Your Forma

In an alternate 2023, the Your Forma, a miraculous "smart thread" technology initially developed to treat a massive outbreak of viral encephalitis, has become an integral part of daily life. But these convenient devices come with an invasive drawback—they record every sight, sound, and even emotion their users experience.

For electronic investigator Echika Hieda, diving into peoples' memories via the Your Forma and hunting for evidence to solve the toughest crimes is all part of a day's work. The problem is, she's so good at what she does that her assistants literally fry their brains trying to keep up with her. After putting one too many aides in the hospital, the top brass finally furnish Echika with a partner on her level, a brilliant yet cheeky android named Harold Lucraft. Does this unlikely duo have what it takes to resolve their mutual suspicions and avert a deadly technological infection from sweeping across the globe before it's too late?

(Source: Yen Press)

Lucraft, Harold W. Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Hieda, Echika Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Kleemann, Benno Supporting

Hayashi, Yuu Japanese

Bigga Supporting

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Totoki, Ui Supporting

Endou, Aya Japanese

Carter, Lexie Willow Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Fokine, Ivan Lukich Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Chernova, Darya Romanovna Supporting

Nanase, Ayaka Japanese

Haig Supporting

Yanaka, Hiroshi Japanese

Talbot Supporting

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

Iwata, Kouki Producer

Sudoku, Yuuki Producer

Kang, Yue Producer

Satou, Yuuhei Producer

Reviews

Apr 17, 2025

Gin-artwork

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/? eps)

She's supposed to be smart... right?

Good idea, poor execution. For a story in which the main character is set up to be an amazing genius---so good in what she does that no human can keep up with her (her dives fry their brains), thus, the only possible partner for her is an android---she's very... disappointing.
The show’s synopsis made it seem like she’s some sort of a genius… Personally, I do not like it when a plot uses the word "genius" lightly, without a proper backing for it. She is described as such, but she doesn't act on it whatsoever.
As many would say, "Show, don't tell," ... and this is a sad example of the latter only.
So, without further ado, let's jump into the analysis:

Pacing: It's too fast-paced. The first episode felt like it was chopped into pieces and quickly put back together as if a lot of important scenes that would patch the holes in between had been cut out. It was missing a lot of important details. There have been a few instances when I asked myself, "Who are they?" or "Wait, when did that happen?" just because something was obviously skipped from the original novel.

Lack of tension: For an anime that evolves around murder cases and solving crimes, I didn't feel any tension during solving crimes whatsoever. And, of course, the impact and the gravity of the situation were also missing, along with my care for the characters due to the fast pacing. What's more, the only interesting scene of some action happening had ended before I could even feel the incoming danger (episode 2).
When it comes to the show’s mystery, to put it bluntly, it’s not exciting. It wasn’t presented in an interesting way.
1. The clues they were given, the reveals, and the twists are done in a way that they don’t seem connected in any way. Random, even though they are supposed to be put as a whole later.
2. The lack of satisfying deductions, only accepting the given information mouth-to-mouth, is driving me crazy. This show is supposed to be a detective show, right? So, where is the “detective” part of it?
The very reason I like watching detective shows is that I can also deduce the case as I discover the clues alongside the main character. Let my brain work, and then be surprised (or maybe say, “I knew it! They were the killer!”) at the final reveal. In this show, it’s barely possible to do, as it feels very inconsistent throughout the plot. Maybe it is because we’re thrown clueless into a huge arc from the very beginning where we haven’t known about the show’s worldbuilding too much yet, but a lot of things happen at once, but none seem to be connected. It’s confusing.
A criminal is supposed to be thrilling, full of mysteries, and concluded by a satisfying deduction of the main character, who brings every detail to weave a good conclusion. This show, so far, lacks that charm.

Characters: I like their designs, don't get me wrong. They are simple and pleasant to look at. They complement each other. The main duo's dynamic is pretty funny at times, too, especially when they banter. But... that doesn't change the fact that the female lead lacks a lot of character for a detective who is supposed to be very smart (smarter than every other person in her profession---I’m not talking average people here, I’m talking about the police and fellow detectives).
The details/clues she happens to notice are very simple things that an average Joe would notice. There’s nothing “smart” about it.
It’s either that or she’s fed the information through exposition and other people; basically standing still and looking pretty while her android partner heavily carries her through the entire investigation.
It is mostly through his deductions, his proposals, his ideas, and his decisions of where they should go and who they should visit, that that she can gather more information about anything important (not to mention he's supposed to have some limitations of what he can do because of where the plot went atm, and he still does more than her). For now, she seems more like a pretty decoration than the exceptional detective she’s supposed to be.
In addition, because of the pacing issues of the show are why I am having a hard time getting attached to any of the main cast. Two episodes in, and I am forced to care about someone's life, then I don't give a fuck about them whatsoever. E.g., the arrest. Not only was it not shown on the screen, but it also happened so fast that I didn’t even get to know the characters before I was forced to care about them.

