Subete ga F ni Naru

Spoilers etc.

"The Perfect Insider", or "Everything becomes F*ck All" is a mystery anime about a dysfunctional student-and-professor pairing trying to solve an elaborate locked-room murder mystery surrounding a schizophrenic genius the likes of which this world probably has never seen before(tm). The build-up and plot twists were interesting enough, character development was sort of there for the main duo and the show had plenty of clues and smokescreens to help keep the viewer invested. But if you're looking for a conclusion, I'm sorry to say it's in another castle. The criminal is still at large, a clear motive is never given to tie it all ... up and at the end of it you feel it was less about the mystery and more about the crime solving pair's brief run-in with the enigma that is Magata Shiki and what effect this had on their relationship. Seriously. All of that just so the main protagonists could awkwardly take it to first base? Ok. Whatever.

Decent build-up, poor conclusion.

6/10

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

Have you ever thought about the concept of nothing?

Nothing means no books, no chairs, no phones. It means no mirrors, no cards, no pillows. Even when all of these physical objects are gone, there is still more to remove. No air, no light, no electromagnetic forces, no atoms, no thoughts.

No anything.

Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider goes the opposite way. “Everything” is just as crazy as “nothing.” Now those books and those pillows and those atoms are around, but that is not enough. Even when you think you collected it all, there is ... still more to collect. And then some.

“Everything” means everything to The Perfect Insider. But while it did not collect everything, it still provides a pretty strong anime.

STORY

The Perfect Insider would, from the outside, appear to be a mystery anime. And this description is true. An unexplainable set of events occur, the characters all work together to find an explanation, and a satisfactory solution is singled out. Over the course of eleven episodes, the anime does just this.

But from the inside, the anime is that second genre: psychological.

To be more precise, the anime is philosophical. The mystery acts as a buffer for the philosophical ideas that The Perfect Insider toys with. Questioning “Who are you?” is a common line of thinking for the anime. Discussing the nature of the body versus the soul is where the anime feels safest. Trying to define the concept of freedom or love makes the anime content.

Tying each of these ideas together is another idea, one that is the most important to the anime and is another difficult philosophical concept.

Death.

There is a surprising amount of death in the show. The death of Dr. Magata’s daughter. The death of her parents. The death of her twin brother and maid. The death of Director Shindou. The death of Nishinosono’s parents. Death surrounds the anime.

A lot of words are said by the The Perfect Insider about death. But, succinctly, the anime comes to its conclusion through Dr. Magata: Death is a cure.

The problem is in the presentation. The anime barfs all of this information in the audience’s lap within the last two episodes. The other ideas are posited, creating a foundation for the idea of death, but deeper exploration of death happens almost too late. It unfortunately has to be this way: The rest of the season has to focus on the mystery and the positing. Hence, the anime’s philosophical take on death, while wildly interesting, fails to reach the audience in an easily digestible manner.

Yet, is that not the point? The philosophical questions are hard to understand because they are, well, hard to understand. Dr. Magata is an anomaly. She thinks in a way that nobody else has ever done before. And, in a way, the audience is not supposed to understand what she is thinking. Because, as Saikawa-sensei aptly and contextually puts it, we are “programmed” to think differently from this insane, unique genius.

But this barf is hard to swallow. Life is a beautiful opportunity. Life gives people fun and places to visit and different hobbies and relationships and information to learn and food worth trekking those extra few minutes to get and anime to watch and happiness. That is, life is (and relevantly) everything.

“A flower wilts for the sake of a new seed” is the anime justifying a child killing its mother. “Isn’t the instinctive desire of beings, born not of their own volition, for their lives to be taken in the same way?” is the anime trying to make the murdering of others appear normal.

These notions are not justifiable. These notions are not normal. They are ridiculous. They are ridiculous because death is not the answer. Death removes life. And since life is everything, death removes everything. Providing – by equivalency – nothing.

Beyond the philosophical themes lays the narrative itself which is comprised of two timelines.

The first is the present. Here, Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei work together with the staff of the island laboratory to solve the mystery surrounding them. The second is the past. Here, Director Shindou and Dr. Magata – as a young teenager – slowly reveal what happened all those years ago. The past timeline usually appears at the end of most episodes since nearly every scene from the past is filled with suspense and important information. I.e., a cliffhanger.

This past-and-present technique is simple and common but effective. Having the narrative split, flip-flopping between the present and the past, ramps up the mystery. It helps to make the proceedings more confusing, more unknown to the audience.

Yet the anime more or less confuses itself when it commits a big crime of its own: It rarely shows what happened “behind the scenes.” For example, Dr. Magata and her child are only shown together at the end. Before the end, the audience gets nothing. The audience is not given a view of them in their secluded “home” or an idea of their daily lives or what the child thought of her mother and vice versa.

Another example is Dr. Magata and Director Shindou. While they have more scenes together than the mother and daughter – like riding a Ferris wheel or at a hotel – there are still not enough interactions shown to make their relationship appear worthwhile.

Not having these and the other set of interactions arguably ramps up the mystery further. Which is a nice argument. But it also prevents the audience from fully understanding Dr. Magata and, by extension, the philosophical reasoning she oft leans on.

The Perfect Insider’s narrative also leans but on a plot contrivance. Later on in the season, a futuristic pod device is introduced. A big problem is that the pod was never mentioned. But even more problematic is what it is used for.

First, the pod reveals to Nishinosono a hugely important set of details from her past. And second, the pod gives Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei the opportunity to speak with Dr. Magata. Because the pod is so restricted in its use, it comes off as too niche. As such, events that should be worthwhile to the narrative come off as overly convenient.

As for the mystery itself, the anime does well. The details that make up the mystery are rather clever. A pregnancy, hexadecimal code, and imitation of a nonexistent sister keep the audience guessing for the duration of the anime. While it may have been best to actually show Dr. Magata going through some of these actions – the murder of her daughter, her creating the Trojan code – what is most important is keeping its events a mystery which The Perfect Insider did.

The Perfect Insider does come full-circle with its narrative when it references the magic trick and the t-shirts, but there are too many problems beforehand that weigh the anime down.

