Extra Magic - Hyper Police

A little experiment in the making, please bear with me if it feels like I'm missing something. ^_^

This segment of my blog, Extra Magic, will entail my fascination with certain anime in great detail. Consider it akin to a commentary track on a DVD, or perhaps a sort of blurb about an anime that had a profound effect on me. None of them have to be perfect 10s to have a profound effect on me for the record, they just need to do something terribly right with me upon my viewing experiences. If there's an anime you're ever curious about my feelings with, maybe you can send me a message and I'll look into it for you. ^_-

Though this series was discussed in some detail on my director's blog, I felt the need to talk about Hyper Police once more, and to establish any commentary and throught-provoking moments I may have felt with it. I will likely begin with some descriptions of the world of Hyper Police before I begin sprinkling in my personal thoughts with each episode, though there's some episodes I will have more to say about than others. I will also make sure to mention Kenji Kawai's score in here at certain points too. Finally, I would like to say that director Takahiro Omori has done a fine job expressing sequences with good angles and proper usage of Kawai's score when needed, he really keeps the cast fun and interesting with me, although he also makes sure to show a good amount of the troubles that world the Hyper Police entails.

Also, I'm not afraid to give spoilers, mostly because I feel that the odds of anyone remembering everything explained in this segment word for word will be a low probability.

The world of Hyper Police is a mish-mash of modern Japan with the inclusion of mythological creatures by means of a destroyed spritiual barrier. As a result, humans and supernatrual beings have tried to co-exist together in a single society, though humans have become an endangered species as a result of this world being a reality, this is especially true when humans are generally loathed by most creatures for their many rights over anything non-human.

The focus of this series is on the characters and their job as bounty hunters, with catgirl Natsuki being the lead along with her co-workers and friends Batanen and Tommy, who are both wolves. Natsuki later meets Sakura, a nine-tail fox who actually hasn't grown her ninth proper tail, and finds herself wanting to devour Natsuki because of her supernatural powers, which is to say, Natsuki can wield two small creatures named "parasites" and emit electrical charges to attack foes (however, Natsuki possesses other abilities that are made more apparent in later episodes). Natsuki's love interest is with her older co-worker Batanen, who's a rather brazen playboy that finds himself strangely shy with Natsuki, and it is within the third episode where he admits it's because he has genuine feelings for her (Batanen kind of reminds me of my father with the way he treats true love when it stares him in the face).

As the series begins with the first episode within the city of Shinjuku, it is intended to establish the ties between humans and supernatural beings, showing Natsuki and Batanen as bounty hunters trying to stop a monster from causing harm towards nearby humans. The world is also seen in this episode as a dark and fairly uncompromising place in which Natsuki and company much learn to work around, though it is also interesting to see the good-willed Natsuki learn the ropes of fighting crime, like working with her partners throughout the series and understanding the fine art of reading a criminal his rights (no matter how many times she screws it up). The episode finds a new employee entering Natsuki's company named Kondo, in which her parents were killed by monsters during her childhood, and her vendetta against anything non-human is made apparent with her cold treatment of Natsuki and her relative vengance applied toward any criminals they meet. By the end of the episode, Kondo finds herself in a bind when her gun is knocked away by a rather dangerous perpitraitor, only to have Natsuki jump in and save her, showing Kondo that her prejudices are unfounded. After this moment passes, Kondo warms up to Natsuki, and we get to see one of many profound relationships in the crazy world of Hyper Police.

Natsuki is definitely an inspiring character to say the least, as her kindness shows a level of warmth in a world where everyone that surrounds her seems to be in worse shape than she is. The first episode gave me a positive impression on her character, and I see no problems with her cat-like tendencies, which I found to be pretty endearing for the record.

Also, it should be noted that Natsuki's job as a bounty hunter is always threatened by the competition of another bounty hunting corporation which recieves funding from people who have connections with political figures. Natsuki's own company is independent and equipped with little funding in comparison. Natsuki's boss is a man named Mudagami, who is in fact a god, and it was very interesting to hear him complain in the first episode about why he's in such a position where he has little in the way of rights in comparison to everyone else. The Police Company is the name of this bounty hunting establishment, and it always seems like the company is in the red for earnings each and every week.

