Hidden in plain sight, spirits known as youkai inhabit the world. While most are benign, a certain subset threatens the tenuous peace between youkai and humanity. Ever since she agreed to become their "God of Wisdom," Kotoko Iwanaga has served as a mediator between the two realms, resolving any supernatural problems that come her way.
At a local hospital, Kotoko approaches Kurou Sakuragawa, a university student whose long-term relationship ended with an unfortunate breakup. Kotoko harbors feelings for him and suspects that something supernatural lurks within his harmless appearance, so she asks Kurou for his assistance in helping out youkai.
Two years later, news of an idol who was accidentally crushed to death by steel beams flooded the press. However, months later, sightings begin to tell of a faceless woman who wields a steel beam. As is the case for any supernatural problem, Kotoko and her partner set out to stop this spirit from wreaking havoc—but this case may prove to be far more sinister and personal than they could have ever thought.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
jd2001z
Usually, in the mystery genre, they use all the evidence and logic they have to search for the truth. Instead, Kyokou Suiri uses all the evidence and logic it has to create a lie. The story is about two characters, Kotoko Iwanaga and Kurou Sakuragawa. One of which is a “goddess of wisdom” for the youkai who live in the world, and the other is a seemingly plain human who is not what he seems. The two of them band together (or you can say Kotoko clings on to Kurou) and they try to solve the worries and concerns of the youkai around them. Episode 1 introducesus to these two characters, and shows us a bit of their backstories together. At first, you’d have no idea that the anime is Supernatural if you haven’t heard about it before, but as the episode goes on you’d realize that they are indeed youkai in the world, and the two characters have more to themselves that meets the eye. In addition, they have a funny relationship with each other right off the bat when they meet each other.
Episodes 2 and 3 then shows us how the Mystery in this anime works. One would normally think that they would search for the evidence first then find the truth, but here they already have all the evidence they need, so now all they need is to figure out what happened. Simple, right? It’s not. In a world where spirits and youkai inhabit the earth, almost anything can happen, so logically finding out the truth will be tough. So instead of going for the truth at the get-go, Kotoko builds up blocks of possibilities of what could have happened to land to the truth that seems the most logical. Any solution may seem real to an extent, but as long as there are holes to it, it will all crumble apart. So she takes what seems right from the previous solution, or the basic elements, then adds it to a more logical one, until she arrives at the “right answer”. You can say that every “wrong” solution brings us closer to the “right” solution.
Once we learn about the “truth” of the matter from the previous case, we go on into the next arc, which comprises all of the next episodes, from 4 to 12. Here we have a long time skip, and we are introduced to a new character, Saki Yumihara, who is actually Kurou’s ex-girlfriend. As a police officer, her job is to help maintain peace in the city, and now there’s someone, or rather, something that catches her eye. Steel Beam Nanase. From what the witnesses claim, she’s a ghost with no face who carries a huge steel beam around and causes a bit of chaos in the city. Once an idol, tragedy struck her, and she died from steel beams falling onto her. One would be logical about this and say that ghosts aren’t real, it’s just in their heads. But she doesn’t. After a certain incident with her boyfriend, she starts to doubt what’s real or not, and what possibly can exist in the world. Then she sees Steel Beam Nanase. As a police officer she tries to stop her, only to be struck with the hard fact that she is indeed a ghost, and that she can’t even touch her. Then she meets Kotoko, who was able to temporarily stop her, and then Saki realizes she isn’t just what she looks like.
Saki and Kotoko then band up in order to stop Nanase, but how can you fight against a being that has no physical form, and that doesn’t really exist? Logic and fiction. In order to save people from getting hurt, they would need to create a “lie” that triumphs over the “truth”. No one needs to know that spirits exist in the world, else the entire balance between the human realm and the spirit realm will fall apart. So in order to erase the ghost from existence, they would need all the evidence in order to create a story that is both logical and entertaining. But can’t you just tell them the truth about her and everyone would believe it? Of course not. Fake news is considered “the better and more believable news” just because it’s more entertaining than the truth. No one wants a boring story. Thus, they need to create logical fiction for the sake of saving lives.
This show heavily relies on dialogue, so it is not recommended for people who just want the action or the youkai interaction. Almost every detail is important, evidence and logic are the most useful weapons this show has to offer, and if you don’t listen or think carefully, you will be confused as to what happens. They may repeat what they have said before, but what mystery show doesn’t? Repetition is one of the most important factors in informative speaking, because the audience would be able to understand that the points the speaker repeats are important. That applies to this show as well. Repetition of details implies that the evidence in hand is important. Logically, they would need to repeat the important details in order for us not to forget what is there. The solutions that are created from these details are also interesting, even though you can poke some holes on them here and there. But one thing to take note of is that Kotoko knew that there are holes in these solutions, and those are needed in order for her to grasp the “right solution”. What’s important is that she needs a majority of her audience to believe in her fictional truths, even if there are holes in them. In addition, she had to come up with multiple solutions that are all lies, that are both entertaining and logical with the given evidence, and in under a few hours, under the pressure of saving possibly hundreds of lives. If you don’t call Kotoko a genius, then I don’t know what is.
The main thing I like about this anime is the character interactions. You have the three characters, Kotoko, Kurou, and Saki. Kotoko is mean and funny, but is smart enough to solve the youkai’s problems. Kurou might seem plain, but he has something that can change the world. And Saki is beautiful and kind, but also sharp and brave. Since Saki was once Kurou’s ex, the interactions between them would be funny and awkward, especially since Kotoko is Kurou’s current girlfriend (although Kurou doesn’t seem to like it). The funny scenarios in the show mix well with all the seriousness of the supernatural for me, and I like that in this show.
