Where do I Even Start? Neo Yokio Review

To be honest I still don’t know what to say. This show is puzzling on so many levels that it almost makes me want to watch it a second time. ALMOST, but good heavens I won’t! Welcome to Neo Yokio everybody, buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

A weird place to visit

I’m still not quite sure what this show is, a parody, just a comedy, a fanfic? It’s classified as a comedy so I’ll go with that I guess? I have to apologize if I’ve been confusing, it’s just that I’m confused myself. After watching the trailers, I approached this show expecting an absolute mess! But to be absolutely honest, the show didn’t meet those expectations either. I guess the problem is that I don’t know who the target demographic is for this show. It had some ideas that could have been good and smart, but they didn't get quite there, and almost smart is not the same as smart, it means you’re still dumb!

Also, I don’t know how I would react to people cosplaying as this guys

in an Anime Convention.

Ok, the story takes places in the fictional capital of the world Neo Yokio, duh! We can discern that the name was inspired by New York, the actual capital of the world, and Tokyo, because Aaanime!! Neo Yokio is the world’s center of science, fashion, and magic. A place that from decades has accepted spellcasting immigrants in exchange for their service in exorcising demons. This magical immigrants, with the pass of time, have become well respected wealthy families that work for the government of Neo Yokio.

Magic is also useful to send your rival, and best character, flying because you’re

salty about being dumped.

All of this was explained in a video that clearly was made to emulate a VHS tape. This explains to us that the look, and animation of the show was done the way it is purposely to emote anime of yesteryears. This will be a great example of having good ideas but not knowing what to do with them, but I digress, I’ll talk about that later. Our main character is a member of one of those exorcist families. Kaz Kaan, played by Jaden Smith, is our reluctant hero that tries to juggle his high class fashionable life with his duties as an exorcist, also he’s pretty cheerful.

Our hero ladies and gentlemen.

Now here is the first thing that caused an inner struggle in my critic mind. Kaz is not likeable, at first I was blaming the voice acting, I thought that it lack personality. But after watching more of the show I came to realized that the voice fits perfectly. Kaz is just not likeable! He is supposed to be this rich kid whose biggest concern is fashion and that the worst drama in his life is that he was dumped and now he’s trying to achieve, and keep, the position of Neo Yokio’s number one bachelor.

   

Ok.

There’s no problem with having a main character like that, it’s just that Kaz doesn’t grow, he literally ends the series they way he started. The writers went out of their way to show this, and we can say it is on purpose. Well it is a comedy, and we can argue that the humor comes from Kaz’s personality and deposition to the world around him. In that case I would say he needs a straight man to contrast his personality, and his mecha butler just won’t suffice most of the time.

Yes, he has a mecha buttler, not robot butler, but mecha.

That’s an important distinction, believe me.

I say that we need more of the supporting characters. I don’t hate Kaz, he did make me chuckle a few times, but too much of him gets annoying. I gotta say that I didn’t have a problem with the other characters, I actually was happy to see the supporting cast just because I needed a break from Kaz.

This one got a chuckle out of my girlfriend.

This problem is so great that our main character’s rival, to me at least, became one of the best characters. Arcangelo Corelli is suppose to be “the a-hole” of the series, slowly but surely, I came to like him more than Kaz. Especially in the later episodes when we found out that he just wanted to be Kaz’s “homie”. HECK, SPOILER ALERT! He even helps Kaz in the final episode of the season.

He is pretty cool to hang around with.

As a matter of fact, one of the best episode was the “Ranma ½” parody episode just because it featured Kaz’s friends predominantly. The best part was that his friends weren’t going put up with his shit!

This picture would be perfect, unfortunately Kaz is in it.

The thing about the picture above is that it shows that someone in the team watched anime at some point, and that puzzles me! The show is fill with the most cringy cliches tropes in the book! I feel like those cliches are there just because “Aaaanime” is like that right? No other reasons! Either this was written by someone that doesn’t know what anime is, or the biggest weeb out there, that the only thing he knows about anime is the tropes.

A nosebleed, REALLY!!?

At the end, it just boils down to the fact that it’s not as bad as it is cringy. The show is filled with ideas that could’ve gone somewhere but they didn’t. Characters that you could’ve like, but you spend most of your time with Kaz. As a comedy, it got some laughs out of me, but then you’re assaulted by cringe. It’s a puzzling show to say the least, but not the train wreck that the trailers might lead you to believe.

.

Arcangelo still cool though.

So would I recommend this show? Well, only if you have to satisfy your morbid curiosity, only if you really have to know. Me, personally, I wouldn’t watch this show again, but if another season comes out I might have to watch it just because I would REALLY need to know. In conclusion I will give this show three big Toblerones out of one recurrent joke. The show is not amazing by any means, but it does have its moments and I can see this becoming some people’s guilty pleasure. So if you like trashy shows, or your curiosity is getting the better of you, go for it, otherwise you're not missing much. This show is weird man.

You will not get this joke until you watch show, and now you have to know.

I’m f’ing evil.

So have you watch Neo Yokio? What did you think of the show? Let’s know. Now I return to the deepest darkest corners of my dwelling. Good-bye for now my friends.