También puedes leer este artículo en:Español
- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Action, Comedy, Martial Arts, Mystery, Super Power, Supernatural
- Airing Date : July 5, 2016 – September 20, 2016
- Studios : J.C.Staff
Contains Spoilers
Taboo Tattoo Introduction and Story
Taboo Tattoo tells us the story of Justice Akatsuka, known to his friends as Seigi-kun, who is a young boy skilled in martial arts. Seigi lives up to his name, always trying to protect the weak and do what he feels is just. One day, he saves an old man from some bullies and in return this old man gives him a tattoo that gives him supernatural abilities. Later, Seigi finds out he’s not the only one with this kind of tattoo and he ends up in the middle of a secret war between the US and the Serinistan Kingdom. He meets a lot of very special and cool characters such as Bluesy Fluesy (AKA Izzy) from the US military, who recruits him in order to stop Princess Aryabhata of Serinistan from collecting different tattoos and taking over the world. Seigi has to learn how to control and exploit his new powers as he discovers the meaning of true justice.
What We Liked About Taboo Tattoo (Spoilers Ahead!)
Taboo Tattoo is a nice straightforward action anime with a lot of fighting scenes, explosions, some original super powers and a huge set of characters, most of which are total badasses. The story is quite simple, although at times we are given long and senseless scientific explanations of how these tattoos work and we end up more confused than we were initially. Taboo Tattoo is that generic show we get each season where the main character has to develop his newly acquired superpower to stop the evil guy (girl in this case) from destroying everything. And that’s good! We like that. There’s nothing wrong with watching a clichéd show as long as the action scenes are worth it.
What Taboo Tattoo lacks in originality it makes up in action, coolness and awesome animation. The camera movements are great, the art looks nice, the powers are cool; for a generic action show, Taboo Tattoo definitely has a more than decent production. The storyline may have its ups and downs, but it’s overall interesting and easy to follow (besides, the superpowers come from tattoos this time, that’s new!). You may even find yourself attached to certain very likeable characters, such as Touko or BB (just try not to get too attached to these two…). In fact, BB is such a cool character that he has a whole flashback episode about him, so that we can get to know him better. All in all, Taboo Tattoo may be quite the forgettable show but at least it gets the job done, which is more than can be said about other generic shows.
Discussion Time: Should You Watch Taboo Tattoo?
As has been mentioned, Taboo Tattoo is a very simple and straightforward action anime. If what you’re looking for is some pointless action, fighting scenes, superpowers, comedy, ecchi and an anime where everyone ends up cheering “USA! USA!”, then just go and watch Taboo Tattoo already, you won’t be disappointed. However, if you want to watch an anime with a developed and compelling storyline that requires a bit of thought and attention, then you should just stay with 91 Days (you can’t go wrong with 91 Days; that show’s awesome!). Taboo Tattoo is the kind of show you watch when you want to turn your brain off. We’re not saying this in a bad way, everyone needs to turn their brain off every once in awhile.
1. The Action
The action on Taboo Tattoo is everything you expect it to be and perhaps even more. From the very first fight scene between Seigi and Izzy we get that this show is doing at least one thing right. That fight, which is merely intended to introduce Izzy and show us the power of her tattoo, is already outstanding. She kicks Seigi’s ass of course because she knows how to handle her abilities, but not before giving him a chance to prove what he’s got. On that fight we can see some kick ass martial arts moves by Seigi and Izzy’s raw power, which is more than satisfying enough for a first fight. However, if we still haven’t had enough action, there’s an even more violent fight scene later on. And that’s just the first episode! What are they saving for the final battle? A fight between giant monsters maybe? Yup!
2. The Cool Characters
Everyone who’s watched Taboo Tattoo and liked it agree that the set of characters is one of this show’s strongest points. The main character is not all that interesting at first, although eventually he becomes quite the badass, but the rest of the cast are worth watching. We have the sexy and badass girl who works for the US military, the main character’s well-endowed childhood friend who is super cute and has a crush on him, the middle aged otaku agent who triggers most of the jokes, a very lewd and sadist bad guy obsessed with sex and penises, a dozen buffed American soldiers, the badass guy who men want to be like and women want to be with and an absolutely charming yuri queen who’s just as evil and wicked as delightful.
