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Apr 6, 2016 6:49 AM

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Mar 2011
2731
This series can easily be the best one from this season. I hope it delivers!
Apr 6, 2016 7:26 AM

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Dec 2015
10632
Damn is it that good? O.o
(Yet to watch it)
Apr 6, 2016 7:28 AM

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Sep 2014
2454
I'm glad I actually waited for this Anime. A solid first episode, especially at the end. I'm still worried because it has a large cast, and with only so few episodes they can't possibly develop everyone. But yeah, good first impression for now and I look forward to the next one.
Apr 6, 2016 7:37 AM

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May 2015
73
Looking forward to this and bungou stray dogs the most this season. Loved the opening and the style of it all.
q πŸ‘ π’©π‘’π‘’π’Ήπ“ˆ π“ˆπŸ©π“‚π‘’ π‘…π‘’π“ˆπ“‰ πŸ‘ q
Apr 6, 2016 7:38 AM

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Jul 2015
642
Another show to look forward to!
The OP and ED was great!

A patriot among a group of spies.. no, monsters.

Miyoshi looks to be leading the group while they're still acting as a unit.. I wonder what individual talents these guys have

Apr 6, 2016 8:16 AM

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Jan 2014
184
MagisterArcanum said:
katsuhan said:
what awesome is that they lying over and over, I got surprise when Myoshi told Sakuma that none of them know any foreign language, well it probably a lie, as spy working oversea they probably all learn some foreign language in the academy.


No, I believe Miyoshi said that the military police whom he and his mates were impersonating as would not be proficient in foreign languages at all, thus necessitating his role of playing the interpreter for the raid.


ah thank you, my mistake, I misheard him, he's actually talking about the MP

I believe he could easily potrait as MP captain and let one of his teammate act as interpreter, but he let Sakuma do it. To be precisely I think he tricked Sakuma into that postion.
Apr 6, 2016 8:34 AM

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Apr 2016
60
I didn't think that this'd start so good. Hope it will keep going like that because there is a lot of potential and that tension, though!
Apr 6, 2016 9:24 AM

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Apr 2013
473
Good start. A setting like this is rare, especially without some superpowers hijinks. I think the engrish was good enough, and I also like that the characters have reasonable hair styles, even tough it makes it hard to distinguish between them - but it's the first episode, I guess this will change over the course of the show as the characters get a little bit of development.
Apr 6, 2016 9:30 AM

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Apr 2015
3537
PMSL on the Engrish

OK start, does get boring at certain points

The setting on its own is rather uncomfortable for me but I'm relying on info that calls this closer to left than right...hoping it's right
Apr 6, 2016 9:44 AM
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Jan 2013
282
everything's looks promising!!

Untill you realize, the element of story, specificaly the setting is in WW2!!
now if i look back at how japanese army was in that era, i kinda get an idea that Sakuma is the very spiting imagery of japanese army! it's fucking contradictive as fuck! i can't believe a country full of deceit and treachery that consist of racist and chauvinistic piece of shit would biasing their armies positively just for a plot purpose, but, well it's fiction!!
Apr 6, 2016 11:20 AM
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Dec 2015
3
Am I the only one who would really like to play the 'Joker Game'?
Apr 6, 2016 11:22 AM

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Apr 2010
3745
In one word: wow.

In more words: Okay, there was some fuss about it, I wrote what it is about and can't even remember... But I'll surely continue. What a trap. But I wonder: why the American guys is smiling? Just because he'll commit suicide? It looks too evil of a smile for this. I want another one :(


Apr 6, 2016 12:07 PM
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Jul 2018
564072
Yay! Another anime set in the days of olde that diverts from the norm! And the art is nice too, not to mention the suspense.
lol the engrish was better than the norm, at least it was understandable
Apr 6, 2016 12:32 PM

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Nov 2015
3854
Politics and Philosophy - seems like my thing.
Apr 6, 2016 12:48 PM
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Apr 2016
119
ichii_1 said:
A_Little_Birdy said:


The thing is Japan likes to glorify their war efforts when it is in truth just genocide, torture and rape. I am not an American but even I can tell the propaganda themes in this show like the part where they made japan look like the Victims in that television broadcast flashback about how they got tricked or some shit like that.

It sickens me even today that they would pull out the victim card despite the atrocities that they have done, the people in Japan must be brainwashed to the max to even be able to believe what they did was right.


Every county has those war crimes, so why are you so focused on Japan?
Do you think america, france, korea etc.. are truly sorry for all the genocide they have committed and hidden? america is proud they nuked hundred of thousands of people and have never paid for their crimes, keep being brainwashed.


HAH, this post is pure comedy, the fact that you lump all those countries with what Japan did shows your lack of understanding, talking about brainwashing, you sure are full of it.

