Code-E

Code-E is a fun but short anime that brings mixed bag of opinions. From the start the show throws the a pretty deep question, "How would you live your life if you can't touch practically anything?"




Story (Good)
That is the problem our main character faces on a daily basis. Set in the not too distant future where more people are more reliant on electronics and automation, Chinami Ebihara is a perfect example of a victim of circumstance (with the help of stereotypical moe). Well you see, Chinami can't touch anything electrical because she emits EMP waves from her body. And thats not a fun ... power to have in the information age. This show pretty much follows her around and shows how a woman like herself would live such a difficult life. The story may sound a little off the wall but you will most likely actually feel sorry for Chinami and get more interested in her life. That is untill you meet her friends...

Character (Decent)
The Ebihara is a perfect example of a typical family, mom and dad work, they drink beer and they love each other. Reminds me of my own family practically. Chinami's chemistry to her family is executed perfectly in my opinion. Perfectly as in you can actually feel sorry for them and see that they actually care for each other even though they all live busy lives. But as i stated before, her 'friends' kind of break up that perfect harmony. Well she starts off without having any, then she befriends the cute girl that sits in front of her (love her twin tails btw). That is all fine and dandy then, some guy named Kotaro Kannagi enters to the fray. How they meet isn't that important but one cant realize how this stupid, arrogant, and borderline stalker becomes Chinami's friend and appears throughout the whole series. On top of that this stalker has a very cute and nice (and rich) girlfriend named Sonomi Kujo. The further you progress in the story it becomes more apparent that this mix of friends is what brings down this show in of common sense and ridiculousness. Also I'm not a real fan of the main male role being stupid as hell. I really liked the Chinami family but for the most part, everything else was very poor. There are more characters but its up to you to think they're that important to the show or not.


Sound (Fair)
The sound is pretty mediocre as well. The seiyu's do their duty and pull off perfect voice acting (as usual) where they all act their part fine and there are not problems with them. But everything else is average. With the exception of school room chatter, environmental sounds was very lacking. A lot of nature scenes, but not a lot of nature sounds, a lot of city scenes, but not a lot of city noise. Theres nothing terrible about the sound, air brakes of the bus hiss and pop like normal, static crackles and zaps, etc. But nothing makes the sound spectacular or to write about with the exception of the voice cast. Even the opening and closing songs are actually pretty bad, but I'll leave it at that.

Art (Very Good)
The art and animation is probably the shows saving grace. If you don't care about most of the characters as much (like me), then you will be at least intrigued by the 'not too distant future' they tried to make up. Theres automated buses, video billboards, everyone has cellphones that can do anything, and they even has a few DoCoMo ads for good measure. My favorite part of the technology where the school blackboards were essentially a refined version of a Microsoft Surface (google it). Since technology is also about small things some great detail were given to some scenes. All the technology was fun to look at but they even took the time to show a lot of nature and non technological areas to show that the WHOLE world isn't that engrossed in technology yet. The art itself is pretty much standard fare for a 2008 anime. Crisp, clean, colorful, and moderately detailed. Its not gonna win anything for the art but then again it doesn't look like Speed Racer either.

Enjoyment (Good)
Overall, the show shows a lot of promise and the Code-E universe was so intriguing that I couldn't stop watching. No matter how much I hate Kannagi I can't help but look forward to the next season. I hope they make even more convincing inventions the next time around.

Verdict (6.4)

Mountains of potential that doesn't get fully realized at all
Tons of watchability but no real explanations
Ebihara is an E-type, she emits Electromagnetic Radiation when she experiences emotions, and her family have raised her none the less, often having to move from city to city for related reasons.

First Ill talk about the issues this anime has, to explain why It couldn't possibly get a higher rank than a 7;

- The scene layouts often didn't make any sense; often there are scenes where line of sight, camera angles, or just settings in general didn't actually make a lot of sense with what was going on. There is ... one scene in which Ebihara is running from Kanagi and for all intents and purposes simply fails to hide from him from a visual point of view, but somehow just is hidden, and the story expects us to follow it.

- The story often doesn't include the viewer and just marches on; There is dialogue that you didn't see, important meetings between characters to discuss things that actually don't show, but somehow all these characters just now have more information about everything going on and you just have to deal with it

- The believability of the story wavers significantly; The emotional believability is extremely strong to start with, and the setting is extremely inclusive and entertaining, but about half way through it loses a lot of that.

- The music simply never makes any sense at all. Ever. Its always wrong and if you are going to watch the show, know this one thing especially before you dive in, because at first it just confuses the hell out of you! in the opening scene you thing "Gritty Crime drama!" and seconds later you are in slice-of-life mode, and its a roller coaster of confusion, as if the roller coaster keeps going up and then you end up back at the start without ever going down.

- (minor spoiler)This series near-Literally contains Team Rocket, AND YOU NEVER FIND OUT WHY.

- There is a huge gap in the story. You will never find out what it is, ever. Not even once. It is not alluded to, and there is no actual way to work it out. It's just missing.

Basically, this series fucked up. It just did. It was completely off, it should have been about Ebihara dealing with an extremely taxing power and getting through it, and it kind of was, but it was also just... something else entirely. it really should have been like "Kotoro-San", it just wasn't, and what happened was confusing and badly put together. There aren't any major visual fumbles, and there are good parts, but its seriously bad.

Lets go to the good parts;

Voice Acting - it just doesn't suck. I think that Ebihara's parents, ironically, were the best acted of all of the characters, by quite a long shot. I would hire them again on the spot if i were another casting company.

Character - There were bad characters, and there were good ones. The good ones were quite good, the bad ones were quite bad. Kanagi is the worst written character I've ever seen, and Ebihara's dad is fantastic. The series also contains a Tsundere and I haven't put that in the good or bad basket because everyone likes a certain type so whatever.

Setting - The idea was amazing, the delivery was ok.

Enjoyment - I enjoyed every confusing second of this anime. I would have a hard time telling you why. It was just good. It makes you happy, and following Ebihara around as she struggles to deal with normal situations is endearing and entertaining.

Overall we get a 6. But watch it though, just do. I mean, you have time, right? if your browsing anime in the 6's you must be lost anyways so go for it!

Story: It might just not be my cup of tea, but literally nothing happened. The story could have filled two episodes, not twelve... And it wasn't even original, except for the powers, of course. The powers were cool, but we never learn anything about them except for the fact that the main character is strong, yaaaay...

Art: This is absolutely personal preference, but it was driving me crazy that they don't have noses most of the time.

Sound: loved the opening, even if it had nothing at all to do with the story. Generally the soundtrack was nice.

Characters: ...why did they put in the siblings who do ... nothing wrong but look the part of the villains?

Enjoyment: I suffered from the fourth episode. Didn't get better.

Overall: This anime didn't make any sense at all... 11,5 episodes are plain boredom, continued by half an episode of action with no explanation at all, and that's it.