Brilliant anime

Written by sr_guru on November 1, 2010 at 12:22 AM

Warning, the story in this anime is very dark and morose, I do not advise letting anyone under the age of 13 watch it at all, and advise pre-viewing before allowing anyone under 18 watch it.

That said, the story in this anime is brilliantly written, and it is engaging. It will draw you in and cause you to watch 10-12 episode marathons without even realizing how much time has passed. The pacing is a little slow at times, but overall it works very well, and the plot is advanced in every single episode.

The dialogue is the key to this anime. Like with another dark anime in the same vein, Death Note, the dialogue is what drives this anime. There aren't any fight scenes, although (often brutal) violence is used to great effect in several episodes, thus the anime is held together or falls apart based on the dialogue. And in that regard, it does not disappoint. I never found myself wishing a character would just shut up so the anime can move on, in fact I found myself rewinding on several episodes because I would miss a single sentence due to a small distraction and be lost for the next 2-3 minutes, thus having to back up and find out what I missed. Every word counts, and that is what makes this anime so amazing.

I only gave the animation a rating of Good because, while it is indeed well animated, it isn't of the same caliber as other animes that I would say have Excellent animation. This, of course, does not mean that the animation is in any way a weak point for the anime. While it isn't absolutely top notch, the animation certainly helps bring the world to life, and the characters expressions are well done, adding to the pathos generated by the dialogue and the circumstances of the lives of the characters.

Overall, this anime is easily one of the best I've ever watched, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't get disturbed easily by occasional brutality and a very morose story.