Series Review – No.6

No.6 –

No.6 is an adaptation of a light novel series, courtesy of Bones for the Noitamina timeblock. This anime initially had quite a bit of potential; there was a mysterious disease slowly infesting the populace, a utopian world disguising an ugly rat race between the poor and rich, walls that segregate the masses, and deaths due to some ridiculous symptoms. All in all, this series had everything that could’ve made it a compelling series, and to be honest, for the vast majority of the series the story and characters were relatively solid. However, what became the stumbling block for this series was the final few episodes of this series, where the 11 episode length of No.6 really hurt any final impressions this series made.

No.6 definitely had it’s strong points though, mainly the characters and actual setting. The post-apocalypic setting, in combination with the shady ongoings within society, made for a rather excellent backdrop to the drama that unfolded. But what really made the story compelling were the characters themselves.

The characters, such as Shion and Nezumi, were rather stubborn and stupidly naive at times. Yet what made the characters here good is how the series consistently developed the characters here, improving their relationship and comraderie bit by bit. It made for some excellent character dynamics for a vast majority of the series, especially after the dogkeeper and Rikiga started to get more involved in the story.

But unfortunately, the strong characterizations didn’t really help with the actual closure to this series. The final few episodes were blatantly trying to cram in a conclusion, resulting in some very out-of-character moments, and plenty of deus ex machina scenes with a lot of overdramatic acting. I normally could deal with overdramatic acting, if it weren’t for the fact that the characters literally completely changed up their beliefs in the midst of the final episode. It was far too sudden, and jarringly contrasted with the personalities of the main characters.

This is one of those times where I wish an anime was not a Noitamina series, mainly because No.6 could have paced things perfectly if there were 2-3 more episodes. The standard 11 episode length for Noitamina series proved to be a crutch for this series, and made for some rather unfortunate rushed episodes.

For a vast majority of the episodes though, No.6 paints a vivid picture of a hellish future with many social injustices and mysteries. The buildup until the finale was actually quite good, and the solid music really helped emphasize the heavy atmosphere. Oh, and this is of course, excluding the BL vibes you got from the main duo; it ended up not being terribly important anyways.

 

Animation/Art: 8.5/10

Music: 8.5/10

Setting: 8.5/10

Characters: 7.0/10

Story: 7.0/10

Overall Enjoyment: 7.9/10

 

No.6 – 11 (Final)

Episode 11 Final-

While Noitamina shows usually turn out to be great, there is one huge caveat to the time block; almost all Noitamina shows are 11 episodes in length. This short 11 episode length really does a ton of harm to series that have potential, but need more time to grow. Examples of this would be series like [C], and now, No.6. The pacing this episode was absolutely ridiculous, with some crazy out-of-character moments for both Shion and Nezumi. Oh, and let’s not forget the deus ex machina deaths and revivals, the giant tornados of light, and so forth. This episode just reeked of plot devices that were used to create a patchwork ending for this series, and it really showed in the quality of the work itself.

To be fair, this episode was fairly intense in terms of atmosphere, as well as emotionally intense with the reunion of Safu and Shion. But the reunion itself was tainted with some random plot twists, like how Elyurias was practically holding Safu’s body hostage by maintaining control over it, as well as Shion somehow doing turning about 180 degrees and completely losing his naive personality, while Nezumi gains that exact same naivety. The changes in personalities amongst Shion and Nezumi was much too sudden to be believable, whereas the change is Safu was barely passable because of the presence of Elyurias.

The ending does aim to be more bittersweet, where Safu passes away and Shion finally parts ways with Nezumi after accomplishing his goal of knocking down those walls. Technically speaking though, Shion seemed to have suddenly given up his idealistic notions not too long ago, which meant his goals had changed significantly since the time he declare his intent to destroy the wall. Nevertheless, the giant bee aka Elyurias ended up taking her wrath out on the citizens of No.6, and then disappeared after finishing up her destruction of the city.