ANIMATION

Actual animation in The Perfect Insider remains relatively average. However, certain actions, like a character speaking or hair billowing or Saikawa-sensei failing to put in his eye drops, prove the anime can heighten its actual animation when it wants to.

Regardless of what level of animation is going on, the anime places extra care in its art, presenting visuals that are almost always meaningful. For example, the art does not just have the characters moving around. The art actively characterizes the cast.

In one episode. Nishinosono calls her butler back home. When he takes too long in his reply, she gets impatient. The audience sees her impatience plastered on her face and, more strikingly, in the fidgeting of the mouse pointer on the computer screen.

In the same episode, Saikawa-sensei is smoking a cigarette. (As he always does.) He speaks half of his sentence, inhales some smoke, and then exhales it. As if the smoke cleared his mind, he readjusts what he says.

In a different episode, Dr. Magata sits in her chair, looking like a doll. It is not until Director Shindou arrives that her face lights up and she begins to animate.

Tiny details like these say so much about the characters without resorting to exposition. And the anime uses such subtleties a lot.

To reiterate, The Perfect Insider contains a lot of expository material in the form of narration and monologues. Furthermore, the anime takes place on one island and (for the most part) within one building. As such, the anime puts as much care into its artistic direction as it does its art. But, rather than adding character depth, these details are designed to engage the audience.

A wonderful example is in the fourth episode. Director Shindou starts with a small bit of narration: “I heard her voice. Or more precisely, their….” The anime then proceeds to have Dr. Magata, currently a young teenager, speak to herself with her multiple personalities. But rather than just showing her talking to herself, the anime constantly shifts the perspective.

One perspective positions itself behind Director Shindou. One aims at her from her right side. One faces the mirror in front of her. One sits outside the barely ajar door. The scene does not last long, and the technique is subtle, but the different perspectives mirror the different personalities of Dr. Magata, making it hard to know “who” is really speaking.

Sometimes, these visuals derive from one’s imagination. The purple water in Nishinosono’s nightmare subconsciously reminds her of her purple dress. The cold, enclosed interrogation room for Nishinosono and the warm, open patio for Saikawa-sensei indicate the feelings between these two and Dr. Magata. Dr. Magata and her daughter riding on the back of a camel in the desert evokes a sense of endless discovery for that “perfect answer” the doctor says does not exist.

The opening track and ending track likewise mire themselves in imagination. The traced dance number in the opening track symbolizes the “dance” the characters have with each other. And the inner guts of some software forming an image of the doctor in the ending track symbolizes the “software” that makes up who people are.

(A special shout-out goes to Nishinosono’s small jig in the middle of the opening track. Her body bobbing and head bobbing are strangely alluring.)

More often than not, however, the visuals ground themselves in reality. Said realism comes from not just the lighting and the setting but also the character designs. People in The Perfect Insider wear regular clothes, varying in eye, nose, and mouth shapes to get at diversity without resorting to crazy.

The main cast – Nishinosono, Saikawa-sensei, and Dr. Magata – are the same, but, as the mains, they have a few extra details. Nishinosono’s short hair and baby face visually paint her as a naïve child. Saikawa-sensei’s many t-shirts signify his “many eyes” as Dr. Magata puts it. As for Dr. Magata, her white gown represents her “pure” disposition.

Overall, the The Perfect Insider leverages its art as much as possible to present a wonderful-looking anime.

CHARACTERS

The Perfect Insider approaches its characters in a strange way.

The audience learns a bit about Nishinosono, Saikawa-sensei, and Dr. Magata throughout the season. Nishinosono can manipulate large numbers, has a deep affection for Saikawa-sensei, and lost her parents at too young of an age. Saikawa-sensei deals with life in a calm, logical manner, smoking cigarettes and making silly jokes to pass the time. And Dr. Magata slept with her uncle, killed her parents, and hid herself away for fifteen years before reemerging to seek death.

Weirdly, the individual characters do not matter. They neither develop within the narrative nor impact it. What is truly important is the faux love triangle that exists between the three main players: Nishinosono, Saikawa-sensei, and Dr. Magata.

The whole dynamic is, perhaps obviously, complicated. But the best way to describe it is in terms of getting and understanding. “Getting” means seeing what another is saying. “Understanding” means seeing and comprehending what another is saying. That is, one cannot understand another without first getting them, but one can get another without understanding them. (Confused yet?)

An example. Nishinosono gets Saikawa-sensei. She knows when he is lying. She gets his sense of humor. She tends to know what he thinks. But her love for him, a love she feels is not reciprocated but instead aimed at Dr. Magata, prevents her from completely understanding him. Part of her character arc involves moving closer to the understanding side: learning just how much Saikawa-sensei helped her in the past lets her understand him differently.

Yet she cannot get Dr. Magata. She questions the doctor, and she is flabbergasted at how the doctor finds killing her own parents – when Nishinosono tragically lost her own – a simple, justifiable move.

Saikawa-sensei completely understands Nishinosono. He knows how to make her laugh. He had been there for her during the lowest point in her life. He accepts her “contradictions” as he puts it. But, with Dr. Magata, he only gets her. He does not understand her. He admires her for who she is. He gets what she says, but he cannot fully understand her mindset.

Dr. Magata, as the flawless character she happens to be, completely understands both Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei. She understands Nishinosono because of her apathy towards humans, her thinking similar thoughts (as episode two showcases), and her not having parents either. And since Saikawa-sensei has a “very similar structure,” she understands how he operates, too.

In summary, Nishinosono gets Saikawa-sensei but does not get Dr. Magata. Saikawa-sensei understands Nishinosono but only gets Dr. Magata. Dr. Magata understands both Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei. (Still following?)

The dynamics are complicated. But why? Why create such a convoluted set of dynamics? Why focus so much on their interpersonal connections rather than their intrapersonal selves?

The Perfect Insider’s narrative bases itself on the answer to this question. The anime is, after all, a mystery. However, the answer finally manifests within the last ten minutes or so of the season.

