Yuurei Deco

In the cyber city Tom Sawyer, society revolves around earning "Love," akin to receiving likes on social media. Citizens of this augmented reality exchange Love for public services and appearance-changing avatars via the Decoration Customizer, also known as "Deco," a hologram device implanted in an individual's eyes from early childhood. Under the government's careful management, the people of Tom Sawyer live a peaceful existence, outside the occasional appearance of Phantom Zero, a mysterious criminal who brings all Love to zero within their vicinity.

Berry, a mischievous girl fascinated by Phantom Zero, lives comfortably in the system of Tom Sawyer until her Deco malfunctions, enabling her to see a camouflaged prankster named Hack. Believing Hack to be Phantom Zero, Berry chases after the suspect and, in the process, begins to uncover society's most well-kept secrets. As it turns out, Hack is not the only person living outside the system's rules—and the vibrant colors of Tom Sawyer hide a darker nature.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Finn Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Berry Main

Kawakatsu, Mira Japanese

Hack Main

Nagase, Anna Japanese

Hank Main

Satou, Setsuji Japanese

Smiley Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Madam 44 Main

Sadaoka, Sayuri Japanese

Phantom Zero Supporting

Gankai Supporting

Mitsumame Supporting

Analytica Supporting

Cao, Cong Producer

Kim, Lili Producer

Sakita, Kouhei Producer

Tomita, Shizuka Assistant Producer

Reviews

May 31, 2023

dgg

Recommended

Yurei Deco is a great childrens show that's enjoyable for adults, that's what it is. There is nothing deep in it, nothing is explained or mulled over in great detail, everything is what it is on the surface and nothing more, all the messages and morale is served up front and spelled out.

It's a cut and dry mystery adventure show for kids where some cool stuff happens and there is unjust things happening in the world that only the kids and the outcasts understand because the adults are too busy doing what they believe to be the right thing. But is it right? That's what ... they show answers upfront for ya.

The visuals are lovely and is designed like Kaiba tried to look like a modern normal show, it's got that fluffy look with round shapes and bright colours but normalized into more normal looking human beings,

Personally I kinda loved it, it's simple, doesn't overstay its welcome, it's completely flat in character development and any conflict is swiftly resolved, I think if I was a japanese parent this would be a perfect and good time to just sit and watch with my kids.

It's not hard to understand why the few people that have watched it disliked it, because this is not an intellectual show, it's not deep and it's not trying to provide any thought provoking ideas. That's not to say it's completely devoid of any of it, it just has very little of it, and none of it is dealt with and investigated in through the story, it's more statements thrown out there and done.

Also both the OP and ED has such catchy intro parts, the wave-like synth of the OP really grabs me and the beginning vocal segment of the ED with the long vocals is chefs kiss to my ears. Neither song are absolute bangers, but nevertheless I listened to both for almost all episodes which seldomly ever happens for me.

8/10, you might hate it, I loved it

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 20, 2022

bboy_OatsnRice

Mixed Feelings

Style over substance is a phrase I’d never use to describe Yurei Deco. That’s not because I think it does or does not have either style or substance, but because it manages to have both, yet doesn’t know how to utilize them to their fullest capacity. It has all the tools to invent itself as a visually marvelous show with a creative critique on modern society. Given the artstyle, use of visuals, and worldbuilding, was Yurei Deco able to deliver on my expectations or did I set the bar too high?

Yurei Deco presents the viewer with a dystopian future that mirrors our current reality. That ... of which the sum of someone’s self and material worth is determined by the amount of “likes” or rather “love” they have. Love is used as a currency and without it, don’t expect life to be a cakewalk. The story follows a young girl named Berry who has the ability to see happenings and glitches that the normal population cannot due to their augmented reality visors/decos. It’s this ability that leads Berry down a rabbithole in uncovering the truth behind how the world got this way and what she can do to fix it, along with the help of some of the friends she makes along the way.

