Neo Yokio was a pleasant surprise. I had one eyebrow raised almost constantly from the moment I heard about it, and I really wasn’t expecting much in the way of quality. Don’t get me wrong, the show has its share of glaring holes: the animation, the bare-bones soundtrack, the alternatingly wooden and over-the-top acting. My biggest issue with the show is of course that it’s trying to evoke a broad sense of anime – a vague send-up of 80s mechas complete with popcorn action, flashy colors, onigiri, and other staples of Japanese culture – while lacking some of the more specific references I need to draw me in (read: Gamers!). It tries to be that not-quite-a-real-anime so hard, though, that it somehow manages to come across as hilarious parody in spite of not showing any self-awareness.
A couple episodes in I had yet to recognize the true brilliance (/s) of Neo Yokio the show, but I kept watching out of a combination of curiosity and wonder. What fueled my desire to know more was nothing other than Neo Yokio the city, which is remarkably interesting in the limited time we get to really explore it. The Sea Beneath 14th Street, fictional countries but also the Soviet Union, a lone mecha butler with the voice of Jude Law, the Bachelor Board, the disembodied and almost inhuman voice acting (with the exception of the beautiful Helena St. Tesoro) – all of these things create this multi-faceted, weird, wacky… thing. The whole show almost feels accidental – despite the intrigue of the setting, few details feel deliberate enough to have been intentional, and the show comes across as parody or deconstruction (yes I know I hate throwing that word around too but don’t think too much about it) with hardly a gram of self-awareness.
So to recap, it’s New York and Tokyo haphazardly slapped together with a Greek prefix jammed in front. Of course, how this happened is unclear. Are we living in an alternate world where Japan won World War II and changed every city’s name to something more Japanesey? ChicagOsaka? San FransisKyoto? But San Francisco is named normally so that scenario’s out. And if Japan took over, why are they all speaking English, and not worshiping the emperor? Why is a chunk of New York Neo Yokio in the ocean? Is this in the timeline of Modern Warfare 3 where the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel collapsed and flooded when Russia invaded? Considering whole neighborhoods are underwater, it seems more likely that the Sea Beneath 14th Street is the result of rising sea levels. Given ~ universal scientific consensus ~ , this is likely the work of global warming, meaning that this is taking place in the future in a timeline which diverges at some point and New York became… Neo Yokio. And Russia became Soviet again. And also magic powers. And mechas. But Chanel still exists???
None of it makes any sense, and the show honestly comes in around a strong 5 light 6 for me. But I’m kept going by the never-ending thought of “what in the actual fuck?” going through my head, and my inherent curiosity wins out.
Oh, and Helena St. Tesoro is perfect.
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