“GetBackers” is a fifty-episode Japanese anime series revolving around two young boys in their twenties named Ban Mido and Ginji Amano that form up a retrieval team called the GetBackers. Their job is very simplistic in theory: retrieve what is stolen. Surprisingly, the two of them have a one-hundred percent success rate upon getting their jobs done. Their pasts are very much shrouded in the mystery as they are soon to be revealed in the latter part of the series. Aiding them are their special abilities they seemed to have inherited since child birth.
Ban Mido possesses super strength with a two-hundred kilogram grip. In combat, that skill tends to come in very handy. He also possesses a skill known as the “evil eye” which can only be used up to three times a day. Using the evil eye, Ban can make people see all sorts of illusions. As long as Ban doesn’t go over the limit, he can use the evil eye at any given time. There are many instances in the series where Ban used it on people and they didn’t suspect it. In real time, the evil eye lasts up to a minute. But to the victims, it can last for whenever. Asides from his super strength, Ban’s evil eye is one of the best abilities.
Ginji Amano has the power to generate electricity. Whenever Ginji gets injured, all he has to do is absorb electricity from power lines, fuse boxes, and so forth. However, Ginji causes massive blackouts as a result. He tends to make up the comic relief as he transforms into his “super deformed Ginji” mode. Anybody that has watched GetBackers should be familiar with Ginji when he transforms.
The two of them work all sorts of jobs operating out of a bar called the Honky Tonk owned by Wan Paul. Both of them have racked up a sizeable tab and take the jobs to get out of it. They do get paid a lot of money but they tend to lose it in an instant. There are all sorts of things that happen that causes money to get deducted. Ban has a habit of getting his Subaru 360 towed which is the main vehicle that they use. A good portion of the money gets used to pay those parking fines.
At times they are assisted by several characters with their own special skills and powers. One of the most important characters is a woman named Hevn who gives them the most jobs. They sound simple in theory but Hevn’s jobs happen to be the most dangerous. It’s a pretty interesting premise with the GetBackers being the most successful retrieval service yet at the same time they’re constantly broke. In a sense, it has the feel of “The Transporter” starring Jason Statham.
This an anime series packed with lots of action and humor.
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