Thunder 3

Episode 6

One of my major criticisms of Thunder 3 so far has been the sidelining of its supposed main characters, The Small Three. They don't turn up at all in this episode, as once again we focus on the most cardboard-cutout anime characters: the embarrassingly flat Segami. Sadly, he's not alone in unemotive dimensional deficiency. Despite this supposedly being a 3D CG anime, every supposed “real world” character is flatter than a Tex Avery toon who's just been steamrollered to a micron's width. Do Thunder 3's animators not understand the concept of emotion? Or facial expressions? Or body language? This has been a persistent issue with the numerous bystander characters who sparsely populate this oddly sterile world. Initially I wondered if their lack of agency or interest in the alien invasion occurring around them was some kind of narrative device, a way to lampoon modern people's distractability due to smartphones. But no, I think it's mostly down to lack of effort, or at least of resources.

Take today's episode. When Segami and his heavily armed (and armored) buddies disembark from their bus, unloading things you tend not to see on urban Japanese streets, like, say, enormous bazookas, no one even bats an eyelid. A background character even remarks of the titanic alien death machine stomping its way down the main street that “they're best left ignored”. I'm sorry, but no. This isn't how human beings react, no matter how supposedly desensitized they're meant to be. It's only once the aforementioned bazooka explodes the death machine that the onlookers suddenly wake up and run away screaming stiffly.

I don't know how it does it, but Thunder 3's anime manages to make what should be a gripping fight sequence boring. Perhaps it's the glacial pace. Perhaps it's the completely forgettable characters with frozen faces. When Segami's friend's head buys it following an unfortunate encounter with a glowing alien projectile weapon, we feel nothing. Segami mutters something about his mother while he advances upon his extraterrestrial nemeses, but only numbness and indifference prevail.

The episode's sole saving grace is the opening scene with natural disaster/lost toddler Futaba, as she wanders, crying, around the alien mothership as the spindly blue-skinned invaders run from her terrifying presence. Her interaction with new furry friend Q-chan is cute, but takes far too long. What transpires in merely a few panels in the manga drags on three times longer than it should do here, padding out the episode to almost excruciating lengths. Not even the presence of one of the cute cartoon kiddies is enough to rescue this abomination of an adaptation.

At least the worldbuilding aspects are vaguely interesting. It's amusing that Segami's poorly-trained paramilitary unit is expected to glean adequate weapons training advice via QR code links on their smartphones. The sketchy alien bodily fluids-derived nasal spray Segami's given is intriguing too, not that we learn any specifics about it. I suspect that by the time we do, the audience will have lost all interest, and hope, that this show will respect their time or attention in any way.

Rating:

Thunder 3 is currently streaming on Netflix.