For context on the series as a whole: It began as a lightnovel, that was supposed to end where season 1 ended. That is, the mystery of the Steel Lady was all that it was. It was then adapted to a manga, and after finishing the Steel Lady arc, that mangaka continued it onwards past "the ending" with the blessings of the author, and THAT is season 2. It can be argued that the season 1 is better in manga form, since it feels like less of a slog to get through. And to be quite honest, I think the localization of this anime's name totally ruined it from the start because IT WAS A PUN. The translated name of the Japanese novel is "Invented Interference", which sets up Kotoko's invented truths right there in the title. But someone was so clever that they thought, hey, series has "specters/ghosts, and it's kind of a mystery" so they decided In/Spectre as a pun on Inspector was a FANTASTIC IDEA. Going by the original title, it was never meant to be a mystery story at all, and I do wonder if the anime's direction pointed it in that direction maybe out of a misunderstanding of the source.
Funny enough I read the manga and I think I stopped for no reason actually after the Steel Lady part, just was doing other stuff and forgot to read more of it and I remember it quite fondly because I thought it was interesting how people's belief in something gives it power and how the invented truths get formed by society as a collective sometimes without even intending it, and how fast and easily ideas can spread and beliefs manipulated.
Gotta say though, the season 2 content (which I'm assuming is manga original and not in the light novel) has been so much better, going from Yokai to Yokai, revealing truths at the end of the case or at the very least admitting what was BS and was wasn't. The Mangaka really said "I can do it better myself"
Maybe you mistyped the word, but it's 'inference' not 'interference'. The original Japanese title is 虚構推理 (kyoko suiri), where 虚構 (kyoko) means 'something that is made up or fabricated to make it look like it is a fact', and 推理 (suiri) means 'inference, deduction, or solving a mystery by reasoning'. So the title may be translated as 'made-up inference', 'fabricated deduction', or 'fabricated reasoning', something like that. So the English title is actually not so far off from the original Japanese title. Especially the second word 推理 (suiri) is often used in relation to mystery stories. In fact 'mystery novel' in Japanese is called 推理小説 (suiri shousetsu).
@@wwvvvvvww quite true. the author was actually worried the new format of shorter plot arcs would be better than his original format. in fact the snake story comes after the Steel Lady story in the manga. It seems like the anime producers realized the long plot arc would be bad in anime format so they started with a taste of what a season 2 would be like. the author's notes at the end of every manga volume are very insightful on the situation.
I think Glass Reflection should read the author's notes in the manga volumes. it is very insightful on the problems he has with the anime. also the Japanese title (Invented Inference) gives away that Kotoko doesn't care about the truth. she operates on blue-orange morality. order between worlds is the most important thing. NOT TRUTH. it's something she freely admits to and makes her character more interesting. she solves mysteries by cheating with supernatural allies, but investigates to find out the most convenient lie. it also makes her good at unraveling the lies of others for her own benefit. its what makes her such a unique protagonist.
I'm sure that's all true but unfortunately. The anime doesn't include any of that. So he's reviewing the anime as is and is right. I got to episode 6 and realized it's a hard show to watch. All the hypotheticals and all the possible scenarios just feel like the anime cut a lot of the subtle nuance. It feels like we're watching a writers room just spitball ideas for 10 episodes. And that's the dialogue they decided to use rather than write an actual story.
To quote me from April 2020: "Fuck, this was pretty fucking good. The first episode looked really weird with the filter, but every episode after it looked super fucking clean in both animation, colour and polish. Kotoko is so cute as well, love her personality! A S2 should definitely improve the feel of this anime in developing the characters and setting, considering episode 4-12 is one arc, leading to a lackluster feel after finishing it." (8/10) Having binged it in 5 days back then, and having watched this review, I think to myself now: Huh, I guess Kotoko really was entertaining enough for that whole arc that I called it merely "a lackuster feeling"! It's like 6 out of those 8 marks are from Kotoko alone XD
I think the problem is that people think it's a mystery when really it's just a supernatural story. You are absolutely right about the pacing. I remember when I watched the first season that I really enjoyed the concepts and characters, but there was just something about it that made it not as hype as I thought it should of been. It was the pacing, thanks for helping to put it into words.
I don't like how sometines they seem to completely forget, that Kotoko is supposed to have an artificial leg and an eye. She is frequently seen hopping and skipping and pupil in her fake eye changes sizes like in her normal one.
Omg that drives me insane! Your Mc is supposed to be handicapped, stick to your backstory! It breaks my immersion every time her right eye or her left leg act like non-prosthetic parts. Which is every single frame until she removes them.
