The story follows a gang of thieves led by the infamous man known only as ‘Twenty Faces’, who one day decides to take a young girl with him (hence the name of this series). The beginning is nothing spectacular, it just sets the scene for this late 50s themed detective fiction, which focuses mostly on Chizuko. The series follows an episodic nature, with each episode dealing with individual endeavours but unlike most episodic anime, the story actually progresses nicely from episode to episode. Though the endeavours the group undertake tend to be more geared towards anime theatrics than thought-provoking realism. This all changes once it reaches the major turning point, early on and the series goes downhill a bit, upon losing all direction it once had. Adjusting to the sudden change does take some getting used to and it doesn’t help that the once entertaining story of thievery becomes something too complex for its own good.
What makes up the story has to be the large cast of characters; which 20 Faces’ gang, the important recurring characters of the second arc and the unimportant episodic characters make up. Chizuko (Chiko) is quite the remarkable girl because not only is she really intelligent in the beginning, she is also the only one that develops very well throughout the series. 20 Faces does prove to be quite the enigmatic figure however the rest of the gang just don’t seem all that important but that doesn’t mean they are any less entertaining.
Just what you’d expect from Bones, the series features some great animation & sounds. This anime has some immensely detailed environments, aesthetic realism for the settings, appropriately used CGI & nicely animated characters that fit in well with it all. Overall it’s great but I did feel the animation could have been much better. The music on the other hand fit the theme it was going for perfectly, going for some suspenseful music to match the detective-fiction themed adventure.
Overall this anime series is a very entertaining experience, as it’s full of action, drama & suspense then develops into something very mystifying. Though there are still numerous flaws, most of which are prominent in the second arc, when the story diverges and the ‘great war’ subplot becomes more apparent. It really isn’t clear what to expect upon watching this series, so it’s best to just watch and experience it yourself.
Note: May edit if necessary. ^_^
