#marginal service

[favficbirthdays]

Happy Birthday

Brian Nightraider (29th July)

The Marginal Service

[the-insanity-of-mojiru]

Character bingo! Everyone’s lover, Rubber Suit ✨

Character Bingo

What kind of a world do I live in where the mere mention of Rubber Suit has me singing ♫Mugendai, mugendaiiii yeaaah♫

EDIT: Hey look a bingo

[anytubenews]

Original TV Anime "THE MARGINAL SERVICE" - New Key Visual & PV

This anime is scheduled for April 11, 2023 (Studio: 3Hz)

[darkicedragon]

YES.

[ecargmura]

The Marginal Service Episode 12 + Final Thoughts: Marginal Explosion

The final episode felt like it had too much to fit in. At least the ending is happy. I think the best thing about this episode is the happy ending.

Why I think it feels like too much is the fact that we get actual aliens and the reveal that the UN are the true enemies. Then, the Marginal Service come in. Then, the Borderlanders come in. Zeno finally reunites with his son and then Brian and Zeno go fight the mothership. See? Sounds crazy, right?

Like I mentioned in my review for the previous episode, the UN are the true villains. It also turns out that the guy with the mustache has been doing this because he’s afraid of aliens. He was the guy in the movie that Brian saw back in Episode 2; what a surprise. While what he did is bad, I don’t like the fact that he gets brushed off to the side as the real aliens come in as threats. Fortunately, he still gets punished.

The aliens feel like last-minute additions because they’re here to give Borderlanders some purpose and to be seen as good people. It turns out that everything the Marginal Service has been trying to uncover regarding Rubber’s organization has been to fight aliens. The main Borderlanders featured throughout the show come in to fight. I’m glad that Isabella is back. She’s so hot. Also, Rubber’s guitar is also a gun. HE HAS A GUITAR GUN!

The reunion between Zeno and his son Noah was heartwarming. I was surprised Noah was still able to recognize his father even after ten years. I’m also glad that the kidnapped kids actually aged, but Noah looks rather tiny for a fifteen year old. I’m assuming he didn’t get enough nutrients being stuck in there.

The battle between Brian and Zeno against the mothership was kind of weird. Like, how did Zeno managed to get changed and jump onto the top of that UFO? Like, how is Brian able to control the freaking UFO and knows where to shoot? I also kind of knew these two weren’t going to die because they’re the main characters. It’d also be a waste to have Zeno and Noah reunite and then have Zeno die.

At least everyone’s happy in the end. Immigrants are getting equal rights. The Marginal Service members are back to their daily lives. Theodore got his occult goods back. Zeno and Noah finally become family again with Brian occasionally visiting and making Zeno jealous because he’s an overprotective dad. The Borderlanders are also happy with Rubber Suit having a small concert in prison and the other Borderlander prison mates are having a good time with his performance.

All is happy, I guess. This anime was okay at best. It’s something I wouldn’t ever recommend. I’d only suggest this if you are a seiyuu fan. The voice actors all deserve a raise to being the only reason this anime managed to stay afloat.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ll be honest. This anime’s not that great. It’s only saving grace is the voice cast. Why cast such high quality voice actors for a show like this? The voice actors did the very best to make this anime stay afloat.

If there are good qualities, it’s that the anime was creative with how they used Borderlanders and Aliens for the sci-fi aspects. I did like how Borderlanders and such were a bit of a mystery that eventually got resolved in the end.

I also liked some of the characters. I liked Cyrus, Lyra, Rubber Suit and Isabella. The rest feels too one note. Brian’s okay since he got some development. Robin and Bolts also feel too one-note. The only character I dislike is Zeno. Others are just there or kind of forgettable.

The opening and ending songs are another saving grace. Mamoru Miyano and Yuma Uchida’s vocals are top notch. The opening and ending songs are the some of the few I never skip. Uchida’s rapping skills are great too.

I will repeat: the only good thing about this anime is the voice cast. That’s all. I only watched this because of the voice cast. They’re so good for such a bad anime. Like, when are you ever going to hear Kouki Uchiyama, the king of stoic anime men, use a gremlin voice again? When are you ever going to hear Mamoru Miyano click his tongue constantly again?

I wanted to like this anime and I did sometimes. All I can say is that no one should watch this unless they’re bored or watch anime for voice actors. That’s it. This anime gets a 3/10 for me. It’s a three because the voice actors saved this explosion of a show.