Yeah, I was like “wow, a show about a girl with a physical disability, that’s so cool” and then the show just forgets how prosthetics work half the time.
I agree. She's essentially like a lawyer who is defending someone. They don't have to say what exactly happened they just have to come up with some plausible alternative narratives to what the prosecutor is claiming happened. I enjoy it and the fact you sometimes never really know.
it was boring to me knowing that they’d already figured it all out and were lying to sway things in their favor. with how much reaching the cripple girl did, it felt like reading the comment section of a hypothetical anime fight. it wasn’t even interesting as a mystery plot because there was literally no mystery.
I absolutely love this show. I am honestly even shocked how many people hated the Steel Lady Arc. That's how much I love it. Probably helped by how much I like Kotoko as a character, especially her one liners and attitude.
I've always wondered why in Spectre has such low review scores. My tastes tend to align quite well with your opinions so this was an interesting video to watch. I quite enjoyed S1 but I watched it more for the vibe and didn't really dedicate much brain power to the whole mystery thing so I didn't mind the show explaining obvious things. S2 is currently my favourite weekly watch and I'm happy others are enjyoing it too. Perhaps my opinion would differ if I binged S1 or just rewatched it.
Just binge watched s1 and oh boy was it a chore to watch. Basically just skimmed through the last half of season 1 and I basically got the gist of what was happening.
I binged S1 as I never watch anime season by season. It was a joy to watch. Perhaps you’d dislike it like that, or perhaps like me you’d enjoy it. The fact of the matter is that if the purpose of the story doesn’t bother you then you won’t have a problem. If you need “god’s knowledge” in a story to be satisfied, you won’t enjoy it.
I actually liked that the story pretends to be an episodic mystery show for a bit before revealing that it's actually one big arc about a girl whose power is just being really good at BS-ing everyone, I found that bait and switch pretty in character and kinda meta. Sure, the pacing turns into a slog for a couple of episodes but I assume that has to do with having to meet a predetermined number of episodes when there simply wasn't enough stuff to fill them with, so the story got stretched. BTW I would probably watch a feature length video about someone replying to comments if it was in service of a larger plot, heck, it sounds like an interesting premise.
Where season 1 did feel like a slog to get through, I do agree that season 2 has been more enjoyable so far. Though I do feel that the Yuki Onna arc will probably be my favorite segment of the series. I like the main characters, but it’s funny to me that my favorite episode of the whole series focuses on two side characters that we’ll probably never see again and that’s my biggest gripe with this show. Characters outside of the main cast don’t seem to appear again from what I’ve been told and that’s a shame. Honestly if the Yuki Onna arc was as long as the steel lady arc I’d have zero complaints 👌
I remember watching this in 2020 and actually rating it a 7/10. I agree, the pacing was very slow and very dialogue heavy but I got through it (with the help of the English Dub and Kotoko just being a great protagonist). So I actually started reading the manga. Season 1 of the anime was Volume 1-7 which I skipped for obvious reasons and I've read 8-15, and honestly, it's a really interesting read. It think reading it at my own pace made it a lot better. There are more stories in these volumes too. Considering Volume 1-7 was mostly the Steel Lady Nanuse arc, 8-15 had 3-4 main stories, and pretty interesting ones at that. And the relationship between Kuro, Kotoko and Rikka is pretty fascinating that I'm interested in seeing what happens between them. So I'd recommend the manga over the anime to anyone who managed to watch Season 1 or even dropped it.
I enjoy the show but I know it’s not for everyone lol 😂 season 2 is a lot better so far though and the ice spirit arc was extremely adorable and got me in the feels
Pacing is the main issue, some arcs randomly end in the middle of the episode. Steel Lady arc takes too long, should have taken half the time. Director seems inexperienced with timing
Season 1 was such a slog to get through after the brilliant first couple of episodes, but if people are saying season 2 is an improvement, I'll check it out.
Season is so bad I can’t believe it actually green lit for season 2. But so far s2 is much better than season 1. When the story isn’t about kuro and his loli girlfriend the storyline is actually more interesting not going to lie.
@@ForeverTraitor There’s barely any content for s1. It had an interesting start but then the idol arc came and destroyed what interest that I had. Only powered through because season 2 with the yuuki-ona arc is actually wholesome.
The things you disliked about it were somehow what I enjoyed the most. i didn't care for the mystery. I was just enjoying seeing how Kotoko will bullshit her way oit of said situation. And seeing how the truth could be skewed in so many ways and the only important thing was have the spirits be satisfied reminded me of how many irl mysteries make boring books because the truth is usually quite boring and people go on to make conspiracy theories because it doesn't feel interesting enough anymore. And I really love that.
