Dual Genre: Action Comedy Frank's Overall Score:  9.0

Reviewer: Frank
Type of Review: Specific (Episodes 1-4)

Want a recipe for Dual? Take one part El-Hazard, one part Tenchi Muyo, two parts Evangelion, and one part Persona: Eternal Punishment. Add a sprinkling of mecha and some mystery, and bake in oven for 13 episodes. Sprinkle with a light dash of romance and one Masaki Kajishima, and serve.

And therein lies what I think Dual is comprised of thus far in these first episodes. It is a potpourri and a sort of "fruitcake" of other anime series, except for one thing - this series is completely wacky and crazy in its presentation (in that case, the comparison to "fruitcake" is deliriously appropriate). While some may dismiss the series because of this, I personally think that it deserves at least a peek, taken with a grain of salt and the understanding of it's parody of the very series it steals from.

Dual's story centers around Kazuki Yotsuga, an ordinary young man with a simple little problem - he has visions of giant robots that only he can apparently see. This has made him the veritable "weirdo" in the school, though he has managed to put up a website with vivid fiction describing his strange visions. The day comes, however, when the visions become more than what they were to him previously. Snared by the lovely flower of his school, Mitsuki Sanada, poor robot-seeing Kazuki is taken to Mitsuki's father, a poor perverted mad scientist named Ken. Purporting that Kazuki's visions come from an alternate rality that is not his own, the slightly-insane Ken accidentally sends Kazuki to the other world, where his parents don't recognize him, the robots are real, and Ken is a rich perverted mad scientist, and commander of the forces that threaten to take over Japan...that is, until Kazuki comes along.

The first four episodes serve to set up the world that Kazuki is thrown into, and do so nicely, if not in an Evangelion-like way (reluctant hero has high self-doubt, but mysterious talent piloting top-of-the-line mecha). As I said before, though, the difference in the "Dual!" world is that its plot and drama are infinitely sillier than the series that it copies, making for a pleasing setup. For one thing, the Core Robots can only be piloted by women. Because Kazuki is a man, his ability must be masked, and so in order to do so, the ecchi-inspired Ken makes an "anatomically correct" female piloting suit for the decidely unlucky Kazuki. Of course, it doesn't help that the Core Robots were somehow designed to have high heels, either. And in another parodic aspect, the "enemy", a mega-coporation/army with an ancient artifact, announces their attack locations in advance, using a gaudily dressed, yet scantily clad woman. It is things like these that make Dual and interesting series to watch.

Dual's mostly unoriginal cliches and weak characters (at least from the onset) are its biggest weaknesses to date. But animation is crisp, and nice, and opening and closing sequences are very well done. All in all, Dual is worth a look, if for nothing else to watch a priceless scene with Kazuki's new "shock resistors" in his plug suit. It certainly seems to typefiy what the series is all about.