STORY : 9/10
I would say... Yes. With a lot of confidence. Story is the main force behind the series, and it's a very definition of mixed bag. It sports a pretty interesting initial premise : "Your friend has purple eyes and a bizarre way of looking at the world: she sees all living things as robots". While in the beginning it's a lighthearted (albeit pretty mysterious) story with some shoujo-ai tendencies, it didn't waste a lot of time to show the other sides of the story...
... And it's not only one side. It contains a lot of genre switches in interval of some chapters, and that's why reviewing this work without some spoilers is pretty difficult. One thing for sure : they are NOT lazy genre switches.
Adapted from a single volume novel, Qualia the Purple has a lot of texts, especially during some certain parts of the story when it throws a lot of science theories, mixing them into a believable sci-fi story to the point that it may be a little bit too confusing for those who are not really familiar with them. It also a lot of other elements such as philosophy, thriller, drama, comedy, mystery, supernatural, etc, and it never stop switching tastes. However, they will still glue you to the plot and make you thirst for the rest of the chapters.
ART : 8/10
It's not the book's main strength, although it's definitely not bad at all. While the artist (Tsunashima Shirou) is not really exceptional, standalone wise, it keeps conveying the story without any glaring mistakes or unfitting portrayal. It did its job well both in carefree and serious moments, so I see no point in nitpicking it any further.
CHARACTER : 9/10
It's not really a character-driven series, but it didn't lacks a set of good characters required to support the excellent plot.
The main pair of the story, Gaku and Yukari, are well done characters. Point of View of this story come mostly from Gaku's perspective, and she's pretty much doing the role which traditionally applied to the main hero of the series. She actively change the flow of the series as the main protagonist, starting from an observant of the strange happenings around her, and slowly developing into an awesome main character. Yukari, on the other side, traditionally is the main heroine and the one who drive entire Gaku's motive in the whole story. Both did their role very good, not to count that they're very cute character by themselves.
There aren't many other characters in this series, and in this case, it's a good thing! Alice and Nanami are the only character left from this series, and both have pretty big roles that affecting Gaku's and Yukari's life. They also have their great moments and overall I would say that they are great characters.
ENJOYMENT : 9/10
Genre switch is always not easy, but it bring a lot of points if done right.
Murasakiiro no Qualia is unpredictable. When you think that it have nothing left in store, it will throw another twists to you, including some very good WTF and awesome moments. It also borrow some very good plot tropes, including some well-researched theories, hypothesis and philosophies, showing that Hisamitsu Ueo (the author) did it's researches very well. It also has some dramatic moments, unexpectedly good comedies, and many other factors that will left a good impression to you.
OVERALL : 9/10
That said, I will recommend Qualia the Purple to anyone who like good story in general, since it basically have everything for everyone (story-wise). It's not fully translated at this point, but I'm very positive that it could bring a great ending that this series deserves.
