Hamatora is a 2014 anime that ran for 12 episodes from Jan 8 to Mar 26 in Japan. It was produced by
PLOT
"Minimum" - a special inborn power found in a limited number
of human beings, known as "minimum holders." In Yokohama, the
detective team Hamatora, formed by two minimum holders named Nice and Murasaki,
comes across information connected to a serial killer being pursued by their
old friend Art. It turns out all the victims are minimum holders like them.
Unwillingly at first, the two detectives become involved in the investigation.
WHAT I THOUGHT
With that
plot summary you might think that this show is as straightforward as can be an
action anime with super powers and not much plot at all. You would be wrong
there is something so much deeper lying below the surface of this anime,
something that becomes much clearer in the second season. I’m getting ahead of
myself first we should consider the core elements of the show.
The detective
agency – Hamatora – which is really more accurately sort of an agency for odd
jobs consists of a small group of friends who all possess Minimums which are
there super powers. The powers seem to be activated by the Minimum holder
interacting with objects that they tend to keep on them, I’m not sure if it is like
a shortcut to an incantation or if they can’t use their abilities without them
which is something we never find out.
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The leader
Nice has a power that puts him about one level below Superman in terms of the
world of Hamatora though it took me until the second season to get any sort of
understanding of what it was that he was doing. A lot of the fun I had with
watching Hamatora was trying to figure out the rules around their powers but
that might just be for former comic collectors like me to enjoy.
I can’t write
about this show without mentioning that there is a lot of comedy thrown in
there especially in the opening half of the season, comedy which for me did not
always work but isn’t so bad that it puts you off checking out the next
episode.
There is a mystery
at the centre of Hamatora despite what the first few filler episodes might make
you think I urge you just to hang in there, like a large number of anime shows
out there the first few filler episodes are just that but they offer you bread
crumb bits that actually do feature when things pick up in the second half of
the season.
The animation
is great and I love the outfits and sense of style, definitely good for
cosplaying opportunities for guys something that I can definitely get behind.
The music is interesting lots of piano and very different from what you tend to
hear in most anime.
Hamatora
first season lasts 13 episodes with a Finale that definitely has a WTF moment
but in a good way and because it has a second season you know that you get some
resolution and actually a reasonable resolution at that.
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