Un-Go

At first, the odd title really grabbed my interest when I was going through the studio's catalog. "Un-Go".
The title has two meanings.
1. The anime is a re-imagination of the Japanese novel, Meiji Kaika "ANGO" Torimonocho written by Sakaguchi "ANGO". Yeah, UN-GO looks cooler.
2. The word/title アンゴ also means "Code to a secret", which is a pretty reasonable title for a detective show except;

"He's a 10 but he's also a buxom babe"
UN-GO doesn't work well as an engaging detective series. When you are doing mystery show in an episodic format, it's hard not to notice its formula, and the formula in this show is one character, ... "Inga" who's both the main attraction and a drawback to the series. Inga's identity is unknown; for most of the show, 'Inga' appears as an annoying Shouta who can transform into a beautiful woman (and many other forms, apparently) and can make any human confess their truth. In return, Inga can feed on their souls but only once a person. Since the anime follows an episodic structure, this ability feels like a cheat because no matter the amount of investigation that goes on, the overall mystery collapses when Inga does the questioning. But what's reassuring is the show being aware of this. It never pretends to make a mystery any more complicated (or simple) than it already is.
Which really begs the question, "What's the point of a mystery that is obvious?" Many mysteries work on the good old question of "Whodunit?". Introduce many characters, throw them into a crime-possible setting, give a reason for every character to commit a crime (even to the protagonist if you will), and bring the detective at the end to close the case; or to speak in a broader sense, "the Pursuit of Truth" is what drives a mystery. The same is true in UN-GO, but the truth here is less about being engaging and more about taking a look into the adverse effects of an international phenomenon.

"The War and its stories"
In UN-GO, you tag along with this detective named "Yuuki Shinjirou", the 'Defeated Detective', whose pursuit of Truth is not just simply a who how, or why. Our protagonist believes that the hidden truth is what characterizes a person, which goes against the ideals of the antagonist, "Kaisho Rinroku", who believes that some truths are worth hiding in order to make a better world. This truth is always tied to the war and how war tore the lives of people. Ango Sakaguchi's novel the anime is based on was released way back in 1945s, just after Japan's loss in WW2, and provided a fictional world to show how Military can change its society if it ever to take control over its people. Many of us can't even comprehend the horrors of war and how much war influenced today's society and people's lives. We look at those Ukraine war footage videos, might hear some speeches, or watch war dramas but the most we can do is empathize with them. Shows like UN-GO will shed light on the topics of war to people that really don't know the cruelties of war and how war will shape and shaped a society.
TL; DR - It's less about the mystery and more about the commentary on militarism in a war-torn society.

"OP & ED"
I want to make a separate section for this as I really liked the songs so much. The ending actually hints at a certain event in the second half and it's also the only few cases in the Anime that has some wonderful animation sequences. The series mostly have still frames with animation no more than lip flaps, which were well balanced with some good direction, so it won't be that much of a bother. The OST is pretty standard, it reminds me of some outdated mystery movies with the main detective always pointing at things while a supercool OST playing in the background to make a supercool scene. Not bad though.

"Watch Order"
There's a 48-minute prequel titled "UN-GO: Inga-ron" which I recommend watching between episodes 6 & 7, rather than just watching this before the show itself. Inga-ron focuses on Shinjirou's past, and a certain being called Bettenou, which is a major plot point in the later half.

"Conclusion"
If the description...

A mystery drama with supernatural demons set in a futuristic Japan where the internet and the media are monopolized by its Militaristic Government?

... sounds good enough then watch it anyway.
The concept of truth and souls is something akin to "Ghost in the Shell", though UN-GO is not as cyberpunk-Ish as GITS and differs in its subgenres.
The supernatural detective mystery is something akin to "Bungou Stray Dogs", though UN-GO is not as comedic and doesn't have as many characters as in BSD.

It's a waste of time to get into a show without knowing anything about it. Of course, you can check out UN-GO even if you don't like the Anime I mentioned.
Un-Go is not perfect but is still definitely a bit underappreciated.

Un-Go can particularity be characterized as one of by biggest disappointments right along with Toradora!, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo and Eden of the East movies.

The story of this anime is solid (at least in the beginning) and the futurism appeals to me. The protagonist knack for solving mysteries and the unfairness of others stealing his credit was all very interesting. However the pacing, of the reveal and generally of the anime, killed it. By the end the story just didn't make sense and it felt like there was no real progress made from the promising beginning.

I expected Un-Go to be a mix between Majin ... Tantei and Eden of the East, however it ended up being Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, a promising story and characters without following through. Truly a wasted potential.

However, as in any disappointing anime, perhaps it was the subjective feeling of expecting too much that really got to me. The art was good and the sound even better, Blue Light Yokohama stuck in my head for the whole month! Still, as I stated, and will again, no art or sound can compensate for lacking in story and characters. I was truly disappointed.

good day to all
While searching for a hidden treasure, I came across this anime and thought to myself, "This looks fascinating, even though it only has a 7."

The plot of the anime makes no sense whatsoever. There is no context for the major characters or the story's progression.

Yuuki was the only character who was enjoyable. Some episodes feel like filler that has nothing to do with the story or the anime itself. I wanted the entire anime was as mysterious and action-packed as the last two episodes.


I was really dissatisfied with the quality of my first Hidden Gem anime.