DRAMATICAL MURDER

DESCRIPTION

CAST

Episodes are being prepared. Check back soon.

OVA ActionDRAMAtical Murder OVA: Data_xx_Transitory
ONA ComedyBOY's LOVE Nitro+CHiRAL
MANGA ActionDRAMAtical Murder
MANGA ActionDRAMAtical Murder

REVIEWS

• 

  denjichans

  80/100
  My favourite VN has a pretty okay anime adaptation. Definitely lacking in some parts.

  Before I begin, let's get this out the way first: I love DRAMAtical Murder. I've been a fan of the franchise for years. Call me a gooner or whatever names you have for people who enjoy yaoi, but I love DMMd. Okay? Good. Next.

  DRAMAtical Murder's anime is certainly... special. The animation quality itself is great, all the characters are very accurately depicted in that regard - although Aoba's ever-growing jacket is certainly interesting - and I personally think the art style of the anime is absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with the art as soon as I saw a notice for the anime release. 10/10 for the art and animation. Aoba's jacket ended up with a giant collar near the end but hey, clearly anything can happen in Midorijima.

  Now, the actual storyline of the anime - it's alright. Really, it's okay. I like it. My only criticism is that it's rushed. I get trying to fit an entire visual novel into 14 episodes and trying to explore every ending of said visual novel in 14 episodes is a struggle. I get it. But that also comes with some disappointment. Personally, I would've loved for the endings to have each been explored with more time - perhaps two episodes each - and the genuine character choices and depth of their backstories to have been more Clear (aha, see what I did there?). It would've been great to have linked the episode before the endings begin to the playstyle of the visual novel - perhaps one choice Aoba makes sends him into Noiz's ending, then we rewind time and he makes another choice that sends him to Clear's ending, et cetera. I feel like some of the character depth was lost in the speed at which the story was being covered and that is a shame. Personally, I did not feel the same affection and sympathy for Mink at the end of the anime that I felt at the end of his route in the visual novel.

  Another thing I'm just going to be sad about that isn't really a critique because it's not possible - but the Bad Endings. Of course, a lot of, if not all of them, would be impossible to show and would immediately get the series banned in many places and rated 18+ - that clearly wasn't the intention, which is great. I suppose I mainly have gripes about Noiz. Noiz's bad ending is one of the most symbolic things I've ever seen - his lack of ability to feel pain is really highlighted by the fact that he's trapped in an endless dimension of pain and sensation with Aoba. That's the most perfect Bad Ending for his character and certainly gives him more depth. I will say that I wish his relationship with his family and his drawn-out suffering from that was explored more, and that is possible. His childhood of isolation certainly determines the majority of the actions he takes at an adult, and I wish we could've seen more than that.

  Now, the voice acting. The Japanese dub is great. It's fairly accurate, and some of the lines are so fucking funny I can't stop myself from laughing. "I've gone straight, okay?!" Sure, Aoba, sure. Sure you have. wwwww
  The English dub? Not so great. In my opinion, all of the characters sound similar to each other and sometimes it's hard to distinguish who is who. Also some of the lines are too funny not to be talked about. Noiz and Koujaku's insult battle in the alleyway before they start scrapping is the most childish thing I've ever seen, and Koujaku is almost 10 years older than Noiz. Get a grip old man www
  In addition, there are some moments that are so awkward I have to skip past them. When Aoba's in his room on his computer for example. He's "looking at chairs" and then there's about 10 seconds of silence. Why did we linger so long on the goddamn chairs?

  However, going back to the story - one thing I think was done particularly well was Mizuki. Mizuki as a character in the visual novel is pivotal and arguably one of the most important characters in the series - without him, nothing would've really happened the way it did. Mizuki's mental breakdown is the first look we get at the severity of Aoba's Scrap and also how much Ribsteez shapes the world of Midorijima. In the anime, Mizuki's destruction is very well done, and I can speak for the Japanese dub being fantastic here. Every depiction of Mizuki's mental break is fantastic, honestly. The anime, the visual novel, and the stage play are all great for this scene specifically (Iwaki Naoya deserves a fucking award for portraying Mizuki so well in this scene every single run of the show I don't even care). I love Mizuki and he's kept prominent throughout the whole anime, which is exactly how it should be done. The loss of him and the lack of resolution until the very end is perfect as that's how it's done in the VN and that's what makes Aoba's journey so important.

  Overall, this adaptation is pretty okay. I'll naturally like it because it's my favourite series of all time, my 110+ hours on the VN weren't earned for no reason, but there are certainly aspects that do bring it down due to the difficulty of adapting a visual novel into animated media with a consistent storyline and the differences in the quality of voice acting. But all in all, it's great. And it's 14+ with no graphic content at all, so it's certainly a comfort show for me.

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