And coincidentally, what with LA finishing the first season of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex quite recently as LA writes this review, this anime is a different take on this kind of setting.
So Koukaku no Pandora follows a very distinct formula after it's introductory first episode or two. Vlind voiced by Satsumi Matsuda starts the episode off with her running gag of never saying her name out loud, next focuses on our main leads Clarion voiced by Manami Numakura a robot assigned to be Nene Nanakorobi's bodyguard, this being due to Clarion's original owner Uzal voiced by Atsuko Tanaka ordering her to protect Nene, have Takumi Korobase voiced by Marie Miyake try to spy or her trying to secretly hack Clarion or get her hands on B.U.E.R and fail and once a huge incident (or just a simple problem arises) have Nene and Clarion "transform" in the most yuriest way possible (don't ask) and have Nene effectively solve the problem just like that. Ohh and have sprinkles of a secret "evil but not really" organization here and there making some backstage dealings before the major plotline arrives. End Episode. Rinse and repeat until Episode 10.
Yeah, the show is incredibly formulaic and at worse, it's diabetically induced with it's yuri elements and seems to care more about it than it's world building (though it still does world building) as well as it's thematic themes of "world peace" which is heavily manifested in Nene due to her belief that she can bring "World Peace" to the island of Cenacle Island which is a cybernized island filled with problems. The yuri elements are blatant to say the least what with Nene's transformation is having Nene go near Clarion's crotch region and touching a spot to activate her Decode series (you just had to ask...), Clarion and Nene's relationship has the entire bodyguard tsundere and ditzy main protagonist vibe all the way through as expected moe to drive the point that this anime is more about the girls relationship with each other than the world building.
The anime feels like it wants to dive into topics like "appearance before personality" through the difference between those people cybernized completely and just being human with cybernized parts (look at Nene's situation) which is something Ghost in the Shell does sure, but Ghost in Shell actually looked and dived into it's topic subtly, Koukaku no Pandora only lightly looks at this topic but bashes you in the head with this topic like a blaring SOS sign that yes...we get it don't look at appearance alone. It's other themes it has though LA is gonna be loose with this theme is that overly reliance on technology though it is a bit ironic in this regard due to the fact that Nene USES advanced technology to solve any wanton problem at hand for the "sake of world peace". LA's biggest problem with this is that the driving theme of this anime is world peace and Nene essentially being the almighty janitor EVERY SINGLE TIME, sure the anime KNOWS this and the anime is suppose to be a story about how a girl meets girls to achieve world peace as it's central focus instead, but LA just wished it could develop it's other themes as well and not just be a throwaway theme to add to it's screentime, though it is welcomed nonetheless.
To this anime's credit, Koukaku no Pandora KNOWS what it is, even from it's tagline, it's about a girl meets girl story, NOT about Nene's world peace beliefs and the technological world this anime has set itself in (but more an element to it's story at best) and this is best presented with our two main leads of Nene and Clarion, Nene is the moe yuri element to this entire anime and sure she's the all mighty janitor to this entire anime but her moe tendencies do link to her and Cenacle Island's beliefs of wanting world peace through all the gibberishingly technological changing world the anime has set up to it. On the other hand Clarion is the more serious one and the other half to the yuri element of Nene's moe side of things, always serious and deadpan and is the PRIMARY source of badassery and tackling the issues that Nene presented and trying to solve it. Koukaku no Pandora's genre elements may be slightly weird and off for some wanting to see a more serious cyberpunk thriller as such, but Koukaku no Pandora just isn't this and IS NOT it's intention of doing so, it's simply a girl meets girl story interlaced with cyberpunk elements and to that LA will say it DOES have some merit in seeing something different even for the cyberpunk "grungy" genre we see time and again.
If there was another strength LA would say to Koukaku no Pandora is the fact that this anime does try alot to keep it's minor cast (aside from Uzal because, mastermind and everything will be explained thus no story and all) in the loop even after their introductory episodes and even if the running gag characters like Vlind are nothing but running gags, these characters DO get their screentime and aren't throwaway characters (though Vlind is a bad example...hmmm Ian Kurtz voiced by Junichi Sawabe and Bunny voiced by Rie Murakawa are better examples).
In terms of animation by Studio Gokumi and AXsiZ, the animation is ok at best with some weird stylistic choice of having Clarion only be it a white silhouette only at times for no reason, sure the anime is subjected to comedic chibi animation time and again even when it's NOT trying to be comedic and the animation does have technical merit in it's background and cybertech architecture is decent at best. The character designs are are exotic as the background though making the anime style expectedly moe. Overall, the animation is all over the place but seems to have some focus to knowing it's own style of both being moe, comedically chibi and detailed cybertech.
In terms of voice acting, LA found Sanae Fuku would voiced Nene to be expectedly hyper genki, but NEARLY annoying to say the least, Manami Numakura was LA's favourite voice actor of her voicing the deadpan yet badass Clarion (and is LA's favourite character). Junpei Morita as B.U.E.R waxes poetic and his probably the most unique yet annoying vocals LA heard from the anime right next to Marie Miyake as Takumi what with her "daiya!" accenting. Finally Atsuko Tanaka as Uzal was decent for what was her screentime she was given. If you didn't want hyper moe vocals littered throughout the anime...your not gonna like this voice cast this much. As for LA...it was "meh".
The final arc of Koukaku no Pandora does get somewhat serious with Clarion being the clear goal and for a girl meets girl story it's typical for this to be the case and with it's cyberpunk "grungy" elements creeping into the forefront, LA thought it kinda lost it's way, what it's own it was trying to develop during the more episodic format but still having the stake of Clarion kept LA interesting albeit slight moodwhiplashed however what with the B.U.E.R, Takumi and the clandestine organization finally comes into focus by this final arc along with Clarion and Nene's involvement in all this during the first 2 episodes and it reaches a climax where LA didn't expect and coming from an anime about two cyborgs girls meeting each other and wanting world peace, the tone this climax went...became expected especially from this kind of anime that firmly knows what it is, this is mainly because our main antagonist wanting the cliche world domination but wanting world peace through it (which makes him a more sympathetic yet arrogant villain who has the same beliefs as Nene's but HOW he does it is vastly different). This final arc if anything brought upon a book ends to this entire anime and at the very least tied all plotlines concerning B.U.E.R and our main leads' wish for world peace and because of that as well as Uzal's scheming that bore fruit from the first two episodes...LA will say this ending is acceptable and typical of the anime by that point.
Koukaku no Pandora is overall a pretty mediocre anime with some wasted potential it had for a premise even as an anime blatantly paying homage to Ghost in the Shell among other mythological gags to add to it's name. Koukaku no Pandora however does have one thing going for it and it KNOWS it wants to be a cybernized yuri anime and "loves" being blatant to self-aware levels about it and LA can't fault this anime for wanting to do what it wants no matter if the audience doesn't like it or not. It's better than an anime that DOESN'T know what the hell their doing anyways...