Natsuki eventually encounters Sakura in episode 2, in which she is a homeless drifter looking for ways to increase her power and finds herself intrigued by Natsuki's power. By episode 3, with countless failures in taking Natsuki's powers, Sakura must endure the life of a homeless person for the time being and eventually finds work within The Police Company as a bounty hunter. It is also by the third episode of this series where Sakura starts to show a small sign of appreciation for Natsuki when they work together more, though Sakura's own nature still gets the better of her until around episode 15, in which she finds herself attracted to a wandering samurai. By episode 4, Natsuki's kind heart pushes her to let Sakura stay at her place when she notices the cardboard box that was Sakura's current residence.

I found the details of Sakura's rather difficult street life to be amusing, from the shrimp tails she calls dinner to the layout of the box she made for herself. And of course I found it endearing when Natsuki took her in. ^_^

By the fifth episode, the series really starts to pick things up as the whole Police Company decides to get together for a job to nab a nasty criminal with many counts on his record, though it should be noted that there is a sad twist to the end of this episode. In the meantime, Kondo and Sakura start to notice the quality of their ammo is less than the standard they're supposed to be issued, which suggests that the funds of the company are cerainly ailing. Also, Sakura's animal instincts take over in a funny sequence involving the burying of a dead bounty with the idea of storing it until they need it for possible emergency funds (the criminal in question was a mushroom just so you know ^_^). When the team approaches the hideout of the wanted criminal, it is discovered that he also has a son with him, and everyone on the scene does what they can to not hurt the poor child. However, when it looks like things take a turn for the worst as Natsuki tries to keep the child away from his father, the rival company, The Mad Police Corporation, dives onto the scene and brutally shoots down the criminal. The child in question becomes devastated and is threatened by Fonne, the leader of the team on the site, to keep away from "her bounty." After they leave, the child screams at Natsuki when she tries to comfort him, and it is around this point when Natsuki starts to seriously hate her job. She ends this episode going to their usual hangout, The Lamp Cafe, and drinks herself until she's drunk over the incident.

What made the fifth episode such a turning point for me was how it expressed the unnecessary prejudices between humans and beasts alike with Fonne's rather excessive killing of the criminal in question, yet it also shows the dark side of Natsuki's job with the criminal's son being in the way of all the heated action. The first four episodes had a lot to say about the general poverty and living situations of all the characters, but the fifth episode definitely tapped into the angst between the species that was evident in the first episode with Kondo's dilemma.

The sixth episode finds Natsuki on vacation contemplating her job, but not before a little girl jumps into her house and begs her to be trained in the ways of bounty hunting. Natsuki tries to tell the girl that bounty hunting "isn't cool" and only wishes she could see what really goes on with all the crime fighting that happens. By episode's end, the girl is picked on by a criminal, and Natsuki finds herself saving her and begins to understand what it was that made her a bounty hunter in the first place. The little girl in this episode was revealed to be the daughter of a rich family and ran away from home looking to have some fun, though it is rather amusing to notice that this rich girl's family is comprised of humans, but things become rather enlightening when she cries at the end of the episode and says that's all the bounty hunting she wishes to do in her lifetime (Natsuki makes a tender smile suggesting she's proud of the outcome).

This episode also features a rather hilarious sequence entailing the origins of Natsuki's employment with The Police Company on another note, in which Natsuki was also captured by a criminal much the little girl she saved by the end of the episode. Episode 6 definitely turned things around in Natsuki's life and I feel it showed that once again, Natsuki understood how times were and wanted to get back to helping the community.

