Cannon Busters

I went into this not sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. I do think Philly did remind me of spike from Cowboy bebop but he still was different and funny to watch. I like Sams relationship with the prince I thought it was very cute. And do not get me started how much I loved Casey. This anime had tons of diversity that I was more animes had. The wildness of this world and all the magic was amazing and kept me interested. As a fan of anime for about 25 years I can say with confidence I thoroughly enjoyed this and I cant wait for season 2.

I hear what all the other critics are saying about this series being derivative of better anime but let's be real, all anime is derivative of the best anime, how can it not be? Personally I was excited to watch this series. As a hardcore anime fan I've seen everything and in recent years I've found fewer series that can hold my attention. So what's so different about this series? If you don't know, it's the brainchild of American storyboard artist Lesean Thomas who worked on great american anime series like Boondocks and Black Dynamite. I was super excited to see what he would do with his own project, I was not disappointed. What I responded to when I first started watching anime was that glimpse into Japanese culture but now that I'm older I'm ready to see what people like me, who are not Japanese but grew up watching Japanese anime have to add to this art form and apparently so does Japan. This summer Japan announced a program to expand anime production overseas. Japan wants more countries to get involved to expand this incredible art form to every corner of the globe. I feel that this inclusiveness will only make anime better in the long term. To be honest Cannon Busters is far from perfect but it's not bad either. I found that I really enjoyed the world that Thomas created and all the different characters, especially these diesel female fighters mixed in with robots, lizard people, cat people and to be frank, black people. This new anime world is what captured my imagination and got me to stay through all 12 episodes. My only major criticism is that I feel this 1st season really needed to be 24 episodes. I think the constrains of 12 episodes stifled the story. In 24 episodes we would of seen the prince grow more, his relationship with Hilda and Oden could have been explored more, and Sam, Philly the Kid and Casey would have had more time for their adventure. This was a great break for the series creator Lesean Thomas and from him I expect even greater series to come. I'm certain that before we know it American anime will be adding more and more titles to that greats anime list. We just need to give it time and nurture our homegrown talen. I think Cannon Busters is worth a look and I look forward to its maybe future.

A few other reviews have tried to claim this series as being a "rip-off" of trigun or cowboy bebop, which largely comes from the art style aesthetic I believe. I've watched over half of this series so far and I feel that it is in no way a "rip-off" of these other shows. This is a review about Cannon Busters so I will focus on the show primarily, but it is important to understand that the plot was based on a comic series, the art style did change a bit from then but it is definitely a new show that has some great action scenes and a fantastic English dub as well. Overall, the series holds my attention and has interesting characters to follow. Sometimes the use of CG animation can detract from the aesthetic that I feel the show is striving for, but it is nothing egregious like some other recent anime shows. The dialogue in the show is not bad by any means, as the delivery from the voice actors is pretty strong, but the lines can feel as though they are there kill run time or set up for the next scene more than contribute to the show. In the end, I really like what I've seen from this show and I hope that others will give it a watch too. It's not an instant classic or anything but it is quite good and can be a fun watch depending on the kinds of shows that you may be into as it is action oriented.

This show is pretty entertaining, and I look forward to another season. From episode 1, it drops you right into the action, and catches you up on the backstory as it goes along. The character arcs are interesting, and the various parts come together to an eventual reckoning. Although, the final episode of season 1 wasn't quite as good as I was anticipating. The way some things were resolved (or unresolved) could have been better. Overall, it's a solid anime. If you're an anime fan looking for a loose description, it comes off somewhat like Trigun, but a little more outrageous and over the top. I look forward to future seasons.

This show takes me back to fond childhood memories of anime. The transforming Cadillac is just fantastic, definitely my favorite character. Fun song, fun characters, and a fun story.