Seikaisuru Kado

No spoilers, except just one: this show is a spectacular train-wreck. If you like good science fiction, beware: this show begins extremely well but manages to destroy everything it built up and trample on its viewer's expectations in every way imaginable in its final episodes.

After hearing that this was an anime that had heavy parallels to Arrival, and watching the first five episodes, the sci-fi buff in me was ecstatic. Here was a mature, well-written and absolutely gorgeous looking and sounding sci-fi anime that was headed in a direction that didn't seem hackneyed. It was thought-provoking and sparked a lot of discussion among the viewership. ... It was a potential masterpiece, I thought.

But as the series progressed, anime tropes that had no business appearing in a mature narrative such as this started popping up left and right for no good reason like some rash, creating a very jarring experience, and culminating in an ending that left many wondering how something with so much potential had ended up like this. It became incoherent to the point where one has to wonder whether the author's original vision was altered by others in the creative team to appeal to a larger crowd - one that wouldn't be watching this series in the first place.

Story (3/10): The first half was a solid take on first contact, and the plot was genuinely creative and gripping at the same time. The last quarter was an unmitigated disaster for the most part. I don't think any other show with such a promising beginning has bombed so hard.

Art (8.5/10): Ah, this is something that the plot couldn't touch, and does deserve a favourable mention: the characters and several other parts are in 3DCG, and it pretty much sets an industry standard to how 3DCG should look. At no point did it look awkward or badly animated - on the contrary, some CG-heavy scenes ranged from beautiful to downright jaw-dropping.

Sound (8.5/10): Another thing the story could not completely spoil was the soundtrack, which was great. If there is one good thing that came from this show, it's that.

Character (3/10): Just like the plot, the main characters start out with great promise, but end up getting development that is frankly appalling.

Enjoyment (4/10): This reflects the effect of the ending more than anything - it leaves a very bad taste, especially because the first half was so enjoyable.

Overall - 4/10. Tl;dr: You are probably better off pretending this doesn't exist. That, unfortunately, is the right answer.

Story: 3
Seikaisuru Kado begins with an intriguing premise: An alien arrives on Earth bearing gifts to advance humanity. To ease communication between the alien and the government, a gifted negotiator offers his services. Over time, the alien and negotiator learn about each other and become friends, overcoming their many differences. Meanwhile, the alien's gifts are so vastly powerful and beyond human understanding, that they threaten existing international resource and power relations. Soon, the bigger, more concerning question looms: Why?

That's a lot to work with, and the first 8-9 episodes actually do quite well in exploring these ideas. However, if you're after intelligent, well-considered, or satisfactory ... answers, you will most likely be disappointed.

In fact, "disappointed" is the word I'd use to describe my feelings about this series as a whole. Many of the issues raised in earlier episodes are resolved by way of shoehorned deux ex machinas, then explained away in empty words as to sound somehow profound or meaningful. While I understood the reasoning behind the solutions and how they had to be done, there was little-to-no lead-up and foreshadowing, making them seem overly-convenient, and leave no satisfaction in the resolution. In essence, poor execution: It felt as though the writers wrote themselves into a corner, had trouble resolving everything in the space of a few episodes, or handed the reins over to shallow mahou shoujo writers altogether.

Art: 7
As a fully CG-based series, Toei did surprisingly well (see: earlier efforts in the sad CG transformation sequences in Sailor Moon Crystal). While it was apparent that impactful action sequences are beyond the reaches of the overly smooth and measured pace of their CG animation, the need itself was rendered obsolete due to the setting and cast of white-collar characters, and it even enhanced the otherworldly quality of the alien. By nature of CG animation, the quality could only be consistent throughout, but overall visual interest is lost through over-reliance on it where there could be better angles or compositions.

Sound: 7
I actually remember very little of the background tracks, but since nothing stood out to me as being particularly out-of-place either, I'll give this a pass. The opening and ending themes are actually quite lovely and help conjure a sense of wonder at the vast universe.

Character: 6
First of all, I was very impressed by the variety of character designs; the old and young, physically imposing and frail, big and small, etc... Even the main character doesn't look terribly outstanding, which lends weight to his professional nature. That said, most of the recurring cast are attractive young people, which kind of ruins that thought. I had trouble taking the main girl seriously, for many, many reasons. The alien's design was appropriately strange, and subtly differentiated him as a whole other species, even while taking a human form.

Design aside, I appreciated the developing relationship between the negotiator and the alien; in particular, the alien's growing attachment to his new friend manifested through subtle glances and not-so-subtle keeping of mementos. The relationship felt believable through their attempts to overcome cultural, linguistic, technological, etc... differences. The love interest, while soundly and reasonably developed as a character, on the other hand, felt lacking in chemistry by comparison, considering her importance in the conclusion.

On a separate note, for all that the negotiator was set up to be one of the best in his field, he does very... little... negotiating...?

Enjoyment: 3
Despite my enjoyment of earlier episodes, the conclusion was poorly done. I spent episodes 9-12 mostly feeling confused and in disbelief over every nonsensical turn of events, disappointed at the waste of potential, and the waste of my time.

Overall: 5
Only the first 8 episodes and a few technical aspects manage to redeem this series. Good job effing it up, Toei.

A battle of words and ideas between the finest diplomats of Japan and a being from another dimension that comes from a cube.

Please be aware that there are slight spoilers in character analysis and story analysis.

Once every anime season there is a chance you will encounter an anime that has a premise that is completely new and hasn’t been seen before and one that completely engrosses you in both its setting and story and can keep you entertained until the end. In this case Seikaisuru Kado certainly fits that bill as its one anime that I have yet to get bored off ... and indeed continues to intrigue me episode by episode.

The premise behind Seikaisuru Kado is a relative straightforward one but one that is exceedingly rare within the anime industry. When you think of aliens or being from another dimension visiting the planet most people would imagine that ok this is going to be an action anime that focuses on the soldiers pushing the alien back right. Not so in this case. The main premise of this anime is diplomacy and how new technology that is gifted by an alien should be used and viewed and whether is it right for humanity as a race to use it. The combination of Diplomacy between the alien and the people of Japan and their relationship with the countries of the world with regards to the alien and his gifts I felt was interesting as was seeing the effects of the gifts on humanity as well.

The anime’s Theme of focusing on diplomacy as well as focusing on the larger picture of humanity as a race and not individual countries I felt was an interesting one and this was one anime that really hooked me in when I saw the trailer for it.

Seikaisuru Kado’s main story takes place within modem day japan and follows life of Shindou Kojiro a veteran diplomat of the Japanese Governments ministry of foreign affairs who whether by chance or not becomes the first person to meet an alien from another dimension and from there act as the intermediary between him and humanity. The overall story focuses on the negotiation between the alien being ZaShuNina and the government of Japan which is watched by countries around the world and ZaShuNina’s attempt to help humanity by providing certain gifts.

Kojiro Shindou

Kojiro Shindou voiced by veteran voice actor Hiroaki Miura is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A veteran negotiator from the governments Ministry of foreign affairs Shindou is a calm, collected and composed person that thanks to his many years of service to the ministry has a detailed knowledge of not just how Japanese society works but also how governments and countries around the world work as well. As a result of both his experience and knowledge Shindou is well liked by his co-workers and well respected by them and by his superiors. Apart for being calm and composed which is no doubt his prominent trait Shindou is also a smart man and well versed in making quick decisions after finding out all the information that he needs for a given situation. Shindou seems to be a person that takes great pride in being a diplomat and seems to value the job that he has immensely which is best exemplified by the fact that he’s always eager to see things to an end which indicates that he is also very dutiful as well. As a result of this personality Shindou is someone that understands how negotiations work on an intimate level and as such he will always try to get the best deal for both sides of one.

It’s important to note that Shindou also has a softer personality that he shows when he’s not in diplomat mode and is used when he’s interacting with friends and family. Unlike when he’s in diplomatic mode Shindou’s other personality tends to be softer and more respectful but at the same time have less pressure behind his words. In this personality Shindou seems to be a bit of a joker and will often use humor to deal with people that are either too serious, nervous or uptight. This is best seen in his first meeting with Saraka. As a main character and the main protagonist of the series Shindou develops and forms a relationship with many different characters in the series as part of his new role with his relationship with ZashuNina and Saraka being the most important. Both of these relationships I felt were pretty well done and were built on the most important element that any negotiation would need to have which in this case is trust. Shindou’s relationship with ZaShuNina is arguably one of the cornerstones of this series and forms an important part of the overall plot of the series.

