(Shizuku): Previously on Project Nitsuj.
(Past Nitsuj): This is probably the best anime 8bit has done to this date and for a studio that gave me Absolute Duo (oh trust me we will get to that) that’s saying something.
(Present Nitsuj): Listen to this fool. This poor fool who has set himself up for major disappointment and torture. Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj where today we’re taking a look at the anime Absolute Duo. Considered by many to be the worst anime 8bit has ever produced, Absolute Duo is based off a light novel series under the same name written by Takumi Hiiragiboshi in 2011 and still continuing to this day. In 2015, 8bit took the series of those striving to get stronger and turned the series into an anime. What we got was one of the most generic, bland and uninteresting animes I’ve ever seen in my life and one of the worst animes of 2015. Prepared to be bored, this is Absolute Duo.
Opening and Ending Themes
The opening is “Absolute Soul” by Konomi Suzuki. I admit this was a good opening. The instrumental is amazing in this song and while vocals can be low at some parts the overall song is great and instantly gets you excited for the series.
This series had 3 endings each sung by the VAs throughout the season. They’re all good, I like how different and unique they are from each other.
Episodes 1-4
So the anime begins with our main character Tooru voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito from SAO. Oh sweet God we’re already in trouble. Yoshitsugu, I love you man, but you played Kirito, you should know a bad generic anime when you see one) walking to Kouryou Academy an academy that trains students how to use their Blaze powers. What’s Blaze you ask? Blaze is a weapon, a manifestation of one’s soul in the form of a weapon. People who are born with Blaze seek to use their powers to protect the world (and kick ass and chew bubble gum. And there are plenty of asses out there to kick). Tooru is heading there to learn how to master his power because he wants to avenge the death of his family from a mysterious assailant who killed them simply because they were weak (I’m gonna need a bit more motivation than that buddy). Actually, surprisingly despite Tooru’s main goal being revenge he really doesn’t seem to have all the characteristics you expect a character seeking revenge to have. He’s not moody, quiet, distant, or emotionless if anything he’s the opposite of these things. He’s very considerate of others, quite social, and isn’t afraid to show his emotions in situations that demand them. As he’s walking to the academy he befriends a girl named Imari (who ironically is voiced by the same VA who voices Asuna in SAO. Is Japan trying to get these two together or something?). They go to the entrance ceremony where the director of the academy Sakuya a gothic loli (why is there a loli on the stage?) tells the students to fight the person next them saying that the winner will be admitted into the academy while the loser has to leave (kids say the darnest things). So everyone begins to fight and since Tooru and Imari were sitting by each other (what are the odds?) they have to fight each other. They release their Blazes where we see that Tooru’s Blaze is a shield which is considered irregular (are you kidding me? This is great! Finally, a character who doesn’t use swords) because all Blazes are weapons of some kind. Despite having a shield as his main weapon Tooru is able to hold his own against Imari by delivering a Falcon Punch to the girl knocking her out (the pen is mightier than the sword and the Falcon Punch is mightier than the Blaze). So Tooru gets enrolled into the academy and Imari is forced to leave (we’re gonna see her again aren’t we?). Tooru goes to his homeroom where his desk mate is a strange but kawaii silver haired girl named Julie voiced by Nozomi Yamamoto who might just have the most adorable voice in anime history. She constantly stares at him throughout the class (Vegeta, what does the scouter say about her moe level: http://youtu.be/SiMHTK15Pik?t=9s) not even when their hoomroom teacher Usa an eccentric woman with big breasts, wearing a maid outfit with bunny ears distracts her from staring at Tooru (and no to answer your question I am not making this shit up. I honestly wish I was though). Usa announces that their desk mates are now temporary partners and that they’ll be sharing the same room with each other. Naturally Tooru is afraid to go to his room at night but he mans up and goes to his dorm room (he’s gonna walk in and find her naked isn’t she? I know how these harem animes work) only to find that Julie is nowhere to be seen (WHAT! You’re breaking the laws of harem animes! The MC must always walk into a room when a girl is changing or completely naked). He thinks Julie left but in truth she was just taking a shower and walks out wearing nothing but a long sleeve shirt (this is even hotter than her being naked). They chat a little bit and decide to get along with each other until the official teams are announced.
