Gonna Be The Twin-Tail is a 2014 anime from Production IMS, released in the UK as a Funimation UK title through All The Anime. The studio behind Gonna Be The Twin-Tail have since worked on series such as Castle Town Dandelion and High School Fleet. The director of the series, Hiroyuki Kanbe, has also directed both series of Oreimo and worked on the key animation for The Anthem of the Heart. This release is a combo pack in the UK, much like the US release from Funimation.
“Soji Mitsuka is an ordinary high schooler with an extraordinary obsession. Twin tails are his fire, his air, his will to live! But when a mysterious woman from another world enlists his help to fight hideous monsters with various moe fetishes, Soji much transform into a powerful pigtailed…girl?With the help of his childhood friend, the class president, and his endless devotion to pigtails, Soji andhis crew form a twintailed threesome to take on the monsters who feed on the “attribute power” ofhumans. But Soji’s new pigtailed powers come with a price; his surging popularity as the new heroinin town makes the twintailed trend explode, giving the monsters ample attribute powers to feedupon!” – All The Anime
As a fan of twin-tails, this show instantly appealed to me on name alone, and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to rewatch it for the purposes of this review. A charming parody of Super Sentai, Gonna Be The Twin-Tail is full of comedic moments, though delivered entirely straight. The characters are what really make this show shine, with each and every one of them, ranging from the core cast of Tail Gear users through to the fetishistic bad guys, enhancing the comedy at every opportunity. Of the minor characters, I’d have to rate Soji’s mother as the best, with her approval of Twoearle’s inappropriate behaviour being a highlight of the show. Interestingly, despite being an anime absolutely full of sex jokes, Production IMS were incredibly restrained in their application of fan service. Considering the studio went on to animate The Testament of Sister New Devil and Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia, it’s amazing they didn’t jam as much fan service into Twin-Tail!! as possible.
The primary letdown in Gonna Be The Twin-Tail!! is that Dark Grasper, the foe introduced around the halfway point with a prior relationship with Twoearle, doesn’t make it through to the end of the series. Instead, Spiderguildy ends up as the final boss but is no match for Tail-Red. Additionally, the pacing, while not awful, is all over the place, with bad guys being vanquished almost as quickly as they appear. Though, admittedly, this fast turnaround does provide for more of the ever-hilarious dialogue the bad guys provide.
Visually, the show looks pretty good, but for once, I’d argue this isn’t a good thing. The original simulcast version of this anime was plagued with hilariously low-quality art throughout, and it really added to the amusement to be had when watching it each week. Anime tends to be improved upon for the physical release, but in this particular case, I feel it would have benefitted from having the broadcast versions available as an on-disc extra. Even the action sequences look great in this, and while the subject of them is still amusing, the well-animated execution isn’t quite as funny as the off-model simulcast.
When it comes to audio options, this release contains both a Japanese language track and an English dub. The Japanese language track is simply superb, with the voice actors all breathing life into the characters. The English dub is a great effort from Funimation with almost equally impressive voice work, though Erina’s voice seems too aged for the character in comparison to the Japanese version. The soundtrack feels appropriate, with both the OP, “Gimme! Revolution” by Maaya Uchida, and ED, “Twintails Dreamer” by the VAs for the Tail Gear Users, never becoming tiresome.
Gonna Be The Twin-Tail is a series that should not be taken seriously and appreciated for what it never shies away from being – ridiculous, yet straight-faced, anime about young twin-tailed girls saving the world, and twin-tails, from perverts. In terms of extras, this disc features the standard creditless OP and ED, and English dub commentaries for both episodes 1 and 11 of the series.
© Yume Mizusawa, Shogakukan/TTPC Licensed by FUNimation® Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.