Episode 7 shows the bonds between Natsuki and her co-workers become strong again as they team up to find a ruthless criminal that likes to shoot up whatever establishments he's in. The casino in the beginning of the episode has two interesting sequences, one where Natsuki and Sakura notice someone winning tons of money from a slot machine and oogle at the fact they will never be paid as much for the work they do, and the other sequence is Natsuki's quirky cat instincts taking over as she starts gathering stray ammo that's falling across the floor. There's a nice montage near the end of the episode involving the teamwork of Natsuki's friends staking out a rather dubious club for the criminal, and everyone finds that their efforts have paid off when Natsuki nabs him and gets the bounty. However, even as Kenji Kawai's beautifully applied score dashes over the sequence, it is instantly revealed that The Police Company has been shut down and everyone's suddenly out of a job. It is also at this point where Natsuki and Sakura find out the hardships of bounty hunting without independent licenses, something that pretty much everyone else had working with the company. It's profound to see how much everyone works together, and it's equally saddening to see all their efforts come to this, which makes this particular episode express just how much everyone had on their backs from the society they were born into.

Episode 7 also has a scene where Natsuki and Sakura attempt to do some shopping within their budget, though Sakura makes it clear to Natsuki about a certain clothing store that charges you just for trying on outfits, in which this fancy store happens to be inhabited by human customers. After this scene, Natsuki and Sakura both find a good place for bargain shopping soon after.

As the eighth episode winds through, it appears Natsuki and Sakura just aren't making enough money for their catches, as companies are ripping them off for bounties knowing full well that what Natsuki and Sakura are doing is completely illegal. The hardships depicted within the episode play off the tough times quite nicely, especially when Natsuki realizes she's not talented enough to hold another job outside bounty hunting. At the end of the episode however, Natsuki finds all of her old co-workers still come to her usual hangout, which is The Lamp Cafe, and thus we are treated to another endearing sequence of Natsuki finding the good within the bad along with a good lacing of Kenji Kawai music in the background, and she promptly lets Tommy have it when she hears he let Batanen get shot in the leg (guess times are tough, aren't they?). ^_^

Episode 9 continues the poverty that has stricken Natsuki and company, as the previous episode expressed their need to be tight with money, they find themselves desperately looking for money and even find themselves stealing food at one point. Natsuki also starts to eat cat food around this point, punctuating what she has left to eat. By episode's end, Batanen gives them a lead on a rather big job, but they get caught by authorities and only Sakura escapes while Natsuki is apprehended by Peau, a water mage working for the state police. Guess tough times call for tough circumstances, no? ^_^

Episode 10 is a look into the hard prison life that Natsuki finds herself being in, as she hears that major offenders have their memory erased, and her crimes of not having a bounty hunting license and resisting arrest are more than enough to qualify her. With a stroke of luck it seems, Natsuki is rescued by two other criminals and helps them with a jailbreak, simply because she's afraid to lose her memory. However, it is also revealed that she was being used by them, and Batanen realizes it's up to him to clean up the situation involving Natsuki, even as Peau's cold exterior shows she's not an easy one to crack through. Thankfully, a lie by Batanen involving Natsuki being his fiancee, and Natsuki apparently in the prison to apprehend the two jailbreakers who happened to be famed getaway artists were barely acceptable, especially when Batanen says to Peau that he owes her for such a favor.

Another thing about episode 10 worth thinking over is how nobody in the prison was human, and by this point it's also obvious that humans have never been on bounty hunter's lists in the series up until this point, which once again states the position that supernatural beings seem to be in when compared to humans.

Episode 11 finds Natsuki and Sakura working to get their bounty hunting licenses, as they must memorize times to go for their tests and form submissions, and throughout the episode they travel through all kinds of areas and even split up at one point. The tests themselves are pretty funny as well, especially when it is revealed they are applying for the highest ranked license of them all, and they find their tests to be rather ludicrious (a fight with a big stone statue is one for instance). As they both go left and right to submit their forms, especially when one bureau is destroyed from a recent bombing, and they find themselves saving people who happen to be in their path, it becomes a bit of a funny twist when they find out they just ran out of time with submitting their forms before the next available application period, which means they would have to wait before becoming officially licensed.

