Angel’s 3Piece!

Angel’s 3Piece! is a 2017 Slice of Life anime series from Japanese animation studio Project No. 9. Even though this studio has a track record of creating subpar anime series, this series seems to get a lot of hate and backlash. Though even the most extensive anime series such as Dragon Ball, Attack on Titan, and even One Piece receive a lot of negative feedback, this asks why? Could this be a good anime series that people hate for trivial reasons? Or could this haltered be warranted and well deserved?

Since entering high school, Kyou Nukui has not attended one of his classes. Instead, he spends his days locked inside his bedroom, composing music and posting it on the internet, accompanied by his only friend, an artist named “Kiriyume.” One day, Kyou hesitantly uploads his newest composition and first departure from his typical style, TR03. Additionally, he does not upload under his usual handle, “HibikiP,” but simply under the name “me” and without a drawing from his mysterious friend.

Shortly after, Kyou receives a very polite e-mail, praising his music and somehow discerning that he is, in fact, the composer behind TR03. The e-mail also asks for a meetup in a nearby park, to which he cautiously decides to go. However, to his surprise, he finds three elementary school girls at the meeting place! Suddenly, Jun Gotou, Nozomi Momijidani, and Sora Kaneshiro ask for his help to hold a concert in their home, an old church now being used as an orphanage. And though Kyou is reluctant at first, after seeing their musical abilities, he eventually decides to accept their proposal.

When viewers begin watching Angel’s 3Piece, they will notice that the storyline is straightforward and basic from the very first episode. As with many Slice of Life series, the story tends to stick to one main goal or event, which is no different. The story is decent regarding the flow of events to a certain point. A few comedic moments will potentially have any observer laughing, which is always good.

However, the most significant positive that this anime has is that it doesn’t try to do too many things at once. Regardless of the genre, some series attempt to add too many elements within the twelve to maybe thirteen episodes they were allotted. Sticking to their main storyline for a vast majority of the series allows them to have a better foundation for their story, which has potential for greater levels of character development, organic comedic moments, and overall better flow towards the story.

First, let’s get the most prominent problem out of the way; the entire vibe of the series is arguably explicitly made for people who suffer from the Lolita complex. While this is nothing new within the anime industry, as many other series focus on this aspect, what makes this series different is that if the viewer could somehow get rid of the three little girls and made them teenagers, the entire story could not happen. But if anyone states that this story had no negative aspects, they are either blind or did not watch past episode two.

Another problem this anime has with its story is that it is not that good. Sure there are good moments, especially with specific characters, but few are far between. The fact that five simple words can sum up the series is not only problematic and it’s ridiculous: cute girls doing cute things. Poor writing is when a series’ focal point is making the storyline as predictable as possible. Having predictable moments is not a bad thing per se; however, when they are a good majority of the story, the problem begins.

While Angel’s 3Piece! story was very problematic, the art style is perfect in comparison. The character designs are nicely done with beautiful and colorful backgrounds, almost making this anime series watchable on multiple viewing experiences. However, the characters’ designs are not unique or rememberable, as they look very similar to every one of the studio’s past creations. Though this is very expected since Project No. 9 has had a lot of experience making shows of this caliber.

Nevertheless, the fact that the animation production is just as good as the artwork is impressive; it’s an actual one-two punch! When the series puts their best effort into the animation production, it is clearly shown, and viewers will thank them for their attention to detail. But for whatever reason, the opening animation and theme song were better than they should have been. “Habataki no Birthday” was a fantastic choice for a series such as this, but even better is that it is sung by the voice actresses that voice Jun, Nozomi, and Sora.

With the beautiful animations and catchy songs in the opening sequence, it’d be hard to skip them each time they come on the screen. However, the ending sequence was shocking as the animation and song choice was very different, almost polar opposite. But what was very interesting is that there are four different endings to this series, and each is shockingly good. At the same time, it is somewhat uncommon for a series to have multiple ending themes, especially when they are all sung by the voice actresses of the main characters.

However, that’s what makes the production a little better than expected in some instances.
When it comes to the cast of characters within this series, the amount of them is not the problem; it’s their lack of depth. As the series progresses, the viewer can quickly sum up most of the characters within one or two sentences, ideally telling everyone everything about them. For instance, Kyou Nukui was best summed up in the story synopsis. Nozomi Momijidani is one of the orphans; she is the bassist and best classified as a Tsundere.

Sora Kaneshiro is another one of the orphans, and her Disney character counterpart is sleepy from Snow White. Jun Gotou is the quietest or shyest, depending on how one viewer looks at her. While there are a few other characters within the series, they don’t add anything extra to the importance of this review as they were either in a couple of episodes or categorized as secondary characters.

At the end of Angel’s 3Piece, if the viewer can last the twelve-episode hurdle, they will question whether they will be talking with Chris Hansen once the last episode finishes. While the story was written, the characters had no depth, and the main focal point is a character with many fan service moments with girls aged nine years old. Don’t underestimate this for the typical type of fan service, as this is not what anime is about! When a potential viewer sees this series on Crunchyroll or wherever it lands, the viewer must understand that it is not a normal one.

Watching an anime series based solely on fan service is perfectly fine; we each have our likes and dislikes about genres. However, this series stands out against the rest because it tries to hide what type of anime it is for the unsuspecting viewer. If a brand new person to anime comes across this and watches this without understanding what the series is about, they may turn away from the medium altogether. Watch this series at your own risk, but Bakanow.com will never recommend a series such as this.