When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace – Anime Review

Imagine this setup; you and a small group of friends gain super powers one day, without explanation or seeming cause.

I’d bet that any one of thousands of examples came to your mind, whether it is from the comics universe, the movie universe, the tv universe, etc, etc, etc, so the whole idea has been beaten into the dust, hasn’t it? The problem with the genre, and the reason that it almost feels stale, is that it always plays out the same way — people gain powers, are startled, learn they must use them wisely, meet a super villain, epic battle, heroes win, something about the power of friendship or teamwork, cut to credits. I’ll take my writer’s credit now, Hollywood–cash or cheque, I am not picky.

Let’s change the formula a bit then.

How about we get creative; imagine you are in junior high, and love comic books and super heroes! (I am hoping that isn’t too much of a stretch, given the site you are reading this on…) You are still young enough to fantasize that someday, you will have super powers. It is less a fantasy to you, actually–you are completely sure of it!

Then imagine that one random day, in the library with four of your friends, all five of you get powers. This doesn’t come as a complete shock to you, as you were sure of it from the start–it was only a matter of time. Now what happens when you give junior high students who were already sure that they were going to be superheroes when they grew up powers that have the ability to shape the universe? And don’t get me wrong; when the writer of the novel this anime was based on was reaching into the bag of superpowers, he made sure he didn’t pull from the boring pouch.

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace is, admittedly, less the title of an anime and more a five word plot summary. When first receiving powers, our protagonists Ando, Kanzaki, Kushikawa, Takanashi, and Himeki originally set to preparing themselves for super battles to decide the fate of the Earth, and probably the UNIVERSE! Problem is, there are no super villains, and they still have to study for the (notoriously difficult) exams that come with being a Japanese junior high student. With no super villains to fight, the anime more or less becomes a character drama about what junior high students would do with super powers if they had literally nothing productive to use them for.

OKOKOK, I can see where you are coming from, theoretical reader. “It sounds like you took the super hero formula and removed all of the fun bits!” As I had started watching this anime before that same thought had occurred to me, I am willing to admit that I am one of the lucky ones; when you read the plot synopsis, that is definitely the first thing that crosses your mind and I haven’t exactly talked you out of thinking it, have I?

You know, I am not hear to sell you on an anime, now that I think about it. I am here to tell you what it is about, and whether I think that is a good thing. Personally, I do think that is a good thing, and to describe why, I’ll compare it to something more contemporary—Spider-Man. He’s not even that much older than the main characters of Supernatural Battles, but has some minor major differences. I mean, Peter Parker has gone through puberty (one assumes), so we obviously open the door for [generic high school love story] (if you are trying to enumerate the number of movies based on high school romance, better start typing the tailing zeroes now. When you run out of file space from typing out the number of movies and/or tv shows , you can even go buy another hard drive and then keep typing. I’ll be here when you get back. There are a few already is what I am really trying to say here.). We don’t have that problem with Supernatural Battles. How about other comparisons? Well, we know that Spider-Man is going to fight super villains, don’t we? All of the other people with powers. What would Spider-Man be without super villains? That particular thought it actually pretty interesting… I mean, what WOULD you do in a universe where you have amazing powers but nothing to use them on? And how does Supernatural Battles compare, then? There are some relationship sub plots, but the main character has very little interest in romance… I mean, he does have some interest in the weird Japanese anime thing where 13-year-old girls have very large…. Well, that is a review for a different kind of website, but suffice it to say he is still a teenaged male.

Rather, he is much more interested in what types of fun he can have with his power. I feel like that is what really makes this anime shine; what would I do with a super power if my day-to-day life changed in no other way? You still have to work your 40 hour per week job (school in the anime, to keep stretching this poor, undeserving metaphor), and you still want a social life… Probably some food, some sleep, a bathroom break every now and then–basically, all of the things that really make being a real super hero impractical. But still, in the back of your mind, you know you have super powers.

And that is what makes the concept interesting.

Also, seeing what an immature 13-year-old does with superpowers makes me feel better about what I feel like I would do with them. Because I am awesome, and telling children that they are being dumb makes me feel good about myself. (Somehow, I feel like that came across wrong, but I don’t know how to backspace.)