Two separate scenes in these last ten minutes are shown. In the real world, Saikawa-sensei recounts a story about Nishinosono’s father. In the imaginary world, Dr. Magata talks with her daughter about humanity. Both conversations revolve around the same theme: questioning and answering.

People are constantly questioning. Questioning the world is what drives people forward. And, by extension, people are constantly trying to find answers to these questions. Nishinosono questioned “Why do people live?” Saikawa-sensei’s answers got her laughing again. Dr. Magata’s daughter questioned herself, so she sought “freedom.” Dr. Magata questioned Saikawa-sensei in the ocean, and, after hearing his creative response – “Because you can’t smoke underwater.” – she wanted to meet him once more.

Dr. Magata phrases it best: “If they [humans] knew everything, they would attempt nothing. If they attempted nothing, nothing new would happen. Humans seek answers to the things they do not know. That is how kindness, nostalgia, joy, and fun are born.”

In other words, questioning the world and finding those answers allows people to get, allows people to understand. To get and understand the world, thoughts, and, most importantly, people.

This directive is The Perfect Insider’s main message. Question others, question ourselves. Only then can answers be found. A “perfect answer,” as Dr. Magata says, may never, ever be discovered. But so long as people question, answers will follow.

In other words, to understand each other, people simply have to ask, “Who are you?”

SOUND

Alongside the art, the sound-work of The Perfect Insider is one of its strongest aspects.

The opening track comes out on top. Its upbeat vibe completely contrasts with the mysterious vibe of the anime, making the track feel even more fun. The vocalist does a wonderful job, too, with the step-wise, quick, and “Yea!” lyrics. And, as is pretty much required for a dance song, the track is quite catchy. Made so by the drums, the guitar, and the not-too-fast-and-not-too-slow-but-just-right speed. The OP is a fantastic track that is more than worth listening to both inside and outside of the anime.

The ending track is a step down, but that is not saying all that much. The dual female and male vocalists working together symbolizes Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei doing the same. The different techno sound-effects fit the computerized motif. The toned-down build-up in the middle. That held lyric. The sudden and not-long-lasting loss of music near the end. All of these details, combined with the catchiness, make the ED into yet another strong track offered by the anime.

Not wanting to be outdone, the rest of the original soundtrack does well too. Tension-filled tracks made up of fast violins and harps. Soft, piano-and-flute tracks for those extremely pleasant moments. And melancholic tracks composed of violins and chimes. These more classical tracks, alongside the more mysterious ones, set up and fit the atmosphere of the anime quite well, making the OST another strong addition to the anime.

Voice acting performances are similarly high in execution. Yasuyuki Kase as Saikawa-sensei uses an older, reserved voice that suits the cigarette-loving teacher and that does not get annoying to hear for long periods of time. Atsumi Tanezaki as Nishinosono uses a cute voice that is both mature and young, reflecting the girl’s same disposition. And Ibuki Kido as Dr. Magata has a calm, plain way of speaking. Her voice captures the doctor’s levelheadedness which accentuates her rare, more emotional outbursts.

The Perfect Insider also deserves huge props for a scene that somewhat came out of nowhere. In episode seven, Saikawa-sensei talks to Dr. Magata’s “sister.” The cool part is they both do so in English. The coolest part is that the scene lasts a really long time. And when the audience thinks they are done, they keep going. Cleverly, it distracts the audience from thinking that the “sister” is actually Dr. Magata, especially when she speaks in the third person.

ENJOYMENT

I liked this one. And I certainly appreciated what it did. It might be as opposite to a “turn your brain off” anime as an anime can get. The deep, philosophical questions were (obviously) the reason for this.

The anime forced me to spend a lot of time dissecting what it was trying to say. While that may be an indicator that the anime delivered its message unsuccessfully – me literally having to type out their conversations, verbatim, in order to have their exact thoughts close by seems a little absurd – it gave me the chance to question.

I thought about my own ideals. I thought about the ideals of others. I thought about life and death and myself. Not many anime can make me do that.

The mystery itself was okay but nothing I was ever taken in by. Mostly because the stakes never felt high, and the payoff was lackluster. Dr. Magata was okay, too. I am not a big fan of perfect characters; I would have liked to have seen her challenged more. The whole point is that she was perfect, but her being so flawless made her less interesting than she could have been.

I did like the “romance” between Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei, though. Her storming out into the hallway and yelling to herself out of frustration when she learned about Saikawa-sensei staying over at another woman’s (his sister, unbeknownst to Nishinosono) place made me chuckle. Or Nishinosono declaring that she, not Saikawa-sensei’s sister, would be buying his shirts from now on made me laugh. And just the teasing, natural dialogue they shared with each other made me smile on more than a few occasions.

Nishinosono herself could be cute and fun, too. Kicking out the female lab worker because she was getting too buddy-buddy with Saikawa-sensei – “Door, close!” – had me laughing since this small act was both funny and true to her personality. And her appearing grossed out by the fact that Saikawa-sensei wanted her to call him an “idiot” had me grinning. A lot of these moments overlapped with her relationship to Saikawa-sensei, but they were, nonetheless, entertaining.

Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider has some highs and some lows. More highs than lows. The art and the music are extremely strong, but the story and the characters, despite the philosophy, could have been executed better. In the end, the anime did neither everything nor nothing. But it did, at least, do something.

SUMMARY

Story: Bad, while the mystery itself is constructed well, a ridiculous take on death, the lack of important interactions, and an unfortunate plot contrivance each weigh the narrative down

Animation: Great, subtleties, reality, and imaginary come together to create a visually impressive treat

Characters: Fine, Nishinosono, Saikawa-sensei, and Dr. Magata are not strong characters on an individual basis, but their interpersonal relationships nicely explore the theme on questioning and answers

Sound: Great, fantastic OP, great ED, nice OST, above average VA performances

Enjoyment: Good, the mystery and Dr. Magata were okay, Nishinosono and Saikawa-sensei, especially Nishinosono, were fun, and it forced self-reflection

Final Score: 7/10

The accusation of being 'pretentious' has been lobbed at Subete ga F ni Naru quite often. This is unfair, considering the author actually worked as a researcher for quite a while. The integration of maths and computer science elements into the story is basic (in concession to the audience) but does bring a unique flavour into what would otherwise be a standard locked room mystery. The story starts off slowly, setting up the characters and story with dry factual dialogue, but as events unfold, more elements are added to the mystery and the relationship between Moe and Souhei becomes more fleshed out, leading to some ... more compelling drama in the second half. Magata Shiki's past also adds an edge and strangeness to the story that fans of psychological anime will appreciate.

