Code-E is a fun but short anime that brings mixed bag of opinions. From the start the show throws the user a pretty deep question, "How would you live your life if you can't touch practically anything?"
Story (Good)
That is the problem our main character faces on a daily basis. Set in the not too distant future where more people are more reliant on electronics and automation, Chinami Ebihara is a perfect example of a victim of circumstance (with the help of stereotypical moe). Well you see, Chinami can't touch anything electrical because she emits EMP waves from her body. And thats not a fun power to have in the information age. This show pretty much follows her around and shows how a woman like herself would live such a difficult life. The story may sound a little off the wall but you will most likely actually feel sorry for Chinami and get more interested in her life. That is untill you meet her friends...
Character (Decent)
The Ebihara is a perfect example of a typical family, mom and dad work, they drink beer and they love each other. Reminds me of my own family practically. Chinami's chemistry to her family is executed perfectly in my opinion. Perfectly as in you can actually feel sorry for them and see that they actually care for each other even though they all live busy lives. But as i stated before, her 'friends' kind of break up that perfect harmony. Well she starts off without having any, then she befriends the cute girl that sits in front of her (love her twin tails btw). That is all fine and dandy then, some guy named Kotaro Kannagi enters to the fray. How they meet isn't that important but one cant realize how this stupid, arrogant, and borderline stalker becomes Chinami's friend and appears throughout the whole series. On top of that this stalker has a very cute and nice (and rich) girlfriend named Sonomi Kujo. The further you progress in the story it becomes more apparent that this mix of friends is what brings down this show in terms of common sense and ridiculousness. Also I'm not a real fan of the main male role being stupid as hell. I really liked the Chinami family but for the most part, everything else was very poor. There are more characters but its up to you to think they're that important to the show or not.
Sound (Fair)
The sound is pretty mediocre as well. The seiyu's do their duty and pull off perfect voice acting (as usual) where they all act their part fine and there are not problems with them. But everything else is average. With the exception of school room chatter, environmental sounds was very lacking. A lot of nature scenes, but not a lot of nature sounds, a lot of city scenes, but not a lot of city noise. Theres nothing terrible about the sound, air brakes of the bus hiss and pop like normal, static crackles and zaps, etc. But nothing makes the sound spectacular or to write about with the exception of the voice cast. Even the opening and closing songs are actually pretty bad, but I'll leave it at that.
Art (Very Good)
The art and animation is probably the shows saving grace. If you don't care about most of the characters as much (like me), then you will be at least intrigued by the 'not too distant future' they tried to make up. Theres automated buses, video billboards, everyone has cellphones that can do anything, and they even has a few DoCoMo ads for good measure. My favorite part of the technology where the school blackboards were essentially a refined version of a Microsoft Surface (google it). Since technology is also about small things some great detail were given to some scenes. All the technology was fun to look at but they even took the time to show a lot of nature and non technological areas to show that the WHOLE world isn't that engrossed in technology yet. The art itself is pretty much standard fare for a 2008 anime. Crisp, clean, colorful, and moderately detailed. Its not gonna win anything for the art but then again it doesn't look like Speed Racer either.
Enjoyment (Good)
Overall, the show shows a lot of promise and the Code-E universe was so intriguing that I couldn't stop watching. No matter how much I hate Kannagi I can't help but look forward to the next season. I hope they make even more convincing inventions the next time around.
Verdict (6.4)