In the beginning of the series Shindou as a result of being on the plane that ZashuNina absorbed was the first human that he encountered and as a result of both ZashuNina’s curious and inquisitive nature and Shindou’s sense of responsibility and adaptability they soon established a bond that is built on understanding and trust. As the series progresses it can be seen that Shindou’s advice and observations are highly valued by ZashuNina and that there was a genuine bond of friendship that had been forged between them. Their relationship from the outside could be seen as something akin to that of a normal friendship though naturally one that transcends the human race. Though as later events occur I do wonder whether this bond was indeed real or not. Still I felt that the relationship between the two and the effect that it had on the overall plot was both well developed and was integrated very well into the main plot. As a character Shindou I felt was an excellent character as despite a veteran diplomat that was accustomed to dealing with fellow humans Shindou was due to his personality able to adapt well to the most unusual of situations and be able to act as the link between the people of Japan and ZashuNina which arguably made him one of the most important person on Earth at the time of the event. At the same time Shindou’s compassionate personality while certainly not on the level of Saraka’s also served as great qualities that ensured that his decisions while logical also ensured that he also thinks of the effects that it will have on normal humans as well. All in all, I felt that Hiroaki Miura really did an excellent job voicing the character of Shindou.

Saraka

Saraka Tsukai voiced by veteran seiyuu Mao Ichimichi of Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio and Digimon Adventure Tri fame is one of the main characters of the series and serves as the main heroine of the series. A negotiator that works for the Japanese governments Ministry of foreign affairs that handles Japan’s relationship with other countries Saraka is an intelligent, fast thinking and composed person that looks and behaves similarly to Shindou. Despite working in the same ministry Saraka and Shindou never met before the events of the plot. Like Shindou Saraka adapts a mask of professionalism when she’s working as a negotiator that is both composed and reserved yet this mask does sometimes break when she’s exposed to situations that resonate with her humorous personality. This aspect of her I felt was quite funny and helps differentiate her with Shindou who rarely laughs. Despite being young Saraka is both earnest and hardworking and treats her duties seriously which indicates how she got to her position and rank at her age. Indeed, while Saraka and Shindou have not met each other before the events of the plot it can be seen that he has at least heard of her. Like Shindou when Saraka is in diplomat mode she tends to be overly serious and uptight at times that manifests in a variety of ways. When under a lot of stress which in the series is actually quite often Saraka’s overly serious personality manifests in the form of lectures to people that tries to remind them how important this is. Rather than reassuring others this seems to have the opposite effect on her which I felt was rather funny. As a result of her uptight personality when dealing with people that have a humorous side to them such as Shindou Saraka can be embarrassed quite easily which has the effect of causing her to look rather cute as she blushes quite heavily when she is.

Like Shindou Saraka’s personality outside of her role as a diplomat is very different to what you will expect from her but the difference here is that in this series Saraka’s personality outside of her role is explored more so than Shindou’s. Saraka’s normal personality is akin to that of a free spirit and is one that loves to learn new things and explore similar to explorers of old and can be said to be similar to an adventurer. As a result of this personally Saraka has a rather interesting view of how evolution and human evolution should be handled that contrasts a great deal with her role in the story. Saraka is of the belief that evolution should be natural and that it should be left to advance at its own pace and not meddled with which contrasts a great deal with the gifts that ZashuNina brings to the table and makes for interesting conversations between her and Shindou. This belief of hers I felt was interesting not just because it serves as the opposite to ZashuNina’s role in the story but also because this kind of belief is not often seen in anime as well. As a result of this belief Saraka is very firm in her belief that human evolution should be left to them and them alone and that they should only advance when they are ready for change. This causes a number of plat developments and revelations in the overall plot that were surprising. Saraka’s determination to protect human dignity that was used as her reason for her beliefs I felt was really appropriate and fitted well with her personality of always putting the needs of humanity first. A prominent trait of Saraka is the fact that she has a great deal of empathy and as a result she is rather sensitive to the feelings and emotions of people around her and as a result she tends to have a more sympathetic view of people that have views that are not in line with what the majority of people think which I think was interesting as it contrasts both the official position and also Shindou’s personality as well.

As a character Saraka in addition to being the main heroine and female lead also functioned as a contrast to the main character and Protagonist of Shindou and helped in showing him a side of the argument that was different to the logical side of things that he was accustomed to. On his own the character of Shindou though a very capable negotiator was a person that leaned on the side of logic a bit too heavily and as a result it can be said that he did view feelings and the larger picture of the human race as readily as he should. Considering the stakes for the whole race I feel that this is something that he should be more invested in. The addition of Saraka though and her partnership with Shindou as negotiators for both ZashuNina and the government respectively I felt really helped matters as this allowed them to interact more with each other. This had the effect of allowing Saraka to not just share her concerns to Shindou but also allow her to show him the feelings of others as well as the larger picture of the human race that he had missed when he received the job. As a result, this allowed Shindou to both be logical but at the same time more understanding of the feelings and concerns of others and more importantly the concerns for the human race as a whole. All in all, I felt that the character of Saraka was one that was well designed and had a clear defined role in the series. The contrast that she had with Shindou I felt was pretty well done. In a way, I felt that as a character Saraka functioned very similarly to a female version of Shindou though one that had both empathy and a belief that was unique to her. The relationship between Shindou and Saraka is one of the main points in the overall plot of this series and I felt that it was pretty well done. From the beginning of the series it was apparent that between the two there was a great deal of chemistry between the two as both had an equal amount of respect of each other. As the series progresses and both learn more about each other this is only intensified the bond. The idea that both characters changing as both learned more about each other is not anything new but the fact that Shindou learned a to be a bit more empathic and more human thanks to Saraka’s advice and her beliefs I felt was done quite well and ultimately helped in ensuring that he had the conviction to stand against ZaShuNina when the time came. The idea that the two as a result of their shared beliefs actually becoming a couple was something that I thought was executed pretty well.

The true nature of Saraka however I felt was a pretty good twist and one that came at a really opportune time with the plot line. I felt that Mao Ichimichi really did an excellent job in portraying the character of Saraka.

Za Shunina

ZaShuNina whose full name is Yaha Kui ZashuNina who in this series is voiced by veteran voice actor Takuma Terashima of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei and Log horizon fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main antagonist of the series. A being from a separate space time that arrived on Earth on a cube shaped object in a most dramatic fashion ZashuNina despite looking like a human being is in fact an alien. ZashuNina adapts two different persona’s that he makes use of in the series which is markedly different from each other though certain traits from one side do transfer to the other side. In his default persona that is used from the start of the series ZashuNina is a calm and quiet person that seems to adapt a neutral stance with regards to his relationship with humanity. Though powerful it can be seen that at this point in his personality ZashuNina acts somewhat like a child as still learning about humanity and its customs which I felt was interesting and kept it within this anime’s main theme of diplomacy. As the series progresses and as ZaShuNina meets new people and learns more about humanity via dialogue and books and media his knowledge of humanity grows and from there the plot moves into the gifts that he is willing to provide to humanity. Though stemming from his second personality and his overall goal the gifts that ZaShuNina provides to humanity do stem from the many limits and struggles that his observations of humanity has told him and these gifts I felt were pretty well thought out and designed as each was created solely to address one issue that is dire to humanity. From a civilian point of view, it’s easy to see why people want to use these gifts so much and why countries around the world are so willing to integrate these into the workings of their countries. I guess its human nature that they will believe everything that someone will say if that person appears to be benign to them and at the same able to help the race advance.

ZaShuNina’s second personality was revealed near the end of the series and was anything but benign and indeed was a personality that I didn’t really expect him to have. In this personality which I would imagine is his true nature ZashuNina in a departure from his first personality is a calculating, determined and ruthless person that’s also deceitful and well versed at subterfuge. While his initial personality can be described to be that of a child this new personality can be seen to be that of an adult and a scheming one as well. In this personality ZashuNina is very determined to enact his own master plan and his own designs for humanity even if it meant that it will cost them dearly in terms of life. Indeed, from ZashuNina’s initial personality only his hunger for knowledge which can be said to be his prominent trait is transferred from that personality to this one. In the beginning of the series though I did have suspicions that ZaShuNina would be the main villain for the series the gradual transformation from a benign alien that was seen as a great inventor by humanity to a villain that was dead set on uplifting humanity so that they can provide him with knowledge was so unexpected that it shook even me.

The character of ZaShuNina I felt was a really interesting character and made a pretty good villain for the series. The character of ZaShuNina I felt was a very well-designed character that underwent great changes in his behavior and personality as the series went on. Indeed, the changes were such that it’s almost as if there actually two people that have the same name but yet differing personalities in them. Due to this it was not easy to see what his motivations and aims were in the series until his true plan was revealed which I think was the point of this. I felt that Takuma Terashima really did an excellent job of portraying the character of ZaShuNina and that this character contributed greatly to how excellent this story was.

