maladjus

Akuma no Riddle was very frustrating to watch because it's few potentially strong elements were at best used poorly and in other instances flat out thrown aside. And there was plenty else to just get on ones nerves.

The story elements had potential; an all-girl classroom of assassins who compete with one another to graduate by being the first to assassinate one particular classmate within 48 hours or face expulsion, a mysterious man of riddles with an obsession for rolling his dice, a budding romance between two classmates. One would think this could lead to a lot of action, suspense, mystery and emotion, but if you are seeking that, look elsewhere.

The female characters were far too similar to one another. The love story felt unbelievable, as in how could these two people have feelings for one another? And one of the main  characters consistently referring to herself in the third person gets very old very quickly. Each episode was quite predictable from beginning to end with the exception of the final episode which was unpredictable because it made no sense at all. And the underlying question of the mystery man and his riddles? The revelation of his motivations is altogether unsatisfying.

The animation was fair, and perhaps stands out more given the weakness of the other show elements.

The sound during the episodes was mostly forgettable. But in a sincere effort to end on a positive note, one element I did enjoy each episode was the closing credits. Each episode closes with a unique set; new imagery and new music (much of which was pretty good) and the images used, unlike the overall story, actually made sense and tied in well with the episode it closes out.

I would recommend Akuma no Riddle only as a show to watch in contrast to many other animes to gain a better sense of what works and what doesn't work. I appreciate other shows more when I watch ones like this.