- Characters: 1
- Story: 0
- Enjoyment: .5
- Art: .5
- Animation: 0
Overall Score: 2/10
Mekakucity Actors in one word: huh?
The reason I started watching Mekakucity Actors is because I’m a die-hard Vocaloid fan. If you weren’t aware of Jin-P (aka Shizen no Teki-P), he’s a producer that makes some of the best Vocaloid music out there (imo). In 2011, he began posting songs surrounding certain characters. This project eventually became known as the “Kagerou Project”. Each song showcased a member of the Mekakushi Dan (or Blindfold Gang). (As seen above.) His popularity with his music skyrocketed and soon, novels, manga, and an anime came to be.
When I learned they where making an anime, I was ecstatic. I’d never bothered to read the manga or the novels, but the anime sounded interesting. And what I found…wasn’t really what I was expecting.
Let’s face it. The characters are all around rather bland. The whole “there are no parents or responsible adults in this world” trope comes into play, and the Mekakushi Dan does pretty much whatever the heck they want. There’s a NEET shut in who’s of course, a genius. An idol who’s spunky and doesn’t like attention. A shy, clumsy lolita. A quiet, mysterious guy who happens to have explosive, mysterious power. A young tsundere girl. And a young, tsundere boy who’s abrasive and stubborn.
That being said, it’s coincidental that the only characters that stood out for me were the three siblings: Kano, Kido, and Seto. Now these three I loved entirely. Especially the way they interact with one another.
And even though they use character tropes that I usually can’t STAND (ie characters like Momo, Marry, Ene, and Hibiya) I loved all these characters in their respective Jin-P songs and PVs. Therefore, I couldn’t get myself to actually dislike any of them just because of something unrelated to the actual anime. So Jin-P saves them there. But if I’d never heard any of his songs, I can guarantee I wouldn’t like any of them very much. Or at all.
Sadly, the dialogue isn’t very intriguing and the story can be dull most of the time.
But something I utterly LOVED was the fact they incorporated Jin-P’s music into the anime. The opening theme, “Daze” is a personal favorite. I never skip it. There are even clips where it’s all music and nothing else. Since I’m a fan, I love it. But if you aren’t, these scenes can come off as random and a waste of screen time.
I found the concept of this story to be unique and interesting, however, it isn’t delivered very well at times. I like the idea a lot and some of the twists concerning the characters are great; but for the most part, it isn’t very eventful.
EDIT: After doing some research on the light novel and manga, the anime really takes a nosedive into the pavement straight into hell. The anime was a horrific adaptation (which isn’t a surprise considering practically all light novel adaptations suck). The story was condensed and chopped up making the anime confusing.
The strong point of this anime is the art. Something Shaft is known for, I guess? However, animation isn’t smooth and character movements feel awkward and unnatural. One second a character is here and in the next frame they’ve moved closer or further and suddenly (just like in true Shaft fashion) random poses!
(whyyyyyyyy??)
Still, the art is beautiful and my eyes were drawn to it completely. The backgrounds are always utterly gorgeous.
Again, the obvious flaw that ticked me off was the shoddy character placement. You think they’re a few feet away but in some shots, they’re suddenly right next to each other. Not to mention the characters sometimes pose for absolutely no reason.
It’s distracting, strange, and just makes them look awkward. (Shaft, Shaft, no. What are you….no. Stop it Shaft. Stop it.)
And the use of camera angles is rather strange. They zoom into faces and have dramatic head turns even when characters aren’t saying anything dramatic or interesting.
So to sum it up:
Pros: The art is BEAUTIFUL. (Except in a certain episode that made my eyeballs bleed. Blew your budget within the first few episodes, did you Shaft?) If you’re a fan of Jin-P’s work, you’ll at most, appreciate this. The original concept is clever and many of the twists they throw on you are interesting. Also, the story is very clean and there’s hardly any shallow pandering.
Cons: Both story and characters are rather dull. (Though certain characters DO have fun and likable personalities) It takes a while for anything eventful to happen. A lot of the things that happen can be very confusing such as scenes involving characters you’ve never seen before and would only understand if you listen to Jin-P. Character placement is off and a lot of the movements make no sense. Also, nothing truly eventful happens until pretty much the very last episode. The animation is choppy, the story is hellishly confusing, and overall, this adaptation is pretty much a middle finger to the original light novel and manga.
Worth watching? Not really. The characters can be pretty endearing at times and the concept is, well, cool. If you like Jin-P, definitely check it out if for nothing more but for the music and characters. If you’re at all interested in Mekakucity Actors, check out the light novel or manga. This anime adaptation will make you cry. It seems to be something you watch when you want to shut off your brain and just see Jin-P’s songs in action. Other than that, it’s really not worth the headache at all.
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