While the story is good, Subete ga F ni Naru's problem is that it follows the structure of the novel too closely, or at least it appears that way from someone who never read it. The setting and events are static, and with mature, realistic characters, even with the same script it feels this would be better realised in live action with good actors. The pacing is also a tad too slow; where 'show, don't tell' is an important principle in literature it is surely doubly important in television. The drab colour palette visually reinforces this impression, although by and large the audiovisual quality of this series is very good, with very expressive facial animation in important scenes.

If you're looking for a straight, compelling mystery told through the anime medium, Subete ga F ni Naru is the show for you. Just don't expect much more out of it than you could get from a book.

"There is no perfect answer. But continuing to seek one is very important."

Subete ga F ni Naru ( The Perfect Insider ) is a proper mystery anime that actually knows what it's doing. It is a well structured murder mystery, so good that regardless of the fact that you found out who the perpetrator was it'll still be an imperfect answer.

It's very hard to get into this series unless you love mystery or you come here expecting a full mysterical ( yes I made this word up ) experience. This anime is nothing but mysteries.

10 Sherlock Holmes Smoking Pipe out of 10. ... A very, very good mystery anime. I recommend this to everybody who loves or are looking for a mystery anime. This will no doubt fulfill your need.

Subete ga F ni Naru was recommended to me by a friend. There were a lot of good things being said about this anime so I decided to watch it. The first episode wasn't anything special and it didn't really introduce the audience to the story. However, I don't judge an anime by its first episodes so I went along with it. Honestly, I didn't understand what people found so exciting about the first episode, I can only guess it was when Seikawa asked Nishinosono 'What are the 3 big questions of life' to which she replied 'Who am I? Why am I here? And ... where will I go?' Now, if you like anime with big psychological plots and questions, this might be the perfect anime for you.

The story was different and for the most part kept you interested and involved although there were times where it felt like the story stopped in order for the characters to talk about the deepest of the deepest of stuff. Again, if you like deep and emotional(less) dialogues in anime, this will be perfect for you. As for the pace, the story does start slow and like it doesn't have much to offer but after about 3 or 4 episodes, it does start to get interesting.

The art was dull and gloomy although this does add to the mystery and the eerie feel in the anime. It wasn't anything special so if you decide to watch Subete ga F ni Naru don't expect amazing art. Good News though! If you like funky openings with pretty colours and awesome music then you're going to like the one for Subete ga F ni Naru. It's one of the things that I enjoyed about the anime although when I first watched it I thought the anime was going to be about something completely different.

There's not much to say about the sound. The music used for the opening and the ending was catchy and I have it in my playlist but there wasn't much sound or sound effects, not that I noticed anyway so if there was some music during the scenes, the producers didn't do a very good job at making me realise it therefore making it impossible to appreciate the beauty of music.

The characters were interesting, I don't think there was one character in the anime that I didn't like. Each character looked different and I probably won't be seeing any other anime characters that look similar to the ones in Subete ga F ni Naru. This is another thing that I enjoyed about he anime, the individualistic characters and their simple yet unique design. Their personalities were also all so distinct and contrasting and not one character had the same personality as the other.

Overall, the anime was pretty decent and quite enjoyable although it does start of slow and ordinary but does pick up the pace and keeps the audience wanting more. I wouldn't consider this anime to be a high priority to watch but it definitely deserves to be given a chance, this might one day become a classic.

(Story= 7, Art= 6, Sound= 4, Character= 8, Enjoyment= 7, Overall=7)

Subete no F ni Naru is so a mystery show that had a really weak start but had an interesting ending that was able to string together the elements presented throughout the mystery part.

So the first few episodes, alone, I would rate poorly. Most of it was just philophaster nonsense that was presented in an inappropriate way. It was also in no way philosophical. It was almost on the level of Jayden Smith's tweets. The first few episodes seem to try to show the relationship between Moe and Saikawa except the first episode already establishes their relationship and the following episodes do nothing to expand ... that; all they do is continue with the philsophaster nonsense.

However, around midway, this is when the show becomes interesting, as this is when the mystery really begins. The elements and clues presented throughout the episodes thenceforth were directly related to the story and you don't feel like something random that was not presented earlier, just shows up. Also, as a computer scientist, I love how they implemented hexadecimal into the story. This all relates back to "Subete ga F Ni Naru".

So how was it overall? I'd say it okay. You could probably watch the first episode, then skip the next few and you wouldn't miss a thing. This is definitely the better mystery this season than, say, Sakurako-san

Short and simple:
If you hate philosophy or "wannabe" philosophers, you might as well just drop it...
The pace is quite slow, with many flashbacks, quite "illogical" reasonings with some weird futuristic machines.

Be warned though, their dialog isn't "normal", even though these characters are from the architecture faculty and meets computer engineers/ programmers, they're more like a bunch of people ranting about random/ umpredictable things like: You can't smoke while underwater... Some people might be offended by this, while other people might like it and say "wow, that's philosophical!"

But at the same time the locked room case isn't that bad... Don't get scared ... because of haters who give this show score 1 x) Though i have to say, this show is weird and not for those who want to watch "a (logical) grandiose intricate scheme"
PS: I'd prefer Shinsekai yori if you are looking for dark schemes and Hyouka if you like light mood mystery anime!

I guess my conclusion is that the show was so-so. I liked the author and the art was appeasing. The opening and ending was enjoyable so i guess this show was a "fair" one - 6

The mystery genre is one of the most rewarding genres of any medium in my opinion. However, it is normally very hard to get it right, especially in anime. I can probably count on one hand, maybe two, the amount of generally well recieved mystery anime in the community. So, how does The Perfect Insider fare?

