DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE MysteryUN-GO episode:0 Inga-ron
ONAUN-GO: Inga Nikki
MANGA MysteryUN-GO Haisen Tantei Yuuki Shinjuurou

REVIEWS

• 

  deli000

  70/100
  Un-Go is an underappreciated mystery gem.

  Someone has been murdered in cold-blood. No one knows who did it. Suspects are named, the innocent are in shock. Two quirky individuals, Yuuki and Inga, set out to find out just what is going on.

  Un-Go is mystery done right. The mysteries themselves are fairly straightforward, but its execution is where the show really excels in. Un-Go is great at engaging its audience, presenting what may seem like a simple murder mystery into something much more fascinating. The set-ups for these investigations are always gripping, and the music and animation do a great job at making the stories triumph. Un-Go knows perfectly well what it wants to convey, and it capitalizes on its strengths in order to realize it. While the execution is straightforward, there are twists and turns along the away that misdirect the audience without giving away too much. These moments are tasteful and add a little more flavor to the mysteries.

  Un-Go adopts an episodic structure with different arcs up until its second-half where it ramps up the engine and produces a well-executed mystery in its last arc. Un-Go’s individual stories are pleasantly introduced and conclude nicely, but they are not entirely separated from each other. Each story connects with each other in clever ways, and it gives the anime a much smoother and steady sailing.

  The cast of characters in Un-Go are an interesting bunch of individuals; Un-Go doesn’t add much depth to these characters, but their personalities play off each other nicely and the characterization is enough for the show’s concept to be pulled off. Yuuki, the detective of the show, alongside his assistant, Inga, make for an interesting pair. They are fun and enticing enough to follow around, and for what little growth that Yuuki does develop throughout the show’s course, makes his deductions that much more entertaining to witness.

  While the anime succeeds in its sole purpose, there are still things that are worth addressing.

  Un-Go feels short-lived. There seems to be a lot of material to be explored from its world-building and the philosophical moments the show touches on. There’s also the fact that the show can be pretentious at times, referencing certain aspects about the nature of society which doesn’t amount to much considering how short the show is. Even the recurring themes about the desire for truth feel underutilized for a show that wants to convey these topics a lot. The specific philosophical subjects that are touched on briefly give the anime a nice flavor, but it also gives it potential that it would have benefited from exploring more thoroughly. I would have loved additional content for more interesting detective stories that delve into other facets of society and its relation to the individuals that make it up.

  The most apparent issue, however, is Inga’s part in solving these mysteries. It feels cheap, and the series uses a lot of his “abilities” in order to steer the investigation in the main characters’ favor. The ability feels like a gimmick (you’ll know what I mean when you start watching), and it doesn’t help the show at all. The fact that the anime doesn’t explore the background behind this character also makes him feel more out-of-place. There is a prequel movie which apparently does, but the actual show itself could’ve incorporated just the main characters’ past in little doses. The tidbits we do get aren’t enough to give them proper depth.

  Un-Go isn’t a special anime by any means. It has its fair share of issues, and while the execution is great, it doesn’t leave much for people to leave it up there alongside the “greats”. That being said, Un-Go never wants to go above and beyond. It knows where its strengths lie and capitalizes on them, producing a perfectly serviceable detective mystery that makes the time well spent. If you want a fun, little mystery show, then Un-Go may very well do the trick.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  R2R

  75/100
  The Cruelty of a war, the Curiosity of a Man and the Craving of his demon.

  https://anilist.co/anime/10798/UNGO/

  ---

  At first, the odd title really grabbed my interest when I was going through the studio's catalog. "Un-Go".
  The title has two meanings.

  1. The anime is a re-imagination of the Japanese novel, Meiji Kaika "ANGO" Torimonocho written by Sakaguchi "ANGO". Yeah, UN-GO looks cooler.
  2. The word/title アンゴ also means "Code to a secret", which is a pretty reasonable title for a detective show except;

  He's a 10 but he's also a buxom babe

  UN-GO doesn't work well as an engaging detective series. When you are doing mystery show in an episodic format, it's hard not to notice its formula, and the formula in this show is one character, "Inga" who's both the main attraction and a drawback to the series. Inga's identity is unknown; for most of the show, 'Inga' appears as an annoying Shouta who can transform into a beautiful woman (and many other forms, apparently) and can make any human confess their truth. In return, Inga can feed on their souls but only once a person. Since the anime follows an episodic structure, this ability feels like a cheat because no matter the amount of investigation that goes on, the overall mystery collapses when Inga does the questioning. But what's reassuring is the show being aware of this. It never pretends to make a mystery any more complicated (or simple) than it already is.
  Which really begs the question, "What's the point of a mystery that is obvious?" Many mysteries work on the good old question of "Whodunit?". Introduce many characters, throw them into a crime-possible setting, give a reason for every character to commit a crime (even to the protagonist if you will), and bring the detective at the end to close the case; or to speak in a broader sense, "the Pursuit of Truth" is what drives a mystery. The same is true in UN-GO, but the truth here is less about being engaging and more about taking a look into the adverse effects of an international phenomenon.

  The War and its stories

  In UN-GO, you tag along with this detective named "Yuuki Shinjirou", the 'Defeated Detective', whose pursuit of Truth is not just simply a who how, or why. Our protagonist believes that the hidden truth is what characterizes a person, which goes against the ideals of the antagonist, "Kaisho Rinroku", who believes that some truths are worth hiding in order to make a better world. This truth is always tied to the war and how war tore the lives of people. Ango Sakaguchi's novel the anime is based on was released way back in 1945s, just after Japan's loss in WW2, and provided a fictional world to show how Military can change its society if it ever to take control over its people. Many of us can't even comprehend the horrors of war and how much war influenced today's society and people's lives. We look at those Ukraine war footage videos, might hear some speeches, or watch war dramas but the most we can do is empathize with them. Shows like UN-GO will shed light on the topics of war to people that really don't know the cruelties of war and how war will shape and shaped a society.
  TL; DR - It's less about the mystery and more about the commentary on militarism in a war-torn society.

  ---

  OP & ED

  I want to make a separate section for this as I really liked the songs so much. The ending actually hints at a certain event in the second half and it's also the only few cases in the Anime that has some wonderful animation sequences. The series mostly have still frames with animation no more than lip flaps, which were well balanced with some good direction, so it won't be that much of a bother. The OST is pretty standard, it reminds me of some outdated mystery movies with the main detective always pointing at things while a supercool OST playing in the background to make a supercool scene. Not bad though.

  Watch Order

  There's a 48-minute prequel titled "UN-GO: Inga-ron" which I recommend watching between episodes 6 & 7, rather than just watching this before the show itself. Inga-ron focuses on Shinjirou's past, and a certain being called Bettenou, which is a major plot point in the later half.

  ---

  Conclusion

  If the description...

  A mystery drama with supernatural demons set in a futuristic Japan where the internet and the media are monopolized by its Militaristic Government?

  ... sounds good enough then watch it anyway.

  The concept of truth and souls is something akin to "Ghost in the Shell", though UN-GO is not as cyberpunk-Ish as GITS and differs in its subgenres.
  The supernatural detective mystery is something akin to "Bungou Stray Dogs", though UN-GO is not as comedic and doesn't have as many characters as in BSD.

  It's a waste of time to get into a show without knowing anything about it. Of course, you can check out UN-GO even if you don't like the Anime I mentioned.

  Un-Go is not perfect but is still definitely a bit underappreciated.
  Continue on AniList

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