No.6

Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known.

Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nezumi Main

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Shion Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Inukashi Supporting

Shindou, Kei Japanese

Safu Supporting

Yasuno, Kiyono Japanese

Karan Supporting

Sakuma, Rei Japanese

Safu's Grandmother Supporting

Shouji, Miyoko Japanese

Lili Supporting

Morohoshi, Sumire Japanese

Youming Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Rikiga Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki Japanese

Old Man Supporting

Arimoto, Kinryuu Japanese

Katsumata, Hideo Producer

Yonai, Noritomo Producer

Takeeda, Yoshinori Producer

Kurosu, Reo Producer

Reviews

Sep 24, 2011

rachel-chanx3

Recommended

No.6 is a captivating anime and I can honestly say that after having just watched it twice through. But then again, everyone has different tastes and this just may not be your cup of tea. Even so, it couldn’t hurt to try a sip, could it?

NOTE: For my sake, I’m writing Nezumi, as Nezumi, and not “Rat” like in the subs, and Shion instead of Sion, like the MAL character page.

Story – 8/10. No.6 is a utopia, there is no poverty, there are no conflicts, there are no problems. You will live happily and peacefully within these safe walls, and you will wear this ... lovely bracelet that is your identity. Oh, and one last thing: if you doubt us, we won’t hesitate to eliminate you. Ignorance really is bliss.

On his 12th birthday, Shion hides and helps an injured Nezumi, a VC. This leads to being stripped of his rights to live in Cronos and qualification to enter the Special Course. There’s a time skip, and suddenly it’s four years later and instead of studying ecology, Shion’s a park worker. After witnessing two people strangely die, he’s taken away by the Bureau of Safety. At that point, he’s rescued by Nezumi and whisked away to the Western District to discover the truth about No.6.

No.6 is listed as Sci-fi and Action, but there are also elements of Fantasy and Shounen-ai. Yes, shounen-ai. I’m not sure if I view it as a good thing, or bad. I mean, I’m a fan of yaoi/shounen-ai, so that probably contributes largely to the fact I enjoyed it, but I know there are a ton of people who aren’t comfortable with it.

If you’re a fan of shounen-ai, you will enjoy this. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure it would be able to appeal to any other audience beside BL fans...

Aside from the homosexual content, No.6 starts off with an intriguing plot – and I won’t lie, I’m a total sucker for utopia/dystopia stories. But like a lot of people, I thought this had a lot of potential to be something amazing, but it never did reach what it could have; whether it’s because of the length of the anime, or because it got side-tracked by shounen-ai fan service, I’m not sure. I kind of feel like a lot of loose ends weren’t dealt with.

Art – 7.25/10. The art... isn’t one of No.6’s stronger points. While it isn’t terrible, it isn’t amazing. The characters are sometimes really awkwardly drawn/animated, such as Shion’s scar or his blushing. But the background and scenery are amazing, and the OP was done beautifully. Especially the last thirty seconds.

Sound – 9/10. I won’t lie; I strongly disliked the OP at first. I thought it was really strange sounding and the singer’s voice was abnormally high... but as the episodes went on, I’ve grown to like them quite a bit. I found myself watching and listening to it on replay. Anyways, it suited the feel of No.6 perfectly. And ohmygosh, the ED. EDs are something I skip over all the time. Not this one. I couldn’t. This one I liked right away. It felt incredibly sad, almost like nostalgia. As cheesy as this sounds, my heart clenches when I hear it. Background music was very subtle, but added wonderfully to the overall feel.

The voice actors also did a pretty good job. Nezumi’s singing was nice... though, it took a bit of time getting used to little Shion’s and little Nezumi’s deep voices...

Character – 8/10. I cried. I got so emotionally attached, that tears came pouring out when Nezumi began singing in the last episode, despite how confused I was.

In the beginning you’re introduced to 12-year-old Nezumi. Running around from authorities in what seems to be a sewage system, panting, with blood trickling down his arm. He meets a dead end, where steel bars are closing off on an opening, preventing chances of escape. Then you’re introduced to 12-year-old Shion. Right away their lives are contrasted. Shion’s sitting at his desk in the middle of Safu’s presentation; there hasn’t been any real hardships he’s been through in life since being ranked as having highest intelligence.

Shion is naive, innocent, kind, and for the most part, ignorant like many other No.6 citizens. Nezumi is sharp-tongued, gives of an arrogant vibe, and is artsy. Yes, their personalities have been done before, but I don’t think you’ll get bored of them... Shion and Nezumi are actually quite likable. As the anime progresses, you see moments of complete contradiction to their personalities which I found quite interesting. Shion has a darker, more aggressive side that comes out when it comes to Nezumi, and Nezumi definitely has a soft spot when it comes to Shion. This might make them seem out of character at times, but I think that’s the point. They bring out entirely new sides of each other.

As for the other supporting characters: Karan, Inukashi, Rikiga, even Yoming, – they’re pretty okay. You know general information about their life and their past, but not in great detail. They’re not exactly incredibly developed characters either, but the anime was only 11 episodes long.

