Neuro: Supernatural Detective

nubson★ 10

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro... perhaps one of the weirder animes I've seen. However, this anime hit my taste buds right on! Honestly, I'm a big fan of detective fictions, main characters that are seen as intelligent, and overall weird motifs and this anime is PERFECT for you if you agree with any of the above. Story: Overall, the story is enjoyable, and not one second was disappointing. The plot was nothing too intense, so those of you looking for drama might think this is faulty. The plot definitely pretty mild compared to other animes such as Death Note, or Code Geass, but the main idea foreach episode really, was to show us one mystery per episode and let us wait for that kick-ass catch phrase "The culprit is... YOU!" Anyways, i find it very hard to be disappointed after each episode because each episode was vacuum packed with great comedy, and mystery. One flaw I would have to critique on is Neuro's deduction and concluding was extremely unnatural... Personally I try to solve these mysteries too as i watch along, and you could probably pick out the culprit pretty accurately, but to determine the tricks behind the murders is quite the challenge because the show tends to pass over evidence a bit too fast due to its time limit of 20min per episode. Art: I'm usually not too critical when it comes to the art of some anime, but for sure this one stood out. You really don't appreciate the details of how well this anime was drawn until you go on and move to another anime to watch.. Many of the characters are drawn with a high degree of detail from eyes, hair, and to clothes. Specifically using Neuro as an example, you can see the streaks in his hair, the patterns in his eyes, tiny details like those triangle stuff that are attatched to the ends of his hair :S, and a unique blue suit that pretty much stands out from the typical crowd throughout the show. Another thing that caught my attention was Sasazuka, or Godai's eyes, because they were heavily outlined. It pretty much is used for characters to emphasize the "toughness" in their personality. Sound: I don't remember any great insert songs in the series really... But notably the opening theme was what caught my attention. They used the song Dirty - Nightmare to open up their series, and the lyrics match quite well to the story. Not to mention it sounds pretty dark, which undoubtedly matches that dark, demonic atmosphere. Unfortunately, the ending song was not something worth remembering. They used the ending song as an insert for one of the episodes that had to do with one of the characters singing it. Not my taste in music X_X kind of a bad singer too. Character: Most UNIQUE characters made in combination to create the comedic, yet mysterious mood throughout the story. Neuro is quite the sadist at times, though you would see this from a very comical perspective rather than a cruel one. Though, from time to time you do see him look pretty creepy with his claws and fangs, or his gigantic bird head >.>... Actually, his comical face creeped me out in the first episode too... But you would notice the irony of it all as you progress through. Yako on the other hand, was kind of boring =/. Well she was average on most parts, but her interesting points were that she was a total pig when it came to food X), and i guess her its also her ability to understand humans and psychology so well. These 2 characters create a great team together, as one person goes and catches the baddies, while one lures them renderless purging full of guilt. I can really go on talking forever about the characters in this anime, but these 2 guys were the key magics. Enjoyment: Definitely enjoyable throughout every episode. Whether it be the really funny episodes, or the really serious episodes. Once again, there was the occasional flaw in logic and deduction you might catch on to if you tried to pay attention and solve the mystery yourself, but most of the time the mysteries were pretty creative and many times made you say "wow! what a crazy method!" For the times where the mysteries kinda sucked, the comedy part suffices. Overall: Overall was worth watching from start to finish. Many of you may question the weirdness while watching first episode, but thats actually the best part about this whole series. The weirdness eventually catches on to you, and when you finish the series it really does make you leave a part of yourself in the anime. The ending suggests possibilities for a sequel, since Neuro has yet to eaten the "ultimate mystery," and i absolutely cannot wait for season 2 :D

Monkey_D_Luffy★ 8

Story: Basically a demon detective, Neuro, comes to the human world from hell and teams up with a girl, Yako, whose father was murdered. Basically the story is then done is a mostly episodic manner, that is every episodes, sometimes every 2-3 episodes, are a new case. But as you progress through the cases and the episodes, you witness a lot of growth with Yako and in the end the mystery of her father's death is obviously resolved. The cases aren't really always that great and are usually pretty easy in terms of solving and predicting, but there's some nice ones, and either way, the casesare still enjoyable. The whole supernatural aspect of it makes it take a different approach than most detective and mystery shows, which I think is good. Art: The artwork and animation was very nice. The close-ups on Neuro's eyes and face were always spectacular because they displayed so much detail, but then there would be other scenes where his face would then have a really simple and comedic look at the right situations, which was good. There's also some pretty good angles and visual effects to accompany it all. Sound: The OP is a cool song by Nightmare (same band that did 1st Death Note OP,) which I think a lot of people, including myself, enjoyed. The ED was a nice soft song that always ended the episode nicely. The sound effects and background aren't anything special really, but by no means bad. That goes for the voice acting as well. Character: Neuro is an awesome character...just had to say that first. Anyway, yeah, I think the cast is pretty good. You got this demon detective straight out of hell that uses these cool techniques (777 tools of the underworld) and is pretty damn strong, and a school girl whose greatest love is eating and food and isn't really a good detective at all, yet gains fame as a detective, however she understands human ways very well, which makes her a good asset to Neuro. Then there's the other characters like Godai, Sasazuka, Ishigaki, who all are pretty likable. And then the line-up of criminals and murderers, particularly Sai, who I won't mention much on because I don't wanna spoil anything. Enjoyment: Well, like I said, the murder cases aren't that great, but the supernatural element of it makes the cases still pretty enjoyable. There's some good action here and there, mostly fighting between Neuro and Sai. There's plenty of blood to go around, so if you particularly like that, this won't let you down. And lastly, it is also quite humorous at times, especially when Neuro purposely degenerates Yako and Godai.