Some time ago, the influential and powerful Toue Inc. bought the island of Midorijima, Japan, with the plans of building Platinum Jail—a luxurious utopian facility. Those who are lucky enough to call it home are the wealthiest citizens in the world. The original residents of the island, however, were forced to relocate to the Old Residential District; and after the completion of Platinum Jail, they were completely abandoned.
"Rib" and "Rhyme" are the most common games played on the island. Rib is an old school game in which gangs engage in turf wars against each other, while Rhyme is a technologically advanced game wherein participants fight in a virtual reality. To be able to play Rhyme, you must have an "All-Mate" (an AI that typically looks like a pet), and the match must be mediated by an "Usui."
Aoba Seragaki has no interest in playing either game; he prefers to live a peaceful life with his grandmother and All-Mate, Ren. However, after getting forcefully dragged into a dangerous Rhyme match and hearing rumors about disappearing Rib players, all of Aoba's hopes of living a normal life are completely abolished.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
emptyemptyempty0
May it be said that this horror of an adapted anime has forever ruined my picture of DMMD. Anyone who gives this anime a decent score is just going easy on it. This anime is not a ten, not a seven or even the lowest score to ever be conceived of on MAL, a six. No, this is far worse. What I was hoping for was, alas, too much. I feel sorry for previous fans of the series, as this does no justice to the original VN. Honestly, I think you should never remove the "L" from "BL", as the originalhad some plot points revolving around the romance between characters. I understand what the producers were trying to do here, which was acquire a new demographic. What a mistake.
In doing this, along with the short amount of episodes, they stripped the characters of any real feeling. You couldn't get attached to them because they didn't get a chance. Noiz, for example, was reduced to a background prop after his arc ended and Clear's began. There was no development because it wasn't long enough. ( Aside from Aoba using Scrap on them. ) The only character I really even liked was Clear. Every time an arc was finished Aoba stuffed that character into Glitter like he was building his own harem or something. I didn't like this at all, although I can understand why they did this. ( Basically so every character could achieve their "happy ends". )
The animation was mediocre at best. It seemed very rushed, especially towards the beginning. Near the end it was somewhat decent, but I've definitely seen better.
As for the sound, I'm pretty satisfied with it. It sets the mood fairly well in most parts. Probably the anime's only redeeming quality.
Okay, plot! Pretty much the same as the VN, which, mind you I found mildly boring too. This isn't really the anime's fault, but yeah, it's especially boring in the beginning. There were some plot holes, some of which the anime was at fault for due to not enough episodes. There were some pretty original ideas here and there, but without the romance there's really nothing all that amazing.
In conclusion, this anime sucks. I didn't enjoy it by any means. It was aimed at the wrong demographic, was rushed, had a low budget and not enough episodes to flush it all out. I think this anime would've been a lot better with more of a budget and more episodes. I recommend the VN if you're interested in it, but not the anime unless you're really bored. (or are a hardcore fan of the VN.)
NOTE: I'm not a professional at all. If you have a criticism of this review please tell me, it would really help! :)
Blska1441
Why are you all hating? The plot may be difficult to follow, but when it all finally clicks into place you end up sitting there like "HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS?" Don't give up on Dramatical Murder just because you don't understand what is going on in the first episode. Or the second...Or third...Or...Well you get the point (Amnesia fans understand the struggle). Each time I clicked 'next episode', I felt as if someone rammed something into my brain and started picking on it : "Oh look..You've seen this character before. Haven't you? Ohhhh he seemed suspicious! I knew it! I knew it!". Inessence the author did an amazing job at trowing javelins at my imagination through plot twists. You'll never know what will happen next.
In reference to the art...Well hella. The detail of the landscape is quite similar to Durarara or Cross Ange (basically a 'society in the future' landscape). However, it has it's own 'high' to it. When you watch, notice that most of the city is animated as if behind a block of ice. It's blurry, shiny and magnificent. But the blurriness foreshadows the instability of perfection created by humans in Dramatical Murder. And the characters...Well they're all completely (and I mean totally) to die for. Each of the (significant or insignificant) characters have incredibly beautiful eyes that pierce straight through your anime/manga-loving heart. But...That's not all that captivated me when it came down to their looks. All of them were unique in a million different ways. You need to see it to understand.
Characters? Characters...Yes...Well...I need you to promise me something ok? Have tissues near (Not just for tears if you know what I mean). The moment I laid my eyes on Aoba and Ren, I needed more. Aoba is the main character, and let me tell you... Everyone wants, loves and adores Aoba (For whatever reason). However...His personality pivots between Kaneki-ken (and his struggle to remain human) and Mikado Ryuugamine (who fights to stay a simple human despite his curiosity). He is beyond special and so is his Grandma and his dog, and all his friends ( :D ).
But I don't want to be too specific, or i'll spoil everything for you.
