What’s it about ?
Adaptation of a sentai-ish shonen manga series.
The plot involves invaders from another dimension (mostly giant monsters) wreaking havoc in town until the Border organization shows up out of nowhere to contain the threat, through their “Trigger” powers.
Characters
Mikumo, our point-of-view character, is an ordinary and slightly nerdish middle-school kid. He does have enough charisma (or so the script claims) to intimidate the bullies, and he makes a point of going out of his way to help the weak out. (Not that this always works out well for him.) Anyway, he’s on the lookout for any Border activity.
Kuga is a weird transfer student (who even transfers into such a disaster zone ?) who barely makes any attempt to hide his Trigger powers. (They’re linked to his “ring” helper who offers constant discreet help.) The big obvious twist is that he has no direct link to Border ; he comes from the other dimension !
The OP sequence heavily features two other kids : an older dude and Border agent who briefly shows up early on and leaves a big impression on Mikumo, and a girl in another class. Presumably the four of them are going to team up.
Production Values
Quite good-looking indeed ; the battle scenes are clear and fun to look at. Also, the constant succession of Kuga’s funny faces is a hoot.
The Kenji Kawai scores does a lot to give the show some well-needed atmosphere.
Overall Impression
That’s much better than I expected. It’s got some clever writing, as well as a rare narrative infodump that actually works and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The characters’ interplay is already fun, despite half of them barely being around.
I’m not sure how long it can keep the momentum up, but so far, so good. Looks like a fun ride.
