New Anime Series: DRAMAtical Murder episode 1

Thankfully for anime blogging today soccer/fotbal was not an amazing spectacle of fail/awesomeness that it was yesterday. Which is good because a lot of countries take their sport so seriously they RIOT after games. Like hello burning buses because you lost a match during a sporting event? Just no. It's just a game people, calm it down. None of that happened today which is a good thing for my ability to get things done around the house. No goals, overtime, then penalty kicks. Oh and it rained because the tears of a nation washed over them. Craziness.

Aoba setting up the fact that everyone finds him adorable.

But yes anime got done today folks! Plus I downloaded the last of my maybe animes for this season so go me!!! So....sorta productive. Up now is DRAMAtical Murder episode 1. Spoilers for the main character keeping all his clothes on...for now.

That looks a little odd side by side like that....

Episode Summary: All the main characters are introduced in dramatic fashion, doing random things with ominous words being spoken and shown on the screen. There seems to be a fancy dome like town while an older, falling apart town is directly located outside of the dome. In the falling apart section of town our main character Aoba is working at a junk shop. He seems rather...angry when people call to place orders and focus on his interesting voice? He has a pet dog that is actually a talking robot thing that isn't really explained. The robot dog informs Aoba he has an email but before Aoba can look it over three random kids come in and start terrorizing him which seems to be a normal occurrence. The email is responded to automatically and before Aoba can take care of it the owner of the business walks in and asks the young man to deliver a package to Delivery Works. Aoba takes off leaving the bratty kids behind. The little doggie robot (Ren) gives Aoba the fastest route to take and onward the fashion victim man walks, encountering some sort of floating news screen that takes about recent gang activity, that people can't leave the island without permission, and that these robot things are called Allmates. While walking Aoba runs into an old friend of his that is a fashion victim too. His name is Koujaku and he needs to walk around with a sword and his bird Allmate. They talk about how Aoba is going to Delivery Works which seems important and that Aoba needs a haircut. He seems a bit off about that and ends up leaving when two girls come to hang all over Koujaku and glare at Aoba for being cuter than them. As Aoba walks away he thinks about when he was younger and teased for his hair. Koujaku thought he was sticking up for a scared little girl but stuck around when he learned Aoba was a boy. It was sorta adorable. Also apparently it hurts when Aoba's hair gets touched? Aoba goes to this Delivery Work place where an older woman and her lovely dog flirt with Ren and Aoba.

Gangs for everyone!

After the job the pair attempt to walk home but are approached by members of a gang (Bug Bomb). Well they say Bug Bomb from Ribstiez but I thought Ribstiez was it's own separate gang. I don't know. Either way Aoba is not impressed and says he doesn't belong to a gang. Before anything happens a man walks up and basically punches two of the thugs out and tells the others Aoba is a bad ass. The remaining conscious members realize this is Mizuki from the Dry Juice gang and they run away. Mizuki suggests that Aoba join his “team” but Aoba wants no drama. Mizuki likes being part of a team but thinks things are weird lately. Aoba wants to know if it has something to do with Koujaku's gang Benishigure. Mizuki implies their rivaling is okay; it is the game Rhyme that is messing things up. Basically it is a virtual reality team that is getting popular again. Aoba doesn't really care about it but Mizuki has strong feelings, mainly because a Ribstiez team disappeared one time because of it. 10 years ago a team disappeared and now it might be happening again. Aoba thinks another Ribstiez did it and there is nothing to worry about. Nearby a Rhyme game is about to start so Mizuki takes off. Aoba seems to struggle crushing a soda can and walks off near the Rhyme battle. He plans on walking on but he sees a vision in the lazers as the game starts. He watches the game start but something triggers... a sickness in him? Ren seems confused and Aoba pops some pills. Before he can walk off he is approached by two blond less fashion victim men. Virus and Trip. WEEE! They seem to know Aoba and are aware he doesn't like Rhyme. It seems to be their job or in their jurisdiction to be at this event. Aoba comments that they look like twins which they aren't....Aoba says he has an honest job now and won't be joining these two. Before anything can happen some crazy cop dude named Akushima arrives and is busting skulls and arresting everyone. The three boys depart and Aoba accidentally runs into someone when he reaches the main street. Aoba apologizes and the man takes off on his motorcycle without saying a word. Aoba returns home and is almost beat up by his grandmother for not locking the front door. He is a bit of a goof ball and she pretends to be a badass but they are a nice family happily eating. Mizuki is seen beating people up and some white hair dude is wearing a black weird mask. Aoba thinks to himself about all these past rumors when Ren announces the document from earlier is ready. They sit down and watch some retro game play itself briefly. Hmm what is that about? Mizuki is also seen losing a gang member which is upsetting. The next day Aoba is sent on another delivery which he sets off to. When they arrive at the address they are suddenly thrust into a Rhyme battlefield. Ren changes from a tiny puppy to a normal size looking human. Some giant bunny thing comes with a tiny bunny army and are happy Aoba is there. Aoba tries to leave the game but is unable to. Ren also notes that the damage thingy has been turned off which means when they get hurt in the game they get hurt in real life. Aoba tries dodging, saying he has never played this game in his life. But then he gets another headache/pain and POOF he is in serious mode and orders Ren to do a certain attack. Aoba turns into a bad ass who blasts all the little bunnies and seems to....destroy the field they are playing in with a weird power? THE END!