All in all, I think this was a great Mystery/Supernatural anime. It gave a refreshing view on Mystery and what it can do. This was actually one of my most hyped anime this season, because I’ve already read the manga before and I’m currently up to Volume 11 of it. I can say that if you want a refreshing twist in Mystery, then this show might be for you. If you aren’t in anime, then the manga would be better for you, as it has more depth for the details and solutions.
SunlitSonata
In/Spectre is the type of series that tests the notion “how far are you willing to stretch a good idea?” Conceptually, this is a brilliant idea for a story and overall, I think the execution is at least good. While so many mystery stories, anime or otherwise, tend to focus on purely the truth, characters getting to the bottom of how events actually happened, never have I seen creating a convincing LIE to factor into that. A lot of ins and outs are explored in the show’s attempt to qualify this point, so it keeps a unique source of engagement in a way unlike manyother shows of its type. The focus on one larger tale rather than many smaller stories also has the perk of trying to explore the types of angles other supernatural mysteries don’t have time for, in terms of implications. But it’s worth exploring the vibe of this series regardless.
In/Spectre has a very odd start, one that had me baffled as to what kind of show it was going for. It featured characters talking super seriously about serious events, but also mentioning a crush in the same breath and seeming to end out on an action scene. From Episode 1 I had no idea what In/Spectre was trying to be. Comedy? Drama? Romance? Supernatural? It’s a weird mix of all of those types, but Episode 2 seemed to plant things slightly more. Trying to explain and dissect a whole scenario in a mere 22 minutes with relation to supernatural elements devoid of emotion wasn’t very interesting with how little there was too it, better positioned the series as a Monogatari-lite, a mystery series involving supernatural phenomenon and their impact on the real world.
To its credit, the show is one of the better examples to follow up the genre. Unlike Rascal Dreams of Bunny Girl Senpai, it doesn’t get scared partway through the “subversiveness”, scurrying back to the comfort zone of LN anime clichés and cheap emotional manipulation. In/Spectre never feels cloying or dishonest, with even the supernatural elements fitting naturally into the setting, but it can drag its heels a lot with the emotionally distant first two episodes and trying to go through every minutia of a point for 9 episodes straight.
The writer of In/Spectre, Kyō Shirodaira, also wrote Blast of Tempest which received an anime about 8 years ago. That anime featured very high stakes, almost apocalypse level, yet still decided to have all that anarchy in the background while four characters discussed various topics for 5 episodes straight! The intention was earnest, but the tone and stakes of the series didn’t complement that style of writing at all.
In this show’s case, the stakes are lower, so the use of dialogue fits more. Its characters are few, but their archetypes and interactions do something to keep investment with what’s going on. Kotoko is really the star of the show, a cute “slightly older than she looks” girl with worldly knowledge from her spirit background. Her time is often spent explaining various different points, so investment can waver on her, but the comedy bits featuring her are welcome. They take advantage of some light little jokes and the animation can give her some adorably different facial expressions, and that dorky innocuousness is shown well through both her seiyuu and her English voice with newcomer Lizzie Freeman. Kuro appears as though he could be the standard boring “self-insert” protagonist but he isn’t around in prominent enough to really hurt the show for it. It takes a rare approach; an approach I haven’t seen since Kaze no Stigma, where that type of character appears as relevant but with seemingly his own motives and origins in mind. His OPness isn’t used to doubt the power of those around him, but more to effectively gauge the strength the imaginary ghost gets from belief. There’s that same issue of detachment you could view in a lot of the series, but his status doesn’t hurt the series like other MCs he could be related to since it isn’t forcing you to like him.
There’s also Saki Yumihara, who works acceptably well as a straight girl to bounce off both of them, respectfully passing the Bechdel test extremely often when she tries to help Kotoko with a point or attempt to validate her: actual chemistry. Again, nothing special but the anime doesn’t necessarily do wrong with her either. Lastly there’s Karin Nanase, the source of the debate and origin of the ghost driving the conflict. Some might call her busty and striper-like appearance lazy fanservice, but it actually works pretty well for the conceptual plot. Her alluring appearance better helps draw attention to the rumors that create her in the first place and exploits the public perception on sexuality versus identity that clouds a lot of the debating.
The worst character in this show is the Internet itself. Really, it’s an uphill battle when trying to portray the Internet in any way without being laughed out. Although there proves a human force to subvert the idea of a strawman (someone who exists specifically to make points proven wrong) by actually being correct, to counteract the wrongness Kotoko is trying to present, any additional nods to the internet are purely to create strawmen for the show’s chat forum debating. Perhaps one could argue that the Internet not ever agreeing on any particular point is a major reason why the conflict has to drag for over 3 hours, but it’s still a slippery slope I don’t think the show ever quite manages.
As for the presentation, it’s acceptable if bland. The show features a lot of washed out beiges and blues for the aesthetic, with the occasional purple focus when Nanase’s spirit appears and a brief showing of a comment web space which looks worse than Ghost in the Shell SAC nearly two decades earlier. But to be fair, it’s not an action show, so lack of visual polish isn’t as insulting as other series. There’s some fun faces for the brief bits of comedy featured but otherwise it doesn’t speak for much visually. Same for the audio, although the ED is actually pretty fun despite the lack of animation.