I am also pretty sure most people are aware of the things the western nations have done, like the killing of innocent people by US choppers during the Iraq war. But to think someone would lump that to the shit Japan did LOL. Seriously go type in the battle of Nankin in google and educate yourself.

And as some poster already said in this thread, Nuke Japan.
NoobStomperApr 6, 2016 12:52 PM
Apr 6, 2016 1:18 PM
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Apr 2014
1124
That was interesting. Was he actually set up by "his own side"? I'm not even talking about HQ because they obviously wanted them to fail but the spies.

One thing bugs me with this situation though. Wouldn't it have been quite easy for a good spy to set that guy up and just take him in? They shouldn't need actual real evidence. Just fake it and put it secretly in the house the day before.
Apr 6, 2016 1:20 PM
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May 2015
37
Get real Kekkai Sensen vibes off this, but still really intriguing first episode and I liked how they showcased the OP and ED
Apr 6, 2016 3:02 PM
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Mar 2011
947
I liked this first episode. It seems that this show has a lot of common with Ranpo Kitan, which wasn't bad either.
Apr 6, 2016 3:57 PM

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Feb 2016
173
That was a really great First episode, Miyoshi seems like a great character too look out for in the future, The way they screwed Sakuma over at the end was pretty great since he was trashing them from the beginning, looking forward to episode 2
Apr 6, 2016 4:07 PM

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Jun 2014
5365
lol at least this has the possibility of ending with Pearl Harbor
Apr 6, 2016 4:29 PM

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Aug 2011
34
Wow!! Awesome episode. Production I.G art and animation 5/5.
Apr 6, 2016 4:50 PM

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May 2011
717
From what I have seen, the production value is fairly high. With the name only, one could have expected something as openly cheesy and outlandish as "the legend of Koizumi", only set during the Interwar period. On the contrary, it ends to be murky in tone to not say downright bleak "...the only thing that awaits you is black, empty solitude" to quote Yuuki, the founder of the spy training department posing as the Great East Asia Cultural Society. The humanity of the eight main characters is even denied as they're compared to monsters...

As an exposition episode, it's very convincing. To have spying assimilated to a fool's game of poker with blurry networks of alliances offers already an interesting insight on the fierce competition secret agencies maintain between each others.
I look forward to see how the next episodes are going to hold on their own in the wake of that premise.

Color me interested.
Apr 6, 2016 6:32 PM

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Apr 2013
2282
Previous season we had Shouwa and now this.

Chinese cartoons need more dark tones.
Apr 6, 2016 7:09 PM
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Jan 2015
11
I really like the concepts of manipulation and spying, and this show is doing a great job at encapsulating the process and effect of those concepts, as I had hoped.

I have a few problems, they still had a few clichés, like making the MC be the one who's always out of the loop. I think the show can eliminate that problem by investing in the separate cliché of the MC either learning to become like one of the rest (spies) or him finding out what he can do that the rest cannot.

I know they're supposedly monsters, but I still think we should have something memorable about the spies so that we can remember their characters at least somewhat. I just hope they make sure it doesn't stick in one place for too long so as not to become boring.

I'm sure the show is going to pit the team in some really sticky situations that they break out of in a badass way, and once they do that, I might give this a 10. Otherwise, for now, it's a 9, definitely gonna be one of the anime I like this year.
Apr 6, 2016 7:16 PM
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Jan 2013
69
Really intense 1st episode.
Even though they all wearing fedora, but no BS or try 2deep4u.
5/5
Apr 6, 2016 7:26 PM

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May 2015
727
Great mature tone and promise for action. Good character design, direction, and music. Promising and probably my favorite this season already



Apr 6, 2016 8:19 PM

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Jul 2015
3151
Such a great first episode. The OST is fitting, also.
Apr 6, 2016 8:34 PM
Towel Attendant

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Dec 2014
1366
An interesting episode to start off the series. I do like the detail in some of the items in the background.....the motorcycle with the sidecar.....the wristwatch. As I was listening to the opening theme, I could hear "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring playing in my head instead......lol.
Apr 6, 2016 9:55 PM
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Dec 2015
13
eso18 said:
... ah, I had too big of expectations and now I am far from being satisfied. What's more the show ends on cliffhanger during it's introduction episode. Introduction episodes like this should show the short whole story to explain what this show really is about. Here however we just get... okay there is spy school that does things...

what things? What this show will even be about... will it be about 8 "monsters" plus the the old guy bulling the naive MC. If so then really meh.

Well this probably won't be it but after the first episode I should know what the series will be about rather than giving me cliffhanger just to try to force me to watch the next episode. I would watch regardless as the series has a good theme around it but here I am given that.

Meh, meh... and in this season 4th place so far with many series yet to start.

