Monsters and Economics!: C

Do you like Pokémon?  Do you like Digemon? How about Bakugan?  Now let me ask this, how do you feel about economics?  Yeah, I just deterred your attention.  Regardless, if any of these things spark your attention, do I have a show for you!  This week’s review is on a show that combines both, resulting in a sensation that is one of the darkest and most government-themed shows since Code Geass.  Anyways, let’s delve into C.

Now this show goes by many names.  One is [C]-The Money of the Soul and Possibly Control.  Another is C-Control.  And then there is just C- for the sake of this review, we’re just going to call it C.  C is an anime that was released in 2011.  It follows a young college student Kimimaro Yoga, when his life-long dream of graduating college, getting a job and raising a family- yes, very original- gets turned upside down when he receives an invitation to enter a secret world called the Financial District.  Though not very willingly, he accepts the offe, and from there, he is expected to battle in the Financial District every week in duels called deals.  In these deals, two entres-short for entrepreneur-battle using their assets-creatures they posses through the cards they receive to enter the Financial District.  The loser of the deal l goes bankrupt and loses their future- and this is literal, not just figurative- and is expelled from the Financial District, while the winner gains money from the loser.  Kimimaro’s asset is Mshyu (pronounced mah-zhoo), a girl who looks like a swimsuit model with horns.  Though there is a plot to C, much of it focuses on Kimimaro participating in deals, learning more about Mshyu, and understanding more about the Financial District.

Right off the bat, I give C three and a half out of five stars.  What good things you can expect to see in this show are, of course, beautiful animation and kick-butt action.  Also, this is one of the few animes I’ve seen thus far that have used CGI animation.  This is something that I’m going to assume is a little new to Japanese animation because up until about 2010, many animes had almost no CGI animation- now that’s an assumption, and you can prove me wrong if you so desire.  So with that much said, it may seem a little awkward at times, but it’s something very interesting to watch.  Also, this show has a lot of depth.  There is not only a lot of talk on economics, there is also a big moral lesson on life.  That being that we need to value the future as much as the present, even though it’s very far off.  This is a major flaw with the lead antagonist Souichirou Mikuni, and proves his downfall in the end. 

Now, as far as the negative stuff goes, much of it is based on my own preferences- sorry L.  There are some bad things about it, but these are things that I would rather not see in an anime.  For one thing, this show is very dark in theme.  When I mean that a deal puts your future on the line, I mean that it literally means it puts your future on the line.  Many of the people who lose deals end up getting killed or commiting suicide in the real world.  In one instance, a man with two kids and another one on the way ended up losing a deal to Kimimaro.  He not only lost his two kids, but the fetus in his pregnant wife too!  Now you can’t tell me that’s not creepy!  Also, and a bit of a setback for the show, it could have ended on a better note.  However, I won’t spoil the ending.  Just know it could’ve been better.

So overall, C is an anime that makes economics exciting, but also makes anime look dark.  This show does not come on TV, but it is on DVD and available in stores or online.  This is also a very short series, too.  It’s only eleven episodes, so it’s very easy to catch up with.  And though I may have not shed a very positive light on the series in this review, I do encourage everyone reading this to give it a chance.  My taste in anime is a little different than most other peoples, and that’s ok.  Anyways, that’s all I have for this week!  Stay tuned for more.

-Hanime on Anime

P.S.:  Next week’s post will be The Character for the Month of June.  I also have something very big coming in July, but I’ll save that for next week.