The first thing that struck me right off the bat was it's pacing. For an 11 episode show to only introduce the core mystery at the end of episode 2 indicates just how slow this show is. Surprisingly though, nothing really feels rushed even with only 8 or so episodes ... to complete the mystery. The mystery is exceptionally well-realized, and the slow pace adds to the atmosphere that the mystery and the characters build from the ground up.

The mystery itself is very effective. If you pay enough attention, you might just be able to figure out the mystery yourself. It's a mystery that is fairly logical, works well off the characters, and the answer isn't obvious. It creates one of the best things a mystery anime can do, which is keep you guessing to try and figure out the mystery for yourself. It's not perfect, as there are a couple things left to plot convenience and the reliance of the incredibly smart main characters, but those moments are thankfully few and far between.

As for characters, the two leads work off each other very well. They have fairly unique character interactions with one another, good backstories, ideals, and the like. They were interesting leads to follow, and reacted to the core mystery in a way that makes sense while never breaking the tone of the show as a whole.

And then we have Magata Shiki, undisputedly the best part of the show. Her take on human life alone makes her a worthwhile character. So many things, big and little alike, encompass this character to create a wholly 3-dimensional person. I'm not going to mention much more than that as she's a character better left experienced by the viewer rather than some random internet twat telling you about her. :)

The biggest flaw in the show also resides in the character section, and that is the side characters. None of them were really that interesting at all, but when the main characters have as much depth as they do, it doesn't really take away to have lackluster side characters.

The art is very well done as well. The character designs are top-tier, but the thing that really struck me the most was the amount of white that was used, both as light and in the colour palette. This again adds to the more surreal atmosphere this show emanates. Overall, a step up quality wise than what A-1 pictures normally puts out nowadays. The soundtrack has both a calming and eerie feel to it, which worked very effectively. I wasn't a big fan of the opening for a while, as it really doesn't fit in with the show at all. And while I stand by that statement, the song by itself is pretty damn catchy.

As far as mystery anime goes, The Perfect Insider is certainly one of the better ones. The core mystery engages the viewer with it's simplistic premise, and keeps them engaged with it's more complicated innerworkings. However, it's the unique yet intriguing main characters and their interpretations on the main themes of The Perfect Insider that really hit it home for me. And I mean come on, Saikawa fucking moonwalks in an episode, so it's worth the watch just for that. Certainly one of the better shows to come out of 2015, and I'd say if you don't mind the slow pace, give it a try.

You can a apply a version of the popular maxim “the journey is more important than the destination” to many works of storytelling, in order to justify the fact that you love it despite a disappointing ending. My most recent such application was the epic manga Kozure Ookami. The one genre that you can not apply this maxim is the murder mystery. Subete ga F ni Naru had a poor ending of such magnitude that I cannot recommend it to anyone, and this review should end right here.

Somebody might ask “yes, but what about the journey?” So for reasons of thoroughness and fairness, I shall ... continue. The anime immediately shows typical noitaminA stylization with a great OP (the ED is also good), although when the actual episode begins we are served with mediocre animation. It's probably a matter of taste, but I really don't like poorly rendered 3d CGI objects festering the scenes.

The other major issue is the characters. The main “detective duo” is pretty cool, we have the genius ojou-sama and the “genuis-er” professor, but throughout the 11 episodes we learn nothing more of substance about them and no development occurs. But our duo is not the main problem, the main problem about the characters is the supporting cast: there are characters that have the potential of becoming interesting and we wait to discover how they will factor in the story etc, but nothing happens, they just disappear in the background. Magata's sister is the prime example. This anime looked pretty interesting in the first three episodes, but then simply blew over. Magata's character is pretty complex and interesting, but again: the poor ending ruins everything.

Magata's character brings us to the only strength of the anime: It offers some philosophical thoughts worth contemplating (mainly using Magata as the transmission vessel). Also the lab structure as a self-sustaining micro-society of intellectuals is a beautiful contraption. So around Magata, the writes manages to create a beautiful setting, which I imagine is the sole reason for his success with this work.

I will not spoil anything about the end, I'll just say that it has major timing issues and that it demands that we accept actions and motives based on their aesthetic value, completely disregarding logic or offering a valid explanation. You get a “wow” moment in episode 9 but that's it. Oh, and the “F reveal” is pretty dumb.

The murder mystery portion of the anime ends in episode 10, the final episode is a few pretentious dialog and a hormone overflowing Nishinosono. The fact that they gave up on the cyberpunk charm of the earlier episodes annoyed me; instead they chose to do the lazy “people talking on changing backgrounds”.

As I already said this anime fails as a murder mystery, but I imagine the near-future-cyberpunk aesthetics may make some people happy. The whole manga/anime industry seems to fail hard at the crime mystery genre (if someone thinks I'm wrong about this point, I would love to hear suggestions), so for the genre's lovers I would recommend the first season of Broadchurch and the Murder on orient express (1974). For this one... 3.5/10.

I would liken this anime to a peaceful dream.

I'll rush past art and sound since my years of watching anime has convinced me that they're highly subjective, so the only thing I can objectively say about them is that they draw together nicely and have a flow to them as do many anime. As for the story, the main plot line itself, the mystery about which it all revolves, I confess I did not find it too interesting and found myself asking a question at the start which proved to be the correct path of reasoning. Still, I quite enjoyed this ... anime, and will go on to explain why I do liken it to a peaceful dream.

