Subete ga F ni Naru

It’s not easy to watch a show like “The Perfect Insider”. Generally speaking, the show is about mystery and in this case involves murder. It’s something that can be a sensitive topic as we learn more about the circumstances. And given the mystery aspect of the show, it’s the narratives that captures the essence of story. Really though, what is The Perfect Insider?

Subete ga F ni Naru (also more commonly known as The Perfect Insider) is based on a Japanese mystery novel written in 1996 by Hiroshi Mori. Produced by A-1 Pictures, the show is symbolic for how mystery can be so…mysterious. The setting ... takes place on a remote island and begins when Souhei Saikawa, an associate professor of National Nagono University, goes on a vacation there. During his vacation, he is also accompanied by 1st year student, Moe Nishinosono. What started out as an ordinary trip turns bizarre when a mysterious corpse shows up at the lab. At the same time, it also became well known that a woman named Shiki Magata lives there. As one of the most mysterious characters in the show, she has literally lived in a laboratory for the past 15 years. Can you imagine that? Trapping themselves like a rat in a box hardly sounds like a paradise. For someone like Magata, there’s also a dark past that involves the parricide of her parents. It’s the establishment of these three characters that makes The Perfect Insider a dark and grimy tale.

It’s a very talky show. The first episode has an immense amount of philosophical vibe that follows with its heavy dialogues. The character interactions between Moe/Magata and Moe/Souhei can be described as cryptic. There’s some lighthearted humor as well but mostly follow a suit of dark comedy. When they reach the island, there’s also more of an experimental feeling as if there’s something that’s hidden there. It’s not long before they discover the grim truth there. What the show also concentrates a bit on is the background story of Shiki Magata. Obviously, she isn’t a normal woman by the way she talks or behaves. The bits of past we see implies that she is an unstable child although her actions are difficult to decipher because of her personality. [spoiler]This includes her involvement with the death of her parents as well as the perverse relationship she forges with her uncle.[/spoiler] I think at some point, viewers may find it unsettling with what they witness. And that’s no surprise either considering how much we learn that Magata is far from normal.

Throughout the series, there are many clues that has connections with the murder case. It’s also apparent that some of the clues are presented through intentional means. One of the most prominent is a message called ‘Everything Becomes F’, which is also synonymous with the series’ alternate title. What’s more about the clues is that they are all seems to be related to Shiki Magata. What I find the show intriguing is how each episode’s performance triggers events that correlates with one another. Even the episode titles has some sort of meaning or is symbolic with the storytelling. Some sensitive topics are used as plot devices and while can be unsettling is important to establish Magata’s character. On a weaker note, the show has a slow pacing, one that I think can really test the patience of viewers. Furthermore, the story is structured in a way that explores both Moe and Magata in almost parallel ways. As the story progresses, we also learn a bit more about Moe as well. While her personality is not similar to Magata or Souhei, something suggests that her past isn’t as bright as some people have hoped.

The main character interactions of the show is expressed by the building tension and relations one draws from another. Moe’s conversation with Souhei can be interpreted from many angles but it’s obvious that he shows a great deal of bizarre interest in Magata. Moe’s interest with Souhei also crafts a bizarre relationship angle as Magata shows unusual interest in Moe. It’s a really weird way of presenting the story and I’d have to advise to watch the show with an open mind. Not just because of the main characters but also for some of the more mature and sensitive topics. Otherwise, this is probably a show that is not worth the investment especially considering how talkative it is. There’s still also some minor comedy although mostly is far eclipsed by the thrilling feeling of its mystery.

For a mystery show, it also invests a decent amount of time with its unusual artwork. There’s a hollow feeling that anyone can draw from its backgrounds. Most characters are also designed to look simple without unusual features. Well, that is until you see Makata Shiki. Additionally, the show portrays its mystery with symbolism and disorder. The clues translates into a more detailed form of analysis such as the message Magata left behind or more prominent features Moe herself discovers later on in the show. To put it simply, artwork is unorthodox but also stylistically fitting for a show like this.

I have to admit a bit, the soundtrack is surprisingly impressive. From the unusual execution of the OP song (that features rotoscope done effectively) to the thrilling atmosphere, each episode offers what mystery should be. More intensified scenes are also adapted with quietness to add on more to the thrilling suspense. In addition, character voice mannerisms has a profound tone of philosophy behind them. In particular, Souhei speaks with intelligence and purpose and that’s something I find quite compelling. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to apply to Moe as she can be legitimately frustrating to watch with someone of her personality. And of course, there’s Magata. Her conversation portrayed in the show through that near-sinister like voice really can feel mysterious.

