Tokyo Override is one of those shoes which baffles me in various ways. It opened to a silent debut, no advertising to aid its showing, and has shown little fanfare from the distributors itself. Yet the show took half a decade to release, and was officially partnered with major motorcycle teams; top that with the great graphics and well designed characters and you're left with one question: Why like this?
This is one of those shows which, was it released a decade ago on satellite channels, would have run for 12-24 episodes before being renewed for a new season. It would have had one-off episodes and character bonding specials. Throughout the scene we would have seen the backstories and motifs behind each character and the world of Tokyo would be carefully crafted as a visual sandbox. Unfortunately, this was not how the show was released. Instead, we got a 6 episode streaming release and it shows. 6 episodes which kept me hooked but left yearning for more.
Beside Kai, we learn the most about Hugo, a fellow member of Suma Garage. This isn't to say we learn particularly much about him though. Despite hints at what makes him tick, what made him the way he is in the series, he's left as a rather two-dimensional character with an obvious three-dimensional history we'll never see. This extends to Spoke who is worse off for this than Hugo for we never get to see the glimpse of his backstory. Watari (and to an extent her father) are virtually non-existent character wise and live only to further the plot.
Speaking of plot, it's perfectly okay. I enjoyed the mystery at hand and it progressed nicely. However, because of this, we got so little time on the world and characters themselves. I would have binged 6 episodes of the members of the garage just completing deliveries. My best comparison to this is that of early Star Wars Rebels with Kai as Ezra Bridger, except imagine he joined the Ghost Crew, saved one group of people then took down Vader.
I could go on how the three departments (the ministry of Justice, the Narcs, and Suma Garage) mesh really well. I could mention the gorgeous animation style and character design. I could sing the action sequences praises and I could even go on about the motorcycle designs. However, my one lasting thought on this series is how much I wish it was more. I wanted to love these characters, I wanted to fall in love with the world it showed me. You just can't do that on 6 episodes (25 minutes at that!)
All in all, great premise and a good watch, couple with gorgeous animation and scenes to match, it's let down by what is too straight forward a season. Suggest you watch but don't get attached too early, it'll only make that last episode sting more.
P. S: I cannot believe there wasn't a single AKIRA slide all film...
