Feb 5, 2016
I hope you will find this review short & succinct, while still informative. I'll spend most of my review on the story and characters.
STORY:
I quite enjoyed the first 4-5 episodes. These episodes hooked me by setting up what seemed to be a well-thought out mystery; they introduce an intriguing yet questionable relationship between two of the main protagonists; and discussions regarding Computer Science (CS) were relatively believable and without any blatant misuse of jargon.
Unfortunately the mystery element stagnates and is quickly replaced by philosophical ramblings and unconvincing attempts at character development, all dressed up as Saikama's genius slowly whittling away at the mystery.
...
It's not enjoyable to watch Saikama piece together the mystery while viewers are left ignorant of his revelations, instead having to sit through Nishinoso's attempts at getting his attention.
CHARACTERS:
Speaking of Nishinoso she too quickly becomes one-dimensional. Rather than moving the plot forward she exists only to hinder it. Her role is to pine after Saikama, assuring him she'll eventually catch up to him and figure out everything on her own. Saikama's responses are ambiguous; we're never sure if he's completely oblivious or just silently accepting her affection as a big-brother type (with both possibilities having been hinted at.) There's effectively no character development, and the only attempt at exploring their relationship exists as a short flashback. As for the other characters: both non-essential side characters and the main antagonist(s?) are lacking exposition and never really given the attention they deserved.
ART:
It's animated very well, although there's nothing particularly flashy in terms of color or scenery. I would describe it as solid and believable, but nothing to write home about. The most aesthetically pleasing bit of art in the show might actually be the ED.
SOUND:
ENGRISH. ENGRISH, SO BAD. EARS, THEY BLEED. In all fairness this is only one scene, but it draws on far too long and the rest of the sound is not very memorable. The OP and ED music were worth a listen ... one was rather catchy, but neither will end up on my playlists.
ENJOYMENT:
As noted in the discussion on story and characters, I enjoyed the early episodes, but as the story continued it became harder and harder to sit through. I was relieved when it was time for the big reveal, and while the explanation pleased my internal CS nerd it came far from satisfying my curiosity. There were a number of unanswered questions that were shrugged off with [paraphrasing] "We may never know," or just completely ignored. I'm left frustrated and wanting an English translation of the source work, since it's hard to imagine that such a half-baked mystery came out of an award-winning novel.
OVERALL:
If you like mysteries you might be interested at first, but this mystery will leave you questioning both the story and your decision to engage in it. If you can read Japanese I'd wager you're much better off reading the book.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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