In this anime our primary characters are all geniuses who can perform calculator operations in their heads without a moment's thought, are well regarded by the world despite each begin a recluse in their own way, and strangely enough within this anime their genius means they're each philosophically inclined. Now as often happens when writing about people smarter then ourselves, many of the arguments, chains of reasoning, and claims of these characters could be easily poked full of holes by any deeper thought, but the real guts of the anime are the philosophical abstractions that get tossed about, or at least they are in my book. Are we really meat and bone, or are we consciousness? What can we define as a distinct individual when we collect multiple personalities within an individual, or when we acknowledge that no one personality is necessarily inherent to a body in and of itself? Now, because they're all geniuses discussing deep topics the story does not scrutinize their thoughts to the extend to riddling them with holes, but rather glides along with them, much as logic might follow in a dream where in truth the contradictions matter little in the face of the new thoughts and ideas they might give birth to, and to me this seemed to be the dominant theme of the anime. Still, having given critical and non-critical thought alike to the anime, I enjoyed the notions it expressed.

While it's not too hard to find anime that tackle the nihilism behind our not knowing precisely why we exist, this anime deviates from the grittier dark side of not knowing, and instead embraces that whilst we do irrationally fear "death", and we don't really know the answers to the big questions about life, accepting its lack of logic at times and emphasizing that that sometimes the simple seemingly random habits of life themselves are the answer to these questions however nonsense that may be. I also enjoyed that this anime did not belabor the point by lingering endlessly on just these questions, delving into deep brooding depression for episodes on end as the characters thought their way through them, but rather it somewhat playfully tossed out questions and answers both as free floating thoughts more in the spirit of a stream of consciousness then as a logically defined argument or a dramatic plot line. And that is why it is that I associate the feel of this anime to that of a peaceful dream, flowing on through ceaseless thoughts without violent refutes or blood rushing excitement. I cannot say if you'll like this anime as I have, but that is not something for me to decide, it's something for you.

Despite what people are saying about this anime, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed. What made the story unique was the way we as viewers were presented with the mystery. For the most part, we were only shown as much as the characters were and got the opportunity to solve it alongside them.

The characters themselves were great (although sometimes they were a little 'bland' or 'boring' as they weren't always able to fully express themselves or their emotions). The relationship between the two mains is explored to a certain extent (as much as can be done in 13 eps) however, the main focus ... throughout the anime is the mystery at hand.

Along with the soundtrack and the fantastic art style, I found this anime thoroughly enjoyable to watch. The only thing that disappoints me is that it was only 13 episodes long. In my opinion, it should have been at least 24.

"her moral and our moral is different" yes, this statement is what makes this series moves. this anime is filled with much (i can't count it, so i use much) philosophical based thinking, combined with computer science and heavy talking. mistery based anime that i can give straight 8 besides terror in tokyo, what makes this series that worth is the evidence is there from the beginning.

story 8/10
the story about classic closed room murder case. genius teacher with philosophical thinking, with his god-like in calculation student that trying to solve this mistery. it's classic, but i can't say i hate classic. it gives impression of ... how you will think, you will trying to guess who's the killer. personally, i think A-1 did a good job presenting the story in this series

art 9/10
9/10 is worth score to the art. the art, animation, and shoots is indeed done well for this mistery genre anime. well timed camera change, good art and animation gives the soul of what the story trying to tell

sound 7.5/10
it's not that bad, it's not that good. it just above the average. good actor, but not too suited for the role besides the main character. the opening is done well, and some BGM is suited for situation. but, there's no significant role to the series

character 8/10
the character is human like character. it's solid, has flaws, emotional. the character is done well by the writer of the novel (i don't read the novel)

enjoyment 8/10
as this anime series categorized as mistery anime. it's heavy, full of content. as you missed the fact and trying to guess, this anime opened the evidence one by one to give you different view to guess the criminal

overall 8.6/10
as it's not worth 9. i just can give it 8.6. the anime that makes you think. as it is can be categorized as hard anime, it needs thinking to give the full enjoyment and understanding to this anime. if you want just watch anime and laugh your ass off, this anime is not recommended to you

I never felt especially into Perfect Insider. Oh, it's competant enough; the pacing is fine, some of the characters are engaging, it's intriguing, and it was always a nice change of pace from superpowered teens at school going on about how much they want to have sex but never actually doing it.

But I didn't really get much out of it. It's necessarily slow paced to build atmosphere and mystery, but that often made it a bit boring. When everything was ultimately revealed, while it was kind of clever, it just didn't make much of an impression on me.

Part of it is that there's so much ... empty philosophizing. Especially in the ending. The revelations just get bogged down in all this clever and insightful dialogue that really isn't either of those things. I kind of checked out halfway through episode 10 if I'm honest.

With something uninventive but servicable, it's tempting to use the analogy of a plain, buttered bagel. Well this is a little better than that. It's a raisin bagel.

Prepare for a hurting in your brain.

"Subete fa F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider" is heavy with philosophical concepts about LIFE, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, stay away from it. I mean, you could watch it for the mystery (which is also very intriguing mind you) but it's biggest theme is on the meaning of freedom so pick and chose.

The mystery itself is very well done. It spends a good bulk of the series trying to figure out how the mystery was completed as well as the why. It was kind of frustrating though when Saikawa says he's found out ... the mystery half way through the series but doesn't tell you since you are on the same side as Nishinosono, who's trying to figure out the mystery for herself (but never does and the solution ends up getting explained by Saikawa in the second to last episode anyway). Each episodes does a good job in setting up for the next one, and curiosity will get the better of you and force you to watch the whole series just to figure out how this act was committed.

If you like philosophy, the series is also a good watch. The characters are thoughtful characters (Well two of them are) who think about the meaning of a lot of things. You also get a good look at the thought process of Magata Shiki, who is the main focus of the series. I actually still can't decide whether Magata is delusional or a genius, but she certainly as an interesting way at viewing life. Saikawa is the more down to earth version of Magata who makes Magata's thought process a bit easier to understand. All in all, her view of the world and on life and death is kind of insane but also makes a sort of sense. I can see where she came from even if it's completely insane in your head. I wish I could voice the sentiment a bit more eloquently but I don't think I can so I recommend you watch the anime and come up with your own answer and opinion about Magata Shiki.

It was a great watch and each episode got me wanting more. The story isn't cliche at all despite the mystery being the great "locked room" case. I mean, my brain hurt a bit trying to organize and process all the information into my head, but all in all, it was a great series! You just have to think a lot while watching it. Heh.

