Story: First, this anime is more a slice-of-life than mystery, and should be treated as such. Each episode is warm and more serves to expand the audience's perception of people and what's possible than to get them to unravel a big, complicated plan. And because it's more of a slice-of-life, the stories depicted are fresh and unexpected, and take a vastly more liberal tone with the characters than many of its conservative peers in the same genre. To which, it should be noted that included in that liberalism is a "take-it-however-you-like" approach, adding enough scenes to nudge you into thinking about a possibly queerplatonic relationship between the main characters. As this is an underlying, building theme, it can be uncomfortable for viewers who are not prepared for/interested in it.
My biggest complaint is--as it seems to be the case with many animes--towards the last few episodes. There's a great build-up near the end, leaving the remaining unrelated episodes to fall a little flat. It's greatest/most involved plot was unfortunately a little contrived, but more spoke towards a situation than, again, a complicated or even compelling story.
Animation: Lackluster. Not a complete eyesore, but not stellar, either. That does include Richard, the most "eye-catching" person in the series. I do like the look of the gems, but it clashes with the mundane animation in the series.
Sound: Unremarkable, sans Sakurai. Next.
Characters: Richard steals the show for me, and my love for him carried me all the way to episode 11. He's full of contrasts and telltale quirks, and that's what makes him stand out. He also balances out very well with Seigi, who...has all of the altruistic recklessness of Watanuki Kimihiro and only 50% of his success. I found myself with a bad case of Second Hand Embarrassment with some of Seigi's actions, but somehow, the duo manages to pull through to the end. Unfortunately, other to tell a story or prove a point, most of the side characters have a one-dimensional purpose, and we don't see them more than once or twice. To varying degrees, Seigi, Richard, and Tanimoto endure development over the 12 episodes.
Conclusion: It's a quick, soft, novel, and digestible watch (see: slice-of-life). Its background liberalism caters well to those who like a little fanservice and nuance, but is still conservative enough to check a few boxes...although that does get muddy later on, especially with its implications. It tries to strive for a little of everything (Drama, Romance, Mystery (???), etc.) but doesn't quite pull off anything fully. As a result, you might watch it once, but chances are, you might not be interested enough to watch it twice.
