Superheroes for older audiences have become very popular in recent years. Gen V, The Boys and Invincible are popular examples. There is an anime on Netflix that goes in a similar direction and combines many entertaining heist elements.
What is Super Crooks about?
The anime was created by Studio Bones, which is known for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Soul Eater and My Hero Academia, among others. The anime series, similar to Great Pretender and Cyberpunk Edgerunners, mixes many elements of Japanese and American productions and styles.
You can find out more about Cyberpunk Edgerunners here: The Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is high-quality irrelevance
Super Crooks – trailer for the brutal anime with superheroes
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The Boys meets Ocean’s Eleven
The world of Super Crooks is similar to that of The Boys. A certain number of the population have superpowers. There are classic skills like strength or electricity, but also bizarre and interesting ones like controlling the weather or misfortune. The focus of Super Crooks is the perspective of the villains who are trying to make money with their skills. For example, a crook makes it rain so he can sell his umbrellas.
But there are no longer many villains in this world, as there are countless superheroes in America who want to become famous. If villains want to work, they have to join a syndicate that gives orders and takes a big cut as commission. Johnny Bolt doesn’t want to do that and after unfortunate events he and his team have to pull off a big, but above all self-organized, coup.
These coups are the big highlight in the series. As in films like Ocean’s Eleven, each of Johnny’s team has a specific task that is necessary for the well-structured plan. As a viewer, you often ask yourself how the villains are supposed to escape from a difficult situation.
This is exactly why the heroes use their skills very creatively in interesting situations and it’s not just about hitting things. However, the anime is not squeamish, there are brutal fights and the FSK 16 logo is there for a reason.
The characters are as dazzling as their abilities themselves and Johnny and Kasey in particular have an irresistible charm that makes each of the 13 episodes entertaining. As in The Boys, the many heroes are the less likeable characters who also have a lot of dirt on them. Unlike someone like Butcher, the boss of the Boys from the live-action series, Johnny always acts according to a moral code. This makes it easy to grasp for the viewer.
The design of the characters and the story is based on American superhero ideas. The animation style and the fights offer entertainment at a high level even for anime and are well choreographed. It’s really fun to watch.
The series is recommended for fans of Invincible and The Boys, even if you are not an anime fan. Classic tropes are avoided here. Due to the length of the series and episodes, you can easily binge through Super Crooks in a weekend.
If you’re interested in superheroes that are different from Marvel, you shouldn’t miss Super Crooks. You can find 5 other series in this list: 5 superhero series that are not for children