Without squandering your own viewing experience, the reason I kept tuning into this show week after week was for three reasons: the theme, hack, and the world building. More on the latter two later. For now, I want to focus on the messages the show presents throughout. Though an anime critiquing social media, fad culture, and an all seeing “Orwellian” government is nothing too out of the ordinary. I believe the way it’s handled in this show, along with the juxtaposition to its bright, neon, gradient fabricated visuals set atop a gloomy setting with pueblo-like architecture, is quite innovative. Though I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a show tailored towards a younger demographic, I do think the way the show tackles the various philosophies the way it does sets it apart from other series that deal with similar subject matter that have the leniency of being a show geared towards an older demographic and therefore being able to get its message across more bluntly. So seeing how this show managed to make the topic of dealing with reality head on without making it seem as grim and bleak as possible, was clever and fun to watch unfold.

However, in the last act of the show, the show drops the ball on the message in a way that retcons the “anti-all powerful government” message the show was obviously going for since the beginning by just transferring that same amount of “god” power to someone else who we’re supposed to believe is supposed to do the right thing. Now either this show changed its mind on its message at the very last second, or this show is the greatest subversive metacommentary masterpiece on how power is transferred in a government behind the curtains and how we just blindly accept it as the truth or as the right thing. Regardless, I’m likely giving it more thought than the writers were.

A less faulty aspect of this show were the visuals. As I mentioned earlier, we see these projections of a fabricated reality that’s appeal determined by the amount of “love” someone has. Despite this, the viewer can still see the reality faintly hidden behind the projections and I think this a good example of how the bright and gradient effect of heavy colors add to the show’s theme. Even with that aside, I found the visuals on their own pleasing. I’d hesitate in saying that it looks like a western cartoon, but it is visually distinct from its contemporaries. So much so that it was the visual style that initially grabbed my attention. An often overlooked aspect when discussing the visuals, are the 3D backgrounds that are heavily used in the hyperverse. In fact, just about every scene that takes place in the hyperverse takes full advantage of the show’s eccentric artstyle. From CG books, to the way the color palette is used, I always found these scenes to be a place where the show’s visuals truly lend themselves.

The last bit worth touching on is a component that excels and falls in a similar way to the show’s story/message/theme. What I’m referring to are the characters themselves. The interactions and banter between Berry and Hack was another aspect of this show that kept me coming back. I found their conversations and the situations they’d find themselves in to be fun and engaging. Their dialogue was usually silly, juvenile, and full of miscommunication, but that was the beauty of it. I suppose it felt natural and slightly more developed than that of the rest of the cast’s relationship with one another. That’s not to say the other characters are all terribly written, but I felt that the cast was too big for its own good. Despite their creative and cute designs, they don’t nearly get the same amount of development that the two main characters (plus their mentor, Finn) receive. In fact, I think the show would’ve greatly benefitted had it just followed Berry, Hack, and Finn to even better develop them and their relationships with each other so that the audience could grow more fond of them. Because I’m sure I speak for most when I say that none of the other characters felt necessary to the story, like at all, which only helps Finn’s “antifamily” argument in episode eight. Regardless, for the most part the characters felt very flat and underdeveloped. Had the show cut down on the cast, it would have benefitted from having a smaller, yet better cast the audience could actually empathize with. Interestingly enough, I found the Watson and Nue episodes to be my favorites despite them being heavily focused on side characters and being their own self-contained stories. But this is due to them showing off what the show does best, which is using its creative world building to critique ideals that are embedded in our world, rather than the way the characters are written.

Style over substance is a phrase I’d never use to describe Yurei Deco. That’s not because I think it does or does not have either style or substance, but because it manages to have both, yet doesn’t know how to utilize them to their fullest capacity. Given the artstyle, use of visuals, and worldbuilding, was Yurei Deco able to deliver on my expectations or did I set the bar too high? Though I enjoyed my time with this series, I felt that by the time we reached the halfway point, the show had narrowed the scope of its story, message, and character developments and in part so did I with my expectations. It doesn’t help that by the end of the series, the status quo is mostly left the same and the way it deals with the “antagonist” is almost comical. Though certain episodes reminded me that this show did have the ability necessary to do something truly groundbreaking, it largely restrains itself from unleashing its full creative capacity save for a few episodes and moments littered throughout. So sadly, I’d say I set the bar too high, though I’d also say it was still one of the better shows this season.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 30, 2022

