Anime Reviews

DRAMAtical Murder | Review [RAW]

"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. 

This story takes place in the future where everyone has a certain animal-like computer called an "Allmate" (artificially made beings equipped with artificial intelligence). Our main character, Aoba, lives with his grandmother on an island of Midorijima. He's close with his childhood friend, Koujaku, and keeps his Allmate, Ren, by his side at all times. Throughout the anime, Aoba meets more characters like Clear, Noiz, and Mink. But who is Aoba, really? 

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 voices were 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 game 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.

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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 backstories, 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.

*Anime in External Link

My Ship: RenxAoba (Don't question me XDDD)

Favorite Song: Jellyfish Song <3

Favorite Character: Ren