It’s truly rare you get an anime series nowadays where the storyline is actually the BEST part of an anime, but here we are. With the unremarkable audiovisuals and simple characters that grow into decency mainly through dialogue interactions, the plot is what will really carry the anime and make or break it. It’ll inevitably captivate some with the thorough exploration and turn off others for how uncompromising it is. For my part, even with a certain suspension of disbelief regarding the show’s portrayal of the internet that never REALLY agrees on anything, it was still decent entertainment that benefited from its lower stakes setting, unique premise and earnest character take. But where do you really take things from here? Would the next season also be about mysteries like this, or would it veer in a more action or comedy focused direction? What supernatural elements would factor into anything further? Would it even try to feel emotional? The odd genre mix of In/Spectre made for a decent watch that stood out among the crowd, but not one that’ll last beyond interest of its unique story premise.
Ethan_07
Human beings are storytelling creatures. Our little stories are vital for us to convey truths, and sometimes, create lies. However, truth manifest lies. Lies, conceal truth. In every mystery and detective anime, there is always one definite truth. Everything else is just a fabrication to bury the truth, layer upon layer. In most cases, a clear line is drawn between what is real and what is not. But, what if, just what if – the line no longer exists? Then, truth and lies are no longer differentiable. They are blended into each other, and being played around by whoever’s behind them to reach a desired conclusion.Justice would no longer be that opaque. Everything that you ever believe in can be twisted, changed in just that instant.
Kyokou Suiri knows this, and it brings this element into play. It is fully aware that in reality, one single truth cannot fit everything into an equation. There will always be doubts surrounding its authenticity, even when the methodology is laid out bare. So, the focus of it is not on the solution to the mysteries, but rather the long and tedious psychological portrayal of wit and knowledge applied in the progress. They use this to try and explain the little details of the case. Call it baseless assumptions or wild imagination, but this is what makes Kyokou Suiri close to Death Note than simply playing the role that sticks to only one truth.
In fact, it doesn’t even care about the truth as the bossy female lead, Kotoko already has the answer thanks to her connection to the spectres. Everything else is just a tackle to each and every questions one would have, with its meticulous monologue. She answers each of them, by linking the dots she have. If it doesn’t work, she would try an alternative way to reshape the missing pieces. It sounds simple, but the hardest part is to make us, the audience believe in it. They need to convince us, otherwise the assumptions are just plain nonsense. Except that, this is the charm of it.
They threw this on your face, saying that they don’t have a definite answer either.
As for the characters, the mismatch of the lead duo is the charisma of the show. They are the complete opposite of each other with Kujo being calm and composed, and Kotoko being self-centered and a bit annoying. One has the power, the other has the wisdom. But in a way, this polar attraction is the magnet that makes the cases more attracting and approachable. It brings out the best of them both but also take the heart-tugging romance away from this pair and only igniting it inside the imagination of Kotoko.
Additionally, the studio has done a great job in shaping a continuity during the ‘talk but no action’ scenes. The transition from one place to the other, and back to the start has blended in nicely as the dialogues continue. For the songs, the fun and jazzy ending ‘LAST DANCE’ is what got my attention. It’s a perfect portrayal of their relationship that I can’t really describe in words. It’s somewhat of a partner-couple bond with a bit of toxicity in between.
Overall, Kyokou Suiri Kyokou Suiri is far from what you expected at first glance. It takes an unorthodox route to reach the end, with the unfit duo exploring different perspective on the cases instead of settling you with one truth. It can be unbearable sometimes, but watch closer, and you might discover the fun of it.
ChefColin
Imagine a show about dealing with spirits and finding the cause of one's existence.. Sounds like an action/mystery right? Now what if I told you this was accomplished through the characters talking non stop about the problem and barely doing anything about it, or that it was done by seeing the characters post reddit threads. Well that is In/Spectre, except I can't really say they accomplished anything except boring anybody who dared to watch it. Plot - Basically a spirit of a dead idol goes around terrorizing people and Kotoko and Kurou, someone who can see yokai and an immortal guy respectively try to figure outwhy this spirit exists. There are some rare occasions where either character actually confront the evil spirit, and when they do, nothing gets accomplished. Instead, they decide to host discussion. But wait there is more! As I said earlier, they eventually move onto posting reddit threads. Amazing right?! This isn't even the worst part though (well maybe it is). When we realize the reason the ghost exists, the show almost becomes impossible to take seriously. I don't think I need to spoil it, but in another show I've watched, the same exact concept was used as a joke, not a full plot basis. Everything boils down to being mind-numbingly boring and can't be taken seriously.
Characters - A lot of people say that the characters are pretty fun in this show, especially Kotoko, but that wears off pretty fast. Kotoko is obnoxious but sweet as well and Kurou is just...silent type. The show mainly just tries to push how far it can go off of having a cute girl, but the characters aren't even that unique in the first place, and it's not like the conversations between them are witty or anything, it's sort of stale. As stated above, both characters have powers, but the girl's powers is seeing yokai, which is in effect the whole time so it's more of a necessity and commonplace thing than something cool, and the guy is immortal and can see the future. So one power is just straight up bland and the other is absolutely busted, not exactly a good combo. One last thing, none of the characters get any development.
Overall - This show just made me want the suffering to stop, thank goodness I watched weekly for some of the later episodes. The plot was abysmal and dialogue never stopped, the characters had stupid powers, no development, and just didn't have a great dynamic as a people say. The art and sound were extremely average as well. This show was just bad and boring in every way aside from maybe its average animation and sound. No one should ever have to watch this trainwreck.
WAIT THERE WAS ONE POSITIVE!!!:
The ghost had some big tits
Marinate1016
It’s really hard for an anime to feel original these days. So many series I’ve seen lately have felt like I was watching the same series, with the same characters, with different names. So when I come across a fresh and unique story, I have to acknowledge it. That’s exactly what I got out of Kyokou Suiri. Kyokou Suiri is some of the best fun I’ve had watching anime in a long time. Based on a light novel originally, it tells the story of a girl who’s traded her leg and eye for god like powers. She teams up with a boy who also has godlike powers and they form a paranormal investigation team. The first arc of the show is pretty episodic, focusing on a different case each episode. The second half of the show is one arc focusing on a single relevant case.
