I was intrigued by the very first few episodes and this quickly became a series I was obsessed with. When I went to Japan I also made a point to quickly visit Ikebukuro to take a few pictures where the series took place.
I haven't written many reviews but this series definetly deserves one.
The first thing I want to touch on is rhe characters. Holy smokes are the characters good. That there is no main character might be the reason this series is so good and every episode feels intriguing. Well written, there's some genuine development and overall a great cast of characters. One of the main aspects in the stroy we follow is to get it from everyones different perspective which adds so much depth to the narrative. One thing though is that the opening which always has the names of the "main characters" or the characters whose story follow became a bit crowded at the later seasons and I didn't really see the need to add all of them into the opening but that is just a minor thing.
The other big thing that I think sets this apart from other anime is the atmosphere. This is a bit harder to explain but I'll try. The feeling I got from watching this is that I'd almost like to be there and experience everything, and in a way I did. There's always this lingering feelig of mystery surrounding events that get resolved, but sometimes not completely which leads to other questions. The supernatural tag is done really well here, a lot of supernatural elements that ad to the overall mystery, but not too much that will ruin the story.
The soundtrack is also phenomenal. The feeling of the scene was well portrayed by it and it overall enhanced the storytelling. Openings were banging too.
The story was really intriguing the first part and is what got me hooked on the series. Genuine development and interesting plot points that leave you guessing where the story is going. The second part was a bit weaker in my opinion, but had some great moments. In the end everything came to a conclusion that I am satisfied with. The chatrooms were a bit hard to follow at times, even though they were an interesting way to interact with eachother outside of any normal circumstances (characters that normally would probably never interact haad the chance to do so).
Art was overall good and the character designs were mostly unique enough.
Overall I would give this series a solid 9/10 and I would definetly recommend it to anyone who likes a story driven series with somewhat less action with lots of great character!
