So this was going to just be a comment and I'm throwing it up here in reviews instead... As my drama lists can show, this is way out of the park from what I usually hit the play button and indulge in, but why not, eh? I had just enough time for it and while I doubt I'll ever go the wuxia route, I do like quite a lot of Japanese content, so completely blank-slated, I dived in.

My overall thought? Over the top in both the intended ways (big CGI effects etc) and also unintended ones (music that was loud and annoying, dorky as I'll explain, acting with facial expressions that made me double check if it was really from Japan-I cringed quite a few times; the voices were also really unnatural sounding, especially the lead who seemed really out of place here) and kind of sloppy in terms of how it started. It was just thrown at us without any real connection between scenes. Too many times it jumped to places that were given no explanation. They were whining at each other or silent when information needed to be delivered one way or another, a way besides 'let em figure it out in a few minutes' ideally.

The visual effects were pretty good. The OST was a bit obnoxious in that it was ripping off John Williams. After such obvious knockoffs of Star Wars' saga's more trumpet-heavy songs with some Indiana Jones/Raiders of the Lost Ark and even some swooning bits like Jurassic Park's most iconic number tossed in a couple of times, etc, I was expecting the signature 5 notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to be the final finish. It made watching it distinctly less fun because over the top music paired with some over the top acting and I couldn't bring it higher than the 5 I gave it-and I did that a bit mercifully because this is my first time watching this genre. For anything that isn't a straight up sequel, I firmly believe a work should stand on its own no matter the audience as long as it isn't something too complex for said audience-it shouldn't require me to be entrenched with the kind of show it is in any way. On that, the story does an alright job as basic as it is, the characters only good in the sense that it's 'to be continued' since the things that ARE cool=not explored enough (namely the girl I think was called Haruka-only girl that is there more than a few mins)... The acting went from flat to exaggerated, like zero expression to twitchy, overdone motions face-wise-the girl in it was better but she was supposed to focus and gaze intently, so yeah, not so hard to do. The action was alright, nothing amazing but I do like the girl's psychic power and sword deal. It would be better, I think, as a drama. As a standalone, it's definitely more fluffy than I tend to like (and I like sci-fi and fantasy and futuristic stuff, just not Power Rangers on whatever rare metal is the bot equivalent of steroids which it felt like).

Nothing much to spoil with the plot-can't expect an enormous amount of plot in this quick little installment, but it was an interesting thing that I honestly wouldn't have watched if it hadn't 1) popped up on Kissasian yesterday and 2) been in a category I definitely hadn't marked any 'plan to watch' pages for the 2019 Watch Challenge (https://mydramalist.com/discussions/forum-games/37178-2019-watch-challenge )! The challenge served a unique purpose, though, cause wow, yep, I knew this stuff existed (but honestly thought it was more the modern equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons made live action) and saw it on Kissasian often enough, but all the Kamen Rider sorts of shows, probably because anything with a dozen parts is intimidating, couldn't have gotten a total newcomer like me to jump down the rabbit hole. I don't regret it at all. It was an interesting enough watch. Some special effects were over the top (like the whole thing), and I can't figure out for the life of me why it's rated all ages ie a 5 year old doesn't need mom/dad to be there in case the initial scenes of violence are, yknow, upsetting (generally that rating is reserved for Disney Channel and Nickelodeon kid-aimed programs) or the slimier/less human creatures perhaps not what all little kids will be okay watching alone). Mind you, I watched worse in my youth, but it doesn't mean it got rated the same as Ozzie and Harriet/Andy Griffith sorts of family programs or Sesame Street.

I'm sure there are better examples of this category (I've seen some from other countries that are basically higher budget or more classic versions of the basic premise here-heck, some of what Williams composed the scores for was right in line with it), and I think people who already like this kind of storyl will find it a fast-paced light easy watch (kind of welcome after watching stuff that makes ya cry a storm). That said, it wasn't anything new or terribly original. It's a bit like Harlequin romance novels-they take the same general set up options and shuffle details so with 100 different details to pick 20 from, you get a whole lot of "unique" combinations that in cinema need a bit more than some musical chairs and translating other works into every language everywhere. It felt like a grab bag-a handful of show 1, a sprinkle of 2, a big chunk plagiarized from 3 then visually altered a touch, etc. Still, It wasn't terrible, just not anything I'd recommend or watch further installments of. The pilot should be strong, super strong at that, even if it's 90% grabbed from other works, kind of!