Calling Jormungand: Perfect Order a sequel would not be necessarily accurate. In much the same way as Black Lagoon and Gantz, it is essentially just the second half of the series, but aired after a season’s gap. If you watched the two halves back to back you wouldn’t notice any significant change between the two, aside from a new OP and ED; it instead feels like a natural progression you’d expect in any other series of the same length. As such, this review will be rather short as most everything I mentioned in my review of Jormungand still applies. That said, there are still some key differences and points worth discussing.
If there was a single major problem with Jormungand, it would be that it felt like it occasionally lacked focus. There were many one-off episodes or two-part stories, that at times hampered momentum and the sense of progression necessary in a story. In the context of those initial 12 episodes simply being the first half of the series, it’s easier to see that instead of contributing to the plot it was rather establishing and developing the characters, the nature of the world, and the tone of the experience. Nonetheless, it was somewhat dissatisfying to see these initial threads of a larger, vastly more intriguing story being setup and then seemingly cast aside in favour of a bunch of guys shooting at some other guys for a bit. Not to say all the guys shooting at some other guys wasn’t entertaining, because it most certainly was; it just felt like it was missing an otherwise amazing opportunity. Fortunately Jormungand: Perfect Order is very much focused on this larger plot, with even the less-significant or one-off episodes in the first half all contributing, in some fashion, to the conclusion of it all. There are only really a couple of single episode plots in Jormungand: Perfect Order, with the remaining episodes either being part of two or three-part arcs, and the final third to a half of the series all being part of the finale. It is this that renders it hard, if not impossible, to discuss Jormungand and Jormungand: Perfect Order as separate and distinct series, as the pacing over the episodes only makes true sense in the context of it all being one contiguous work.
I can safely say that the overarching story does live up to the expectations set by the hints and quiet build up present in the first series; while the nature of Koko’s plans were never detailed in any fashion, we saw that it would be something grand, something world-changing, something that would turn Koko into a terrifying and insane being to a dying assassin and requires several satellites to be sent into earth’s orbit. It was admittedly not what I was expecting (not that I knew what to expect), as what it sets out to achieve seemingly go against everything that Koko is, but given the development she goes through – or rather, as we learn more about her as a person – it is significantly closer to her characterisation than it first appears. The contradiction presented by who and what Koko is and the grand project she has been carefully, diligently working on for god knows how many years highlight a surprising amount of maturity and thematic depth underpinning Jormungand, one furthered still by the ending. Jormungand: Perfect Order could have taken the easy way out and had the enigmatic, charismatic anti-hero that the audience has been rooting for be right all along, and handily succeed in her machinations for transforming the entire world, but it doesn’t do that. Ambiguity reigns instead, as Kasper, as impressed as he is, rather effectively states that nothing will change, the world she wants just won’t appear. Despite this, she is not deterred, wanting this new world desperately. Perhaps it was all just too far along for her to stop. She carries on ahead at any rate, and the note Jormungand: Perfect Order ends on doesn’t show who was right and who was wrong. The resolution is inconclusive. Can the world be ‘saved’? Or is it truly fucked?
This can of course be read another way: that they didn’t have the ability or courage to definitively say one or the other, or that they simply weren’t able to resolve the situation they had written in a satisfactory manner. This is admittedly a cynical viewpoint, one I don’t actually believe in, but a case can be made for it. The ending as is doesn’t feel out of place, that it’s not Jormungand, but it also doesn’t feel like this was the logical thematic direction that the series was going in. It wasn’t a dissatisfying ending, but it did leave something to be desired. But then, that ambiguity was probably the intention. It’s an ending, and it does work even if it is a little odd.
Had this been the entirety of Jormungand: Perfect Order it would have been a little bit dull. As fascinating and fun as Koko is, there is so much more to enjoy in this series. And in every regard, it’s an improvement on Jormungand. Sticking with Koko and her plans, they do play a far more prominent role in the story this time around, and not just with the finale. Koko takes more direct action to accomplish her goals, manipulating those who would oppose her and pulling strings everywhere. The orders she gives her team help to highlight her changing attitude as her project nears completion, even being commented on by them as being out of character for her. Koko is no longer just an arms dealer now, and her project is no longer a background event.