Throughout the course of the series we’re introduced to various monsters and demons from Japanese myths which I found very cool. Being an investigatory show, the series is very exposition oriented so there is a lot of talking. It’s not useless idle chatter, however. The conversations all advance the story and are usually relevant to whatever case or situation is going on. But, if you’re someone who needs a lot of fights and action, the second half of the show will drag for you.
I thought the comedy was extremely well done and kept me engaged with every moment of every episode. The banter between the characters felt real and genuine adding to the unique feel of the show.
Because it’s more of an investigation/exposition themed show, there’s no crazy fight animation or massive amounts of sakuga. But, the art throughout the show and animation when the occasional fight happens were very well done and aesthetically pleasing.
In conclusion, I think this is easily one of the best shows I’ve seen in the past few years. It gave me a feeling of nostalgia and joy that brought me back to the old Adult Swim days of anime. I absolutely loved the characters, their wit, banter and interactions throughout the series as well as the lovely integration of Japanese folklore. If you’d like something different and original to watch, give this a shot.
Kyokou suiri gets 9 eyes out of 10 for me.
Stark700
Japanese youkai lore has been a fascinating subject in the realm of anime, manga, and video games. Every year, we are graced by media related to these supernatural entities, based on the Shinto religion. And while Kyokou Suiri (ln/Spectre) certainly isn’t among the first to explore such themes, it does embark on a supernatural quest with a lovely little oddball named Kotoko Iwanaga. Let’s allow reality to hit us first. Kyokou Suiri has a fair amount of volumes but the anime allows the show to be only 12-episodes. To make things more complicated, the early chapters (manga version at least) are fairly long, some expanding wellinto 40-50 pages. A common logic designates the show has fairly incomplete and as a means to advertise the manga and novels. That’s not unfair but it does limit its potential in storytelling. After all, character studies on youkai would have been a fairly interesting subject and draw more interest for a worldwide audience. Unfortunately, Kyokou Suiri decided to be exactly what I feared: a billboard that screams “buy the novels or manga if you love what you’ve seen!”
Kotoko Iwanaga is a university student who is bestowed with the ‘God of Wisdom’ role. With a missing eye and leg, Kotoko is immediately drawn to the 22-year old Kurou Sakurgawa. In a state of puppy love, she falls for him in what I describe as one of the strangest ‘love at first sight’ segments I’ve ever seen. By comparing Kuro to a goat (that’s a right, a goat), she decides to pursue him in a relationship that is clearly one-sided. Kuro himself became single after breaking up with Saki, his former girlfriend after an uneventful encounter with a youkai. The pilot episode surprisingly breaks down the elements of the storytelling quite cleverly by getting the audience attached to our main leads. On both fronts, Kotoko and Kuro are far from ordinary. It builds an enigma in storytelling as the duo investigates on supernatural cases. And because we have a show about youkai, you can believe the anime will explore the morality of these fascinating entities.
To put in simple perspective, Kyokou Suiri draws more into a supernatural mystery fiction style of storytelling rather than an action thriller. While early episodes does show off the combat abilities of Kotoko and Kuro, it doesn’t take long for the anime to dive deeper into the mystery and lore. Kotoko herself is shown to be a character with great intellect and her intuition is imperative to breaking cases. This is shown when she plans ahead and analyzes different potential outcomes based on probability and theories. By focusing on what’s in front of her, Kotoko minimizes failure and looks into all resources to make sure cases are solved. In the series’ most prominent arc dealing with Steel Lady Nanase, her skills are put to test as she investigates into the client’s history. With her theory crafting and investigative skills, she’s able to discover the hidden truths. That is to say, despite how Kotoko looks, she is a detective extraordinaire in her field of expertise.
But…on a common sense level, Kotoko falls short when it comes to socialization. Let’s face it, she’s still has the mindset of a child in her attempt to pursue a relationship with Kuro. In the anime version, the relationship is clearly one-sided between the duo. The reason falls on Kuro’s own interest in Rikka, his own cousin introduced in later episodes. It would be fair play to say the anime’s romance is one of the weaker aspects but it also doesn’t help that sometimes, their character segments is nothing short of childish, and mostly pushed by Kotoko’s bubbly personality. She also clashes with Saki, Kuro’s ex-girlfriend and their first meeting almost borderlines like a meme. A recurring gag in the series includes Kotoko creating peculiar delusions in her mind and images about how Kuro will get back together with his ex.
Remember what I said about the anime feeling a lot like an advertisement billboard? That’s because the storytelling is fairly dragged out for one of its main arcs. I’m talking about dealing with Steel Lady Nanase, a plot revolving with a vengeful spirit in the modern timeline. The arc is focused on the death of an idol under tragic circumstances although a plot twist reveals other startling revelations. While the arc itself contains important details and appeals to supernatural youkai lore, there’s far too much emphasis that it feels dragged out. The anime could’ve condensed the arc but instead chose to milk it dry to the bone. And that’s not to say, I really do wish this show got animated for more than a single cour. There’s so much more potential to explore other youkai lore. Some of the audience may or may not see this as a problem but it’s still relevant to know that the show is too short for its own good.
