Synopsis
In a world where Japan has been flooded by superpowered non-human creatures, we need someone to keep them in check. Perhaps a superhero shall watch over them. But who watches the watcher? Enter the Superhuman Bureau. They seek to protect and manage all superhumans in Japan. So yeah, here comes the men in black~
Jiro is one of the bureau’s agents. In one of his stakeout operations, he meets Kikko. He enlists her help to prevent a prominent scientist from leaking out information to industrial spies.
One thing leads to another, and the industrial spy turns out to be an alien. But have no fear, Kikko herself is actually a magical girl!
Now that the evil alien has failed his initial plans, he decides to become a giant, because… okay I have no idea. He wants to get the package that Kikko took from him, I’m not really sure upsizing is the way to go. But whatever, let’s roll with it.
Now that the evil alien is a giant and is menacing the lives of the normal human beings, a new giant alien appears! And this time, he’s a good guy!
Jiro decides to join in on the battle in his car-turned-mecha.
He helps the green alien defeat the black alien, but after winning he face-heel-turns and slashes the finger of the green alien!
Why? This is so that they, as a bureau, can track him. As it turns out, he’s an alien residing in the body of a human. And that cohabitation isn’t exactly the best of arrangements. And so Jiro manages to convince both the alien and the human to part ways, and thus the green alien goes back to his home planet and the human is seen no more.
Fast forward 5 years into the future. This time around, it seems like Jiro himself is being chased by the Superhuman Bureau. Among those after her is Kikko. Why? We’re not sure yet. But it seems like the Superhuman Bureau may not be all that good after all.
Review
There are three main elements in Concrete Revolutio. First, the Superhuman Bureau and the potential absurdity of the powers of the creatures they need to manage. Second, Kikko’s existence as a magical girl. And third, Jiro’s betrayal as displayed in the two time frames we switch back and forth between.
With regard to the first, the show managed to position itself quite well for potential entertainment. The idea in itself is already a gold mine. The sheer variety of powers they can involve in the story creates so much possibility, both for humor and for plot development. It is perhaps the same reason why Kekkai Sensen was such an interesting show going on. The question though is whether Concrete Revolutio will leverage this well enough.
With regard to the second, the magical girl element works marvelously with the show’s look and feel. Concrete Revolutio from the get go presents itself in a very absurd feel. It embraces its identity as an over-the-top show, from the color scheme of the background to Jiro’s hyper seriousness on the job. Kikko’s magical girl routine, which is similarly absurd, fits in seamlessly. And who can resist magical girls?
The only real knock in my opinion with Kikko is the out-of-place shot of her cleavage. It just sort of happened.
The problem though is with regard to the third element. While the idea of future betrayal is fine, the show jumps between the two time frames far too abruptly for my taste. The jump isn’t that obvious. On both cases I had to wonder if they were just changes in scenes or something else. What ended up making me realize that a jump in time occurred was when the stuff happening no longer made sense in light of the previous scene.
Perhaps they could have changed the animation style. Perhaps they could have lumped the entire future segments post ED or pre OP. There are other ways to go about showing future events to hook the audience. I just don’t think sudden jumps between two time frames is the way to go.
In any case, Concrete Revolutio is colorful enough both figuratively and literally to hold significant potential for it to be quite a good show.
Waifu Index
How can you resist a magical girl waifu? All hail Kikko! But only in her magical girl form.
The other girl in the Superhuman Bureau (Kino Emi) has an underdog’s chance, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It feels like it’s gonna be all about Kikko.