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I liked Decode 2 more than Decode, because it’s more about Birdy and her past then about fighting criminals (although that obviously also appears, since not all criminals involved with the Ryunka have been captured). Some new characters are introduced (however it is better to say, characters that are new to the watchers) and they make the series rather interesting. Decode 2 includes some unnecessary sidelines to the story, but they make the story feel more like a whole. I watched the series in high speed, because the more it progresses, the more interesting it gets.
I would give the series a 9/10, but there’s something ... that stops me from doing so and makes me rather give it an 8/10: the animation all of a sudden lacks the detail it should have. This appears in some fighting scenes and it truly bothered me because this is an action series, the action should look pretty nice. Other than that I truly loved watching Decode 2.

Berserker Killer Birdy is a woman with a strong will, yet cheerful and determined. I loved almost everything about her and her personality is what I liked most in the anime. That doesn’t mean that I do not think the other aspects weren’t good as well.

Story (8/10): The story isn’t complicated, but it has a few nice twists. It begins quite simply and slowly introduces you into a more complex network. Though thanks to the slow introduction, it’s all quite easy to understand. More than half of the episodes had an exciting end, leaving me eager to watch the next episode.

Art (8/10): The animation is ... nice, it has a soft touch. Backgrounds are detailed but I would have loved a bit more details in the characters (for example in the eyes), but it didn’t really bother either. I truly enjoyed the action parts, because those were nicely animated (and accompanied with suitable sound effects). I particularly enjoyed the way Birdy’s multicolored hair moved around.

Music (9/10): music of the beginning and ending themes matched with the animation, they also contained a soft touch. The ending theme made me happy every time I heard it, but since the story isn’t all about sunshine and rainbows, that felt sort of weird.

Characters (8/10): Almost all emotions are shown quite brightly, though some emotions seem to have a bad timing and aren’t as touching as they could have been. As already mentioned, I really liked Birdy’s character, she’s sad when she should be, upset when she should be, … Though she seems to have a great capacity of hiding her emotions as well. During the story, no one really seems to undergo any character-development, but all characters are shown with much detail.

Enjoyment (9/10): I was totally absorbed into this anime and could not let it go (I constanly desired to watch another episode), so I truly enjoyed this anime.

Overall (8/10): the anime had a lot of good aspects, and a few flaws. I think anyone who can appreciate action, romance and science-fiction would probably at least be entertained by this anime (of course I cannot speak for all of you).

I’m truly looking forward to watch Decode II.

I can see why most people liked this anime, but it’s not my cup of tea.
The first few episodes made me laugh due to the absurdity and the character introductions. At episode 9 I really felt like dropping the series but in the end I do like the fact that I watched it all.

Art (7/10): The art is very good at first, the surroundings were drawn in a way that I felt like it could be real. However other animations are also introduced, I liked some of them, I really disliked others. There’s also this bald guy popping up every now and then. I guess ... it’s supposed to be funny but I really can’t look at the guy’s face (though I have to admit I have a strong dislike for beards, being bald and having a beard makes my dislike even greater).

Episodes were often interfered by short little weird movies. Yes, I guess you could consider those funny, but they didn’t make me laugh. Actually they rather confused me.

Story (-/10): absent.

Sound (8/10): The music did not fit my personal taste, but it did fit in the anime and it’s animation. So yes, the sound is good for the series it is used in. One of the things that did made me laugh (out loud) were the little happy sounds that seemed to accompany Kafuka Fuura. I only noticed those little happy sounds in the first few episodes though.

Characters (9/10): Characters are all introduced in an unique way. Their way of living brings along some complications, but that makes it interesting. I liked the characters of Kafuka and Maria, but Kafuka seems to lose her optimism as the episodes pass (similar to the loss of pessimism of Itoshiki) and Maria eventually scared me. But being able to say that means the characters are pretty well set up. Each of the characters is intriguing in its own way.

Enjoyment (5/10): the anime did have a nice and unique style, but for me, personally, the absurdity didn’t manage to keep me interested. I believe that I am not “open-minded” enough to truly like this series. Also I am probably too simple-minded. The anime seems to be criticizing itself a lot, but instead of thinking of that as funny I totally agreed with the critique. I also would have liked the series more if it at least had a basic storyline.

Overall score = 6 (However I’d give the first few episodes a 7)

Even though I didn’t really enjoy the series, I do believe you should give it a chance. You might like it, you might not. You’ll never know for sure if you don’t watch!