Manga Adaptation by Kinema Citrus
Currently Unlicensed

Premise: Sakura Sakurakouji witnesses a bizarre murder in which several people are killed with blue flames. The next day she confronts a new transfer student in her class whom she believes to be the killer.

Jel’s Verdict: Needs More Lighter Fluid

I’m not going to say Code:Breaker was bad per se, but there really wasn’t anything special about it. I’ll give them credit for having a strong female lead in a shonen series, that doesn’t seem to happen too often. And I suppose we haven’t seen any of the other cast of pretty boys in action, so maybe they will have power cooler than just BLUE FIRE.

Working with what we got in the first episode though, I just don’t see anything to be excited about. There was a whole lot of general anime stupidity like “let’s transfer the important guy into her class THE NEXT DAY”, “let’s say big dramatic things to look cool (see the whole “do you want to be a vigilante…” line)” or my favorite “let’s run at the guy that just set my friend’s face on fire!”. I could probably go on and on but you get the point. It’s all fairly well executed with decent art, animation and voice acting but nothing that really sticks at the end. Even the supposed cliffhanger the episode leaves us on will obviously fix itself (thanks plot armor!). If I really need a Shonen action fix this season (and I probably don’t), I’d prefer to take a chance on Blast of Tempest’s more risky, over the top style over this.

Marlin’s Verdict: Overcooked its welcome.

So apparently the girl survives? Man, this show would be way more hardcore if they set up this girl and everything only to have her get fried for trying to get too close. A lot of super generic tropes were on display here, which really did not help the show’s case. The heroine is kinda cool and I like her no-nonsense attitude, but learning about how she comes to affect the story on the wiki page, she really comes off as lame. Basically she has Touma powers, except it seems to be just she cancels anything, instead of having to touch it first. I’m really disappointed by this revelation, and it definitely didn’t give me any incentive to watch further.

Lifesong’s Verdict: Broken Pacing

Our heroine is the focus of this episode, and we are quickly introduced to her moral views after she witneses someone buring people alive in a park. Also, she happens to be a skilled martial artist who is popular with all the boys at her school. She is a likable enough character, but the execution here is off, and suffers from serious pacing issues; it’s almost like this is a shonen manga adaptation.. to the wiki! Yup it totally is.

I kind of wanted to like this, the heroine’s warrior like personality, and sense of justice remind me of Saber of Fate/Stay Night fame, and I can see room for some interesting contrast between her moral views, and the moral views of the this anithero; who happens to be a cold blooded vigilante for higher with magical fire powers. All the right pieces are here to make up an interesting shonen story, but I’m just really not feeling it. If you are a big fan of shonen manga, and shonen manga adaptations you might be able to find something to like here; if your not shonen’s number one fan I wouldn’t waste any time on this one.