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The anime is fine until the ending. Nothing groundbreaking. Just basic, time-waster anime. Until the end where it goes from mediocre to the worst thing I've seen this year.

So, the guys backstory is that he's not human, he's created. And he can't escape his prime directive to save humanity. It's become such a problem that now that the world is largely peaceful, his only purpose in life is invalid. But he's not human, so he doesn't get to choose what his purpose is. And so the hero finds himself turning into a villain against his will.

The whole thing is that he needs to save ... humanity from himself. He needs to save them from the hero.

That's a good backstory. And yeah, it's handled in a weak way with standard shonen tropes and generic shonen animation. But still a good backstory.

We reach the final confrontation. Tension is great, the angst is handled well. So, after 3000 years he's finally, finally going to get some peace right? They've built it up so much that we know it's the best option so he's gonna die right? No! Everything it builds up is totally wasted! I felt so cheated that I legit hate this. Just so awful and cowardly.

It's basically Code Geass x Sherlock Holmes.

The first thing you have to do is forget the original character of Sherlock Holmes. This one has strong golden retriever energy.

The second thing you have to do is turn your brain off. The first few episodes are clever, then the cleverness becomes kind of silly.

Do those two things and you'll have a good time. I had a good time watching this anime.

I particularly liked this version of Irene Adler, as I've always hated how the majority of interpretations turn her into a love interest for Sherlock Holmes so that everyone can pretend he's straight. They reduce her ... original character by doing so. This kept some romantic interest but didn't reduce her, instead elevated her. I really appreciated that.

I loved Moriarty's character and how he was kind of like the sun all the other characters revolved around and I found it was a believable interpretation.

In honesty, I would have preferred if they kept going they way they started out. What I'll call 'The Grapefruit Revenge' would be the ideal example of the kind of thing I wanted from this series. But after finishing it, I didn't feel like I wasted my time. It was fun, didn't require me to think, and had a nice ending. More than that, I see myself rewatching it in the future, and I hardly ever rewatch anime. It just hits a nice low-stress point that I can go back to without feeling bored.

Flew up the list to my Top 10 anime.

Every episode of this is a banger. Even the bonuses. I watched this in the original Chinese with English subtitles and I highly recommend you do the same. When you watch a lot of anime, Japaneses is comfortable and Chinese can be disconcerting. But you get used to it fast and, in my opinion, the experience is worth it.

Each episode has its own case, and unlike a lot of anime with this model, every single one is gripping.

A warning though: Season 1 does end on a cliffhanger. The release date for Season 2 afaik hasn't been ... announced. So be prepared for that going in.

I was so surprised to come here after watching the movie to see so many negative reviews. I loved this movie and thought it was well done.

After reading some of the negative reviews to try and understand where people are coming from, I wanted to give my perspective as a lot of the criticism seems to come from misunderstandings.

I'll start with the characters:

The Dragon (Kei) is strong and courageous, has learnt to stand and fight on his own. But he also has no support. The opposite of Suzu who has all the support, but none of the strength and courage.

Shinobu has put himself ... in the role of guardian, protecting her when she's too weak to protect herself (her strength). But that can also be damaging. Both of them are aware of this. Whenever Shinobu reaches out, Suzu pulls back out of fear. Instead of making her feel safe, the protection offered has just become a part of the larger problem. She still lacks courage.

Hiroka represents fear. The desire to hide, cover up or run away from difficulties because you might lose more than you can bear.

Chikami and Ruka's relationship only has the confession. But that also says a lot. It was Suzu who supported Ruka, gave the confession when Ruka couldn't find her voice, and dragged Chikami back to face Ruka when he couldn't find the courage to do it himself. Showing Suzu is moving to a point where she can give others the kind of support she needed and also that she's learning how necessary it is act in order to move forward.

Now to answer some common questions:

Why was Suzu's relationship with her father so bad?

Suzu's relationship with her father is bad because Suzu has trouble communicating. Her mother was obviously the primary caregiver. We see several times throughout the start of the movie that she struggles to find the nerve to speak, and she hasn't sung in a long time. Her father, also, is unable to break that stagnation.

What was the point of having the little drama where everyone thought she had a crush on Shinobu?

