Hamatora: The Animation

RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

Runtime: 24 minutes
Episodes: 10 (still ongoing)
Artists: Yukino Kitajima and Yūki Kodama

The story focuses on a group of highly intellectual people who are able to harness an unusual ability called “The Minimum”. Hamatora is a group of freelance detectives who solve crimes and help people in return for money. Nice, the main protagonist, along with his friends Hajime, Murasaki, Birthday and Ratio, each possess their own unique Minimum powers. Together, they spend their days using their powers to catch the criminals. But the sudden disappearances of other Minimum Holders gave rise to a new terror in Japan. Their latest cases connect them to a serial killer who is killing Minimum Holders and is carrying out experiments to transfer their powers into ordinary human beings. Through his newly created army of artificial Minimum Holders, he is orchestrating a series of chaotic situations to unleash a reign of horror in Japan and challenge the ideals of Nice. On the other hand, Hamatora's ally Inspector Art is relentlessly pursuing the killer to protect Nice from the latter's clutches. Little do they know that their investigation will force them to face the past they left behind and in the process, they will lose someone very close to them.
Verdict: The anime is still new so there are a lot more developments coming up. The mystery surrounding the protagonists' past is building up at a steady pace, allowing the audience to understand the emotions and thoughts of the characters. The animation quality is excellent and the audience will enjoy the visually appealing fight scenes.. The pace of the plot is still slow and needs to be hastened to keep the audience entertained. Some of the scenes depicted might be too gory for the general audience, so parental guidance is advised. All in all, the ardent anime fans will love Hamatora.