StoryFrom my childhood years, I remember unfortunately stumbling across a video entitled Magic that would haunt me forever. Being a little naive, I had no idea that
puppets were capable of mass homicide, but I now know better. So, was
watching Ayatsuri Sakon, an anime series based around both murder and mystery... and a lifelike doll, really a good idea?
Investigating mysterious circumstances surrounding various instances of
mass homicide, Sakon moves from town to town with his obnoxious and
vocal puppet Ukon. Playing out as a typical “whodunit”, the shows
follows a group of feckless bystanders who are slowly whittled down by a
merciless killer. With the first of the eight arcs as undoubtedly the
best, the viewer is lulled into the belief that this show is going to be
a worthwhile gamble. At first, the cliché plot devices are forgivable,
seeming more like a polite nod to the mystery genre. However, it soon
becomes clear that the story writer instead had an unhealthy obsession
with tacky detective dramas. With bad guys who love to hear their entire
plans deduced by the precocious kid and vengeful family members, I’m
sure I’ve seen most of it during episodes of Columbo or Midsomer Murders.
Reading the series synopsis, you get a hint of the confused genre mismatch that plagues Ayatsuri Sakon down to the core. Remaining primarily a murder mystery, the show
features brief additions of supernatural excitement that fizzle out to
nothing make me wonder why they were even included in the first place.
The most baffling accessory in the show is the use of Ukon as a
channelling device to speak to the dead; at first, I was still expecting
a haunted twist that would turn the drab drama into a dazzling diamond,
but it soon became apparent that I would be waiting an awfully long
time. Instead, the focus diverts to the puerile retorts of a smug puppet
and heart-warming, vomit inducing conclusions to many a mediocre tale.
As the show gradually unveils snippets of information about the
murderer, it hardly comes as a surprise that the most obvious culprit
was merely a framed victim of misdirection. It becomes even less of a
surprise as this cunning tactic is used in EVERY GODDAMNED ARC. If the
focus had instead have been on the supernatural aspect, the show would
have been very different to many similar titles that hit our screens
around the same time. Sadly, lacking the creative and versatile flair of
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro or the fun narrative of Detective Academy Q, Ayatsuri Sakon will unfortunately be relegated to the bargain bin of the anime world and all because of its tedious, unapologetic repetition.AnimationBasic, standard and un-ambitious are but three words that could describe the animation for Ayatsuri Sakon.
The "skillful" artwork seems to hail from “The Idiots Guide to Anime”,
and the recycled facial features do not remain tidy throughout the show.
Using a dull, two-dimensional template, the characters look extremely
similar throughout each of the arcs, despite the fact they are supposed
to be completely different people. Blending cells of older feeling
background scenery with many modern foreground features, there is a
confused sense to the show that only goes to add to the schizophrenic
feeling from the genre mix-up.SoundAyatsuri Sakon opens with what has swiftly become one of my
favourite anime tracks. Sweeping me back to the 80’s, when real men
growled out the vocals whilst the guitarist skilfully made his
instrument sing, it does, however, sit quite strangely with a show that
has almost an “Edo period” feel to it. The rest of the soundtrack
remains true to the creepy atmosphere that hangs over the anime,
including the sentimentally soppy closing tune.
Much like the animation, the seiyuu are average and do their jobs; Sakon
comes across as an introverted and shy teenager, whilst Ukon is
unbelievably annoying. Motoko Kumai plays up the argumentative nature of
the grating puppet, childishly berating anyone that will listen.
Despite certain members of the reviewing team adoring the voice actors
boyish charm, I personally found it was a little to much to be exposed
to for a relatively long series.CharactersThe biggest disappoint for me in this show were the characters. Sakon
undergoes no development, and there is very little of his back story
given away, apart from the occasional reminisce to his training in
Bunraku (essentially, how to be a ventriloquist). Extremely passive, he
seemingly has very little to say until he has enough evidence to solve a
murder. Unfortunately, the vocal slack is taken up by the puppet, Ukon.
As the complete opposite of his master, the dummy acts like a spoilt
child and is not afraid to speak his mind. It is times like this I wish
the character database has tags such as “smug git” and “annoying brat”.
Filling out the rest of the cast list is an unremarkable group that
either end up dead, or possess some personality trait that prevents them
from being murdered so they manage to see it through to the
happy-clappy ending. With the character roles being extremely
predictable, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly
who will survive to the moral-filled arc finale, or indeed who the
misguided killer is.OverallAlthough it is not terrible, Ayatsuri Sakon is simply not as good
as it could have been. Busting out with a promising opening arc, the
story picks up speed on a downhill run to nowhere. After waiting a few
years for a group to pick the show up from where the last lot dropped it
mid-season, I can understand why a translator would find it so tedious
to work through twenty-six episodes of finger-twiddling dullness –
especially when there are much better murder mystery and supernatural
anime series out there.
Screenshots
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