Original by Naz
Simulcast on Crunchyroll

Premise

People with supernatural powers run a freelance detective agency called Hamatora out of a small cafe.

Iro’s Verdict: Almost Good

It seems the downpour of mostly unimpressive urban fantasies has yet to stop, considering both Hamatora and Noragami from a few days earlier. Hamatora in particular brings 2012’s failure K to mind, with oddball powers and heavy use of color. Unlike K, Hamatora doesn’t immediately disappoint, but that’s because there were no expectations for it in the first place. It really feels like a filler anime to pad between the terrible stuff and the good stuff in any given season, with barely any cohesion and little reason to care about the main characters. That said, the fights were decent, the powers are intriguing, and I’ll probably give it one more episode, but there’s little here to imply anything really worth paying attention to.

Gee’s Verdict: Potentially Exciting

When I describe how I feel about Hamatora, I realize that it sounds like something I really wouldn’t enjoy. You have a bunch of flamboyant pretty boys with really stupid names hanging out and solving poorly constructed mysteries while using vaguely explained magic powers. Really, the more I thought about it, the more I realized Hamatora was like Wizard Gang Wars K, but with less color filters and less impressive animation. Still, there are glimmers of an interesting story underneath the shallow veneer. The powers themselves have a lot of potential to be cool, the system of having to perform an arbitrary action to activate them is very interesting, and I could see it going in a cool direction. Also, golden robot arms. Overall, while Hamatora hasn’t blown me away, it’s done more than a lot of other shows airing this season in managing to keep my interest, at least for a few more episodes.

Lifesong’s Verdict: It Was Okay

I couldn’t be more neutral about this show if I tried. The mystery was awful and seriously makes me doubt the potential this show might otherwise hold, but the magic was cool. Hamatora is full of colors and it looks like an art student had their way with some of the designs. The visuals are good at times and awful at others. The lame mystery is the biggest issue, but this first episode also struggles with balancing philosophical pondering with popcorn action. As a result both seem like they could be cool, but neither actually is in the premier. We are not off to a good start, but who knows, this could be decent if the storytelling becomes more focused in either direction.

Marlin’s Verdict: Fun for Now

I’ll admit this show mostly impressed me in the way KamiMemo and Durarara did, they were urban fantasies that didn’t shy from talking about the more questionable practices in our society. I never thought a plot about a sugar daddy would get worked into any anime I watched, but Hamatora managed to do it in a way that didn’t have a whole lot of mystery, but intrigued me just from the structure of the world. The powers also were pretty fun, even if we didn’t get to see much of them. I’m definitely giving this at least one more shot.