Honestly speaking, this episode probably isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. Nevertheless, it was extremely disappointing, even more so after a magical glowy song revives Shion from death, as well as Shion’s miraculous save of Nezumi after he had severe blood loss from three gunshot wounds. This episode really pushes the notion of “suspension of disbelief” to it’s fullest, where I ended up really skeptical about everything that happened here. There are also a bunch of minor loose plot strings around, but those aren’t much of an issue. This was a fairly intense episode in some ways, but it just wasn’t up to par in terms of other aspects of this finale. Here, I can truly say that if this series had maybe 2-4 more episodes, the pacing and conclusion would’ve worked out perfectly. But the 11 episode constraint really hurt things here, resulting in a poorly paced, crammed finale.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 10

Episode 10 –

Considering how there is only one more episode left after this one, I was hoping Bones wouldn’t screw things up here. And yet, evidence of plot condensing is clearly showing up here, where Shion and Nezumi both act very out of character this episode. My guess is that the 11 episode length prevented enough character development for the plot twist to make much sense here, but aside from the gaping flaws from the out-of-place actions of some characters, the remainder was okay I guess.  To be honest, this entire episode was very predictable, where we all knew that it would just be some sort of scheme by Nezumi, the dogkeeper, and Rikiga, to infiltrate the correctional facility. I didn’t quite feel much tension in the air because I was almost 100% confident that Nezumi and Shion would reach Safu unharmed, and while Nezumi did sustain injuries, nevertheless they reached Safu. Of course, we’re still not sure as to exactly how Elyurias, Safu, Shion, and Nezumi are all connected to each other, but with their direct confrontation in the final scene this week, it looks like next week we’ll see the truths behind this situation.

Don’t get me wrong, this episode had tension in the air. However, the distinction to be made here is that the tension was not from the infiltration by Nezumi and Shion, but rather, all the mysteries that still refuse to completely unravel themselves at this point in the series. It was practically a given that the duo would reach Safu eventually, who by the way, now has a very “final boss” feel to her. I don’t know exactly what in the world this Elyurias is thinking, but I’m quite curious as to how it’s presence will bind together all of the dangling plot lines in this series. There’s still the questions about No.6 itself, Elyurias, Shion, Safu, Nezumi, Dogkeeper, Rikiga, and lets not forget those darn parasite bees and the revolutionary nutjob who plans on trying to overthrow No.6. Everything here is still shrouded in mystery, and I’m seriously doubtful as to whether things can be neatly wrapped up with only one episode left.

Another big thing to note here is how Shion and Nezumi acted this episode. Towards the end of the episode, they were acting very out of character. Now I don’t know when Shion gained the sudden impulse to throw away his naive ideals and start disregarding human life, but the sudden change just doesn’t fit his personality. There was no real transition to this aggressive Shion, which made the situation all the more unbelievable. And to top things off, since when did Nezumi become a crybaby that cries over Shion’s sudden change of heart? Wouldn’t Nezumi normally do something much more drastic, like slap some sense into Shion or badmouth him or something. Once again, the shift in characterization was huge.

In the end, for the penultimate episode for this series, I had expected much better of No.6. Right when the finale approaches, this series falters with some critical flaws in characterization and plot. Admittingly, I am still quite curious and excited about how this series will resolve itself with only one episode left, but I have to say that this episode does not bode well for the finale. I’m praying that the Safu debacle is grandiose enough to make up for the flaws here.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.1/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 09

Episode 09 –

Well, I would personally describe this episode as one that simply follows through on what we already knew would eventually happen. We already were aware of the notion that Nezumi and Shion would be sneaking into the correctional facility, and we knew that it was going to be risky. This episode pretty much let whatever we knew would occur to actually occur. There were a few little twists in there, but for the most part this episode was fairly predictable. The true mystery is everything that will happen from here on, where this episode felt like “the calm before the storm”. It seems that all hell will break loose in the final two upcoming episodes, which will deal with everything from Safu to No6 to those pesky bees.

That being said, even though we knew what would happen here in this episode, the tension building was actually fairly intense. The side-plot with Karan and crazed revolutionary adds a unique perspective to the situation at hand, which wildly differs from the troubles that Shion and Nezumi are going through. At the same time, the sudden destruction of the west side and the capture of Shion and Nezumi by No6 were also very hectic events.

What caught the most attention though was a simple 1-2 minute scene where it appears that Safu made contact with the illustrious Elyurias. It seems the contact was accompanied with some sort of awakening from Safu, but No6 still has not revealed anything significant about the current situation Safu is in aside from the fact that she was being used as a guinea pig. All the major details are still shrouded in mystery, and we are still not quite sure how they all relate to each other. How do those killer bees relate to No6, and how does Elyurias play into the bigger picture here? All those details will probably all be revealed within the upcoming final episodes,  but as of now it’s rather difficult to get a clear view of the scale of this current conflict that everybody is involved in.

