Triage X

By: Robert Murphy

I think at one time or another all of us have taken a look at the news or have seen the ugliness of human nature when you hear about some of the things people do and wish someone would come and take care of them for good. Well, the doctors and nurses of Mochizuki General feel the same way and within their walls lay a secret group known as Black Label which works outside of the law to excise the malignant tumors and diseases of the world before they spread to the rest of society. This of course involves ridiculous exploits and a show of utter machismo as the team of busty woman and one local high school student named Arashi Mikami put out all the stops to take down their targets. This includes ridiculous masks, super fast motorcycles, giant gatling guns and oh I cannot forget the last factor, gigantic explosions.

What initially had me invested in Triage X, besides my baser male instincts, was the fact that the shows manga came from the creative mind of another ridiculously male audience focused anime, Highschool of the Dead. Given one look at the either show and you can see the obvious similarities but there are some drastic differences between the two shows. While I may sit down and laugh at the exploits of Highschool of the Dead and not so secretly enjoy the female characters throughout the story, I could also say that I actually enjoy the story and all of the characters that were featured throughout. This isn’t to say either show is over the top amazing with what it has to offer but Triage X takes a hit in a number of departments that the other does not.

The story centers around the secret Black Label team of doctors, nurses and characters who were all saved from life threatening diseases or attacks by the hospitals founder Masamune Mochizuki who used to be a world renowned surgeon and despite his age he probably has some skill left in him. The most prominent among the patients he has saved is Arashi who after a bombing is saved from death by Masamune by stitching together body parts from his own son to Arashi. This leaves Arashi with some deep seeded personal issues that include seeing the ghost of his dearly departed friend from time to time. Yes, this is the sort of stuff you can expect to see riddled throughout the story but like most everything else it leads nowhere. Arashi appears to be shows center one minute but takes a big back seat, the first few episodes we get into how he’s seeking some sort of purpose but then that fizzles out.

Perhaps the big over arcing story involves the other organization that appears and is simply dubbed Syringe. The groups purpose is the ultimately to spread chaos throughout the world through the use of a miracle drug that can be used to save lives but without the antidote it will kill you shortly after. Syringe though just appears out of nowhere one episode and all the characters never really get explained. Some feature super strength like one of the members of Black Label, the other is supposedly the evil mastermind and one can manipulate voices. If I sound vague on the details it’s because the show is just as vague on the exact details as well.

Our main characters from Black Label are just as unimpressive as the enemies that they’re fighting against. Arashi as I said has some issues after being stitched together with pieces of his former best friend and I honestly can say I do not blame him for that. But the story never develops his issues or his character to any sort of degree that I would have been interested to finding out more about him. He is a stone cold stoic who tries his best to act normal and content with his day to day life and even frequents a local restaurant that has a girl desperately infatuated with him working at it. This relationship also goes nowhere I’m sad to say and I questioned why the show even bothered to bring it up at all.

The rest of the characters can hardly be called as much as they rarely speak or give insights into their past and consist of one dominate feature that defines them. Mikoto is maybe the only redeemable member of the group because she is the only one you learn great detail about besides Arashi. The two work together and while she often spouts off about him being too reckless she secretly develops for him. As for the rest, Oriha is the youngest member of the group who loves explosives and is also a pop idol, Sayo is somehow super strong and wields a giant chain gun, Yuko is a watermelon breasted sword master and Miki is the expert sniper. Oriha and Sayo are the only two members who receive their own individual episodes but they were both exceedingly lake luster to say the least. At the end of Sayo’s story the show goes back to original premise of killing the “cancers” of society and leaves you with a look of disbelief at the fact that the show could end so abruptly.

Going in to Triage X I knew exactly what to expect but I did not see things going so far south so quickly. There is massive amounts of fanservice abound through the series between the giant breasted woman and the skimpy or skin tight outfits they all sport. The story also features about as much depth as the characters that are apart of it. I’m unsure what the goal for the series was but it is ultimately just a slapped together job to say the least.

Good:

- The premise was an interesting one, sadly what is presented amounts to little

Bad:

- The overall story is extremely weak and doesn’t even try and string itself together

- Characters are all flat and never develop into anything

- Syringe is virtually unknown and enters the story with no information about it

Scully Rating: 1.0 out of 10