Helmed by Brain’s Base and their talent, I do applaud the show’s appeal for its animation. The supernatural gimmicks makes for decent choreography with some of its action contents. There’s minimal censorship that showcase the powers of youkai and the main leads in all of its glory. Speaking of main leads, Kotoko is perhaps the most noticeable character to draw eyes on with her petite stature, beret hat, and doll-like appearance. Not to mention, she is missing an eye and leg. The rest of the cast are less impressive although Steel Lady Nanase’s faceless features will raise a few eyebrows. I won’t say this show is a masterful storyteller in visual quality but it certainly knows what the audience wants. And who can forget that lovely ED theme song with those wild dance moves?
As an anime with a variety of genres blend together, it felt like Kyokou Suiri knew what it was doing from the start. But as every episode dragged on, the plot itself gets too entangled in its Steel Lady Nanase affairs than anything else. The overemphasis of the arc costs the expense of the series' other core elements. And clearly, this anime needed more episodes to tell a bigger story for the main premise altogether. It doesn’t take a genius detective to figure that out.
Vikorean
There are a few shows I will claim to be proud of watching. In/ Spectre is one of them, as I am happy of not having let its poor ratings stand in the way of giving it a chance. In/ Spectre is not an underrated anime, it is a misunderstood one. It seems it was expected to follow the trend of spectacular demons fights in the line of other recent successful shonen. However In/ Spectre has a very elegant and original take on the yokai theme, one not explored yet. Not the fighting approach mentioned above, nor the emotional one tackled in other acclaimed animes.Indeed, In/ Spectre focuses on helping yokai by solving mysteries with the sheer power of logic and deduction.
As such, poorly written characters would have been unfit to carry the sophisticated themes tackled. Starting with a simple but important step: their age. Do not expect for the usual colourful or overemotional teenagers, but rather mature young adults capable of thinking over acting. It may be a trivial detail, but it sets the level of complexity to be expected from these characters. Each one of them has his or her personal baggage which are linked to the plot. Past relationships and trauma define their way to tackle the existence of yokai and solving their mysteries by the same occasion.
The role of detective and main character is brilliantly fulfilled by Kotoko Iwanaga. Behind her youthful looks and clingy girlfriend tendencies are in fact hidden overwhelming intellect and maturity due to her role and respected status within the yokai community. On the opposite, the older and seemingly more composed Saki, already working as a police officer, actually hides an unresolved lack of confidence and acceptance towards the existence of yokai. These two female characters, both revolving around the main male character Kuro, are the perfect illustrations that people are not what they seem.
Finally, Kuro is probably the most mysterious character alongside Rikka, the antagonist. This make perfect sense since they both got the closest encounters and trauma experiences with yokai during their childhood, deeply affecting them more than any other characters. As such, their closeness with the unexplainable logically make them both unpredictable and hard to read through our normal human eyes.
These complexed characters are of all satisfyingly tied with personal relationships. Saki is Kuro's former girlfriend, Kotoko is his current love interest and Rikka, with whom he share the same past trauma and doom fate, his eternal childhool love but nemesis. Well written characters all tied up together with an emotional background. The simple but difficult combination, In/ Spectre managed to achieve it thanks to a clever and thoughtful writing.
The art is one of my favourite. The characters are beautifully drawn with finesse, reminding me a lot of the Chinese animes. Generally speaking, it is clean and elegant. Although I was a bit disappointed with the yokai designs, which turned out to be a bit childish and overly simplistic. A bit more thoughts in their designs would have been welcomed and on pair with the show's complexity. However, since spectacular fights are not the point of the anime, spectacular designs for the yokai were hardly the priority.
Finally, the writing has to be put under the spotlight. In/ Spectre decided to go for the detective solving mystery approach, which is already an original take for a story centered around the supernatural. However, the approach itself is original, since In/ Spectre applies a reversed logic. Indeed, the purpose is to demystify a legend with an even bigger lie in order for the Yokai to be left alone and live in peace. Such method requires of course to find the truth, but only as a mean to build a logical and relatable tale to erase the previous but more dangerous one. The supernatural feeds on rumours and folklore, the purpose is then to build a harmless one over the dangerous preexisting one.
I find this storytelling fascinating as it implements a logic and common sense specific to the Yokai world. The supernatural has its own logical foundations, opposite and hardly understandable to the livings. They need to be taken into consideration for the characters to succeed and get closer to the truth.
Final note, the first season has the classical are dragging role of introducing us to the world and the story's structure. The complicated above mentioned elements do not make it any easier to understand and enjoy the show. However, getting past these adjustments will enable to experience an intellectually challenging story, likeable characters and clean designs. I only hope the producers and viewers will be patient enough to make it possible for the anime to get following seasons. In/ Spectre has undeniable quality, it would be a pity to not see it through now the most difficult part is behind.
BLP_
I made an earlier review of this show after 7-8 episodes where I explained that there were several things I liked including the art, stylisation and early character exploration. However it needed a good kick up the ass to get things moving because the characters went on endless monologues, over-complicating uncomplicated ideas and had little to no natural interaction with each other. I gave the show a 6 and hoped for the best. After watching the 12th and final episode I can say...It never did get the kick up the ass that it needed. Several episodes of tedious, pretentious, try-hard pseudo-intellectual nonsense. Characters stood in place endlesslytalking in circles, often repeating themselves. If the mysteries and theories explored were smart, interesting or well crafted then it could have had the makings of fantastic supernatural detective/mystery show. Instead we're presented with mind-blowing murder theories like..."killed by a brick on a string". The show tries to be almost Sherlockian in its structure, attempting to dissect minute details and clues, without the intelligence, wit or story crafting to do so.
lLeco
Rating (My opinion) 6.5/7* A lot of Talking, TALKING, TALKING, NONSENSE, TALKING, TALKING AND MORE TALKING. If you are the type of person that enjoy mystery and a lot of dialog instead of action, then this anime is for you. Kyokou Suiri is an anime that is mostly focused in a mystery plot that doesn't make sense, I tried liking the show at first, I really did, but by the time I got to Episode 7, I was wishing for the show to end, it was boring, I couldn't stand it. I don't know how it got to the point of the whole 'Last Boss' butBOY... when it got to that point, 95% of the show was dialog. I couldn't get myself to like ANY OF THE CHARACTERS, so... if all of them died at some point, I wouldn't care.
