Michael is Low on Hit Points

The changes Gonzo made to Linebarrels of Iron and what they amount to

• Posted  December 20th, 2008 at 5:41 PM ET
• Subjects  Linebarrels of Iron
• Tags  impressions, final look
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Gonzo is a studio notorious for their loose adaptations. While I disagree with those too far on the side of strict adaptations and Gonzo bashing, Linebarrel certainly adds fuel to that fire. Let's take a look at what they did right so far, what they missed doing, and what they did so wrong it leaves me speechless in the wrong sort of way.

Changing a show around is not by definition a mistake and can sometimes lead to an overall better product. Fullmetal Alchemist is proof enough of that. Linebarrel began as a likeable manga, needing only a little jazzing up plot and character-wise. A talented series planner and director could work magic here by tweaking the story in a variety of places.

The first solid concept is allowing the viewer to see Kouichi's fall from grace. Introducing him to Linebarrel and death in the present gives our lead character depth previously found only in flashbacks. A device like Kouichi's self styled 'grave' adds to the theme of Koichi's rebirth -- or we should say, the birth of his 'new personality.'

It's a shame then that this good idea is handled so poorly. Since the 'story proper' in the manga is Kouichi working for JUDA and turning into a stand up individual, all of that gets pushed back to show this new content. This needs to be integrated with the old content. Instead, we are given a few 'filler battles' in the first few episodes.

There's no main story nor is there any background for this world yet. This fighting exists for no other reason than to squeeze in some action early on. The manga, while not overly compelling, has a structured story that progresses with cause. The anime kind of just bangs along for the first few episodes without any sense or purpose.

And the one plot piece they decided to integrate early with this new content was Emi's introduction to Kouichi. So they give her amnesia to stave off later plot points, which only comes off as cliche. The amnesia is then used for an excuse as to her sudden meekness, compared to her stronger, yet reserved demeanor in the manga.

We also lose a stunning scene later on because of this. In the manga, the viewer is left unaware that Linebarrel in truth has two pilots. When Emi summons Linebarrel down on Mr. Imagination Villain to his surprise, with the line "Reality surpasses your imagination!"... well that's just too awesome of a scene to miss out on.

When it comes to characters, we're left with a few more tweaks. The addition of Miu and her mech Painkiller hasn't hurt anything, nor has it helped either. I believe that giving them a stronger role right off the bat would have been a nice shock to the system for manga fans. Let them know that this anime means business, and knows the reason it made the addition to begin with.

At the point that I stopped following Linebarrel, her only reason for being seems too simply add another pair of boobs to the cast -- maybe to replace the ones being taken away, as I've heard (correct me if I'm wrong) that Satoru is now a boy in the anime. Why? Who knows. It's just another change made with no real reason that I can see.

Of course, when the changes started to get ridiculous is when I stopped watching. Episode 6 was completely preposterous and unnecessary. The next episode had our main villain busting out sponge cake from a suitcase. I have no clue what that even means; it is beyond me. And from what I've read of Kurogane's blog entries on the show, the trend of WTF continues on despite me.

Oh well, no one can blame Gonzo for not trying. In fact, I wish they tried a little less hard and instead just stuck to a plain, straight up adaptation. Changes could have been made for the better, but more creative hands were needed than those that were available.

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