This season, there was one show that's more than enough to take on the premise of the world at large and its studies on AI, and that's mangaka Kyuuri Yamada's AI no Idenshi a.k.a The Gene of AI, a manga that lasted 87 chapters within 8 volumes, serialised between November 2015 and August 2017. But the anime, which is only announced 5 years later and finally aired this Summer season, is just sad to say that any appeal that the manga had that was heavily exclusive to Japan, did not catch on in the West, not just for anyone trying to translate the already completed manga series, but its social traffic is not the best either, despite obtaining the Excellence Award in the manga division of the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2018.
Similar to American medical profession drama shows like House, M.D. and Grey's Anatomy, AI no Idenshi focuses on a world where AI has taken over much of its processes, split into regular humans and android-like Humanoids, who need maintenance as and when it is necessary. And one place where the Humanoids go to receive their checkups is at this unassuming clinic called the Sudo Novo Medical Clinic, headed by its sole doctor, Hikaru "Mogadeet" Sudo and his AI assistant, Jay, alongside his assistant Risa Higuchi. For the most part, it's an episodic nature of discovering and discussing what makes Humanoids tick, ranging from personal areas like family and friends to scenarios of how they would react to love and romance. In essence, Humanoids aren't that different from humans, and the thought processes that arise from this do make for interesting plot narratives about the importance of AI driving the future of mankind, either into prosperity or destruction.
That said, the one narrative that get you head-scratching is on the side of humans wanting to implement Humanoid-like features. And one example of it is the copy-exact nature of real humans into humanoids, so much so that they are indistinguishable from each other. This can especially be detrimental if reflected on a familial scale, and Sudo's life is not a purely blank state either, because he was once a victim of the measures that certain people will take as a way to gloss over that these practices "will improve" his life, only to suffer heavy consequences later on. Not all Humanoids are good, and neither will humans want to push the available technology, even if the scientific progressions are proven or not, just to prove that "AI is the future, and we should all embrace its judgements upon humanity, regardless of whether they're correct or not."
If there is one thing you should know about this show, it is that the production is not its swan song, and neither is the direction that the anime took, that ultimately feels like the show is a chore to watch, being very sluggish. Partly because of storyboarder-cum-director Yuzo Sato, whose directorial duties include the most recent work of Winter 2022's Hakozume: Kouban Joshi no Gyakushuu a.k.a Police in a Pod, it feels like the production committee had a false start of wanting someone reputable to direct a show (you know, considering it's Madhouse), but that they could not find a suitable one, so Yuzo Sato had to be called in for the job, doing the bare minimum that he could. And looking at his biography, it seems as if Yuzo Sato had been the 3rd-rate director that was always given the "last resort" call, simply because he has not been doing much within the last 40 years of work in the anime industry, even from the time that he was brought into Madhouse since the early 2000s to be trained to become a competent director. But in the near 20 years since, I'd reckon that Yuzo Sato lost his touch, and that unfortunately, speaks volumes about this show's adaptation, which could've been better in almost every possible way.
Also, this is a bit of a transition period for Madhouse, as they're trying to get back to their former grand slam state (which is set to return with Sousou no Frieren a.k.a Frieren: Beyond Journey's End next season) after the setback since the early 2020s, producing shows that for the most part, have been on a never-ending tick-tock cycle of good and bad in-between seasons. But if you are to only focus on this show, it feels like the production team never had any confidence in the anime, opting to animate the bare minimum while showcasing low quality visuals that while fits the dark and gloomy vibes of the anime, it wasn't the same Madhouse that we've come to expect from.
The music aspect is interesting at best. While Aile The Shota's OP song perfectly fits as the "futuristic" centerpiece for the anime, it's the visuals, of which some are created by Unreal Engine. It's definitely unique in that regard; I'll give it that. GReeeeN's ED song is a mellow song that has all the characteristics of a song that speaks volumes to all. Overall, cool songs that each have a distinction of their very own.
The problem is, niche topics like AI and the future of mankind are accompanied by the far and few in-between, and despite AI no Idenshi being a standout show just for its themes, it really isn't enough to justify a show that's produced as it is this way. I appreciate that shows like this are brought out to break the usual Isekai, fantasy, romance molds that always finds its way into each and every season, but they need to double down on what makes them stand out, which sadly, this show doesn't do the original source material justice.
Skip this show if it doesn't intrigue you, but it doesn't pay to at least watch a single episode of this, yeah...?
