Overman King Gainer

Overman King Gainer follows Gainer Sanga, a professional gamer, also known as King Gainer. Gainer crosses paths with a mercenary named Gain Bijou, and the two of them steal a giant mech known as an Overman. While Gainer is relatively unfamiliar with the whole purpose of stealing the mech, Gain's purpose for acquiring the unique machine is the lead an exodus to a land called Yappan. Mankind is forced to live in domed cities due to intense environmental degradation. Many believe that sustaining life outside of the domed cities is impossible. What further complicates the ability for people to leave the domed cities is the Siberian Railway, an organization that controls the flow of goods into and out of the domed cities. This organization is heavily militarized with Overman and Silhouette engines in order to keep people oppressed within the domed cities so that their own pockets remain lined.

Personally, I found this show a little challenging to follow. Right out of the gate the viewer is thrown into the story. It took me about 4 episodes to really begin understanding what was happening and who the characters were. What initially drew me to this show was the fact that there were mecha. There were many good elements to the show, however, I found it easy to overlook the positives because of the inconsistent flow in the story. There was a lot of bouncing around, which I found caused me not to want to watch more than a couple of episodes at a time.

Overman King Gainer did boast some positives such as good quality animation and unique characters. The BGM was decent and tended to fit with the context of the scenes. While I won't be rushing out anytime soon to get the soundtrack, the music was still well used. The concepts for the Overman were unique and interesting. I was expecting more of a transformers/Gundam style  in mech design, but the concept of making the Overman more comical was an interesting change. Character dialog in the English dub was relatively cheesy. There were some scenes where the conversations between characters that seemed so awkward, even as a viewer there was that odd feeling of discomfort. One thing that was very nice to see was at the end of each episode the writers decided to throw in a "next time on..." to preview the upcoming episode. Many of the anime that I have watched recently have not had this element incorporated. As I heard the music and the beginning of the preview, I was getting some nostalgia back to earlier series such as Slayers where this was a common feature.

Overall, this was a pretty decent show. Not the top of my list, but still a solid series to watch nonetheless. For those looking for a show that is mech intensive such as Gundam, this might not be up your ally, but if you are looking for a show with lighthearted humor and some quirky characters, then this is one that should interest you.