A normal teenage boy with an unhealthy obsession for a hairstyle, perverted otaku aliens and a gender bending super suit are the staples of Gonna be the Twin-Tail!! It sounds as ridiculous as it is, and it’s a hilarious ride to save the world. Adapted from the light novel by Yume Mizusawa, the series runs for 12 episodes over two discs. Time to get your Tail On!
What I thought was going to be difficult to sit through has actually been a pleasantly strange experience. Soji is a regular ol’ highschool student, with a fiery passion for the Twin-Tail hairstyle. His best friend Aika sports the look, and he occasionally fondles her hair when in thought or walking together. She has a secret crush on Soji, and her dark blue tails are held up with cute white ribbons. Her personality is fierce, independent, and of course, her father is a dojo master. The student council president Erina has long blonde tails, she is softly spoken and comes from a very strict, traditional and well off family. A young woman named Twoearle pops up and moves in with Soji and his mother, much to the dismay of Aika. She’s pushy, perverted and flaunts her busty figure to annoy Aika, and frequently gets the absolute snot beaten out of her for it.
The Ultimegil, monstrosities from outer space show up on Earth soon after Twoearle. With plans to absorb peoples attributes they mean business. To describe an attribute would be our love, fancy or fetish of something specific. Like wearing glasses with all your outfits because you really like them. Twoearle relies on Soji’s love for Twin-Tails, and entrusts the Tail Gear to him. This battle gear made by Twoearl has an amazing effect. When activated he is transformed into a young girl with long red hair, earning him the name Tail Red. With the Tail Gear equipped, Soji can use his Twin-Tail attribute to power the Gear and fight off the Ultimegil. Twoearle also creates a new Tail Gear for Aika, and she becomes Tail Blue and fights alongside Tail Red.
Most of the Ultimegil have their own obsession and attribute that they target, and all of them are incredibly otaku. One of the first we meet has a thing for young girls holding dolls, another for ribbons, and probably the funniest is the Girly Boy Fetish group and Wormguildy. Basically a male worm type alien thing that cross dresses and acts very feminine. They are all very bizarre looking. It’s interesting to see what new fetish each warrior will have, and some are just so cringeworthy and weird. As Soji and Aika blast through the enemies together, and they steadily gain fame around the world as saviours. After saving school president Erina a few times, they welcome her into the circle as Tail Yellow.
Erina is one of the only Gear holders that has issues transforming, as she feels her Twin-Tails are not truly her own. After a pep talk from Soji and some negotiating with Erina’s mother, her spirits are lifted and she becomes a major hard hitter in the team. Before she joined there wasn’t much fan service in the series except for sexy butts. Even as Tail Yellow, they don’t dwell on her assets too much which keeps the action moving. They focus more on her personality change as it turns out she a closet masochist and exhibitionist. As Soji’s little harem grows, his mother is all too keen to let pretty much any of these girls into his pants. She also doesn’t seem to mind about the battle center that Twoearle constructed under her house. She is incredibly tolerant, or is just enjoying the ride, either way she doesn’t show much concern.
The formula for the show is quite linear, which isn’t bad but until about half way through it gets a bit stale. A monster shows up and they cause a ruckus, then they are defeated. The Tails might experience a little difficulty along the way, but are always triumphant. Luckily they throw a curve ball in, when an old acquaintance of Twoearle’s shows up. Her name is Dark Grasper, and after their world was destroyed she joined the enemy Ultimegil and travelled the galaxy looking for Twoearle. In the most basic terms, she is an obsessive stalker, and after mistaking Tail Red for Twoearle she sets out to save Twoearle in her own way. She’s really not a bad person, just a bit misguided I think. From here on, the enemies are a little more intimidating, and with Dark Grasper spreading hero own Attribute throughout the world things become a bit more complicated. Soji also starts to notice things about Aika other than her Twin-Tails, and his Twin-Tail passion is questioned. His mind is so confused his Tail Gear plays up, and he actually transforms into a real girl. After learning about being a lady with long hair, his battles are not going very well. Against their most dangerous opponent yet, he has a very odd vision/encounter with some godly looking floating Twin Tails. It is very bizarre because it talks too, a little over the top I think. The final ending is quite a nice one, and leaves the series open ended, possibly we might get a second season.
I like how the human characters aren’t too outrageous with their personalities, they balance out the ridiculous Utemegil quite nicely. If is was too full on (like Puni Puni Poemi) it would only be manageable in small doses. The characters get along well together, and Soji is so overly nice you can’t help but like him. There is a quick scene in the opening that we don’t get to see in the series, it looks like Soji’s mother seated in front of a control panel. this might be references to the novels, I don’t remember seeing it in the series.
For the DVD release of Gonna be the Twin-Tails!! version there have been some animation updates. If you see the comparisons to the original on air version you will know why they re-animated whole segments. The animation itself is pretty smooth and consistent throughout the series, although the quality does drop every now and then in the less significant fights. It’s not a huge drop, just a little. All in all I actually quite enjoyed this series and had a few good laughs along the way. It’s pretty light hearted too, so it’s an easy watch if you enjoy series with a bit of slapstick comedy and soft fan service.
A review copy was provided by Madman Entertainment to the author for the purpose of this review.