Jonah, however, is the perspective that we as the audience most frequently see everything from, and he fittingly gets more development. He gets a resolution to the events from his childhood, and when Koko finally lets him in on her plans he doesn’t react well. He owes Koko for so much, it is all but stated their relationship runs far deeper than superior/subordinate, and she wants to accomplish what he wants to eventually see, but he nonetheless can’t help but reject it – there will be many, many causalities, and for him the ends don’t justify the means, even if the means would by comparison be miniscule to the ends. And the best part of this is that after some time passes he’s shown that maybe he was wrong. Koko hasn’t launched her system yet, and things have only gotten worse – in the manner she predicted. It ties into the idea presented at the end that maybe nobody was right. If it weren’t for all the development he got as a character over the two series, this wouldn’t have had the same impact nor would have felt as believable, demonstrating the quality of the writing in this show.
The rest of the cast similarly get some measure of development or establishment (if they hadn’t already), but as they are secondary characters it’s naturally not to the same level of Koko’s or Jonah’s. Particular mention should be made to Kasper though – the impression I imagine he gave everyone during Jormungand is that of an evil dick. While this isn’t necessarily falsified in Jormungand: Perfect Order he does become much more complex than that. He is shrewd, he is a realist, he keeps to his word and has a particular sense of honour, and ultimately Jonah is able to hate him less. While he is more prominent this time around, he is nonetheless simply a secondary character, so having this kind of characterisation is rather surprising and, again, speaks to the quality of the writing.
I feel like I’m forgetting something… something important. Oh right! Guns.
The action is still here, and it is still great. Brilliant car chases, tense forest fights at night, a pitched battle in the middle of the street, there’s a ton of really entertaining and exciting gunfights with lovingly detailed weaponry, but would you expect otherwise? Fortunately the shootouts – while being a bit ‘bigger’ – never become quite as silly as sniping dudes with an AK-47 or whatnot. The problem of plot armour – the idea that we all knew none of the main crew wouldn’t really get killed, therefore undermining the tension of the fights – does persist to some extent, but the death of one of the gang (admittedly early on, and for the sake of plot) helps to counter this. The action in Jormungand: Perfect Order is generally better than in the first series, despite (or because?) them not resembling the fight scenes from spiritual predecessor Black Lagoon nearly as much. There’s a greater focus on teamwork and strategy under fire than crazy shootouts this time.
And while we’re on the topic of the fun side of things, the sense of humour in Jormungand remains, although it does lessen towards the ends as things get more serious. Either way though, god damn that episode focusing on Wilee is hilarious.
A common point of praise given towards Jormungand was its fantastic soundtrack, praise that Jormungand: Perfect Order definitely deserves as well. They could have easily gotten away with recycling the soundtrack, but nope! While there were likely a few reused pieces, there were also a lot of new pieces, and they’re also amazing. Or perhaps I didn’t just notice them the first time around? Either way, you can’t exactly argue with a freaking dubstep version of the “Her name is Koko, she is loco” song now, can you? How about a song with the lyrics “I like to smoke it, smoke it” sung to the tune of Reel 2 Real’s I Like to Move it? Yes it’s as fuckawesome/stupid as it sounds. A symptom of the increasing loco-ness of Jormungand: Perfect Order, really.
Art and animation are as good as you’d expect based on the first season – the animation is smooth, the character designs are crisp and never subject to (noticeable) off-model moments, the background art is beautiful and atmospheric, and the guns are, well, gun-porn. As good as the first season, really.
Ok, so I guess I lied when I said this would be a short review. There’s just some very interesting discussion to be had with certain aspects of this show, which is of course a great thing. In every regard Jormungand: Perfect Order is an improvement over Jormungand. All the good things have been improved upon to various degrees, and while the same issues do crop up again they’re significantly less pronounced. But as I said earlier, comparing the two doesn’t make sense – Jormungand: Perfect Order isn’t a sequel; it’s just the rest of Jormungand. And yeah, it’s still not quite as good as Black Lagoon, but it is still damn entertaining, and if anything Jormungand: Perfect Order helps to establish it as its own thing. Guns, great characters, fun action, tense and intriguing machinations on an epic scale, and Koko being loco. What more could you ask for?
8/10
Leave a comment