Kanata Shinawa

Kanata Shinawa voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Rie Kugimiya is one of the main support characters of the show and is one of Shindou and Saraka’s allies in the series. A genius level scientist that works at one of the many research labs that the government manages and oversees Kanata is despite her young age an excellent scientist that apart from being smart is also hyperactive and positive and indeed can spend her days researching new things without a care in the world. Though eccentric and tending to get way too immersed in her analysis’s Kanata is someone that is more than willing to help others if the request itself is something that hasn’t been done before. Kanata is someone that loves to challenge the unknown. While certainly eccentric and easily excited Kanata’s main personality trait is her determination to figure out and determine how something actually works and when combined with her childish wonder at new things this is something that actually makes her pretty endearing. While representing the science side of the story Kanata due to her positive nature is also able to cheer people up with her attitude which I felt was pretty funny to see. Though young it can be seen that her superiors and fellow scientists at the lab trust her immensely due to her intellect and determined nature. Though only a support character I felt that Rie Kugimiya really did a great job at portraying the character of Kanata and that she brought not just intelligence but also determination to the field that proves that human intelligence is also something that should not be underestimated.


Arts and animation

With regards to the art that was used for this series I felt that the environments that used and shown in the series was pretty well done with the interior of Kado being especially impressive. The character designs for the characters in this series I felt was also pretty well done with ZaShuNina’s design despite taking the form of a human also looked like a hybrid that’s between a human and an alien. The other environments such as Haneda airport, the Diet building and Saraka and Shindou’s home towns I felt were also well done. With regards to the animation because this series isn’t actually a true action anime the animation in the series is focused more on the showing of how the gifts actually work which I felt was well done and showed just how powerful they were. It wasn’t until much later in the series that the anime featured combat scenes and I felt that these were done pretty well especially the fights between Saraka and ZaShuNina and the final fight in the end.

Music

The music for the series I felt was pretty well done with the opening and ending themes for the series being especially strong. The opening theme for the series which was called Tabiji was sung by the character of Saraka Tsukai through her seiyuu Mao Ichimichi and I felt that this song along with its visuals did a pretty good job of setting the mood for the series while also showing the evolution of humanity through its visuals. The ending theme for this series which was called Eien No Kotae which was sung by Haruca had a more positive tone to it that for some reason had a calming presence to it. Individual scene music I felt was pretty well done throughout the series.

Voice acting

Voice acting for the series I felt was excellent throughout the series with each of the characters that were featured in the series being portrayed to the best of their respective seiyuu’s ability. In particular the characters of Koujirou Shindou, Saraka Tsukai and Yaha Kui ZaShuNina who were portrayed by Hiroaki Miura, Mao Ichimichi and Takuma Terashima respectively I felt did an excellent job portraying their respective characters. In addition the characters of Kanata, Takumi Gonnou and the Japanese prime minister Kouzou Inutaba who was portrayed by Rie Kugimiya, Takuya Kirimoto and Hiroshi Naka I felt also did a great job portraying their characters.

Overall conclusion

In overall, I thought that Kado the right answer as it is called in the west was a pretty good anime that was actually interesting and indeed was something that really surprised me because it provoked a lot of interesting questions into the world that we live in. it’s not every day that an anime would feature so many real-world questions and challenges inside it though and use that as part of its main plot. The strong points that made Kado the right answer such an excellent anime in my opinion was its interesting theme and the fact that it made use of real world problems as part of it, strong story that provoked questions about the current world, excellent characters, Excellent animation and voice acting.

First thing to address is the theme of the show. The main theme of the show apart from contact with an alien race also lies inside the realm of negotiation and diplomacy. At the same time, another thing that was part of this series theme was the gifts that the main villain provided that was designed to help humanity as a race overcome some of the challenges that they currently face. The inclusion of real world problems like energy, time and transporting objects I felt was really interesting and the way that it was revealed to humanity was both intelligent and well done as the thought that any of the three problems that beset them and limit them can be dealt with these gifts will surely find a lot of people who is willing to use them. The main theme of this series however is undoubtedly that of diplomacy and negotiation which I felt was interesting and was a well-designed move on the creator’s part. In animes that feature contact with beings from either parallel dimension such as this one or aliens from other planets or galaxies the line largely lies with either fighting a war to defend the planet or forcefully integrate their resources into your own race with diplomacy largely being ignored or at least seeing limited use. As such it was actually pretty refreshing to see that this anime’s main theme while also dealing with aliens makes use of diplomacy as its main theme. Though like most people I have limited knowledge on the concept of diplomacy and negotiation I felt that depiction that negotiation is built on a degree of trust that was shown between Shindou and ZashuNina was really well done. Watching the two of them gradually learn about each other and at the same time cooperate to create gifts that would benefit humanity as a race while also forging a bond built on trust was something that was nice to see and begs the question why isn’t this concept used more in anime. I felt that the diplomacy side of things in the anime was pretty well done and was a pretty accurate portrayal of how negotiations between parties actually take place even though this party to which Saraka and Shindou talk with is far from anything that both have encountered in their careers. A real game changer there lol.

The overall story of the series is another strong point and was one that I felt was done really well. In line with the main theme of the series the overall storyline focuses on first the introduction of the alien being to the world via his most dramatic entrance on to the planet by literally landing on one of Japan’s busiest airports followed by his gradual reveal of what he was and what he represented. The gradual evolution of ZaShuNina’s role from that of an unknown life form to that of a major celebrity and then to his reveal of the gifts that he is willing to gift to humanity I felt was pretty well done. The concept of using the relationship that he has forged with the government of japan and use this to determine the challenges that face the race as a whole I felt was interesting and played alone with the theme of diplomacy as diplomacy and negotiation is always focused on understanding what the other party needs and providing what they want versus what you yourself want from the. The gradual transformation of this relationship as well as ZaShuNina as a character I felt was pretty well done. Arguably the transformation of ZaShuNina from a benign alien being to one that proved to be a scheming and manipulative alien being that had his own nefarious plan was also well done as was the twist of Saraka’s identity as well. Indeed, transformation and twists also changed the dynamic of the story near the end but in a good way I think. One thing about the overall story that really interested me though was the fact that ZaShuNina’s entrance and the effects that he has is not limited to Japan on its own and indeed affects humanity as a whole. As a result, when deciding on his next moves ZaShuNina and Shindou had to consider the larger effects that bind the world namely its structure. In the world that we live in its easy to see that even as a race humanity is not united entity and that we are divided in both culture, countries and borders that are unique to each country. Though logically it can be said that ZaShuNina and Shindou could have used international organisations like the UN to get the gifts to the people of various countries there also lies the next problem. Humanity as a race is as diverse as a rainbow that while also giving us strength and unity also creates problems like greed and control and points to the fact can these governments and organisations really get the gifts to the people and not hog them for themselves. Its issues like this that really make the story worth investing in as it provokes some really interesting views on the world that we live in. With regards to this question I loved how they actually ended up bypassing them entirely and solving the problem their way. The true purpose and plan of ZaShuNina’s however doesn’t come into play until much later in the series but it was done in such a way that it really could be said to be one of the best twists that I seen in an anime for a long time. The clash of ideas and convictions that served as the main plot in that part of the series I felt was pretty well done and loved how Saraka and Shindou’s relationship as well as their shared beliefs were used as the main plot here. The clash of ideas between them and ZaShuNina was something that I was looking forward too and was something that was excellently done.

There are a number of things that I felt really stood out in this series with the first being how well thought out and how well executed both the twists in the story and the plans to counter them were created. A great example of the latter is the last plan that Shindou and Saraka used to finally put a stop to ZaShuNina in the end. The thought that they had made use of the same tech that he himself had created for his plan to engineer his destruction was funny and had no small amount of irony to it as well. The ending fight which led into the ending itself I felt was pretty well done and demonstrated the fact that when humanity and the anisotropic being work together they can even beat someone as formidable as ZaShuNina. Though the cost of victory was indeed high I felt that as a race humanity can still learn to advance but at a suitable pace and not losing sight of what makes them human.

It’s been a while since I seen an anime that in addition to having an excellent theme and story as well as excellent characters and voice acting was able to provoke some really interesting questions that I had never once thought off. All in all, Kado the right answer was really one of the best animes for this season because it was intelligent and made use of real world issues in a way that only served to enhance its main plot line. The core lesson for Kado the right answer is naturally that while advancement in tech is important whats more important that that is that we should never lose sight of our own unique identity that makes us human when doing it. And probably not trust every alien that shows up on the planet as well.

Seikaisuru Kado - I have now seen up to episode 03

Premise: An other dimensional being of un-fathomed & seemingly exponential unlimited power & of great technology arrives in Japan to offer humanity the perfect opportunity to grow.

The Evolution -
Promoted is a progressive proposal for mankind - to value compassion & sharing (heart/good) - to grow.
To accomplish such, a unification of all, end conflict - needs that require fulfilling:
0. Universal communication/clarity - toward understanding
1. Endless power source
2. Resources & technology un-restricting living
... 3. Un-breakable food supply
4. Plentiful water supply.
5. Goal for exploration & progress of interests (ones not of control)

(So far 0-1 have been accomplished - rest are just logical)

Japan is picked for its abundance of 'Heart' - plentiful & communicable, to relay offered assistance in above.

