Updated Thoughts on CubexCursedxCurious (Through Nine Episodes) (Spoilers?)

This is essentially Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Asagi, except with a more narrow set of cast members. By narrow, I mean there’s one guy and the rest are female. I wonder why that is.

CxCxC has a lot going for it. I found myself genuinely fond of the times when it’s being carefree and slice-of-life-ish. Do not mistake that for when it’s being fan service-y and moe-ish. That’s a completely different thing. What I’m referring to are the times when Fear, the “cube girl,” is trying to assimilate into the environment around her, and ends up fucking shit up. Or when the main cast are competing against each other in food tasting contests. Or when male lead and “cow udders” are talking about their past. This show becomes bearable when it shows these scenes. It’s unbearable without them.

The biggest issue with CxCxC is a similar issue I have with Itsuka Tenma: I don’t care about what’s happening. It doesn’t provide any information as to what’s happening or why it’s happening or how things are the way they are when the show begins. The villains are evil because they are, save one girl who had her parents killed because of the cursed items (shown RIGHT before her death, nice cop-out). By the way, this show is all about curses and cursed items and voodoo and whatever else. However, one thing it doesn’t do is explain how they work. Fear is able to generate these giant weapons out of nowhere and seems to overpower anyone (after a bit of ineptitude, not cliche at all). There’s mention of her being a tool to murder, but what does it matter? Why does any of the things that happen in this anime matter? It has no direction. Things and plot points seem to pop up out of nowhere and suddenly we’re supposed to care about them for two to three episodes straight. Before the filler, of course.

One can definitely tell that this is a light novel adaptation. It’s plastered to the brim with fan service and moe-styled characters, and dark and edgy plotlines that try to masquerade as mature and serious. Without any proper motivation or information to back up anything that happens, these plotlines come across as superficial or cringeworthy. Dark for the sake of being dark. It’s not interesting. It’s not gripping. It’s a fad.

As I mentioned before, when the characters weren’t spouting dramatic nonsense or turning into weapons of murder, this series was fairly decent. The characters are better suited in an environment that matches their core essence, which is certainly not dark and edgy. When one tries to combine moe and edgy, they get Itsuka Tenma. And CxCxC. It’s a fine line to try and make characters likable as human beings. But when one tries to make them likable as human beings when they aren’t even human beings, yet act like human beings, it gives the author motivation to treat them as dolls to entertain the audience. I won’t go as far as to say that the author didn’t care about their characters… actually, yes I will. I don’t think the author cared about their characters.

Characters:

Male lead.
Loli tsundere.
Jealous childhood friend.
Kuudere-perfect school friend.
Comic relief friends (who are rarely shown).
Cheerful loli childhood friend.
Women with revealing clothing.

Humor:

Fear is an idiot.
Male lead is a hentai-baka!!!
Bouncy boobies.
Every character is so god damn cute let’s dress them up as maids and Chinese dresses and catgirls!!!
Anything under the dictionary definition of “cliche.”

Basically, this show is shit because no one cares about what’s happening. Magic is happening. Cool. People say curses are bad. That’s nice. We need to suck the life energy out of random humans. Okay. Blood and gore. So mature. Attempts at psychological torture. We need to care first. Male lead is a pervert. Seen it before. Far, far too many times.