Zaregoto is a Nisioisin show. Who ever told you it was a mystery probably told you PMMM is a kids show, and Shokugeki No Soma is a cooking manga. Bottom line, if you like that Nisioisin flavor you're gonna like this OVA, if you don't, well, at least ep. 7 has a beautifully animated scene directed by Akiyuki Shinbo that's worth the 8 ep. price of admission.
Without reading any of the other reviews I can tell you what they're gonna say. Zaregoto is a slow build. The main character is an edgelord. It's a little bit too much of a stale whodunnit? without a sense that something tangible is at stake. Yeah, forget that noise. Like Monogatari, the big flashy genre set-pieces are sideshows, the character drama is the main event. All the mansions and murders and mauve color palettes only really matter to the extent that they give us greater insight into the characters themselves, the demons they're wrestling with, and whether or not they can actually overcome them. Deep breath. So yeah, the story starts with a lot of talking heads and not a lot of lopping heads. That's the point. When the characters and the hidden forces that drive them are the meat of the story its natural to spend 2-3 episodes listening to them subtly unveil the workings of their inner psyche. Of course, this is what makes Boku (MC-kun) seem like a member of the edge nobility. You already know him, he's the world-weary hoodie-donning teenager who abuses his privilege as narrator to preach his profound-as-a-puddle philosophy of not caring. Thankfully the show knows better. Half the fun of Zaregoto is watching the people around him pick away at his shell. He's a moaner, but he's not trash. You genuinely hope he'll evolve into a better person by the end of the series.
What are you waiting for? I gave you the bottom line in the first paragraph. Stop reading reviews and just go watch the thing!