Setting: I actually liked the dystopian-like setting where technology is taking over people's daily lives in every aspect. The series had a cool setup in the first few minutes and had good potential. I hope they will focus more on it in the future.
The constant ads in the corner of people's eyes while casually walking through a mall, etc., were very nicely depicted. It gave off the feeling of being overwhelmed by technology.
The concept of diving into one's consciousness is very interesting in itself, but I wish I could see more of the psyche of the person Echika (the female lead) dives into, as she explains it and connects the dots herself (rather than the solutions being flat-out handed to her through obvious visuals). For example, the show that did it very nicely was actually Id:Invaded (yes, I've seen a lot of mentions of it whenever I looked at comments under the episode). That series lets the main character figure everything out on their own.

Visuals and music: Are ok, I guess. I never had any big expectations for it anyway. I wish there were more dynamic scenes, or at least scenes that involve movement like running or even walking rather than just static yapping while sitting or standing (but I understand it is for the future world-building purposes; I just wish it was shown in a more interesting way). The voice acting is good, as always.

In conclusion: There are some good and bad sides to this show. I will give it another episode, because I don't like to assume the worst of the show before giving it a chance. However, if the pacing, exposition, and lack of tension do not improve, I will politely decline to watch future episodes.
(An objective conclusion.)

This show pissed me off on a personal level.
(A subjective one.)


But honestly, it’s not too bad. It’s just the execution that destroyed its story.
Would I still recommend this show?
No.
There are better shows you can watch that present these themes much more interestingly. It’s not worth your time.

(edit: Finished all 3 eps, and unfortunately, nothing changed. The action sequence was still very chopped up, and the mystery plot very hard to follow, and very, VERY frustrating. I am 'respectfully' dropping this show.)

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 16, 2025

Gsarthotegga

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/? eps)

Is the LN of Your Forma any good? I cannot say. But this is, without doubt, a terrible adaptation. The author is not happy with it either. The way Satelight handled the recent adaptation of Übel Blatt by cutting out the first three chapters was a poor choice, but Geno Studio skipping volume 1 of the LN, starting with volume 2, and not even rescripting to make this change reasonable is one of the worst examples of cut content I have seen in a while. I have heard it was the double-chinned fatass director's choice, who was apparently too busy stuffing his face with cake ... to realize he should be cutting weight rather than content. There are good elements to these cuts because back when I was watching Metallic Rouge, I was yawning when they were babbling on about Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. This kind of stuff might be helpful for the sci-fi novice, but anyone who has been exposed to much of this stuff is going to be bored by these pointless references. However, the pacing is too fast, and the script is in serious need of reworking, often damaging the characters and leading to scenes and references that feel out of place. Certain moments have more directorial and compositional flair to them than is average for slop seasonals at least, but one aspect where the direction is poor is the storytelling, which is confusing.

The brain dive concept is interesting in the way that the characters are able to probe the subconscious and memories of a subject, sometimes resulting in disorientation for the "brain detective." The idea has been explored in a number of movies and books, but it is not quite as common as I would have hoped for in anime. Older films, like the 1990s Darkside Blues, touch upon this lightly via fantasy; Psycho Diver, a 1990s OVA explores the idea briefly in a dark, gruesome sci-fi world, with the dives resembling a nightmare; Satoshi Kon heavily explored this with far more surreal imagery in his Paprika; and a number of other titles, like Kaiba did similar things, but Id:Invaded, another brain-diving police procedural series, is probably the closest to YF: One brain dive in YF is depicted in a similar fashion, with the "hole" in a character's chest resembling one of the scenes in Id. Thus far, they have used the device to find a few clues, but they have yet to truly take a deep dive into the mind or do anything compelling with the concept. They used a Matryoshka doll as a symbol in the first scene, but there is not much layering or genuine disorientation here, except for what results from production problems.

Honestly, I am not sure if I can take a series seriously when it stars a girl named "Bigga." I know that seems like a frivolous thing to take issue with, but that is truly bothersome, and I could not figure out why Bigga was inserted into the plot at this moment, as it seems confusing and irrelevant in relation to the rest of the story and probably could have been incorporated elsewhere. Who even is Bigga, and why should we care? The reason for this weirdness is because the anime skips volume 1, so the various characters lack an introduction, and the same goes for the world. Darya's name is not even used in the first conversation between her and the FMC, but she would have been fully established as a character in volume 1, and we only slowly piece together who she is throughout the episode. A line of dialogue indicates the main duo had a rough start and the FMC is not keen on androids, but that, too, is skipped. As is the apparent conflict between the FMC and Bigga. There is a reference to the FMC's sister as well, which is again in relation to more cut material. It does not feel like a first episode because a proper adaptation would have started with volume 1, and Geno Studio's attempt at skipping ahead is amateurish.