Marginal Explosion, everybody!

[stray-ninjas-fandoms]

Marginal Service anime as a whole concept is really funny to me given just how over the top their trailers and VA photoshoots and promo have been XD (rip budgeting team I guess)

I don't think there was even a summary of what the show was about till like a few days before the first episode aired...

Of course, me being really confused and entertained by the PVs, I gave it a go and watched the first episode.

Don't want to jump to conclusions just yet so I'm thinking of giving it the three episode rule....

But it reminds me a lot of Cop Craft mixed with character personalities that are so over the top akin to Tiger and Bunny style character personalities.

I wonder how the story is gonna go further since we just got a crash intro of our characters, MC's background and the main conflict - pretty okay so far imo.

Overall first impression: it's kinda nice to see silly (in a good way) action anime that doesn't take itself so seriously! Or so I think...

Welp we'll see with episodes 2 & 3 :)

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

seasonal update, most of these don’t even bear mentioning, but new Pokémon is cute and I enjoyed it and Marginal Service wasn’t very good but is going on hold bc by virtue of being 3Hz I want to watch it all eventually, so. There’s literally only one more new show (as in not a sequel) coming out I’m still to watch and then we’re good.

[redlenai]

I can say only one thing about Marginal Service

Is a fucking masterpiece, its delirious, its a trainwreck in flames and it can shoot lasers of its eyes while doing La Macarena.

I enjoyed the shit out of it, and that motherfucking opening lives rent free in my mind

[itsavgbltpta]

Should You Watch The Marginal Service?

(Japanese title is in all caps: THE MARGINAL SERVICE)

A Brief Summary

The modern world is not inhabited by humans alone, but this fact is kept secret from the public.  Certain organizations keep track of Borderlanders - supernatural creatures and legendary beings - and keep them cooperating in secret with humans against a possible bigger threat from above.  But of course these Borderlanders don’t always stay in line.

Brian Nightraider, a former cop and bit of a loose canon, watched his partner die and wants to get revenge.  His goals happen to coincide with one of the agencies that watches over Borderlander actions - the Marginal Service.  The agency takes Brian on as a new recruit to find and battle any Borderlanders that get out of control.  He’s taken under the wing of Zeno Stokes, a grizzled older detective who prefers to follow the rules - which means of course he and Brian don’t get along as partners, but they need to get the job done anyway.

So, should you watch the anime?

No.  It pains me to say that as I was hyped about this show after seeing the character art and trailers, but Marginal Service does not deliver.

I am generally a big fan of team dynamics, but only when the team has good character interactions and development.  Team Marginal Service veers wildly between being best buds and acting like they barely know each other - or even downright insulting each other (and not in a joking manner).  That doesn’t make for fun watching in my book.

Some of the ideas Marginal Service has are interesting.  Borderlanders working with humans to protect the earth in secret is cool.  Humans treating the Borderlanders like second class citizens even though they are supernatural beings tracks with how that situation would probably pan out in real life.  The backstories of the team members are fleshed out somewhat and have thought put into them, even if they aren’t amazing.

I struggle to understand how this group became a team in the first place.  Marginal Service does give backstory episodes to each team member, and they do play into the overall plot, but they don’t serve to show why this team was put together with these members specifically.  Because they probably really shouldn’t be.  I struggle even more to figure out why they would recruit Brian when he is almost totally useless for basically the whole show (save for some lucky breaks).  I’m sure the writing team was trying to go for something like Brian’s dumb ideas are made from good intentions and will help change how his teammates think about things, but he could also be competent in the meantime.

I’m trying to keep spoilers light, but I did moderately enjoy a late-game moment where different Borderlanders the team interacted with came back into play.  It made the earlier “villain of the week” style episodes feel like they meant more.  I give the writers credit for having some idea of where they were going plot-wise at least.  Also the animation and character designs are good, so the show wasn’t hard on the eyes at least,

I think towards the end the show tried to appeal more to a fujoshi fanbase with some queer-baiting moments, but even that fell flat thanks to the tonal mood swings the show throws out.  You can’t have two dudes having a hug it out moment and follow it up immediately with them being cold as ice to each other and expect that to be enough.

…ok, so fujoshi will make a whole case manifesto for couples out of barely anything, so I guess this could be enough for some people.  But for me personally, it was like throwing cold water on a tiny fire that had just barely begun to smoke.

