Synopsis
Kura, a secret organization formed to hunt down serial killers, hires people who have a strong intent to kill to enter a world where they become a detective and find clues related to their target.
Story
Solving a mystery has just become a bit easier thanks to the Mizuhanome. No matter how many years an unsolved case will take, as long as the people working in Kura can find Cognition Particles, expect that it will soon be considered as 'Case-closed.' Ultramodern crime investigation method right there.
If you haven't seen this show you're probably wondering what in the world I just said. So here, I made a list of the necessary information you should know for you not to get confused when you watch this anime:
Kura - A secret organization that runs the Mizuhanome System.
Wakumusubi - The device that can detect people's drive to kill.
Cognition Particles - This is what the Wakumusubi detects when investigators looked for clues in the real world.
Mizuhanome - The system that creates an ID Well based on the Cognition Particles.
ID Well - The world based on a person's unconscious mind. Kura will send someone to dive here and become a Brilliant Detective to solve the case.
Now that you probably got the gist of things, I'll just say this: I liked that the victim here (Kiki Asukai) didn't end up like Sadako (
The Ring). You might be wondering again what in the world of crazy did I just say. For those of you who are scratching their heads: Both have psychic powers, but Sadako ended up dead and became vengeful, while Miss Asukai continued to live and have decided to help Kura in their future investigations.
Characters
Akihito Narihisago was the main character here, and I applaud his voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda. The way he spoke really brought out the inner persona of Akihito. It's quite hypnotizing when he talked seriously... from the tone, speed, and volume of his voice, it's just perfect. It's something that can really get inside your head (
well, for me at least).
Although guilty for the deaths of other criminals, in the end, I can't help but feel sympathy for him (
Ep. 10 has all the feels!).
When it comes to couples... Koharu Hondomachi and Tamotsu Fukuda were the best pair. These two weren't romantic, but the exchange of their thoughts and feelings synched well with each other. They were simply fascinating to listen to.
Writing / Storyboarding
This is one of those anime series filled with clever dialogues and facts. One of my favorites was in episode 12 where Fukuda said his opinion about the number seven (I don't hate this number, but what he stated was correct.):
"
It's not a bad number, but I dislike people who like it. It's pretentious. For just a prime number, it has all this meaning and storytelling attached to it. It's become a number with an exceedingly nice appearance."
Another was in the final episode, in one of the scenes. they seemed to have poked fun of a familiar concept in a fighting scene, where the protagonist likes to shout before attacking his enemy, thus ruining the chance of landing a direct hit.
"
At least come at me without shouting. It ruins the element of surprise."'
It's funny, 'cause it's true.
Artwork / Animation
The level of animation was pretty much the same except for episode 5, where they featured a rescue scene where Sakaido had to run, jump, evade, etc. in a burning building -- it was so thrilling.
And for the artwork, episode 13 had some interesting non-human designs.
For something I'm not a fan of, I didn't like the clip for the opening and ending credits. I thought both were quite amateurish.
Music / Sound
The insert songs made the scenes in this anime so badass. In fact, I hurriedly searched for the full version of most of the songs here after I finished this series, and I'm so glad I did. They were effin' fantastic, especially Samurai 45 and Butterfly (I suddenly became a fan of
Miyavi!). And the BGM wasn't a let down either (the finale had the best bunch). Overall, thanks to the music director,
Kisuke Koizumi, he did an amazing job.
Episode Ratings
- 1 - Jigsawed - 4
- 2 - Jigsawed II - 4
- 3 - Sniped - 4
- 4 - Extended - 4.5
- 5 - Fallen - 4.5
- 6 - Circled - 5
- 7 - Thunderbolted - 5
- 8 - Desertified - 5
- 9 - Inside-Outed - 4.5
- 10 - Inside-outed II - 5
- 11 - Stormed - 5
- 12 - Channeled - 4.5
- 13 - Channeled II - 5
PS: Episodes 5 and 12 have an after-credits scene.
