Oct 12, 2021
*May contain spoilers*
Okay, first of all, I have been watching anime for about 2 and a half years and have used MAL as my reference for which ones I should be watching and usually it hasn't let me down, but the score for this one really did not sit right with me. I'm honestly surprised it's so low. I guess to each their own and that it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I still don't understand why it only has 6 stars. I took a dive into this anime because my favourite seiyuus play the main roles and I honestly couldn't understand the
...
6-star score from just the PV.
To start off, the story having been set in the Meiji period was something new and exciting to me. I haven't read the original manga and neither do I have enough knowledge about the early 1900s in Japan, but it seemed like a well-handled setting with characters that fit said setting. The story itself is not just a detective mystery drama but also a slice-of-life chapter in the characters' lives. It has been created with these specific characters set in mind and that's the beauty of it. The way that poetry was set to be the tying ribbon in the story is also beautiful in its own way.
Moving onto the characters, they're all named after and inspired by famous Japanese poets and authors of the time. Each character has a personality of their own; a way they communicate and a way they fit in with the story. The friendship between the characters, especially the main characters, is gently crafted too with various layers to it. There are people that are always looking for concrete reasons for certain people's behaviours or personalities and relationships, but there is no way to fully understand something as deep as emotions. Trying to overanalyse the friendships in this or most any other animes of the same type is not something I understand. Unlike other animes, we don't really learn a lot about the past of the characters but we are given a front-row seat to their current selves and their growth in the short period that we are with them.
The added fact that Asanuma-san and Sakurai-san play the main roles really did the best for me. Their voice acting was amazing, as usual.
The art is probably one of the biggest points of this anime. Its use of colours that are pleasing to the eyes, the simple feel it gives in some scenes while in others it shows raw emotion and life, is definitely something to keep in mind.
The only places that found me just a little less interested were how some of the cases were just a little bit on the cliche spectrum, not that it matters at all in the big picture, and how the dialogues seemed fairly scripted but then again, set in a whole different era, I'm no one to say what is right as I know nothing of how people used to speak at the time.
While I say that it is a good anime, I cannot say that it is to everyone's taste. To some that come looking for complicated detective stories or thriller mysteries, this might fall short of their expectation but I suggest that anyone that is wishing to watch this, watches it with no prior assumptions.
Happy watching! :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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