{"id":1540,"date":"2008-09-14T22:29:32","date_gmt":"2008-09-15T02:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2008-09-14T22:29:32","modified_gmt":"2008-09-15T02:29:32","slug":"dennou-coil-anime-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/2008\/09\/14\/dennou-coil-anime-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Dennou Coil&#8211;Anime Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/image\/stars\/5o5.gif\" alt=\"5 Stars\" \/><br \/>\nThis series is one of my all-time favorites and I&#8217;m sorry that nobody has seen fit to license it yet. Some shows seem destined to win awards and critical praise, but not to attract a real mass audience. Sometimes they are eventually recognized as true classics.<\/p>\n<p>The story is an unusual variant of <a href=\"\/fun\/terms-used-in-anime-reviews#cyberpunk\">cyberpunk<\/a>, a genre usually associated with dark stories about a lawless world in which hackers with few scruples battle cabals and power brokers who are even less scrupulous. <em>Dennou Coil<\/em> has some elements of this, but the overall tone is much lighter&#8211;partly because the story is told from the viewpoint of an optimistic child. The result is clever and thought-provoking, but also charming.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ItemList\">\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Original Title<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\"><em>Dennou Coil \/ Coil&#8211;A Circle of Children<\/em> <\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Genres<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Science Fiction, Mystery, Adventure<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Demographic<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Shoujo<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Contents<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">26 Episodes<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Director<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Mitsuo Iso<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Script<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Mitsuo Iso<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Character Design<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Takeshi Honda<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Art Director<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Hiroshi Gouroku<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Music<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Tsuneyoshi Saito<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Animation Studio<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">Madhouse Studios<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Item\">Broadcast<\/div>\n<div class=\"Description\">NHK 2007<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Parental Advisory<\/h3>\n<p>There is nothing particularly objectionable here, but some parts of the story are likely to be frightening to young children. <\/p>\n<h3>Premise<\/h3>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/isako3.png\" alt=\"Isako using glasses\" title=\"Isako using glasses\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1596\" \/>The story takes place about 20 years from now. The setting looks much like present-day Japan, but the computer technology is much more advanced. Most people own <strong>&#8220;cyberglasses&#8221;<\/strong> (<em>dennou megane<\/em>), which look like ordinary glasses but feature high-resolution video displays, high-speed networking, massive processing power and sophisticated sensors, all controlled by hand gestures. If you have a pair cyberglasses there is no need to carry around a laptop computer, cell phone or video game system. It can do the work of all of them.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/bugspray.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Bug spray\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1582\" \/>Looking through the glasses one can see the real physical world, augmented by various computer-generated enhancements. Computer programs are generally represented by virtual objects that you can manipulate and control with natural hand motions, such as a can of &#8220;bug spray&#8221; or a &#8220;fishing rod&#8221;.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/fishingrod2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Fishing Rod\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1589\" \/>Most adults only put on the glasses to accomplish specific tasks, but children who have grown up with the technology take it for granted and wear the glasses most of the time. They rarely make much distinction between the physical and virtual worlds that they see.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/weapons.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Weapons\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1629\" \/>The glasses seem to be like present-day game consoles: they are only supposed to run software approved by the manufacturer. This rule is widely flouted and there is a brisk trade in unapproved software.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/shield.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Shield\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1619\" \/>Kids like to collect <strong>&#8220;metatags&#8221;<\/strong> which look like trading cards and can do a variety of useful or interesting things. Some can serve as spectacular offensive or defensive weapons. There is no danger in this, at least in theory, because none of it affects the physical world and a child who gets in trouble can just take his glasses off. However there is a risk that the use of unapproved software could end up damaging the glasses.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/oldspace3.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Old Space\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1611\" \/>Cyberglasses depend on a mesh network of wireless access points and servers that supply data about the local environment. These are maintained by a hodgepodge of government agencies, private businesses and individual homeowners. Naturally it is hard to keep all the servers <span style=\"display:none;\"><a href=\"\/fun\/terms-used-in-anime-reviews#oni\">oni<\/a><\/span> synchronized and up-to-date. Wandering into an <strong>&#8220;old space&#8221;<\/strong> controlled by a server full of obsolete data can be very disconcerting.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/illegal.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Illegal\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1593\" \/>These old, unpatched servers are havens for various sorts of viruses and malware that are called <strong>&#8220;Illegals&#8221;<\/strong>. Some of these rogue programs have taken on a life of their own, and perhaps even become sentient. Old spaces are also a source of <strong>&#8220;metabugs&#8221;<\/strong>, useful bits of rogue software which are highly prized because they can be used to create new types of unapproved programs.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<\/div>\n<h3>Characters<\/h3>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/yasako2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Yasako with Metabug\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1630\" \/><strong>Yuuko Okonogi<\/strong> is eleven years old and has just moved with her family to the city of Daikoku. Because her name is written with the <a href=\"\/fun\/terms-used-in-anime-reviews\/#kanji\">kanji<\/a> for &#8220;gentle&#8221;, her friends call her <strong>Yasako<\/strong> (&#8220;gentle child&#8221;). This seems appropriate since she is rather shy and non-confrontational.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/kyouko3.