Episodes 12 and 13 revolve around Natsuki and company escorting an important priest who holds a vital role in human and supernatural being relations for a big political event. Sadly, there are those are trying to stop this priest from making it to his destination, and that's where the need for bounty hunters reaches our heroes. Episode 12 shows a rather colorful depiction of Osaka with shops that have bullets made from elves to even live stage shows with sea creatures acting them out. It is also during this point where the terrorist group in question prays on Natsuki's pride in her job as they pay a child to give Natsuki a special bell, the child in question claiming she's a "big fan of Natsuki and her work as a bounty hunter." It's a very sad sequence that shows the kind of appreciation Natsuki wants from people, but alas, terrible people have used her kindness to their advantage, and the cat bell she would treasure so much from this event has a transmitter planted into it which makes their journey a hard one.

As episode 13 continues to show their struggle fending off attacks and avoiding bombs planted in suspicious areas, they finally conclude that the reason their hiding spots are always found is because one of them probably has a transmitter, and it's at this point where Natsuki uses herself as bait while Batanen and Tommy decide to escort the priest to his rather huge event. At the end of this episode, it is revealed that the priest is a twin, and that the entire time they were escorting the wrong priest to attend the important meeting and were acting as decoys for the real one.

An interesting segment within episode 13 to point out is a camp scene where everyone's drying off from a long swim when the priest suddenly questions the worth of making an effort to bring humans and supernatural beings together as one society, and when everyone starts speculating it's at this point where Natsuki's kind heart is expressed through her feelings that she likes her human friends and feels that such a society is worth fighting for.

Episode 14 shows off one of Natsuki's other powers, in which her electronic charges carried off from her parasites can open rifts in time and transport people from previous periods into hers when the charge is too strong. A samurai named Sakunoshin is taken from his time period as he was serving Lord Nobunaga and finds the love of his life Kasumi risking herself to keep him from harm as he was in the middle of carrying out his duties. The dramatic event happens quick enough that as he time travels to Natsuki's time from one of her discharges (which was reflected into the sky from the shield of the current perpetraitor she was chasing), and he doesn't immediately grasp that he's in a different place. Of course, being he doesn't realize it at the beginning, he grabs Sakura who's been unconscious from an attack prior to the event and takes her away to a cave in the outskirts of town thinking he's saved his beloved from the previous period. As Sakura wakes up from the sudden encounter, she thinks that she's been raped by the mysterious samurai and runs away crying in shock (though the cave was dark and she couldn't make out his face properly), and Natsuki and Company find him soon after not knowing he currently was at the time and shocking him with the history lesson that Nobunaga was overthrown. As the episode progresses, Sakura posts a bounty on his head, and the search for this man becomes a big issue in the next episode.

The history lessons that shock Sakunoshin are very funny to behold, and Sakura's first true male interactions prove to be rather hilarious in this outing.

Episode 15 finds Sakura unwittingly falling in love with Sakunoshin when she meets him in a cafe, not realizing he is the same man she met in the cave. Sakura is low on money and Sakunoshin pays for her meal, which is a rather funny contrast when considering he was rudely staring at her with a spaghetti sauce stained face wondering why she resembled his old flame, Kasumi. As they walk together and things start to look good between them, Natsuki locates Sakura and tries to stop her from "killing him" when she notices she found Sakunoshin, especially since killing a human is considered a capital offense, a fact that I also find very amusing (I guess if you're not human it's okay to be killed? how unfair!). By the end of the episode, Sakura learns of the identity of Sakunoshin and is explained everything that happens, and likewise Sakunoshin is explained where in time he is and seems to just accept everything for what it's worth.

Episode 16 begins in the period of spring where animals are in heat, and anyone who's got any beast blood in them feels the urge to procreate. Sakura's urges get the better of her as she tries to locate Sakunoshin and do the dirty deed as he's out on a trip (mostly out of habit for his old ways). Meanwhile, Natsuki finds herself relaxing and unsure of what to do and decides to go see Batanen, though she is not immediately effected by the urges other beasts go through. Throughout the episode, there are amusing images of couples everywhere, showing an aspect of the world of Hyper Police that brought me great amusement, along with Natsuki and Batanen briefly having an erotic moment before it starts raining on them and things resume as usual. ^_-
Also, Natsuki becomes a true friend for Tommy and tries to pose as water mage Peau for him, being that's Tommy's crush throughout the series, and the escapade is very funny and endearing to say the least, proving just how fun the cast really was for me overall.