That being said, this was in a way a standard buildup episode with the episode ratcheting up some tension. The meat to the actual story will be coming up, and I’m really hoping that it doesn’t disappoint. Bones is staying marvelously consistent with this series, and it’s really paid off here with a curiously captivating story. There are flaws to the characters themselves here, which I would attribute to the lack of time to properly develop them, but nevertheless we have a solid main cast at this point. As to how all of these characters and plot points tie in to a conclusion, it’s certainly something to look forward to.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 08

Episode 08 –

It looks like No.6 is starting to delve in supernatural occurrences, which hasn’t really happened much until now. Now that I think about it though, supernatural stuff is much more in-style for Bones as a studio. Anyways, aside from that, this episode was pretty much a buildup episode, with a ton of explanation and dialogue to help flesh out the situation at hand. The introduction of the old white haired man certainly expediated the explanation process by quite a bit, and at this point we’re left waiting for Sion and Nezumi to actually take action.

The background info itself previously has only been vaguely hinted at, but it certainly does answer some questions (as well as pose entirely new ones). We now know the history behind No.6, and why Nezumi hates it so much.

The mysterious being mentioned here, Elyurias, does seem to be the one at the root of all the conflicts to this series. From Nezumi’s hatred, to the actions of the bureaucracy of No.6, to Safu being kidnapped, and the parasitic bees. All seems to tie back to Elyurias, which makes me wonder exactly what it is. At least one thing is for sure; considering how only forest people seem to be able to hear Elyurias’ song, there are strong implications that Safu is also a survivor of the forest people. That would also explain why Safu and Nezumi seem to have some sort of mental/psychic connection to each other.

As I already said, this episode was pretty much just a explanatory episode, and by nature it was extremely dialogue heavy. The heavy release of information about the conflict does clarify what exactly is going on with the story, as well as sets up the stage for the final climax coming up soon. While all the exposition wasn’t exactly fun/enjoyable, it was definitely necessary for the upcoming confrontations between the main cast and No.6. There are still some daunting questions left though, such as what in the word is happening to Safu, and if this rescue operation has a chance of succeeding. With only 3 episodes left to the series, it looks like we’ll find out soon enough.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 07

Episode 07 –

This episode was very much focused on the character dynamics between the main cast, even extending out to the side characters like the Dogkeeper, Karan, and Rikiga. We are starting to see a much stronger bond being forged between Shion, Nezumi, Rikiga, and the Dogkeeper, as they all seem to gradually opening up to each other. All of the ongoing events just keep building on top of each other to build up the suspense towards the eventual rescue of Safu. This series is always heavy on the drama, and this episode does continue to do so.

The vast majority of the episode was focused on the conflicting feelings Nezumi is having over the effort he is putting into helping out Shion. Considering all of his banter saying he doesn’t care for Shion, the saying “actions speak louder than words” certainly paints a different picture. Surprisingly it seems that the Dogkeeper and Rikiga are also beginning to care on a much deeper level for Shion, which is kind of funny to see considering how all three of them were initially rather hostile and nasty to Shion.

In the meanwhile, all of the questions about No.6 just keep piling on top of each other. From Karan’s narrow escape from danger, to the investigation of a top secret correctional facility that can kill you, to the really weird situation Safu is currently in, this series just continues to make No.6 one heck of an enigma. The status of No.6 is what continues to drive the story, and keep things interesting.

On a different note, the status of Safu herself is now rather peculiar, considering how she’s currently suspended upside down in a tank filled with some weird liquid. The scientists around her keep exclaiming how Safu is a “perfect specimen”. The first thing that instantly comes to mind here is how a couple episodes back the series revealed that Safu has some sort of telepathic connection with Nezumi. Does that perhaps happen to play a role here? There aren’t enough clues to say as of now, but it’s definitely a rather ominous sign.

What really annoyed me, though, was how Shion coincidentally managed to find Safu’s clothes in a used clothing shop, and somehow attributed it to Safu being in trouble. Now that is the most flimsiest line of logic I’ve seen in a while, but at least Shion now knows about Safu’s kidnapping. The brief struggle that Shion and Nezumi have over Safu’s kidnapping does manage to deepen their bonds much more though, so I guess I can overlook the convenience factor here.

