Figure 17: Tsubasa & Hikaru

What is Figure 17? That's exactly my question when I first heard about it. I asked everyone I knew, and found only one other person who knew about it. No one seems to know about this obscure yet I first found it while browsing through Saimoe 2002. The first thing that interested me about Figure 17 was how cute the characters in the show are. However, as I watch on, not expecting anything great, Figure 17 somehow evolved into one of my favorite anime of all time. I see Figure 17 was having two separate stories. One part of Figure 17,the "main plot," was the story of Tsubasa Shiina's encounter with the aliens at a UFO landing site and her attempts to help destroy the Maguars (alien creatures). The other part is Tsubasa's friendship with Hikaru and their daily lives, either studying/playing in school or helping out their neighbors. It is the second part of Figure 17, the slice-of-life-like adventures and the subtle development of Tsubasa, that is where the series shine most. Eventually, the two stories would combine into an amazing finish. Story: 5/10 Most of what Figure 17 is character development, and it excelled at it. However, the alien plot was a bit...bad. Well, it wasn't bad, but it was cliché and uninteresting. In short, characters can use these hourglass devices to transform into a figure, which gets boosted abilities. Tsubasa's case was a bit difference since her figure did not revert back to the hourglass device but into a duplicate of her with her memories. (Don't worry all of this is in the first episode so you are not getting majorly spoiled.) Along with D.D., the alien trying to defeat all the Maguars, Tsubasa and Hikaru would "merge" into Figure 17 to dispatch these creatures. The action was actually pretty good, but the figure designs (are they naked?) were quite bad, the Maguars had little new moves, but worst of all, the figures had no new moves. In fact, the action was so repetitive (except for the last episode) that the "main plot" seems distracting. I would rather watch Tsubasa and Hikaru spend time with their friends. Taking all things into consideration, the alien plot was definitely necessary for the ending, but they could have reduced the repetition or introduce something new in both sides' attacks. Art: 7/10 For an anime that was made in 2001, the art was pretty good. The character designs were exceptionally good...except for the designs of the figures and Maguars. When D.D. first transformed, I expected something more exciting than the silver surfer. Other than that, the animation was solid and every scene was animation well, even the action scenes. In fact, it was just short of amazing, but nothing amazing when it comes to the designs for the "main plot." Sound: 8/10 The repeating theme song of the series was undoubtedly catchy and encouraging as well. I'm not a big fan of the OP and the ED was about romance (?) which does not really fit the series at all. However, I liked how background music was used in a series. Have you ever watched an anime and realized that without the background music, the show would not be as good? This was the case. It was beyond "just there" and very noticeable as an important part of the series. Character: 9/10 I have touched on the amazing character development that took place in this series and now I will expand on it (with minimal spoilers). Tsubasa starts out as a new student in class who just moved into town. She is exceptionally shy, to the point of mild annoyance, not sociable with her classmates which leads to some bullying. Even when some of her classmates try to talk to her, she would not reply and isolate herself even more. Of course, this would all change when Hikaru, her duplicate, transferred into her class. Of course all of this sounds very corny at this point because it is obvious that somehow Hikaru will help Tsubasa overcome her shyness or something. But it's not really just that simple. Tsubasa's transformation is subtle and gradual. It is not where this event happens which led to Tsubasa being this much braver. In the later half of the series, Tsubasa will undergo some of this transformation on her own and in many ways surprised me quite a bit. What I thought to be just some corny story became a very interesting journey. Someone once said that Figure 17 was like breathing life into its characters. I wholeheartedly agree. Enjoyment: 8 For the most part the alien plot was boring, but I already said so many bad things about it anyways. Episode 1 was actually quite annoying at how Tsubasa was so emo in school (and even at home). Episodes 2-4 were slow but nice to watch, since character development don't happen overnight. Starting from episode 5, an episode mostly dedicated to Tsubasa and Hikari helping out at her father's workplace, the stories revolving around Tsubasa's daily life became amazing. Episode 7 was surely relaxing and nice development, and episodes 9-11 will be some that I will definitely remember. Figure 17 definitely had its share of sad moments, and anyone who have seen it will not disagree. One thing about Figure 17 is how realistic it is, despite its alien plot. I have watched many anime which had something along the lines of what episodes 9 and 10 showed, but nothing was overdone. At one point, I wanted to scream out, "This is what anime should be," because it took something not original and perfected its presentation. That is truly the magic of Figure 17. Through the sad times and through the fun times, through the tough times and through the relaxing times, Figure 17 is impeccable in its portrayal of human emotions and that is why I enjoyed Figure 17 so much. Overall: 7/10 Figure 17 may have been spot on in one aspect but that doesn't mean the entire series was perfect. The one indication of something usual about this series is that the "main plot" was often pushed aside for the slice-of-life aspects of the show, and frankly, it was the less enjoyable portion of the series. It seems like the series wanted to explore Tsubasa's development but chose a terrible medium (alien transformation) to show the development. To me, it felt like the action aspect of the show got half-assed. But the real question is, "Does it matter?" From a technical point of view, the series is not perfect hence the 7 score. However, this would be the series that I would recommend to everyone. It can be relaxing and it is also emotional. And don't forget that Tsubasa and Hikaru and very cute. It is probably enjoyable by a large audience since there is pretty much something for everyone. Why am I reviewing this series? Because this is a series that is memorable. There a many series that delivered the "wow" factor but then become forgettable. But Figure 17 is one that had a lasting impact, and for that I will praise it. "You can keep dreaming, but this love can never be put into words."

