Overall Review: Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge

I know most people either think I'm crazy or a pervert, but this is still my top pick of the season.

Mincing out the right words to describe this series is difficult. I could begin by calling it bizarre, but that does little to separate it from series like RDG or Karneval, nor does it impart the very special flavoring that really makes this different from series as atmospheric as those. I could call it beautiful, but again, that doesn't explain what sort of beauty sets this apart from P.A. Works or Kyoto Animation or any of those other fancy studios. Calling it unique doesn't explain what that means, nor does calling it sensual and niche really tell you what sort of show you find yourself looking at. As it is, I still don't have a word, nor do I have the patience to get poetic about it. But I can say that despite my initial wariness about Dansai, I've long since stopped caring how utterly unexplainable it is and learned to love it for what it is; itself.

There's no denying this is a very... different, sort of series, and it never takes shame in that. Kiri is an unlikely hero, a murderer-to-be with a quest to protect his loved one, if only for his own sanity. Iwai is seemingly a damsel in distress but never above taking her own stand on things, and the whole bizarre game played around them paves way for the most erotic of fetishes and violence. Yet even so, there's an almost morbid beauty to the whole thing; a gorgeous sense of detail in the way each fetish is depicted, even if they're uncomfortable to watch unfold. For every loving pan over fingers caressing hair or someone being hanged, there's a moment of awe and strange appreciation for the sense of delicacy, even if those scenes are followed by intimately sensual reactions. Yet despite that, I've never felt offended by the fanservice and heavy eroticism of the series. It is never ugly, though it can feel very intrusive, and even when it comes to things like sadism or other, less conventional elements of this sort, it's strangely captivating to watch such things unfold.

Even so, my favorite part of all this is really the characters. They are strange, yes, and they do very shocking things sometimes, but they are never boring to watch. Kiri and Iwai's relationship is unexpectedly complex for a pair as young as they, and it's especially engrossing watching how the hair fetish at the heart of their bond acts to move things along. Even relationships like Rulebook's and his Instead are subtly well-written and explored, and more or less every Author/Instead pair has some sort of deeper meaning to their relationship. For me at least, those relationships are hugely compelling, and they make the natural grace and style of Dansai really flourish. They embody the very special balance between the dark and the beautiful that so often helps create the gothic-like atmosphere of the series, and in all honesty perhaps that's exactly what makes the show what it is. Perhaps in fetishizing the dark and creepy, Dansai achieves beauty in a way few series can. Whatever the case, I'm hugely impressed with the end result; it seems unlikely, but a better balance of atmosphere, style, characters, and flair really can't be found elsewhere in this season. At least, not for me.