But if you're uncertain onwards we go--!
I have a silly rule when it comes to finding new shows to watch. If there is at least one person passionate enough to write a glowing "10" review my likelihood to watch it is like, 50x more than it would be otherwise. That was the case for this show.
And I'm giving it a "10" myself for that reason, because I ended up passionately falling in love with this anime. On a technical level, it probably falls more at a 7-8-ish. Mainly because of the presentation. The character designs are great, the writing is great, and the soundtrack is great. However, it is not animated in any impressive manner, the directing is pretty basic on a technical level, I have no idea what demographic this is aimed at, and the sound effects can be lacking. Which, given this is 2004, much of that makes sense; the early 2000s were a pretty tumultuous time for anime production- still transitioning to an all-digital format, tools for working as such being pretty limited, and people working with it likely being inexperienced. I'd imagine especially so for a long-standing institution like Nippon Animation. But really, there are some ugly moments.
I said at the start that this show is the sort that you'll probably be able to gauge whether you'll enjoy from the synopsis. A mystery with a long and historical past, classic-style design choices, your mature and likely very charming (indeed so) adolescent characters, with just that hint of sci-fi. And of course, everyone will want their taste of these traits in different amounts. For me, this show perfectly balances these traits.
I'm a history nerd- the historical aspect, while not super accurate, added a wonderful air of mystery and depth to the characters' pasts. The characters were fun and had immediate chemistry, it has that wonderful episode 1 moment where you just go "damn that was a charming-ass interaction I gotta see more of that shit" and you get to see some really cute and childish interactions even from the mature characters. It's refreshing. It's absolutely lovely. But I'm also a Tezuka cocksucker so sillyXmature is my bread and butter. Adding on: I don't like sci-fi much, this keeps it simple and blends some whimsical fantasy into the mix- it was never overbearing.
And the mystery itself is so well-woven! Admittedly, I'm easy to please but there was not a single moment where I was bored or didn't desperately want to find out what was next and what was behind it all. Well paced, giving you just the right amount of info to make your own inferences and throwing you some well done misleading hints. All wrapping up in an unvindictive, and satisfying ending. I mean there are some silly things throughout; like at one point a character says their "body was made smaller and smaller" and I guess we're just gonna ignore that this fella was shrunk somehow?? But most everything else was so well done that I was just like, "Okay show, you've answered my other questions I'll give you a pass this time." And I will also admit writing-wise that there are some hokey or pretentious moments, especially early on. I remember in like episode 2 or so Aghi, one of the children, narrates this one quote and it just sounds incredibly silly at that point.
The music is also really great, perfectly fits the emotions of the characters, and adding suspense when it needed to. The sad music is not just sad, there are many feelings in it just like our real emotions. Ueno Kouji, I hope you can be satisfied in knowing that you made a truly phenomenal soundtrack. The ending is also drop-dead gorgeous, the singer's voice is beautiful and the opening- although it took a while to grow on me- became something that I looked forward to understanding more of and listening to as the story went on.
Just a fun additional thing, since this is Nippon animation I assumed it would probably be similar to their World Masterpiece Theater shows. Aimed at a family or younger audience with some intense stuff for the sensitive people but nothing too heavy. Yeah, I wouldn't say that now... If I would have watched this as a kid there are a lot of moments I am confident would have traumatized me. Just- some really unexpectedly violent imagery and very terrifying unforgettable situations for some characters. That may be one of later NA's banes, confused target demographics. I think this was probably a passion project of Nakamura Takashi more than anything, and as that I think he should be proud to call this his masterpiece.
This was my first review, it was probably a bit pretentious but I sincerely loved this anime and it has become one of my all-time favorites despite its flaws. I hope other people will watch and love this anime too. If it sounds interesting to you don't hesitate to watch it!
