Category: Un-Go

Oh, I loved this episode! In fact, I’d even argue that it was my favorite episode of all of the new series this season so far. The thing that this series has above all other shows this season, is how much details it has put into its stories and episodes. It’s incredibly creative; not just in its themes and setting, but also in how it sets up its stories. This episode in particular was really well constructed, and it made perfect use of its time to play out; everything was perfectly foreshadowed. The characters involved were all interesting, and at the same time this series just continues to throw in interesting tidbits about its world. I like how the creators chose to evolve smartphones, and how people make use of technology after nearly the entire country has been demolished with little efforts to restore actual structures. Smart androids are of course nothing new, but the context in this episode was excellent. I especially loved the ending of this episode. As the episode went on, I kept thinking: aren’t we nearly done yet? Why hasn’t this been resolved yet? The murder of this episode suddenly gets resolved in like 20 seconds and the episode ends. That was a very neat idea that really broke away from conventions. Inga’s powers, I’m beginning to understand their appeal: at first sight they’re just a cheap plot device to resolve mysteries quickly, but they’re much more than that. This show really plays around with certainty: because of her, there’s always one thing that’s certain of each episode: the fact that her question will be answered in truth. It’s something that Osamu Tezuka also loved to play with. The reason I’m a big fan of episodic series, is because they really have to create a compact and standalone story, for every single episode. They can’t just take one episode as a build-up or aftermath: they always have to be interesting and this format allows much more for experimentation than regularly paced anime. And seriously, Un-Go has been the best version of this in quite a while so far. Each episode so far has been different and very detailed. Every episode has been fun and interesting, to the point where so many details become clear only after a second watching. And in the big picture, it’s creating a very interesting post apocalyptic science fiction world, based on modern technologies. Which it then uses again as the basis for its individual stories. This episode also was the first that wasn’t just standalone. This still was pretty much the story of one murder that got resolved at the end, but there still is the question of who originally murdered the father, and why the victim here got burned. That’s up for next week. I like this: instead of just focusing this week on build-up, the creators decided to deliver every single week, while building up at the same time. The worst part of this series is its cast of characters. Most of the time my favorite series of a season has really dynamic characters that are fun to watch. In Un-Go however, they take a back-seat. They’re well acted… but pretty much static. They do their job so that the storytelling and setting can shine, and as long as they don’t get in the way of those, I doubt that I’ll mind them. Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>

With this, I’m sure: Un-Go is along with Chihayafuru my favourite show of the Autumn season. What can I say? I’m a sucker for episodic shows done right. This season has a lot of creative series with creative premises and backgrounds. Un-Go is no exception to this, but what sets it apart from all of the other sis how it uses its creativity. I really like how much the creators managed to cram into just two episodes. This episode in particular was just chock full of neat ideas, creative twists, science fiction. I in particular love how well this show manages to use its apocalyptic setting as the basis for its murder mysteries. That’s what managed to turn this into a unique mystery. What’s more: it also seems that this series understands what it means to be a Noitamina series. Leaving Guilty Crown aside with its 22 episodes, the pacing in this show is really fast, but not so rushed that it takes away from the storytelling. The decision to focus more on storytelling and setting than on characters had an interesting effect compared to C: the creators really can cram in as much as possible into just one episode. This definitely is not an easy show to watch: you need to be constantly paying attention in order to keep up with all of the revelations. It’s great to see another one of those series where you have to put in effort to really understand everything that’s going on. In any case, I was looking forward to this show right from the beginning, thanks to the staff who are behind this show. Un-Go had definitely the best pedigree out of any of the fall series, and that’s saying something in a season with two Sato Junichi shows. Of course the director of Oh Edo Rocket and the first Full Metal Alchemist series is a plus, but what immediately sold me was that this thing is written by Shou Aikawa. This guy has written a truckload of original stories for anime, most of which sparkled with very inspired writing and creativity. This is the guy who came up with Oh Edo Rocket, Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi, Nadesico, and even Simoun, of all things. What’s more: the producers got themselves a sound director who really knows what he’s doing. The music in this series doesn’t just feel like random background noise, but is really well timed for each of the scenes. In particular the tracks of the idol songs were perfectly played in according to what went on on the screen (which especially sounded nice during the download scene). What also surprises me is that the creators actually showed the difference between J-Pop idols and people who can actually sing well: the voice they got for the girl who was supposed to play for the part of the dead girl really was significantly better than the other members of the idol group, who were just in for their looks. One complaint about this episode: continuity. One moment the male lead has scars on his face. A few scenes later, they’re completely gone. Also, the characters still aren’t the strong point of this series, but it has more than enough to make up for that. Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>