It seems like a lot of people really, really wanted Dimension W to be a great show. It had every promotional advantage you could hope for, and it inhabited an extremely fan-friendly genre space, but the show just didn’t have the strength to follow through. Today I’ve got a sturdy review of this unfortunate anime stepchild. I hope you enjoy it!
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below.
Episode 1
Dimension W, a mysterious dimension they’ve been harvesting energy from in these coils
The creator, Dr. Shido Yurazaki, suffered some mysterious fate
Everyone’s transitioning to electric energy
The character designs are very distinctive
New Tesla Energy developed the system
Ah right, illegal street coils
The backgrounds are quite nice, though not terrible evocative – just decent paint jobs on live action photography
Some odd shots where the character is contrasted against single color backgrounds with an exaggerated shadow. I don’t really think it’s that effective?
Kyouma Mabuchi’s our MC
Slight bits of terrific animation
Quite a dramatic setpiece for the doctor’s death
Episode 2
Loser, a beloved thief who’s never successfully stolen anything
Her little robot cat ears are pretty great
Mary’s a lot of fun
Okay, now we’ve got some solid palette shift highlight shots
They keep hammering in that Kyouma hates coils
Loser’s flashy victory screens are great. And more solid animation
The animation isn’t just “good,” it’s really lively. The characters dance around like they’ve got real weight and balance to them, shifting on their feet very well
This episode is also balancing the two MC’s conflicts well
Kyouma was a part of some legendary special ops unit
Loser was almost destroyed by New Tesla
He uses his fake heists to mask what he’s actually stealing, presumably special coils
“That’s a key coil. One of the Numbers”
Some solid comedy with the girl denying her robotic nature
The illegal coils cause some kind of dimensional collapse
Episode 3
Mira’s the robot girl
A reasonable slice of life episode so far
The Numbers are beta coils that don’t draw energy from the towers, and pull too deeply from Dimension W
New Tesla COO Claire Skyhearte releases Kyouma from police custody
Welp, time for the stupid haunted house arc
Episode 4
And now there’s the goth loli investigator, Elizabeth Greenhouse Smith
Al also shows up. This show’s world is fraying pretty fast
And now they’re fighting???
The two of them are Beasts of Grendel
Kyouma being a dick to Mira isn’t endearing or funny, it just makes him unsympathetic
Apparently one of the Numbers is involved, which I guess can just do generally supernatural stuff
Pretty consistent fanservice throughout this show
Mira gets caught in some sort of ghost story
The tragedy of 21 years ago is somehow caught within Dimension W, and they can sort of flip between the two realities
And now Mira’s chained up. Awesome
Episode 5
Apparently the novelist’s past shadow self killed his current real self. Okay
Kyouma’s off fighting water ghosts
Oh nice, Mira frees herself
Actual water is their weakness
Apparently the goth loli also works for Loser, or is the same sidekick as before
And now we’re getting into rape territory for the backstory. Great
She kills the rapey dude
God this backstory is ridiculous. He kills a second guy and makes the dam flood the village just so he can get rid of the evidence for the first death? God damnit
Marisa, his sister, is actually Inamari, the girl he thought died. DUN DUN DUN
Apparently the Numbers are capable of creating temporary alternate realities. I suppose that kind fits with how they split people into crazy Cronenbergs
“The Wind of Africa,” a prince who rules a big robot-producing nation, arrives
Prince Salva
Apparently he loves slaves, and can bind the women under his control. More rapey stuff
Episode 6
Kyouma picks up Lu, a mostly robot boy who seems to be Salva’s brother, and then goes to his usual kimono store
Kyouma lost his memories
Random drama with Salva. He seems to be challenging Collectors
Episode 7
Kyouma’s memories
Young Kyouma becomes friends with a girl named Miyabi
Time for some fridging
She gets Boneitis, so now he wants to get her a cybernetic body
He gets into Grendel in order to save her
Subuki, the clothes shop owner, is Miyabi’s sister
So his wife was killed by coils. ‘K
Easter Island, the final battlefield of the war. Apparently it become a Dimension W-infected island, but now Salva wants Collectors to investigate a potential anomaly there
Introducing a bunch of super-Collectors. A nice dramatic choice
Fifty million dollar reward!
Wait, Numbers go for ten million in the underground? Dang
Yeah, alternate potential timelines become energy in Dimension W
Episode 8
Salva falls into a coma on approach, but has a video saying the contest goes on
I am here for sharktooth cowboy catgirl
The depiction of the Void is pretty intimidating
Kyouma is SUCH A DICK
Episode 9
Loser shows up and does some Loser stuff
Loser invented the energy shield
“That lapse is an insult to my wife.” Oh my god not another one
The orb zaps Kyouma and now he’s in a flashback
Salva as well. They’ve also got evil spirit-selves hounding them
Oh no, Salva got Iwai hurt
God this backstory is stupid
The show’s animation sure has dried up
The scientists are revolting against the executives and none of this has any grounding
Why is Kyouma even fighting this shadow self?
Kyouma flying past spirit whales I guess
Dimension W is MEMORIESSSS
“Believe in your memories.” ‘kay
Spirit Miyabi does something to fuck up this scientist villain we just met
So Kyouma always sees Miyabi in Mira, because her body was made to fit Miyabi
Episode 10
THE ULTIMATE MEGA-COIL
Looots of exposition
Really not a particularly satisfying fight
Alright, some decent animation of Kyouma losing control
Episode 11
Julian (Loser) was the successful live teleportation
And Kyouma actually teleported without a hitch, grabbing Genesis himself
Episode 12
Oh my god, they’re going for a “the Kyouma I know” angle. Fuck Kyouma
The magic of possibilities! Everything is okay because more possibilities resulted from them!