Since we started with a brain dive scene, the whole thing had a somewhat hallucinatory, dream-like feel, but it turns out the episode was just normal, and that brain dive scene was nothing other than a quick preview of the duo's brain dive detective work... The event involving the amicus attack on a human is also explored in volume 1, though the exclusion of that is probably not detrimental to the adaptation or as wonky as these other character issues. Maybe they had a good reason to skip to volume 2, but they absolutely needed a rescript. they probably could have done a movie version or a longer than normal episode to cover the most important parts of volume 1 at least, not to cover everything that happened in volume 1 but to establish the characters and other important details prior to S2, if that would even be possible.

The dramatic part on the bridge between Lucraft and Echika, after the former used a gambit to make a break in a case but at the cost of damaging their relationship, feels lifeless. It happens in the second episode when it probably would have been more warranted at the halfway point of the series. If we had been exposed to volume 1's material, then we would have presumably had enough investment in their relationship for this to feel better balanced. I can see how this relationship might work with the right kind of chemistry, but the line delivery and emotions are unbelievably flat, like everyone is just going through the motions. There's a clear distinction here between human and android "thinking," which is a part of the conflict between the two, but too much material was cut for any of this to feel fleshed out. The decision Lucraft makes feels like a logical one for a machine, but there is also a sense in which it is not actually that logical and indicates that he needs to be fed more data. There are strange aspects to the writing as well. The design of the android line was based on a human, but they did not look into him for a lead? No one thought of that? If you are going to use your partner as bait, it would be wise if you had people staking out the scene to actually capture the culprit rather than let them get abducted, would it not? If that is not possible, would it not be best to let the bait in on the plan to increase the chance of capturing the culprit? Why not make the brain plugs more secure and not so easy to get access to? Imagine being on a crowded subway car and having someone finger your brain hole 🤢. This whole segment was not well thought out. It gets even worse later on. If you find a dangerous criminal who is already tied up, why would you untie him, except as a convenient and dumb plot twist? Then if we return to the Three Laws of Robotics issue, it is still absurd: Lucraft is an assistant to a detective, and he was programmed in such a way that he could not stop a culprit from choking out and tying up his partner and could not attack the perpetrator so as to detain him, then Lucraft stands there like a dumbass as he is crippled by a sledgehammer? What!? You would think they would be programmed to engage in non-lethal takedowns at least! Suspending disbelief is a demanding task. It does not matter if they introduce some element into the story to justify this scene later on, as it looks like poor writing, and the damage is already done. This part also could have been rescripted to make it more believable, regardless of how it went in the LN. The series is chock-full of B-movie action and thriller writing like this.

For atmospheric flavoring, there is a darker tone to YF in some areas. Harold W. Lucraft seems to be a nod to H. P. Lovecraft (with the name Howard being close to Harold and the emphasis on the middle initial) in much the same way Edogawa Rampo is to Edgar Allan Poe. Lexie Carter appears to be another Lovecraft reference, this time to Randolph Carter, as well as the use of butterfly imagery for her introduction, and anywhere else that the symbol is used, being on the dreamy side. This is a sensible and meaningful reference to Lovecraft's Dream Cycle, in light of YF's themes and concept. The university looks to be the center of the android crimes and will occupy a space similar to Lovecraft's Miskatonic university, swamping the plot with mystery and murder. Though this is not a horror series, there are scenes of mild violence and even some surprisingly gruesome synthetic body horror moments. References to Lovecraft seem more interesting here than average because the series is not making lame references in the context of a Lovecraft ripoff but seems to be applying some of his dream and cosmic elements and motifs to technology, transhumanism, human-android relationships, and brain diving, which is a novel spin that could probably produce fascinating overlap.

Then, finally, in stark contrast to the potential for atmosphere detailed above, there are the generic-looking shojo romance designs and characters: Lucraft is a "cheeky" ikemen android husbando sidekick to a flat cat lady lead (I am not talking about her cleavage, but she is washboard-flat there too), who cannot have a human partner because she is so advanced in her brain diving that everyone else ends up with fried brains. To add to the weirdness, it turns out the Japanese voice actors for the two leads are married, giving one the impression of watching a bumbling and slow-burn opposites-attract romance: flesh and machine uniting; one reserved, the other outgoing. Otherwise put, the autistic, awkward, and mildly "taboo" romance of two autists form Gimai Seikatsu unfolding, when this is supposed to be a high-concept and psychological detective sci-fi. He is always flashing his gaggy smile, at one point making her blush and resort to behavior practically like the tsundere-esque routine of "It's not like I like you or anything, b-baka!" The suggestion of attraction with a human FMC and male android does not work nearly as well as the other way around for obvious reasons. There are also moments where the android will hope to repair their relationship: "I, too, wish I could dive into you." That is probably one of the most unintentionally vulgar lines I have heard in a sci-fi. Then we get moments equivalent to "Echika-chan, I bought you a little stuffed goat to calm thee. Please take it, my pookie." Now the only thing that remains to be seen is whether or not Lucraft has a vibrating mecha phallus to provide better work-life balance for Echika, but I will not stick around long enough to have the misfortune of finding out.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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