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Title (English) Betterman
Title (Japanese) Betterman
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book cover

Fantasy Novel

Notes Genre: horror
Classification -
Synopsis Set in the very new future, 'Betterman' is a sci-fi and horror cross that tells of a world where biotechnology has gone mad, an ancient evil has been released and love is cruelly punished.
Keeta is a fairly ordinary high school student, living a fairly ordinary life in the big city, except for a recurring dream about the ocean and a girl with multicolored hair whose face he can't quite make out. Then one night while riding his bike home from school, Keeta has to avoid a truck and goes down the stairs of a closed subway station, at the bottom of which he finds a strange 'disneyland from hell'. A giant underground amusement park was scheduled to open up that day, but the opening was halted due to the horrific deaths of hundreds of workers in the park. Keeta is chased by horrifying evil that he can barely see and doesn't understand, until he runs into a strange mecha with two operator cockpits and he climbs into the empty one for safety. It turns out that an old childhood friend of his, Hinoki, is in the other cockpit and has lost her partner for operating the machine.
It happens that Keeta can operate the mecha in a limited manner and almost succeeds in getting the two of them out of trouble, when the mecha runs out of power in the face of an even greater horror. Then, out of the dark comes a figure of something like a man who bites into a strange fruit and transforms into a powerful monster that Hinoki calls Betterman. Betterman destroys the horror and disappears. It turns out that Hinoki is working for the mysterious Akamatsu corporation, which is investigating this and other similar events. There are other odd people working with Hinoki, including the frail esper Sakura who finds the horrors. Together, this team of 'lost souls' tries to solve the mysteries of the horrors and of Betterman. (Dave Baranyi)
Review 1999 was a good year for strange and different anime in Japan, and the TV Tokyo late night 26-part anime 'Betterman' was one of the big contributors to that trend. Set in the very new future, 'Betterman' is a sci-fi and horror cross that tells of a world where biotechnology has gone mad, an ancient evil has been released and love is cruelly punished. The series was notable for also being the first anime series to be broadcast in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The series has a constant aura of imminent malevolence in every episode. The Akamatsu team are probing into the unknown and are, in reality, quite ill-equipped, both mentally and in equipment, to do so. This, along with the dark, brooding animation and music, gives a steady dose of suspense all the time, mixed in with unexpected shocks and surprises. And in the middle of the series, when it appears that the team has solved the mysteries, it turns out that things are much worse and much more malevolent than any of them dreamed. The story moves on to a tremendously intense climax that ties all of the premonitions of the series together. This was one of my favorite anime of 1999 and remains on my all time favorite list. Just don't get too "attached" to too many of the characters. (Dave Baranyi)

I think that "Betterman" is reaching its end, but it is hard to say because there have been a couple of false endings so far. This is very much a "Lovecraftian" plotted show, in which each time the heroes defeat a horrible foe, they find an even more horrid and insidious plot coming out of the background. BTW - a hint for anyone fortunate to see some of the episodes - if you can't see a character's eyes, RUN!
Dave Baryani

Credits Dir: Yoshitomo Kometari
Episodes 26
Release US:DVD
TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date 1999 April 1 - 1999 Sept 30
Production Sunrise
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

 

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