SO MANY NAMES! X___X

So.....yeah. Have no idea what I just watched. I should have just wrote guy with blue hair walks around and talks to some fashion victims, some he knows and others he doesn't. Talks about gangs and video games. Then plays said videos the end. Because basically that is all I understood. And by trying to educate myself on what is going on all I see are BIG spoilers and pictures of Aoba wearing no clothes and other people wearing no clothes with him. Or in him I should say. Tears are optional depending on the situation I suppose.

Every single gang name is made of special.

But summarize I must since I watched this episode. I am going to assume that all the hardcore man on man action won't be shown as our delicate eyes must be shielded from such things. No missing organs either. Although....when it comes to gay shows why is it so cut and dry with how things are? We either get a couple where someone is OBVIOUSLY on team sparkle and the other one will drill him into the bed with love and...well his drill. Or the other option is everyone seems to be about males who like other males without waving their bikinis in the gay pride parade but it goes the extreme route of rape and mayhem. Maybe that is why I wear my yaoi colored glasses all the time. I like boys who aren't wearing knotted pink tank tops to like other boys like it is natural. Not that there is anything wrong with bikinis and pink tank tops. I just feel as if being gay is a natural thing. Like being straight is a natural thing for me but I don't feel pressured to be all one way or another. Variety, like how it should be. It just seems mangas have a better...sampling of gay males while animes are either flowers/hearts or blood/violence. Woe is my soul.

Koujaku getting cock blocked by these two hos.

Actually typing out the summary helped me understand sorta what happened in this episode but I am still confused on what Ribstiez is. Like the term is confusing to me. I thought it said on the internets it is a different kind of game. Like all these real life gangs compete in it. But then people were using it in different ways and I was like oh okay....HMMMMM! Maybe it is just a cultural barrier, something lost in translation. Maybe this is the game that existed before this new dome thing moved into town. Or maybe it exists because the doom came in town. People like the old school gang thing while others are doing this Rhyme thing. I don't know. But there were a lot of terms being thrown around. Like I keep saying gang but others used teams. I guess I should be glad there wasn't Line and Tags involved. Although the shows are very similar.....

I love how his cute little tongue hangs out all the time!

In any event no one put a body part in Aoba this week, willing or otherwise. Not much explanation went on this week either. Like there is some giant dome that looks futuristic and awesome and directly next to it is a...well I don't want to see typical Japanese town since I don't live in Japan. But it looked a little rough around the edges, seen better days type of place. Reminded me of the new Total Rekal in terms of styling. The technology all the characters used seem up to date, futuristic though. Not the computer at Aoba's place of work though. So it is a bit of both words? The cool news programs yet Aoba has a job where he has to WALK somewhere rather far? And what is with all the real tattoos? I would have some futuristic one that would appear and disappear on command, gotta hide from the cops who are apparently a bit power hungry. Oh and I had no idea the DOG was talking. Thought it was a real dog but nope, it is a computer. Or at least I think it is. It seems to have a personality this Ren but it's still a computer yes? Are we talking Cain from Alien or Data? Or do they have to obey their masters? Either way I felt a bit dumb for being slow on the uptake. XD

His..hair hurts when it is touched?

We learned a bit about Aoba this episode. Which is good since he is the main character in this love orgy (to which everyone should assume Aoba is on the bottom...). We learn that Aoba is pretty popular in this town despite not being in a gang or playing this Rhyme game. It sounds like he played another game a long time ago and it wasn't totally on the legal side (see crazy cops) but now he is clean. But despite not taking a side and being friends with everyone no one seems too jealous or upset. These friends vary in what they look like and how bad their fashion sense is. No one interacted with any of the other potential boyfriends so maybe the peace is kept if they don't interact. Besides the fact that Aoba is a fashion victim himself we learn that his parents are problem dead as he lives with some Spirited Away reject (which did you notice was mentioned this episode?). He has an interesting hair style but that might be contributed to the fact that if it is touched it hurts? I am not sure if that is other people touching it or all touches. Separate (or maybe not) from this issue is the fact that Aoba has...issues. He gets these moments where his head hurts and he is forced to take pills to function. He also might be lacking in physical strength as hommie was unable to crush a soda can. Add in the fact that apparently his voice is....sexy or special to some people and Aoba is just a bag of loveliness.

We all love our no mark Aoba!