By the end of episode 16 Sakura finds Sakunoshin and we begin episode 17 with Sakura having three children with the samurai, which adds another fun yet practical element to the series: parenthood. Though it is immediately shown that the kids are indeed little devils to poor Natsuki and her home, there is a lovely flashback segment that shows how everyone thought the kids looked adorable, along with Sakunoshin's rather ludicrious name suggestions (Matsu, Take, and Ume...sounds like fish, doesn't it? ^_-) set to a soothing Kenji Kawai number. As the episode progresses we learn that Kondo is now a member of The Mad Police Corp. and she is partnered with the rather hostle Fonne, though Natsuki still wishes her the best even with this revelation, and Kondo in turn is glad to see her old friend is okay. Also, Natsuki and Sakura go after a bounty with a mole who likes to dig his way into bank safes, but not before chasing him into a preschool and he takes a kid hostage. The segment that follows this is Sakura putting her gun down at the sight of the scared child because of her recent motherhood, and Natsuki getting nailed by virtually everything in her path to work her way around to the mole (she's hit by a flowerpot, she nearly falls off a playground set, and she's even attacked by a bird). At the end of the episode, Sakura's kids burn Natsuki's house down by accident and Natsuki is left in shock as Batanen is kind enough to let her stay at his apartment.

The segment where Natsuki relaxes in the beginning of episode 17 is a rather nice slice-of-life pertaining to how Natsuki typically spends a morning on her veranda, reading the paper and having some chilled milk and dried sardines, she even points out the bounties in the paper having more cats than usual and comments on how she feels they need more calcium and need to learn not to be so touchy when things don't go their way. This segment really let out the peaceful nature of Natsuki quite well, and showed how much she felt for the community.

Episode 18 begins with Natsuki having to live with Batanen, and with both having feelings for each other, they begin to feel tension around one another, as though their roles as friends and co-workers took a different turn living together. Throughout the episode they find way to express their affection for one another, Natsuki holding Batanen's hand when she admits her fear of the dark, and Batanen catching Natsuki when she falls off a chair. Batanen even buys a pair of wind chimes for both of them, in which the chimes vibrate from each other's frequency, a little touch I thought was well inserted and showed the sort of connection they had with each other as people. However, Batanen's feelings of nervousness to advance with Natsuki seemingly end near the episode's finale, as they seem to reaching over to kiss each other when they suddenly face interruption with a phone call from Tommy getting in trouble trying to get a look at Peau. The tension left Natsuki so nervous that when they were interrupted, she left Batanen's abode and decides to shack up with Sakura for the time being. Batanen calls himself a jellyfish and sits alone in his apartment depressed over his own insecurities with not starting a relationship with Natsuki.

Episode 18 also begins with an amusing fact about Natsuki, because her house is owned by her father (who's away working as an archaeologist), it's being rebuilt by the government because Natsuki's father is in fact a human. Also, there's a modest sequence where Natsuki initially denies the wind chimes that were being sold to her and Batanen by a street merchant because she felt she would be asking for too much in their current situation and claimed that "she didn't want to lose the current happiness she was feeling."

Episode 19 deals with a group of cat theives who act as sort of Robin Hoods as they steal from rich businessmen and give to the poor that reside in the poverty-ridden cat community. Natsuki finds herself having to work undercover as she poses as a cat down on her luck. After getting caught alongside a cat accomplice, she's able to find her way into their community and learn about the poverty that's driven the cat community to go the through the route of stealing from the rich. Natsuki goes through a few endearing sequences I partiuclarly enjoyed, such as giving a part of her lunch portions at a nearby church to two hungry cats as well as comforting them on her lap later in the episode. Also, Natsuki tries to ask Batanen for money to buy them more food, but Batanen gives her a reality check by telling her "what about tomorrow, or the day after?" It's clear from Batanen's arguement that he understands the issue is much larger than what Natsuki can handle, though Natsuki still manages to borrow some money and feed all the starving cats in the troubled community she's posing undercover in. As the episode winds down, Natsuki realizes that the cat priest inhabiting the area originally tried what the current cat theives are doing, and Natsuki admits to him she's undercover and they both agree the best course of action is to turn him in along with the thieves. Thankfully, the authorities understand the situation, and Natsuki's kindness proves to convince authorities to consider changing the rights of to anything non-human. This episode is profound in how it shows a poverty-ridden community be helped by those who care, namely Natsuki of course. ^_^