Not much happens in episode 2. We start off with the typical anime cliché of Tooru waking up to find Julie sleeping next to him (and I have to admit this is a little funny because they have bunk beds and Tooru sleeps on the top. That means that Julie literally went out of her way to climb into Tooru’s bed in order for this cliché to work). After that we get introduced to two new characters. The first is Tomoe an old-fashion girl who comes from a martial arts family and is concerned about Tooru and Julie sharing a room together (concern or just jealous). The second is another girl named Miyabi a shy girl with big-breasts who has a slight fear of men. We also have Tora a character from the first episode who is an old friend of Tooru from the past. They both trained at the same dojo when they were younger. A week passes and it’s now time for anyone to form official duos with each other. Tooru plans to form a duo with Tora and is under the impression that Julie and Tomoe will form a team since they’re both strong fighters and get along with each other so well. When it’s time to form the duo Tooru finds out that Tomoe refused Julie’s invitation to form a duo and instead became a duo with Miyabi. Tooru goes to search for Julie where he finds her at the top of the clock tower (don’t jump~) and says he’ll form a duo with her (typical cliché is typical cliché).
In episode 3 a fighting tournament is being held on campus between the duos and Tooru and Julie are determined to win. Before the tournament we see Miyabi train hard to live up to the reputation of being Tomoe’s partner. She considers herself weak but she’s strong-willed and does her best. The day of the tournament arrives, and we see Tooru and Julie blaze past the competition (no pun intended). They even beat Tomoe and Miyabi with Miyabi having the most dangerous weapon in the anime so far a huge javelin. After they beat those two they here a scream and go running to it where they see Tora and his partner Tata unconscious (where is the woman who screamed?). Their teacher than comes out and attacks them (she’s finally gone yandere on us. I knew there was something off about her) where she reveals that blaze weapons can in fact hurt people (this wasn’t obvious? These things can break walls and smash through floors. It’s literally a manifestation of a weapon and nobody knew it could hurt you?) and if it gets destroyed you’ll be in pain for a whole day (well I suppose it’s better than dying). So the two fight their yandere bunny maid teacher where they come up with a quick strategy to have Tooru deliver a Falcon punch to their sensei’s sword destroying it and beating her (nothing can withstand the Falcon punch. Nothing). They beat their teacher, she gets arrested, and we end the episode on a funny note with Tomoe and Miyabi walking in on Tooru and Julie in an awkward position.
Episode 4 starts off with Tooru having a dream about Julie telling him that they are avengers (really? So I’m guessing Tooru is Thor and Julie is Captain America?). He wakes up from the dream with Julie sneaking in his bed again (she’s like a cat). At school they see that Usa is still their homeroom teacher (still here~ and you still a bitch~) because the loli headmaster was impressed with her skills and how she was able to train students this well in such a short period of time (you just didn’t wanna pay for a new teacher you irresponsible sadistic loli). In class a new character named Lilith a foreign exchange student from Britain makes her appearance and she wants Tooru to be her partner (stick with Julie man). She claims that she’s an exception (yeah she’s exceptionally full of herself) and that she came all this way to make Tooru her partner but he says no and he does it in a cool and badass way. The next day Tooru and Julie go out to the mall to buy clothes where we see that the kindergarteners from Amagi Brilliant Park have become a lot more subtle with their kidnapping (now I feel bad about the rape jokes I made) and everyone in the mall mistakes them for a couple (well they are cute together). Tomoe and Miyabi watch over them from a distance to make sure nothing illicit is happening between the two (oh come on you know the guy by now you know he’s not gonna do anything bad to her). When they stop to rest Julie gets drunk off of ice cream (is that even possible? I mean I know people have that rare condition where they get drunk off pop but ice cream is a new one for me) and Tomoe and Miyabi get hit on by these thugs. Tooru and the drunk Julie step in but they all get saved by Lilith who shoots them all from the balcony (and oddly enough none of thugs react to each other’s shooting. In a way it’s kinda funny). This catches Tooru by surprise because usually blazes are actual weapons and not guns (so that’s why she’s called an exception. Does this mean she’s Hawkeye?).
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off in swim class where everyone is practicing swimming especially Julie (she can’t swim can she? (Isis): Nope). After class Tooru goes to meet Lilith who is having tea in the middle of the garden and has been skipping out on classes the last few days. Once Tooru shows up she kidnaps him and they go to the theme park known as Deathnewland (where the Entrail Animals from Kampfer meet Monster High). Lilith is excited because she’s wanted to visit the park for quite some time (she’s into some strange things) and asks Tooru to once again be her partner and like last time he says no (you do know she’s your ride home?). This upsets her and she slaps him in the face saying that he’ll regret turning her down two times in a row (she’s gonna do something crazy I’m warning ya). The next day in class the yandere bunny tells the whole class that they’ll be facing off against the second year students in a school tournament and as the class is overlooking the second years practicing in the coliseum, Lilith comes out of nowhere and begins fighting them (http://youtu.be/inurD24S944, that girl’s loonier than Lemongrab from Adventure Time or the banana family from Gumball). She beats all the second years single-handedly and tells the principal that she’s going to prepare another tournament which will be her against all the first year students and the principal allows this (you are just a sadist aren’t you?).