In general the characters were all quite well developed (Even supporting characters had a unique personality that made them stand out). Each radiated a different side of humanity. They all had their fears, goals, grudges and dreams that eventually lead them to Aoba. I bet you'll find yourself in at lest one of them.
I don't know If I motivated you to watch DM, but please consider it. It's a work of art. You will remember the names of the characters even if it's a 12 episode anime.
Cheers --
Asfaria
DRAMAtical Murder is an anime adapted from a BL visual novel originally created by the company Nitro+ who also made things like Steins;Gate and Chaos Head. Similarly to those and other stories done by Nitro+, it has a very sci-fi and futuristic feeling to it. And despite the original material involving gay rape sex scenes (though I haven't played the original game so I can't compare them more than this), this is tuned down to a PG-13 rating which never delves farther in the shounen-ai element than a simple kiss and gay sexual innuendos galore. DMMd begins with Seragaki Aoba, a man of around 20 yearsold. The story is told from his perspective as he meets different people, both ones he already knew and strangers. He begins to discover something big going on in his city involving gangs, a digital game called "Rhyme," and some of the people around him. Aoba, of course, is also strongly involved in this growing plot whether he knows it or not at first. The initial setup is basically your typical VN setup where you follow the protagonist as you meet the other important and not so important characters.
One of the biggest problems I had with DMMd is just how poorly timed its twists and reveals are. Aoba knows almost nothing that is going on about the main story at first or much that happened prior to Episode 1. Unfortunately, it takes almost half of the 12 episodes for the show to actually give you any idea what is going to happen. And that first half is incredibly boring since all it does is introduce you to some characters who really aren't all that likable. When they do finally reveal the real intent of the plot, it is very predictable and generic. This show is chock full of generic tropes.
As for the characters, they could not be less interesting if they tried. Clear is the only character I ever cared about in the slightest (he's a great singer imo) but even still the show developed him and everyone else very poorly. Everything from Aoba's character design (his huge sweatshirt is just disgusting to look at for 12 episodes) to the typical personalities of all the other main characters just made for an extremely boring and annoying cast. Aoba is your typical main lead who doesn't want to hurt anyone and is just lead through the story by everyone else. Koujaku is his best friend who sticks with him through thick and thin despite not really mattering at all in the story. Clear is the mysterious, strange one who also ends up a little unimportant in the story. Noiz is a hacker who's quiet and arrogant. And Mink is really only important towards the end with almost no personality or development to his character. The villains are one dimensional as are most of the small amount of side characters making for one of the worst character casts I've seen in an anime.
The art is noticeably cheap. The budget seems to be low from the start, you just kind of have to laugh at how rushed episode 3 was, and aside from some nice climactic scenes in the last couple episodes, the entire show just looks terrible. Aside from Aoba's design the other main characters do have pretty good and unique designs. The one aspect of DMMd that wasn't terrible was the soundtrack. Though it didn't stand out at all early on, the later episodes towards the climax of the show really added some great rock tracks that really improved some scenes. Still, this was only apparent towards the end and for much of the show, there is a noticeable lack of any background music. While this can work in some shows, with its futuristic setting DMMd felt very empty because of it.
This show just has almost nothing to offer. A bad character cast, animation that is so terrible you can see the individual frames used in most running sequences, a decent soundtrack that needed its better tracks to be used more often, and a generic and silly story full of terrible gay sexual innuendos. One of the worst shows I've seen in a while, I certainly don't recommend this show.
smolbeanaria
"DRAMAtical Murder" was a train wreck of an anime, sullying the video game's name. When I first heard that "DRAMAtical Murder" was becoming an anime, I was so excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it. What I was met with, however, was a show consisting of average animation, bland plot lines, and no romance whatsoever. Voicing Aoba is Kisaichi, Atsushi, known for his role of Aizawa, Yuuichi (Kanon). He is not very popular in the anime world, but his voice is pretty nice. He did a wonderful job of voicing Aoba regularly, and then digging deep to bring out Aoba's "dark" side. Most of the voiceswere too deep for my tastes, but they all sounded so good.
To be specific, the thing I hated most about the anime was the actual animation. When I expected something to rival the video game, I received awkward expressions, still panels, and just all around derps. The animation got better as the anime started to close, but it was still disappointing. Another sad fact was the no romance! This anime turned out to be like another "Togainu no Chi." All the romance was taken out. However, the anime did redeem itself at the end, but that alone cannot make up for the mistakes it had in all the episodes up to eleven.
I recommend playing the gmae instead of watching the anime, even though it has its good point. This anime is either a hit or miss; love or hate. Some players of the game will love it, while others will shake their head in dismay, just questioning why Nitro+ ever let this happen.
-
Story - 6
The story is good, in a sense that it has potential. However, the anime never really elaborated on the story. I'm not sure whether they did this on purpose because of the preexisting fan base, or not. In any case, some elaboration would have been nice.
Art - 3
Again I say the animation was very badly done. The game's art was very good, and it was quite a disappointment that it dropped down to such a level.