Well, it did a number of things. And I think it's easier to understand when you think about who's involved. The scene revolves around Suzu and Hiroka (who as I said represents fear). Suzu faces public backlash and Hiroka helps her cover it up with denial. Nobody discusses it with the other party involved, Shinobu. And it's also a good glimpse of how fast things go downhill and how little control there is. There's also another aspect to this: finding people who understand. Suzu escapes the backlash by appealing to the reasonable people. People who will listen and understand.

Why did the abuser stop when Suzu stood in front of the boys?

Most likely (from the clues in the story) his wife died trying to protect her kids from his rage. He can't escape the memory and that's why he scurries backwards after trying and failing.

Why did Suzu meet Kei's 'I love you' with 'thank you'?

I think it's the same as it was with Shinobu. Suzu's relationship with Shinobu couldn't be anything else while he was her guardian. In this case, Suzu has become the guardian.

Why did Shinobu's role end with saying they could be friends?

Because their ability to be friends had been inhibited by Suzu's fear and Shinobu's almost paternal role in her life.

Why did Kei say he's going to fight? What is he meant to do about the abuse that's been going on for ages?

The answer here is easy to miss because it ties in with Suzu's story as well as her video call with Kei. He doesn't believe anyone will help. They keep offering and then they don't do anything. By 'fight' he likely means he's going to force people to listen. Not that he's going to fight the dad. He's going to stop pushing people away in anger and assuming there's no help coming. This also links back to Suzu's final concert.

What were the roses about?

The Angel (Tomo) says in the castle that he's been growing them. In the feed of their fathers abuse, we can see a vase of roses on the desk that the father smashes. When he gives a rose to Suzu and Kei, their clothes change and suddenly in this dark mansion, there's colour and joy and music. There's a connection. The roses are light in a dark world. Light that Tomo cultivates and shares. Remember that it's the Angel who first praises Suzu, and the Angel who leads Suzu to the Dragon. He's also Kei's sole connection until Suzu and the light Kei has protected until that point. Again, this ties back to Suzu's final concert.

So who's the love interest?

Nobody. Suzu's interest in Shinobu is in every way a crush. It may develop, it may not. Suzu's relationship with Kei is a mirror. Kei has his own journey to go through. At the end of that journey, they will (as Suzu will with Shinobu) have to form a different kind of relationship. But we don't know what that is.


Overall I think this suffers from appealing to a more introspective viewer than it appeared to. And also, the expectation of romance. Beauty and the Beast is a love story and more. And this movie is not. I personally loved it. The music, the animation and the story were all really good. But I think the comments show, it’s not for everyone.

Pure crack parody anime.

I loved it. It's fun, weird and keeps up the momentum until the end. I do, however, put this down as mixed feelings because you have to vibe with a Japanese sense of humor, be cool with bl/gl fanservice, and be prepared to not take it seriously at all. Also, skip Episode 5 because it was completely out of place and WILL kill the interest of most people. I have no idea what they were thinking there.

If you like the premise and your experience with anime isn't limited to dubbed versions of the most popular anime you find on Western TV, it's ... worth watching. Your viewing will benefit from a familiarity and appreciation for a particular sense of humor found in less Westernized anime.

Also, I've seen several people say the anime confused them and I'm confused at their confusion. The plot isn't complicated and there's nothing to read between the lines. So please don't let that put you off.

You don't expect much from the title, but this is a stellar anime.

Great art style, great story, great voice acting, great pacing. Nothing is overdone or goes on too long. I understand people thinking it could have gone longer than 12 episodes, but I think it was the perfect length. It's very easy with this kind of story to go so heavy it gets boring, and having 12 episodes ensured that didn't happen while also not seeming rushed.

It's not something I had on my list, it was in recommendations based on other anime I'd been watching. It's not something I would have picked up if ... not for that since it doesn't sound all that interesting and the title has no appeal. But if you're a fan of Death Note and Moriarty the Patriot, give this one a watch.

My only gripe is that I would have preferred a definitive ending. The ending is common for this kind of story where the outcome is left vague. The vagueness in this isn't as bad since you can kind of guess what happened. But this is the one time I wish it went the other way. The ending isn't bad and doesn't spoil the series. It's just not quite what I personally wanted.