The first three chapters take a slow pace (a little bored for many) but later takes an incredible force, supporting the spectator looking at the screen every detail not to get lost on the mystery. The animation and the soundtrack (removing the wonderful opening) are regular. The characters (Emphasizing Saikawa-sensei and Magata) are interesting. But what really safe the anime is the plot.
Conclusion: Subete Ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider, it is a good one anime of mystery, not ideally if you will begin to see it to the night and you have plans to sleep early, surely you will continue thinking that was ... happening in the anime

Warning ye who enter here:
Minor spoilers and splibbery goo are contained within this review
This is my opinion so y'know feel free to spite me and watch an anime even if I don't recommend it you rascals

Hey it's a mystery anime that totally went past me last year. It must be a good one judging by all these scores.
-Eleven episodes later-
Well that was... mixed.

Art is a-ok. There are some pretty nice parts, I'll spoil a bit and say they get into the water before those, but overall it was nothing special. Let's give it a 7 and this is mostly because of that damn awesome ... opening.

Sound was existent. There was not much special about it tho that opening song was a bit above average. Here's a 6.


Story takes place on an island where a murder happens and our two protagonists try to solve it. Of course this shouldn't be a hard task to them cause they are super geniuses, cause isn't everybody these days? There's a main story in current time and a side story in the past. Now the anime began with an episode that slowly introduced us to two leads and their chemistry. ,, Nice, pacing!'' I told to myself foolishly. There's a difference between pacing and slogging an anime for 8 episodes! Well that might've given my opinion on the story. Most of the anime is spent with a female main character trying not to soil her panties in public over the main lead character, and flipping out whenever a girl involved in his life shows up. There's also both characters getting involved in extremely boring conversations about life, death and breakfast. This could've been interesting, deep or thought provoking if it wasn't all on the level of a pothead reading Nietzsche. Usually theories drawn are completely face palm inducing, like considering that a person with multiple personalities is ,,the purest human being,,. Now I gotta give the anime some credit, actually quite a decent amount of it. The solution to the mystery and killer's plan was so in depth you could find oil. It did keep me in awe how complex, in a good way, it was. Howeeeever there was another bitter pill to swallow before the ending which was killer's motive. The killer tells us the alleged motive but soon contradicts it with the following action. I am aware that mysteries are slow moving but those I've seen thus far kept me intrigued. This is by no means a horrible story and I am doubtless that quite a portion of people out there will love it. From me it gets a 6.

Characters are mostly a rim-ram-shim-sham of nerdy folk. There isn't some overwhelming character displayed by anybody but two main characters. Sohei is sorta cold, always thinking about life and wishes for complete freedom. His subordinate, Moe, is quite emotional which she displays whenever she feels like her feelings for Sohei are showing or a girl approaches/talks about him. Characters can pass with a 6 cause they were also annoying with their constant repetition of obvious things like ,,X was killed,, , ,,they were killed in that room,,. Seriously script writer insert whatever but stop repeating stuff.

Enjoyment is 5. Enjoying 3 out of 11 episodes is more of a 3 but considering those eps were damn good I felt like it should be recognized.

This anime is obviously been done by somebody who had this awesome idea for a convoluted murder but couldn't think of a way to fill the time till the reveal of the murderer and things as such.

This anime is not for everyone, its philosophical anime, and to be honest for me its one of the best anime because i like realistic, with many questions but no right answers, im not gona review art, sound, character, i just want to say that story is very interesting, it force you to watch episode after episode because of mystery, who killed who, whats going on, how it is even possible and many other questions. I know everyone hates dialogue but in my opinion those dialogue's for me very entertaining, you need to understand and think about it, it is as i said realistic anime ... with realistic questions. Probably everyone used to with echi, harem, etc where dialogue is just simple, where 10years old kid can understand. Im the guy who likes philosophical and smart anime's. I love Death note, code geass, one outs, steins;gate. If you one of those fans and really like smart anime here it is. I rated 9 because i love smart, philosophical, mystery anime's and everyone knows, that of all in the world anime, there is only 1% anime where involves smart, mind-gaming things.

Subete ga F ni Naru follows Moe a girl who after the loss of her parents in a plane crash is helped raised by Souhei a student of her fathers. Moe meets Dr. Magata a very bright women with a very corrupt state of mind. Dr. Magata as a child killed her parents and was sent to a island to stay captive in her own world due to her split personalities. Souhei admires Dr. Magatas work as a scientist and Moe takes them to go see Dr. Magata. This is where everything takes a turn for the worst while waiting for Dr. Magata to see ... them a huge twist happens the lights go out, the sealed door where Dr. Magata stays that never opens has opened up and rolls out a body with its arms and legs cut off which seems to be Dr. Magata. Throughout this series they must unravel the clues left by the killer and find out why this happened and how this happened. This series is very creepy and very dark. It has a very mysterious vibe that continues through this series until you come across the conclusion. I believe its very hard to cut a clear picture till everything is done you are hinted and given little clues a long the way. Then right at the end everything locks into place. I feel like this series had a very interesting story and plot to it. With out of the ordinary characters and really awesome visuals this was made out to be a awesome mystery anime series.

The following review, while it doesn't contain spoilers, may give you more insight into the structure of The Perfect Insider than I would personally have wanted to have going into it. Heck, I didn't even know that it was a mystery (which was a nice treat for me), but I'm assuming you know at least that much if you're reading this. Anyway, I recommend watching this, especially if you're into thinking philosophically and solving mysteries as it's one of the best shows/movies I've seen in that regard, never mind just in the anime. You can come back and read the review later if you don't ... want to be expecting certain general things to come up during the show, which I think would provide the best experience.