I hated the first season , those monologues of exposition stating the obvious DROVE ME NUTS..... and then it started another monologue and then another , exposition , exposition ....
This is not a mystery series. This is slice of life of a couple with supernatural powers that deals with Yookai problems. It established from the start that the stakes are not that high (one character being immortal, and the other having the help of ghosts), the entertaining part is watching how twisted the solutions are. Some mention similarities with Hyouka, but I think it is more akin to Jigoku Shoujo. Just sit and watch the drama unfold.
I enjoy the show. It has a bit of an unique ambiance that appeals to me, and feels fresh and original. I agree that the pacing is a bit slow, but only excessively so during the steel lady Nanase arc.
I fell in love with the first few episodes of In/Spectre to the point where I sought out the manga because I didn't want to wait for new episodes. The Steel Lady arc of the manga quickly destroyed any interest I had in either manga or show. The show would have been better served compressing that slog and moving on. I actually love the anti-mystery idea, where her goal is to craft believable lies, not solve the mystery. That's a fascinating concept. The series just isn't written well enough to pull it off.
I think the biggest gripe you have is that it drags on a bit, and to be fair, it did seems a bit longer than the usual show with the usual 3 episode storyline. I liked it though because I wish more often in shows like this the shows are almost forced into the 2-3 episode narrative. I love boogiepop, for example, and the light novels are fantastic, but the second show (boogiepop and others), although great, felt like it could have benefitted from being 5-7 episodes per plot line and stretched over 2 seasons. In fact the only series, and the perhaps the last to break the 3 ep per storyline limit in this genre was rental magic, which just goes to show how set in stone this formula is and how it's dominated since the 13 EP run.
If you're banking on "the truth" to get your satisfaction out of this show, you're bound not to enjoy this. XD Its very premise is that the truth does not matter. Kotoko clearly is a little monster that doesn't care about the truth, only about maintaining the peace and balance between the two worlds in which she resides. And one should not ever know about the other. Also Kotoko probably does carry the show for many people, but that's not really a bad thing. The writer somehow made an incredibly likeable little gremlin. She is the star and honestly watching her bullshit her way through all of these issues is entirely the appeal of the show for some. In short, perhaps the ending is the paramount for some. And they probably wouldn't enjoy this show. But if you're just here for the journey and the company, I think it can be a very enjoyable show.
You just kinda described my experience with Witch from Mercury. I loved episode 0, I sorta liked the first 2 episodes getting to know the characters and stuff. About episodes 3 to 10 were so full of nonsense that it was almost a drag to keep watching, but characters and combats kept me going. The last two episodes were genuinely great.
In/Spectre has wacky pacing, some arcs end in the middle of the episode for some reason. Other arcs are too long and have too much exposition, while some arcs are too short.
The best part of this show is the ED in season 1. It tricked me into watching the show because I saw it on RUclips and thought the show would be a jazzy noir mystery. It was not.
yep i do like In/Spectre, it is a interesting flow of consciousness/idea type show, but that first season (specifically those 8 episodes) is just a barrier of entry that you can't recommend to people. like between the case dragging on, them needing to set up the protag powers, and the (assumingly) main antagonist of the story, it's just in need of that rewrite.
I had literally never even heard of this show until 20 minutes ago when I randomly watched it and then I get hit with this notification... that's almost scary
I really liked Kotoko and Kuro, I slogged through the first season bc the Steel Lady arc overstayed it's welcome. Now I'm having a lot of fun with the second season, getting to know new Yokai and the new focus on telling the truth at the end of the case or revealing the things that were BS even if we don't know the truth.
I think the idea of the "ending being paramount" is completely insane. You're an anime fan, you know that most anime don't even get endings. How could the ending be important when most things don't have one
I truly dislike it too, it had such a hilarious premise to become a dark humor comedy about a duo goes on weekly X-Files-ish adventures to bullish*t all sorts of scientifically correct nonsense to pseudo-explain and banish all kinds of real supernatural evil entities. But what we got is an awkwardly paced hyper-melodramatic demonstration of only One bland (and modified)howcatchem story, running solely on really weak profiling/deduction, and the power of an obligatory chosen one. If a writer really put the word DEDCUTION into the book title, a fair amount of logical reasoning need to be presented, and made it to be the method for protagonists to solve problems. Not multiverse superpowers. imagine The Exorcist, Pazuzu can only be defeat by people not believing it's existence, so instead of exorcism, father Karras has to consults with tons of medical profassionals and gathering data of real cases to convince the mother it was all neurological disorders and also Regan is a natural born contortionist, and the micrometeorological anomalies of the house causes things to fly. thus, Pazuzu gets destroyed.