Brian and Zeno hog the spotlight for most of the show, but there are other members of Marginal Service and a few Borderlanders that actually matter, such as:

The older boss that keeps the office together and relays orders and missions to the team while usually staying in the base to admire his collection of mysterious artifacts (Theodore).

A former British spy and workout-fiend who likes to keep himself looking good and fashionable and who always argues with a certain teammate over who is better/stronger (Robin).

The other teammate who is even more muscle-bound and obsessed with protein intake, which is honestly the only character trait he has throughout the show (Bolts).

The token female of the team who is a very sexy tech support agent that is ace at hacking but also good at espionage when needed (Lyra).

An introverted and sarcastic doctor who prefers to keep to himself, but isn’t afraid to step up and make sure the team is bandaged/healed up when needed (Cyrus).

The mascot figure (and Borderlander) who looks like a beaver or woodchuck type creature and is very focused on perving on Lyra (Peck).

A famous pop musician who is a very pretty boy with some very mysterious powers who may or may not be behind a lot of events the Marginal Service gets called in to handle (Rubber Suit).

Plus more villain of the week Borderlanders that the Marginal Service takes interacts with, some humans higher up in the political sphere that hand missions to the team, and a dog!

Where does it rate on my personal scale?

S: I will buy it at full price (unless it’s released by Aniplex USA, because fuck their pricing).

A: I will buy it on sale sometime down the line.

B: I had fun watching it, but don’t need to own it.

->C: It’s not my cup of tea, but wasn’t awful.

D: Dropped it.

X: Finished it out of spite, but did not enjoy it.

Marginal Service only hits a C.  The art and animation are good, and there are a lot of individual pieces making up the show that are interesting, but the pacing and feel of the show never comes together into something really worth watching.

[frodo-a-gogo]

Let us be brutally honest with ourselves and with eachother for a moment. If he weren't obese you motherfuckers would be capable of percieving evrart claires sexy sexy moral ambiguity and complex charms

[favficbirthdays]

Happy Birthday

Zeno Stokes (24th October)

The Marginal Service

[the-insanity-of-mojiru]

Who Broke it? (feat. THE MARGINAL SERVICE)

Thank you @losowecos for the script

[henrycheng]

ngl a lot of you have to unlearn some serious classist rural hatred

[uncanny-tranny]

The bourgeois or "exploiting class" doesn't inherently include the person who gets their nails done biweekly, or the disabled person who has a carer, or the guy who got a $70 video game for full-price, or the person who relies on medication (yes even the ones you don't think they "need"), or anything else like this. None of these people will, on average, have the ability to exploit workers by means of ownership or whatever.

While you are busy fighting with fellow workers, you are still being exploited by your boss, by capitalism, by (potentially) not having healthcare, by being overworked and underpaid, and so are they.

[darkicedragon]

HE SAYS, WHILE BRIAN IS JUST

[ecargmura]

The Marginal Service Episode 8 Review: Underneath The Rubber Suit

Out of all the Borderlanders the group has encountered, Rubber Suit has definitely been the most threatening by far. There’s a reason why it took so long for them to capture him. His name being Rubber Suit is also a double context. It can stand for Lover Suit as he’s an idol. Rubber Suit can literally mean rubber suit as his human form is actually a suit, like his aforementioned name.

His true form feels like a mix between a fallen angel and an insect. He’s quite beautiful, honestly. Isabella and Rubber have the best designs in their human and true forms. His power is quite deadly. It can affect people’s brains, deterring them into a zombie-like state that’s contagious as it spreads through breathing. Almost everyone in the group is affected minus Brian and Zeno. It’s clearly a high stakes mission. Unlike most zombies, these zombies do not crave for brains. Instead, the pheromones that Rubber leaks out makes people be affected by their past. Zeno is clearly resisting his past being peered as he tries to capture Rubber.

Despite the seriousness, this anime is also very comedic, so for Brian to successfully capture Rubber in a giant plastic bag says something about the comedy. I didn’t expect it, honestly. When Brian did that, I did chuckle because it was so unexpected. Like, guns and such didn’t do shit but a surprise plastic bag did. Wow.

Now that Rubber has been captured, what’s next? Is there a bigger threat out there? I thought Rubber would be the final boss but he already got captured and this is episode 8. What will the group do hence forth? We haven’t explored Zeno’s past, so I assume a bigger threat will be out there that’s linked to him? Will that Borderlander be the final boss? I’m curious to see where this anime will go now that the main objective of capturing Rubber has been completed.