Reviews

Story (6)-The show presents itself as a sort of psychological thriller at the start. All these assassins gathered in one place to kill one girl. Sounds a bit over-the-top but you get a little bit more interested as to how this is going play out. Unfortunately, it fails to execute it's pseudo-psychological aspect properly because how horribly ineffective some of the characters are. Because of this, it's hard to truly feel like the main characters are in any sort of danger. The story works semi-episodically, with small plot points scattered throughout the show but never really feeling like a story until later in the show. It tries to act like some big complex show at the start, slows down in the middle, and tries to reassert itself as a complex show at the end. That said, when there is actual plot, it's good enough that you say "this isn't as terrible as I expected." The episodes prior to the build-up of actual plot are pretty formulaic.

*very mild spoiler*
Assassin announces (that's right, announces) that they're targeting the main character, character tries to figure out why, background info on assassin, main character defeats assassin, rinse and repeat
*end mild spoiler*

There's also not much action to be had in some episodes. Some feel like they were lazily scripted and even though these are assassins, they aren't very good at providing enough action for this to be an action anime. Suspense sure, but the action is few and far. Finally, the last thing I should mention is that the deus ex machina is heavy. The biggest one is around the end and, essentially, renders the previous episodes obsolete. If you hate that kind of device, steer clear from it.

All that said, if you can see past these flaws (like I managed to do), then the story will be decent enough to enjoy

Art (10): I rarely factor art into my enjoyment of a series unless it causes me physical pain to watch it but the art was generally appealing with few or no complaints. Characters,settings, etc were done nicely

Sound (9): Solid voice acting here. The background music did the scenes justice for the most part minus a couple of times where it felt a little off but the music was overall fitting. I don't factor opening or ending themes into my ratings either but the OP was good enough and each episode ended with a song sung by the assassin who was the focus of that episode. All were done well except for a couple but otherwise, catchy.

Character (5): Here is where the show stumbles. These are some of the most best assassins around and yet, I can't help but feel the entire show would be over a lot quicker if the assassin just straight up tried to kill the main character instead of turning it into some sort of mind game. Their methods of going about assassinating are so asinine, it's a wonder that they're even assassins at all. Luckily, there are a couple of genuine badasses of the bunch that make me appreciate sticking around the show but holy hell, most of them are ridiculously ineffective. Additionally, the backgrounds of some of these assassins are really vague, leaving us unable to truly understand the characters. "This happened, and that happened" and that's it. No real why's, how's, or even what's are addressed. The backgrounds of the main characters, while a bit more developed and clearer than the assassins, still have some missing questions that have us scratching our heads to the very end.

It's also hard to see characters really develop when they only appear for one episode per assassin (some fewer) but the ones who do end up developing, they pull it off nice enough that you can sort of see past their flaws. Other assassins just felt really generic and pulled out of antagonist vault. By far, the best development comes from our two main characters because where else are we going to get any development with the show? Even then, however, it isn't too big of a development.

The main antagonist, the host of this assassination games, just doesn't feel like there is enough reason for her to be an antagonist. Sure, they try to make her look evil and badass but ultimately, I couldn't really perceive her to be a threat. At the end of the day, a lot of these villains are forgettable except for a couple of unique individuals. The target of these assassins might also get on your nerves if you hate those "can't we all be friends" types. There's a limit to how optimistic you can be towards people who are actively trying to kill you.

Enjoyment (7): I know. I did all this nitpicking and I still enjoyed it? Well that's because I rarely let these things bring me down. I enjoy film, TV, books and even if it's the worst of them. I try to just enjoy the show for what it's worth.

Overall (7): I remember hearing a saying that went something along the lines of "I only nitpick at it because I love it." While I don't quite love the show, there is still something to be enjoyed here.While it's not quite memorable enough to leave a deep impact, it is a show that if someone mentions it to you, you'd probably remember it vaguely and be able to give a rough sketch of your feelings for the show. Would I recommend it? Well if you're the kind of person who enjoys fleshed-out and well-developed characters with an intelligent, coherent plot, this probably won't be your cup of tea. If you're anything like me and are blissfully ignorant of flaws and immune to nitpicking and you've got a couple of hours to kill at the airport while you wait for your flight and you want a show that you wouldn't mind doing a marathon of it on your phone, then this is probably the show for you.