I figured I'd take a bit of time to look over another show from last year I missed out on since the current anime season is just starting to pick up steam, and one I had on my list for a while was B: The Beginning. I won't lie, the reason is the name was incredibly stupid, and I kind of want to know what is up with that name.
Going in with no expectations at all, I am quickly reminded of Terror in Resonance, something the show was clearly inspired by. I'm not saying it's a rip-off, but the inspiration is pretty clear. You have an old detective currently working in the archives but comes back to the force to help investigate a criminal they are having trouble with. Along the way there ends up being another party involved, and a kind of partnership forms between the detective and the original criminal.
They differ in quite a few ways, specifically in the reasoning behind the detectives rejoining the force. In the Case of B, Detective Keith Flick has been researching his sisters killer. In addition, there is definitely a supernatural element going on to the show with government research into reviving gods. Even the motivations of the ones under investigation are massively different between the shows. I bring this up because while there are definite similarities, it doesn't really feel right to compare the shows. Their themes, styles, and narrative are vastly different despite sharing a core premise.
That said, I don't see B becoming a classic anytime soon. It has a tendency to fall into the trap of making Keith Flick look smart by simply expecting you to run with the fact he knows what's going on without really explaining in any real detail. He just knows because he's smarter than you, and they even throw in this quirky thing where he writes down all these equations on everything that no one else can really understand. What they mean is never really explained, he's just doing important deductions and that's all you really know.
The show also manages to keep you invested because a lot of the characters are fairly interesting. Seeing' Killer B live his normal life as a craftsman fixing Violins and then jumping into the fray of combat with other supernatural beings in search of a certain girl do help him feel like a rounded character. You similarly get a great view of what kind of person Flick is, especially his dedication to finding out more information about his sisters Killer, as well as his own relationship the previously mentioned program to revive the gods.
The combat is also pretty intense and fast-paced at times and is a lot of fun to watch. In the sky, on the building side, guns and swords, it's quite a thrill to see all the different elements at play. You even get a lot of fun car chases, including the police force trying to chase down a military tank with stealth abilities.
Where the story starts to fall flat again however is the show's insistence you just kind of accept things work a certain way without really explaining anything too you. The big one is that, at a certain location, certain powers of B simply don't work, and is told he should avoid fighting there. They seem to not work... because if they did it wouldn't be a very climactic fight scene. They really don't give you any more information on that.
The show does a good job at wrapping up the story it wanted to tell this season while setting up a plot for the upcoming season two. You can definitely watch this season and not feel like you weren't told a full story, plus it's nice to know it's going to continue in the future. There are too many problems to give it a full recommendation, but so long as you aren't expecting too much beyond a fun action show with some pretty solid characters and good action, it's worth a look.