Music - 8
At first I didn't like the music, but as I continued watching, the techno grew on me. I still feel that the opening song needs to be a little faster, but that's just me being nit-picky. All in all, the music fit very well, and the soundtracks played were nice and soothing. I especially enjoyed Clear's Jellyfish Song.
Character - 7
I got to meet a lot of different characters and learn about their back stories, but I felt like something was missing. There are still a lot of plot holes in all the characters, but overall each one was very enjoyable.
Enjoyment - 5
I actually started losing interest about halfway through. It became a chore to watch, but I couldn't stop because I had already watched over five episodes, and needed to write a review. Some moments were really nice for me, but those were few and far in between. I do have to say that the last episode was the best out of all the others.
Overall - 5.8
This anime had a lot of potential and showed promise, but studio NAZ didn't really do anything with it. Instead, it's left to sit on its heels. But as I said, this anime is either a hit or a miss, so while I didn't enjoy it very much, others may love it.
Animeted_love7
Some Spoilers Ensue: Before I begin let me just say that the low scores are for the anime only. For those of you who don't know, this show was derived from an explicit yaoi dating simulator. The visual novel featured 12 different endings. There was usually a good, and at least one bad for every character. There was also a specific ending for Virus and Trip as well. The true end to the game was meant to be the true end to the anime. If you haven't played the game and don't mind gorgeous and explicit yaoi boy sex, I recommend you forget about what youwatched, and invest the 30 or so hours into Dramatical Murder...then invest another 10 or so into Reconnect to get the full background of the characters lives. I will just say that I absolutely love this game. Nitro+Chiral are yaoi game masters and I have to at least give the anime writers credit for trying to fit this entire game into a 12 episode arc.
Story: Honestly the story is very complicated. It starts with Aoba working in a shop, then meeting up with the boyfriend squad, then going after Toue who is trying to take over the world. It is very elaborate and also extremely engaging. The problem with the show is they tried to fit 30+ hours of story into 12 episodes. This caused the story to lose its magic and become somewhat of a mess. I understand the writers were trying to give each character's arc an episode, but some required much more for people who haven't played the game to come to love these characters. It was dissapointing. In my opinion, most of the people who wanted to watch this show in the first place were probably yaoi fans, so taking that aspect out all together made me really feel like I was jipped. I understand the anime is on TV so we won't get any hentai (sadly), but I was at least hoping for maybe a less linear storyline so I could see all of my favorite moments from the game acted out and not just thrown together. I wanted to see the bad endings as well but that's just me (And just BTW, taking out the bad ends means there were absolutely NO dramatical murders in the show...lol)...Also bad form with Virus and Trip only being in the show for like 2 minutes lol
Animation: ........I'm sorry, but it is made fun of a lot because it is really bad. The dialogue is terrible as well, but the animation doesn't even hold a candle to the game. I feel really bad talking so much shit, but I just feel like this show could have done so much more. The only characters who looked even remotely okay were Clear and Ren. The Rhyme worlds were okay and Oval Tower and Glitter were okay but the guard dogs were so laughable...I just don't understand the need to change miniscule things like that.
Sound: To be fair, some of the dialougue in the game was laughable as well, that was a lot of the fun of playing it, but here, it's like they were trying to put things in there to mess with us gamers...(I.E. I'm going inside you, Aoba dropping to the ground in front of Ryuuhou, etc...) Maybe it was supposed to be funny, but I just found it annoying lol. I was also disappointed in the opening and ending themes. I WISH they would have used the themes from the game! Most were gorgeous. The voice acting was well done, mostly because these voice actors are very good, but like I said, the dialogue was laughable so the feeling you did get became muddled.
Characters: I adore these characters. All are different and unique including Sei, Toue, and Virus and Trip. The problem, again, is that each were only given one episode for you to get to know them. It makes for 2 dimensional characters when they should be 3 dimentional. Each character's arc you should fall in love with them along with Aoba. You should fall in love with Aoba as well...also I thought it was funny how they portrayed Mink. He's one of the most extreme individuals in the game, and they made him into a puppy in the show. Again, bad form.
Overall, I'm sorry to the people that like the show. I just know how much better it could have been and it makes me sad it was nowhere near that caliber. I highly recommend the game (and any game by NC) but this show sadly missed the mark this time.
3/10. Watched Subbed.
Luzy779
Forgive me for the bad English, i am spanish. Dramatical murder, is a visual novel that contains a lot of yaoi and explicit scenes. I played all the visual novel, with all the routes and bad and good endings and i simply love it. I am one of the fandom of Dmmd and when i saw the announcement of the anime i was happy and also scared. Why? Because i have seen what they did to Togainu no chi. But i was expecting that nitro+chiral realized about the quality of their last anime and they would fixed it, i was wrong... VERY WRONG. Story: (3) I have one question,if you had a visual novel that is a hentai, and it's very famous because of his scenes +18, would you remove all the hentai to make a simply anime of romance? I would not. Dramatical murder is a HARD YAOI, you can't remove all the yaoi stuff and make it an only shonen ai anime...
