Ranked #209

Dennou Coil

TITLE: Dennou Coil

ANIME: Dennou Coil was directed by Mitsuo Iso (well known for his key animation work on early Ghibli movies and Neon Genesis Evangelion) and was produced by Madhouse (well-known for their work on Death Note and Paranoia Agent). It ran on Japanese TV from May 12th, 2007 till December 1st, 2007 and, as of the time of this writing, has not been licensed Stateside.

STORY: The year is 2026, eleven years after the technology to turn the internet into augmented reality by the use of immersive "cyberglasses" was developed. Yuko "Yasako" Okonogi, a young girl in sixth grade, moves to Daikoku City, the center of the technology behind the glasses, and is strongarmed by her grandmother into joining her "investigation agency", composed of children with powerful illegal software codes and tools. On her first day in town, she runs into Yuko "Isako" Amasawa, a cold, aloof master hacker chasing a mystery in Daikoku City, that will soon involve both Yukos and their friends...

Dennou Coil is probably one of the best shows I've watched in a good long time. This show has been in development for about ten years, and with the incredible subtlety of this entire show, I can believe it. Every aspect of the technology, how the world works, and every tiny detail that one can think of for this blends together to make the world seem incredibly believable, if not possible in just a few years' time. It's just futuristic enough to seem amazing, yet grounded enough in reality to seem incredibly possible.

The plot and characters in this are incredibly well-constructed as well. Characters are slowly developed through various interactions and their relationships to others in episodes, and even though characters may not take a prominent role for a few episodes, they're always there in the background. And the plot itself is intricately woven; the smallest details from the earliest episodes, which seem like throwaways, come back to play in full force in the last half of the show. The first third of the show establishes the basics of the world and characters, then comes a brief filler arc that slowly brings things to the fore, and then the last third of the show takes everything that's come before and takes it into far darker places than everything up until this point would have you believe was possible. The final episodes of the show are probably some of the darkest I've seen in a show aimed towards a younger audience to date, but, regardless, resolve amazingly well.

ART: Dennou Coil has a bit simpler character design than other shows that Madhouse has done; the kids and adults are a bit more angular, and are a bit less intricately designed than, say, characters from Death Note. However, their traditional realism shows through in the interaction of the virtual environment and the real environment; incredible amounts of detail are put into the various software codes and tools that the children use, along with how they manifest (and yes, some will call similarities on some of the patterns that show in the hackers' codings and the arrays in Fullmetal Alchemist, but really, let's not be nitpicky here).

MUSIC: The background music for this series doesn't particularly stand out, but, regardless, is a well-done score, and worth a listen to. The OP and ED are done by the same singer, Ayako Ikeda, and are some of the best opening and ending songs I've heard in a long while, the OP and its eerieness in general especially.

SEIYUU: Fumiko Orikasa (well-known for her roles in Hellsing as Seras and in Saikano as Chise) takes a starring role in this as Yasako and does an incredible job in the role. Otherwise, all the other seiyuu in this production do a solid job.

LENGTH: Dennou Coil was meticulously planned, I think, to be just the right length; not too long, so that it wouldn't drag, but not too short, so that there wouldn't be information overload. No complaints here, in general, a wonderful job in planning - then again, ten years in development does that to a show.

OVERALL: One of the best shows that I've seen in a good long time, with incredible amounts of detail, and well-constructed plots and characters, and solid background music, art, and seiyuu.

An underappreciated gem of the 2007 season; watch it.

STORY: 10/10
ART: 9/10
MUSIC: 9/10
SEIYUU: 9/10
LENGTH: 10/10

OVERALL: 47/50; 94% (A) read more

I will say this first: there are very few series that have wrung out such a wide array of emotions from me in such a way that Dennou Coil did. One of my friends even said I was cold-hearted for the way in which I didn't cry at anything she cried over. Still, Dennou Coil has made me laugh, cry, and feel downright freaked out (as in, scared, not "OMG THIS IS AMAZING" freaking out, though I do think this anime is quite amazing).

I will admit that the first half of the series is a bit ridiculous and feels very episodic. It's more of a "slice of life" anime than anything else, but I still got the sense that there was something much deeper under the surface - and I was right! Don't get me wrong, though. The first half of the series is still enjoyable, but it just doesn't feel deep enough to really draw you in or to feel unique, as if you've stumbled on a rare jewel of an anime. Still, once you get into the main plot, it's hard to get away from. The tension skyrockets and our young heroes (and antagonists?) get pulled into something they never fully expected. Even in the end, the true nature of the cyberworld and the Illegals is never 100% explained, and some interpretation is left up to the viewer as much as it is to the characters themselves.

While the show seems to be directed towards kids (especially given the ages of the characters), I found that the real storyline is actually very mature. After I finished the final episode, I had to sit and think about it for a while. There is such a mixture of themes here, including love, the complexity of friendship, the difficulty of relating to another's feelings, dealing with death and loss (ranging from the loss of a dear friend or family member to a cyber pet), the consequences of being too greedy, and chasing after your dreams and never looking away from your goal, even if the goal is ridiculous. Not all of these are very obvious, but it's all presented quite realistically and it's all there for you to think about should you want to.

For the technical stuff...
The art was in general very well done, if a bit simplistic in style. It almost reminds me of Miyazaki's art style. However, it does the trick well enough. The computer graphics are superb in creating the cyberspaces and all the technological stuff. As for sound, the ED "Sora no Kakera" has a special place in my heart - I absolutely love it. The OP is good, too, but a little lacking. The animation sequences for both of these, however, are great, especially watching Densuke walk across various scenery (and then fall at one point!) in the ED was unexpectedly charming. There is also one track featuring a violin that caught my ear and it brings about a really tense atmosphere quite nicely. The other tracks sort of faded into the background and I didn't notice them too much, which probably means they were neither good or bad.

Overall, I definitely recommend Dennou Coil. Give it a shot and get through the first half of the series, though don't skip them! They contain important tidbits of information (for example, the legend of Michiko-san/Miss Michiko) and the episodes after would be confusing without them. read more