Anime: Eldlive

Middle school student Chuta is a social outcast due to his tendency to talk to himself... responding to a voice he hears in his head. Come to find out, the voice in Chuta's head is actually a Monitalien, a type of symbiote that gives him special powers. Because of this special power, he is scouted by elDLIVE, a police force in charge of maintaining law and order among aliens visiting Earth and living on Earth. And, surprisingly enough, Misuzu, the classmate he has a crush on, is also a member of elDLIVE. She thoroughly disapproves of him joining elDLIVE. But he does, and thus the story begins.

This show is a space-cops-on-Earth show with a plot and script solidly intended for a 10-15 (middle school) age group. It has plenty of action and social situations, but it's rarely very intense. A typical boys' pubescent 'coming of age' type storyline where Chuta is a loser but comes to find himself and a place to belong, as well as finding a potential love interest in his partner, Misuzu. Dolugh, the Monitalien that has always been a part of him, becomes more than a voice, and the friendship between Dolugh and Chuta is a central theme in the story.

As a middle-school-oriented show, the situations encountered in this show, as well as the characters involved, are oftentimes silly or even absurd, thus not particularly scary even though most of the cast wind up being aliens from space, many of whom are criminals. The comedy is also simplistic, sometimes 'juvenile'. This show is template, concepts borrowed, and plotline episodic and highly 'typical'. Nothing happens that hasn't happened in other stories before, and the characters' personalities are predictable. For most of the show, Chuta is relatively enthusiastic but lacking in self esteem. The real powerhouse in his police division is Misuzu (a girl). He gradually grows as a character, but his self-esteem is clearly a central weakness that he struggles with, using Dolugh as a sounding board.

This show is very lowly rated on AniDB, probably because of its silly (juvenile) ambiance and its relatively template plot. When I watched it, I couldn't shake a constant sense of nostalgia, as if I had watched this exact show before. I suppose my mind must be harkening back to the days of cartoons on American TV back in the 90s. Though, again, I'm sure I've never seen this show or anything particularly like it before. Though it could be said that this show has a very similar vibe to Men in Black.

Level of Taboo/Ecchi/Fanservice: Gratuitous panty shots show up every few episodes, particularly in the show's latter half. In the first few episodes, Chuta makes a few "wiener" comments likening to the phallus appearance of a head on a long neck poking out of his stomach (Dolugh, in case you were wondering). On a few occasions, there are particularly 'voluptuous women' with all the physics involved. In the first episode, Dolugh nicknames a woman 'Poyo-poyo'... ... 'Boing-boing?'. So this show wouldn't be seen as appropriate in the US for a middle-school-aged broadcast audience, but the contents are very much par for the course when it comes to anime for this age range.

Violence and Gore: Aliens were killed in the making of this show. Furthermore, they apparently have green blood. Even though they're middle-school-aged police officers, Misuzu nonchalantly kills a 'monster' alien and isn't reprimanded at all for it because the alien resisted arrest. In addition, humans are harmed as well, a few times quite severely... Not to say that this show is particularly gorey because it isn't, but people (and aliens) will be harmed in the line of duty...

Intended Age Group: Solidly shounen, boys aged 10-15. Because of violence and the occasional gratuitous panty shots, I'd say probably 13+.

Art & Animation - 7 - Although nothing particularly special, I'd say the artwork is above average despite its 'simplistic style'. Some creativity was used choosing coloration as well as design for the aliens in the show. Many of the likenesses are borrowed from other sources, however. Everything meshes together well, making a... nostalgic style, I suppose.
Sound - 6 - As always, 'sound' is something difficult for me to judge. I really only notice sounds when they seem off. To say that nothing particularly stood out to me implies that it's at least average. But there are definitely a lot of 'abnormal sounds' associated with a sci-fi environment, so there was plenty of opportunity for things to sound 'off', and that never happened.
Story - 6 - Average. The premise is nothing new (Men in Black), the plot's nothing new (typical shounen), and the script is clearly intended for a middle-school-aged crowd, meaning that it's simplistic. Nevertheless, I did enjoy watching this show. Once I accepted the use of the template, I could appreciate most of the show for what it is.
Character - 6 - Template characters, rehashed character designs, but nonetheless fun. Even accepting the silly nature of the show (and thus the oftentimes silly acting), I think the cast did a good job of making their characters interesting. Chuta's whiny but his whiny voice doesn't grate on my nerves. Kugimiya Rie (Dolugh) is a goddess through and through. And even Misuzu, who I felt at times was miscast, really shone through when it mattered. Overall, balancing voice cast and character design, I can't say that this is better than average. But I could have easily rated this a 7 and been satisfied as well.
Value - 6 - Average young shounen with concepts borrowed from other sources. Because it's relatively well written, it's worth a watch, but this show's nothing particularly special.
Enjoyment - 8 - Decent story, decent characters, nostalgic feel... The story has a sense of (arc) completion, but the manga goes on and there's plenty of room for more plot. I don't have much to say about it besides that, but I did nonetheless find myself enjoying every episode.

Conclusion - 7 - A solid 6.5, but I hate giving non-whole numbers as a score, so it's rounded up to 7 based on personal bias. Deal with it. This show was fun despite its shortcomings and I'd love to see a second season.