Also, Episode 19 shows a scene when Natsuki runs away from the cat community briefly, and as she's running through the shopping district there's a human boy begging for for a toy even though his parents tell him what they already bought for him. It was a sad contrast to behold to say the least, and the scene before it shows a bunch of homeless cats sleeping in a church as Natsuki's first word to open the scene is "money."

Episode 20 revolves around a strange dome that appears in the middle of the city of Shinjuku seems to be covered in a strange dome. A rather large bounty is made for anyone who can find the research team that was ordered to examine it when it first appeared, and Sakura finds herself willing to check it out as a result. Eventually, the rest of Sakura's friends follow her in and find out what the fuss with the dome is. The dome seems to be a culimination of anyone's own personal dreams when they enter, as the period inside the dome is considered "the era where humans were at the peak of their glory" by Batanen, which is to say it's the Showa Period for the record. The dome seems to react to everyone who enters it, giving them their innermost desires and offering them visions of things they want, like Tommy chasing after an illusion of Peau for example. As they enter the dome however, Natsuki is unchanged while Batanen becomes a child, and as they make their way through rather bizarre images of a thief who misses his mother to even a recreation of Natsuki's old home, it definitely appears like things aren't as they seem.

Also, regarding Batanen's change to a child form, I personally feel that Batanen misses his childhood as a result of what's happened during his adulthood. Natsuki also finds herself wanting to protect Batanen, which I feel was a secret desire of hers too. The dome episodes always felt profound to me personally. ^_^

As for episode 21, the conclusion to the mysterious dome that formed over the city of Shinjuku, Natsuki and Batanen take residence in her house as Natsuki's parents seem to be strangely present. Natsuki and Batanen also start to bond with one another as they play games and do practical things like bathe and sleep together (remember, Batanen's a child at this point). The most endearing sequence comes when Batanen is playing with a toy mouse across from Natsuki, in which this moment is encapsuled in time as the way things could've been between Batanen and Natsuki, but alas, things would have to come back to reality and fantasy couldn't dominate the way life really was. Natsuki breaks the feeling of happiness in the dome and feels strange about how things are in there and tries to look for Batanen as he runs off in his childish form looking for other things to do. As Natsuki locates him, he's being pampered by three imaginary Natsukis that turn on the real Natsuki when she discovers them. Batanen grows up at this point and protects Natsuki, showing he knows where his heart truly belongs, almost as if he can accept life did not reach that point for him, and that he's also accepted Natsuki for who she truly was and only wished to protect her from such illusions. The episode ends with everyone finding out Sakura's senile father created the illusions out of fun and it's at this point where Sakura's mother comes in and cleans things up. Natsuki also expresses how she likes the world for how it is and understands who her friends really are to her.

Episode 22 starts with everyone hunting a group of ants when a dinosaur comes out of a portal in the sky and eats the bounty in front of everyone, and Fonne and Tommy are knocked down a rather large hole with Peau having to look for them further down. As Peau finds them, she realizes her powers have little effect as deep down as they were, but unfortunately she slips down into the pit and almost drowns at the bottom before Tommy jumps in and saves her. Peau is moved by Tommy's bravery, but not before she's stuck with the stress of having to deal with more strange portals with dinosaurs all over the city. We get a unique portrait of Peau as she suddenly loses her professionalism throughout all the strange circumstances, and as she's trying to fit everything inbetween all the calls for closing portals, she's eventually interrupted when she sleeps at home and things really start to take their toll. She tries to chat with Tommy later in the episode, but not until Peau discovers that Tommy is seeing Fonne behind her back. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Fonne is effectively taking advantage of Tommy's animal instincts and orders him around by calling him like any other dog, and Peau becomes frustrated with her treatment of Tommy. The episode closes with Natsuki expressing her frustation, and everyone finds out that the portals in the sky are an aftereffect of Natsuki's rather large electrical discharges, ending the case on a rather amusing note.