I know that the history in the visual novel is good and very entertaining, but in the anime they destroy the story mixing all the routes, it seems like Aoba is a slut who have five hot boys at home in love with him and they don't even realize that the others are also in love with Aoba.
Art: (2)
Why? Why dmmd that is characterized by having one of the most beautiful art in the yaoi visual novels had to finish like this?
Poor animation, with a horrible attempt to reach the art of the visual novel. Also, it contains errors that makes you want to facepalm, like the young Aoba with brown hair. Really, was that necessary?
Sound: (4)
I didn't really care about the sound, but it was decent.
Characters: (5)
The characters were mediocre because we can't see a lot of them in the anime, but their stories are very sad, beautiful and they are totally worth it to read in the visual novel. But in the anime, the stories of every character are showed in a very short time and i didn't enjoyed it like in the novel.
Enjoyment: (2)
I almost dropped the anime at the episode 3, but i continued it because i wanted to see what they were doing with one of my favorites visual novel. I watched all the anime bored and in the same time very angry.
Overall: (3)
Don't misunderstand me, i really love dramatical murder, i am one his enormous fandom, but, that's why i am so severe with the anime. I was expecting something that i could remember for years and i would like to re watch and re watch again like the novel, but it totally disappointed me.
Thanks for reading this review.
LolliGo
As a fan of the original DRAMAtical Murder games, I had some high hopes for the anime adaptation of them. The trailer looked nice, the characters were all there, and even though there wouldn't be any of the fanservice and sex that made the games what they were, everyone was rejoicing at the announcement of this anime. And then all of our hopes were crushed after the first few episodes. Our beloved DRAMAtical Murder was turned into a trainwreck. STORY: 6 I won't really go into the actual story since there's a synopsis already written, but basically the protagonist and his "friends" have to beat the badguy who, as usual, is some rich old man who owns a giant corporation. This has been done many times but DRAMAtical Murder actually tried to make it seem interesting and action-packed. Despite the game doing this without any big flaws, the anime made it feel extremely rushed. So, by the time they actually got to the antagonist, it wasn't memorable or even remotely exciting.
ART: 4
The animation in this show is atrocious. In fact, it was so bad in one particular episode that they actually remade the ENTIRE episode with better animation. What little action scenes they had looked sloppy and they felt like nothing was really happening. The only art that was considered good were the backgrounds.
SOUND: 3
The opening sounds terrible and so does the ending. The music in the episodes was so forgettable that I legitimately forgot that this anime HAD music in it.
CHARACTERS: 5
If you've ever played one of the DMMD games, you know and love every character in them. You got to know practically everything about them and you felt like you grew up with them. Hell, you even saw them naked at one point. The anime does the complete opposite. You never feel a connection with a character and you certainly don't see them develop.
ENJOYMENT: 3
To be honest, I only watched every episode because I was a fan of the games and already knew what would happen. While there were some parts that I enjoyed because they happened in the games and I was happy to see them (poorly) animated, overall I couldn't really enjoy this anime in it's entirety very much.
OVERALL: 4
I tried so hard to like this anime, I really did. There was hardly any character development and the art made it difficult to even watch. If you want to get into DRAMAtical Murder, I really would not recommend watching the anime first. Play the games, and if you want to see how vastly superior the games are to it's anime adaptation, then go ahead.
min1230
Firstly, this is a pretty short anime- only 12 episodes. It only took me one day to finish it, but to be honest, I don't know what I just watched;; Story: 6 The story itself isn't that bad. Aoba's special ability was quite original (correct me if I'm wrong please- this is just based on the anime I've watched). However, the story was quite big. Although the idea was decent, I felt like 12 episodes wasn't enough to go into enough detail. Even after I finished watching it, it just felt like a storm passed super quickly- too much to process in only 12 episodes. OH! and I reallyliked the futuristic setting with the super advanced technology. That was really interested. I wish I had an allmate.
Art: 7
AHAAHAHA you have to admit.... the characters were pretty good looking. I guess they were a bit bland with no special or unique feature; but, at least they were nicely drawn~ I also really liked how Aoba's grandma was drawn! She kind of reminded me of a toned down version of Dola from Laputa!!
The background was nicely drawn too.
Sound: 4
The sound actually put me off after the first episode. The OP felt quite out of place, and even after 12 episodes, I still don't like it. But I guess that's just my personal opinion. The background music and sound effects didn't really support the plot. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good- it was just decent enough to bear.
Character: 6
They were gooooood looking~ Despite only being 12 episodes long, there was a fair amount of character development. This is probably because each episode seemed to be focused around Aoba getting to know the characters (you'll find out what this means when you watch the anime).
Most of the characters weren't well developed enough for me to get emotionally attached. But, they all had likeable personalities.
