Ranked #888

No.6

No.6 is a captivating anime and I can honestly say that after having just watched it twice through. But then again, everyone has different tastes and this just may not be your cup of tea. Even so, it couldn’t hurt to try a sip, could it?

NOTE: For my sake, I’m writing Nezumi, as Nezumi, and not “Rat” like in the subs, and Shion instead of Sion, like the MAL character page.

Story – 8/10. No.6 is a utopia, there is no poverty, there are no conflicts, there are no problems. You will live happily and peacefully within these safe walls, and you will wear this lovely bracelet that is your identity. Oh, and one last thing: if you doubt us, we won’t hesitate to eliminate you. Ignorance really is bliss.

On his 12th birthday, Shion hides and helps an injured Nezumi, a VC. This leads to being stripped of his rights to live in Cronos and qualification to enter the Special Course. There’s a time skip, and suddenly it’s four years later and instead of studying ecology, Shion’s a park worker. After witnessing two people strangely die, he’s taken away by the Bureau of Safety. At that point, he’s rescued by Nezumi and whisked away to the Western District to discover the truth about No.6.

No.6 is listed as Sci-fi and Action, but there are also elements of Fantasy and Shounen-ai. Yes, shounen-ai. I’m not sure if I view it as a good thing, or bad. I mean, I’m a fan of yaoi/shounen-ai, so that probably contributes largely to the fact I enjoyed it, but I know there are a ton of people who aren’t comfortable with it.

If you’re a fan of shounen-ai, you will enjoy this. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure it would be able to appeal to any other audience beside BL fans...

Aside from the homosexual content, No.6 starts off with an intriguing plot – and I won’t lie, I’m a total sucker for utopia/dystopia stories. But like a lot of people, I thought this had a lot of potential to be something amazing, but it never did reach what it could have; whether it’s because of the length of the anime, or because it got side-tracked by shounen-ai fan service, I’m not sure. I kind of feel like a lot of loose ends weren’t dealt with.

Art – 7.25/10. The art... isn’t one of No.6’s stronger points. While it isn’t terrible, it isn’t amazing. The characters are sometimes really awkwardly drawn/animated, such as Shion’s scar or his blushing. But the background and scenery are amazing, and the OP was done beautifully. Especially the last thirty seconds.

Sound – 9/10. I won’t lie; I strongly disliked the OP at first. I thought it was really strange sounding and the singer’s voice was abnormally high... but as the episodes went on, I’ve grown to like them quite a bit. I found myself watching and listening to it on replay. Anyways, it suited the feel of No.6 perfectly. And ohmygosh, the ED. EDs are something I skip over all the time. Not this one. I couldn’t. This one I liked right away. It felt incredibly sad, almost like nostalgia. As cheesy as this sounds, my heart clenches when I hear it. Background music was very subtle, but added wonderfully to the overall feel.

The voice actors also did a pretty good job. Nezumi’s singing was nice... though, it took a bit of time getting used to little Shion’s and little Nezumi’s deep voices...

Character – 8/10. I cried. I got so emotionally attached, that tears came pouring out when Nezumi began singing in the last episode, despite how confused I was.

In the beginning you’re introduced to 12-year-old Nezumi. Running around from authorities in what seems to be a sewage system, panting, with blood trickling down his arm. He meets a dead end, where steel bars are closing off on an opening, preventing chances of escape. Then you’re introduced to 12-year-old Shion. Right away their lives are contrasted. Shion’s sitting at his desk in the middle of Safu’s presentation; there hasn’t been any real hardships he’s been through in life since being ranked as having highest intelligence.

Shion is naive, innocent, kind, and for the most part, ignorant like many other No.6 citizens. Nezumi is sharp-tongued, gives of an arrogant vibe, and is artsy. Yes, their personalities have been done before, but I don’t think you’ll get bored of them... Shion and Nezumi are actually quite likable. As the anime progresses, you see moments of complete contradiction to their personalities which I found quite interesting. Shion has a darker, more aggressive side that comes out when it comes to Nezumi, and Nezumi definitely has a soft spot when it comes to Shion. This might make them seem out of character at times, but I think that’s the point. They bring out entirely new sides of each other.

As for the other supporting characters: Karan, Inukashi, Rikiga, even Yoming, – they’re pretty okay. You know general information about their life and their past, but not in great detail. They’re not exactly incredibly developed characters either, but the anime was only 11 episodes long.

The only one I found kind of strange was Elyurias/Safu. I didn’t really understand her presence or character...

Enjoyment – 10/10. I enjoyed this 10/10 easily, even the second time going through. I grinned and I worried, I eagerly clicked each episode and got frustrated over waiting for the next one. With this anime, I watched it each episode from beginning to end, OP to ED. Stating it simply: I loved watching it [and rewatching it.] The last episode did confuse me a bit, but I’m seriously longing for more.

Overall – Each category is weighted differently for me, and of course, there are always miscellaneous factors. I consider Story to account for 25% of the overall ranking of animes, Art 10%, Sound 10%, Character 25%, and Enjoyment 30%.

So, then:
[80% x 0.25] + [72.5% x 0.10] + [90% x 0.10] + [80% x 0.25] + [100% x 0.30] = 86.25%

Round it up, and that’s how No.6 gets a 9/10 from me... and my first review on MAL. ^_______^
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It is easy to like shows when it includes one of your favorite genres: slice of life, sci-fi, action, anything, just name it. But what if it includes something that doesn’t appeal to you, something that you think would offend you as an individual; would this show still be likable? Yes, it is very possible. With a bit of effort and who knows, what you have thought was horrific would in the end turn out terrific. But the real question is, is it really worth seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Let’s try to answer that momentarily.

