Ex-Arm (2021) is How Not to do CGI Anime

For every landmark anime, popular show, or sleeper hit, there’s a throng of works that would easily be forgotten if not for some “so bad it’s good” notoriety. Then, there’s the bottom of the barrel: works so mediocre or incompetent that it’s borderline miraculous they were made at all. Ex-Arm (2021) isn’t just one such case made in recent years. It’s also a masterclass in how not to do CGI anime.

An adaptation of a manga series by HiRock and Shinya Komi, the show was directed by Yoshikatsu Kimura, known for kitsch films like Karate Girl (2011). Despite a background in cinema, however, neither he nor studio Visual Flight had had any prior experience in the anime industry. As revealed in an interview with Anime News Network, Kimura touted his credentials as Production I.G.’s live-action director, and explained how the production staff wanted someone who would be the “best person to understand action in a 3D atmosphere”. Almost from the moment the promotional trailer was released, it becomes immediately evident that it didn’t work. Not even a delayed premiere, brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic, could save it.

Intended as a Crunchyroll Original, Ex-Arm’s promotion did little to reassure an audience already soured by its abysmal execution. (Source: YouTube)

While not quite dethroning the legendarily inept Tenkuu Danzato Skelter Heaven (2004) as the lowest-rated work on MyAnimeList (with a score of 2.94 as of this post), it’s nonetheless gained a reputation for being one of the worst anime (with a 1.8 on IMDb). Yet amidst the ridicule and memes, does it really deserve this notoriety?

A Strangely-Rendered World

Amidst the coverage surrounding Ex-Arm, it can be easy to forget what the anime’s actually about. The plot mainly follows the trials and tribulations of Akira Natsume (Soma Saito), a technophobic high-schooler who seemingly died in a traffic accident in 2014. Sixteen years later, however, he’s little more than a preserved brain trapped in a machine. Upon being discovered by policewoman Minami Uezono (Mikako Komatsu) and her android partner Alma (Akari Kito) during a mission, it’s revealed that he’s actually contained in a WMD-like system known as the titular EX-ARM. Realizing the dangerous power of such devices, and the madmen seeking their potential, he joins his newfound friends in trying to save society by any means necessary.

While not entirely original, as some of the concepts would be familiar to those who’ve come across Ghost in the Shell or Akira, it makes for a fascinating premise, and by all accounts a solid manga. This hasn’t translated well into the adaptation. For one, the source material was notable for having both impressive art and gratuitously NSFW content, be it nudity or raunchy hijinks. The anime does away with much of that, such as omitting any hint of Minami being stripped while being interrogated, but also does a sloppy job in censoring what ecchi is left. Two female characters kissing is apparently too much, and is (poorly) made discreet.

Although the animators tried to add their creative spin to the story, with the consent of the original mangaka, to say that the show is faithful beyond the first episode would be charitable. In trying to condense 14 volumes’ worth of material into 12 episodes, much was either left on the cutting room floor or rewritten to purge any aforementioned lewdness. As a consequence, characterizations are heavily truncated, if not butchered. Despite his potent abilities as an EX-ARM (and being able to jump into Alma and use her body), Akira comes off as an incompetent dolt while the badass heroines seem like hollow caricatures of the principled law enforcers they’re supposed to be. Which isn’t even getting to the various villains either being less intimidating compared to their manga counterparts, such as antagonist Throughhand (Takaya Kuroda) being reduced to a creepy thug compared to being a dangerous black-marketer, or in the case of arch-villain Beta (Daisuke Sakaguchi), having motivations that aren’t clear until the end.

This may also raise the possibility that series writer “Tommy Morton” may likely be a pen-name by staff members who would rather not be associated with what they’ve unleashed. Which is a shame. There are glimmers of a better anime in Ex-Arm, however briefly they show up. There is some intrigue to be found, with the plot touching on motifs like the morality behind “the ends justify the means”, and AI learning from both humanity’s best and worst aspects. The overall designs are distinctive, while shades of likability for the main cast occasionally shine through. Alas, it’s woefully insufficient to salvage a strangely-rendered mess.

A Grand Failure

Ex-Arm notably featured concept art and colorful eyecatchers done by original mangaka Shinya Komi. These images, which give a glimpse of the manga’s impressive artwork, are undeniably among the only bright spots to be found. The animation work and execution by Visual Flight drive home how woefully inexperienced they were.

(Source: Know Your Meme)

Although incorporating motion-capture technology in its CGI, the anime lacks choreography or grace. Despite director Kimura’s confident claims, the show neither captures the feel of live-action, nor is a competent anime. The CGI  is generally, and incredibly, subpar for something made over the last couple of years, thanks to low-quality textures, wonky models (alongside janky mo-cap for good measure), and awkward glitches aplenty. The attempts to mesh computer-generated visuals with 2D elements (such as almost static character art) simply flounder with how shoddy the latter can be. That it not only manages to be worse than Production I.G. black sheep Abunai Sisters Koko & Mika (2009) by dragging that over 12 episodes, but also makes the infamously bad 3D Berserk (2016) adaptation look tolerable is an ignoble accomplishment.

The audio quality isn’t any better, for the most part. Apart from the solid 2000s-esque music provided by J-Rock band AIRFLIP, the soundtrack is generally forgettable, at best. Meanwhile, the sound effects are either painfully generic, or in one drawn-out sequence in the seventh episode, entirely absent to the detriment of any suspense. On the flip-side, the performances from the voice cast (notably by Akari Kito and Mikako Komatsu) are remarkably decent, with emotive delivery and clear effort put in. These are perhaps the only other bright spot to be found in an otherwise grating spectacle.

It’s not unheard of to find Youtubers doing a better job at salvaging portions of the anime, the way they were intended, than the animators themselves. (Source: YouTube)

Unsurprisingly, Ex-Arm was savagely riffed on by critics and otaku alike almost from the moment it aired. Whether it’s due to the apparent technical ineptitude, Kimura’s hubris, or the meme-worthy cringe of the final product, few if any would call the anime a success. In fact, it turned out to be such a disaster that it likely contributed to the cancellation of Komi’s sequel manga EX-ARM EXA, by March 2021, after only two volumes.

本日2月27日発売グランドジャンプむちゃにて
EX-ARM EXA エクスアームエクサ第10話最終話が
掲載されております！
これにてエクスアーム完結！
よろしくお願い致します！！#エクスアーム pic.twitter.com/ySbTnthuxU

— 古味慎也『空をまとって』@グランドジャンプ (@shinya_komi) February 27, 2021

Whether the series will return someday or remain a lesson in what not to do in making anime, it’s not hard to feel sad for its potential. For all that to be wasted really makes this a grand failure.