No Longer Human (Episode 1-4) - This is the flawless gem out of these arcs. The story is amazing. We follow the life of an art student who ignored his fathers appeal of studying something useful and contributing to the society. He goes from one addiction to another in order to find a purpose to live. He despises the society and claims that he is not a part of it, eventually blaming his life on its incapability to adapt people. What he fails to understand is that he is a part of it considering the people that he has managed to get involved in his life during the story.
This story deals with the human psychology, and the narrator(Masato Sakai) probably has the best voice to deal with it. Desperation, false self-security and most importantly the indifference that our MC expresses are perfectly acted out.
The art is wonderful. This is a personal opinion but i just love shabby buildings and dark atmospheres combined with the damp, misty light every single lamp emits. The art combined with the sounds really makes this an atmospheric anime, and i love atmospheric works of art.
All this in 4 episodes, 4! Some anime have 12 or 24 episodes and still fail to set a proper story and atmophere.
No longer Human was a 10/10 for me. I will most likely rewatch it.
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In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Episodes 5-6) - To save some time, i did not enjoy this. I thought about skipping this anime in the middle of the first episode because it was so different from the previous one, a huge step down. The only reason i kept on watching was because i saw a GIF of sakura petals falling over a skull which was beautiful and i figured it was this arc.
This is your usual classic story built around what is supposed to be love. However it seems like it's not love, only lust from our MC. He does not think much, acts on impulse and all characters are overall very shallow.
This was a 5/10 for me considering that the art and music were great even though the story was horrific.
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Kokoro (Episodes 7-8) - This was another gem. This time it was the story and not the art that i found astonishing.
We follow a young man(MC) who is set up for life. The good education, the proper manners, everything you might want. Yet he lacks something. He cant find courage, determination and happiness. He goes to a man who seems to have these properties, a homeless guru who he takes home as his teacher to teach him his ways.
Our MC is renting and has the daughter of his landlord as well as the landlord living in the house, and our MC is very fond of the former one. When the sensei moves in, they catch an eye for eachother, making an unofficial love triangle. You feel compassion and pity for our young MC whose love is perhaps being crushed by his own mistake.
Without spoiling it the story progresses fairly expectedly, however when you watch the next episode, you see the situation from the eyes of the sensei. This one hits hard. You start to question everything you've seen so far, maybe our two characters shouldnt have met at all? For a 2-episode anime it sure is one hell of a journey that makes you understand that stereotypes dont go far.
9/10 for a great story and message. The art was not the best and did not set the atmosphere, but the story makes up for it.
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Run, Melos! (Episode 9-10) - Another great arc. This is the only arc which made me tear up. The art is on point with similar looks as "No Longer Human" and the story is very simple, yet so sad.
Our MC this time is a writer living with his friend. His friend is also involved in the artist lifestyle but as an actor. The story has alot of time-jumps since our MC is writing a japanese version of a greek tale. During his work he realises that this tale is also the story of his life, making it a hard one to finish.
The arc deals with insecurity, trust and platonic love. Once you get further in and the pieces start to fall into place you understand what the characters had to give up.
9/10 it is a simple but heart-wrenching story accompanied by a great atmosphere. I did not enjoy the ending though, i think they should have cut it earlier.
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The Spiders Thread (Episode 11) - A short arc about karma. Nothing too spectacular, i thought it had too much gore.
The story starts off much later than where it should have started and we do not really get to know the reasons for our MC's thoughts and deeds. The story is very gory and progresses exactly as expected. The art is fine which pulls it up a little but not too much.
6/10 watchable but not very interesting.
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Hell Screen (Episode 12) - As the pervious arc, this one is very predictable but instead of dealing with karma it deals with totalitarian regimes, which gives more to work with. Our MC is the best painter in the country and as expected the Lord wants him to paint more and more magnificent pictures of this wonderful land. However our MC has had enough.
Very simple and predictable yet descriptive and teaching. It gives an idea of what it is to live under a totalitarian regime. Behind all the happy facades in form of parties and celebrations there is something much darker lurking, ready to attack as soon as you take a wrong step.
7/10 for a predictable short story but nice art and message.
In total i give this anime 9/10 because i feel that especially the first arc outweigh most of the bad ones. The 4 first episodes are absolutely worth watching, you decide on the rest. They are evergreens because they are masterpieces, relevant yet today.
