Active Raid

Episodes 1-2

I had reasonably high but also somewhat vague hopes for Active Raid, given its creator pedigree. The director, Goro Taniguchi, was most well-known for Planetes and Code Geass - and after some time away from directing, he'd returned last winter with the excellent Maria the Virgin Witch. Not only was that show very good, it actually clearly elevated its source material, adding compelling new characters in order to turn an interesting manga into a tightly crafted anime. Combining him with Naruhisa Arakawa (the series composer of Spice and Wolf and Maoyū Maō Yūsha) seemed like an interesting pairing, and there are plenty of compelling places to take a basic “police officers in supersuits fight crime” genre shell. But has Active Raid actually borne out those hopes?

So far, I'd say it's a solid yes. Active Raid's first episode breathlessly establishes the premise of the ACTIVE police workers, and Unit 8 in particular. In a world that's still figuring out the legal ramifications and societal logistics of robotic supersuits, Unit 8 is basically the government's punitive whipping boy, being sent out on impossible robot-arresting missions while remaining on-call for a wide variety of departments and districts. The show doesn't establish this information through direct exposition - we're simply plunked into their operations beside new employee (and department spy) Asami Kazari, as the crew rambles through a pair of episodic crime-fighting missions. They're deployed to stop robots and reprimanded for collateral damage and then sent off to do it again, all while consistently demonstrating that Unit 8 itself is far from the most professional of organizations.

I actually like Active Raid's incidental, disjointed approach to worldbuilding, and generally prefer to pick up expository information at the pace that it becomes relevant to the characters - that writing tends to make both characters and their world feel more real than if things were simply being explained to the audience directly. In the first episode, we learn through the actions of both the government and ogling civilians that supersuits are still something of a novelty in society; in the second, attempts to thread government bureaucracy naturally imply the complexities of official loyalties and ideals of police duty. But this does mean Active Raid's narrative can come across as overly busy, and the fact that both of the episodic cases so far have been relatively mundane means that if you're looking for moment-to-moment entertainment, the show may not be terribly satisfying.

Fortunately, there's a lot going on beyond that moment-to-moment entertainment. Though the first episode consistently emphasized the bureaucratic complications inherent in policework, the second episode is where Active Raid really starts demonstrating a mean political edge. When the news chastises Unit 8 for their reckless actions, unit chief Rin Yamabuki mutters to herself about political posturing, implying the news itself is paid for by a less-friendly government branch. Rin spends half of this episode going around apologizing for the collateral damage created in the last episode, and is honestly right to - it's clear in both episodes that Unit 8 are a somewhat ramshackle team, and will not be providing the kind of pure ideals of policework that would simplify a story like this. While I was initially worried this show would be uncritically lionizing the work of police officers (a fear that weaker elements, like the show's embarrassingly cliche “evil mastermind” character, are still keeping alive), by the time Rin's government contact is complaining about the incompatible ideas of justice being espoused by the various local districts, it's clear that this is intending to be one of those shows where good and evil are both a mess.

The complexity of managing both conflicting official priorities and personal versus societal ideals of justice comes to a head in the second episode's climax, where Rin finds herself arguing against prioritizing her own sister's life in a hostage situation. Normally, it'd be the person with the family in danger who'd be calling for hasty action - but instead, it's the talented but naive rookie who wants to go in guns blazing, and the reserved chief with her sister on the line who's forced to say “minimizing collateral damage is our first priority.” In spite of the cute police boys' top billing in the opening song, the contrast between Asami and Rin has been by far the most compelling personal conflict so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how each of them deal with the unit's increasing importance to any upcoming political games.

Perhaps more than anything else, it was the second episode's final scene that sold me on this show's fractured morality. Having finally finished her duties as chief of Unit 8, Rin goes to see her sister in the hospital, and plays off the events of the day as something she was surprised to hear about. Having just told Asami that “what we protect is the law. Don't bring personal justice into the workplace,” it's clear Rin has legitimately internalized that value system enough even to lie to her own sister for the sake of it. It's an uncomfortable position to stake, and that's good - shows about government and police ideals in the modern age shouldn't be comfortable. I really hope the show maintains that ugly ambiguity going forward.

Rating: A-

Active Raid is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.