HAMATORA is A Loud, Colorful, Sloppy... Mess

See this is exactly what I was thinking of when I drew that comparison
in my NARUTO retro review...

HST shows seem to get away with messily frontloading a pilot because
they also go straight for the jugular, emotionally. HAMATORA #1 isn’t
any less coherent than NARUTO #1, perhaps, but the only emotional stakes it ever bets on
are in a brief scene where one character gets torn up after learning a terrible
secret.

The scene in question, incidentally, is about a supporting player, not
one of the leads. It’s the part where one of these pretty boy detectives’
clients learns that his strict old man has actually been a philandering cad
this whole time. It’s impossible not to feel for the poor bastard’s sense of
frustration and betrayal. All the witty repartee, all the furious explosions,
all the demonstrations of fabulous super-moves… and that’s the scene that
sticks out to me walking away from this pilot.

There’s something to be
learned there, probably.

== TEASER ==

Past that, most of this just sort-of melts in my memory and swirls into the shockingly
similar STRANGE+. As far as I can tell, the only differences are that this show
features super-powers, and it comes in longer increments than STRANGE+’s all-too-fleeting
micro installments. I remember there being a wacky bank robbery in the
beginning. I remember the various players showing off their myriad of powers that
seemed to come from a catch-all, black box power source. And that’s it. I never grasped how it all fit together.

The
show jumps around so much without ever taking time to properly introduce us to any of the pretty boys. I don’t know… the premise of
some outrageous detective agency sounds like fun, but that's all it is. A premise doesn't mean anything without sound follow-through, and HAMATARA didn't want to bother with that.

Watch, "Egg
of Columbus" and decide for yourself, then read my write-up on this season's other hot topic shows --WITCH CRAFT WORKS & RECENTLY, MY SISTER IS UNUSUAL & WIZARD BARRISTERS & ROBOT GIRLS Z

About the Author

Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk