Kiddy Grade

Synopsis:

In the distant future humanity is no longer restricted to life on Earth as it has now inhabited multiple planets throughout the universe. Technology has gone beyond anyone's wildest dreams and as humanity grows so does everyone's political stand points and styles of government used across space which also causes an increase in crime. To keep the peace and laws enforced the GOTT was formed, Galactic Organization of Trade and Tariffs, or a kind of Galactic Police more or less as they not only enforce the law but also keep the peace by performing odd jobs such as protecting political figures or enforcing peace treaties. The GOTT has a special unit called ES that contains 16 superpowered individuals, two of which are Eclair and Lumiere, that are the focus of our story. After a variety of relatively simple missions Elclaire and Lumiere are sent to planet Aure to prevent a violent uprising of it's citizens against it's own government run by a race called the Nouvelesse. But what Eclaire later learns is that the planets citizens were actually enslaved by the Nouvelesse and Eclaire begins to question her orders to support this dictatorship. Later, during a violent stand off between the people of the city and the local military Eclaire realizes she can no longer condone the senseless slaughter of innocent people simply because they are protesting for a better life and turns against the Nouvelesse military and, with the support of her partner Lumiere, manage to destroy most of the militant opposition within a matter of minutes. Although Eclaire and Lumiere are now hailed as saviors of the planet Arue they are now the target of every GOTT member with only one order, execution. Not about to lie down and die Eclaire and Lumiere take off to find out more about the dark side of this galactic law enforcement that they've been employed by for so long.


Reviewer: Endosanity
Number of episodes watched: 24


Review:

Kiddy Grade is a different style of anime which takes something potentially typical and really complicates it, which in this case, it's a very good thing as it's refreshing. As the series starts it just looks like you're getting the usual good looking underage superbabes with ridiculous powers going on a new mission in every episode. They get an assignment, go there, blow tons of shit up and look good doing it with scantily clad space outfits and gratuitous panty shots, and the day is saved. Kiddy Grade puts things on a different level because about the time you start to get bored with this routine the show mixes things up and brings out the real plot it's been hiding all along and reaches out grabs you and pulls you back in. Now, you're watching a plot that gets thicker and thicker with each passing episode which has you wondering if Eclaire and Lumiere will ever get out of the hole they've dug themselves with numerous obstacles that are piling up against them. While all this is going on the series also does a magnificent job of dropping in a few episodes to help explain Eclaires super strength, why Lumiere can control anything with a computer, and why neither of them have aged in almost a hundred years all the while maintaining that sense of hopelessness throughout the latter part of the series. So, enjoy the uber-babeness in the first few episodes because that quickly fades and is replaced with betrayal, espionage, and shadows of the past that bring forth the question of what really is true friendship. This really is a great series by taking it's really shallow looking exterior and hiding away the overly complicated plot that lies within which makes for one awesome show. The animation is top notch, the women are hot (that's always a plus), the right amount of sci-fi action, and the plot has some great twists that present themselves at just the right time. There are no other story arcs to follow as you'll be with Eclaire and Lumiere for the entire 24 episode ride which is fine since things will get complicated enough because even in the future, nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

Kiddy Grade (opening and closing)

Recommendation: |High|

Online viewing: Available at FUNimation's website -

Kiddy Grade (English dubbed) - Sorry guys... no subs, shit dub only

Media type: DVD
From: FUNimation
Spoken languages: English;Japanese
Subtitles: English