If true, once money, control, programmed differences {inadvertently Kado is a singular god yet no god... so who is his creator?}, needs, misunderstanding & disparity are rendered to no real consequence ... will humanity behave well? (love, fight & fight for love?) How governing is the flip-side of love (hate)?
All will change.

Offered a perfect solution or hope of many, can societal habit or survival even once obsolete be relearned?

A proffered dream, yes people will take yet will they give too?
Only the heart of each, of all, will tell.

I look forward to seeing this show develops :)

- - - - - Loving this show; so: -Additional -

I continue & may surmise at end, spoilers will now be somewhat unavoidable

Episode 04:

The right answer ((( - is never easy; even with it, many will oppose forever out of fear However the unimaginable dream from real restraints can be achieved with the right people involved. :) We only hold ourselves back.
Still impressed, well thought & envisioned - production values are very worthy (music 8-9 art 8, voice 9)

Episode 6:

Visually again the artwork is mesmerising around Kado, its movement was stunning.
Musically the background music is both apt, fresh & evocative, employed strategically well. This is a production of value.

In the story line elements of helping humanity to be better/optimal along with heart/compassion sit well till the end of this episode. A question of the entities intent and existential relationship to Kado, to us is brought up along with the disquieting thought 'humanity will not need to sleep'.
It could be useful but does this mean not able to sleep? If so will we be human anymore without our ability to dream?
Have we now a hint of a darker consequence for humanity? Does the all powerful entity wish to help as he sees fit or turn us more into something like him?

To answer this double edged caution we need to watch more, this series certainly keeps you comming back and wondering....'what will develope next?'
Nicely done.

Episode 6.5 = Recap

Episode 7:

This show gets very interesting & without too drastic a cliffhanger, though a mild one at the end of this it is more Intrigue.
I will aim to keep this short as these episodes each have plenty to think about/enjoy.
I am back rooting for Kado after episode 6's worrying end. We can sleep if wished & still sleep elsewhere (trying no to place too many spoilers). It shows the mind behind this story keeps revealing a different aproach & challenges.
Totally refreshing. Yet as indicated... are we ready?
So far the 'Right answer' has been implemented in a cordial & revolutionary way; each episode a gift.

Episode 8:

Glad there is now a convincing voice for dissent - good or bad, the idea is too strong to leave running riot. The Sansa, what would you choose?
Humanity fears change whilst dreams of progress & free advancement. It happens as quick as you want but without our contemplation. Now there is a third gift spoken as the fourth? We worry again as the word destruction tantalises.
This series does not disappoint.
As above - we are dealing now with No.s 0, 2 & 5.

Seikaisuru Kado is a tale of the meeting between humanity and a being from another universe and how events unfolded thereafter. I didn't expect this anime would have been as good as it was and at least for the first 75% of the series I thought the show was very consistent.
The way how the story was constructed along with its premise, allowed the show to have a great base from where the story could go in a multitude of directions. The direction the show eventually went wasn't one that I personally got a lot of satisfaction from but it was still to the point where ... overall the anime still felt enjoyable.
The art is a blend between 2D/3D and surprisingly I thought that it was handled extremely well. There wasn't many instances where I thought that the animation suffered because of the use of the 3D. Kudos to Toei Animation in that regard.
The soundtrack was phenomenal and I thought that it was able to enhance many moments from the show.
The characters were great although in the final moments of the series, the way certain characters were developed could have been different in my personal opinion. In the end certain elements of the show felt a bit rushed but it didn't detract too much from my overall feeling of the anime.
Seikaisuru Kado is a anime with an interesting premise and I thought that it did a very good job on delivering on that premise.

From just episodes 0-3 it looks to me like this series will be the best of the season. Adult demographic SF with emphasis on concepts; more talk than action. Art for alien parts is eye-candy; terrestrial, ordinary, at least by comparison. Characters have actual character but it's too soon to know what if any development will occur. I have some concerns about the alien being too powerful and too benevolent, but further plot developments may put twists into the initial situation -- I like what I've seen so much that an original twist or two might even be in store. ... (By 'original' I mean not something like a simple good/bad flip.)

When there exists many assured commercial and critical successes sustaining a company or studio money, sometimes they would want to take risks. Maybe they'd hire more auteur directors, try original story concepts or do something to aim for a new crowd that wouldn't previously enjoy their work. That was likely the thought of Toei Animation, when in addition to their successes with Dragon Ball Super and the juggernaut One Piece, they decided to create Kado- The Right Answer, an all CGI original sci fi series having debates about such complex topics such as the ethics of humanity and how prepared they would be for sudden ... instantaneous advancements in technology. This wasn't Toei's first time doing this. They released the widely beloved Mononoke series which felt above the norm, and to my knowledge 2013's Kyousou Giga was considered to be an overlooked classic as well. However for Kado, it feels like it was so close to establishing its identity and maturity firmly, only for that potential to be wasted and lead into something annoyingly typical.

SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

The plot, although not the most original at first glance, starts seeming to come into its own. A giant shiny multicolored cube falls from the sky onto an airport about to take off, including two workers with skill in diplomacy, for which Episode 0 established:
Kojirou Shindou and Shuuhei Asano. We start by seeing the government of Japan trying to handle this foreign presence of the cube and then by seeing those trapped inside it interacting with the being naming itself Yaha-kui zaShunina, which would later be called the Anisotropic for convenience. Later on we get to meet more characters, including skilled foreign diplomat Tsukai Saraka, Japan's prime minister, news reporters and Kanata Shinawa, an eccentric scientist girl who understands the alien technology the most. While not the most concrete characterization, they seem to work fine for this portion of the story, as it becomes all about seeing these diverse reactions and showing how these mature people see the different suggestions the alien brings up to advance humanity's functions. The people would be of greater understanding of each other and the universe regardless of what choice they picked. The story, while not that investing, seemed atypical and fairly grounded and mature despite the supernatural entity. Does it continue these ideas it set forth until the end of the show though? Not exactly.......

See, at around the halfway point, Saraka snaps out of her professional attitude to have a Tsundere moment that main character Shindou brings up and it's at this point when things start to fall into typical anime-ness. A few more moments like this come up, we get some comedy involving a festival episode and then Saraka goes on a massive speech on why humanity is amazing and the world is amazing and that everyone is perfect! This was the point where I lost faith in the show. It made it seem like this professional diplomat character turned into a typical over-idealized anime heroine, saying things that felt contradictory to the morally gray nature of certain debates earlier. That's not the only thing that happens though. The anisotropic itself goes from wanting to and considering collaboration with humanity and technology to.....wanting to backstab the main character and absorb all of humanity for his own goals. Not only does this completely go against any attempt at character development the conversations might've had earlier, but combined with Saraka's over idealistic speech completely ruins their sense of moral ambiguity we saw previously for the past 7-8 episodes or so.

Then, in an unexpected twist with zero buildup, Saraka ALSO turns out to be an alien, the simple bonding relationship between her and Shindou turns into a love which lacks the proper pacing in itself, and Shindou and zaShunina have a punching battle which ends in the death of Shindou, the defeat of the alien and more idealistic speeches about humanity. Therefore, we end our Seinen story with a climax that wouldn't be out of place in your average battle Shonen.

This feels contradictory to the intentions from the beginning. If your idea is to create a unique product that will stand out from the genericness that seems to overtake the market, why decide to take the cliche route out anyways? It's like if an elegant ice skater near the end of his routine decided to swap out from rollerblades, slipping on a loose banana peel and falling flat on his face. Kado's overall execution simply comes off as ineffective at best and extremely jarring at worst. With the intriguing concepts so much time was put into meaning very little by the end of it, Kado feels like a wasted effort on the story front. Too much time was spent on the mature debating to accept the high tension stakes of the climax, so when a character you appreciate literally has his life on the line, you'd like him, but not care enough to that extent that we're concerned for his safety in an actual fight we'd not seen animated before.

That said, as far as animation goes, it was actually one of the show's greatest strengths. Yes, including the CGI. Many have often seen CGI animation as an unfortunate crutch, especially when it comes to anime, with the new Berserk adaptation being one of the standout examples of its badness. However, this show not only decides to not have excessive movements with the CGI, but use it to convey the slight movements and body language of those in arbitration in a faster way than traditional animation. And unlike say, Ajin, the frame rate didn't feel too fast for its own good, so the choppiness that could've been there was not. The best part of the animation though, was the background art inside the Kado itself. With the liquid gold exterior and the many different shapes formed, the director was allowed a lot of perspective shots to sell the out-there nature of the series. That said, if the show ever reverts back to 2D animation....it looks BAD, like, really choppy and generic looking. Still, the good outweighs the bad and the animation overall benefited the series.

