Un-Go (2011)
15 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Anime Reviews Tags: anime, Inga, Shinjuro Yuki, Studio Bones, Un-Go
Mysteries never really go out of style. In the wake revival of savant detectives, the media is able to give us shows like Sherlock on BBC and CBS’s the Mentalist. Studio Bones’ contribution is the series Un-Go, which was created by novelist Ango Sakaguchi and brought to life by dream duo director Seiji Mizushima and writer Sho Aikawa (of Fullmetal Alchemist fame). The plot follows the curious cases taken on by defective detective Shinjuro Yuki and his partner Inga. They are working in an alternative Japan to the one we know and love, where a combination of war and terrorist bombings have ravaged the city. Shinjuro has superior intellect and Inga turns into a buxom woman who can ask a person any question, which the subject is forced to answer honestly.
Together they fight crime.
The Story
Post-war cities always present plenty of intrigue and Inga’s presence allows for a fun and unique twist to an otherwise hashed up concept, but those two elements that make this show unique also lead to its downfall. Initially, Un-Go presents itself as an episodic mystery series, something out of the pages of CSI. This story-telling system maintains for 6 episodes, during which there are plenty of recurring characters, but the mystery is always new. There are a few reasons why this doesn’t end up working well, at least in the current method of execution: 1) While the rules of play for Inga makes sense, her presence does not, 2) While normally a post-war setting would need no explanation, because the mysteries are somehow related to said unexplained war, it can be very difficult to keep up with who did what when for what purpose, and 3) 20 minutes of air-time is not nearly long enough to allow for a fully fleshed out episode crime-solving plot.
Perhaps the writers figured these last points out because around episode 6, the history of the war and the essence of Inga’s existence start to get introduced into the dialogue and by episode 7, the audience is thrust into a continuous and extremely confusing series of related mysteries. Too little too late, however, because without a precedent that the previous episodes could have provided (but obviously didn’t), the reader is not prepared to accept any additional supernatural occurrences (Inga’s included). Un-Go had all the right elements to tell a really excellent story, but really fell short in its execution.
Story grade: B-
Music
A combination of really neat electronic beats and investigative acoustic percussion make up Un-Go’s soundtrack. “How to Go” by School Food Punishment is comprised of borderline haphazzard synthesizer sounds while the ending, “Fantasy” by LAMA, successfully soothes to the finish. As far as themes go, this show does it right, bringing in unique music that could be successful independent of whether or not is was associated with the memory of the series.
Now, the background tracks, while not epic in nature, to exactly what they need to. In solving a mystery, there is the pitter patter of the “there’s a murder” track, the upbeat ”here comes the detective” track, and, my absolute favorite, the almost salsa-sounding “the mystery is about to be solved,” track. My heart didn’t flutter over the soundtrack, but I got into the rhythm of syncing my feelings with that of the music I was hearing, to the point where I was listening for the tune to know if we were at the climax.
Music grade: B +
Art
Excuse me while I geek out about the character designs, which were given to us courtesy of Pako and of Loveless and Earthian mangaka Yun Kouga, who is most recently known for her work in (my beloved) Gundam 00. Some of the eyes look a little evil at times, but overall, every single character in the show gave the impression of being super cool. Even the fashion looked well thought out to the point where I wondered if CLAMP had any involvement (Yun Koga used to do doujinshi of some CLAMP series, which explains that away).
In regards to the animation as a whole, the series really does succeed. The budget is there, so there was never a need to cut down on cells to save money. There were moments that could have been a little richer or more beautifully done, given that Inga eats souls and jumps around all over the place, but they didn’t implement anything that I would consider to be a bad choice in execution. In fact, I think the most notable thing is that the animators never got lazy. I’m always watching the proportions and faces and of the characters as they walk around, trying to see if there was every a time when the artist-on-duty just wasn’t in the mood to put all the parts where they’re supposed to go (it happens a lot) and I didn’t see it at all.
Art grade: B+
Overall view
Un-Go has all the components to produce a great series, but falling short right where it counts – uncontrolled and ultimately confusing plot, appropriate but not amazing music, good but not gorgeous animation – in every venue makes for a less than satisfying resolution to this short series. What might save the show is Episode 0: Inga-Ron, a 45 minute short film which will, in theory, fill the plot holes that the war and Inga’s presence threw into the series.
Final grade: B