When you said that it's a mystery story where the truth doesn't matter... That actually interested me. Maybe that's the Umineko fan within me speaking, but I find the idea of subjectivity of truth especially in fantasy-mystery setting to be fascinating. The pacing can be wonky, but that's what the watch speed is for. We can just "fix" it now lol. And I've played enough VN and JRPGs to tolerate bad pacing as long as the themes and interactions are interesting, so in my rotten moege and Trails andy brain, so far nothing seems to be a deal breaker. And ngl, I would watch that series of you arguing with the comment section. PBS Idea Channel videos where they discuss the last videos comment, PhillyD's weekly comment recap, and Asmongold YT videos are things that I watch and genuinely enjoy. I don't know, none of the issues seems to be a big deal for me and as someone who regularly reads and post reviews of 6/10 VNs (and that's by my charitable rating) I could just say what it's about, what works for me, and what doesn't, as well as give a guess as to how likely it'll work for its intended audience and whether the usual annoyance of the genre is there or not.
Yeah I was just thinking this sounds a bit like Umineko. I don't think GF knows how to think about this kind of story. I'm gonna give this a watch if these are his issues.
Umineko was (almost but not really explicitly) refrenced so.... You should read the manga for the first season atleast, so you can get past it when it drags. I liked S1 enough tho, way more good than bad.
Sounds like a "read the manga" situation maybe? I have found some intriguing but badly paced or executed shows like this sounds to be o have less of that issue from their source material. Not always but enough that If I found the idea of a show interesting enough but its presentation lacking I will seek out the manga or novel it was adapted from, if it exists.
When I heard that In/Spectre was getting a second season, I remembered that I'd watched it and was like "oh yeah, that was a thing I did during the lockdowns". That was it. That was all the emotional investment I had given to this show.
I feel a similar way; I was interested in the main characters and their relationships, as well as the proposal for how spirits adapt to the modern world to keep themselves alive. However the plot progression was mostly conducted through lengthy explanations rather than actions which ended up dissuading me
"I really enjoy it. Yuki Onna is the most charming character of the season. You are frustrated that the "truth" is never fully established, I actually find it charming. I find it amusing when she crafts an entirely plausible explanation, and then goes "but that's not how it happened, here's what really happened." There is always another truth. Now I do think that the Steel Lady arc was drawn out a bit too long, but it at least made better use of its time than Endless Eight, and season 2 is not remotely as drawn out. " I typed the above paragraph about halfway through the video, to get my thoughts on the matter down, and then continued to the conclusion of the episode, which ended up almost agreeing with my arguments, even including a Haruhi reference. :D I'm posting anyway for posterity.
I think the fact that I recognise the anime via the snippits within, and I've watched season 1 and still can't recall whether it was good, is generally an indication of quality. You remember the good ones every time.
I really enjoyed season 1 and so far I am continuing to enjoy the second season. It's an intrigue show with a supernatural setting never really felt it was a mystery show. The show is more of an interesting situational problem solving show to me.
in spectre is at its best when it is mostly episodic (spending no more than 2 episode on a plot line) with a back drop of the main plot line in the background, it managed to do it well up to now in the second season, but failed horribly in the second half of first season. So far I've enjoyed second season and I do hope the pacing will not return to a crawl like in first season's idol arc.
The thing is that the truth is not what is always needed. The truth will actual confuse or perhaps even harm those that learn it. Sometimes you need to give a false truth to ensure everyone is safe and can sleep at night. If you think about it this message is actually given quite a bit in anime and I have seen it done in mystery books. Do not forget that shows like X-Files also had the same message too. If there is a fantasy thing, person, or world that is hidden from the public there is often some kind of hiding the truth going on. I must admit I have not watched much of the second season because I want to watch it all in one go. I do not want to get suck mid story line for a week or more, which this anime has a tendency to do often. I have seen some of the same mysteries in this anime done before, so I was not really surprised when the anime followed the same formula. I was really just happy to see a mystery anime that includes spirits, which happens to be my favorite type of anime recently. To be fair, it is not the worst mystery spirit anime I have seen lately. I really do not find the main character's sex jokes very funny, and she is not my favorite part of the anime. It is frustrating that in the second season she has a love hate relationship with that guy. He treats her like poop in public, but is still willingly intimate with her when they are alone.
