Kiddy Grade Volume 5

I feel like I am constantly fighting a battle to enjoy Kiddy Grade. The strange combinations of fluffy character designs and twisting government conspiracies are enough to kill my interest, yet when I actually sit down and watch everything unfold, I regardless find myself being pulled along for the ride.

Kiddy Grade #5 is especially fun and action packed, yet, much like the rest of this series, something feels lacking. I watch a Kiddy Grade volume but don’t feel any real attachment to the characters; behind their glamorous exteriors, the likes of Lumiere suffer from weak and under-developed personalities.

With Eclair and Lumiere now intergalactic fugitives, the G.O.T.T send out some of their greatest agents to hunt down and kill them. We are now in the strange situation of seeing Eclair duke it out with many of the people we assumed were her allies earlier in the story and there is something quite compelling about these battles, perhaps being a clash of morals; where as Eclair and Lumiere rebelled against their orders, we see the anguished faces of the agents who do begrudgingly comply.
It is good that, regardless of their orders, the opposition do still have respect (or is it pity) for their ex-colleagues and hints are laid to suggest that it may not be just Eclair and Lumiere who have problems with their seniors.

Fighting battle after battle and pushed to their emotional limits, the girls decide to enforce a bit of old fashioned retribution. The 1980s-styled sun glasses come out and they walk, guns a-blazing, straight through the front door of the G.O.T.T headquarters.

I can think of only two ways to sum up this instalment of Kiddy Grade, action packed and exciting. Back flipping, laser gun firing, lip-stick whipping, gun-toting robots exciting.

I think I was expecting the whole fugitive idea to last a little longer, but the siege of the pompous G.O.T.T HQ took me by surprise. Its fall from grace is quite spectacular and just goes to show how quickly Kiddy Grade can twist and turn the assumed status quo on its head. It’s this unpredictably that keep me watching- I mean, I have no idea where the story is going to go now.

This volume, however, is also a prime example of why Kiddy Grade is often over-looked by many. The girls are thrown into angsty, traumatic situations yet I was left feeling cold and detached. Their personalities seem under-developed, instead largely defined by pretty outfits.
Similarly, the look and feel of the characters are at frustrating odds with their often dark intentions.
And then we have the pointless fan-service; Eclair, amidst a battle, is particularly dogged by several panty influenced camera angles.
This all combines to leave Kiddy Grade being colourful, fun and exciting but just lacking the edge to pull it above the masses.

In Summary

Kiddy Grade #5 evokes an unpredictable and exciting atmosphere throughout; always fun and colourful, each episode will shock and enthral in equal measure. There are not so many revelations here as in previous volumes and that in a way is a relief; we can just sit back and watch as battle after battle unfolds.

While I do have some problems with this series, Kiddy Grade continues to punch above its weight as a beautiful looking series that seems to have no right to be this tightly executed.