Anime Reviews: ACCA 13- Territory Investigation Department

Seinen anime is mostly likely my favorite genre, and Acca 13 was on a list of good seinen series from the last 5 years. I had never heard of it, but decided to give it a go. It had a lot of things I really liked about it, unique animation and art style, and what felt like a drama/slice of life with a noir storyline hiding just under the happy exterior. The show had a lot of up and down moments, but overall ended up being disappointly mediocre, with storylines not wrapping up completely, protaganists not experiencing any type of growth, and antagonists not being “bad” enough.

Plot rating- 2.5/5. I have a hard time rating this so low because the series really did have so much potential. It felt almost like a “Game of Thrones” political situation in the beginning. The plot line of the show hinged on the king of the nation getting ready to abdicate, with the only heir, his young grandson, set to take over for him. There are whispers of a coup being planned, due to the changes the new king will be making. It set up an intriguing plot with a lot of questions, like “who is good and who is bad?” “Is our protagonist being indifferent on purpose…or is he really the mastermind behind the coup?”

Disappointingly, most of the story points weren’t pushed through to their potential. There were multiple big reveals in this show- exciting next level game changers, (Luke I am your father moments.) All of these “aha, gotcha” moments were executed horribly, with bad staging and little buildup, and the information revealed that should have changed everything just became a regular part of the story, with no character growth, introspection, or shifts in the plot. The last question in our minds at the end of the show was the big one…”Who is the mastermind?” This question was answered with such an incredibly confusing and sudden conclusion it was a major letdown.

Furthermore, there were items that were shown in almost every episode, especially cigarettes, which were “very expensive so only the wealthy smoked”, but Jean smoked consistently. I was under the impression that there would be some sort of secret meaning behind these, (every time he smokes it is to send a message to someone, etc.) There never was anything important attached to his nicotine habit, which left a handful of other non-important questions, such as where did Jean get all the cigarettes, if they were hard to find? Why was he consistently smoking in public areas like he wanted people who were less fortunate than him to see? Why was he always the only one smoking?

The series arrived at it’s destined climax we had been waiting for at the end, and then was cut off at the knees in one more surprising and badly executed “aha, gotcha” moments. A great deal of time was spent showing the different parts of the country in unrest, disrepair and poverty, but the series worked to patch everything up at the end with a sort of “happily ever after” montage which felt unrealistic and childish.

Character rating: 2.5/5. There were two characters that carried this show, Jean’s best friend Nino, and the director-general of ACCA, Mauve. These were the only characters that had real substance. Jean Otus, our protagonist, was boring, showing little interest in the political unrest around him, and how he kept getting dragged deeper and deeper into a coup he didn’t want to be a part of. It was even a joke in the show, people telling him things like “you seem like you don’t care about any of this.”

There were “bad” characters, the prince, the five generals of ACCA, and Rail, but they were either an annoyance, or a bit dark and sinister- but not absolutely evil, plotting, and fighting for the goal of a complete nation’s overhaul. There wasn’t that pull between good and evil or light and dark, because none of the characters were that deep. There were the moments of “good person who I thought was bad, and “bad person I thought was good,” but once again, these weren’t worked out with enough completion, making it something of little interest.

On a different note, however, I would like to submit Jean Otus as the third evolution of Armin Arlert. (Only visually. If he was character-wise it would have pushed the show much further.)

Intro/outro rating: 3/5. The intro was fun. It was good coloring and art, showing all the show characters in their own collective groups with a catchy song. The outro was very boring.

Genre: I would just call this a political drama and give it a 2.5/5. There wasn’t much action, and it wasn’t really a mystery, although it could have been both of those things if they had played their cards right.

Overall score: 2/5. This show had some moments, but definitely didn’t live up to what it should have been, which left you in the end a feeling of being incomplete. With more attention to detail on important things, such as character development and motive and less on other things such as bread and cigarettes this show could have been a real score in my book.

Is it worth watching? For this one, I would say no. It is interesting and unique in some parts! But the plot as a whole will leave you wanting.

Did you watch Acca 13? Agree or disagree?