I See Dem Rollin', I Hatin'

One of the shows I'm currently watching is The Rolling Girls, the new production from Wit Studio by director Kotomi Deai (season 2 of Silver Spoon). Though the episodes themselves are far from painful to watch, the series as a whole leaves something to be desired even after three episodes. And after weeks of thinking way too much about a cartoon (as usual), I think I've pinpointed what it is.

If you read the Anime News Network season previews, you'll remember this show being compared to FLCL, Kill la Kill, and (most appropriately, I think) Kyousogiga. That's why I decided to watch Rolling Girls, even though the reviewers cautioned it was trying too hard to imitate these shows. I optimistically dismissed these criticisms, because fantasy action is still fantasy action, right? Who cares what influenced what how much as long as we get to see some crazy animation? And for the record, the action scenes are quite fun to watch with vibrant colors and an energy that grabs you right off the bat. But I couldn't help thinking of its previously-mentioned brethren, and how hollow this was starting to feel in comparison.

Was it the world-building? Kill la Kill was beyond skilled in how it gave you everything you needed to know in the first five minutes: a fascist school rules over its students with an iron fist and super-powered uniforms, and a transfer student is going to rock the system, presumably in the most over-the-top way possible. Rolling Girls by comparison is much less concerned with why the crazy fights are exploding onscreen, and at first I felt an ill-defined world was hampering my enjoyment. But really, once we figure out the action stems from a gang war between different regions under different superheroes (Bests), this explanation alone doesn't hold up; “fantasy world gang war” is all the setting you need. Kyousogiga's magical wonderland where anything could happen was a much vaguer setup by comparison, and don't get me started on Yuri Kuma Arashi's vagueness. Never change, Ikuhara.

Did the characters just suck? Closer, but not quite. Of the many introduced thus far, few are outright irritating (by my standards). I'm actually rooting for some of the Rest to take down the Best, who are mostly assholes that don't deserve their powers. It does carry the distinct stench of being gimmicky, which is a word I hate to use. Every animated character had their designers thinking, “how can I make this creation appeal to the widest audience possible?”, after all. But seriously, count the cast members who aren't cute girls. Riding on that train of thought, I smacked right into the answer, the big problem plaguing countless “cute girl” anime: there are no stakes here.

The violence has no consequences. When Best clash, not only do they suffer no fatalities, but neither do innocent bystanders. Though one Rest shrieks, “I'd die if I fought a Best!”, they are regularly blown hundreds of feet into the air by shockwaves. A group of Rest is used as hostages on a roller coaster of death, and though all are eventually flung violently from it long before the threatened crash, they all survive. “Oh, we've gotten really good at falling from great heights!” Even if one Best theoretically defeats another and takes their territory, trading your current asshole leader for a different one isn't the most dire consequence ever.

Those who watched Kyousogiga are no doubt rushing to correct me by now. “But people in Kyousogiga literally couldn't die! And all collateral damage repaired itself by magic! How can you harp on one show when this other had the same problems?” Because Rolling Girls also has virtually no emotional stakes.

Though the world of Kyousogiga was notoriously consequence-free, its three rulers radiated a sense of loss, of longing in their appearances. Separated from their parents before truly ready for it, they're clearly come across as unsupervised children locked in the world's best toy store for eternity; inwardly unhappy and unable to resolve their own issues alone. The four “rolling girls”? The main character goes on her quest to help a childhood friend, which is frankly a cheap and overused motivation in my book. One girl wants to gather these mysterious stones because they “look pretty”. Nice. The other two are along for the ride.

In the words of Boromir, “If we fail, what then?” Well, Best will continue to be assholes, which they have every indication of being if the girls succeed. The gas mask girl's implied issues with her mother will go tearfully unresolved unless, you know, they decide to talk their problems out. Some shady guy appears to also be collecting those magic stones, but we know nothing about him; he'll probably end up being the last boss no matter what anyone does. Oh, wait, the girls will all have to return to their comfortable daily lives if they fail to gather all those weird stones! Now that's scary!

I wanted to like this show, partially because I've liked nothing made by Wit Studio that isn't Attack on Titan, but this just isn't doing it for me. I'll keep watching since this show may yet pleasantly surprise me, but that won't likely happen unless events get significantly weightier, which doesn't appear to be on Rolling Girls's agenda. Though a disappointment, we've all seen bigger ones.

What are your thoughts on The Rolling Girls? I'd love to hear your opinions, especially if you disagreed with me. Do you see other major flaws I didn't mention? Post 'em!