The Perfect Insider is a show with some unique dynamics even in the mystery genre. From disturbing plot devices to insightful conversations, it’s a series that goes beyond just a simple murder case. It becomes complex with its dark themes, the riveting style of the storytelling, and heavy characterization. The first three episodes will probably be a make or break for most viewers. But if you manage to stay, it’ll be a thrilling ride that is not short of perfect.

*Some context:* I have been seriously watching anime for over 4 years now, and I have never found the need to actually write a review. This would be my first one, so I hope you guys bare with it.

I'll explain my plight with a humorous short story - trust me, it's much more interesting that this anime:
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In an art competition, an artist stands in front of his painting, and the judges walk up to him and ask him to explain the concept before opening and revealing the painting on canvas. The artist says that he has drawn the situation where: "Buddha lets fly a ... white dove to symbolize peace and walks away. Unfortunately, a hunter who was hidden shoots this dove. The dove falls to the ground and dies."
The judges were mesmerized with the concept and were yearning to see the painting. The artist reveals the canvas and it's absolutely white and plain. They ask him:
Where is Buddha? - I told you that he let the dove fly and left!
Where is the hunter? - I told you that he was hidden!
Where is the dove? - I told you that it fell to the ground and died!
I think this anime is much like that. There is quite frankly a stupid hype around an absolutely plain and bland anime. If you are capable of just looking at a white canvas and imagining a concept as deep as above, maybe you'll enjoy this one. For mere mortals like myself, this anime is mediocre at best, and absolute shit if you are in a bad mood.
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=== My thoughts (mild spoilers) ====

-- I think the Perfect Insider is at best a mediocre series, and your disappointment with it will likely increase the more you think about it.

-- I feel that the author got hold of one idea: a person is locked in a room for 15 years with minimal observation inside the cell; this person must have a child inside which no one knows about; and a glorious plan is set into motion which lasts the entire 15 years.

-- In order to make this implausible and frankly ridiculous idea a reality, the creators perform one ass-pull after the other. In order to disguise these ass-pulls, they pepper it up with copious amount of philosophical rants, which after a point becomes absolutely silly.

-- There are some scenes, dialogues, and actions which wanted to portray a high-brow attitude and show that some of these characters are really smart. These absolutely bombed. I am working towards a PhD in Math/CS at a top university, and I haven't come across a single professor or student who acts this way. Some of the CS ideas are plain wrong too.

-- Character motivations are not explained at all. Things happen a particular way because the author wanted it to happen that way. The events don't seem to evolve organically and feel almost forced. There are no reasons given for *why* a character does something other than the fact that doing so furthers a plot. There appear to be numerous alternative actions some characters could have done (including Dr. Shiki) which would have been quicker, neater, and led to the same final conclusion. People claimed to be as smart as these characters would certainly see such alternatives.

So here we are. The final noitamina show of 2015. Can’t say I’ve been a big fan of the time slot’s constant deaths and revivals to the point that Jean Grey is thinking there’s something wrong with it, and considering that nobody likes The Perfect Insider but people who seem to think that good dialogue automatically equals quality, I don’t think I’m going to be breaking many hearts when I say that I’m not exactly enthusiastic about having to review the show. But hey, regardless of quality, I think most of us can agree it’s still worth talking about. Not to mention, I get to ... slap those “novel adaptations are always good” heathens around, so win/win.

Based on the third or fourth novel in the S&M (Sohei and Moe) series - which I haven’t read, but The Perfect Insider seems to assume its audience has because it doesn’t even bother to tell us who our two leads are - the anime stars our two title characters as they head to an island retreat for a university vacation where thanks to the almighty god that is the mystery writer, a murder happens Detective Conan-style and the two must figure out what’s going on. The series also has a live-action drama that was criticized for being slow-paced, but upon further research, I discovered it actually adapts five novels worth of material within its ten-episode run, which makes me wonder just what the fuck is in these novels that makes them such a tedious chore even when you only have an hour or so to tell the story. Yes it should come to no surprise considering it’s A-1, but for an 11-episode series The Perfect Insider is ridiculously long. And it doesn’t even have any uninspired world-building to fall back on as an excuse. It’s just long for no good reason whatsoever.

The thing about mysteries is that once you know the truth behind ‘em, they cease to be “mysteries” and instead become uninteresting. As such, the bad ones generally rely on the brain-teasing to entice the audience whilst the good ones tie the mystery into other things in order to stay relevant in the long run. Maybe explore the personalities of our main characters. Rope the mystery into some larger plot. Have the villain be a well-respected figure who was turned into a bad guy for no good reason. Basically do everything Paranoia Agent did. You’ll be pleased to hear that not only does Perfect Insider not do any of these things, but the mystery itself doesn’t even make sense. It’s like the guy who was adapting the source material realized he ordered too many timeslots, but rather than actually add anything to the adaptation like, say, telling us who the fuck Sohei and Moe are, he just turned on an episode of Monogatari, became engaged in what he was seeing, and yelled “brilliant!” And then he saw the mystery made no sense in the novel and went “oh who the fuck cares?”

