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B: The Beginning
A Bit Too Much
Series in a Sentence
Keith Flick, a genius yet distant detective, is tasked with solving a string of murders committed by an individual who is only identified by the “B” he leaves behind at the scenes of the killings.
What I liked
First and foremost, the series looked great. Action-heavy scenes were slick, there were some really cool effects that, while small, added to the visual flair and variety of fights, and character designs were varied, making the main cast easy to distinguish and remember. The music added to the overall feel of the series, too, with different areas of the world having different feels. On the topic of the world, I loved the idea of a technologically advanced nation that didn’t look like it was technologically advanced. Buildings were designed in a very European style, vehicles ranged from retro to modern in design without going too sci-fi, and the characters dressed in clothes that you would expect a normal person to dress in. All in all, the atmosphere of the show and the aesthetic it presented were well crafted.
What I Didn’t Like
Based on the trailer, I went in to this show expecting to get a little bit of superhuman action and a satisfying dose of boots on the ground detective work. Instead, I got what felt like a lot of superhuman action with a little bit of detective work. The main problem, for me, was that the series tried to do too much. Make no mistake, there is a murder mystery element involved in this series. At times, though, this can fall on the backburner to a complete separate plot that isn’t really addressed in the trailers aside from some visual representation. Add in some oddly out of place slapstick humor that can break the realism that the show tries to depict, alongside some dedicated information dump episodes, and what you get is a series that feels like it couldn’t commit to a singular idea. When neither plotline is developed to its full potential, the super powered one almost always overpowers the intellectual one on pure spectacle alone and that wasn’t what I wanted to experience.
Overall Feelings
B: The Beginning is by no sense of the word a bad show. The stories, while clichéd and overpowering at times, were fine, the animation was slick, and some of the characters were memorable. There were even some emotionally wrenching moments, smartly written character motivations, and fun interactions. Unfortunately, the series got bogged down too often by trying to meld two different stories of two different genres. The switching from murder-mystery to super-power fueled battles wasn’t an inherently negative aspect but throughout my watch I couldn’t help but wonder how the series would have played out had they stuck to only one plotline. While the series was able to blend the plotlines together through the use of an almost episode long information dump and backstory showcase, the result was something that felt more forced than natural. Maybe it was because I went in unfairly thinking that I was going to get a smarter series, or maybe I was just watching it too closely and was able to figure out the twists and turns earlier than expected, but in the end B: The Beginning was not what I hoped it would be. Is it worth a watch? Sure, but I wouldn’t make it a priority. Sometimes you just have to look beyond the obvious to find the truth.