Enjoyment: 5
The anime was decent. The story started out slow, but progressed faster towards the end. I don't know how to word this... it was enjoyable but not? The ideas were fresh and interesting. But, if I had a whole queue of anime to watch, this one would be my lowest priority.
I guess I only finished it because it was 12 episodes and seemed like a quick anime.
Overall: 6
There are probably people who like it and people who don't. If you're into hot guys, technology, and a tiny bit of supernatural(?) then try watching it :) BUT! don't just walk away after the first episode. Like I said, the story starts of slow.
P.S. I just found out that it's based off a BL visual novel. I wish they had more romance in the anime :( There was no romance whatsoever... kind of disappointing;;
Nikoleta-Chika
DRAMAtical murder is a masterpiece. Despite the fact that this anime is based on a BL game, it was completely normal, without BL scenes, and i'm glad about it. As a 12-episode anime, i expected that it would not have a completed plot, that it would not give importance to the characters and it would just be in hurry. But no, everything was in a perfect quantity and quality. To be more exact: PLOT:10 The plot is interesting and enought to fill these 12 episodes of perfection. CHARACTERS:10 The best part of the anime. All of the characters have something special, as special as their past. Each ofthem has a personality which makes you love them, and they are showing you how strong the bonds of friendship can be. All of the characters have a special bond with Aoba and that makes the anime one of the best. Each character has an episode dedicated to him, so that the viewers can develop their opinion about them, understand their importance for the story and make at least one of them their favourite, the one who makes the difference.
SOUND:10
The sound is perfect. During the 'Rhyme', during the fights, even during the silent moments, and of course the little details.
I think the best part of sound is the 'Jellifish song', the song Clear likes to sing. It's a unique melody, full of feelings, a detail but at the same time a jewel in the anime, all sung by an amazing voice (I really want to congratulate the producers for this song)
ART:10
The delight i took from art can't be explained with simple words. Everything is planned with a unique way, especially the characters. They are all so beautiful, Aoba, Clear, Koujaku, Ren, Rei and even Noiz, despite the fact that he is full of piercings, i think that he is one of the most handsome men in the anime. Being able to make all the characters so handsome and cute is such a great accomplishment for an anime.
To sum up, DRAMAtical murder is an anime with amazing characters, all important with their own way, helpfull and kind. Their personality, combined with the art makes them to stand up, the plot linked them and made this anime one of my top 5.
I find it disturbing that the players of the game say bad things about this anime, only because it has not BL in it.
So, I recommed it to the ones who don't like the game, and of course anyone else who likes cute and emotional characters and an interesting plot.
JustmeLuiza
NO SPOILERS (Many people take this anime as a bad one because is an adaptation of the game, and they compare them, but for me, that I have not played the game, this anime was a great one. Story: 9/10 I think the story was very unique. At the beginning I was a little confused, but things got cleared in the end. Art: 10/10 I liked the art, a lot. Sound: 6/10 The sound lacked a little, it was different, but not very special.Character: 10/10
I liked all the characters, they were very different and had quite some good contribution on the story.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Yes, I enjoyed watching it. Very addicting.
Overall: 9/10
In short, watch it!
RinYanase
I'n my opinion, I believe this is one of the best anime I've seen by far in a very long time. Great story line, excellent character development throughout the series, and an interesting bunch of personalities all around. The only thing disappointing is I believe this anime would of been better with 25 episodes instead. I feel that things were slightly rushed since originally this was a game before the anime and manga adaptation. The game is a lot darker, touchy-feely, and longer than the anime, but I can appreciate that since it's suppose to appeal to a wider audience than just BL/or Yaoi fan-girl. Overall,amazing anime totally worth watching!
Darkskies
An easy review of DRAMAtical Murder-- SPOILER FREE for your enjoyment! OVERALL-- DRAMAtical Murder is adapted from a visual novel. As is the case with many VN to anime adaptions, the anime rushes as it tries to incorporate information from all of the various VN routes. With only 12 episodes, DRAMAtical Murder struggles in its development of both characters and the overall world. This leads to a slightly lackluster ending, with characters you really wish you could have known better. Still, I found it fairly enjoyable overall and would say it's worth watching since it's a quick 12 episodes. It's not amazing, but it's not as terribleas some people suggest.
STORY--
DRAMAtical Murder presents viewers with what could have been a very interesting story; unfortunately, it fails to fully take shape in only 12 episodes. It takes about 8 episodes before you actually begin to grasp the main conflict, and just when that conflict should begin to expand, the show is winding towards a quick conclusion. The story in itself is strong, but the anime fails to portray that in the time it is given. The ending left me asking, "That was all there was to it?" as I had hoped for greater depth and development.
CHARACTERS--
All of the characters have great designs with lots of detail and personality. I found each of them fun to watch and listen to. They also had very diverse personalities that seemed promising. Sadly, the little character development that happens in the show occurs so quickly that it doesn't really feel meaningful. These characters are ones you WANT to care about, but the show doesn't really give you the time to form strong attachments to them.
PROS--
+ Interesting character designs (with lots of good looking boys!)
