Soar High! Isami Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2003-10-11 (updated 2012-10-03)
• 3.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Soar High! Isami is an all-around solid kids' action-comedy. It doesn't feature anything unusual or much that will appeal to a more mature audience, but it's got a high-energy pace, is remarkably un-annoying despite the rapid-fire humor, and manages a few fairly amusing jabs at its own genre. The spunk-filled Japanese acting makes it that much more fun, and although two of the three leads aren't well cast in the English version, Rumiko Varnes' great performance as Isami almost makes up for it.

I wouldn't say it's a first choice for older anime fans, but still comes out ahead of a lot of shows with a similar age target thanks mostly to some all-ages humor--an all around quality kids' show.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2003-10-11 (updated 2012-10-03)
• 3.5 stars out of 5 (?)

Soar High! Isami is an all-around solid kids' action-comedy. It doesn't feature anything unusual or much that will appeal to a more mature audience, but it's well-paced, remarkably un-annoying despite the rapid-fire humor, and manages a few fairly amusing jabs at its own genre.

Since it's produced in part by NHK (the Japanese equivalent of the BBC), I was expecting a clean and solidly-built production, and Isami doesn't disappoint. The combination of high-energy directing and even-handed writing are its biggest strength; the simple storyline gets moving quickly, and the episodes cruise along at a brisk pace without getting confusing or feeling hurried. There's plenty of light and smoothly-written banter and a fairly constant stream of cartoony gags and offhanded humor to keep the monster-of-the-week episodes interesting, but there's also something of an ongoing storyline to at least loosely tie things together.

I was quite fond of the characters; the heroes (Isami in particular) are loaded with spunk and very likable. The gung-ho Isami is tough and smart enough to be a good role model without being at all cheesy, and Soshi, the smooth-talking adolescent player, makes for an amusing counterpoint to the hotheaded and more standard Toshi. The three of them are very well acted in Japanese, and their antagonistic (but still friendly) banter deserves a lot of the credit for the light, fun feel of the series. There's also Soshi's tag-along little brother, who's cute and didn't give me an urge to do bad things to him, so I'll credit him as a successful tyke character in comparison to most.

To throw just a bit of maturity into the mix, the trio's ditzy homeroom teacher and the jaded but not-particularly-competent cop they turn to for official assistance have a bit of a budding romance, which is effectively played for laughs once in a while. And there's the villains, who at least early in the series are far more funny than frightening, but aren't entirely incompetent, either, so they're still effective adversaries for the heroes.

Looked at from the perspective of an anime fan quite a bit older than its target audience, I can't say that Isami has a whole lot going for it. The storyline is very basic, the main characters are quite young, most of the jokes are broad and simple, and the whole production feels very lightweight and fairly cartoony. That said, the characters are likable, it pokes fun at itself (and superhero shows in general) enough to get a few chuckles out of this reviewer, and I never found it annoying (a valuable feature for parents)--just simple and obviously targeted at a young age group.

The visuals in the production are generic-looking, but generally quite good. The character designs are all very cute (both the kids and adults) and unlike a lot of series (particularly those targeted at older viewers), the kids don't look or act unrealistically mature. The art is straightforward but nice enough, the backgrounds don't stand out but are actually fairly well-drawn, and the animation is consistent.

The acting, depending on which language you go for, is either surprisingly good or surprising... but not so good. The Japanese version features a variety of colorful and extremely lively performances, and I liked the flow of the dialogue.

The dub, on the other hand, is inconsistent. Most of the acting, though broad, is reasonably good, and they actually do a decent job of pronouncing the Japanese names correctly (shocking!). The timing isn't too bad, although the lip flap wasn't matched all that well (forgiveable considering the quick pace) and the dialogue, though accurate, is a bit stiff. Unfortunately, the casting is off; Toshi is plenty lively, but doesn't sound like an 11-year-old, and Soshi sounds both too old and sort of sleepy. Rumiko Varnes' Isami mostly makes up for it, though--she is an impressively lively match for the original Japanese version.

The background music is cheesy, but functional. The opening theme, on the other hand, is a classic and catchy old-school anime rock intro, and the end theme is funkier and more modern, lively, and fun--the singer sounds like she's really enjoying herself, a must for that kind of song.

In all, Soar High! Isami looks to be a quality kids' show--it's fun, well done, and very lively without being annoying. I wouldn't say it's a first choice for older anime fans, but still comes out ahead of a lot of shows with a similar age target thanks mostly to some all-ages humor, so it might even be worth a look if your tastes are simple. I'd rather my kids watched this than Medabots, and in the end I didn't mind watching it, either.

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Related Recommendations

Though it shares some elements with kids' shows like Medabots, Pokemon, and the like, it's a superhero show not a marketing gimmick, and as a result frequently better. The most similar action-comedy I can think of is Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl, though that's much funkier and weirder. Others in the same general vein include Brigadoon (a bit more mature and much more unusual), Sailor Moon (more melodramatic), and a variety of Magical Girl shows, most of which are... well, more magical girl-y.