But on to review proper.
TL;DR
Story: 5/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Character: 7/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Good points:
-Very interesting characters
-Strong male and female protagonist(s)
-Exciting start, and touching finish
-Some funny interactions between characters
-Good art and sound, pretty solid OP and ED themes
Bad points:
-No central conflict, just main, separate arcs
-Gets boring towards the middle, and less insightful or amazing
-Lack of character development/back story for many supporting cast
-Insignificant conflict exaggerated by the whole detective idea leading to mediocre middle arc
-There includes 1 filler episode
Concluding remarks:
This will be a disappointment if you are looking for:
-Good romance
-Good and suspenseful mysteries
-Action-packed sequences
This will be enjoyable if you like:
-Good humour
-Cute things such as loli detectives
-Unconventional things, creativity
Plot: 5/10
The anime starts off like the usual - introduction of a kid in school called Narumi, who is quickly thrust into this NEET worlds, which becomes very interesting in the subsequent few episodes when they managed to solve the case of a murder. That's all fine and good. They also manage to solve a crime regarding misappropriation of funds, okay, that's the end of the first part, aka introduction to the life of Alice and her group of NEETs.
The second main arc describes the ongoing conflict between Sou and his long-lost friend, Renji, who fell out a long time ago due to a misunderstanding over a fatal incident. This particular arc I had alot of problems with. First of all, the relationship between Narumi and Renji was kind of boring. All they did was talk a bit here and there, meet up here and there, and poof they are sworn brothers. But not really, they still don't really know each other very well.
The other problem was that the entire conflict seemed too insignificant to invest a good 4 episodes into it. Two rivals who were once friends, fight in the midst a Feketerigo concert that is backed by the shadowy underground Hirasaka group, just because of a misunderstanding that they probably could have cleared up if they just talked. Nice twist at the end about the true fate of Hison after the stabbing, though. Still, it makes hardly any sense for two rivals to nearly try to kill each other over something that Souchirou obviously knows is a misunderstanding. They honestly are not taking this friendship thing too seriously.
Jump to the third main arc about the Angel Fix, and I must say, it was a pretty gripping plotline, albeit with tons of plotholes. Wait, so the police couldn't find out exactly where this drug was coming from and had to leave it to the NEET detectives to solve it? What the heck are the police doing anyway, they didnt even show up in the anime - oh wait, I believe Hirasaka group was standing in for the police. Ah that explains it.... Anyway, the other main problem was when they dramatically HAD NO CHOICE but to make Narumi take the Angel Fix drug, potentially risking death, in order to find the bad guy's hideout (and by the way, he even issued a challenge, so confident that it would not be found).
Hang on a second, it's all really touching but couldn't they have just trailed ANOTHER angel fix user? I mean, it's widespread right, there's absolutely got to be a chance to get hold of AT LEAST ONE OTHER angel fix user around the ENTIRE town! Oh well, even Alice didn't think of that. And the next thing, So Angel Fix users follow their "illusions" and this illusion somehow leads them to black alleys. I know hallucinations and drugs come hand in hand, but it's not technically possible to use a hallucination as a GPS/navigation system, especially since it's not possible to control exactly WHEN or WHERE the user takes it, and hallucinations often differ from person to person.
It started off well, was shaky in the middle, but ultimately managed to get off some flawed but at least touching story at the end. On the whole, the story was mediocre. There was also no main overarching story throughout, it was more like many separate events, with only two main big ones. I gave 2 points for the last arc and 1 point for the second arc, 2 points for the first introductory arc.
Art: 8/10
Art was definitely top-notch. I loved the OP and ED scenes, they were all so beautifully designed. Character designs were pretty neat too, they were all unique and there weren't two characters that were visually alike in every way.
Sound: 10/10
One of the best music tracks I've heard in a while. The OP and ED track were both absolutely amazing, and completely drew me to love the anime. Also, background music a suitable and was tense at the right moments.
Character: 7/10
Here we go again. Another random kid who wants to do his best. It's the typical shounen character who meets the typical tsundere. Oh wait, no, actually they are not THAT typical.
Narumi may look like the same old clueless dude that seems to be what all main characters sound like in all school-related animes, but he really isn't. He doesn't whine or be useless as often, and most of the time his determination and strength allows him to find out things that other characters miss. Hence, he is more than just a guy who receives growth from the other characters, he contributes to the team as well, and even early on.
Then we come to Alice, who yes, is kind of stereotypical, but actually she's kind of cute. I love it when she blushes and I love how she calls all of her soft toys names (lol what kind of name is Moggadeet?). And as an avid lover of computers, it's a wonder she doesn't need to wear spectacles when she sits 30 cm away from 6 computer screens and just stares at them the entire day. She's abit useless though - I cant' really imagine someone not being able to open a drink can, yet being able to swing a bat (yep that's inconsistency right there).
The other characters, besides maybe Ayaka (main character in arc 3) and Sou/Renji/Yoshiki (main characters in arc 2), unfortunately, are sadly sidelined despite their awesomeness. You have Major, who is the genius inventor from college whom you unfortunately, after watching till the end of the show, have no idea where he comes from or whether he actually has a family. Next, you have Tetsu, whom you pretty much also don't know anything about. Then you have Hiro, the playboy whose promiscuity makes you wonder why he doesn't have aids yet.
Actually, if you think harder about it, you don't really know where Alice comes from either - how did she get so smart? How old is she even? Let's look at Ayaka - sure her dark past is intertwined with her brothers' but what about her interactions with other friends? Couldn't she at least have confided with some of her classmates, she must have some OTHER relationship other than that with Narumi. Her past? Umm... I don't really know. Other family members maybe? Only Sou/Yoshiki, I felt had any real substantial back story to them, but Yoshiki herself, had some lack in her story, since she wasn't a main character.
So in the end, while there is character growth, this is shown ONLY in Narumi, everyone else seems the same start to end, with a little growth in Sou/Alice regarding how useful Narumi is. Character background and development is greatly lacking in most characters, as most of them have linear/monofaceted personalities.
Minus 1 point in growth, 2 points for lack of characterization. But the interactions between the characters are generally good, enjoyable, funny, touching, emotional and genuine. So at least, I applaud for that. The ending part was quite touching, Ayaka x Narumi is quite the destined pair.
Enjoyment: 6/10
I didn't rate this very high on the enjoyment scale, because I had to bring myself to watch through the middle segment of the show, rather than be so hooked that I HAD to watch it. I would have been fine with dropping the series halfway because it started to get slightly uninteresting. But, pretty distinct, strong personalities with interesting quirks and interactions, made the series quite enjoyable overall.
Overall: 6/10
This is actually not too bad. It's two points off full marks. While it didn't fail to deliver a complete and satisfying resolution, it failed to properly fit into any real genre I could think of. I have a feeling it was going for this "Mystery" thing, but honestly, it llacked a lot of suspense.
