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Salaryman Kintaro
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Animation - 6.0 |
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Sound - 6.5 |
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Story - 6.5 |
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Character - 7.0 |
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Value - 7.0 |
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Enjoyment - 7.0 |
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Average - 6.7 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This anime certainly turned out to be better than I initially thought it would be. Right from the start, it is easy to relate Salaryman Kintaro to GTO, since both have a similar premise. However, as it progresses, more differences are noticed, and by the end, it manages to set itself apart by having a unique and amusing set of characters.
Animation: This was definitely the weakest part of the series. Had I not known that this was made at 2001, I would’ve thought it was more of a mid 90’s anime. Not only it looks old, but it also lacks smoothness and overall appears really unpolished. However, the good side is that the character design is fairly decent, taking a more realistic approach and hence ending up as a nice fit for the series.
Sound: The music is below average, and with better BGM, the series could’ve been more powerful. The OP and ED are both average at best, although they are not generic. What stands out is the VA; most characters have really fitting voices to their personalities, and you can feel the emotions out of their performances, especially from the main character, Kintaro.
Story: Well, it starts out similar to GTO by having an ex-gangster trying to mend his life to the better by taking on a serious job. However, the progress of the story in Salaryman Kintaro is more focused and builds up nicely. Also, the look of the series into the life of salarymen in Japan (business corporate men) was rather interesting, with a lot of important concepts about morality and honesty. I would like to point out that this anime, unlike GTO, doesn’t have much comedy in it, which is a bit disappointing. However, by completely focusing on drama instead of comedy, it manages to have a more focused and structured storyline, which makes it easy to follow and notice the development. Overall, even though the story does have it’s melodramatic and over the top aspects, I highly enjoyed following it through to the end.
Characters: The standout here is definitely the main character, Kintaro. He is a devoted and honest person, with a straightforward approach in his life (he is also not a pervert, since that was a trait I hated about Onizuka). However, this leads him into many obstacles in dealing with the corruption among businessmen and companies. At first, I thought he would end up just like the character of Onizuka, always doing the impossible to win, in other words, predictable. This was true at the first half of the series, but later on, it’s easy to see the limitations of his approach, and that he is not always right to bump in into any situation with his methods. Soon, it becomes very easy to relate to him as he appears to be just like any human; flawed. This leads into some interesting development in his character, and also ties in the role of some of the secondary characters. Regarding the secondary characters, it’s a mixed bag, with some playing important roles while others are completely left under-developed. The older generation in this anime is more interesting, as some of them have really strong beliefs and thus easier to relate to. The weak link here is definitely the younger female characters, with a few exceptions of course. They all seem to just fall for the main character and do absolutely nothing other than think about him; they never really develop into independent and memorable characters. There was just not enough development in that area, and not enough background provided. I would like to emphasize on the character called Mimi, as there seemed to be a lot of potential in developing her into a major character, but instead was completely left behind. I would’ve also appreciated it if they talked more about Kintaro’s late wife, Akemi, and maybe explained more about her past with Kintaro. With minor complaints aside, the characters in this anime are really what made me hooked, as they are very human and easy to relate to.
Value & Enjoyment: I highly enjoyed watching this series, even though it has a few rough edges here and there. It might not appeal to everyone, but it certainly deserves more attention than a lot of other popular shows. I would say give this series a shot. Don’t expect a revolutionary story or anything of that sort, but you could at least expect a nice and a well executed story with a standout lead character and a rather decent set of secondary characters.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Based on 10 episodes:
Good original idea but uninteresting storyline and characters. For those unfamiliar with Japanese salary man, they are basically the equivalent of 9-5 workers who work in a company and have not much lee-way or individuality.
Salaryman Kintaro starts out in a similar way to GTO. Ex-super strong bike gang leader decides to change his life, and apply his ideals to the salary man way of life. He has strong pride, and lives as a man. He is extremely strong at fighting, and has lots of respect whereever he goes. However, unlike GTO he doesn't have any sense of humor, and this is where this anime falls flat on its face.
I started this anime with high hopes and expectations. The first few episodes were certainly novel and interesting. However, as things dragged on, I saw no interesting character progression. In other words, Kintaro is too stuck to his way of life. Even worse, I am not convinced that his way of life is able to change so many people's lives around them. The argument goes like this: the salaryman's way of life is stoic and rigid. Kintaro is a fresh life who does what he feels is right. Other people miss out on this feeling, and feel like revamping things so that they will do what they want to do, instead of being bound by society.
Sounds good? Well, not really... I don't watch anime for social commentary, and in a sense this is what Salaryman Kintaro feels like. The characters are dry, the storyline too one-tracked, etc. There's basically no entertaining value in this.
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