To the meat of it. I discovered this anime while browsing MAL for something to watch in the early 2010's. I discovered a few jewels doing just that: 'Juuni Kokuki' or 'Haibane Renmei' amongst others. 'Juuni Kokuki' has been number 1 on all my tops ever since, and will probably never lose this spot. Amongst the reasons i can see for that, i believe some are objective reasons, and others are more a matter of taste and of what i expect of an anime. Important note: i actually love the books better. The books are more violent, grimmy and desperate and help the reader better understand how Youko will titillate insanity at some point. The anime is more a free adaptation. If you liked the anime, go read the books. Even though the story is the same, it is not the same.
Let's start with the seemingly objective reasons. First, the worldbuilding. Whoever read 'The Lord of the Rings' know how Tolkienn mixed common references with European or Celtic (i guess) mythology and a pinch of personal creativity. 'The Lord of the Rings' is a series of books that are part of a much larger project. It draws inspiration from tales well-know amongst British, depicts environements that mix Scotland-like panorama with out of place mythologic elements. As such, while treading through a random, almost well-know forest, you could stumble upon trolls. In my opinion, the fact he used such common references to introduce his creation helped the reader identify a lot with the setting, and in turn, this developed a certain feeling of intimacy with the story and characters, and immersion as these well-know references would suddenly be the stage for otherworldy situations. Magic exists but is mostly unseen and legendary. Tolkienn never planned to stuff flashy crap in your face. What we are talking about here has just nothing to do with any kind of shounen or light novel adaptation. You won't find any sore excuses for cringe inducing clichés here.
The thing is, Fuyumi Ono used the same kind of strategy to build 'Juuni Kokuki' as Tolkienn did for "the Lord of the Rings'. Her base reference is more China than the UK, and if magic does exists, it is more tied to divine or immortal beings. As such, she managed the imbue her story with the same kind of feel Tolkienn created. It is realistic, believable, relatable and subtle. Much the same way as Tolkienn with Frodo, she used Youko's travels to present more and more of this world: the 'almost the same as at home', the '...but there is no doubt that this is not China', as well as the 'what the fuck is even this??'. One other great thing with using an 'almost like in China' context, is that she does not need to go through very lenghty descriptions because she can ground most of her work upon common knowledge (in Japan at least). She created her own mythology and mixed it with chinese-like middle ages to create a disturbing feel that is both otherworldy and familiar. This tension actually feeds nostalgia of Japan a lot for Youko and ends up being a strong thread of the narrative in the first arc, where it becomes so easy to relate with her growing instable psychology.
This brings us to the second aspect: Youko's character. In the anime's first episode, she is depicted as the extreme stereotype of the spineless japanese. Ono purposefully made her this way, and to us westerners, she is even more extreme since we will tend to think Japanese are already extreme in their own right. So if Youko is extreme even amongst japanese... suffice to say that while watching, i considered dropping the anime pretty fast because it looked to me that Youko was the worst possible MC. But as i said, this is purposefully done. It is explained why Youko showcases no personality and always tries to please everyone, while never stating her thoughts, feelings or anything. She only says and does things she believes others expect of her, and dedicated her life to ingratiating herself towards everyone. As a result, all her relationships are fake and shallow, even with her own family. This aspect is fundamental in Japanese society. Not communicating upfront and not showcasing much of oneself publicly is tied to an everyday reality and Ono merely brought the concept to an extreme. Youko's biggest phobia is failing to make people like her. The books depict her in a somewhat more subtle way. It is shown that she does, in fact, have a strong personality and a temper, but that she keeps every nasty thought to herself in order 'not to give people reasons to doubt her personality'. Her red/auburn hairs are, by the way, a pretty interesting element in the beginning that speaks a lot about Youko's character, since her hair color (not black, as every japanese should have them) makes her teachers doubt her morality, but she doesn't really go out of her way to die them in black. While she does not openly dare refuse to die them (she hasn't the courage, as stated all the time in the books), it is shown how she is constantly annoyed by this crap through her inner thoughts. This aspect depicts well the tension there is between her outward, utterly fake attitude and her inner personality. Ono makes Youko evolve, but she is consistent with her character, which is a sign of great writing capabilities to me. As a side note, there was, actually, a scandal in Japan, a few years ago, where a school forced a student to die her hair black because they weren't naturally black... So, even though Ono uses some extremes, everything is grounded in reality in her work. So, back to Youko... basically, to sum things up, she starts out as a bitch.
And she will suffer a lot because of it. 'Juuni Kokuki' showcases what is, in my opinion, the very best way to present a developing character: a character that seems at best average and doesn't seem to have anything special at first, but which ends up thrown in a turmoil of special circumstances that will feed its growth and unearth what makes the character so special. And god, does Youko grows... It is shown in the anime and the books how her evolution first and foremost is tied to her ever-evolving mental state. The evolution of this mental state feels organic and natural to me, and completely makes sense. Ono uses common references that the readers can easily relate with to manage her goal, as i stated above, and the fact that this world, so alike China at first sight, is really so different at the same time is a constant torture for Youko. She will go through many different stages, she will display many previously hidden (or only not displayed publicly) aspects of herself, and at long last manage to understand who she is, and maybe who she wants to be. In short, Youko's character developement is the best i ever saw in anime or books. She outclasses even other characters i loved in other animes like Ange in 'Cross Ange'.
I could go on like that, but i adressed worldbuilding and character developement and this is enough for me. These aspects maks 'Juuni Kokuki' my all time favorite. I could talk about the music, which is amongst the very best i ever heard (the OP particularly). I can talk about the art and animation which are pretty good and pertain to a time when Japan wasn't in dire straits yet for a lack of animators. Although the style is old school, obviously. I could talk about the rest of the cast, too. Many characters being equally obnoxious at first. By the way, Sugimoto never follows Youko in the books and Asano does not exist. As i said, even though the story is more or less the same, it is not the same. I loved the anime, but i feel that the books are even better. Ono is originally a horror author, so she does not hesitate to depict violence, grim and fitlh as it should be done. If you like the anime, try out the books. If you want to know where to find them in english, feel free to MP me.
Story: 10
Ono doesn't feel the need to reinvent the wheel. The story is about the characters and even though the core plot won't be a revolution, the way the story itself is a lot about the wordbuilding and the characters make for a first rate experience.
Art: 7
Art is not the reason why you should watch that. Still, the animation is ok, and the studio took good care to draw the backgrounds and costumes in a way befitting the setting.
Sound: 10
VA is ok, even though at the time, the trend about VA was different. Youko's seiyu worked hard to change her voice along the series. In Youko's voice timber and tone you can feel her evolution. the ED is great, the OST is great, the OP is legendary to me.
Characters: 10
Some may think there is an abusive number of unsufferable bitches in the main cast. This may be true. Except the 3 bitches share a destiny. They quit being unsufferable pretty fast, and it is hard not to get attached to them. Character growth and development is top-rate. Youko is still my number 1. 10 because i fail to see any other anime that did better in this regard.
Enjoyment: 10
Once i started to read the books, i found out i couldn't rewatch the anime anymore. But anime and books are etched in my soul by now. It is only something like 45 episodes, but they all lasted much longer than that for me.
Overall: 10
Perfection does not exists. And even if it existed it would probably be boring. So, this is merely as good as it could get to me.
