You know, I had a pretty fine time with C³. This may at least in part come down to the fact that I watched it directly after Psycho-Pass 2, which was a legitimately repellent experience. In comparison to that, C³ was a breath of fresh air – sure, the writing might have been crap and the fanservice gags tired as hell, but this show actually liked its characters, and was able to have fun sometimes. C³ adolescent grimdark nonsense was limited to stuff like Fear’s ridiculous set of torture-themed attacks, instead of, you know, stabbing puppies to death and exploding people for no reason. Also, Shin Oonuma kinda rolled his weird-ass visual brand all over this one, which at least gave me plenty of neat stuff to look at. As far as bad shows go, C³ is a perfectly harmless one.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!
Episode 1
“Like a graveyard or the bottom of a coffin…”
“I, a lump of iron, continue to whisper…”
Huh, the colors are pretty good
Yachi Haruaki is the lead
Okay, maybe not “good” so much as “all purple”
But I like the texture of the colors – they’re not solid, there’s a nice complexity to the surfaces
Oh dang, a quick match cut transition across several circles. Actual visual personality!
Aaand he runs into her naked already
Decent piano track here
“A naked rice cracker thief?!”
Ah, violence. The classic introduction
Another nice song, this one on a flute
Pretty good faces, too
“How did you go from being that box to this?”
I like how well he’s taking this in stride. We’re moving quickly
Aaand then we get to her being tsun-tsun, great
Ooh, an interesting textured closeup
Yeah, the direction in general is far more interesting than in most shows of this type
“I am a receptacle for people’s negative emotions. I’m cursed and endowed with a will as well.”
“Because of some quirk, I’m resistant to all curses.” Man, they are burning through this story, lol
“You have to do things for the sake of other people to break your curse”
“I guess your talent is making all the nourishment go to your boobs.” Haha, such funny jokes
God, this boob banter is so unfunny
Good cuts to their expressions, though. The visual direction continues to be way more interesting than you usually get in shows like this
Wow, these panty shots. Lol
Konoha’s the other girl
Haha, they’re being bitter rivals about the boy already
God, this writing is soooo bad
Time for a somber moment!
The light and shadow work conveys the mood here nicely
And then a great shot of her stranded in shadowed bars. This show does not deserve this direction
The classic haughty loli character
“I can’t afford to let people take care of me here!”
The show is just BURNING through its premise
She decides to “clean,” and so destroys his house
The comedy certainly is fast-paced. If I were into this style of energetic slapstick, I’d probably find it funny
“Insolent wind!”
Fear is her name
Another nice match cut
And another nice piano track
“Can I really break the curse?”
Episode 2
A menacing blond lady appears from overseas!
“Fear Kubrick”
Getting mad about him not reacting to her uniform
And then we get the classic “she falls on top of him and someone walks in, leading to a misunderstanding” scene
The school principal is a weirdo
The fanservice hits that consistent note of “you’re just barely seeing something you’re not supposed to be seeing”
“What’s her relationship to you, Haruaki-kun?” “YOU LIVE TOGETHER?!?” More very, very tired misunderstanding humor
A food competition! I guess these shows have learned to compress their cliches
Cigarette lady continues to menace
She has a giant claw
The Augzirari, some group that’s watching over her
“This bitch with the Indulgence Disc”
A girl who showers in a bondage outfit. Of course
“I’ll put a curse on you,” maybe twenty times an episode
Yeah, the backgrounds have the consistency of crayon drawings. It’s very nice
“Do you want to know about me?”
The Battlefront Collection Knights
Kinda goofy synth song here
The Worse, cursed instruments – the Knights try to destroy them
The writing does not improve for the fight scenes
“Perhaps those children don’t know any real details about you?”
Fear was used to kill thousands of people
She’s an inquisition-era instrument of torture
These backgrounds are very interesting – they have a layer of screen readouts built in at a low transparency, for some reason
Konoha’s another instrument, apparently
The fight itself isn’t that visually compelling action-wise
Oh goddamnit, Konoha literally becomes his sword
Okay, some decent action exchanges here
“As much as I hate the Worse, I love pain!”
Fear goes into rage mode
Episode 3
“The Antimony of Their Temperatures.” That sure is an episode title
Dang, Fear’s weapons are crazy
And the direction here is still pretty great
“Let out an amusing scream as I crush you, bitch!”
“Regarding the means of enjoying screams, I have hundreds of years more experience.” Haha wow
Time for an evil laugh from Fear
“How dare you rape me like that! Bitch… bitch…” Awesome. Great
It definitely is tough to gauge a sense of space in these fights. But that’s not the style of direction this is
And she runs away, because she can’t be absolved nooo
So are we already at the point where we’re supposed to care about their relationship?
