SEIS MANOS Requires a Strong Stomach and Patience

Seis Manos is a new anime from VIZ Media and Netflix that is premiering on October 3. I’ve been able to watch the first few episodes and it’s an experience. One thing that becomes very apparent is the fact that you need a strong stomach to watch the show. There’s a lot of blood and gore in this show. It feels like a bit much at times for me, but I don’t have a very strong stomach. Let’s move on to some of the real pros and cons.

Let’s talk about the negatives first. I had a bit of a hard time watching this show and it wasn’t just the blood and gore. I had a really hard time connecting with any of the characters. I’m sure over time different characters will grow on me, but from the get go, there aren’t really any characters that I like. Also, the story falls under the same curse as many other Netflix animated series. It has a very slow start. So far, the first season is all about building up a ton of mysteries that we will undoubtedly only solve half of. In addition, if the first few episodes are an indication of the story, it’s going to be a simple tale of getting strong enough to take down the big bad. The story doesn’t seem good for more than one season as is. The penultimate con is that Seis Manos seems to have a problem with their frame rate. While I eventually got used to it, there were moments that seemed to be a bit choppier than others. It’s not as bad as some previews made me think it was going to be, so the show shouldn’t be completely discounted because of it. One final con is that there’s some Spanish in the English version and I wish there were subtitles for those instances. Luckily, I speak some Spanish, so I could follow along, but my wife had no idea what was going on in those moments. Granted, their small moments that don’t bare too much on the plot, but it’d be nice.

So, what’s good about Seis Manos? For starters, the animation looks good outside of the sometimes-choppy frame rate. It reminds me a bit of Cowboy Bebop and Jackie Chan Adventures. Also, the voice cast is pretty incredible. They do a fantastic job. The music is also amazing. Another pro is that the episodes don’t drag. They’re roughly 30 minutes, but things are always happening to keep you engaged with it.

Overall, Seis Manos has potential, but I’m really worried it’s going to squander that potential. I wish that they had gotten to the story quicker and had one or two characters that were more likeable from the start. I also wish there were indicators for a deeper story than what we’ve got so far, but they have some more episodes to do that with, I guess. If you have a strong stomach and don’t mind a slow build, Seis Manos is fantastic.