+ Compelling story idea
+ Soundtrack is fitting of the futuristic setting
+ Enjoyable voice actors
+ Bright, colorful animation (but pretty low-budget)
CONS--
- Story is underdeveloped and could have benefitted from 24 episodes rather than 12
- Climax is rushed and ending conflict is pretty vanilla
- No good explanation of the setting/world of the story
- No meaningful character development
- Took the L outta BL (the VN is BL)
annconda
So, my overall thoughts (after playing the game and watching countless of lets plays, reviews on Youtube, and playing the visual novel that this is based on myself) was, that this anime had so much potential to bring this BL out there and it failed to deliver. I'm a big fan of the BL genre in general, but after watching the first few episodes, I'd kind of already lost interest. But, after months of procrastinating, I finally finished it and I must say; it was kind of mediocre. I give this anime a 5. Because of the lack of good animation and the art looking hastily drawn. Someof the art just looks strange. Compared to the visual novel, that's vibrant, fun, detailed, and even feels like it has movement at times... This ain't it. Oh, and let's not forget about the lack of actual boy's love!
The characters sort of matched their counterparts in the VN and the music is great; because it's also good in the VN. But DRAMAtical Murder is one of my favorite yaoi visual novels and I feel like this anime was both rushed and not animated well. It wasn't fleshed out enough during the runtime and we didn't get to see as much of each character.
It was also way too careful about seeming "too" BL (and sadly, that's just like a lot of yaoi/yuri anime that isn't straight up a porno) but I feel like if the source material has put such an emphasis on the sexual/romantic aspects, then the anime should at least do some of that too. But this was, at most, a kiss between characters and that's kind of it.
The studio behind the DRAMAtical Murder visual novel Nitro+CHiRAL is one of my favorites in the genre of yaoi and this just doesn't live up to the quality of their visual novels. I loved the characters like I did in the VN, the voiceacting was decent and like I said, the music is good, too. Especially so if you enjoy futuristic-sounding dubstep and electronic.
But the lackluster animation, the way too short of runtime to such a long and detailed VN, and the lack of focus on the main genre of this story; makes this anime adaptation a joke.
nogitsunechaos
On the one hand, I disliked this anime....and on the other, I liked it sort of. The main issue with this anime is the plot/storyline. Early on, it seemed to be going somewhere interesting and then it sort of veered off and tried to have a lot of twists and turns that winded up not making much sense or were way too transparent. When it finally decides to get back to the main plot, it feels a bit....weak. The idea is good but for an anime of only 12 episodes, you need to utilize all the episodes you have and not try to rush thingsin a few episodes. The final battle leaves a lot to be desired...in fact it is rather anticlimactic and there were, imo, far better battles early on in the season.
Where this anime does excel, for the most part anyway, is the characters. All 5 of the main characters are incredibly interesting. Aoba, is the lead, and he isn't my favorite but he is compassionate and compelling enough where you want to root for him.
Mink to me is the character who is sort of one dimensional in his time on the screen. Even with a backstory and development, Mink left more to be desired but at the same time he has the most defined and structured personality of all 5 mains.
The latter 3 are my favorites and precisely why I loved this anime, despite the poor storyline.
Clear is the standout because he is so eccentric and just...a freak. From his initial intro and his overall look, this dude just leaves an impression on you and I loved Clear so much. Especially with his backstory...Clear is my boo.
Koujaku was someone I was a bit eh with at first but as the season went on, I grew to love him. His loyalty and dedication to Aoba is what compelled me to care but his backstory cut my deep and I was ready to jump into my screen and hug him. Such a big teddy bear hidden underneath such angst and aggression.
But Noiz...Noiz is my favorite and the best. He is not one of many words but his actions and mannerisms are precisely what make Noiz so interesting. As you learn more about him, you get to see why he is the way he is. I loved every scene with him and out of the 5, Noiz is definitely the most defined and multifaceted character with Koujaku and Clear as a close 2nd.
(Ren is also a standout as well even if he is not my favorite).
Really watch this anime for the characters. Ignore the plot...half the time it doesn't make sense and the other half it feels rushed. I would watch again just for the characters and I wish for a sequel.
There is a hint of boy's love/shounen-ai romance...It was established early on literally in one scene(a kiss) and then never mentioned again. Which was disappointing really.
However, there are more subtle boy's love moments between the characters as well throughout the season. But this could have been way better had they just let them go for it.
