Qualidea Code

Summary: >

As the earth was invaded by aliens called "unknown", children were put into hibernation while war ensued. Many years later they wake to discover many have super powers. The children remain isolated to three cities under human control, perhaps the last cities in the entire world. As the Unknown continue their assault, new tactics never seen before are being employed. There is also a secret behind the children's new found abilities, which may shift the direction of the war.

Thoughts: >

Qualidea Code would be a decent sci-fi anime if it came together and didn't feel like it was trying too hard. That's partially due to time constraints, and partially due to budget constraints. What makes this anime worth the watch is the plot twist, which isn't mind blowing but fairs well enough. Good enough to carry the entire show? Depends if you can tolerate the characters.

I didn't like anyone in this show; hated most of them actually. They're common tropes, done poorly and fail to mesh well at all. The lack of a main character hinders the perspective on what the story and focus actually is.

I liked the concept where humans live in a fish bowl (of 3 cities) penned in by an unknown world controlled by aliens beyond. Mostly however it isn't so much a sci-fi show as another "high school kids with super powers" anime, which isn't so great. It attempts to portray characters as super cool, but it doesn't work well, and I found it more annoying than anything.

Maybe I'm the only one who cares, but logistics in this show are terrible. Characters jump distances seemingly a mile away, then appear right beside something in the next scene. The show is continuously plagued with this, like the animators had no idea how to work past the storyboards given them in production. Even the height of characters will change between scenes. The artwork is inconsistent and can suddenly drop to terrible quality (but generally looks okay). If you want "fighting" to be more than "stuff happens", this isn't your anime.

Despite my misgivings with the characters, they have good back stories supporting them. That patched up some of the bad feelings I built up towards the show. The plot isn't too bad either, with the (not unexpected) twist adding an interesting turn as the truth is revealed. It probably could have used more of a buildup, but this is the kind of show you're glad isn't any longer than it is. It fills 12 episodes well enough (barely).

Qualidea Code is patched together in a shoddy way with lacking characters, but if you like sci-fi, and are okay with "superpower teens" it might be worth a try.

Screen Caps: >