Not much to say about episode 6. Lilith has her battle with all the first years in the mall at night and we’re placed right in the middle of it (yeah this episode has bad and I mean BAD storytelling). Lilith defeats all the other students until it comes down to Tooru and his friends who manage to figure out Lilith’s weaknesses and apprehend her but Tooru wants to face her himself one on one (this guy is starting to act like Goku). But before they can finish their fight they get interrupted by some marines (who the fuck are you guys?) wearing these suits of armor that give them super strength or something (I don’t know they don’t explain it and I don’t care). They shoot Tooru and Lilith and threaten to kill Miyabi unless Lilith comes with them. Because she cares about her friends now (when did this happen?) she willingly gives herself up but Tooru ain’t about to let her go so he does his Falcon Punch and saves Lilith from those marines (the few the worthless the unknown characters). After being rescued, Lilith and Tooru have their final fight where we don’t see who wins (wow this might just be the worst episode in the series). We go the next day in the hospital where Tooru is bed-ridden and Lilith’s arm is in a sling. The episode ends with Lilith kissing Tooru on the cheek saying that he’s going to be her future husband.
Nothing much happens in episode 7. The school is going on a seaside school training camp but in order to get to the island where they’ll be training they have to swim there (that principal is the devil). They get dumped into the ocean and everyone swims with Tooru swimming with Julia on his back since she can’t swim (that’s very thoughtful) and Lilith joining them to stay close to Tooru (and she’s wearing a sexy swimsuit). They arrive on the island only to discovered that it’s infested with ninjas who can use Blaze as well (we’re calling it the Hidden Blaze village. We hope to be an opposing force for the Leaf Village in the future but for now we’ll focus on this anime and build ourselves up). Tooru, Julia, and Lilith fight where we find out that one of them is Asuna I mean Imari from the first episode (what the hell is going on here?). It turns out that the island is home to the main school’s branch school where Imari as well as the others students who failed the entrance exam are taken to continue their training (wow we should have been following this school). They have a welcoming party welcoming them to the island and Miyabi finally realizes she has a crush on Tooru.
Episode 8 starts off with a classic harem cliché. Our male lead waking up to discover two naked girls are sleeping with him (oh it’s two this time. Usually it’s just one). After that the episode shifts its focus on Miyabi who after coming to the conclusion that she’s in love with Tooru wants to confess her feelings to him. Imari easily discovers Miyabi’s feelings for Tooru (they weren’t that hard to spot if you ask me) and decides to help her. We get a few more fanservice bits such as having fun at the beach and seeing the girls (including the yandere bunny) in swimsuits and even having a hotsprings scene where we discover that Miyabi is an F cup (Baron: And I am aroused now). After the hotsprings they walk back to the school where Miyabi slips and hurts her ankle. Imari uses this chance to set her and Tooru up and tricking the others into going on ahead because of dinner duty (so far Imari is turning out to be the best wing woman in this anime). Tooru carries Miyabi on his back and they arrive at the beach where Miyabi just comes right out and says she’s in love with Tooru (no beating around the bush no distractions or misunderstanding she just comes right out and says it. This is so refreshing). At first it seems like Tooru is more than happy to accept Miyabi’s feelings but he remembers his past (wow, I honestly forgot his tragic past. I think the anime forgot about it too because this hasn’t been bought up since the first episode) and how because of his weakness the people closest to him died. This of course leads to Tooru rejecting Miyabi’s confession and causing her to run away crying feeling like a fool to end the episode. After the credits as Tooru lays on the beach staring at the stars and moon an explosion goes off near the dorms and we see that those marines from the last episode now known as the Rebels are attacking the school shooting up students (damn).
Episodes 9-12
At the start of episode 9 the Rebels led by their chief K begin attacking students shooting them up and everything (and surprisingly all the students survive the bullet shots). Tooru joins the fight as does Usa who now has all of her limiters released and goes all out decimating the Rebels like nothing (bitch is crazy). They take them all out but K manages to capture the headmaster underneath Lilith’s nose and tries to escape (good. Let them have her). Tooru and Julia go to save her (no, fuck that sadistic loli bitch. Let someone else suffer) where they fight K in a fight that goes surprisingly back and forth with K ultimately gaining the upper hand because of the special power suit but Julia activates rage mode and begins moving fast slicing up K until Tooru stops her because she’s hurting herself in the attack. K gets a call from his superiors telling him to retreat and he leaves. Tooru and Julia return with the headmaster and we find out that Miyabi has sided with the Rebels in order to become stronger and catch Tooru’s eyes (well becoming his enemy is a good way to catch his eyes).