What does a spy agency do? During a war? This anime won't spoonfeed you.
Apr 6, 2016 10:11 PM

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Jun 2007
5649
The cast is made up of what appears to be a bunch of same-faced 13 year old dudes wearing fedoras with a couple adults mixed in because the character designer completely fucked up and made almost everyone look like a child (literally A child, given almost half of them look identical). The show is lead by a man who is applying to be a spy while complaining non-stop about people cheating, lying, and being dishonest. Really fantastic writing there. This is clearly a show aimed at teens who want to feel cool and say "heh, that's so me" about these guys and adults who fall in the same boat and needing it delivered in the same childish fashion. There's also absolutely no subtlety which is incredibly ironic given this is a series about spies. Certainly not something I'm interested in - especially not when it's delivered this poorly and mixed with anti-American sentiment and whitewashing history. This is literally a perfect example of a show that's trying hard to appear mature and deeply thought out while being neither of those things.

Hell, they even went out of the way to not include a single female because it'd ruin the concept of making you feel special for tipping your fedora and calling yourself an anti-hero.

And really there's just absolutely no excuse for the lead character being how he is at all. Even being the first episode, even being his first fucking short while at the training facility, he acts like he doesn't even know this is a place spies are made or that he's supposed to be becoming one too when they outright tell him from the get go. Gee, I wonder why the spies in training are fucking training to be spies and also not using their real names. What a fucking smart show this is.

Just go watch Night Raid instead.
TallonKarrde23Apr 6, 2016 10:16 PM
Apr 6, 2016 11:12 PM

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Oct 2015
2564
It was kind of interesting, I will watch more episodes of it.
Apr 6, 2016 11:15 PM
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Mar 2013
569
This is the show of the year right here!

Mark my words!
Apr 7, 2016 12:13 AM

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Dec 2012
2266
xaos12 said:
One thing bugs me: does a nation use its own citizen as a spy instead of recruiting and training a native of the target country? It's very conspicuous to have a white guy japanese as a spy in a country of xenophobes with intense nationalism. Or maybe that's how it goes in the 1930's but still.. it doesn't make sense.


They do both. (Actually, they would do any combination of potential informants if the information needs to be reliable).

Ugh, no. Think of it as a counterintelligence operation. No one has said that Intelligence offices and agencies should do only foreign espionage. CI usually deals with potential traitors and foreign spies in the nation's territory. Whether Intel and CI overlap by structure and function, are being officially announced, or fall under the responsibility of the military and/or internal affairs depends only on a nation's policy during peace and war times.
Apr 7, 2016 12:48 AM

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Nov 2012
128
Every character design looks bland and uninspired. I had hoped that by the end of this episode I could at least tell them apart but no they all look the same! What makes it worse is that the 8 characters all have the same bland personality. Know i may see this being done intentionally because they are spies and are supposed to be able blend in to any setting, but you can't have show without any relatable characters either. Without any characteristics why should care for these characters?

The MC is too clueless to be believe able in that setting and was down right annoying imo.

What took me out of the episode the most was the poker scene because it came off as they were trying too hard to act like a "mature" show with the dull dialogue between the MC's and spies ideologies. The off putting character designs only amplified this problem for me.
Apr 7, 2016 12:58 AM

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Jan 2014
184
I think being bland is the point here in episode 1, they will soon scattered all over the world, that blandness would allow them to mix in and being whatever fit into the foreign environment easily.

We are seeing things from the perspective of Lt.Sakuma. I think they will go in deeper later. As you can see in the OP, they are not really don't have any unique personalities or characteristics....
Apr 7, 2016 3:39 AM

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May 2011
717
Every design samey and no moeblob with big round eyes yada yada... Stop judging pretty colors.
Also, we only have the premise. It did a positive impression on me even though this could still turn the table around and become downright shit, like so many animes with swell premise.
Apr 7, 2016 4:16 AM

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Oct 2008
4667
what a horrifically inept first episode from a once-great studio and two supposedly talented people (director + writer). the approach seems to be dull, washed out and lifeless = suave, mysterious and badass or something. which of course cannot possibly work
Apr 7, 2016 4:16 AM

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Dec 2015
7391
Pros - Decent art and animation. Lots of potential to create an intriguing plot.
Cons - Characters are bland in both design and traits. I expect better dialogue if that's gonna be one of the main aspects of the show.

Overall - Nothing particularly great about this episode but I'm sure things will heat up later.

2.5/5

And where all the womenfolk at?
Female spies were used pretty extensively in WWII so I have no idea why they wouldn't include a female character. It would certainly help add some variety to the current main cast who (right now at least) are all clones of each other.
Bobby2HandsApr 7, 2016 4:22 AM
Apr 7, 2016 4:40 AM
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Jul 2018
564072
Nice. Vey nice you people. It is only the first freaking episode of this show. What the hell in the world do you expect to get?! Give it some time to improve/develop. JEEZUS.
Apr 7, 2016 5:04 AM

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May 2011
717
yuliyana29 said:
Nice. Vey nice you people. It is only the first freaking episode of this show. What the hell in the world do you expect to get?! Give it some time to improve/develop. JEEZUS.


