By Shanel Kamara
I had no idea that elDLIVE was by the same creator of Katekyo Hitman Reborn; Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a personal favorite of mine, and it’s definitely in my top three shonen series after Hunter x Hunter 2011 simply because of its great combination of humor and artwork. The show aired in 2006, and admittedly, this is the fourth of fifth time I have re-watched the entire series. Therefore, I just had to check elDLIVE out. Akira Amano was not only responsible for the production of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, but she also did the original character design of Psycho-Pass; I was unaware of this fact until recently.
ElDLIVE is interesting, to say the least; the protagonist is a middle school student similar to Tsunayoshi Sawada from Katekyo Hitman Reborn called Chuta Kononose. The major difference between Chuta and Tsuna is that while Tsuna gains a tutor aged one-year-old, Chuta has a voice in his head. Chuta is not schizophrenic nor does he suffer from delusions or hallucinations.
Okay, so my first impression of this show about 10 minutes into watching it is that it is bizarre. The protagonist, Chuta is more perverse than Tsuna from Reborn and the weird alien attached to Chuta's chest is definitely a novel but strange aspect of the show. Unlike Tsuna, who reluctantly agreed to listen to Reborn and was most of the time forced to act because of Reborn's dominant and violent nature, Chuta does not take much convincing to join the alien police force. In addition, he quickly adopts the hero police role when his classmate and only potential friend is caught by an alien, and Laine Brick, the chief of elDLIVE bureau assigns him the task of arresting an alien. Unsurprisingly, Chuta succeeds and passes the test to join elDLIVE, much to the disapproval and annoyance of Misuzu Sonokata.
I do not know what I was expecting, but the level of wit in this show was disappointing. I cannot help comparing it to Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I feel as though this show appeals more to a male audience than a female one. If I were, to sum up the pilot episode using three words, they would probably be sexist, odd, and (frankly) half-witted. Tsuna’s appeal as a protagonist stemmed from his hesitant and innocent nature and the fact that he gradually, albeit, subconsciously assumed the role of Vongola boss. However, Chuta seems to have quickly accepted his new position. Now the question is, how will Chuta develop further as the protagonist of this show? Will he simply become more skilled? If that is the case, I am going to have to give this series a miss.
Score: 2/5
ēlDLIVE E.01