With 4 more episodes left to go, it looks like Bones is kicking things into high gear and starting to bring us closer to a finale. There are still a lot of stuff that’s left unanswered at this point, but at least Bones is giving us enough time to build things up more. Safu’s in a mess, Shion and Nezumi are finally genuinely working together, and in the meanwhile the conspiracy continues to deepen.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5

P.S. I’m just going to ignore the mouth-to-mouth kiss that Shion gave Nezumi, and assume it was exactly what Shion said it was – a goodbye kiss. At least it’s a sign that they trust each other much more than before… =_=;

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 06

Episode 06 –

Well, this episode had some rather interesting twists. There were two major focal points to the episode here, one being Safu, and the other involving Shion and Nezumi. As of now, you can get a very vague idea of the direction this series is taking, especially if you consider the conflict between Shion and Nezumi. While the conflict between Shion and Nezumi was a bit awkward, the bits involving Safu had much more impact. I guess Safu is just a rather abnormal anime female lead, especially considering the traditional “weak minded” setup of female characters.

The one thing that’s refreshing about Safu is that she isn’t some random weak-minded simpleton who just waits around and hopes for something good to happen. No, she’s the type of person who analyzes a situation, takes control of her own feelings, and goes out of her way to get things done. Even in the current situation, with her grandmother passing away and Shion disappearing, she has no intentions of just sitting around and mourning. Her initiative and resolve is a stark contrast to Shion’s rather idealistic rhetoric, where Shion says a lot but hasn’t done anything yet.

On the Shion and Nezumi side of things, I’m finding the pure “black and white” portrayal of their relationship kind of forced. I mean, while Shion is a naive, idealistic boy, by the same token Nezumi is a overtly stoic, one-track-mind guy. He seems to believe the notion that “you’re with us, or against us”, and doesn’t acknowledge gray areas and ambiguous positions. That in itself is a  critical flaw, and will probably come back to hurt Nezumi later on. As for Shion, at least there are signs that he’s finally going to do something. Though whether it’ll be soon enough to help out Safu, I guess we can’t say.

No.6, as of now, seems to be setting up a rather intricate situation between Shion, his mother, Nezumi, Safu, and the city itself. Everything is being slowly put into place, from the cliffhanger with Safu being taken away, to Nezumi hiding some secrets from Shion, and the killer bees withdrawing from hibernation. Everything is setting up a foundation for a rather big conflict that’ll implode later on in the series. With us being past the halfway point for this series, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 05

Episode 05 –

Well, I’m not quite sure of what I should say about this episode. As a buildup episode, this was pretty good, bringing together a lot of key points and ideas to reinforce some lingering questions. However, why is it that the plot twists in this episode feel like they came out of nowhere? I’m kind of baffled as to how Nezumi and Safu both fell unconscious at the same time, and apparently had managed to get in contact with each other. The two don’t even formally know each other, which makes the moment rather weird. Along with that, other things are obviously amiss in the world of No6, from the even-in-winter-active-killer-bees, to the weird connections between the bees, Shion, Safu, and Nezumi. Just what in the world is going on here?

Like I already mentioned, for some reason both Nezumi and Safu simultaneously collapsed, and based on their statements after waking up, my guess is that they somehow observed the same dream. They saw the exact same dream, therefore Safu overheard Shion crying out for Nezumi. The first most obvious question here is why they somehow had a weird connection moment, especially considering how Safu and Nezumi have never directly met each other or had a conversation. Nezumi has seen Safu before, but aside from that, there are virtually no connections between the two. I guess there were bees in both of their dreams, and while that’s significant, it’s not really a connection between the two. The one major connection to note here is the most obvious; the connection between Safu and Nezumi IS Shion.

That by itself holds some rather huge significance, and coupled with how involved Shion is in the whole “killer-bees” nonesense, things are starting to vaguely hint at whatever is starting to unfold in the world of No6. How is the Shion connection important here, and does that mean Shion’s very existence is important in some way? Nezumi might be questioning Shion’s identity based upon how Shion was able to get past his defenses so easily, but Nezumi might be on the tail something much larger in scale with regards to Shion. What exactly is Shion? And how does everything going on here relate back to both him, and the mysterious situation at hand?

This, coupled with Safu’s random return to No.6 after her grandmother’s death, all seems rather ominous, and does not exactly bode well for our protagonists. I’m really wondering how in the world the creators plan on tying all these seemingly random events together, but I’m guessing that part of the appeal to this episode is that everything is supposed to feel rather disconnected. Hopefully all of these seemingly random plot points connect to form a coherent whole, all while pushing forward the increasingly complex and questionable situation in No.6.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5

P.S. I’m just wondering, are the events here faithful to the original source material, or have the anime creators started to diverge from the original source? It would make much sense for BONES to try and start building up towards a conclusion from here on out, especially considering how there are only 6 or so episodes left in the series. The last thing we’d want is a rushed, messy ending like [C] had.