The sound...didn't really do it either way. The OP was nice, the ED was nice, and background music was functional but unmemorable. Moving on to the biggest disappointment, the characters.

The main character, Kojirou Shindo, is the one who gets the most screentime and has the overall importance. He's a skilled debator who ends up siding with the anisotropic in his goals to advance humanity's nature. While it is interesting to see why he continues to side with the alien for every debate topic that comes up in the early episode, the "bromance" there felt like it happened too fast for me to fully buy. Agreeing with the alien was one thing, but siding with it for every possible option felt like an extreme. Still, he's the character we get to know the best and most of his decisions are shown fairly well in context. We like him enough? Sure. Do we care about him enough that his DEATH could leave an impact? Not to that extent, the story of Kado didn't feel like it was building up to such a thing. Character death was such a foreign concept, and the show seemed to favor logical over emotional. The character's resolution is sound but the full extent of the story does him about as much harm as good.

The alien zaShunina also started off the story fairly interesting. With an ever growing view of humanity and technology could benefit or hinder humanity's potential depending on its use, it was interesting to see him propose his morally gray views, rather than simply wanting to take over the world and eliminate humanity. Sadly, that's exactly what the final quarter of the series ends up doing. His betrayal of Shindou makes it too easy for the audience to choose to go against him, and his final scene has him too easily see the positiveness of humans and have a typical villain angry face breakdown scene. Therefore a possibly interesting and deep character was turned into your average everyday bad guy.

Even with him though, easily the character most affected by this change in tone and direction is Tsukai Saraka. I already mentioned before how her Tsundere moment was the first crack in its foundation of something above the norm, but it's even more jarring if you consider her largely professional position and debating skills seen prior. Sure, you could argue that the Tsundere moment was to show she had more sides to her than just her professional life, but you start seeing more and more of these moments, as well as her speech about why humanity is special and amazing and start to lose faith in that confident and mature image. The show near its end tried to build an ever lasting romance between her and Shindou which....really doesn't work. They did know each other very early on in the series, but at that point, they were mature negotiators who collaborated in their field of work, not lovers. The transition to this could've been handled far worse but still feels too far out of left field to care about. Even when her insane faith makes more sense with the twist of her true identity, it felt unnecessary, and in the last three episodes her character takes steps too drastic from the first nine episodes. Saraka is probably my biggest disappointment in the show, particularly for the fact that they tried to force a Renton/Eureka esque romance in a show or place where it didn't belong and mean little to her professional foundation.

As for everyone else? Well, there ARE other characters, like the aforementioned quirky scientist girl, Japan's Prime Minister, News Reporters, and other high diplomatic from other countries, but in the end, everything comes down to these three and the rest don't have a lasting impact. We never get to see the end goal of their views because of the forced tonal change of the ending. Even Shuuhei Asano, who seemed like he would be an interesting character at the start as Shindou's partner, devolved to running away and crying without doing anything that felt substantial compared to his partner. It's sad how much the story's alternate direction sacrifices the foundation of so many characters for the sake of hasty rewrites.

END OF SPOILERS

In the end, the way Kado ultimately played out was like a massive disappointment with a sudden and out of place payoff that I didn't expect, want, or ask for. So much that was built up, debated, and foreshadowed meant nothing but idealistic schmaltz. I might've gained something from the show if it didn't awkwardly switch tracks near the end and kept up the debate angle, but despite trying to stand out, all it did was shoot itself in the foot to become another forgettable title that won't be remembered over the next few years quite so fondly.

Disappointing.

If I were to describe this anime it one word, it would be disappointing. What started off as a beautiful political journey pushed by science and philosophy, within episodes became generic and predictable.

Story: 4

As said before, the story idea and story itself were fantastic. The pace was perfect - not too slow to bore us, but not to fast to make us super confused. There were many new terms used, but, for the most part, were explained in a way that was easy to understand, or simply didn't take away from the overall experience. Each episode was a joy - wanting to know what would ... take place next; what would the media do? how would the UN react? would the people revolt to the changes? e.t.c Really, there was so much potential to be had in the story.

But then episode 9 came, and all was lost. Was it because they had to rush? - after all, it was an original which had no manga or novel as a true backbone. Maybe they thought the viewers would prefer it this way. Perhaps it was a matter of one person placing their terrible ideas on the table. I don't know, but I do know that the result was devastating. Politics? Gone. The people and their opinions? Gone. The influence of the media? Gone. Subliminal philosophy which made you think regardless of whether you wanted to or not? Gone. All the amazing things that have been built up until now? Absolutely gone; disappeared. Or, rather, replaced. And by utterly predictable 'romance' and the generic tropes one would expect of an 'arrival sci-fi', caused by one annoying 'girl' who feels the world should be dictated by herself and herself alone.

Art:10

Actually outstanding. The art was magical. Toei really outdid themselves here. Managing to mix 3D and 2D in such a smooth, barely noticeable way, the animation style was new and fresh. The character designs were easy on the eyes and this quality remained constant throughout the whole anime. The use of patterns and symmetry in both the OP, anime and ED, was incredibly fitting - it really evoked a sense of the 'anisotropic' and of incomprehensible, alien thoughts. Honest kudos to the studio here - it was breath taking. A shame that the latter part of the story put it to waste.


Sound: 8

Again, magical. The timing has been great, regardless of what point in the plot we were in. I can't remember anything particularly spell-binding, or so perfectly suitable to the animation that it made me repeat said scene several times. The OP and ED were the same as the overall art - made in such a way to not use actual human languages or words, but to simply evoke ideas using music.

Character: 5

And here we are, at last. Shindo - the negotiator who stood between the anisotropic and humanity('universe'). He was essentially a translator for everything, but was also our eyes into the world as he was always the first to see the new items brought to humanity. Shindo was an interesting character; he wasn't made to be anything special and had the nice balance of being a human and being a calm, collected government official. His relationship with Shu(zaShunina) was most intriguing to watch - it was clearly a mutual adoration; Shindo was interested in the anistortopic and Shu was interested in Shindo himself who he walked side-by-side with in the advancement of humanity. It was made very easy to see why these two were put together as a 'team' - they have a nice dynamic and would honestly be interesting to watch together regardless of setting.

Shu, himself, was an interesting specimen. He's treated like a baby or a sheltered person, who has all the knowledge in the world, but no actual experience to go with it(note; babies don't have all the knowledge in the world, but he's like a baby in that he's new to the world). It's a joy to see his stoic expression and general countenance fade to smiles and expressions fitting what he was actually feeling. We know that he reads books to enable him to understand human culture more, which, again, has influence on his expressions and actions. The cool thing with his arms were also nice - adding a feature to outwardly show how different he was to the world. Shu was a great character. Towards the end, I didn't like where his character alignment was going, as he had to switch roles for the sake of plot convenience. However, he still remained a nice character - he learnt even more emotions, made his motivations clear, e.t.c This adorable anisotropic creature really was the biggest delight of the series for me.

And then we have Tsukai Saraka, the generic-creator. Honestly, Saraka would've made a far better side-character. Her motivations were sound; her actual personality was believable; seeing how she balanced family and her tsundere-like nature with her work personality was fine. What wasn't okay, however, was what she did to the plot. Honestly, this character single-handedly turned what was amazing and unique into a pile of generic tropes and predictability. What should've been Shindo and Shu, the representations of humanity and the anisotropic, getting to know and understand each other and their values, in turn helping each other develop and advance like in a symbiotic relationship, turned into something else entirely. Saraka would've worked far better as the simple human girl with simple, straightforward, human values, contrasting with that of Shindo's and Shu's, who wouldn't get her way because the plot would be far more flavourful that way.

Lastly, the actual side characters. They do well to fuel the plot, from the Prime Minister to the childish scientist( whom everyone seemed to hate for some reason which eludes me). They were believable, yes, including the childish scientist, who mirrors actual scientists, and honestly didn't cause any discrepancies.


Enjoyment: 6

Again, my enjoyment greatly deteriorated as more episodes passed by, due to the absolute 180 in plot and genres. However, everything else was still mostly great, so I couldn't lower my score that much.



Overall: 6.6

6 was probably too harsh considering it only had one terrible factor, and 7 was too high because of that said terrible factor, so no rounding done here. The anime was - has been - a joy, for the most part. It was simply pulled down by the last few episodes, which are currently influencing my review the most. I haven't finished yet, and there is the possibility that my score will change depending on how this goes(hopefully it'll be higher because I don't want to leave this anime bitter). I definitely recommend watching this, however be prepared for the utter drop in story quality towards eps 8-10 at the least.

Also, forgive my typos, I was too lazy to re-read.