RyanSpring
In/Spectre wasn't what I was expecting and was largely a disappointment. While I could certainly finger-point to forgettable characters, multiple filler episodes in a twelve episode anime and an inorganic romance that barely hangs on by a shoe string, for me the most egregious flaw of the program is that it's insanely dialogue heavy and most episodes boil down to two characters sitting near each other and having a seemingly never-ending conversation. There is little to no action, only one actual mystery to solve throughout the entire show and nothing to break up the monotony and repetition of talking, talking and more talking. Having come outin 2020, it looks and sounds fine. My wife liked the intro/outro music, which is fine and well, but that doesn't make the actual show any better. I am certain I won't remember the name of a single character in this program two weeks from today. One of them is missing an eye and a leg and one of them isn't fully human, so I guess on paper they have vaguely interesting characteristics that make them memorable, but for me they just aren't. None of the main cast felt remotely developed or fleshed out. This anime does not bother to take the time or effort to have character-building interpersonal moments. Instead, the overwhelming majority of the program is just a giant monologue from the female lead over-explaining every possible angle of the one and only mystery in the show.
This wasn't the worst anime I've ever seen, and it didn't actively repulse me to watch, but I cannot find any reason whatsoever to recommend this. It's just so mediocre and skippable. If you like any of the genres this advertises itself to be- mystery, romance, paranormal- there are countless higher quality options available. There's simply no reason to choose THIS over the other options. At the end of the day, In/Spectre is my mother-in-law- lots and lots of talking, lots and lots of saying the same thing multiple times, never says anything important and by and large pretty darn boring. :)
OBJECTIVE RATING- 6-7
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 6-6.5
chipi1016
I'll start by saying that I reasonably enjoyed this anime. What I'll write next might make it seem like it's not worth your while, but that's not necessarily true. It's a show that will have a particular audience and if that's you, great. The first few episodes did the job of grabbing my attention with interesting characters and dynamics. For the rest of the series, I felt switched and baited. I might have enjoyed it more if I had not expected something different from the first few episodes. This show is about a girl who uses logical (if far fetched) arguments tochange people's mind. That's it. There's a bit with a guy, that's not honestly not important as of this season. There's an antagonist, that also doesn't matter yet, you get the gist of their backstory and nothing more. There's a slow SLOW fight with absolutely no hype... if that's your cup of tea.
It is interesting to see the logical gymnasitcs the protagonist takes, but if watching a girl at a laptop is not your idea of a bomb anime, maybe this is a skip?
As for me, I powered through it all and ended up enjoying it a little bit, enough that I would watch a season two if it gets it, but wouldn't cry if it doesn't get it.
ZenoTheHermit
I really don’t understand why this show has such high ratings on here. Having not read the manga, all I knew going into the show was it was going to be an anime where the protagonists face off against ghosts, demons, and monsters. Cool, so like an anime version of Supernatural? That could be fun. Nope. Instead the show boils down to “Kotoko spends 2 episodes sitting and talking at a snake spirit”, followed by “Kotoko spends 6 episodes blogging a spirit to death”. No, really. Kotoko is pretty much the only interesting character, in a show populated by cardboard cutouts. EspeciallyKuro, who could not possibly be any more bland. Kotoko’s proclivity to say highly inappropriate things at inappropriate times makes for some hilarious moments. But that is about all that the show has to offer.
The relationship between Kotoko and Kuro is nonsensical. Why are they even together?
Even Kuro doesn’t know, as every time he and Kotoko are together he spends most of the time sighing with his head in his hands. Given Kotoko’s personality quirks, these would be great opportunities for some funny, playful banter, but there is literally no chemistry shown between them at all and the dialogue there as in most of the show is boring filler.
The big conflict in this series, Steel Lady Namase vs Kotoko and Kuro, is literally just Kotoko and Rikka having a blog battle, while Kuro and Nanase have one of the least interesting to watch fight scenes.
Kuro and Rikka’s ability to “reach for possible futures” in order to manipulate probability is poorly explained but more importantly is not something that translates well visually and as a result makes the fight scenes even more boring, as the characters have to explain what is supposed to be happening.
LegionIscariot
(In/Spectre. Funny play on words. An inspector of spectres 🤔) In/Spectre is a series of murder mysteries/ghost stories being investigated by a girl Kotoko chosen by the spirits to be their "god of wisdom" when she was about 10 yrs old. One of her legs and one of her eyes had to be sacrificed for this ritual. So they had to be replaced with prosthetics. She falls in love with an immortal young man Kuro who is feared by the spirits because he ate the flesh of spirits (yokai). Kuro is not in love with her but she insists that he be her boyfriend. Theirrelationship and interactions is actually the best part of the anime. Despite being horror it is also a comedy.
Its a dialogue heavy anime. Action is not really a focus.
Kotoko plays the role of a mediator for the spirits and helps find solutions to their problems.
If you want a funny horror mystery anime with a cute clingy child-like girl then this is for you.
If I had to give one criticism is that the last case over stays its welcome. It really drags on.
There really is only 2 cases. One minor case, and the second case which takes up 90% of the anime.
I was hoping for multiple different cases that took maybe about 3 episodes each. But the vast majority of the season focuses on this cosplay murderer. With a pretty weak motive.
