Double Decker! Doug and Kirill

This is the way I originally described Double Decker when talking about it, and that is it's a buddy cop type show in which only one person in the whole anime is acting like it's a buddy cop type show. This is something that was true in the beginning, but things start to get weird as time goes on.

Seven-O is an organization that specializes in cases involving Anthem, a kind of drug that can cause a person to go into 'Overdrive' which will grant them great power, while at the same time killing them. Seven-O possesses a special drug that can negate the overdrive, hence why they take on Anthem cases.

The show is a really strange mix of comedy and action. See, the show has a narrator whose purpose is to destroy any semblance of romance and adventure to the things happening. When the idea of the main characters being heroes come up, the narrator reminds us they are not heroes, they are detectives paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Double Decker may also be the king of the anti-climax. This is another thing that is hard to talk about, because any instance I bring up will completely ruin the joke for you going in, but the show knows exactly when to hit you with one if it's many anti-climaxes while at the same time knowing not to use them when it would be a detriment to the story at large. It can be difficult to mix that kind of comedy in with a show you expect someone to take seriously when the main plot kicks in, but Double Decker does a great job at it.

Every agent works with one other person, making the 'Double Decker' system, which is an overly complicated way of saying they work in teams. And while the focus is clearly on Doug and Kirill, you do get a good amount of insight to the other teams as well. The premise is simple, always have someone there who can watch your back.

The fights in this show tend to be really short, as a lot of focus is on the comedy and characters, but when the action does kick in it is pretty awesome and well animated. You really do get a sense that anyone who goes into overdrive is 'evolving' into something beyond human, at least in terms of what they are physically capable of. Never are the detectives able to take out anyone on Anthem in a direct way, there is always some kind of mind game or trick at play to overcome the massive power difference.

The hardest part about writing this review is I can't really tell you the best part about it without spoiling something huge and ruining the moment for everyone who would later come to watch it. I'll just say that I stand by my statement that this show is a Buddy Cop show where only Kirill is acting like it's a buddy cop show at the start, but that dynamic of the cast changes in an interesting way by the end of the season. It's not something I've ever really seen a show do before, and it's one of the funniest things about any anime this season.

That said, there are things I can talk about without ruining the show, and that is the focus on Seven-O's anti-Anthem serum. Esperanza, the group that serves as the show's antagonists, seem obsessed with what Anthem is capable of doing and seem to want a way to Overdrive without death. A decent portion of the plot revolves around them trying to figure out the secret to the Serum. This leads to a lot of interesting scenes, including one where people are being experimented on with Anthem, and seeing others basically try a trial and error approach to find the right mix of ingredients to negate the Overdrive. It makes for a very compelling reason why Seven-) and Esperanza are in conflict through much of the season.

Double Decker does a great job at standing out in a season that is packed full of great shows. Furthermore, it does things that make it stand out from any other anime I've seen, and I”m kind of surprised more people wasn't talking about this one. Even if it's for a fun ride with no deeper thought, or if you can appreciate the bizarre change in tone that comes by the seasons' end, the show is worth checking out.