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Do you know how mystery television or film falls into two categories? The ones that throw bogus clues and evidence out there to mislead you until the grand reveal and the ones that give you legitimate clues you can use to figure everything out without having to guess at some point before the end? Well, fortunately, this show falls into the latter category, and damn does it do a good job of it. I haven't had the pleasure of watching much, if anything, that struck this kind of balance in a long time. Generally speaking, I either have everything figured out, or there isn't enough info/too much misleading/incorrect info to get to a conclusion without a leap of faith or without waiting until right near the end. This anime gave us all the clues we needed to solve the mystery within the first 3 episodes if I remember correctly which is coincidentally around when the mystery starts. It's kind of novel to have a show give you everything you need to solve the mystery right around the time the mystery is in place. Well, to a certain extent anyway. There's more that gets filled out as you move through the story that could be considered key to figuring out what happened, but even those final bits are given to you a decent enough chunk of episodes before the end.

Now that I've established that they did the whole mystery thing basically flawlessly in my opinion, I would like to say that it has also been a treat to have one of these shows conduct themselves fairly and still manage to trick me, even while doling out clues the whole time. That doesn't happen very often. If I had to pick a criticism of the mystery, it's that if you're not paying very close attention, and if you're not...well, clever at this sort of thing, you may feel that the reveals come out of left field and are a load of crap - as many people who have reviewed this do.

Onwards! The art and animation is really well done and the sound is definitely a treat. Their attention to detail really shows, especially during one of the best openings and one of the best endings I've ever seen. The questions I found myself musing after and during every episode were also really well posited, if maybe a little shoehorned into things. That being said, I felt like it was in one of the main characters' nature to speak the way he did and I found myself identifying with him more than anyone else. So while it was shoehorned, the character who was doing the philosophy shoehorning was doing it believably (for me at least - there are enough reviews that disagree, and I won't bother using the old "They didn't understand" or "They didn't get the character" arguments). For a longer, clearer, picture of why I liked this part of the show, read this review since I agree with pretty much everything they say http://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=205880

Now to the negative.

The main bad thing I have to say about all of this (minus the usual personal opinion stuff that you'll decide for yourself if you watch it) is that the characters were pretty weak overall. I thought that each one served a purpose, and some of them were interesting enough, but it was definitely the plot, story, philosophy, and them making me think all the time that took me through this. If it was just the characters alone trying to carry this in a different situation, I don't think I would have been interested past the philosophical questions that the main character I was talking about spits out. This is in contrast to say, Death Note as the easy example, where I could watch L and Light trying to open competing hotdog stands and it would be enthralling. In The Perfect Insider, the characters are a vehicle for the story, not the other way around. Anyway, to sum it all up, just read the first part of the review that warned you not to read the review ;) Enjoy!

There are many animes, especially in the mystery genre, that either go way above-the-top and become unrealistic or supernatural in trying to appeal to its viewers or follow a very tried-and-tested route and become too cliche and simple and are unable to satisfy its audience. Its not an easy act to obtain a balance and I feel 'Perfect Insider' manages to do just that. It brings a few new things to the table and keeps it all real and consistent throughout.

Episodes : 11

Genre : Mystery, Thriller

Format : One long mystery from start to end that spans across 11 episodes

People it might appeal to : People ... who like a good mystery and are fans of detective series or novels. People who don't mind a detailed in-depth case that takes its time to present all the facts and delve into the motives and psychology behind the suspects and victims.

People it may not appeal to : People who want things crisp and quick and with a good dose of action. People looking for over-the-top action or comedy and expressive characters. People who get turned off by the slightest hint of psychology discussions, self-questioning, existentialism debates etc.

Story : 9/10
The synopsis explains the premise well. I wouldn't want to give further details coz its a mystery plot but I would like to say that overall its a good story. It has its exciting moments and a very fulfilling conclusion that befits the tone set at the start. It keeps you engaged throughout with new discoveries and clues in every episode that keep adding to the mystery. I cut 1 point because there are some very minor loopholes I could catch.

Art : 8/10
I really like this type of art. To give you a good idea the art is very similar to Ao no exorcist or Shin Sekai Yori. Its not very colorful or bright to be honest which I didn't mind. The characters are very well drawn with a focus on their facial expressions. At times though, there is a feeling of rigidity in scenes involving long conversations between characters.

Sound : 8/10
I totally loved the opening and ending themes and the visuals along with them. They are very different from your usual stuff and really caught my attention. I found myself listening to them in every episode without fail. Regarding the background score of the anime, I would say its ok. Nothing great. I guess the similarity of the tone and setting throughout the anime doesn't really give too much scope for a varied musical score.

Character : 9/10
This is where I feel the anime really scores. Lots of times in mystery anime or novels, the characters just end up being mediums for discussion of the case and don't have real personality. Here, that has been avoided. Our main 3 characters are wonderfully done and each his/her own unique traits and habits. Saikawa-sensei beats down many cliches with his calm and almost lifeless demeanor. I actually enjoyed his character a lot. The crazy genius of Dr. Magata Shiki came across brilliantly and towards the end you start understanding her psyche. But, my favorite was Nishinosono who totally looked like someone who might irritate me at the start (Dont judge a book by its cover. Lesson learnt) but turned out a joy to watch. She's been crafted as a very smart and confident girl who has her weaknesses and demons too. Again the anime displayed a good balancing act by not making her too overbearing and all-knowing or damsel-like and ready-to-cry either. The interactions between these 3 are the highlights of the series. Again I've cut 1 coz the other support characters never really came out much

Enjoyment : 10/10
I found myself wanting to see the next episode immediately after I completed one, was making guesses and theories after each clue was discussed and was amazingly fulfilled with the solution and conclusion of the case. If that doesn't count for a 10/10 on a mystery case, what does? Also, I really liked the conversations about existentialism, psychology etc. between the main characters. It never felt like going to the mind-fuck or above-your-head range (yes, I'm looking at you GITS!) but it presented some crazy ideas and theories nevertheless. And all of them were very relevant to the case not random plants to further the creators theories or anything.

Overall : 9/10
All in all, Perfect Insider gets a 9 from me. I might have been a little soft on this one coz I know its not easy to come up with a really good mystery. The anime has its minor flaws but I'm really willing to overlook them for all the good stuff it manages to do by the end of the ride. I was only wishing there were more mystery anime involving Saikawa and Nishinimono like the novels.
If a good mystery or thriller is what gets you going, don't miss this one.