The only one I found kind of strange was Elyurias/Safu. I didn’t really understand her presence or character...

Enjoyment – 10/10. I enjoyed this 10/10 easily, even the second time going through. I grinned and I worried, I eagerly clicked each episode and got frustrated over waiting for the next one. With this anime, I watched it each episode from beginning to end, OP to ED. Stating it simply: I loved watching it [and rewatching it.] The last episode did confuse me a bit, but I’m seriously longing for more.

Overall – Each category is weighted differently for me, and of course, there are always miscellaneous factors. I consider Story to account for 25% of the overall ranking of animes, Art 10%, Sound 10%, Character 25%, and Enjoyment 30%.

So, then:
[80% x 0.25] + [72.5% x 0.10] + [90% x 0.10] + [80% x 0.25] + [100% x 0.30] = 86.25%

Round it up, and that’s how No.6 gets a 9/10 from me... and my first review on MAL. ^_______^

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 31, 2011

Hazegurl

Mixed Feelings

Had so much potential but was wasted. When I saw the first episode I fell in love with the characters and became very interested in the story. I was so glad this wasn't one of those animes where you had to watch up until episode 4 or 5 before something good happens. It started right out with some action and character development.

Watching the next batch of episodes had me hooked because there was so many things going on with Shion and Nezumi, both apart and together, plus the background of No. 6 and how it got the way it is. The horrible acts committed by ... them et al. I thought I was in for a good treat. And on top of it all, the two male characters were falling in love, not just some boy love teasers some animes throw out to bait Yaoi fans into watching. I've always wanted to watch an action anime where the male leads fall for each other but it isn't a drama or romance show. Mirage of Blaze is the only other anime I can think of that was action and yaoi. So I was on cloud nine.

However, somewhere along the way the show lost focus and had no idea what it was going to do with the characters or the No.6 city itself. It begins to trip and falter and just does not know how to pick itself up. The characters essentially become cardboard cut outs and just placed in scenes and seem to not really do anything.

For example, Shion and Nezumi seem to have conflict about their viewpoints on how No. 6 should be handled with people dying. Nezumi wishes to destroy the city while Shion wants to save the people. Yet neither character does anything about it. Then the writers tried to focus on the female character (I forgot her name) the girl who was in love with Shion. But they have no idea what to even do with her by this point, it's just her walking around thinking about Shion, then when she decides to do something she gets taken.

So I'm thinking, fine, I guess this will cause Shion to act and maybe cause some tension between he and Nezumi. And they do act by going to save her. Meanwhile, the story takes a whole new focus on these forest people and alluding to the girl and Nezumi having a connection. But this goes NO WHERE!

The connection between Shion's mother being one of the creators of No.6 goes NO WHERE
The Radical group who wants to take down No. 6 from the inside, goes NO WHERE
Finding out why or how No.6 turned out the way it did, goes NO WHERE

I tried to figure out what was happening here with this show that started out so good and the only thing I got is that the show lacked a human villain. When you have a city or institution as the villain, having a personification of the city would help. After all who is behind the city? Who is the one giving the orders for these terrible acts to take place? Sure Nezumi and Shion are fighting against the city, but who is the one they have to beat? Who does the radical group have to go after to free themselves of No.6?

No one??

So yeah, the writers try to solve this glaring issue by making the girl who loves Shion into a magical forest goddess that they have to beat. *eye roll*
Then at the ending when everything seems so bleak the girl transforms into a large magical bee and destroys the city walls with bee tornado for Shion because having him do it himself would take more episodes than they were willing to write. She also grants instant life with her LGBT rainbow powers then float away with her magical bees.

Yes an action Scifi post apocalyptic anime transforms into a fantasy magical anime at the end.
*headache*

By this time I am just watching for Shion and Nezumi's love story. But I'm given NOTHING but a second kiss on the lips and the characters deciding to part ways for unexplained reasons. Honestly, I would had been better off just watching the first episode and just using my own imagination to come up with what happens.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jun 20, 2023

AcrylFrog

Not Recommended

This was such a confusing and disappointing anime. The pacing was too fast and at some point the plot kind of lost me. The ending was horrible, nothing really made sense. I think that the only thing that carries this show is its characters. However, some of them are pretty inconsistent and the most annoying one was Nezumi. Also is it just me or Nezumi and Shion's relationship was a bit toxic at the beginning? Like, whenever Nezumi would get angry on something that Shion did, he would start to yell at Shion and occasionally punch him. I think it got better in the last ... 2 episodes and I know this is not supposed to be a romance anime, but still... it's not a very good queer representation in my opinion. Yes, obviously abuse also happens in gay relationships, but Nezumi was never called out for his behavior. So, it can get pass as something normal and "excused" by the way Nezumi is like as a person, which is not okay.
The art was pretty good, but the soundtrack wasn't very suitable.
I think that the first episode and the 10th were the ones that saved this show.
Nevertheless, I don't really recommend it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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