I had no preconceived notions about this anime when I bought it, but it had me rooted to the spot in the first episode. Not so much for the action sequences, but for the dynamics of the relationship between the 2 girls that become the main characters and watching their friendship develop and Tsubasa slowly finding herself with the prompting of Hikaru. I enjoyed seeing their interaction with their friends and dailly lives, and how they dealt with the ever sinister threat presented by the Magyars, and how each time Tsubasa finds the courage to stand up and fight when called upon by her "sister".Sadly, the last few episodes were weepies, but in my case it was tears of joy at seeing our heroine blossom, with cherished memories and the hope of a new life back home in Tokyo. The background artwork is beautifu, the production is slick, and I was not left with the sense of "to be continued." The only gripe I had was the episode length, at times I felt like I was watching a movie! It's highly recommended, but only if you are more interested in human relationships than alien invasions.

Saw the whole thing on Tubi TV, I saw the deeper episodes last night and today, the heartfelt parts of the whole series, mostly the ones involving Tsubasa, Hikaru and Sho were the ones that were tear-jerkers for me personally and near the end I cried the hardest when Hikaru disappeared as the Figure 17 suit separated from Tsubasa for the last time, and since I personally lost my father on January 8th, 2018... this struck me pretty hard as the most heart-warming while tear-jerking Anime title I've ever seen! Sadly, there are too many emotional triggers for me in this Anime, so I will notbe buying this Anime as a box-set at all, it's just too emotionally painful for me, besides, my dog tragically died in the summer of 2017 while I was still in Las Vegas before I moved back to Georgia in November 9th, 2017! As for the Anime, I would not mind if there was a 2nd and 3rd season where Tsubasa's father remarried and had a baby girl and named her Hikaru and they were reunited, even if a decade apart in age, Tsubasa would finally have the sister she missed so much after Figure 17 destroyed the alien Maguar threat and disappeared forever along with the Hikaru-twin(I'm crying as I type this with flashbacks from Figure 17)! I had seen the first episode before as a sampler on a DVD from NewType USA, the Anime magazine, but forgot what the title was when I lost the sample and stopped subscribing, and now I've come full-circle by seeing the Anime in it's entirety for the first and last time!

The first thing that captures your attention is the art. The cute characters and the flowing lines attract you to it. The background music is also very enjoyable and entered at the appropiate time. The story is quite good actually. I won't tell anything of course, but it is definitly worth to see :). The only down thing for me was the length of an episode. At almost 45 minutes long I think the storie is a bit stretched out and could have been even more enjoyable if it had been shortened.