SeinenJump
In/Spectre as a concept could not be more fitting in what's been called the "post-truth" era we find ourselves in. At the crux of the drama behind In/Spectre is essentially a PR/political campaign. Iwanaga utilizes elements of social-psychology to spin narratives that find their grounds in the believable but often not real. It's as much a picture of how PR & political campaigns work as it is a grim look at the state of public discourse in a world full of actors wielding narratives. In the above regard, In/Spectre explores substance that has yet to be dealt with in the anime medium. But while theconcept is an incredible 10/10, other aspects of the title did not fare as well.
The characters of In/Spectre are a mixed bag.
Iwanaga is the character with the most dimension. Her confidence, pushiness and past are clear and make her an enjoyable character to watch. As the main character of this psychological/mystery, we get a pretty in depth look at her rationality. She possesses sharp logic but the detailed stories she weaves don't account for the components of a potent narrative--namely: that it has to be simple, convincing and all-encompassing. She overcomplicates her stories and operates in an online forum setting among peers but somehow maintains a platform to speak on the subject without getting drown out by other voices spinning their own narratives, making the scenario difficult to believe. Lastly, she puts too much stock into how rational people who believe in ghosts are. Thats not to say that everyone who believes in ghosts is irrational, but a good portion aren't going to be as concerned about bulletproof logic so why rely so heavily on a strength that isn't as effective in that space?
Kurou is a blank slate male protagonist. He might as well be Mr. Plank. For every 100 words Iwanaga got in Kurou got in maybe 10, which works for Iwanaga's character and the role she plays, but I've never watched a show coming away knowing so little about one of the main characters. His family past & powers are given the bulk of the screen time but little can be said about his personality, his relationship with Iwanaga is ambiguous--no idea how he feels about her, or even why he agrees to date her. It may not be needed for this story but I found it bizarre how little explanation is given regarding how half of his power works. All in all, this entire 4 sentence paragraph is literally all I can think of regarding Kurou.
Not much to say about the other characters Saki & Rikka (and if you want to include Karin). Saki - ex-girlfriend cop don't really get why she's around other than for romantic tension & connection to police records. Rikka - creepy cousin that Kurou cares about.
The pacing is horrible.
The initial feeling was that this was going to be episodic with the common thread throughout being Iwanaga & Kurou's relationship, a structure that works well for a brief 12 episode season, but instead we got an exposition dump early on, rushed through character introductions and then stretched out a 2-3 episode arc out over ~6 episodes.
The art/character design for the ladies in the show was decent, Kurou however could've been copy-pasted from any old mediocre anime from 2014-2023.
In conclusion:
Concept: 10/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Pacing: 2/10
Art/Character Design: 5/10
Music: --/10 (I can't recall any part of the soundtrack that stood out enough to rate it)
Overall, I'd give this a 7/10. The concept does 90% of the heavy lifting so if that intrigues you I'd recommend watching. If not I'd say pass. Season 2 has room to make up for where season 1 was lacking, hopefully the production team makes good use of that room by fleshing out characters, relationships and implementing better pacing.
(P.S. This should definitely be marked as either "Seinen" or "Josei" as 1. little of this show is characteristically Shounen 2. this deals with more adult relationships & deeper concepts that Shounen viewers are unlikely to be satisfied with.)
Eleris18
When it comes to creating a story, everyone knows the popular saying "show, don't tell." CLEARLY the creators of this show don't understand this. (Disclaimer: I have not read the source material. I don't know if the source material has the same flaws) I don't want to be a bore by explaining what storytelling is and what went wrong. If I did that, I would end up sounding just like this show: redundant, excessive, drawn-out, overdone. Instead, I'll blatantly say what went wrong. There was too much character and not enough plot. The characters were beautifully developed, but there was so much focus on themthat the plot kind of forgot to happen. Yes, there was plot and it did drive the show, but that's where I bring "show, don't tell."
While the plot drove the show, the characters were the ones who had a tight grip on the controls. This was one aspect that made the show boring. The most important one was that the characters told the story. They didn't act through it. Most of each episode was one character talking to the other, explaining what happened or what will/should happen. I'm pretty sure that if the characters turned toward the screen, breaking the fourth wall, and told everything to the audience, there wouldn't be much difference.
One may wonder, "There's a lot of dialogue. So what?" Well guess what? The dialogue, though it makes an interesting story, is redundant and excessive. The characters make sure to point things out three times in three different ways before moving on to their next point. The dialogue is so detailed that it not only tells the story instead of showing it, it also partially ruins the story for the audience. Part of storytelling is to not reveal everything, and let the audience figure out the easy bits. Kyokou Suiri ignored this and tells so much information through dialogue that the show is almost idiot proof.
Speaking of lengthy dialogue, there's so much of it to the point that by the time I finish one episode, my head hurts trying to process everything and make sure things line up. There are multiple intricate lies told, and sometimes it becomes hard to separate from the truth.
Up until this point, all I've done was complain, but I think it's about time I highlighted some of the positives of the show. Like I mentioned, the character development was amazing. Each character was unique and had a lot to them even if they were only in the show for an episode or two. The story itself, though incredibly slow, was actually quite interesting. If it was compressed down to I'd say 6-8 episodes with less dialogue, it would make quite a compelling show. The art was really beautiful, but like most animations, it got bad when a scene wasn't important so the animators would have an easier time animating. The opening is really good and so is the ending. However, the ending would have been better if it had a little more animation to it, especially for such a jazzy song like "Last Dance."
Overall, I was just waiting for the show to end. If it ends up getting a sequel, then I won't watch it.
