ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

ACCA—a national body of the kingdom of Dowa that provides public services to the citizens of the country—was established as part of the peace settlement between the king of Dowa and the 13 states of the country during a revolt. One hundred years later, Dowa is in a period of unprecedented peace, due in part to the ACCA system. However, rumors of a coup d'état start to surface. Jean Otus, the second-in-command of the inspection department of ACCA, is charged with inspecting all 13 state branches. What will he discover as he performs his audit?

Intriguing and mysterious, ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka is a politically-themed mystery that reveals a world of diverse cultures and lifestyles, with intricate connections between its characters, as the truth of the coup d'état slowly unfolds.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Otus, Jean Main

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Niino Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Mauve Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Otus, Lotta Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Lilium Supporting

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Groshular Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Pine Supporting

Yasumoto, Hiroki Japanese

Schwan Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Maggie Supporting

Uemura, Yuuto Japanese

Wobular Supporting

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Fukushi, Yuuichirou Producer

Taguchi, Ayuri Producer

Hayashi, Toshiyasu Producer

Reviews

Mar 28, 2017

T3hSource

Recommended

Ever feel like you just want to slouch on your couch and savor the taste of vintage fine wine? That's what the suave, stylistic ACCA feels like. It has a very sweet, but calming taste, it's never sharp, and is striking because of it. And on top of keeping such a presentation the show offers a perspective of many cultures and how they affect society. It's a road trip in aesthetic, but extremely political in essence. If raw exposition about political power moves and stances are not to you liking, then you won't like this show. To keep perspectives as they are, it is very ... impartial to all of them, and therefore very monotone. The most emotional engagement aside from a dry coup d'État intrigue plot, is the cute little sister with little screen time. And that's fine by me!


ACCA doesn't have an obvious selling point. It is what it says on the tin. Our protagonist goes to other districts to check up if they are doing everything within regulations. It's all about absorbing each district's unique flavor and atmosphere, how it has affected people's lifestyles and behaviours. How it softens them, how it hardens them with different resolves and different priorities.
The coup d'État plotline is merely used as an overarching subtext to have all these pieces come together into one who at the end. And it's all done through exposition dialogue that feels as natural as it can be. Everyone is an adult who is keenly aware of their situation, as much as the viewer at least, and slowly, people start revealing their hands and desires behind the masks of courtesy.

The characters are rather dry unfortunately. They are professionals and each one of them has a specific role to play.
Our protagonist, Jean embodies this as well. His seemingly apathetic attitude is to give a grounding for the viewer, so we can intimately share his perspective. He doesn't offer his opinions much, he asks for them instead. Just like the viewer, he's absorbing the culture he's visiting. He doesn't want to influence it in any way. He's given a few badass points for being damn good at his job and sharp on the clues that are given to us. We know how the state of things are as he does, along with the twists and turns.
Nino serves as a shadow of Jean, an old, reliable buddy he can always be comfortable with and share his worries and troubles without any reprehension. Nino also plays a big role in the story, but he's always a loyal friend to Jean first and foremost.
Lotte is the cute girl that fills any scene with happiness and fluffiness. She relieves whatever tension there is from the coup d'État plot and its developments.
All the other characters are very much background dressing, and they are so many. Showing the show's commitment to its own fiction, giving it a face, a grounding for us to see people as they are, not as just human resources on a paper.
At worst, Jean and a few other characters are impenetrable, meaning, they don't emote, they simply fulfil their roles with little qualms or reaction. Due to that monotony of exposition dumps with small emotional subtext, it gets frustrating that there's seemingly nothing happening to anyone, no one is troubled, no one seems overly concerned to build some kind of actual tension or a motive you can get behind. And all the revelations are reserved until the latter half of the show.


Presentation is what truly holds the show together. The chill atmosphere, the slender character designs animated in a softer fashion. The watercolor backgrounds giving a very surreal, yet enamouring aesthetic from the urban district to the desert district. Again, all to underline the show's confidence in its own setting and writing. The character animations give them quite a bit more life and personality than usual, everyone has a certain movement, a tell to who they are and what they represent, besides their looks, or their roles.

Audio directing is on point throughout the show. Music helps set the mood of each scene and district, while the sound effects still provide for an immersive setting. The voice acting is monotone on purpose, but for once it feels like actual adults just exchanging daily words, keeping things professional, if impartial. Oh and let's not forget the smokin' OP. The ED is a good relief for a chill show that just went by with no effort, yet all the cerebral engagement of how every piece fits in the jigsaw puzzle that is the coup.