In episode 10 Tooru and the others return to the main academy. A few days go by and there’s been no sign of Miyabi (too busy being a traitorous bitch). Naturally, Tooru is sad about this and blames himself for it (yeah it is kind of his fault) and Tomoe also feels sad not knowing where her partner is and worried about her. The headmistress upgrades Tooru to level 4 for safely rescuing her and gives him that syringe that will release the limits on his body and allow him to unleash the true power of his blaze (sounds great. He wanted power and now it’s in the palm of his hands). He doesn’t take it claiming he’s not ready for it (oh yes you are. Quit being a baby and get stronger). After that the Reign Conference a conference where all the people who study Blaze and run schools come together in the hopes of discussing their ultimate goal which is Absolute Duo (the final frontier as they call it). At the conference we meet Equipment Smith (Yes. That is his name. I’m not kidding) the leader of the Rebels and an old friend of the headmistress’s grandfather. Equipment wants to partner up with her and her academy to find Absolute Duo but she refuses and even insults him. He then proposes a challenge between his rebels and her students. A battle to the death where the last side standing will be declared the winner (okay the headmistress may be a sadistic loli bitch but there’s no way she would agree to a match that will endanger her students. She’s not that evil). She accepts the match (you are the devil’s daughter) and the Rebels invade the school with Miyabi who has gone yandere on us (it’s a little unsettling to be honest).
So in episode 11 Miyabi fights the gang injuring Tomoe a little where they’re still surprised to see that a Blaze can in fact harm you (cut the crap! You know damn well Blaze is a weapon, you use it to fight and everything so why are you so shock to see it actually hurt someone?). Tomoe tells the others to go ahead and fight K while she takes on Miyabi. They go through the typical clichés such as Miyabi doing all of this because she was too weak which is why Tooru turned her down (first off he didn’t say no to you. Second, he didn’t call you weak he called himself weak. He couldn’t protect his family and he’s afraid he won’t be able to protect you unless he gets stronger. Why are you doing this again?) and Tomoe reassuring her she’s not weak and apologizing for not recognizing all the suffering Miyabi was going through. Tomoe literally slaps the sense back into Miyabi and she returns to normal. Back with Tooru and Julia, Tooru finally uses that syringe the headmistress gave him and uses it to knock the hell out of K (in the most unimpressive epic punch I’ve ever seen). With K defeated Tooru and the others win the game making Smith look like an idiot (not that he needed their help to accomplish this). He goes to the beaten K and begins stomping on him blaming him for his loss until K kills him and steals Smith’s pocket watch which holds Destruction the ultimate armor of the Rebels. K releases Destruction and vows to kill Tooru and everything he holds close to him.
In the final episode its Tooru and Julie vs K (get ready for round 3). Long story short Tooru almost dies, Julie goes berserk on us again, Tooru gets back up and stops her, and Tooru uses Julie’s blaze and his blaze to defeat K who we find out later had an older brother who he lost suddenly and was sold off to be a soldier seeking only power after his family fell apart (so all this time he’s just been a little boy crying about his brother dying on him?). A few days go by and both Tooru and Julie leave the hospital and meet up at the clock tower where they recite their duo vows and promise to get stronger for each other.
Final Thoughts
If you read this far, you’ve come to the conclusion that this anime is generic and uninteresting as an anime can get. The storytelling is bad, the anime doesn’t do a good job establishing the world or the background of blaze. I will admit there are a few funny scenes here and there, but they can be too cliché for my taste. The characters are generic and forgettable. The only two characters you wind up remembering are Tooru and Julie and while there’s some story going on there it gets dropped. The fight scenes aren’t all that spectacular, they’re pretty dull, basic, and predictable. There’s almost no strategy to these fights whatsoever, just keep on attacking until something works. The animation and music aren’t all that great and the fanservice is nothing to write home about as they play it safe throughout the anime. Each episode is forgettable. As soon as I got done with one episode and went to the next one I completely forgot what happened in the previous episode because it was so uninteresting and generic to watch. The Asterisk War is way more exciting and interesting compared this anime that doesn’t explain anything to us. Where do Blazes come from? How do they work in the real world? Why is everyone shocked to see their weapons actually hurt people? What is Absolute Duo? We’re left in the dark throughout the chunk of this generic anime as it doesn’t know what it wants to do.
Final Score
The final score for Absolute Duo is a 2/10. The only thing stopping this from being a 1 is Julie, who’s so adorable and cute that hating on her would be a crime against anime. She’s honestly the only thing of value in this series and the only thing that will stick with me. If you like this anime like a few people out there, cool. But for me and a lot of other people out there, this anime will be seen as the worst anime that 8bit has ever done and hopefully will do. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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