But Here is the written Review
Story - 7/10
The story begins as our protagonist Juugo Yama is exiled by his family’s business. And he is forced to transfer to the ‘Special Student Zone’, which is an artificial island, created by Nanana. And Juugo loved being sent here. The Special Student Zone is an island, housing students, providing a ludicrous amount of courses by a huge amount of schools as well. Student’s make up most of its population, hence it’s a educational facility, sort of like a university of some sort. I kind of did wish they elaborate and explored more into detail on the setting of the show.
After getting tricked to live in low end apartment, Juugo must live with a ghost who occupies the apartment and cannot leave the apartment as well, as she, Nanana, was killed in it. And since Jugo doesn’t have the money to move out, he accepts this fact and just goes with it.
The plot is the adventure, Juugo has to go through in order to find out who Nanana’s killer is. He believes, the more of her treasure he finds, the more information he’ll get out of Nanana. So the main premise of the show is a bunch of teenagers, hunting treasure, known as Nanana’s collection. Which are items that contain supernatural powers, which the user can use for their own benefits.
Here is where people will either have a problem or not a problem with the story. That is the amount of plot twists. The show keeps you on your toes and constantly gives plot twists everywhere. So with the amounts of plot twists, it can get confusing to some people. And with being only 11 episodes long, it felt kind of rushed, with the amount of plot they were trying to fit in. However, in those 11 episodes, I’ve never thought, I would love almost every character in the show. The characters usually are the focal point of the plot twists, and this is what makes the show interesting and keeps you on your feet.
Characters - 9/10
I wouldn’t say Juugo Yama is your typical protagonist, he does have a rather interesting backstory which I won’t spoil. Because every character has interesting plot twists. Juugo joins the adventure club in order, to please Nanana, and collect her treasures to find out more about her past, but that’s not all there is. No one ever doubts Juugo’s athleticism, but he does usually get overpowered, because he is the most normal out of everyone in the group. He has great sense of moral, he seems to be the one helping people in need, while being openly perverted, and has a keen eye for things.
The adventure club president is, Isshin Yuiga. As the president of the adventure club he watches over the other club members, while also supplying them with information on where the treasure/ruin is hidden. Now although, he seems like a highly respectable senior, he has the ultimate and yet absurd goal of something you’re probably not going to expect as a student, and he’ll do anything to achieve it. Not going to spoil too much. He’s also apparently popular with the girls, as the club-vice president, Yuu Ibara, has the biggest crush on him, yet he ignores her. Another person who works with the adventure club is Kagetora Tsurezure, who serves as Isshin’s perverted henchmen, and is kind of there for comic relief, despite his serious looking appearance.
Here is our star of and my personal favourite in the series. Tensai Ikkyu. She serves as the brains of the group, often the one who is solving puzzles for the group. She claims to be the world number one master detective, and she deserves that title despite everyone doubting her. She serves as the Sherlock for everyone, as she is usually the first to find out about everyone’s true motives and goes onto explain how the mystery is being solve, and it’s so satisfying when she does it. And every Sherlock needs their Watson, and Daruku Hoshino, the fan service character, with this plot twist. She’s not a boy, but a trap.
And let’s not forget who the show is named after, Nanana Ryuugajo. Nanana is actually a ghost who was murdered 10 years prior to the main plot, by an unknown assailant. Because of this unfinished business of not knowing her killer, she cannot rest in peace. All she does all day is eat pudding and play video games, and being ghost, it really helps with that. She used to love adventuring when she was alive and hence built the island, to help young people adventure as well. She gives the adventures hints on where the locations are, and when they’ve found the treasure she tells them how they work. Now Nanana could easily tell the others where all her treasure locations are, but she simply doesn’t want to spoil the fun for anyone. She lives as NEET being bound to her room, she is rather lonely, that is until Juugo moved in.
There is a lot different characters in this anime. And all of them have an interesting satisfying motivation on wanting to collect treasure, and it’s that motivation that leads to plot twists and interesting unsuspecting conclusions. However, I do wish some characters got explored more on. Because every character has their own motivations, it can kind of be hard to keep track on them. Also no gender preference on characters, it’s a good split between boys and girls and traps.
Animation - 7/10
Another A-1 Pictures animation, you’re going to expect bright colours and high quality animation. You’re going to get that in Nanana’s Buried Treasure. I can say the art style especially for the characters is a bit different to the usual anime art style. The characters eyes are very bright, and don’t cover up their whole faces. Also the action scenes where well animated and choreographed as well, it was basic hand to hand combat, but do wish some it lasted longer, especially how most of them ended, anti-climatically. Also the animation for the setups on the puzzle/ruins in show is interesting to watch, on how the challenge gets made. Despite that, watching a mixture of the puzzle switching to gears in between can repetitive, since it’s the same gear tools, which sometimes doesn’t make sense.
Sometimes the animation can drop a bit, but for the most part its fine and good to look at. Some of the 3D rendering can look out of place, but not enough to make it blantly distracting and obvious. It’s a fine clean, bright animated series to look at. I may be biased, but the opening song is catchy, however the animation for it, is kind of plain. While the song for the ending is forgettable, but the animation for it seems a bit better, not much though.
Enjoyment - 8/10
For me I really enjoyed watching the show for the characters. Each main character were interesting and fun to watch, it was really satisfying finding out each of their motives. That being said, the story can be a bit confusing because of all the plot twists. They’ve tried to fit so much into just 11 episodes, so it wouldn’t surprise me if some of it was hard to follow or made no sense. And I believe if you’re not the person who likes going into too much detail, you’re probably not going to enjoy this anime. The humour in the show is not overly funny, but it is quick humour, it happens quickly just to break some small tension here and there, which gives you a quick giggle. I enjoyed watching setups for the puzzles, although it can get repetitive with the gears. Also enjoyed watching the action sequences, but I wished some of them ended better, while also wishing for a more satisfying ending. Because a recurring theme to this anime is ‘anti-climatic.’
Verdict - 7.5
I think this show is well animated, especially the action scenes and setup scenes for the gears, and the characters have a slightly different art that other anime, which is refreshing. The story is hit or miss. At times it can be confusing and will not appeal to some people, but at the same time its interesting because it keeps you on your toes and if you like that complicated stuff, you’re going to like it. But most of all, the characters are all really interesting, well developed characters. They all have a different motive onto finding the treasures and when they’re truly revealed, it’s satisfying, because most of the time Tensai does it.
And with that, I give Nanana’s Buried Treasure a 7.5/10. Because you get it? Nana means 7 in Japanese and a na on it’s own it’s kind of a half, therefore Nanana. It’s an enjoyable series if you’re into complicated plots and interesting mystery characters, but because of it’s difficult to follow storyline, a lot people may get turned off.