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Kyouko in Box\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1600\" \/>Yasako&#8217;s little sister <strong>Kyouko<\/strong> is a real handful. She follows Yasako around, ignores instructions, and rarely says anything other than <em>unchi!<\/em> (&#8220;poop!&#8221;)\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/densuke.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Densuke\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1587\" \/><strong>Densuke<\/strong> is Yasako&#8217;s beloved cyberpet. He exists only as an image displayed by the glasses, but he is very real to her. She can pick him up but can&#8217;t feel him.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/kyoukodensuke.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Kyouko with Densuke\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1602\" \/>Kyouko likes to play with Densuke too.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/mother2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Mother\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1607\" \/>Yasako&#8217;s mother is well-meaning and pleasant, but she is pretty clueless about modern technology.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/father.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Father\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1588\" \/>Her father seems a nice enough fellow, but he is rarely around.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/megabaa2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Megabaa\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1603\" \/>Yasako&#8217;s grandmother might appear senile, but she is really nothing of the sort. She runs a business out of her home dealing in unauthorized software. The local children call her <strong>Megabaa<\/strong> (&#8220;Glasses Granny&#8221;). Yasako doesn&#8217;t know that she is the head of the &#8220;Coil Cyber-Investigation Agency,&#8221; which is actually a group of kids who run errands for her and assist in her nefarious activities.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/fumie2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Fumie\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1637\" \/>Yasako soon makes a new friend: <strong>Fumie Hashimoto<\/strong>. She is a small, somewhat bossy girl and a skilled hacker.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/oyaji.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Oyaji\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1614\" \/>Fumie has a cyberpet named <strong>Oyaji<\/strong>, who she insists on referring to as her &#8220;servant.&#8221;\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/isako.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Isako\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1598\" \/><strong>Yuuko Amasawa<\/strong> is another new transfer student. Because her name is spelled with the kanji for &#8220;brave&#8221; she is sometimes called <strong>Isako<\/strong> (&#8220;brave child&#8221;) which annoys her. She is a quiet, unfriendly girl who is reputed to be a &#8220;Encoder&#8221;, a kind of \u00fcberhacker. She clearly has advanced programming skills and can control her glasses without moving her hands.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/daichi.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Daichi\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1583\" \/>Fumie&#8217;s archenemy at school is <strong>Daichi Sawaguchi<\/strong>, the founder of the Hacker&#8217;s Club. He is an obnoxious boy with a tendency to bully.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/denpa.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Denpa\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1585\" \/><strong>Denpa<\/strong> is Daichi&#8217;s best friend. He is a gentle, easygoing boy who is strongly loyal to Daichi and sometimes serves to restrain him.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/akiramidget.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Akira and Midget\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1581\" \/><strong>Akira Hashimoto<\/strong> is the youngest member of the Hacker&#8217;s Club. The older boys bully him. <em>Everybody<\/em> bullies him and he deeply resents it. His cyberpet <strong>Midget<\/strong> collects information for him.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/haraken.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Haraken\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1592\" \/><strong>Ken&#8217;ichi Harakawa<\/strong> is President of the Biology Club. The other kids call him <strong>Haraken<\/strong>. He is quiet and reserved, but competent and reliable. Despite its name, the Biology club seems mostly concerned with studying cyberspace creatures. Fumie is the vice-president.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/satchi.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Satchi\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1617\" \/>Concerned by the proliferation of old spaces and the growing plague of Illegals, the city of Daikoku has deployed a program called <strong>Searchmaton<\/strong>, or <strong>&#8220;Satchi&#8221;<\/strong> for short. It is designed to hunt down and destroy Illegals and reformat the servers where they hide.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/satchiposter.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Satchi Poster\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1618\" \/>Satchi&#8217;s goofy appearance is supposed to be reassuring, but the children hate and fear it because it will mindlessly attack anyone possessing unapproved software, including children with harmless metatags or innocent victims of virus infections.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/tamako.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Tamako\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1623\" \/><strong>Tamako Harakawa<\/strong> is a high school student and a talented hacker. She works part-time for the city, hunting Illegals.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/yasakotakeru2.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Yasako and Takeru\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1632\" \/><strong>Takeru Nekome<\/strong> is a boy from a rival school who encounters Yasako by chance and takes a liking to her.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/sousuke.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Sousuke\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1620\" \/><strong>Sousuke Nekome<\/strong> is a mysterious and rather unpleasant fellow who seems to have some sort of alliance with Isako.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/michiko.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"Michiko\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1606\" \/>According to an urban legend, <strong>Michiko-san<\/strong> is a ghostly Illegal who can grant wishes&#8211;and steal children&#8217;s souls.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Character\">\n<\/div>\n<h3>Links<\/h3>\n<p>Wikipedia <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dennou_Coil\">entry<\/a> (spoilers.)<\/p>\n<p>ANN Encyclopedia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.animenewsnetwork.com\/encyclopedia\/anime.php?id=6278\">entry<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This series is one of my all-time favorites and I&#8217;m sorry that nobody has seen fit to license it yet. Some shows seem destined to win awards and critical praise,&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/2008\/09\/14\/dennou-coil-anime-review\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[99],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anime","tag-dennou-coil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1643,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugfox.net\/fun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}