S-CRY-ED Volume 6

It’s been a bit of an inconsistent ride over the course of the series, but as must inevitably happen, s-CRY-ed has finally reached the finish line, with a conclusion that ranks somewhere in the middle of the range of quality the series has to offer.

As we saw at the end of last volume, our remaining heroes were all set to dive into the depths of the altered (pun intended) Holy HQ and face a final showdown with the villainous Kyoji Mujo. It’s the stuff of classic role-playing games, and indeed the first two episodes on the disc are as on-the-rails as I’ve come to expect from the series, with lesser characters handling all the support and self-sacrifice required to ensure that Kazuma and Ryuho can square off against the “final boss’.

To its credit though, s-CRY-ed doesn’t end there. As a pleasant change from the often abrupt style of anime endings, the final two episodes serve as something of an epilogue, tying up the remaining few loose ends and showing us where all the characters ended up. It’s a nice touch that ensures that viewers won’t be walking away with a mountain of unanswered questions, but even so it can’t disguise the fact that the series would have a done a lot better to explore some of the points it glosses over.

Action scenes are something s-CRY-ed has never been short on, so it’s no surprise that we’re treated to some of the series’ most spectacular Alter battles in this concluding instalment. A sharp contrast to the less impressive fights of volume five, these final battles allow the remaining combatants to go all out, reaching previously unseen power levels in typical shounen action series style. Unfortunately, not all of these “ultimate forms’ are as aesthetically pleasing as they could be; for example, Ryuho and his Alter Zetsuei may look slick, but the powered-up Kazuma is somewhat reminiscent of an oversized lizard.

Given that this is the final volume, it’s not surprising that there isn’t time for the extensive character development the main cast really needed, but nonetheless s-CRY-ed #6 finds time to slip in a couple of character points here and there. I have to admit to feeling a bit more sympathetic towards the cast this time around, but the development we see here only seems to indicate how much better the series would have been if the characters had had a bit more depth to begin with.

This time around, the series’ animation is back on form, ensuring that it’s not just the action scenes that score highly in the visual department. As mentioned above, the more outlandish designs aren’t always pleasing to the eye, but there’s no doubt that they are executed well with the usual range of clean and bright colours. As to be expected at this stage, the background music is almost entirely remixed from what we’ve heard before, but it still manages to have more of an aural impact than it has in previous volumes.

In Summary

With some explosive action scenes and an epilogue section that ties up all the loose ends, s-CRY-ed bows out with a conclusion that can be labelled solid if not outstanding. Overall, the series failed to capitalise on its potential, sacrificing plot and character development in order to squeeze in additional flashy battles with insipid one-shot characters. Still, if you’re looking for an over-the-top shounen action series that’s light on the brain and wrapped up in a manageable number of episodes, you won’t go too far wrong with this series.