This anime story is similar to the recent hollywood movie "The Arrival". The anime so far looks interesting. I think the CG in the anime is great for non-living things but human animation is still jerky and robotic. But i think its a lot better than other anime with CG like the recent Berserk.

The differences between the hollywood movie "The Arrival" and the anime is the shape/form of the technology the alien species transfer. In the movie the alien gifts humans a language that can alter time and stuff where as in the anime it is more of a solid tangible looking thing called ... Kado.

Overall the anime looks very interesting and the art is superb especially the fractals in the Kado technology. I think we should watch this anime. I watched till episode 3 and my score for this anime is 9/10. 9 because of the slightly lame looking animated people.

Honestly, one of the best anime of the season. The story is exquisite, the characters are for the most part very likeable, the CG is eye candy and the soundtrack both for the opening/ending and for the ost of the anime is honestly amazing.

Initially, I was a bit thrown off by the CG in the anime but the art style blended it in quite well so it's easy to lose sight of it. The animations for the humans are still quite robotic in comparison for the animation used for Kado and other non-living things. Which I do admit is rather frustrating at times but it ... does not take away my enjoyment of the series.

The plot itself is rather unique for an anime, this sense of diplomacy and formality gives a breath of fresh air to many anime viewers such as myself. It's refreshing to see an anime which does not feature teenagers in a High School. This storyline is currently making you question humanity as a whole with its various array of questions and choices. Definitely check out this anime is deep stories are your style.

TLDR; This anime's plot, art, soundtrack and characters are amazing. Definitely worth a watch.

Ah This show, I thought this might be the one show that would prove to me that Toei as an animation studio isn't as bad as I thought it was, after all, every reboot/sequel of a show they've done recently has looked bottom of the barrel cheap (with sailor moon crystal season 3 being a weird exception) and their only good shows this past decade only make up for looking cheap with impeccable or eccentric art design and directing (kyousugiga, Mononoke) so when i see there first real attempt at a 3d show actually look decent I had some hope. add that to the shows ... premise of a more serious first contact with higher beings science fiction story and you got yourself an interesting show with some potential.

Before I talk about what ruined the show in detail Ill talk about what grabbed my attention about this show in the first place. questioning the ideas of certain human concepts like war, the formation of borders and countries, and the gap between developed and impoverished nations from an outsiders perspective is inherently interesting. This begs the question from that outsider "if humanity is capable of being the dominant species why isn't it as a species able to put aside their interests as nations and unify as a world nation capable of solving world problems more efficiently?". It also asks of whether help from an outside source to artificially kick-start human productivity through alien technology is indeed even the right move or would our reliance on it be harmful should it ever just vanish out of thin air as well as the ethics of tampering with the natural state of the world as it stands and just letting humanity progress at its own pace.
Now aside from a lot of technobabble about the devices used to raise these questions, this show does at the very least a good job of getting the viewer to think about this type of subject matter. Add to that very adult characters and the tone of the show staying serious and morally ambiguous for the first 9 episodes and you got yourself a good thought provoking type of show.

Unfortunatly the last three episodes ruin the whole idea of what the show was building towards and instead throws away all interesting discussion and intrigue the show could have had as mentioned by other reviewers, In favor of out of nowhere deus ex machinas, little to no setup to some of the more dramatic moments and plot twists, and terrible writing that throws out the serious tone and gray morality in favor of creating a contrived as hell scenario for a "humans are good/outsiders are bad" type of conflict. And to top it all off the show doesn't have the guts to stick with whatever impact the new technologies introduced could have on the world long term so it just hits a magic reset button to make people incapable of using any of it or interact with the people who made them so it basically wastes your time as viewer by not really exploring these ideas deeper or predicting how humanity would really progress with the advanced tech and plays it too safe. Because of that the whole buildup of what "The Right Answer" was in the title was thrown away so it fell flat on it's face.

In short this show is a waste of time with OK 3d CGI but in a couple of years even the CGI will be dated and I don't recommend anybody to watch this only to be disappointed.

After hearing lots of praise for Seikaisuru Kado, I finally decided to give it a go. And I was not disappointed... well at least for the first few episodes. Everything started going downhill after the second half. The anime introduced itself as a spectacular sci-fi mature type of anime; however, it trailed off and the sci-fi aspect was completely lost, in my opinion, when the romance was forcibly put into the anime. I especially hate it when a random side character is given a 'main role' for the sake of advancing the plot.


[Story] -- 5: Mediocre
Speaking of the plot, as I mentioned before, ... I had a hard time following it after a few episodes. There were so many plot holes and so many questions left unanswered. If the anime had gone more into the sci-fi genre, instead of delving into the shitty characters, a lot of the questions may have been explored and even answered. That would have left us with a greater understanding of the anisotropic.

[Characters] [Spoilers] -- 2: Dreadful
The characters were atrocious in this anime. The crazy scientist girl was literally there because 'plot convenience.' The creator[s] never even considered giving her any development as a character. Then we have that guy who's a part of the media - again, plot convenience. They were only there to spread the Sansa - they merely existed for the Sansa and that's pretty much it. Then we have Hanamori and Saraka. I don't even know why Hanamori is there. He got so little screen time, that I'm surprised I still remember his name. Saraka is also there for the plot convenience. Like, Shindo got to know that girl for like a few days, and then they fall in love? This bullshit romance between Saraka and Shindo resulting in the disgusting ending, which gives me more reasons to hate Saraka. She became a main character in fucking 3 episodes. She is most definitely the worst of all the characters. Then we have zaShunina, who is lovable and is comparable to a child who is still understanding the ways of the world. Then they just HAD to make zaShunina the bad guy. You have no idea how big of a mistake that was. The anime could have gone in SO many directions! We could have seen much more. This type of anime doesn't need a bad guy to continue the story. There were already many options from the start. What if Shindo had agreed to go to the anisotropic with zaShunina? What if there was a different objective or a different "right answer?" What if the Wams were actually distributed to the other countries? What if the Sansa did not have it's same effect through the television and the only way was for one to see it for him/herself in real life? The anime could have explored all sorts of questions, and I bet there are more.

[Art] -- 7: Good
Oh no! It is 3-D animation, the enemy of anime! Honestly, that's what I thought at first as well. However, I got used to it after a few episodes, and I must admit, the visuals were pretty nice. But even after watching Seikaisuru Kado, I still dislike the appearance of 3-D animation in anime...

[Sound] 7: Good
Nothing much to say here. The voice actors did a great job, and the OSTs were average. Not the best, not the worst. (Did not mention the opening/ending because I did not listen to them.)

[Enjoyment] 4: Decent
I did look forward to each episode, whether it be because I was legitimately looking forward to the episode or because I was looking forward to shitting on it.

[Overall] 5: Mediocre
It's meh. Just another anime with great potential gone wrong. Adding everything up, it's just average. Nothing too special.

[SHOULD YOU WATCH?]
No. Unless you're a sucker for forced romance and sci-fi anime gone wrong.

***Thank you for reading. I will appreciate any feedback, since it is my first time writing a review.***

Sci-fi stories have as of late become more action-oriented or filled with fantasy-tropes, straying far from being speculative stories about our future and how we might change over time. This is why Kado came in like a welcome breath of classic air, bringing up the interesting questions that the genre is well-known for.

Being interesting alone was however not enough to make this series great.

We start our journey of interdimensional exploration with some rather slow pacing, sometimes used well to flesh out characters, other times to waste an episode on watching the futuristic paint dry. Yet it keeps you hooked by introducing crazy concepts, such as ... what might happen if humanity was given brand new life-changing technologies. Sadly, it only scratches the surface of its own premise, seemingly more interested in just raising questions instead of actually exploring them. The effects these new technologies are having on humanity are never shown.

With more episodes this series could've done much more. Heck, with better planning and pacing the series already had the potential to do more. What it all boils down to is one question, should humanity try to advance faster, or should it take its time to get wherever it's going? Despite a flashy and crazy climax, the anime predictably enough seems to lean for a more conservative and cliché answer, one that wastes the story's potential.

If I were to praise Kado for anything, it would be on the technical side. It managed to successfully blend 2D animation and CGI in a way that didn't make my eyes want to flee in terror, which is quite the feat.

While not great, I can't say I regret watching Kado, since it was different from most anime being made today. My hopes would be that this could encourage more stories with complex ideas in the future, but with more polish.

Spoiler Free:

I was prepared to give this anime a 9/10 until I hit around episode 9. It managed to raise my expectations extremely high for the better first half- and then it took all of its amazing potential and shattered it. I stopped at episode 10 after seeing the impending train wreck and decided to read summaries of the last two instead of wasting time.