“I think that girl just doesn’t understand common sense.” Well, she is an anime character
More interesting filter choices
And more interesting background textures and alternate art styles
Ueno Kirika, the class president
“The person who wipes up the blood, to prepare for fresh blood.”
The most grimdark
These wipe transitions are pretty nice
Can their bond of two episodes save her?!?!
The frame closing on her as she sinks, another nice trick
Bonding again with talk about her small boobs, ha ha ha
“I’m scared of the screams of someone close to me”
“Do I have the right to have my curse broken and my sins absolved?” That’s actually a fine fear for her character
“I said I’m gonna wash your back!” Woop, time for shenanigans
“I’m going to start living here, too!” Waaaacky
Episode 4
Yeah, you can’t escape the SHAFT reference for many of these visual touches. The use of interpretive foreground objects, the division of the frame, the in-your-face symbolism, the color work
A moment of legitimate closeness between the two “bad guys.” Fine stuff
Also kinda naturally integrating the fanservice
“I am Mummymaker”
Childhood friend attacks Fear
This moment of her getting caught up by the drill’s spin is great
“You’re telling me… not to fight?” Every moment is a cliche. Ah well
“I’m too dangerous. After all, I’m a tool meant for murder.” The show just rushes through these beats. What is it in such a hurry to get to?
Licking the blood off his finger wooo
This show is maximum “a child’s idea of seriousness”
“We’re announcing Dance Time”
Aw dang, she killed the mummy girl
Episode 5
Saying “bitch” a lot is not the most compelling personality
“The Dance of Death is going to continue ‘til the grave.” Alright, there it is. The most perfectly C3 line
These shots are ridiculous/amazing
Of course, bitch lady’s family was destroyed by Killing Goods
This show is actually overdirected, which is amazing
Good sequence of Fear losing it
Oh great, class president is the one who wears the spiky bondage outfit
Ah, she can never take it off, or she dies. Of course
So the whole semi-harem’s arrived
The story is entirely predictable, so the staff just gets to have fun with the visuals, but it doesn’t really elevate the base material, and much of it lacks purpose beyond being visually interesting
Episode 6
Ha ha, the dialogue makes it seem like they’re having sex, but they’re not
Wow, they’re really dragging out this gag, huh
“I… may have… fiddled with her.” Okay, that’s actually kinda funny
So the discs actually make her lose her cursed powers, which is pretty interesting
They find a new cursed item, which is almost certainly a new girl
“The only way the break the curse is to help other people, right?” Oh right, I almost forgot that was the plot
This sure is an arbitrary quest interlude
Time for some evil dolls
“It seems that the foundation of your tyranny is different”
She’s clumsy, and so boobs
Just some girls massaging each other’s boobs to make them get bigger
Most of the “light character moments” are default garbage that don’t make the characters any more human
The doll doesn’t want her curse broken
Episode 7
Another little visual digression, this play with cutout dolls on strings. So much visual inventiveness for such a bland show
“I wouldn’t have minded if it were you, Haruaki-kun.” “What are you talking about?” Ha ha ha
Time for fanservice
These scenes between Fear and Haruaki aren’t romantic – he’s like a dad to her. It’s patronizing Clannad-romance
Wow, Sovereignty’s story sure is ridiculous
“Can two dolls fall in love with each other?”
These characters are certainly more compelling than bitch lady, at least
Episode 8
And now there’s an actual theater stage. So much visual creativity
Sovereignty absorbs love from its owner and then kills them
“Our curse and our love are one and the same!”
Fine conclusion to the Sovereignty arc
Uh, time for an athletic festival, I guess
This episode has its own set of visual style diversions, like these detailed, flowery drawings of the girls
It’s unusual and nice for a show like this to have a happy, healthy couple unrelated to the main character
Episode 9
Kuroe, a new lodger and old friend of the leads
Dang, this new OP is pretty stylish
Alice, a new bad guy
Kuroe’s deadpan lines are pretty funny
Ono, the class rep’s organization is bad
Time for more misunderstanding jokes, and maid outfits
Episode 10
Compelling, shadow-heavy shots mixed with fanservice
A fine fight scene here
The president has a terrible secret
Dang, this bondage scene is intense! And the direction really works to elevate the idea here. Lots of strong visual ideas
Episode 11
Fear’s insecurities and distrust of Kuroe come from a legitimately understandable place. That’s fine writing!
“Think about the meaning of the suffering. That is the struggle to arrive at the truth.”
Each episode has its own visual vocabulary/tricks. This one’s got this ticking clock
The Families actually approve of the Worst, and embrace their curses
Great scene with the class president’s partner
She crashes the car. Damn! Great moment
Episode 12
Wow, this fight is sweet. The show’s animation really is pretty fine
Kuroe being frozen is hilarious
This whole sequence is pretty funny
The show’s definitely better for never leaning too seriously into romance drama. Fear’s conflict is about her identity, not romance