Anime Reviews: Special 7: Special Crime Investigation Unit

Don’t worry. It’s spoiler free.

I have always enjoyed digging around on the Funimation app for anime I haven’t heard of. That is how I found Special 7. It wasn’t up super high on the popular list, but it still looked interesting enough to take a swing at, as I do love a good police show. As I read about this show after completing it (there are only 12 episodes), I heard it compared to one of my favorite shows- Pyscho Pass (which we will definently review at a later date.) This was quite a stretch for me. I could see how it compared to Psycho-Pass in one or two ways, but in overall tone, horror and action, it wasn’t anywhere near the same level.

Plot Rating: 2.5/5. The show started out strong straight out of the gate. It had a good first episode with a police chase, a good old fashioned hostage situation, and a small but fun cast that was introduced right away sporting the regular police officer with the heart for true justice, the handsome rebellious partner that everyone wonders how he ever became a police officer, the “glasses guy” with the dry sense of humor that you end up liking the best of all. It would have been a great police show with a cast like this, however it turned into a slightly-but-not-really magic show with a mild and very predictable plot that just turned out into a bit of a letdown.

Character Rating: 4/5. There were an array of characters with different personalities and there were nice moments of them working together. However- in this world many of the characters were “non-human”, one was a vampire, one a homunculus and one a dwarf, and these roles were not explored at all, nor did the characters really act any different than their human counterparts. It was interesting to have non-humans, however this should have been played up much more. (Why is the vampire hungry for spring rolls? Shouldn’t she be hungry for, I don’t know, human flesh?)

Intro/Outro: 5/5. The intro was quite good, with a nice use of bright colors. The thing that I give the most props for in this intro was not revealing any important information about the plot through intro pictures or interactions.

Genre: I am not entirely sure how to genre this. As an action show I would give it maybe a 3/5. It had some moments that were meant to to be dramatic, but the storyline was so predictable it sort of fell flat for me, so I will give it a 2/5 in drama. I’m not sure it could be catagorised as a slice-of-life, but it felt that way in moments, so 3/5 in this catagory as well.

Overally score for this? 2.5/5. Is it worth watching? I mean, sure. If you’re looking for something short to binge, it has a good cast and some funny one liners. It isn’t the worst anime I’ve seen by a long shot, but I would just say “mild” is the word I can think of to describe it. It reminded me a bit of if psycho pass (a dark vibe) and millionare detective (easygoing storyline).

Agree or disagree? Let me know what you think.

Another review coming soon!