No. 6 Review

Recently, there has been a trend through the science fiction genre. This trend is the idea of a Utopian society. A perfect world, where everyone is happy, no matter what. Many see this as a possible place where people are happy just because there is free food. That isn’t a Utopian society. By definition, a Utopia is a place of ideal perfection, especially in laws, government and social conditions. This place, with free food is just a nice place to live. Various versions of a failing Utopian society have topped up the previous one, each seeming more and more realistic by the year. When this idea of a Utopia is picked apart piece by piece to reveal the inner mechanics, it is not always what you expect. In the city of No. 6, this is the case. With the government being in control of the people of the society, and allegiance pledged to the government meaning your safety, not everything is what you would expect it to be. As one citizen of the city discovers; Utopia is not perfect.

Story

The city of No. 6 is classified as a perfect city, with perfect vegetation, and a very organized way of carrying out tasks in daily life. There is no threat to anyone in the city, and the city’s protection is given to those who pledge allegiance to the city. However, it seems that something is hidden from the people, something that the government does not want the citizens knowing. The story of No. 6 starts on Shion’s birthday. Shion is a student in the city’s gifted program, and an elite member of society. Everything goes by smoothly for Shion, until he decides to open his window on his rainy birthday. He screams into the rain, to let out his feelings, not noticing an injured boy sneak in through the open window. Shion becomes fond of the boy, treats his wound, and discovers his name is Nezumi. Shion is then stripped of his privileges as a citizen of No. 6 and is forced to live in Lost Town, on the suburbs of No. 6. Shion since then worked for the city, until he was suspected of murder, and about to be taken to a correctional facility, when Nezumi intervened and took Shion outside of No. 6, to the Western District. From there, Nezumi and Shion try and uncover the mysteries of No. 6, to save Shion’s childhood friend, Safu, from being kidnapped by the government, and to protect the city from the parasite bees, responsible for the mysterious deaths in the city.

Characters

Shion is a kind and gentle person, oblivious at first to what actually went on in the city of No. 6. He has an incredible IQ, the cause of him getting into the gifted program, however he is a bit of a daydreamer, and is insecure about many things. After being taken to the Western District by Nezumi, he developed the signs of being infected with the parasite bee, and survives the infection thanks to Nezumi extracting the pupa of the bee from his neck in time. Due to the infection, Shion’s eyes turned red, hair white, and a long red scar, coiled around his body appeared as side effects of the infection. Although Shion has a very protective and gentle personality, he does not hesitate to use violence to protect someone. Next we have Nezumi. His personality is rude and irritable on the outside, and is a very sarcastic and theatrical individual. He rarely shows kindness towards others, yet protects them nonetheless. Although he has no formal education, he is incredibly smart, and has understanding of technology advanced enough to build functioning robots following instructions, despite learning most of what he knows from experience and books. Though introduced as a criminal with a “live for yourself” type of attitude, his feelings soften through the series, making him a more likable character overall. Conflicts between the two characters are well thought out, and they are usually about one denying something is not true, but the other trying to convince them that it is. Character development is well done through the series, mainly focusing on the two main characters, yet still adding some character development for Inukashi, and other side characters.

Sound

The soundtrack for the series was done by Keiichi Suzuki, known for soundtracks for Earthbound, and Mother 1 and 2. The tone of the music fits the series’ ups and downs well, and reflects emotions felt by the characters nicely. The opening and ending of the series worked well, and were enjoyable to listen to, and as far as the soundtrack goes, all of the pieces work extremely well for relaxing background music, and are listenable without visual accompaniment. Two noteworthy pieces on the soundtrack were Kaze no Requiem, and Kirameku Mono Tachi, both sung by Yoshimasa Hosoya, the Japanese voice actor for Nezumi. As far as the dubs go, they were both enjoyable to listen to, and Yuki Kaji as Shion fit fairly well.

Animation

The animation for the series was done by Studio Bones, known for works such as Fullmetal Alchemist, and Soul Eater, and is well done through the series. There were no jarring moments at all, and the small bits of CG that they did use, were incorporated nicely through the series. The opening was done especially well, and worked with the song, Spell by Lama, well. As far as character designs go, they were easy on the eyes, and were not clunky or awkward at all. As a matter of fact, the animation was very smooth consistently. The colour palettes chosen for the show worked well for the theme, and fit the tone well.

Final Thoughts

Overall, No. 6 is an enjoyable science fiction series, only 11 episodes long. Although there are some questions at the end of the series which would be better answered, the journey through the series was an entertaining one. With likeable characters, fluid animation, and relaxing background tracks, No. 6 is a solid series. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters and my personal enjoyment, No. 6 receives an overall score of 8.59 out of 10, and a recommendation to stream rather than buy. If the series went on slightly longer to fill the plot holes, the series would be worth buying, but at the moment, with no second season announced, it’s safer to stream the series. At this time, No. 6 is available to stream from Crunchyroll, and has been given DVD and Blu-Ray releases from Sentai Filmworks.

And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!

-Takami