Shippunohmai
I start by saying that I overall enjoyed this anime. However, there are some annoying things about it. At first I only watched it because my all time fav VA was casted and I enjoyed the first episodes a great amount.. But, for me at least, it kinda went downhill from there. Although people say that the first 3-4 episodes are not canon so they make no sense, I quite enjoyed the story with the snake more than the next one which took about 75% of the anime, when it could have been condensed in less episodes. It is a mystery anime, but not the averageone, so if you don't enjoy much talking and get bored easily, this isn't for you. But the story suffers from a bunch of plotholes nevertheless. (I haven't read the manga but the anime doesn't explain these.) For example, how did Saki see all the ghosts but others didn't see a girl riding a huge skeleton in the middle of the night?
About the MC, he's kind of bland not gonna lie.. The female MC is a cute loli (what have i done here) but her personality and obsession towards the male MC got a bit annoying, at least for me, especially towards the end.
Other than that, if you enojiyed anime such as Hyouka, Oregairu, the Monogatari series, that focus more on speech than actions, you'll probably enjoy this one too.
--Forgot to mention: the opening is absolutely amazing, and the ending is really cool. Awesome soundtrack.
Kami-O
My review this time is weird. How can I put a 7 in basically all the ratings, yet give the show a 9/10. I can only give the simple answer, which is my own bias. I always give mystery anime at least a 7. I genuinely enjoy a battle of wits and anything that has to do with intelligent characters and using their brains to solve puzzles really hooks me. The music didn't matter much. The art was very nice. The comedy wasn't milked dry and was appropriately placed. I did not expect much coming into this anime and honestly I forgot about the comedytag until I started watching. Very good splicing of different genres and is what I personally like from an anime. I could only give it a 9 or a 10. To be honest, while writing the review I am still thinking about giving it a 10.
Kotoko is the loli 19 year old in love with her senpai. She is also the Goddess of Wisdom. She is the Shiro of the anime basically. very intelligent. However, that is here the similarities begin and end. She obviously is not as smart as Shiro and is super outgoing and even kind of lewd (her first encounter with Saki she jokingly says that getting deflowered hurt more than the beam swinging Nanase). Her straight-forward and bubbly personality was a great thing for this anime as she never bored me when she was on screen. Best one in my opinion. She is more like Sora now that I think about it. Without the fear of people.
Kuro is mostly immortal. This really has not much to do with his character, but it does affect it. Circumstances of his childhood made him almost immune to pain and his reactions are kinda weak, but that also brings a bit of humor into some situations. Not a bad boyfriend for Kotoko even though she isn't his type.
Saki is Kuro's ex. She is a huge coward, but I supposed it can not be helped. Although I don't think her reason for being as fearful of Kuro as she is warranted. They dated for 5 years and she feared him after one instance of him healing? Kinda a sucky person, but she is extremely fearful of anything ghost related so it is kinda hard to dislike her, being the only normal person in this slew of nonsense.
I think this anime is for those who really like the genres it implores. It has all my favorite tags and it executed them well in my opinion. The romance aspect could be adjusted slightly, but everything else is fine. They didn't have strange comedic moments, mystery was well thought out, the supernatural was interesting, and the demons were eaten (figure that one out by watching). I say give it a shot like most things in life. Happy watching!
kurosaki_raye
HIGHLIGHTS: Good Art, Cool MC with special powers, The right amount of romance, The vibe similar to Charlotte I wasn't too keen to watch this show in the beginning since the sypnosis wasn't that catchy to me but I gave it a try since Miyano Mamoru was one of the voice actors. And yet again he did an amazing job as a cool male character. The song themes are catchy and the plot is great too. Watching the show kinda reminded me of Charlotte because of Iwanaga's detective work. The two shows are quite similar in my opinion; they both have a similar vibe. Soif you like Charlotte, you'll probs like this one too.
Jaykin
From the synopsis, one would assume that one would be thrust in a world with the heavy presence of Japanese folklore. It will be a romp where our protags would be interacting with demons/yokai and many other supernatural beings, right? Well, the story plays to that, to my delight. Looking at the Youkai and how they interact with the world around them is an interesting premise. But that was only in the few episodes before the whole story was sucked into a rather long arc. I felt that some of the episodes could be summarized with a simple line or two instead of dragging itout into a full episode, which happens a few times. The demons and yokai were completely ignored turning the arc into a generic supernatural mystery story, what made the story unique was completely forgotten, which was disappointing. It could have been much better if the anime played to its strengths in what made the story unique.
The art is mediocre. Nothing makes it stand out with other modern anime, thus I’ll just say it is as decent as any other average anime...
The opening music is amazing, I love the banging guitars at the start throughout the song. The jazzy ending was so delicious to the ears. I like sound effects all fit well, watching it I never had thoughts like that seemed out of place. It was pretty immersive.
There is a lot of dialogue. To be fair, it is a mystery anime. So dialogue is crucial. But the dialogue flashes out the characters. What seemed like gibberish is a reflection of the character’s personality. While the dialogue was confusing to me at first, taking some time to reflect after finishing the anime, the dialogue is still gibberish. But what if it was meant to be gibberish? The characters’ personality isn’t very straightforward, and there’s a lot of subtexts that one can interpret it one way or another. Characters aren’t paper-thin, and there’s more to them than meets the eye. To be fair though, characters can still be classified with a generic character mould, so the character’s are decent.
The anime hooks you in with its premise, but the arc dragged things out, throwing the shtick of the anime out of the window. The arc should have been shortened and more emphasis should have been given to the episodic youkai incidents. The anime is an enjoyable watch, but it’s just disappointing that it could have been so much better.