Since there were a lot of characters in this episode there wasn't a lot of focus on them. More like a drive by boyfriending. Aoba just walking down the street (because this company has no car) waving to everyone he knows. Doesn't that happen to you? You walk down the road and run across each and everyone one of your friends? Thought so. To me it seems as if Koujaku has the most history with Aoba. Which means he is going to be friendzoned yes? That is typically how it goes. But Aoba has fond memories of Koujaku as the man saved him from bullies. Koujaku is the head of the gang he is in and cuts hair on the side. Of course. Aoba runs into Mizuki next who is a leader of his own gang...team. Whatever. He wants Aoba to be on his team too but no pressure bro. No pressure. I didn't see many pictures of Mizuki having naked fun of Aoba so I am thinking his is a side route. He seems...sorta normal. Passionate about his team but otherwise a nice guy. Next on the hot guy train are a pair called Virus and Trip. They claim they are not twins but they look a lot alike. I am sure there is a story behind that. They are the ones who want Aoba to come back to whatever he was doing before but hold no hard feelings that he wants to live a quiet life. I am not sure what they are doing as they weren't in the Rhyme game. More like the game was taking place in their gang's territory so they were watching things closely. Aoba ends his trip down potential partner lane by running into some long hair criminal. I am assuming he is a criminal as he was in a jail cell earlier. That could just be his house for all I know. I think this unnamed man was running the Rhyme game given how fast he took off. Aoba and him had a little bit of a glance, like okay bro. There is another character that Aoba didn't meet but since that character was busy looking creepy with his mask and staring at things we can wait to meet him later. Unless he is the bunny avatar.

Aoba isn't very impressed by this game is he?

So that is what we learned about the people in this episode. What did I learn about in terms of what the show is? After some thinking...maybe procrastination I have decided that this Ribstiez word is for an old school kind of game. Maybe they are gangs. I don't know. But they are doing something....not exactly endorsed by the public. I am guessing it is the old town's version of a game while this Rhyme thing is a new game, brought in by the dome. But why are the cops so against it? Maybe it is only supposed to take place in the dome? There seems to be harsh rules in this area, with no one being allowed to leave the island without permission. Sounds very odd to me. Rhyme doesn't look inherently dangerous. Just annoying, a large virtual reality kind of game that connects to a person and their personal Allmates. So these little personal robots can do a lot of things. It seems to live in this town you have to have some connection to technology but you can choose how much. And as long as your Aoba you aren't forced into a gang...I mean team. But everyone else is.

SO ADORABLE!

So a day in the life of Aoba is like this. Work in your company's store and get tortured by some brats. Accidentally download a weird email. Take a walk in town since your company doesn't own a vehicle and run into a bunch of men you know. Have a few medical issues. Talk about the Ribstiez and Rhyme groups. Run from the cops and run into a some strange looking man. Walk on home to see the oldest grandmother on the face of the planet. Like seriously still having nightmares about her. They seem like a nice pair which mean granny isn't long for this world. I wonder if Aoba changing his not so legal ways has something to do with taking care of his grandmother. Then Aoba hangs out with his talking robot dog Ren as they look at this magical email that was sent to his account by accident. DUDE it was so cute. I am sure it has to do with the Rhyme game but when I saw that old school game pop up on the screen...I had the feels. Like MOG old school Final Fantasy LOVE IT. Nothing much happened with this mysterious email. Almost like it will lead to something later and will be significantly important. For now it was nothing as was the boy with the crazy mask.

You could possibly be in love with me!!

The next morning Aoba has another delivery that must be taken by foot which is find for the boy, his duffel bag, and talking Ren robot dog. Off they go, everything will be okay. Only it won't be. They are automatically locked into a Rhyme battle in which they cannot log out of and to make matters worse the safety has been taken off. See this Rhyme is a giant VR type game and the participants end up on the ground in the “real” world as their avatar floats around and fight. Whoever forced Aoba into this battle is either cheating or this permanent damage of your real body rule is optional. Either way Aoba is not happy and doesn't really know what to do. Ren on the other hand changes from a cute little dog to....well...possibly another special friend for Aoba. I am assuming these computers have artificial intelligent and the line between real and fake is blurred. But Ren is looking kinda fine and he is always around Aoba so woohoo for this pairing?

Err...Aoba is a badass now?

The episode ends with Aoba and human Ren being confronted with a giant rabbit and his rabbit minion who has rabbit minions. Exactly folks. I am not sure who was the real person and who was the robot. But the bunnies all started to attack and Aoba was a sitting duck because he had no idea how to fight back. Until he got one of his headaches. Then BAM it was like Aoba was a different person. Like he knew how to fight all along and he is a bad ass. Even Ren was confused over the orders Aoba was giving him. Hell even Aoba start to get all glowy and fight himself like he was a super power/hero. Like he power to change the program of the game itself. Err how special is this Aoba? I am guessing the program downloaded into his phone lead to this moment and he will be caught between the dome world and all these different gangs. A lot of messed up stuff is to come for sure. Behind the scenes obviously as Aoba seems to lose his clothes quite often. So for now I have one eye open because I don't need any organs out of Aoba while someone rapes his dead body. Just...you know..say no to organs out of the body sex.