Rust–Eater Bisco

Rust–Eater Bisco does a few things very well, although that is wasted because of some of the absolutely blatant nonsense in the last third of the season. The setting is very good, it is imaginative, full of incredible creatures and plants, and obviously, the anime's creators had tons of imagination on tap. It may seem like most of what we see on screen was created by the anime's creators sitting down and randomly throwing anything they could think of together whether possible or impossible that could look cool in a post-apocalyptic Japan. They somehow managed to bring it all together, and along with the brisk pace and energy of the narrative, it just works. So I did not mind the giant flying fish, overgrown crabs, hippos, mushrooms, and who knows what else. This anime series was able to present them as a matter of course, and I could go with those ideas and have fun. Likewise, the whole post-apocalyptic setting was something the anime's creators were able to sell to me. During episode five, I was reminded of some of the better side quests from the Fallout video game series (Little Lamplight, the cannibals, etc.). At first, it was interesting and original. The chemistry between the central couple worked, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, although then it felt like the anime's creators did not care that the narrative made sense. They just wanted to cram as much stuff as possible into the show. Therefore, I was left scratching my head a bit at some of the stuff going on, and even the most dramatic scenes seemed to be lacking substance and meaning. For example, one of the main protagonists teleports across the map to be at the right place at the right time. She did this even though it did not make any sense at all to get there quickly. On the other hand, the other main protagonist manages to infiltrate a fortress and get next to the main bad guy unseen, and unfortunately, not even I saw it, so I simply could not believe it. I have seen lava that does not burn and probably the worst plot armor since Fairy Tail. The big twists stopped working, and I only started to enjoy it again halfway through the last episode. Overall, the rest of the time was more dominated by a slight annoyance at how stupid the last third of the season was and lacked substance just for a quick "wow" and "cool." So an anime series that I liked and enjoyed at first became something I finished out of obligation, and even the final scene and the decision to make the protagonists outlaws again for some (and in truth quite stupid) reason killed my appetite for the follow-up season. Therefore, Rust–Eater Bisco gets only 5.5/10, and in the words of Angry Joe: "You done fucked it up!” (28.03.2022)