SGLima

Not Recommended

What a disappointment Yurei Deco is. Even the very different and nice art style could not save this anime.
I had a lot of expectations for an anime of Science SARU, Yuasa's company. In fact, we started well. The first two episodes were very good. The protagonist is curious and fun. She, like us viewers, is introduced to a new occult world.  It is the world below the cyber world of social networks and the dominant society. And that' s the first problem. We are introduced to a world that is a bit "distopic", but the characters don't find it that way. In truth, this is ... very "realistic". The characters live in this world, so they think everything is normal, like the frequent use of an ocular device. However, we are never really introduced to this rich technological world. It's a shame, because there is a lot to be discussed.
After this introduction of the two episodes, the anime begins the Slice of Life phase. There are some good episodes, but in general they are mediocre. As the plot advances, we discover the mystery of the ghost. Unfortunately, this is quite poor. The conclusion of the anime proves this point. It's so confusing and poorly written that I couldn't be entertained. An abomination!!!
Therefore, I do not recommend this anime.

In english.


Yurei Deco est une déception. Même le style artistique très différent et très agréable ne pourrait pas sauver c'est anime.
J'avais beaucoup d'expectative pour un anime de Science SARU, l'entreprise de Yuasa. En fait, on commençait bien. Les premiers deux épisodes étant très bons. La protagoniste est curieuse et amusante. Elle, comme nous les spectateurs, est introduite dans un nouveau monde occulte.  C'est le monde bas le monde cybernétique des réseaux sociaux et de la société dominante. Ça, c'est le premier problème. Nous sommes introduit a un monde un peu "distopique", mais les personnages ne trouvent pas ça de ces ambiances. En vérité, ça c'est très "réaliste". Les personnages vivre dans ce monde, donc ils pensent que tout ça est normal, comme l'usage fréquente d'un appareil oculaire. Pourtant, on n'est jamais présenté à cette richesse de monde technologique. C'est dommage, car il y a beaucoup pour être discuté.
Après cette introduction des deux épisodes, l'anime commence une étape de Slice of Life. Il y a quelque épisodes bons, mais en général ils sont médiocres. À mesure que l'intrigue avance, on découvre le mystère du fantôme. Malheureusement, ça c'est plutôt mauvais. La conclusion de l'anime en démontre. C'est autant confus et mal écrit que je ne pourrais pas être diverti. Une abomination!!!
Par conséquent, je ne recommande pas cet anime.

En français.


Yurei Deco é uma decepção. Mesmo o estilo de arte muito diferente e agradável não pôde salvar o anime.
Eu tinha muitas expectativas para um anime da Science SARU, a empresa da Yuasa. Na verdade, nós começamos bem. Os dois primeiros episódios foram até bons. A protagonista é curiosa e divertida. Ela, como nós telespectadores, é apresentada a um novo mundo oculto.  É uma realidade abaixo do mundo cibernético das redes sociais e da sociedade dominante. E este é o primeiro problema. Somos apresentados a um mundo que é um pouco "distópico", o que gera uma necessidade do enredo de ser apresentado, visto que essa diferença para nossa realidade gera curiosidade. Mas os personagens não pensam assim. Na verdade, isto é muito "realista". Os personagens vivem neste mundo, então eles pensam que tudo é normal, como o uso frequente de um dispositivo ocular. Assim, nunca somos realmente apresentados a este rico mundo tecnológico, o que é uma pena, porque há muita coisa a ser discutida. Nem mesmo o mundo marginalizado é bem explorado, já que os episódios são meio sem foco, como falo a seguir.
Após esta introdução dos dois episódios, o anime começa a fase de Slice of Life. Há alguns bons episódios, mas em geral eles são medíocres. À medida que a trama avança, descobrimos o mistério do fantasma, mas infelizmente isso tudo é muito fraco. A conclusão do anime prova este ponto. É tão confuso e mal escrito que não pude me divertir. Uma abominação! Foi o que fez eu abaixar tanto a nota, por sinal. O anime parecia não entender nada que ele pretendia dizer. Foi quase como se tudo tivesse sido em vão.
Portanto, eu não recomendo este anime.

Em português.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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