Monochrome Factor (anime/manga)
April 22nd, 2008 by Lianne
PG-13/16 for violence and a bit of sexuality; official series website (manga) and informational website (anime)
The plot of Monochrome Factor is largely reminiscent of a video game, specifically a dark action RPG of some sort: think putting Persona 3 and Kingdom Hearts in a blender, sprinkling in a little Zelda: Link to the Past, then making it all a little gayer (Kingdom Hearts jokes notwithstanding). It’s a modern-day fantasy about high school kids fighting monsters of The Dark, and the kids themselves are forced to take on shades of The Dark in order to effectively compete. There seems to be an astral world of some sort in this, some plane of existence layered over regular existence where our hero gets a palette swap and changes into what looks like a dress.
Despite nice visuals and a pretty good opening theme, Monochrome Factor is plagued with weaknesses. The dialogue is terrible - and this isn’t just an instance of the jokes not being funny. No, we also get obvious, incongruous cramming of the exposition into the characters’ everyday chatter, and every line of substance coming off as really inane. The storytelling is also pretty shoddy, as the sense of timing is off (don’t worry if a monster’s chasing you - you still have time to dance around without him catching up!), and most of the story progression feels jarring and arbitrary. The dialogue doesn’t help with these things, either, as the characters sometimes talk over each other’s heads without actually responding to each other.
And yet despite all the crap, I didn’t hate this show. There’s a shortage of good astral plane/mirror world anime out there, and the premise in this one made me think that this might have an interesting plot in that regard. A high school boy having mysterious powers is pretty blah, but a high school boy literally becoming a shadow in a different plane of reality, trying to live in this world and battle in the next without losing himself in either? I dunno…that could actually be neat.
It’s interesting to note that the gay under/overtones in this series - Junichi Suwabe using his sexy voice, boys blushing at each other, and a boy/boy kiss in the first episode - are apparently unique to the anime. I haven’t read the manga myself, but a colleague in the manga industry was talking about it lately. Granted, Monochrome Factor originally ran in Comic Blade Avarus alongside Tactics and the manga version of the Alice in Wonderland girl’s dating sim NotHayama and I played (and wanted to kill) earlier this year, so I doubt it was the most manly of comics to begin with. But seriously? This anime is really gay. So if you’re a fan of the manga, just keep in mind that the anime is really gay.
Initial impression: Maybe I’m being too kind, but don’t write off this show completely. Yet. (Lianne)
Naww, afaik it’s the same in the Manga, I flipped through it and a friend told me that too.;) Might take a look just for fun, since it doesn’t look like it takes itself very seriously. ^^
I’ve read the manga too and there is no slashiness what-so-ever in it. So, it’s all original to the anime ^^
Also, you guys played Heart no Kuni no Alice!? May i ask where you got it from? I’ve been dying to play it for months T_T
Stupid, stupid Heart no Kuni no Alice. What a great idea, what wretched execution. The gameplay was a nightmare that wasn’t intuitive in any way, and the storylines ranged from totally-awesome-creepy-hot to MIND-NUMBINGLY STUPID completely arbitrarily. It was basically an exercise in frustration. The sequel came out recently, Clover Alice (can’t remember the full name), but I think it’s supposed to have fixed some of the stupid gameplay. I have it, but haven’t played it yet because I’m currently involved in another visual novel that demands my attention. E-mail me privately at liannesentar@yahoo.com and we’ll talk SWAP.