as the series explores quite a bit based on its premise. The show is directed by Kanta Kamei with Aketagawa Jin as the sound producer and produced by Studio 3Hz and Orange. It’s noticeable that Funimation is the co-committee of this series as well to bring their talent into the mix. For those who have seen Darker than Black, you may find the show has a familiar vibe in terms of character design. The interesting part is how Dimension W focuses on its own story and despite not being too refreshing for its ideas, it’s very a high dose of popcorn entertainment.The story takes place in a fictional world in the future. By 2071, humanity began using a source of energy that can last forever for their planet. Through influence of the fourth dimension, they are able to harness energy in the form of objects known as “coils”. Coils are manufactured by New Tesla, an energy company that uses them for profit. However, they also private firms and groups that uses illegal coils for their own purposes. The show introduces Kyouma, a collector who has a hatred for coils. His adventures takes him to all sort of places including his meeting with a peculiar robot girl, Mira. Get the picture here? Any fan of sci-fi should feel intrigued because of the amount of world building with the show. Indeed, Dimension W does a good job by building up its fictional world and constructing it concepts with interesting details. The imaginary setting of Dimension W introduces many concepts including its rich history, society, and technological advancements. As such, getting into this show allows the viewers to appreciate the ideas of the creator.In general, the plot is about Kyouma, a collector who despises coils. There’s actually a credible reason for this as explored in later episodes through background storytelling. His encounter with Mira is a bit odd however. Essentially and for most of the series, he is indifferent about her presence and often calls her names like “junk” and “useless robot”. Despite that, there’s a growing chemistry between the two. Mira is also a character that will spark interest because of her very human behavior. She is a robot but displays a lot of personality as if she is an ordinary girl. Throughout the show, we can see that she wants to help people and her partnership with Kyouma leads her to do selfless deeds. Kyouma is portrayed more as the guy who wants to get the job done and lives life like a simple man with a love for vintage cars but hate for coils. His fighting skills is fairly impressive and is able to fight on par with cyborgs, coil enhanced mechanisms, and even multiple enemies at once. Add a bit of his driving skills and it’s easy to see that Kyouma is the badass everyman.When watching the show, I noticed some trends about the plot structure. It focuses on society and explores Kyouma’s daily adventures. At first, some of his cases really shows more than what he does in everyday life. However, subsequent episodes introduces other ways at how Dimension W’s world works. There’s also murder mystery, cyber-punk themes, and how events from the past connects with the story in the present. The show also introduce Numbers and their presence really exposes the dangers of coils. Background storytelling is also incorporated into the show that explores Kyouma and other characters’ pasts. Unfortunately, the series is only one cour of 12 episodes while the manga has at least 9 volumes. Get the idea? Expect a lot of cuts with certain side characters and certain rush of the story to get to specific arcs. Characters like Elizabeth, Albert, and other many of the minor villains get some spotlights but not much characterization. As one of the downsides, Dimension W’s adaptation content may be a disappointment for manga fans.Despite that, I think the show is still very entertaining for its characters. Then, there’s a lot about the Dimension W universe that is intriguing. We get to see how androids interact, the world fiction of Dimension W’s technological aspects (coils, numbers, machinery, etc), and the show even has some pretty solid action. Kyouma’s a legitimate badass and he has little patience for evildoers. Similarly, the show has both a comedic and serious feel. The comedic moments are timed right especially through the interactions between Kyouma and Mira. In addition, the series rarely tries to exploit its shock values to entertain the fans but rather with its own merits.The art style of Dimension W tends to have a very scientific feel. Character designs are also neat and will remind anyone of Darker than Black. Kyouma reminds me of a lone wolf detective and bounty hunter that came out of a classic movie. Meanwhile, Mira has the appearance of a young girl with robotic characteristics. (see that cute little mechanical tail?) The sci-fi backgrounds and technology also looks credible and advanced enough to be set in its timeline. The gadgets of the show and other robotic designs have a fair amount of details to further make its world building look believable. There’s even a bit of artistic enhancement with creative shade coloring at many noticeable scenes. Fan service is fairly minimal although there are a few times when the camera likes to shine on Mira. The real fan service is the action delivered right to your face.Soundtrack is solid especially when Kyouma is on a mission involving him collecting illegal coils. It’s eerie, energetic, and portrays science fiction with theatrics. In addition, I appreciate how Kyouma’s voice sounds as a mature adult rather than some kid out of high school. On the other hand, Mira’s voice can sound a bit bratty so fans will have to get used to that. Luckily, you will be rewarded with the very creative OP song. Performed by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION, it’s very colorful with the dancing, full throttle action, and creative coloring. OST and music is just as impressive and shows that the creators cares a lot about their work.Dimension W is a show that I think anyone can watch with something to talk about towards the end. Whether it’s the world building, storytelling, characterization, or technical art/music/soundtrack style, the show is a lot of fun. It lives up to what it tries to do despite cutting content from the original manga. As most series in modern years, it’s not very original and still borrows a lot of ideas from other sci-fi works. However, Dimension W still embraces the sci-fi genre and shows that it can be unique in its own way.