Whether you like it or not, bizarre things are present in our world and even in the world of anime. A certain phenomenon is where fanboys would most definitely hate it while some fangirls would find it cute and entertaining. For others, they wouldn’t care much in which is also the group I happened to be with. So let’s just cut to the chase and say Shounen-ai, or Boys’ Love, or Yaoi (whichever term you prefer) happened to be a running theme in this series. Not as exaggerated as a pure Shounen-ai anime would be, it sure does have bromantic moments and gay innuendos running about. Although it is very obvious that homosexuality took some part, it could be considered more of a bonus or an add-on since the main story doesn’t need the drive of the two main male protagonists’ romantic moments to get going. As such and unlike others have repeatedly done so, I won’t criticize on how the anime had a marmite theme but instead on how it handled its execution.

No. 6 is a dystopian community encased within a wall outside of which is a vast and a boundless wasteland. It shelters a mysterious home called the Twilight House where senile individuals are taken, and a correctional facility centered in the city structured as a beehive. Citizens of No. 6 use bracelets for identification and as an access to almost everything the program of No. 6 allows, while a shady organization under the government works as law enforcers and even act as the law itself. With this mysterious organization controlling everything, people must abide by the rules by all means to avoid being disposed of, sent to the correctional facility, or be thrown outside the walls to a place unknown by any denizens of No. 6, the harsh and dangerous wastelands.

With an anime that has this very intriguing and fascinating setting, as a regular anime viewer, you could easily find yourself impressed. With great ideas at its very introduction and the curiosity to know how the world of No. 6 works, a viewer would normally watch more and more with high expectations until those expectations were met. With confidence that you are definitely interested, let’s delve in deeper into No. 6 and take a look at its main cast.

Shion, one of the main protagonists has been living inside No. 6 for his whole life. When he was in school, it was noted that he was one of the best in his class but is somewhat dense about relationships, which was noted when a friend confronts him about it. He loves his mom and would earnestly help anyone who is in need. When he was still a kid, he met a mysterious boy who goes by the name Nezumi (which means Rat) who is being hunted down by the authorities. As a good-willed person, Shion treats his injuries even though he knew that what he’s doing was against the law. He was then interrogated by the authorities and a huge 4 year time leap occured.

The next thing that was seen is Shion now working for the government who believes is a peace-loving, caring and ultimately a perfect community. That is until his beliefs were shattered by witnessing a horrifying traumatic incident. As a witness to this incident, he was immediately blacklisted, pursued by authorities with the intention of disposing of him. Remembering what Shion did for him 4 years ago, Nezumi helped him escape the authorities. Although able to escape, he is now considered as an outlaw who cannot go back to No. 6, preventing him from seeing his mother. Then, he discovered how harsh No. 6 and reality is.

As a premise, I need to say that it had baffled me for throwing so much within just 2 episodes. It had weird things happening, how No. 6 works and the organization behind it, and even that huge time leap where nothing was explained which could even make you think if it’s really the correct series you are watching. Although puzzling, it could easily manage to tickle your fancy to at least hope for a good ending. Unfortunately, the interest was halted for about 7 episodes. Albeit there was a tad bit of progress in the storyline, most of these were pointless and are mostly rotating around the insignificant side characters. Knowing more about the other characters could be worthwhile, but then No. 6 is set to run only within 11 episodes, thus doubts and fears of a rushed conclusion arise.

After the introductory episodes, for 7 episodes all Shion along with Nezumi did was increase their relationship points, meet new uninteresting sidekicks, cause trouble to Inukashi (Dogkeeper) and resolve it right away within the same episode, and simply just have fun. Within these, there were certain parts that would make you think that it will contribute to the awaited conclusion of the story but in the end didn’t really affect the outcome. Characters were introduced that barely had any lines and some were introduced to emphasize an important point, while others seemed to have been produced just for the sake of having a character.

As an anime that relies on its potentially interesting storyline, character interactions should not be the number one priority. Much worse is that the characters, even if they had some meaningful dialogues and roles, were barely known of, leading to very minimal viewer sympathy and likability. With the exception of two, all the characters were just cardboard cut-outs which always had a feisty and a very annoying nature. Shion and Nezumi on the other hand had remarkable development; Shion became a less ignorant factual being rather than a theoretical person, while Nezumi understood the nature of humans more. Sadly, even if the character portrayal was done amazingly still it wouldn’t affect the lackluster story as a whole.

At episode 10, the anime which had halted finally realized that it had only 1 more episode for the finale, thus it now moved hastily. For an anime which had only 11 episodes to expose everything, one could conclusde that this will require a deus ex machina to resolve everything, and in the end it really did. Blatantly contrived plot points were seen, character importance were questioned, and the ending obviously didn’t make any sense. A lot of viewers felt trolled for getting their hopes up, and I got to admit that I was one too.

With how No. 6 handled its premise, you can easily tell that it’s an anime with a lot of potential and at the same time screams out to be something different compared to the norms. It tries to incorporate something unusual into something which we are used to just to make it different, but that’s all that it is, it is different and nothing more. I enjoyed it at most, with an opening song that sounds weird but later on gets catchy, and with a brilliant top-tier animation, and add up that interesting premise, it really had potential. Suffice to say it was supposed to be good, but just because of the ending it was all ruined. All this could be blamed onto the anime’s very limited 11 episode span and to the team behind this. So BONES, please don’t castrate all the good anime, I beg of you. That being said, let’s try answering the question we asked at the beginning.

After all’s been said and done, is the light of No. 6 worth seeing at the end of the tunnel?

Answer:
In this case, the 'light' is nothing more than an oncoming locomotive, ravaging all along its wake and ultimately producing what you would call a trainwreck.

*Special thanks to Blind_Guardian for the final editing. read more