A relaxing, low-key slice-of-life drama about dictionaries and the people who make them. The image of a Ferris Wheel is used quite often, because just as a Ferris Wheel is fun but always in motion, a dictionary is in a never ending process of preparation and revision.
It's definitely a 'sit back and chill out' rather than an 'on the edge of your seat' type of show. The one big issue comes a little after the halfway point when the story makes a time skip of several years without any warning and it can take a minute to readjust if you're not paying attention.
ART & SOUND
The character animation is very good and stays on model. The backgrounds may not be the very best I've ever seen, but it is cool to several recognizable spots from Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood- the city's hub of bookstores and publishing houses. I can't help but think The Great Passage looks a bit like Miss Hokusai.
The sound is mostly low-key background music aside from the energetic OP and a military style marching tune that played when the team was making their final push to finish the dictionary. Voice acting is solid but nothing really stood out.
CHARACTERS
This show made me realize just how rare it is to have adults in anime who actually act like recognizable adults. For example, shows like Bakuman, Shirobako, and New Game! are all workplace shows with casts who are ostensibly adults but still act like anime characters. The members of the Genbu Publishing Dictionary Department behave like real people without the trope-y anime personalities which would be wildly out of place in a story like this. Majime's love of linguistics and social awkwardness are often contrasted, there's a definite irony to such a highly literate man having so much trouble communicating. The time skip hurts the cast a bit, as some characters who had significant roles in the beginning are suddenly sidelined .
OVERALL
Too bad this show flew under the radar when it aired, but I can see why. It's definitely out of the ordinary with a more mature tone than most shows, and being exiled to the remote land of Amazon Anime Strike exclusives couldn't have helped its publicity. This show is a good one for older anime fans.