May the sheep skin people hear you, dude.
I have had enough of people judging from exposition in either a negative way like in here or from hype boner (Attack on Tits some?)
Apr 7, 2016 6:22 AM

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Feb 2015
87
That was a solid start to a promising anime. I have been looking for a serious anime and i think this is it.

I hope they keep up the high tension throughout the series.
Apr 7, 2016 7:06 AM

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Jul 2011
785
anyone else dripping wet watching this episode?
coz i am

Fai said:
The Bad:
- Under-developed characters.
- Sausage main characters. Not a single female character. Seriously is it so hard to add female characters?


UNDER DEVELOPED CHARACTER AND ALL MALE MAIN CHARACTER???? lol i cant take you seriously kid, i cant... i just cant....

Bobby2Hands said:

Cons - Characters are bland in both design and traits.


wait, do you expect spies in WW2 era in japan have what? spiky green or pink hair? face tattoo? wings? mech limbs?
as far as i see, these guys are one of the most handsome ensemble in anime history.

And no, don't even talk about their individual traits on the first episode, this episode is about introducing the faculty as a whole through our eyes as an outsider (the lieutenant)
milloApr 7, 2016 7:19 AM
Apr 7, 2016 7:27 AM

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Dec 2015
7391
millo said:
anyone else dripping wet watching this episode?
coz i am

Fai said:
The Bad:
- Under-developed characters.
- Sausage main characters. Not a single female character. Seriously is it so hard to add female characters?


UNDER DEVELOPED CHARACTER AND ALL MALE MAIN CHARACTER???? lol i cant take you seriously kid, i cant... i just cant....

Bobby2Hands said:

Cons - Characters are bland in both design and traits.


wait, do you expect spies in WW2 era in japan have what? spiky green or pink hair? face tattoo? wings? mech limbs?
as far as i see, these guys are one of the most handsome ensemble in anime history.

And no, don't even talk about their individual traits on the first episode, this episode is about introducing the faculty as a whole through our eyes as an outsider (the lieutenant)


I never said go wild with pink hair and mech limbs. But Baccano managed to maintain a more realistic look while still having interesting character designs.

Apr 7, 2016 7:41 AM

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Jul 2011
785
Bobby2Hands said:


I never said go wild with pink hair and mech limbs. But Baccano managed to maintain a more realistic look while still having interesting character designs.



Both baccano's and joker game's character design is awesome and i got no complains, maybe it's just your taste.
And characters in baccano are non japanese so they have more option with eye color and haircolor.

imo all the guys in joker game looks different, polished, suave, and all looks so fucking sexyyyyyy!!!!



and you can see that they all have different eyeshape, face shape, nose shape, eyebrow, mouth shape and hairline. so anyone saying that there's a strong same-face case going on in this anime are out of their fucking mind
Apr 7, 2016 7:43 AM

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Dec 2015
7391

Dude, this pic only makes my argument stronger.
Apr 7, 2016 7:48 AM

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Jul 2011
785
Bobby2Hands said:

Dude, this pic only makes my argument stronger.


whateverrrr, you white people should stop being racist towards us asian and keep telling us you couldn't differentiate us. kthxbye.
Apr 7, 2016 7:58 AM

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Nov 2011
7621
I was expecting something different, in terms of involvement, the beginning is not the best as entertainment, but little by little has been able to repay those who have not given up in mid-narrative. Anime series, quite complicated to follow, especially in the dialogues, not very clear on what he wanted to lean on the plot, boring because of the rhythm, but interesting as regards the characters. Technically it is done in a very good, the designs are well made. The OP and ED, have yet to be assessed, for now.
Apr 7, 2016 8:13 AM
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Dec 2009
1526
Personally I enjoyed it, I especially liked how it stayed fairly realistic throughout this episode. 8 characters is a lot to through at us all at once but I look forward to seeing how they introduce and breakdown the characters throughout the series.
Apr 7, 2016 8:14 AM

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May 2011
717
Pfft, indeed for a spy to look commonplace is a requisite to blend in. The chara design shows good balance between this aspect and trademark recognition (for spectator). For instance, who would confuse Sakuma with a smaller, cunning looking Miyoshi?
Also, as we see, John Gordon, a suspected spy is even pointed out as an eccentric looking character. JG makes it clear that discretion and excellence in every fields are what differentiate the elite (the 8 main guys) from the other trainees who were rejected by the D agency. Go figure.
Apr 7, 2016 9:20 AM

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Jul 2015
1640
Most promising show of this season so far, that was really great !
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