SPOILER FREE
I don't know what it is with Urasawa's works, but like Monster, I was planning on a huge review to get through all the themes and messages, but there's just so much I wanna talk about that I don't think I could handle it without it turning into a mess. But here goes a shorter review then.
This is one of the most important TV shows you could watch right now. Not only because it has great writing, not only because it has beautiful animation, but also because of the themes it tackles. This show is essentially about hatred, and it tackles it in a way that feels current. It talks about Artificial Intelligence, the line between artificial and real, what leads to war, and how people are affected by it. While I do think that from a narrative standpoint, the ending has its flaws, when it comes to the message, the show is perfect. If you're interested in any of those things, I'd recommend reading this review because I'll keep it spoiler-free.
This show is set years after the 39th Central Asia War. A war that started because the United States of Thracia invaded Persia with the excuse that they were building mass-destruction robots. I don't think I need to say it, but this is clearly an allegory for the USA, more specifically the Iraq War. The allegory makes even more sense as more is revealed, but I don't wanna spoil anything.
In the war, robots were used as the main weapon of destruction. 7 extremely advanced robots stood out among the rest. (Except for Epsilon, who was a pacifist and refused to participate). We follow Gesicht, one of the 7, years after the war has ended. He now works as a detective, living his life as if he were a normal human being, because robots were now protected by laws and could be integrated into our society.
Without going into spoiler territory, the story revolves around a murder mystery, when an unknown “entity” starts killing the 7 robots one by one, something the first episode sets up really well. We see Gisecht trying to find out the cause of these killings, while we also see him going on a journey through his own psyche and moral dilemmas. All that happens while the show also focuses on the politics around AI and the conflict between Persia and the United States of Thracia.
So yeah, that's basically the plot, and I think the anime handles it pretty well. The structure is tight, the pacing is great, and the way the themes are portrayed through the plot is really well done. The anime also has a great side cast, and I like that it doesn’t lean too much on exposition for them and uses subtext very well (although it can dump a lot of exposition when it comes to world-building or explaining certain twists).
It's also amazing at dealing with emotional arcs and pay-offs. There's a chance you'll tear up just in the first episode, and the show builds its emotions with a lot of care. It does a great job at humanizing the characters and exploring the nuance of the topics without sounding like it's "preaching". You feel the impact the conflicts have on everyone, and how the conflict itself comes down to emotion (more specifically hatred) while being justified with the purpose of the "greater good".
Another thing I LOVE in this is how it tackles the theme of generational trauma. It touches on how we have the burden of creating the world that our future generations will live in, and how we often forget our role in all of this. We're just a little drop in a huge ocean, and the show doesn't treat that in a "Nothing matters, war and conflict don't matter" way, on the contrary, it says they matter exactly because we have such a short time here on Earth. We have to fight for a better future while we still can, we shouldn't put the burden of our disagreements on people who had nothing to do with it.
The biggest problem is only the conclusion, which isn't bad by any means, but a little disappointing. It's a bit of a mess in terms of story, but it doesn't betray the message or the intent of the show at all. It's also visually gorgeous and has a lot of emotional scenes, so that makes up for it.
Overall, if you like sci-fi, works that explore human nature like Monster, and well-thought-out character arcs, watch this. This will sound like that Jaden Smith clip but this is a very important story due to the state of the world right now, so I'd recommend giving this a shot even if you feel it might not be your thing.
I wish I could make it bigger, but as I said, Urasawa just has this way of writing that makes it hard for me to say anything that will make it justice. Anyway, here's my ranking of this amazing show:
Top 5 Characters:
🥇Gesicht>=
🥈Epsilon
🥉Sahad
4 - Uran
5 - Tenma
Episodes Ranked:
🥇 Episode 6
🥈 Episode 7
🥉 Episode 1
4 - Episode 4
5 - Episode 5
6 - Episode 3
7 - Episode 2
8 - Episode 8
