Back to Nepheloh's Profile Nepheloh's Profile

I will attempt to write this review basing it on my experience as an anime fan, being as objective as possible. I will also voice out my opinion at the end of this review wich I will keep short.I have not read the novel and my review will not include any comparissons between the two.

(Story 6/10)

There has been a lot of strife between those who have watched solely the anime and those who have read the novel and also watche the anime version of it. Always arguing about the story (for the most part).
So the story is basically about the Ushiromiya familly which ... is so very wealthy coming to their private island were the head of the familly lives to discuss the inheritance. However on their first day there the head of the familly (Ushiromiya Kinzo) is found murdered. As they suspect eachother about the murder there are even more unexplainable murders happening.
So here comes the main male character Ushiromiya Battler (or Buttler to some) trying to explain the murders when the witch named Beatrice arrives and says that she killed them with magic. So to sum up they end up in a deadly game of wits, in which Battler tries to prove that the murders were commited by human means and Beatrice tries to make him admit that they were commited by using magic. If Battler wins they can all return safely however if Beatrice wins they will all die.

To the point now, as a plot it had a lot of potential and it also sounds awesome, right? However there are major flaws and unexplained phenomena and certain cliffhangers that could have made the anime a whole lot better if corrected. As you can imagine there are a lot of murder scenes and that includes a lot of gore. Unfortunately the camera focuses more on the deaths than on the reaction of the witnesses (or those who found the bodies). Even though I said that I enjoyed the plot although I certainly wouldn't mind if they had paid more attention to it.

(Art 7/10)

The art is pretty amazing. There are some faults at certain scenes but that's about it. The characers look cool and all that.. However all or if not all then most of the female characters have a huge cleavage which kinda runs it because although they look good and all it means there is fanservice, which kinda ruins the whole mystery-horror-psychological atmosphere.

(Sound 8/10)

There are some very very nice songs and themes in it and the only reason that the anime doesn't get a 10 rating from the sound aspect is that the music is often misplaced. Many good themes are placed at the wrong time and vise versa.

(Character 6/10)

Battler Ushiromiya: A young boy whose mother is (or was) a detective and is the main male protagonist of the story. He's passionate good-natured and cares a lot for others. He's also calm and is able to think rationally under pressure.

Beatrice: The main female antagonist of the story. She is the witch that killed everyone and decides to play a game with Battler out of boredom with everyone's lives being at stake. She is mostly cruel, ruthless and also both seductive and confident. She hates losing and will do anything in order to win.

Many say there are more protagonists than Battler and Beatrice but those are the main two for me.
Although the characters start out nicely, they have a sudden change of hearts especially during the last few episodes. Even more of them Beatrice.

(Enjoyment7/10)

Even though there are major flaws and cliffhangers I certainly enjoyed the anime and it encouraged me to read the novel. Many people will say otherwise but do not be influenced too much..

(Overall 7/10)

You may find it lacking in certain sections and it is a good anime to watch if you're not a detail freak. If you're a begginer in watching anime you will enjoy this even more than I did. Then again it is a double-edged sword. If you've seen plenty of other series you'll start to notice flaws that may not even be that big of a deal.