Okay I think there's no debate as to what is wrong with Munou na Nana : the goddamn low IQ canon fodder of a character ensemble. They flat out suck, their development is terrible, we are not given time to really know them (they have very simplistic personalities anyway). There are a few lovers who can even die without us giving a sorry shit about it. It's near being unforgivable how weak character building is.
The crime mystery aspect of it, though being quite comprehensible and overall pretty solid technically, really suffers from the stupidity of the victims. They kinda ruin the smart stuff in this show and the author really tries hard to entertain us with some great chess-like mindgames (these get really A-grade in the manga btw). It would have been so great to have more insight in regard of all these characters who fall victim before the MC. Maybe the first episode format needed to be repeated more that once, meaning we would have been closer to every characters and their wits, before they finally checkmated by Nana-chan's. Anyway there is a major issue with the story-telling. We are emotionally tethered to people only but too late in the show. Even the first episode not being subtle enough and seeming really off from the get-go, because of the gimmicky false MC and Nana's really pushy behavior, fails to make us care about anybody. Nana's tragic past should have been introduced much sooner, maybe from the second episode, maybe only partially, bit by bit. She is the greater part of this show.
After the 13th episode, I think Nana has been successfully fleshed out, thanks to the insights we get on her flaws and her relationship with Michiru. Even with all the weak spots aforementioned Nana grows out to be a really likeable character. Following her thinking has been really interesting and the VA is doing an awesome job. Her schizogirl personality and her facial expressions helps a lot with us giving her attention and investing our emotions. Yes she starts off as being kinda deranged, but that being said, we understand quite quickly that she is maybe the sanest person on-board ; the main flaw of the story is once again the fact that the author fails quite miserably to depict the Talented as being essentially monstrous rather than retarded, Mirichu-chan being herself the exception who makes Nana's iron-will and certitudes crumble violently.
Technically you know there's not much money nor time invested in the show. It's by no mean ugly, it's simple and efficient, with details on critical scenes. Clearly the supporting characters lack a little bit of something, they have no charisma whatsoever. I think the visuals needed to be maybe darker, more mature. Concerning the sound, I feel like the music has been very discreet. Scenes with strong emotional value are accompanied with rather generic violin, so pretty forgettable. Now the ED, I've found it to be really cool and efficient, always coming in after a systematic cliffhanger. The strong aspect of the show is the voice acting, I've never felt anything was uncanny about it ; the actors did a great job in a show that is kind of an emotional roller-coaster at times, especially the MC's VA.
In the end the path from manga to anime should have been a stronger, more free adaptation, with more depth and a different storytelling. In a nutshell, more work, more characterization and whatnot's, but then I guess this would have needed a lot more episodes. I went in by curiosity, I stayed for the MC. Being a reader of the source material, I do believe there's some potential in it, things become really interesting at around chapter 50, but it's a really long way to go, as the story from the end on this first season up to there, gets kinda weird and awkward ; stuff that has low probabilities of making the cut in anime format, without an overhaul of the story-line. So I'll watch a second season sure, but I won't bet my savings on it!