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 04

Episode 04 –

Hrm, well this was certainly different from what I anticipated. This episode decided to explore the characters with a bit more depth, and while we don’t learn too much about Nezumi and Shion (the two main characters), there are a lot of hints thrown up about the two. What made this episode different, though, is how it focused in on Shion’s mother and developed her a bit, which is weird considering how she isn’t exactly a central figure in this story. Honestly speaking, while the insight on Shion’s mother was nice and all, this episode in general felt rather bland. I probably feel this way due to the sheer level of naivety of Shion, which gets really annoying really fast.

Like I mentioned earlier, this episode brings a lot of focus to Shion’s mother. I do like how this series is trying to give a more concrete foundation to Shion’s desire to see his mother again, where this episode does a good job at showing just how strong of a mother-son relationship they have. It adds more credibility to Shion’s strong desire to bring peace to both the run-down city outside of No.6, and No.6 itself.

Nevertheless, even with Shion’s good intentions and purposes, his attitude towards everything is just outright annoying. Shion is just an oblivious, pure optimist who doesn’t seem to notice the sheer level of difference between his sense of rationality, and the real world itself. It bugs me that he makes the simple irrational mistakes that could endanger his entire life, yet he himself is completely and utterly unaware that he made such a critical mistake in the first place. Like everybody in this series has been saying, Shion’s idealistic attitude will come back to haunt him.

It’s not like I don’t sympathize with Shion’s idealistic desires, but his poor mindset adds little credibility to his desires and goals. Nezumi is much more level headed, which makes him the more sensible seeming character. Even so, even Nezumi seems to have his own issues, with both his past, and his current way of living. There are strong hints at some grudges and misgivings Nezumi has with the world, and his antisocial status proves so. As to how all of this will push character development, I’m not too sure as of yet. And the next episode preview seems to bring Safu’s perspective to the table, but what could she contribute now that she’s studying abroad?

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

P.S. I know there are strong gay vibes in this episode, but I’m ignoring them for now. I seriously hope the creators don’t go too far with it =_=;

Screenshots are later in the post.

No.6 – 03

Episode 03 –

Well, we now know the reason behind Shion’s mysterious color change, though I guess after the revelation that Shion was infected with a bug, it was kind of obvious that it would be the reason for the change. It was a rather gruesome experience for him, but Shion strangely comes out of the situation as naive and good-willed as ever. I guess thick-headed guys will stay that way, even after a life-threatening situation. There is an interesting little result of Shion’s good will though, mainly how his idealistic and pure intentions are in conflict with Nezumi’s interests. What makes this conflict a bit more interesting is how both characters have good reasons for maintaining their conflicting vantage points.

The first half of the episode pretty much just continued with Shion’s naive antics, where he wanted to get in touch with his mother, etc. Nezumi’s little lecture about how he was completely abandoned, and is now being targeted by No.6, just doesn’t get through to him. Seriously does Shion want to get himself killed? Then again, he almost does get himself killed what that weird parasite bug started to make it’s move. A little flaw with these turn of events is how, for Shion, there were some symptoms before the actual bug hatched from it’s pupa, which gave him an opportunity to extract the bug. The rest of the victims so far haven’t had the convenience of a incubation period, so there is a slight flaw in logic here.

Nevertheless, ignoring that plot hole, you would figure that after Shion barely escaped from death, he would be more cautious. Instead, his ideals lead him on to try and attempt to rescue all of the infected people in No6. Now, I do agree with his idea about saving people, but he is being a bit too honest about all of this. I mean, I already have suspicions that No6 might have developed that bug in the first place, which would explain why the government is trying to hide the bug from everyday citizens. And not to mention, Shion would be once again placing his life in danger.

Shion’s naive ideals sharply contrast with the more vengeful Nezumi, which creates a rather interesting battle of morals between the two. Nezumi obviously has some sort of deep-rooted grudge against No6, which is why he seems to want No6 to rot and burn. Nezumi, on the other hand, takes the humanitarian perspective, wanting to save as many people as he can. The big question here is, who is right and who is wrong? The ambiguity to the answer is what makes this interesting. In the end, while Shion’s naive-ness still bugs the crap out of me, it allows for the setup of a strong sense of ideals (and the conflict that results of it). Aside from that though, this episode was rather informative for the most part, and really gets me thinking that something really big will happen in the near future, though that’s just my intuition speaking as of now.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.