining their String Puppets for the first time, they just master them and trounce the Revisions despite never having piloted these mechs before.

The rest of the world is written off as useless because we see Shibuya having plenty of food, water, energy, and infrastructure at one point. After all, it’s convenient for the plot. The whole thing is turned on its head when the police chief says they are running out of those very resources.

Before I forget to mention, there is a bit of comedy in revisions, but it’s pretty terrible and feels forced. They’ve just thrown in random jokes here and there, none of which pertain to the plot, and they all feel horribly out of place. This series could’ve done without any comedy, but they must've thought, “Why not?”.

In all fairness, the characters are relatable initially; they are your average people, but this also makes them very forgettable. Daisuke starts off as a character striving for something more in life—the kind of turmoil many of us can relate to. But as I stated earlier, they completely messed up the execution by making him seem dangerous and borderline psychopathic—a character who is mad with power. What else do you call a guy who nearly attacked one of his friends with his Mech just because they questioned his authority?

The same can be said for the remaining characters, who degrade further as the series progresses. The writers wanted to flesh out certain personality traits rather than develop their characters. Protagonists with flaws are essential, but if they aren’t going to overcome those flaws and become better people, what’s the point? This series would’ve been much more enjoyable if Daisuke had transitioned into a villain, thanks to his hero complex. Daisuke and Marimari, for good measure, could have become Tony Frost and Alicia Whistle from 1999’s Blue Gender.

Aside from the main cast, some characters with inherent potential stood out. Daisuke's uncle Mikio is one of them; despite his little screen time, he was portrayed as the MC’s voice of reason. While other characters ridiculed him for his ambitions and actions, which are deserved if you ask me, Mikio tried to get him to reflect upon his rashness.

But it was only a matter of time before Mikio, and the entirety of Shibuya just gave into Daisuke's hero delusions. Another example is the AI in Daisuke's String Puppet, which calls him a deluded coward, but he just forgets about it in the next episode. It would take several traumatic events to pull him into reality and away from his heavenly delusions.

Lastly, Mayor Muta is worth mentioning; he used the situation to further his position and authority. The man is complicit with Milo's plans but is eventually revealed to be in league with the "Revisions." Mayor Muta is a twisted toady who is used to move the plot forward as needed. He was almost as annoying as Daisuke, so no love was lost when Muta grew a pair and was ultimately eighty-sixed.

The art and animation department isn’t that great, either. Too much CG is off-putting, but some shows successfully integrate it correctly for maximum effect; however, “Revisions” fails miserably. They animated the main cast’s childhood in usual 2D but randomly switched to CG for the present timeline.

The 2D scenes are good, as sparse as they were. The art style, environmental design, and facial expressions were beautiful, showcasing the capabilities of shows on high budgets. But then you’re hit with the horrible CG, and everything was for naught. The animation is poorly done.

The lip-syncing is so bad that you wonder what the creators were even thinking. The fight scenes are pretty standard, just the kind you’d expect from an average Mecha series, and the camera pans work as an all-perfect tool for the MC to manifest convenient stuff on hand magically.

As for fanservice, there’s plenty in the form of the antagonists, who are either furries or wear skimpy outfits, all provided by the females. It’s not that fanservice is inherently wrong, but all of it here lacks any purpose and appears out of the blue. This is just the form some Revision chose to take, sure!

So, is there any redemption? Indeed, did the sound and music departments do better than the rest? Nope. The OSTs are just as forgettable as the characters and lack any noticeable impact. The opening theme is "Wagamama de Gomakasanai de" by THE ORAL CIGARETTES, which I liked (primarily due to my love of the band, too), and the ending theme is "Curtain Call" by Weaver. These scores don’t ignite many emotions or memories; they were there just for the sake of existing.

The voice actors did a great job; they were fitting for each character and executed well despite the bad visual aspects. If any one VA stole the show, it would be Houchu Ohtsuka as Nicholas Sato. Nicholas was the fury teddy bear that would appear and harass Daisuke. He was treated as an underling by our bunny girl Chiharu and maid girl Mukyu, but it didn't take long to realize he was the ultimate force to be reckoned with.

Overall, Revisions is not a series I would openly recommend to anyone. There are too many negative aspects amidst so few positives, making this show a waste of time. The story is confusing and incoherent, the MC is terrible with his hero complex that no one can overcome (not even himself), the remaining characters are bland, and the twists aren’t as clever as the writers hoped they’d be.

The lesson of the story is to rush dangerously toward a goal you have with unwavering ambition, even at the expense of other people's safety. Perhaps this was an attempt at "believing in yourself, even when others ridicule you," but everything has gone horribly wrong here.