The show showed quite early on that it wasn't going to take itself seriously. There is no puzzle to solve or riddles to figure out. It's a ride with family drama because they are quite a dysfunctional family. Which our main character Juri explained to us in the first episode. The show is about the people in this household that don't have their shit together. That is why the most responsible people in the house like the two mothers where not dragged into the stasis.
I'm just a bit pissed by reviews that wrote this show off as straight out shit. It's all about taste when it comes to Kokkoku. If you like characters with realistic take on an unrealistic situation then yeah you'll most likely like it. But if you want answers for all the questions that Kokkoku made then you'll be deeply disappointed. I think in episode two when Juri's grandfather answered her father's question about how the the stasis works, is Kokkoku in a nutshell. The grandfather doesn't have the answer for all those scientific/logical questions. Kokkoku's author doesn't either. So to make the story believable the character has to be believable. That's it. Whether or not they are is actually our view on human behavior which is bias to all.
It's hard to give this anime a review because I viewed it as quite realistic or reasonable but other might not. Even if you find it reasonable then it might not even be your taste. As said, don't watch it and expect an action filled mystery. That I guarantee you it's not. Maybe somewhat but not for the most part. Talking about bias, cause I view this anime as a quite heartwarming family drama with some supernatural twist.
Anyways here's the usual scores and short explanations.
Story: 6
I give the story a 6 cause it was a bit lazily planned out and it's not a new concept but still some originality that made it interesting and fairly executed. In the end it was never about stasis or mystery. Just family drama. That was fine by me. (Also it is a bit about accepting the inevitable deaths and go on with life and "Oh, don't like how this ending? Fuck you. It's intended and ambiguous, get over it." kind of thing. )
Art: 4
Decent. It was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Not outstanding at all. Just decent. There are some CG scenes but it wasn't enough to make want to gauge out my eyes at least.
Sound: 6
I find Juri's voice a bit annoying sometimes but that's me. There's no soundtrack that stood out much. The opening was good though.
Character: 7
Yeah I liked them. Sure the other cult members were flushed down easily, they had no personalities and that's kinda disappointing. I mean personalities/characters can be shown in different ways but Kokkoku just "nah". The main characters were well done in my opinion. They weren't super realistic and complex but it wasn't bad at all. Every choice that they made showed that they have some kind of thought and it reflected their personalities quite well. I liked that.
Enjoyment: 7
I liked that their choices reflected their personalities. It was plausible to me so I enjoyed it even though the world building were kinda messy and lazy. It's a perfect late night binge that isn't trying to be more than what it is. Easy to comprehend and that's it. It was wholesome, I wouldn't wish for another season though.
Overall: 7
Uh yeah.
