Sponsor...

################################################################################

Name: The GetBackers
Licensed in US: Yes
Series Length: 49 episodes at 24 minutes each
Type Watched: Fansubbed
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Date Written: April 18, 2005

Mido Ban and Amono Gingi will retrieve anything, having a 100% success rate and with the motto, “If it was stolen, we’ll steal it back!”. The GetBackers starts off when a girl named Mizuke Natsumi accidentally sees the identity of a police officer participating in a Japanese mafia. She was able to get away safely, but her priceless cat mascot doll made by her deceased mother was stolen. The GetBackers were reluctant at first to accept the job of retrieving her doll, but they eventually accepted her job and in affect, began the series’ first adventure.

 

The GetBackers is an excellent mixture of humor, action, and everything else you would expect in a good anime. Additionally, the length of the series is just right, coming out at 49 episodes. Any longer and it would have gotten boring, but any shorter and I would have wished it were longer. The only problem I had concerning length was the point that


they seemed to drag the first main storyline a little too long. Of course, I could have said the same thing the other way around for filler episodes.

 

I know that many anime fans seem to despise filler episodes, but I would beg to differ. In the GetBackers all the filler episodes are like mini 1 episode stories (there are a few which span 3 or more episodes excluding the main two storylines) and are usually quite enjoyable ranging from humorous to serious storylines. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have been too disappointed if the whole series was just a bunch of mini stories, but without the two main storylines it would be a series without a goal or conclusion.

 

The Graphics & Sound

Both the graphics and the sound are quite good. The graphics may not be the best around, but they are far from bad. Character and scenery design are very well done, and the sound effects are realistic. Not only are the sound effects good, but also the music, usually fitting in very well with the current event. In fact, right after watching The GetBackers I got a hold of the 1st OST. With a mixture of jazz like music and other themes of music mixed in, it turned out to be quite fun to listen to. Unfortunately, the second OST didn’t live up to its name and I would highly recommend people not to even bother getting the second OST.

 

Characters

The two main characters, Gingi and Mido Ban, seem to be quite distinctive from the very start. Some may complain about not knowing enough about their background history at first, but through the series (epically during the two main storylines) their pasts will become clearer. Also, it is quite interesting to see Mido Ban and Gingi together as a team, considering their personalities are quite different with Mido being a very serious person and Gingi being very laid back and even silly. However, that isn’t always true of the two of them.

 

  All of the characters seem to have some sort of mysterious past that usually causes some sort of conflict in the present/future. Not only that, but most of the main characters were originally enemies of the two main characters and all have superhuman-like powers. However, there are many times where the characters become enemies again due to their jobs, which causes some interesting conflict considering that the main characters have very close friendships with some of the other characters.

 

The GetBackers is definitely worth watching, providing serious and humorous filler episodes, and two main storylines that answer many questions about the past of most of the characters. The first storyline drags a little bit, but other than that this anime is definitely a keeper. The only other problem I had with The Getbackers is that the final episode ends abruptly and is sort of confusing, though it isn’t a bad ending. 

 

Character Bios

(All appear within the first few episodes…Don’t want to spoil some surprises :-P)

 


Amono Gingi

Gingi was formally known as the Emperor of Lightning because of his power to generate electricity from within his body. He may act serious sometimes, but in general Gingi is the center of all humor in the story (but not always…) and when he turns into his second form (which maybe you could call a comic-relief form or something?) you can’t help but laugh a little.

 

Mido Ban

Mido Ban, with his Evil Eyes, can give people extremely realistic dreams in order to defeat them (usually by confusing or scaring them and allowing himself to attack the enemy while he or she is in a dream state). Mido Ban is more than meets the eye though (eye..ha ha…get it?…never mind), having a 1000kg hand grip and outstanding agility.

 

Hevn

Hevn is the negotiator for the Getbackers, providing them with new, often dangerous, jobs. Even more ironic is that with the GetBacker’s money luck, they often end up getting no pay for any of Hevn’s dangerous jobs.

 

Mizuke Natsumi

Natsumi was the GetBacker’s first client in the series and because of that also met Paul and received a job at the Honky Tonk, which is where the GetBackers often loiter and build up their tab.

 

Paul Wan

Paul is the owner of the Honky Tonk and with the high tab that Mido and Gingi put on him and his low amount of customers, it’s a wonder he’s still open for business. Though, could a simple restraint owner have an unexpected past?


CNR is not responsible for or approves of the content in the two above links.