First Impression: Dimension W

31 January 2016

Mabuchi Kyouma is an agent specializing in retrieving illegal “coils” – small devices that serves as a power source in the futuristic world where a new dimension has been discovered– Dimension W. Mabuchi is accompanied by Mira, a robot girl which serves as Mabuchi’s sidekick and the token heroine for this show. Together, they hunt down illegal “coils” throughout the city, with the help of Mary and Koorogi.

Despite the sci-fi genre, this anime manages to keep the infodumping to the minimum, so that viewers can enjoy the show without being forced to learn new terms every minute. There’s also a synopsis of the show during every episode. At first, it may seem informative to viewers, but after that, it may feel repetitive.

Dimension W also manages to keep the balance between action and “moe”. While episode 1 gives us lots of Mabuchi’s action sequences, episode 2 starts to feature Mira more in action compared to previous episode while maintaining the balance between both characters’ screentime. This way, people will have a picture of what Mabuchi and Mira are capable of. Episode 2 also features a different take in the direction with its comic book-ish style during Loser’s action sequence.

Episode 3 gives us a lighter episode compared to the earlier, by toning down the action and putting Mira in the spotlight, making friends with the others while learning about being accepted in public as a robot. We also learned slightly about Mabuchi’s past, in relation with “Numbers”, where we first learned its existence during episode 2.

With the first 2 episodes giving us a full action-packed sequence and a light-yet-heartwarming episode 3, Dimension W has proved that it has the potential to become one of the best anime in this season. Another thing that made Dimension W worth to watch is the relationship between Mabuchi and Mira. They may have a strained relationship up until the current episode, but who knows what will happen between the both of them?