At the end, ACCA is a pure cerebral experience, held by its chill attitude and suave aesthetic. It doesn't offer much in terms of emotional engagement, but it's not a bad price to pay for a show that is mentally engaging, yet weirdly comfy. It's very easy to appreciate its commitment to world building and an intrigue narrative. And I loved every second of this experience.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 28, 2017

CodeBlazeFate

Mixed Feelings

You never heard of a dark horse? The term comes from the dark horses in horse racing. They aren't the popular ones that most people will bet on, but they automatically catch at least a few eyes willing to give them a chance, and low and behold, they do surprisingly well in the race, sometimes even winning. Given how bleak this season has been for most people, this seemed like one of those surprising shows that could've been one of the best of the season, but, as the saying goes, "close but no cigar". Fitting, really.

*Paragraph 4 contains mild spoilers for ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka. Proceed ... with caution*

ACCA is an interesting show. Produced by Studio Madhouse, this is an adaptation from a manga. Ultimately, this show intrigued a lot of people, myself included. Some people will definitely see his as the dark horse of the season, but I don't entirely agree. There are strong cases to be made why this show was interesting and why it was boring, but we'll get to that. But why the polarization? Isn't this series slick as hell? Well...

To a decent extent, the story is meticulously written in terms of creating a mystery full of twists and turns. It all surrounds Jean Otus, a man working for ACCA that is currently doing audits while the prince of the nation is not only coming of age but is ready to succeed the throne. Problem number 1 is that the story really dead its feet with nothing to truly hook us for more aside from hoping that it will all explode into a chaotic and flavorful conclusion towards the final act; it doesn't. It's understandable why this turns people off, as the show feels uneventful. Two, some of these twists were both obvious and poor. The final antagonist was one of the royals whom we had never even heard of until 2/3 into the series, with two of the ACCA 5 Chief Officers being antagonists with their own separate plot. If you're anything like me, you suspected the two that turned out to be antagonists, and there was only 1 other person to remotely suspect, who isn't involved, but there could've been more flavor to the mystery by giving reason to suspect more people.

So, because Jean was suspected of being involved in an upcoming coup, his friend, Nino, is sent to spy on him, but then it's revealed that he is next in like to be king, which is why the rumor was created, in order to get the 13 districts on his side during his audits. Sounds fine and dandy, and for most part, it is, including the somewhat rushed backstory of Nino, Jean, and his sister, Lotta. It's thanks to that that the aunt of the family wants them dead, as well as the dickheaded prince himself. As for the finale, it was ok. It was interesting to see the whole coup resolve peacefully but with more twists, but there was no reason for the aunt to suddenly abandon her plan.

Tell me, who do you remember besides Jean and Nino? Probably nobody because these characters are mostly dull and one-note. Jean is pretty listless, by it is nice seeing him get flustered over his crush/superior Mauve, though that fades quickly. He also smokes...a lot. Just like on older times, in this anime, smoking is a sign of wealth and he gets misconstrued because of it, particularly when confronted by Rail, who acts like an ass around him and likes his sister. Nino is a slick guy, even in spy mode, but he's merely ok. Mauve, Lotta, and Gossular are merely ok, and most of the characters are boring, like prince Schwan, the aunt, the spoiler manipulator in the 5 Chief Officers, and each of Jean's subordinates and audit companions. We could've easily spent a bit more time about the characters but instead, we chose to do more audits and see the main 3 eat apple pie and drink alcohol. Like the plot, the interesting potential really fizzes out, which is a shame.

To this day, I'm not sure how to feel about the art-style. However, what is something I'm sure of is that the series is clearly not in 24FPS. The animation is rather choppy, making it feel like the series runs at only 16 frames per second instead of the minimum required 24 for everything to feel like they're in constant motion. I'm not sure if this is an artistic choice, but I don't think it works. I at least like the hair and food detail, as well as the detail in the casino lights in episode 8. The OP has amazing artistic flair to the way it looks, and the ED has another type of interesting art that is actually more fluid than the entirety of the actual series, which is kinda sad the more you think about it. After all, you'd probably expect better from Studio Madhouse since Studio DEEN did more fluid and striking animation with their also more methodical and realistic series, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. Thankfully the mediocre CGI is insanely minimal to the point where most people would find it nonexistent, even if some of the character faces are actually incomplete in the final episodes and the background characters often fit move in scenes.