There’s so much boring redundant dialogue in this show that it takes three episodes for the mystery to even fucking start. And even with the long stretches of time spent on talking me to sleep, the show is incredibly lacking in detail. The characters react to deaths the same way a normal person would react to a mosquito bite, and everyone gets free rein of the place like they don’t care that there’s a murderer among them to the point that it felt like they were reading the script. Not to mention that what little we see of the victim’s history does a pretty good job at making me glad that she’s dead because she’s fucking psychotic. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to sympathize with someone who’d kill their family out of nowhere whilst looking like she inhaled two bags of coke. And explain to me where all that AI stuff came from and what it added to the story besides a load of bananas.

With that said, the show’s total commitment to treating fucked-up relationships and psychic programs as a normal thing was entertaining at points, mainly because it kept making me laugh. Well, not “laugh” persay. More like snicker at the idea that someone can say that children grow to kill their parents at the age of fifteen like it’s a normal thing to happen. I guess now we know what happened to all the parents in every single highschool anime ever, amirite? Unfortunately, the amount of unintentionally hilarious dialogue is in a vast minority compared to the ones that are either spouting exposition or talking about Moe’s desires to bone her teacher silly. Which is also kind of unintentionally hilarious in a way. I guess spouting out quantum physics when someone asks you where the rewind button on the Xbone controller is located is considered sexy to some people.

My point is this: shows that try to get by on dialogue alone are shit. Because animation is a visual medium and not using the visuals to tell the story is like not having gameplay in your video game. That’s right, The Perfect Insider is the anime version of those walking simulator games. The ones where you play as some nameless being trying to find the plot without any challenge in-between the exposition dumps to the point that it feels like you’re reading a book that was chopped into pieces and scattered across the world so that it takes an awfully long time and money to figure out how the story ends. Forgive me for being old-fashioned, but when I buy a book, I prefer to have the entire thing at my disposal and not have to buy a new chapter every time I go to a new book store. If I had to do that, Huckleberry Finn would have taken three years to finish reading.

Plus, why should I care about the dialogue when it’s being spoken by a bunch of dull drama stereotypes with no personal story or stakes in the mystery whatsoever? Did anyone ever watch LA Confidential and thought it would have been improved if you replaced Guy Pearce with some random kid genius who has no connection with the police force and just said what the audience was thinking whilst discovering the dead body underneath the house? Of course not. Because that kid would have been really fucking boring! I don’t watch anime to see people react to things. I watch anime to see people doing things. And I can’t remember one thing Sohei and Moe ever did besides wonder what was going on and then eventually figure out the truth in one long info-dump before going about their lives.

I mean did this experience change them? Did they go through any character growth throughout the series? Did they have any personal connection with the victim? I remember Moe talking with her once and that was it. Why exactly are Sohei and Moe the main characters if they’re not going to affect the story? Even Benedict Cumberbatch had to match personal wits with the otherwise-unconnected criminals he faces at the end of each episode of Sherlock.

Fair warning to all my readers. I’m going to spoil the plot of this show now, because I can’t get deep into its silliness otherwise. After more than eight episodes of exposition-dumping along with one really bad Engrish scene that grated my ears harder than the voice-acting in a post-90s Sonic game, the show decides to reveal through several overly long and tensionless exposition scenes that absolutely none of the characters we met along the way was the culprit and that the person they thought was the victim was actually a look-alike who killed herself because fifteen years of planning couldn’t stand up to the words that came out of Moe’s mouth. The original plan was to have both the intended victim and her husband killed because they lived fucked up lives and apparently this is their way of seeking redemption rather than - oh, I don’t know - turning themselves in. Instead, the intended murderer killed herself, the intended victim escapes the island, she shows up one last time to tell Sohei that she won’t get caught, we get a final episode consisting of nothing but tying up loose ends rather than giving me some actual payoff, and then the show ends with a scene consisting of the intended victim and the actual victim talking about the meaning of life.

So in other words, assuming that load of boring plot dump doesn’t put you to sleep, the only character who gets any sort of resolution out of this ridiculously long mystery is the unlikeable and uninteresting murderer we barely got to know, and it’s an incredibly anticlimactic one as well. Somewhere in Hell, Albert Wesker from Resident Evil is watching this show (and I have it on good authority that Satan allows his followers to watch anime in Hell) and going “dude, I was treated with more dignity than this. And I was killed by a muscleman and his incredibly stupid black sidekick who’d waste valuable health sprays on you if you so much as got a paper cut.”