All in all, I rated it highly in spite of its story and it wasn't a bad watch....just not a something i'd easily say was one of my favorites.
greatyu
Let's get logged into a futuristic cyber world where gangs and mind controllers control the universe along with the "Blue Fox" : "Aoba Seragaki" and his friends as he saves his homeland(island) from an incoming cyber attack. Story: Frankly this type of a futuristic story is very hard to combine no doubt that the mangaka and the producers succeeded on that. You see this blue haired cute dude in a futuristic pair of boots, on the first impression he looks strong and a lone wolf but not essentially. He works in a Junk Shop to fair for his grandma and himself. Little did he knowthat some of the gangs in the area is being threatened by a combo called "Morphine" which progresses the story from there. The story is so confusing at first- it took me about 4 episodes to accumulate what's going on but in the end you get used to it. There's that RPG feeling in there, you have those fancy shops and colours, robotic familiars and etc which brings out many nostalgic feelings i had from PC game called "Remember me". This one has some awesome plot twists which usually lefts you curious at the end of the episode. Most people left the audience since it was Yaoi i expect? However don't confuse friendships with men as Shounen Ai nor Yaoi- men too get emotional and need men to men hugs LOL (just kidding i dunno really hehe)
Art:It is superb- i just loved Aoba's suit and shoes and his hair style. The pink headphones merges well with it. All characters are drawn perfectly to suit their personalties or martial art or cyber obsession. Although i noticed that some stereotypical character's were altered no doubt to give more "fanservice" however i wouldn't conclude that disappointing. The artistic flare in here was creative just like in "Karneval" but even more than compared to it. All the needed creative elements to fabricate a cyber story is in here. The battle art looked common but still interesting. I liked very much how the scenery had been drawn it's so calm and serene. I liked the Outro to the next episode very much- those multitude of voices playing and text screening at the same time shows how the mind can function when it's distracted.
Sound:Music was done by Hayashi Yuki who created superb emotional piano pieces and other tracks to suit the mood of certain events in this anime.(He also did Diabolik Lovers) The Seiyus did extremely well on this although at some point you feel that all voices are same except for Aoba and Sei. The Openings and Endings suits the story and the atmosphere completely more than it should have which makes it appetizing.
Character:I liked that Aoba's character. It was such a normal every day character which you "Want" to see everyday and that he has an ulterior personality which is totally unpredictable. His peers are unique with unusual talents and tragedian pasts- without giving out spoilers it's hard to describe the intensity as Aoba somehow gets involved with them, personally inside their own tainted emotional states. Since this is futuristic no doubt that you find robots- the special sensual thing i noticed in the main chara is that he never makes anybody lonely, never discriminates anybody just because they don't have relative human bodies. Characters like Koujaku should be appreciated since those personalties represents or give out true friendship which in most cases our whole world lacks. This unique clash of personalties clashing together creates an ultimate story to put it simply.
Enjoyment: I'm going to give this an 8, As I did very much enjoy it. You don't find that many enjoyable anime these days with all the stuff going on is relatively superb like the story, usually at some point the story goes good but the music or the art sucks- and that looses a point. This show would have been more famous if it had a twenty four or more episodes. The awesomeness oozes from the 8 or 9th episode. Most of them left me in uncontrollable tears. The first few episodes gives out Aoba's life- it's so calm and well "normal" it gives out that change than other anime- instead of anything out of the place happening i enjoyed the easy paces episodes so much.
Overall: Aoba's compassion is so majestic that you think kindness at least "exists" in the anime world. The whole setting is philosophical- Ren- means restraint whilst Noise" and Clear" are totally opposites. "Rhyme" is also somewhat involved here. "Morphine" is a drug which implicit painlessness. Combine them together and you get them as as sources of distraction and elements of calming the mind(you'll understand how mind is important after you've watched this) Anyway this one of those anime which you want to cuddle with on a Saturday night sipping a mug of coffee(however on my case i drank medicine while watching this- Still added the required taste. There's a Visual Novel of this- i guess it's worth playing depending that the anime is good and was abled to satisfy the audience. Since There was a controversy that it was "Yaoi" didn't see 75% of Yaoi in the anime- there were let's-make-it-yaoi BUT stay-neutral elements in here, I don't know about the Visual Novel- so play it to know that!
RinSalamander
Oh dear lord... This anime... OHHHH this anime... The animation is bad, the story seems weird and cut short... Just... Play the visual novel, this is trash. Also, if you're making an anime based of a yaoi game, at the very least, ADD SOME ACTUAL YAOI OTHER THAN IN THE BAD ENDINGS. I want to see them in their good endings too man, like, unless I'm blind, those weren't even in there, sooo Honestly, this anime just annoyed me... I still kinda didn't hate it though. Visual novel is better. I'd suggest stay away from this and go to the visual novels.
The_LoliLord
I had low expectations of DRAMAtical Murder going into it. I was expecting it was going to be average, maybe even above that. Well, it didn't even do that much. I'm going to do my best to be fair in this review, but this anime is VERY rough around the edges. Let me try to explain. The story of DRAMAtical has some serious problems. To begin with, the story has no rising action, or climax to speak of. At no point was I excited or blown away by where the story was going, or what it was trying to do. There are a lot of characterswhose main purpose is to deliver plot. DRAMAtical Murder does a lot of "Tell, don't show." There were moments of potential, but never go any further beyond that.
