Slight spoilers ahead, I highly recommend you giving this a watch, so if you want to avoid spoilers, forget this review and just go watch it. EDIT: This review was based on the first 8 episodes.
Seikaisuru Kado or Kado: The Right Answer, is an anime about the arrival of an anisotropic being, an alien. With him he brings knowledge and gifts that are still well out of humanity's reach. All the while he's still learning about us, and we're learning a bit about ourselves. It is a great first contact story that is focused on the political and ethical questions that we face as a race. I give this anime an overall 9/10, though it won't appeal to everyone due to the slower pace and animation, it is well thought out and fairly intellectual.
The story begins with our Shindo and Hanamori, bureaucrats working in general affairs, given an informal request just as they were about to get some time off. What should have been a fairly quick land purchase negotiation turns into a month long affair in which Shindo works with the metal factory and a physics professor to develop and create a new low friction metal plating. All the while doing a great job in building up Shindo as a character, determined and compassionate with a keen eye for the details. An incredibly good first impression that will have you intrigued in this story.
This is all only to pull the rug out from under you as Kado descends from the sky, engulfing the plane they were on just as they were leaving on a foreign affairs assignment. This is where episode 1 of the anime begins, and we spend the rest of the episode from the perspective of everyone outside Kado, and our cast moving forward, the media, scientist, military, and government. In this episode they're each given the time they need to subtly (aside from one case in particular) across the qualities about them that'll be important. After some deliberation, research, and testing by the outside world, the familiar face of Shindo emerges from Kado alongside the anisotropic being, Yaha-kui zaShunina.
These first two episodes are impactful in just how different they are, and yet flow together seamlessly, setting the scene moving forward. The story is incredibly well done, and feels like it's only getting started. 10/10
I'm unsure that drama is a tag that particularly fits or doesn't fit here, I'm not going to give it a rating for this reason. The sci fi (7/10) in this anime is handled well, it's that kind of sci fi where the technology is less of a focus, and the ideas are more so. When the technology does come up humanity's reaction and use of it is the more engaging factor. Finally the politics of this anime feel ever present, though it has played a role in the anime so far, it feels like there is more to come, and even more under the surface. 8/10
CG animation, it will likely turn off a lot of people, but if you were to binge watch this, you'd almost forget that it was CG after a few episodes. It's an interesting choice to go with CG in an anime like this, but it seems okay. The only real hindrance to the quality of this show in my opinion. That said, it's hard for me to come to a conclusion on whether I think it's good or bad, so I'm giving animation a 5/10 here.
Sound is great with this anime, the voice acting feels on point, and the OP is awesome. Not to mention the sound effects with all the technology and anisotropic, it's good. 8/10
Characters of this anime are great, and get a 9/10, even those who get very little screen time feel like they have plenty of personality to them. A lot is gotten across to the viewer with simple details, and the show makes the most of it. The alien being himself aside, the characters in this show are really strong.
Overall I really have been enjoying this show, and it's likely the one I look forward to the most every week actually. It's unfortunate that it's going unnoticed and that the animation will be a turn off for people who would have otherwise liked it. Of course, being a slower pace with a lot of characters just talking, it's understandably not going to appeal to as many people to begin with.
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