Outbreak Company

Image from: http://www.animevice.com/outbreak-company/11-6746/

Name: Outbreak Company

Status: Completed
Episode: 12
Release Date (in eng subs): -


Summary:

Having a light novel author father and an eroge illustrator mother, Kanou Shinichi is a thoroughbred otaku. However he does not have any special power except for his broad knowledge, sharp insight, and impeccable instinct about "MOE" and its products, from manga to anime to games to light novel to figures. One day he found himself transported to a fantasy world where elves live and dragons fly. And he is given a task—not to fight monster or embark on a quest, but to enhance cultural exchange by becoming a "moe missionary" in this fantasy world! He meets a palace guard who has a bit of fujoshi taste, a half-elf maid, and the empress who is a little girl. He comes up with the idea of building a school. At first it runs as a comedy but later there are serious matters that Shinichi needs to face: ethnic discrimination, social problems, conflict with neighboring countries, sabotage by opposition elements including Japanese government, etc. Can he overcome the obstacles, successfully bring "moe" culture to the fantasy world, and help the people there as well?

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/19369/Outbreak_Company


Personal Ratings: 3

I found this anime while trying to find an anime that is a little like Lucky Star (somethings that is slice of life genre but is about the Otaku culture or anime in general). So I stumbled upon this anime, which was apparently an anime that was shown not too far back. 

When I first watch this anime, I thought that it would turn out quite well, especially when they actually show Shinichi reacting to everything around him in a very otaku way. I had quite a great expectation for this anime from the start, but unfortunately not really there yet. 

I think the largest thing that was a huge mistake was probably the fact that there isn't much episode about his normal life. Of course it would have been a little hard to incorporate it into the anime, given the setting, but I thought that what actually really captured me into the anime was actually the first scene where Shinichi actually got to answer some otaku questions, but seeing as all the future episodes (except for 1) didn't have anything to do with his student life (or his shut-in life), I think that itself is quite a big minus point. 

So for the plus side for those of you who are trying to look for an otaku anime to watch, is probably his reaction to everything around him when he first went to 'that' world. It's just fun to see how he reacted to everything that he saw in his manga or anime, like cat ears, maid outfits, etc. But, of course, that soon died out as he got used to that other world. However, as that part of the anime died out, the anime got a little more boring. Because other than the otaku side of this anime, I don't really think that this anime could survive purely on the comedy side of the anime. I also thought that even the serious side of the anime is still lacking in terms of backbone and planning. 

For the serious side of the anime, I thought that there weren't really much of it showing from the beginning, and it only surfaced at the end of the anime (like the last 2 episodes of the anime). Of course in the beginning there were some other serious issues that they have to resolve first, which is mainly the treatment of the different level of social classes within the country. But even after that was resolve, there were actually no hints or anything that were dropped to suggest that the Japan government was trying to take of the country by bringing in the Otaku culture. So I really thought that they should have dropped hints in order to get the anime a little more hyped up and interesting, because somewhere in the middle, it got a little boring. But thank god for the 12 episodes, if not it would have been a lot worst. 

As for the comedy side of this anime, I thought it was really quite funny and cute at the same time. Although, most of the jokes would only work on people that either watch anime or read manga before. So judging from this, this anime wouldn't have attracted newbies or non-anime watchers. 

However to those who are really into anime, we can see both the Otaku and Fujoshi side of people in this anime, so it can be quite interesting at some point where they show case the two different groups of people. 

Though that being said, I thought that the part where Shinichi actually teach them more about the Otaku culture, he should have started from really basic stuff. That way people who are actually just getting to know anime would have actually learnt all those things. So I guess from here we can all tell that they were probably targeting the higher level of otaku out there (haha).

Arts Ratings: 3

Don't really like the art, however, I do think that to a certain extend it's suits the theme and setting of the whole anime. They used more lighter and pastel colour to go together with that kind of 'fantasy' feel, to go alongside the otaku side of the anime. 

If i've got anything big to complain, it would have to be the eye lashes. it's drawn pretty weirdly so when there is a close up on the eyes and when they show it open and close slowly, it looks really inconsistent. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13