463rd G-View: Estab-Life: Great Escape

A show that initially was not on my radar but some peeps brought it to my attention so I waited till it ended to give it a watch. Here are my thoughts on the first animated feature of a planned multimedia franchise, Estab-Life: Great Escape, a comedic look at escaping from society.

Alternate Title: Establishment in Life: Great Escape (English)

Genres: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Yuri.

Number of Episodes: 12

G-Rating: 8/10

Plot Summary: The franchise takes place in the distant future when the world population has turned to decline, the H.D.E.D. (Human Diversity Experimental Department) conducted by the ecosystem management AI for the purpose of species prosperity, in addition to ordinary humans, beasts, various races such as demons and cyborgs have been born. In addition, AI has created many areas surrounded by high walls called “clusters”, and the culture, common sense, and values of each area have been formed. Tonkyork Metropolis (a portmanteau of New York City and Tokyo) during the work has become an experimental and futuristic city divided by clusters, and AI monitoring makes it impossible for people to come and go freely.

Keep the plot summary in mind when watching the show. While not exactly necessary as the show does a good job explaining the gist of our heroes’ mission it helps viewers understand the setting and why the Extractors have to go as far as they do to help clients. As mentioned in the introduction the clients look to escape from society, meaning the city or part of the world they live in, feels very restrictive to them. Most seek the freedom to openly express themselves without being weighed down by politics, religion, the economy or their boss to name some examples. The comedic part of the intro refers to setups. They start normal with a frustrated and overworked teacher but then there are crazy scenarios like a communist penguin society, anti-underwear religion and the obvious favorite…Episode 4: Lesbian Democracy with a bear refugee crisis. It is like that episode was made for me. Some viewers will recognize the inspiration of the lesbian council. Other episodes have interesting setups and conclusions too leading to the pretty cool 3-part finale where viewers finally get answers.

Let us combine the action and presentation parts of the review. Viewers who enjoyed/were cool with the animation in CG character anime such as D4DJ: First Mix and The Magnificent Kotobuki will know what to expect. The characters move slowly when walking or casual interactions but when it is time for action do not underestimate the animation. Although battles are mostly against security droids the action scenes are fast paced and some of the best parts of the show alongside the interesting setting and “semi-family friendly” look at society. The soundtrack is pretty good too featuring jazzy beats for action scenes and chill tunes in conversations. The OP is really good and the ED is lovely. One thing of note. Make sure not to watch the entire OP after Episode 1 because near the end there are clips of events in the episode so viewers may be spoiled by stuff that will happen. It happened to me once. It is a good OP but for viewers who want to hear it every time I recommend ignoring the screen till it is done.

Left to right: Alga, “Tuesday” (Actually Martes), Equa, Feles and Ulula.

Let us briefly go over the male Extractors first:

Alga is R2-D2 if he spoke human instead of beeps, boops and a scream of pain. He has the same sass as the iconic droid and is an Electric/Steel type Pokemon.

Ulala (Dog Breath/Wanko) is Chewbacca if he were a dogurai (Samurai dog). Fa from RPG Real Estate being on the team would have been handy since he speaks dog. Fortunately Alga understands him.

Equa is the kindhearted leader of the Extractors whose motto pretty much is “it never hurts to help”. No matter who the client or what wish they have her bravery and kindness motivates her teammates and clients to brave any danger en route to freedom. Her special ability, Fatal Luck, is very useful indeed. Keep this in mind.

Tuesday (Again her name is Martes) is a special kind of cutie who I will not spoil. It is revealed right away but no point spoiling the surprise as it plays an important role later. Yuri fans may recognize her seiyu. She really, really loves Equa and considers Feles her raivaru for her heart. Speaking of the blonde…

Feles is a gun wizard (mage) and gay tsundere for Equa. She does not show her love as openly as Tuesday but like others of her kind does a poor job hiding her feelings leading to some wonderful moments as the show progresses. Keep this in mind.

Overall Estab-Life: Great Escape is a very enjoyable action show with yuri goodness sprinkled in. The Extractors are all likable, the clients are interesting, the “almost-family friendly” look at society is equally interesting and the presentation is good, mainly for viewers used to the style but not sure for newcomers.

PS: The characters on the right side of Alga do not appear on this show. They have their own story coming in the future.