The art style of DRAMAtical Murder is probably its strongest point. The art style isn't bad to look at. It does lack its own flair and style, but as a viewer, it certainly wasn't ugly. Animation wise though, this anime is very lacking. The action scenes are poorly directed, making it hard to tell what exactly is going on. The show also relies on CGI in heavy action scenes. They try to hide the CGI with characters moving fast with a lot of flashy explosions, which again makes it hard to follow. In terms of actual animation, there isn't a lot in the actual show. There is a lot of scenes with characters being completely still and just moving their mouths. There were also a few scenes where the characters were running, but looked very strange and inhuman. Overall, the art style is fine at best, with animation leaving much to be desired.
The overall sound direction of the show is alright. The music works for this kind of show, but nothing memorable. It just simply does it job.
When discussing the sub and dub of this anime, the choice is easy. I watched about half in sub and half in dub. If you are going to watch this, don't even try the dub. Don't. The dubs voice acting is mediocre at best, but the big issue is the writing. Some scenes seriousness or tension is completely destroyed by the clown show that the writing of the dub delivers. Watch the sub, as it is better in every way possible.
The characters of this anime... oh boy. Most are flat, uninteresting, which surprises me to be honest as most of them get DECENT development. Everyone in the main group gets one episode dedicated to them. These episodes were appreciated in making our main cast more human. The problem though is the way the anime handles actually handling these scenes. Basically, our main character mind-fu**s them and helps them with the power of friendship. OH, and the "friendship" in this anime is often forced at times. Most of the main cast has no chemistry, and often feels very fake and rushed. The main character literally gets beat and assaulted a number of times by one of his "friends" and he just takes it. SORRY, WHAT? And then later on they become homies and go on missions together. I don't understand how this group of pretty men formed this "Yaoi Force."
We havn't even gotten to the villains yet. Well, surprise surprise, they also are awful. The main bad guy is your average I'M EVIL BECAUSE I WANT POWER AND MONEY. Other villains include uninteresting henchmen, or enemy gangs whose soul purpose is to move the plot forward while not bringing anything new or interesting to the table. Needless to say, the characters of DRAMAtical Murder need significant changes.
So as you can probably tell, I didn't like this anime. I actually fell asleep during an episode I was so uninterested and bored. This is only the second anime to do that, the first being DragonBall GT. I actually kinda liked that more to be honest.
Anyway, getting back on topic, I don't recommend anyone watches this anime. There are plenty of BETTER shows out there that deserve your time.
This concludes my review of DRAMAtical Murder.
Thank you for reading my review! If you have any positive or negative feedback regarding the writing of this review, please feel free to send me a message. Id appreciate it.
Rima_Amano
I have been a DIE HARD DRAMAtical Murder fan for a couple of years now, and as someone who has played through the games, analyzed the characters, read all the critiques and all of the reviews, I will say this: THE ANIME IS GARBAGE Seriously, and it's such a tragedy because the story of DRAMAtical Murder and the setting, even without the blatant BL and yaoi, is phenomenal. The anime was a letdown, and it didn't pay tribute to the original story. That's obvious. But it upsets me because VN's aren't as popular or accessible as anime, and there are so many people who will miss outon the genius of the series because of that. But to anybody with even an inckling of interest in the series, PLEASE, I implore you to check out the games. Even if it's just watching a let's play, I guarantee that it's so much better than what the anime showed it to be.
I love DRAMAtical Murder. I have for a very long time, and I'm sure that I will continue to for years to come. A disappointing anime adaptation won't change that. Although the series may have ended, I'm holding out a little hope that we may have some new games or even a new anime adaptation in the future. This series deserves it.
Aristophanes
The game maybe bl but I’m not sure if this series entirely qualifies. At best, I’d say it was BL curious. Some characters were entirely devoid of life and development, like Sei, who not only had hardly any place in the entire series but barely even says a couple sentences. Aoba’s outfit looked a bit extravagant for someone working at such a mom & pop store plus he’s wearing a coat all the time and headphones, that he never uses. It makes it look like no real attention was given to his look relative to his habits or his income.Noiz, honestly makes absolutely no sense to me and neither does any of his entire story arc. Who in their right mind has dinner with an intruder who basically attacked them earlier? Then, he asks him to play when joining after helping him, but that ‘help’ never happens either.
You can see where some‘romantic’ moments might happen, but even if they did, they don’t feel real or natural but more like they are acting on stage for laughs. The rescue after the tower infiltration, doesn’t make much sense either as in, there’s no way they’d know let alone get there that fast and conveniently at just the right time and place. Action is good. Bad guys ok and their plots almost make sense and more sense then several good guy stories. I think I still like “Dune”’s weirding way better though and it was easier to tell when and how it was being used than in this show. It’s not bad, but it could use some work and improvement. I’ll confess I’m not a fan of BL’ish stories but I don’t review them unfairly either and some are pretty good, most I’ve seen however tend to make those parts poorly executed or even meld with bad or criminal behavior which doesn’t appear fair to me.