As a science fiction fan who enjoys the like of Arthur C. Clark and Frank Herbert, the beginning concepts for this anime were right up my alley. They even seemed a bit new - at least, they were something I'd ... never seen before. The nature of this series seemed very fresh on the anime scene, breaking a lot of predictability. At least, that's what it seemed it was doing until it totally destroyed the integrity of the entire first half of the show by doing a 180 with its theme and becoming unbearably predictable and shallow (Not really that shallow compared to a lot of anime. Even with its disappointment at the end, it's a decent anime altogether, it's simply the sheer amount of potential this anime wastes that causes me to dislike it particularly.) People who have seen this show - you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

This 180 is the sole thing that ruined the anime for me - a big thing. Other things relating to the overall production seemed decent. I'm not a fan of the animation style, but it's surprisingly easy to get used to.

Overall, unless you want to be incredibly disappointed, STOP this anime around episode 8. Duck out while it's still good. Play with the ideas it's presented. If you really like this show from episode 8 and prior, 9 and onward will be nothing more than depressing.

Minor spoilers ahead

Story:

So our story starts with a very interesting set-up, a being from another dimension - the anisotropic - comes to Earth and wants to advance humanity and help them find the right answer.
This leads to a couple of interesting questions:
Is it a good thing for humanity to advance through the help of outside forces?
Will humanity be able to handle this much advancement at once?
What are the consequences for the world?
Who is this anisotropic being and why does he do what he does?
... And what is the right answer?

These questions are the driving forces behind the story of Kado - the right answer and it's up to humanity to find out the right answer to these.

First of all the premise was very interesting and for most of the episodes the execution was great.
The problem with this story was the twist in its final episodes, while I liked the reveal of what the anisotropic being is and why he does things, it took this show in a very different direction than I thought it would go. It started of with a lot of these deeper, philosophic questions about humanity and ends with well... something quite different.
The final episode was horribly rushed and the ending was very unsatisfying. I don't want to give it away but the way the Main Characters story finished was just very anticlimactic.

Art:

This anime uses a lot of CG, especially for its characters. If you're really bothered by this then it might bother you in this show as well.
For me however it worked very well, the CGI was obvious but it was executed in a way that it didn't feel out of place at all. If this is the future of CGI in anime then I'm up for it.

There were a lot of beautiful wide shots of Kado and its surroundings in this show, especiall the proportions of Kado in comparison with other objects was handled exceptionally. It really felt huge. The inside of Kado was also designed beautifully and was one of the highlights of the show from an artistic point of view.

The character designs weren't anything that special, but I think that was the point, it was a show that was set in reality so everybody looks like an ordinary person, except for the anisotropic being whose design I really enjoyed.


Sound:

The soundtrack of Seikaisuru Kado was a highlight of this show. The opening and also the ending were just awesome. Especially the opening, I never skipped this one. Though in general the OST was quite good. It added a lot to the series and made a lot of moments feel bigger.


Characters:

Shindou, Koujiro

Shindou is the protagonist of Kado, he's a negotiator for the Japanese Government and the person who also negotiates with the anisotropic being.
He's a very likeable and interesting guy, worthy of being a protagonist. His interactions with his co-worker Hanamori would've been enough for me to watch a slice-of-life show with them just doing their negotiations.
He goes through some interesting character development over the course of this show, I just wish the end of his story arc wouldn't have been so anti-climactic.

Yaha-kui zaShunina

The anisotropic being who wants to advance humanity. His deisgn was great and I really liked the concepts of the anisotropic he brought to this world. He was a very interesting and mysterious character right until the final episodes. It was interesting to see him change due to the influence humanity had on him.

Tsukai, Saraka

The female lead of this show. At first she felt a little out of place in this show. Her typical anime antics just didn't fit with the otherwise serious world of Seikaisuru Kado. But she was a nice and sweet girl and she grew on me. It was interesting to see her become so important later on.


Enjoyment:

Overall I'm a bit disappointed with this show. I really enjoyed everything until the twist and was ready to rate this 9/10. But the twist of this show first drove it into a direction that was only okay instead of great and then the final episode happened and I won't give away the ending but it was a huge letdown for me and some of it felt like an asspull to me.
I'd still recommend this show for it's great 10 episodes!

Up to episode 7, the show keeps piling up evidence that the author is incredibly naive about political and economic issues, and is focusing the whole show in the idea the world is undergoing a "revolution" caused by Kado. In episode 7, they introduce the Samsa device that allows people to become aware of their multidimensional selves, thus eliminating the need for sleep. When the Japanese government representatives are discussing this, all they are thinking about is how this would improve human productivity, without a thought for the fact that it's precisely excess productivity caused by excess population that is leading the environment to a ... catastrophic failure in the relatively near future. Also, it's ignoring the psychological issues, the boredom factor and other problems. It seems that the show is just trying to say - like a good Japanese - that people would be able to work a lot more, and is not aware that it's precisely this overdedication to work that causes so many psychological and social problems to Japanese individuals, including the overly high suicide rate (not the only factor, but a major contributor), and entirely disregarding the idea that people in other cultures DO NOT live for their jobs. The only moment the show approaches this problem is when they question whether rapid development would lead to happiness, when actually survival is far more of a pressing issue here. The wam would already lead to disastrous disruptions in the economic structure of the world. Add that to billions of people having too much time in their hands and/or companies pushing them to work more, thus speeding up the exhaustion of natural resources, and the anisothropic's gifts look increasingly like a curse to me. The only one that seems to realize this is Saraka.
And then the show throws everything out the window in the last three episodes. After Sayaka became God (she even has a halo, for fuck's sake!) and Shindo falls in love with her for no reason at all, and poor Za Shunina becomes "the villain who wants to destroy the world for no reason", everything the series had of good simply vanished to be replaced by the most boring and predictable ending possible. I should have seen this a mile off. The childish scientist (portraying scientists like children who are unaware of the social world around them is one of the most appalling misconceptions I know, on part with portraying engineers as socially-retarded nerds and soldiers as sadistic murderers) and the tsundere negotiator (seriously, how did she get that job with a personality like that?!?) were already giving terrible warning signs that the authors behind the story were not taking their plot as serious sci-fi. Also, for reasons I mentioned above, the plot's whole outlook on the problems created by the contact with the anisothropic was naive at best, so it did not come as a surprise for me that the screwed up the series completely by creating that stupid, cliche ending.
Finally, at no point did the CGI animation become pleasant to me. I was always watching the series IN SPITE of the terrible animation. Compare this to something like The Incredibles and you'll understand what I mean. Yes, one is a feature film with a huge budget. But honestly, I don't care. If you're going to make it CGI, that's what you should go for. American CGI TV series are also terrible, for the same reasons: stiff character movement and constantly bland and unconvincing facial expressions. Kado was the only good thing on the animation side, and the only thing that should have been CGI.
Music: forgettable. I really can't recall a single song or theme from the anime after watching it.
Sound design: good, but nothing exceptional. The sound is not a truly integral part of the story, but merely "sound effects". For comparison, see how the sound design is incredibly meaningful and integral to the narrative in Serial Experiments Lain, where even the sudden moments of silence have a profound impact in a scene.
As a whole: very mediocre and totally forgettable series. Nothing to hate or make a fuss about. It had potential as an idea and wasted it because most writers of anime are not good at writing actual sci-fi (Shin Sekai Yori being the one notable exception of the past then years, as far as I know - after all, Gundam is not sci-fi, just as Star Wars is not sci-fi, but rather space opera).

This show had a lot of potential in its first few episodes. Then it went down the drain.

Story: 4
This anime's plot seriously had a lot of potential. The beginning sets you up with a conflict of technological advancement vs conservatism. It asks the questions related to change. Then, midway through, this show turns into a mahou shoujo romance between Shindo and Saraka. Instantly, Shindo changes his philosophical stance to match Saraka's. The show then becomes a one sided competition between the yaoi pairing bond between zaShunina and Shindo vs Shindo and Saraka's superluminal romance bond. In the end, there is even a Deus Ex Machina ... who magically, through whatever contrived plotholes, comes with powers to make Saraka's side win. I call this bullshit.

Character: 5
Most characters were 1-dimensional. Shindo and Saraka included for the most part. They're just maybe 1.5 rather than 1.0. The dynamics going on with Shindo doesn't make any sense but you can possibly just blame that on the fact that Saraka is a canon Sue who twisted the original story concept.

Art: 7
Everything looks pretty decent. It's possibly the best part of this anime.

Sound: 7
Sounds okay too.

Enjoyment: 5
I started off excited every week for this anime. Halfway through, that changed. By the last episode, I just laughed at how much of a trainwreck this became. The writing in this show started off good but halfway onward, becomes about as good as your typical fanfiction.net work in the last half. Only problem is, I've seen fanfiction stories that do better than this and I myself write more coherent plots than this nonsense.

