The Winter 2021 Preview Guide

Back Arrow

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A mysterious man who goes by Back Arrow appears, equipped only with the knowledge that he is from beyond the Wall. To the people of Edger village and Lingalind, this comes as a surprise, as the Wall is the guiding force and protection of their lives. Back Arrow sets out on a journey to seek the truth, all while battling with himself.

Back Arrow is an original anime and streams on Funimation on Fridays.

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Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Back Arrow seems to operate on the kitchen sink method of plot, as in, “The first episode of Back Arrow feels like it threw everything and the kitchen sink into a blender and decided that was the plot.” That may not be the case going forward as various elements come clear, but as of right now, there is way too much being thrown in our faces. That includes world building, named characters, technology, jargon, and a smidgen of suspicion that most of the characters have been drinking the kool-aide for so long that they don't even know there's water they could have instead.

The basics appear to be that there's a world surrounded by a wall that over time has come to be worshipped as a god. Two countries live inside of it, and not only do they both hate each other, but they compete over “rakuho,” which are mysterious flying objects that contain important goods like the bind warpers that allow someone to don briheight. (See what I mean about jargon?) The prevalent belief, according to Ran, an aide to oracle Shu Bi, is that the rakuho are the seeds of the wall that have ripened and fallen to earth, which frankly sounds like a load of hooey. (Ran, however, is willing to kill someone who contradicts her.) Things get really confusing for the faithful when not one, but two rakuho appear one day, one over Rekka territory and another in Iki, which is apparently in the Wild West circa 1890. And when the second rakuho opens up and instead of gear reveals a buck naked dude who insists that he's from the other side of the wall, some world views are going to be shaken.

I suppose it isn't all that strange that no one inside the wall ever questioned the prevalent beliefs about it, but it certainly sounds foolish if you're looking in from the outside. I don't doubt that's on purpose, but this grain of interesting plot is almost lost in the desert of everything else that's going on in this episode as well. Why did we need to meet General Kai and see him don his briheight (mecha) when later we'd see Sherriff Atlee do the same thing? Is there a point to Bit being a wimp who can't do anything right? Why doesn't the naked guy, who later takes the name “Back Arrow,” put on the underwear that Atlee gives him if he's so grateful? How many times does the episode use a crotch-height kid to hide his anatomy?

Back Arrow's first episode basically suffers from a surfeit of ambition. Starting at the halfway point with the villagers and Back's entry on the scene would have made this much less confusing, but here we are, full up on plot and jargon. If things slow down a bit so that we can appreciate the world and the story, this could work out, but as of this episode, it's just too much all at once to be truly interesting.

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Theron Martin
Rating:

It is (or at least should be) a rule that each season should have at least one mecha series, and Back Arrow more or less qualifies as this season's entry. Rather than being some new-fangled series that concerns itself with depth or complexity, it quickly shows itself to harken back to a much older school of shonen action, one where brazen heroes armor up to go fight bad guys who are also armored up, all in high spirits. Who needs an inconvenience like memories to accomplish a task like that?

The protagonist who comes to call himself Back Arrow certainly doesn't. He only know that he comes from a place which common sense in this world says is impossible and that he needs to get back there. A lack of memories is not a concern. A lack of clothes is not apparently a big concern, either, although he does feel he owes the girl who leant him some girl's deceased father's underwear. Or he could just be an exhibitionist by nature and not realize it. Whatever the case, he practically radiates free-spirited machismo, and that manifests when he uses the arm band to go all mecha. Because he's a Mysterious Figure, that also naturally means that he can bend the normally-accepted rules for how those things work, both by not killing an opponent who would normally die automatically when defeated and by assuming a powerful form without having a firm, defined conviction.

That the mecha's form and power are based on convictions might sound trite but is actually the series' most intriguing point so far. The Briheights apparently gain abilities based on the specific nature of the conviction; one whose conviction is not letting targets flee becomes stronger while pursuing a target, for instance. That means that seeing how other Briheight manifest their abilities could be quite interesting. The “defeat = death” principle is also a potentially interesting twist. The idea of the whole world being surrounded by an imable wall is not as fresh, though the concept that nothing exists beyond it, and that the wall is a godlike entity to the land's inhabitants, is a little fresher.

The set-up for this world should allow for all kinds of colorful characters to appear, although I had to raise an eyebrow at the costuming for the one Western sheriff-like girl; sure, it's playing to an audience, but hardly credible. Overall, this one isn't off to a bad start for what it is, but I am unlikely to follow it.