Yes, Taboo Tattoo certainly has a lot of characters for a 12-episode show and that undermines character development a little bit. But still, these characters make the show cool, sexy and funny, and that’s pretty much all there is to Taboo Tattoo. Sometimes a bunch of stereotypes put together can really work.
3. A Bit of Everything
A great thing about Taboo Tattoo is that it has all the basic elements that make a show entertaining. Not great! Not memorable! Just plain entertaining and enjoyable. If you want to watch a show that appeals to your emotions then go watch something else (anything, even Bananya!). However, if you just want to watch something fun, then Taboo Tattoo has all you can ask for. It has comedy, it has increasing amounts of ecchi (with a lot of yuri thanks to the lovely villain Princess Aryabhata) and more action than you could ask for. The flow between one mood and the other is not actually the best, though; sometimes there are jokes when you least expect it, killing the dramatic vibe a bit, but hey, that’s called comic relief and it’s still fun.
1. Nothing You Haven’t Seen Before
As you can probably predict by the plot, Taboo Tattoo is a clichéd shonen action anime. There is nothing really new or original about this show (other than the superpowers coming from tattoos). Taboo Tattoo is as generic as anime can come. It is quite predictable most of the times and even when something happens that we didn’t see coming, it doesn’t really feel like a big deal. This show is so unoriginal and straight to the point that it fails to create that suspense and momentum needed to achieve any sort of climax. Taboo Tattoo is just more of the same (again, not that that’s a bad thing; the show simply aims at providing more of the same for those who enjoy shounen action shows).
2. Underdeveloped Plot
Taboo Tattoo’s plot has to be definitely its weakest point. The initial idea itself is not actually bad. We’re always happy to get shows about people with superpowers, and if this time tattoos are the source of such superpowers, then we can live with that. The problem comes when they tell us there’s much to learn about these tattoos, and episode after episode they come up with something new depending on what’s more convenient to the story. All the explanations seem too improvised, hardly believable and even unnecessarily too complex. For a show that is supposed to provide a simple plot with simple conflicts (like the war between the US and some Asian kingdom) and straightforward action, Taboo Tattoo makes things hard to follow at times.
3. Bad Timing
We have mentioned that Taboo Tattoo has comedy, action and sexual content (basically everything we expect from a good average anime), and that very often the flow between these elements is not the most appropriate. This show has really bad timing when it comes to making jokes and providing fan service. The way they mix serious things with lewd jokes (such as when the evil Princess Aryabhata tells Seigi about the nature of the tattoos while squeezing Touko’s huge breasts) makes us think this show is more of a parody than a serious shounen. However, there are also moments in which Taboo Tattoo attempts to be dramatic and even tragic, although it lacks credibility to achieve that due to its parody-like essence. The show inevitably falls into a middle-ground between a parody and a regular shounen, failing to become a good show of either type.
Honey's Final Thoughts
Taboo Tattoo could have been a great show but it got a bit sloppy and improvised in the end. If you had high expectations for this one, chances are you got let down. Overall, the show’s not entirely bad and it does manage to be entertaining, which is probably the most important thing to judge. As long as you don’t expect a powerful and compelling story, you’ll find the fun you’re looking for on Taboo Tattoo. This show is what happens when you just throw superpowers, jokes, an improvised story and boobs into the mix; the result won’t be good but it’ll get the job done.
Well, guys, we hoped you enjoyed this review or at least found it useful whether to pick up this show or to skip it. Now we would like to know what you guys think of Taboo Tattoo. Did you like it? Have we been too harsh on this anime? Let us know in the comments! ˆ-ˆ
Author: Chanty
Recommended Post
6 Anime Like Taboo Tattoo [Recommendations]
Recommended Post
Taboo Tattoo - Anime Summer 2016
Recommended Post