No. 6

It's been so long since I posted, but truthfully my summer has been so full that I'm way, way behind on my anime watching.  I find myself with many episodes of many series to finish, and a new season is coming in a week!  Muri!  I'm going to have to invest in some serious anime-watching time to catch up.

I did finish No.6, so I thought I'd talk about it today.  Spoiler warning!

No. 6 is ultimately the story of the relationship between two boys, Shion and Nezumi, who come from alternate worlds.  Shion is the white-haired boy and Nezumi is the silver-eyed kid with grey hair.   No. 6 is the name of the ideal city that brings them together and divides them.  Shion is a genius-level kid from inside the walled city of No.6.  He has all the perks and every possible advantage inside his perfect world.  Nezumi is a street rat from outside the city and he has a deep hatred for No. 6 and all it stands for.  Shion meets Nezumi when Nezumi escapes from a No. 6 prison and is injured while escaping.  Shion treats his injuries and helps him escape.  Those actions result in Shion's fall from grace, and several years pass.   

No.6 and the people who run it have many secrets, and this too short series makes a good attempt to uncover them.  One is that there is an epidemic of parasite wasps infecting the populace.  When the wasp hatches, the host instantly ages and dies.  Anyone who witnesses this death 'disappears" - enters No.6's research branch as an unwilling subject.  After Shion's demotion from favored elite status, he ends up in a janitorial job, and witnesses the parasite wasps.  On his way to the 'detention center' he is rescued by Nezumi, and leaves No. 6.

Outside No.6, Shion and Nezumi struggle to understand each other, and No. 6 itself.  Shion decides the only way to equalize things is to bring down the walls around the city.  In the meantime, Shion's best friend inside the city, Safu, runs afoul of the powers that be and is arrested and taken to be a research subject. Shion's mother inside the city gets word to Nezumi and eventually he and Shion go to rescue Safu with help from their friends.  In the end, Safu, in a new incarnation, ends up saving Shion and Nezumi instead.

No. 6 is a short, 11 episode series, but even so, I haven't done the plot justice.   I've basically skimmed the surface. Despite being short, the plot doesn't really feel rushed.  It does make you wish the series was longer and they could spend more time on the back   stories though.  

I liked this anime series for a lot of reasons.  The plot is fairly unique.  The music is very good (OST will soon be on it's way to me :D).  The animation and character style are excellent.  And my favorite character doesn't die!!  That would be Nezumi, although Shion is a close second.  He doesn't die either, and at times during the series you expect both of them to.  Especially the way the ED theme song is, I expected that Nezumi would not survive the series.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, that's it today.  I'm going to go start watching series to clear the decks somewhat for the new season.