Who's this show for?
-anime critics who watch almost everything anyway.
-if you enjoy "So bad it's good"/trainwrecks

Who's this not for?
-if you want a show that's plot driven
-if you don't like forced romance/poorly developed romance
-if you don't like asspulls and Deus Ex Machina

1 word, disappointment.(reason why will be in spoilers) Good plot build up, characters, music, art (despite it being CG it wasn't bad at all). Then they just screw it up.

Spoilers ahead...

Episode 9 is the last episode I enjoyed along with the first parts of episode 10, then it just went straight downhill and made me want to tear the hairs out of my head for wasting over 3hours straight binging it since it was so good. All the amazing plot, the potential, the description of how their world was, how it was introduced/told to the viewers was good. But then they decide to throw ... all of those in the freaking trash bin and make it a classic drama/romance/fantasy what ever the hell it is cliche. Suddenly we get the MC hook up with some girl we barely got any information on(gave her a backstory at episode 10) apart from being considered as an equal to him. and hoho behold said girl is also a higher being that so called fell from the higher dimensions just because of the irrational thought of falling inlove with the human race. WHAT KIND OF HIGHER BEING THROWS AWAY THE SIMPLEST OF LOGIC. To be honest this just pissed me off so much that it made me write this review. It's total garbage a waste of time.

(Not spoiler-free)
At episode 0-2 I thought this anime had great potential. Shindo is an extremely relatable and well-rounded character, though I would have liked to know about his personal background. What really pulled the enjoyment factor up for this anime for me was watching ZaShunina grow and become steadily more human, and at the same time, Shindo's relationship with him.

In the middle episodes there is a lot of 'let's stall this as far as possible' which really is not the way to go for a 12 ep arc - probably why the plot twist seems to have come OUT OF NOWHERE. There is a ... decided lack of relationship development between Saraka and Shindo, not nearly enough about Kado's inside and Shindo's work inside, and a very over-simplified summary of the benefits of the devices to the world.

I would have liked more international meetings, and maybe side-plots to introduce the effect of the devices on humanity. Instead, though we're talking about important concepts such as giving power to humanity which they could possibly abuse, you're forced to go through Shindo meeting his mother, a camera guy getting recruited by a Google anime knockoff brand and a festival where ZaShunina buys a turtle. I think the producers need to set a tone - and stick to it. There is a lot of confusion about the general direction the poorly developed plot takes. Personally, I hate the canon ship and I think it would have been much better and more realistic to leave Saraka as a human who is mildly irritating. Not nearly enough physics/ actual serious science - this could have been thrilling. If another studio had produced it or it had better funding, no doubt it could have been a smashing success like Steins;Gate.

!First Things First There Will Be Spoilers, You Have Been Warned!



I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. This anime had so much potential and I stand by my belief that things could've been improved even a little by allowing it a 24 episode run time rather than 12, but should nothing of the story and development change that'd all be for naught in the end.

For me this anime wasn't a complete waste of time, I seriously enjoyed it up to episode 8 and actually wouldn't have minded if they ended it there, went on a month long hiatus then came back with a fully fleshed out ... and well thought through ending instead of the crap shack we got instead. The visuals, the music and the characters for the most part were fantastic, even the story started out well being sort of like the CG anime equivalent of Arrival (excellent film, I highly recommend watching it), but as with a lot of ambitious projects they just couldn't seem to figure out how to appropriately end the series without royally fucking it up.

(From here on excuse me if I rant a little, the ending is about my only qualm with Kado).

For starters, Shindo, zaShunina and even Saraka (whom I didn't like that much anyway) were good characters in their own right. It made sense that the 40D alien boi had no understanding of human concepts and emotions, it made sense that Shindo wouldn't be at all shocked by making contact with an alien because that's his character, and it made sense that at least one of the main cast would be opposed to this and encompassed that side of humanity's reaction which was what Saraka represented. But all semblence of development was completely throw out the window when things started coming to a climax.
Shindo I'm not so hung up on apart from the fact that he's praised by the Prime Minister for being able to walk his own path, yet the power of boners makes him follow along with Saraka's wishes like a dog in heat. Or how his amazing negotiator skills are scrapped in favour of needless violence, yay! //throws up
Now here's where I start getting annoyed; Saraka was a character that, as I said, I didn't like (and I could also sadly tell where they were going with her character the second I saw her because she's the only other character in the whole anime with red eyes bar zaShunina). The reason being was not because she was written badly but because we stood on opposites sides of the argument, something I consider excellent writing for a character. She represented the cautious and fearful side of humanity, our distrusting nature towards a deal that feels too good to be true, the most basic and instinctual fear of even the most simple of creatures; fear of the unknown. This however is completely ruined by one simple fact...she's not human. She is fearful because she has knowledge of what zaShunina might do and what he is capable of, the complete opposite of humanity who fear what they don't understand. Her character could have had so much more depth and meaning if they'd just kept her human, but instead they reduced her to typical tsundere waifu material and only worth a damn for her womb.
Now comes zaShunina, the biggest cliché insult to me since I really loved his character (for reasons I shall make clear a little later on). From how much anime and movies and series I've watched over the years I've become really damn good at telling where a story is going to head (not to toot my own horn there, just fact), which is why I'm happily surprised when media does something I didn't expect. For all intensive purposes, Kado was heading the latter direction at first, being something I'm not unfamiliar with but something I don't see often, so it's refreshing, but unfortunately it started running down the road of predictability far too fast, tripped up and dropped its own plot down the storm drain. I have no doubt that zaShunina was intended to be the quote unquote "bad guy" of the series, but I highly doubt it was intended to be this blunt about it. All of the development he'd gone through was utterly trashed when the decision was made to have him turn psychotic, I find it hard to believe that A) he, who has never been remotely human in his life, could learn to be human in a month when it takes us humans years to learn to do that and B) a highly intelligent 40D being would become emotionally unstable. It felt messy, rushed and above all else out of character.

The other part of things that upset the fandom was of course the queerbaiting. I won't talk too much about it but I will say this; it was noticeable and disgusting. I have no idea why having a gay couple in a regular anime is so bad that they have to kill them off for it, just having a non-hetero couple in your anime does not make it a BL/GL or a yaoi/yuri, it makes it a wholesome and relatable story to a minority often overlooked in the media. I have watched anime made in the 90s do a better job representing the LGBT community than our supposed "world of equality" nowadays.

Now...for the part that pissed me off the most about the ending.
...I'm sorry but...for being a heavily science(ish) based anime...HOW THE FUCK DID THEY MESS UP BASIC MATH?
0 + 0.5 does not equal 2 for fuck's sake, there is no way that a human being and an Anisotoron who is essentially human and abandoned almost all her power could produce a being more powerful than a whole, pureblooded Anisotoron. That. Is. Not. How. Biology. Works.
And don't give me that "She's a Anisotoron, she can alter things" because she has next to no power anymore, she threw away her power to be born and live as a regular human being, retaining only as much as she needed to survive I suppose. To use an extreme example, a normal healthy human and a human with a hereditary degenerative disease /does not/ produce a child with the cure to cancer. It does not work like that. What happened in Kado was, say it with me now;

PLOT CONVENIENCE.

They could not figure out a way to end this anime, so they asspulled, and I think this is what annoyed me the most.
I have my own story and headworld, I've had it for years now and I share it with my partner. Between us we have created a wide universe rich with lore and mysteries in equal amounts, and the "God among men" situation is one I am very familiar with. This is why Kado appealed to me, it was like watching an anime that had parts of my own headworld lore in it and that was fascinating to see come to life before my eyes. I and my partner sorted the problems of having OP characters in a very simple way; the God-level characters in our headworld are /passive observers/. They don't fight, they don't interfere with "lesser beings", they are simply there to see to it that the universe is running smoothly and that there are no beings getting too powerful and causing chaos. The only time they clash is with each other in their own pocket dimensions, well away from any collateral damage. We asked ourselves why they shouldn't be antagonists and the answer was simple;
"Beings with enough power to create universes are wise enough to know that their power should be used to protect the weak, not cause conflict."

Too many writers create God-level characters and then slap human concepts onto them as if beings of that level would share our beliefs. None of mine and my partner's God-level characters have human emotions, they have a set of emotions that are like human ones but not the same and can copy human emotions if they want be can't really feel it. None of them have "morals" because those were things made by humans in the first place, they have an understanding of the concept of "right" and "wrong" but again these are human concepts that humans made to judge the actions of other humans, so they feel no need to adhere to these rules, they won't chastise someone for murder nor congratulate someone for saving a life, they simply acted and that is that. This is represented beautifully by one of my God-level characters who apologizes to others but never means it, he understands that whatever he did is seen as "wrong" but he himself sees no problem, so when he apologizes to others you can tell it's insincere.

More and more writers are exploring deeper and out-there concepts, but we must understand that these things cannot ever be fully quantified by our own look on the universe and everything within it, and I believe this is where Kado ultimately failed what it set out to accomplish.