I'd describe the world this takes place in as a fascist monarchy. Culturally, it felt like a mix of France and Germany but not overtly Nazi-inspired (aside from the uniforms). It also felt like a mid-20th-century time period but with some modern technology added like cell phones and desktop computers. It was peculiar. Sometimes a random piece of technology would appear in a scene and it would seem very unusual and break my immersion for a moment.
This anime is about a political conspiracy that unfolds painfully slowly over the course of the show. Most of the characters are government officials in the ACCA department and/or belong to the ruling monarchy in some way. There is inadequate exposition, particularly during the early episodes. This anime tries to be 'show don't tell', but this is not the right setup for a subtle conspiratorial political plotline. This is definitely a show that requires world building and background information, and its deficiency in this regard is a major issue. I often felt like I was watching a promo trailer or something because it frequently seemed like I was just randomly dropped into a scene with zero context or ability to comprehend the significance of the dialogue. I wasn't given a reason to care about anything or anyone in this show. Literally, putting a 1-minute exposition blurb by a narrator with visual aids in every few episodes would enhance this show tremendously. There is no broader context to what is happening in the show and it almost just feels like a nonsensical fever dream, particularly during the earlier episodes. The story feels totally aimless for much of the runtime.
Pretty much the entire cast is unlikeable or at least lacking personality. The little sister character is annoying and airheaded. The MC (Jean) is a memorably awful character. He has zero personality at all and resembles a chainsmoking beached fish. He is such an incredibly dull character, and what's even weirder is how he's adored everywhere he goes. There's also Niino, who is chairman of the Jean fan club and is his stalker BF (not quite literally). Other characters include a large number of ACCA organization members, nearly all of whom are underdeveloped. Many of the ACCA members could have been removed from the cast and the story would have worked fine without them; it seems the author needed some extras to use up the remaining silly hairstyles they had sitting around.
The scriptwriting in this is shockingly awful. Mundane comments about smoking tobacco are relentlessly included in the script for seemingly no reason at all (literally the MC's entire personality, aside from being borderline narcoleptic, is that he's a smoker). Also, whoever wrote this show clearly loved sweets and baked goods, because they are constantly inserted into the script AD NAUSEAM. The dialogue in general is incredibly dull and mindnumbing. Everything in the script is so banal and pointless. I really can't stress enough how unbelievably dull and monotonous the dialogue in this show is. It's almost hard to believe it was even meant to be entertainment. It's astonishing this anime even got greenlit, especially with such a seemingly high budget. This script is so torturously monotonous they should have broadcasted it on repeat at Waco (perhaps they will relate to the fascist themes in the story!); even if the Branch Davidians are burning alive, the real torment will come from having to hear another goddamn conversation about smoking.
Throughout the show the MC visits different districts of the kingdom, each of which have different cultures, climate, and are subject to their own unique set of regulations. In theory this sounds very interesting, but the actual product is so lackluster. Usually little of each district is shown during the visits, and not much detail in general is provided. It doesn't take long for the conversations during these travels to devolve into "dude cigarettes lmao." These trips were great opportunities for exposition and world building, but their potential was not capitalized upon at all. It's just shocking because people are constantly talking during these trips, yet the conversations contain so little information! The level of wasted potential is truly staggering. The world building in general for this anime is done very poorly.
Despite this supposedly being a mystery show, it seems like there was zero effort whatsoever put into creating suspense. Midway through the season, there is a hugely important reveal (I won't spoil it, or specify which episode), but the way it is dropped is so nonchalant and flat. This could have been a dramatic moment but instead it was just randomly inserted into the script as casually as the MC talks about goddamn pastries. It was unbelievably strange. I was so bewildered I had to rewind the scene because I thought I misinterpreted the dialogue.
There are eventually some major plot developments during the final few episodes, some of which were inadequately foreshadowed IMO. Despite the seriousness of these developments, I was still left with a feeling of inadequate payoff in terms of that being the climax. It was dissatisfying and underwhelming, especially after enduring the long dull journey to get there. Much of this is in the execution of these scenes and the overall poor direction of the show. There is zero suspense whatsoever, and there is no feeling of catharsis at all when things are resolved, despite the ridiculously drawn-out build up. The climax of the story, including the final episode, is incredibly underwhelming and you definitely should not get your hopes up for it. Please don't justify to yourself continuing to watch this show because you're expecting some big reveal at the end – trust me it's not worth it.
I would describe the art style as being like retro anime but with a modern polish while also retaining its organic feeling. It was crisp and refined but also somewhat dull and lacking creativity. Although the character designs are unique, I think I disliked more of them than I liked. The droopy fish-like eyes of the MC being one ever-present example. Also, having most of the cast wear similar bland government uniforms made for a dull visual experience; they could have had way more fun with the outfits and put more creativity and variety into them. Instead, nearly everyone in the cast wears the exact same uniform most of the time, which just reinforces the relentlessly monotonous feeling of this anime. However, the setting did look decent overall. It appeared fairly realistic but, similarly to the outfits, with not much personality or variety. It would have been nice to have something more interesting and with more artistic flair to look at while listening to the droning dialogue of this show. It is still crisp and polished though, don't get me wrong. There is not a single blemish to be found really. However, even though the production quality is solid, this anime still feels half-baked (and I don't mean the goddamn pastries) due to how poorly executed the story is.
I would say the cinematography was above average overall, although inconsistent. Shot composition often did a good job of featuring the setting. Variable focus effects are sometimes used to give the visuals more depth. That said, the animation in this is not dynamic at all. Stills appear very frequently and it felt like the bare minimum of character movement was used.
The voice for Niino (the MC's stalker BF) is unique and suits his role well. Conversely, I found the voice acting of the MC (Jean) as underwhelming as his personality. Everyone else had unremarkable voicework. As for music, I personally don't like jazz, and there is a lot of it in the OST. It seems well produced but it just isn't my cup of tea. There are a few alright piano tracks though.
Lastly, I want to mention that the consistently low-key calm atmosphere of this show made it suitable for when I was tired or just didn't want to watch anything too high energy – this anime was reliably chill and nobody ever yelled in my ear. I suppose this is a positive aspect – it is the main reason I was even able to watch this show to completion.
My overall rating: 2/10
This anime is literally just videogame-NPC dialogue played over a low-tempo jazz soundtrack. I'm not exaggerating, that's literally what this show is. The dialogue is so dull it's bewildering. Despite this apparently being a mystery show, it fails to induce any feeling of suspense or tension whatsoever, and is overall incredibly boring to watch. The lack of exposition is also crippling, particularly during the first half of the show where there is zero context at all for the events (or lack thereof) taking place. Throughout all this the MC has the personality of a beached fish and pretty much the entire cast is unlikable. Furthermore, although the production quality is high, both the art style and screenplay leave much to be desired. The visuals being quite polished doesn't change the fact that they are boring and dull. This anime doesn't even feel like entertainment.
Regardless of all this, it was reliably chill. There is basically zero high-tempo music and nobody ever yells. So, if you're looking for a show to fall asleep to, this would be an excellent choice for that. Plus, you won't miss anything if you pass out halfway through, I promise!
There is a 47-min sequel OVA which I masochistically hatewatched; the setting looked nice and the visuals in general were a notch above the TV anime. However, all of the flaws I addressed above persisted. This OVA was just as astonishingly dull as the TV series.
I did not watch the special shorts but I bet they're awful. I did watch the Blurays though for the record.
