As an homage to the homaging nature of this bite-sized anime series, my thoughts on it will reflect its length and straightforwardness in paralleled fashion. Plus ultr—wait, wrong series.
This is a collection of references to Trigger/old Gainax properties that director Hiroyuki Imaishi put to paper in his history. Gurren Lagann, FLCL, Little Witch Academia, Kill la Kill; you name it, it’s probably in there. Pop in the now-standard act of believing in the power of human emotions/love over apathy and the ultra-elite, and you have a pretty on-brand Trigger production. Uchuu Patrol Luluco is satirical in nature, though does try to commit to a serious message about propping a middle finger to cynicism and big, holier-than-thou individuals in power. I think that’s appreciable, along with the bright, bold, and fluid animation quality that Trigger has become synonymous with in recent years.
Each episode is only about six minutes without the OP/ED. Simultaneously, each episode feels both too short and too long. Lack of proper development of character and situation (things happen at a hyper-fast pace) make it too short, yet the satirical nature of constantly repeating the joke of “Aren’t these stories of little girls becoming saviors of humanity’s existence so silly?” makes it feel too long. I wouldn’t personally have them do it any other way, and like that they wanted to make the series both satirical and meaningful. What I would do differently is just make it a longer series, but I understand that’d take a lot more time, effort, and money, along with probably hampering the animation quality. That thing I said in literally just the last post about the fundamentals of building things up adequately enough to care? Not great here.
It’s kind of a celebration of Imaishi’s career, along with filling the quota of producing content that their fans would most likely enjoy. If you adore Imaishi’s work and influence, you will have no problem adoring this. I, too, was enamored by the frenzied approach to animation and the borderline mocking of anime conventions, complete with a moral worth having brought upon by rigorous tenacity. I just missed the parts they cut out for the sake of telling a two-cour series’s narrative in what was essentially a four-episode OVA project. If you aren’t really into it through the first couple episodes, that likely won’t change further down the line. It’s enjoyable to an extent, but also slightly hollow—not for a lack of trying, just in spite of itself.
The rating for this title and all others can be found on MyAnimeList.
If you’d like to see more reviews like this, feel free to look at my full list of anime reviews!
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The Visualist's Veranda 