The OST is pretty nice and fitting, especially the jingle at the beginning and middle of episode 1. It fits the calmer, more lax and methodical nature of the series perfectly, preventing me from really getting bored, but that didn't stop some people from boredom. The OP, "Shadow and Truth" by ONE III NOTES is pretty cool, with surprisingly good J-rap and a great female singer (even during autotune sections). There's a reason people say this is one of the best OPs of the season, it's pretty freakin' slick. As for the ED, "Pale Moon ga Yureteru (ペールムーンがゆれてる)" by Aira Yuuki, is a pretty alright theme meant for some bit of emotion after each episode. Not great but not bad.

As for the dub, it's rather good. J Michael Tatum was in charge of ADR direction and we get some rather fitting boxes for many of the characters, especially Jean and Nino. It's weird to hear someone sound like Steve Blum without being Steve Blum, but that's been an issue in the dubbing industry for a good year now (where new actors sound like old ones, and this was exposed to be a major problem in the acting industry in Japan). It feels like the character art-style lends itself to both the dub and the sub rather well, and the dub worked just as well as the sub, at least for me.

For the most part, I was pretty intrigued by the narrative, even if it did get a bit dull towards the end. The atmosphere was pretty enjoyable, and the OP was so damn good that I just wanna bob my head and snap to the beat every time. It was surprisingly enjoyable if a bit lacking in the satisfaction department. T'was a nice enough time, but there wasn't enough pizzazz to give real flavor to the experience, making it somewhat underwhelming. It's by no means a bad show, but there's no way in hell this'll be smoking the competition for any "best of winter 2017" lists, I'm sure. It didn't rise up high, but it was decent and slick while it lasted, so that's alright, I guess. With that said, I bid you adieu.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 6, 2018

JuneNephthys

Not Recommended

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka or ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. was similar to a single dry, crusty saltine. It's boring and forgettable with only a little bit of substance to abate your hunger.

• While, superficially, a stylized tango with political intrigue, ACCA falls short of any kind of tension or excitement that could be gainedーcontinuously killing moments with non-stop talk of food and delicatessens.

• Initially, I had a lot of hope for ACCA. I like series that are political and I was drawn to the art style. I had only been aquatinted briefly with Natsume Ono's work before. I watched all of the anime for Ristorante ... Paradiso, which was average but watchable, and the House of Leaves manga, which I had read four or five volumes of it AGES ago, I had no memory of what even happened in it except for vague details, if that tells you anything.

• Despite not being a huge fan of her other works, I'm not one to completely blacklist a creator due to that fact. Well, not if you're Masakazu Yamaguchi's Arm of Kannon, localized as Birth, it’s a different story. That's one of the worst things I've ever read in my entire life!

• Seriously, fuck you, Tokyopop! Ahem, back to ACCA, the pacing is REALLY bad. Madhouse has been going downhill for a few years now, being steadily replaced by the superior Studio MAPPA; and this series has made me painfully aware that there probably isn't going to be another Kaiji, unless it’s a sequel.

• The character development is non-existent. It's pretty much occupied with a bunch of shallow, food-obsessed talking heads. Between the eating of bread and constant yammering, it implied that there may be a build-up, tension, or even what most stories need to function: a climax.

• The ending is slightly refreshing and wraps up the points, but watching this is like watching a guy with a monotone voice give a lecture geography with small tidbits about the actual subject and the rest about how good a baguette would taste with melted butter. And for emphasis on how annoying the foodie crap was, I didn't want to eat bread while watching this show because it's constantly like, pan this, pan that, pan in my open butthole.

• My Japanese learning app even treats me with more respect on the subject of bread. The jazzy lounge music while characters babble to each other while doing mundane things is not my ideal show. I don't understand why there is such a following to this cardboard cut-out, let's-paste-a-story-together model. There is nothing inspiring or ambitious about this series; just a plain, null narrative.

• Listening or watching things about current affairs and politics is far more enjoyable than watching this series that is pretty much just a splash of colors with some pseudo-deep “intellectual” social commentary. I would not recommend ACCA to ANYONE, unless they enjoy pretentious blathering and random food porn that contributes nothing to the plot. I give ACCA a 2/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 28, 2017	145 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Sep 14, 4:52 PM
	Poll: ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 21, 2017	54 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Sep 14, 4:11 PM
	Poll: ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 14, 2017	52 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Sep 14, 3:42 PM
	Poll: ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 7, 2017	91 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Sep 14, 3:16 PM
	Poll: ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Feb 28, 2017	111 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Sep 14, 2:51 PM