Episode 23 shows the troubles Sakura has with getting Sakunoshin to not mention the name of his old flame, Kasumi. The sad truth is how much Sakura resembles Kasumi, which is what leads to Sakunoshin making this mistake even moreso than he should. Sakura decides out of her frustration to travel back in time with her father's help and kill Kasumi. As a result of Sakura toying with time, Natsuki starts to notice changes in her present time and tries to talk to the god Mudagami for support. Mudagami is intrigued by Natsuki's ability to not be affected by changes in time like gods, though Natsuki's abilities to open time rifts should be evidence that time is not something that can easily effect her. As she makes her way back in time to stop Sakura it is also revealed that Kasumi's existence is tied to Sakura's, as Kasumi was taking care of foxes in the wild, and Sakura finds out she may be a reincarnation of Kasumi as a result. Sakura becomes very thankful that Natsuki had not forgotten about her, and yet another profound segment ends in the series.

Episodes 24 and 25 finish the series in an arc where a devious man tries to manipulate Natsuki to use her powers to close the spiritual gate that keeps supernatural beings in existence with humans. Episode 24 shows Fonne and Kondo of The Mad Police Corp. hunting down a turtle on an island and Fonne immediately contemplating after their catch about how nice it would be to own an island free of monsters. After this sequence we shift back to Shinjuku where Batanen and Tommy are hunting yet another bounty involving a mantis, which is a rather interesting contrast to the life Fonne was speaking of prior. Natsuki's chime from her experience with Batanen is also accidentially broken but thankfully fixed by one of the employess of The Lamp Cafe, as the chime itself was put into Natsuki's cat bell for her to have. Unfortunately, a rather powerful being has been employed by a rather mysterious man to hurt Natsuki's friends and try to make them fear supernatural beings, provoking Natsuki's spirit when she finds her friends hurt by the attack. In an attempt to attack the being under the bidding of the mysterious figure, she follows the creature and finds herself unable to figure out how to hurt it, and as the creature damages Fonne's fighter plane in an act of vengence, Natsuki's pain becomes overbearing and she finds herself going through an electrical discharge that transports her right in front of the spiritual barrier that keeps the world the way it is.

In the final episode, Natsuki is given the choice to close the barrier and keep the worlds of humans and supernatural beings seperate, or destroy it and keep the world the way it is forever. Natsuki broods over the tragedies that have occurred because of supernatural beings inhabiting the human world, but not until she gets a glimpse into the human world first. Her gaze into the human world shows her as a person who desires to master the high jump, yet it is also in this world where she also finds herself still wanting to be a police officer for the public. In the same instance, she finds that Sakura is still homeless and that Batanen is a dog in this particular setting. Also, it appears that the world isn't any better for her in the long run when considering the chime in her cat bell reminds her of being with Batanen. As a result of such a vision which depicts things being less interesting, and possibly less different, Natsuki finds herself willing to accept the world for what it is and chooses to live in a world where many species and beings work to live together, showing that once again she is very modest and accepting of life being the way it is without fearing whether or not there's a "better world" because she wants to work hard to keep the world she loves safe and liveable for all of her friends.

In this episode there is also a reference to a star named Hiroya Aikawa, the name of a character who also happens to be present in Fancy Lala, the subsequent anime series Takehiro Omori would direct after helming Hyper Police. Also, I found it very heartwarming when Natsuki came back to her friends after deciding to keep her world, and Kenji Kawai once again supplies the music necessary to fit the mood perfectly.

Overall, the only faults I can find with this series would have to be the production values, which range from good to mediocre (some episodes look better than others), and the other would be how some of the comedic elements didn't always work for me. However, the good greatly outweighs the bad, and I find myself really liking Hyper Police because it showed me a world filled with poverty and crime, yet the characters who were the main focus proved that tough times didn't always have to equal an unhappy life, and Natsuki in particular has proven to be a character that I'll always appreciate as a result of her rather inspiring attitude. ^_^

I hope this was an interesting blog! ^_-