Clockwork Planet - Anime Review

Length: 12 30m episodes

Clockwork Planet is set on Earth in a reality where the planet was rebuilt using nothing but clockworks. The planet, at one point, was beyond repair, so someone named Y said they could rebuild it. Cities, entire countries, now sit atop giant spinning cogs that tick away into the future. How does life work in a world ruled by gears and clockworks?

Outside of the aesthetics, life looks more or less the same. It is the same reality with a bunch of gears attached. No new imaginative forms of transportation or conveyance seem to exist at all. It is a wasted opportunity. In a world that is completely different from our own, I was hoping to see things that were vastly different. The only thing that I found even remotely interesting was Marie's gun. This gun was able to convert between a small blade and a pistol and was pretty cool overall. I am sad to say that is all that impressed me.

The plot is actually pretty interesting, in theory, since it has to do with corporations, politics, and military influences clashing for power behind the scenes. All of this on top of being set in a radically different world than the one we know. In reality, though, it's paper thin and is barely justification for a series at all. We never learn any major motivations from any of these factions and they are dispatched in short order. I don't remember anyone's names if they had any at all. They were literally throw-away.

Later on we get a much more interesting villain, in theory, who wants to destroy the world with a doomsday weapon; I think. I am not sure what this person's motivations are either since they have no time for any exposition. The series just needed a villain and this is basically all it was. I will say that the weapon they used was particularly imaginative at least.

The pacing overall is fine but it had nothing to get me invested. It starts out in a semi-conflict between our protagonists and some kind of military. It then rewinds time a bit to introduce all the characters. It would be nice to know who was involved in this conflict, right?

The characters are all this series has because it has such a weak plot. The main problem with this is that the series protagonist, Naoto, is an insufferable idiot-pervert. Naoto is so bad at fixing anything that he cannot even repair basic simple clocks. We later learn that he also cannot create simple circuitry or do anything useful because he is so bad at everything. What he can do, though, is perfectly understand the inner workings of an extremely complex city infrastructure and come up with plans to foil the bad guys every time. It is almost like a contradiction. Oh, and he has super hearing. This is the only thing that makes him interesting at all but it is treated like a gimmick only. I do not even want to get started on this guy wanting to marry his robot girl and calling the other robot his daughter. Ugh, it's weird. I could write pages on why I hate this character but I will leave it here.

Where was I? Oh, ya, the other main character is Marie Brigae(sp) who is a genius at fixing clockworks. She has everything memorized. It is unfortunate that she has to play second fiddle to Naoto. She is sassy and confident but due to her size, she needs a little muscle. This is where her awesome cyborg bodyguard steps in. Halter is a well dressed man but do not cross him. He will tear you apart in the blink of an eye!

We also have an automaton girl named Ryuzu who Naoto manages to fix early on due to him being able to hear what was wrong with her clockworks and correcting it. Ryuzu is a condescending *&%ch, much in the vain of Rachel Alucard. The only difference is that Rachel is likable. For some inexplicable reason she also loves Naoto. She is a high class automaton capable of amazing feats; some of which even defy conventional logic. Unfortunately, there is almost no character development for this girl as she is literally 1 dimensional from the start. What you see is what you get from start to finish.

Conclusion
I have written all I care to on this. Having read the premise I was excited for something different. However, what I got was a poorly written plot with some terrible characters. The ending was literally baffling and seems like it was pulled out of several people's rears.

I struggled to finish this because I hated the protagonist so much. He was full of contradictions and his personality was wholly unlikable. Marie was much more interesting and should have been the sole protagonist of this series. Period. The whole love robot angle and attempts at humor, while noble, really did not help at all. It made everything awkward and gross. Basically what I am saying is this: there is nothing in this series that drives the plot. Ugh! I'm out.

Recommendation
Nope. If you want something different, look elsewhere. Although this is set in a remodeled world of clockworks, you will only find some kind of weird awkward romance that has very limited humor. I am not sure who this is supposed to targeting. I see nothing redeemable here.

Stay far away.