~DAZZLING THE STAGE~ Star Driver – Kagayaki no TakutoAn anime so
conventional it turns
unconventional.
I shall further explain that statement. For starters, the director of the show, Igarashi Takuya, also directed Ouran High School Host Club, which parodied its own genre and made fun of various shoujo clichés while also
celebrating them. The scriptwriter, Enokido Yoji, wrote not only the aforementioned Ouran, but also another big, big, BIG favourite of mine, Revolutionary Girl Utena, whose greatness I could easy write an easy about, but this time I’ll be content with just saying that it went even further than Ouran (without turning into a parody) by questioning stereotypes and generally being as unconventional as a show can be.
This notion can be found in Star Driver as well. It would be SO EASY just to write it off as just another cliché storm, if it was not for the fact that every trope from the (many!) genres it’s inspired by and putting them on such obvious display that it becomes a deconstruction. Everything in this series is subverted, twisted around, and played with in such a way that it sometimes fools you by doing the exact opposite of what you were expecting.
That is why I have decided that one of Star Driver’s parents is none other than Utena. Just like its “mama”, Star Driver absolutely LOVEs to tease its viewers. Dialogues are filled to the brim with hints, clues and implications that tickles your brain delicately, while nevrer quite crossing the line into mindfuck territory. As long as you pay attention to the details, you will find yourself shouting “AHA! So THAT’s how it is!” more than once, but also manages to be just as entertaining as a no-brainer. Pick your poison!
One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about Star Driver is that it is too repetitive, since almost every episode contains a mecha battle and has the hero depending on Deus Ex Machina to win. But I disagree, for two reasons. First of all, it’s not all about the fights themselves, whoever wins or loses, but what they
establish. IN each battle, we gain additional pieces of the puzzle and more information concerning the characters/their situation
(except for that one lulzy episode that seemingly exists just for the sake of confirming what female viewers are already aware of – that the main character is one HOT BISHIE. <3). There is a lot of foreshadowing in this series, and as long as you pay attention to the details, there aren’t quite as many Deus Ex Machina as it appears to be. Secondly, those DEM that
do, exist, I handwave them aside by still believing that Star Driver is a deconstruction on several genres, most prominently Magical Girl and shounen, both of which you can’t say your
unfamiliar with (main) characters receiving random powerup as the plot demands. ;P
This leads me to Star Driver’s second parent, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Similarly to its “papa”, Star Driver is, despite what I said about its subtlety and intelligent foreshadowing, a show that you must watch with your
heart,
not with your
brain. No offense to a the beloved Gurren Lagann, but let’s be realistic and objective here: the script is dumb as hell, the plotholes are as humonguous as the mechas in-show, and the word “logic” gets flushed down the toilet. So what is it that makes us love Gurren Lagann so much?
Passion. You can tell that the staff were working their asses off on the show and loved doing so, all just in order to make its execution and characters work well. That is what makes me believe that we don’t mind the over-the-top ridiculousness of the show.
And guess what? Star Driver is of the exact same kind. It doesn’t strive to be a DEEP, revolutionary masterpiece that transcends the genre/medium. Instead, it’s just the staff of Studio Bones screwing around with numerous typical anime tropes and turned the scale of every used cliché up to eleven. Simply put, this is a
playful show. So please do yourself a favor and don’t take it too seriousy!
This leads us to the…
faults of the show. No anime is perfect, and the same goes for Star Driver. I already went out of my way trying to justify the mecha battles, but it still doesn’t save it from becoming too predictable. I’d rather have seen the battles reduced considerably and the establishing aspects of them moved somewhere else in the show. That way, the battles that actually were fought would have gained much more significance, with so much more to win or lose when it’s actually time to duke it out in Zero Time, instead of being a staple event that you KNOW will happen. And some of them are shoehorned into the episode pretty badly, on top of that!
Another thing that is “hit or miss” are the characters. This is a character driven show, and most members of the cast gets his/her own episode (sometimes two). How entertaining these episodes are depend on whether you like the spotlighted character or not, so that’s entirely subjective. However, there were a few character that did not receive the development that would have benefitted neither themselves nor the other characters (by juxtaposition/personal chemistry). But as a whole, I found the cast of Star Driver to be rather likeable, and I’m plenty sure that most of the viewers gained at least ONE favourite while watching the show.
Also, some background information was never touched upon as much as one’d wanted. Some plot threads definitely had potential - but was never fully explored. Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Driver with every single fiber of my heart and body, however, the wasted potential still left something akin to a bitter taste in my mouth. But hey, as I said before;
no anime is perfect. ;P
You can always trust Studio Bones when it comes to making SUPER PRETTY shows, and Star Driver is no exception. Some episodes had less well-drawn lineart, but it’s still nothing that takes away from the overall impression. Movements are dynamic, the mecha battles well-choreographed and the skies (particularly the sunsets and nighttime ones) can only be described as EYE CANDY GALORE. And Zero Time just leaves me speechless… One this is fore sure; this HAS to be THE most colourful anime Japan’s made
ever in recent years.
Personally, I found the character designs to be a bit to lanky and pointy for my personal liking, but I quickly got used to them and started drooling over the bishies.
If the beautiful animation is the first thing you notice about Star Driver, the second thing as to be that it’s
~FABULOUS~ like no other show! Poses are overly dramatic and dialogues campy as hell when the situation calls for it, and
dear lord the villains’ costumes... Between the man-thongs and screw-nipples, it boggles one’s mind how the hell they can have their strategical meetings
or look at oneself’s mirror reflection without bursting into laughter... But this only adds to what I stated before – that you shouldn’t take Star Driver seriously at all. You just have to accept what you watch.
To make a VERY long story short; another success from the always talented Studio Bones! It is a
very nice mixture of “big” moments (epic battles, general over-the-topness) and “small” moments (subtle details, "show, don't tell") that is guaranteed to entertain you at least
somewhat. It’s not a perfect homerun like Fullmetal Alchemist or Eureka Seven... but close enough. ;P
My rating: 8/10