The thing is, that's one of the points of in/spetre is that "truth" is what you're willing to believe. I don't think that because it doesn't give a "real" truth, it makes it a bad anime or story (I've read up to vol 14 of the manga). It's just the product of its intention.
I’m not wild about your explanation of what constitutes a “bad” show. I’d usually rather watch a show with a mixture of good and bad than something inoffensive that doesn’t try to do anything interesting. The latter constitutes “boring” for me, not shows that are bad in all manners of execution. Shows with good and bad elements are generally “mixed”, not bad. There are exceptions to this, where the flaws outweigh legitimate positives (movies like Interstellar and Snowpiercer fall into that category for me), but those are a subset of “bad”, not its definition, and even then they are extremely subjective. One aspect of a piece might be a deal breaker for some and barely noticed by others. If we’re going to sit here and call something like Handshakers merely “boring” when a show like In/Specter is straight-up “objectively” bad, there’s something wrong with our definitions.
The first minute of this video is exactly my experience with In/Spectre. I loved the characters, but didn't get much from the story at all, eventually dropping around episode 7 or 8 because I felt like even if there was a payoff waiting at the end, it wasn't worth sitting through it to get there.
Thanks for the video. I slogged through season 1 (I’m trying to remove my completionist habits nowadays) and when season 2 came around, I thought, I don’t really want to do this again, I didn’t even realize why I hadn’t enjoyed it until you pointed out why (overly long arc full of kotoko showing off how many multiversal-level theories she can concoct for something that stops being interesting very quickly), but it did have a charm to it. I’ll give the new season a few episodes to see if it’s enough to spark my interest in the show again.
Diminishing the power of a ghost by changing their rumours was better done in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, partly because it was within a single school and therefore far more plausible to do. And it was more tragic, because some of those ghosts were once people with real lives and real stories rendered unrecognisable by the rumour mill which forces them to become something *else.* You get one heartbreaking example of it in the anime, but at least one other in the manga.
I hadn't realized I had watched Season 1, but only after one character's screenshot was shown I remembered. Well, me not even remembering says a lot to me.
Most everyone these days will admit that yokai don't really exist. They are not "the truth". But for a long time, they were "a truth", used to satisfy many people's questions and fears of the real world. I think that's a great take on the whole "hidden world that really exists but for some reason only crazy people and folk with bad cameras can see", and therefore fair game for real events to be explained to yokai in such a way. Further. the plot device of using modern technologies like the internet and social media to catalyze a tulpa is a logical step from the idea that yokai exist because of tradition/belief. A lot of rest is pretty mid though.
Love it. It’s something different from your usual rom/coms, isekai, & shounen… Love Kotoko & her power of bs🤣 PS: Everyone hated the pacing for Steel lady, but S2 definitely picks up the pace
For both S1 & S2, it feels more like appetizers before a meal, but the main dish takes a little longer to cook than expected. If you enjoy the company you're with you'll have a great time... but if you just want it to end so you can go home, its an utter nightmare. There is not a single character, no matter how miner that is not entertaining to spend time with.
came looking for an explanation as to why, after three episodes of this, i felt totally hoodwinked, and got it. it's an interesting premise and kotoko is great and extremely watchable, but i wasn't really counting on spending the rest of the season on one drawn out plot and don't know that i got sucked in enough to stick with it. thanks for the insights!
Well the 9ep Arc is Justified because the Arc in the Manga is VERY long like 3 vols due to the Complexity of the Content and the Chapters are long and Dialogue heavy so it needed all the Anime time it can get Plus the Adaptation is Doing a Solid job with the Animation and Art And it's an Episodic Series that doesn't develop an overarching plot until later in the manga
18:41 I meaaaan, this was the first episode of that "show" and I loved it I liked Spectre exactly because it did something new rather than just having a yokai of the week premise with a fight of sorts at the end of each episode. The "bullshitting people on the internet" arc was way more engaging for me than most of the current shonen stuff.
I think GR had the same issue with this anime that Geoff had with Kakegurui, in that they formed an initial impression and concluded the anime belonged to a certain genre that it actually doesn't. In/Spectre never came off to me as a mystery show, it always felt like a supernatural slice of life/thriller in the back half. The fun of the show worked like Jigoku Shoujo to me, just seeing how they resolved whatever the drama of the week was.
Yeah S2 was paced A LOT better than S1. The problem is that this show likes to come up with theories or explanations only to immediately throw it out the window because the theory is unsatisfactory or doesn't hold up to scrutiny, as already said the truth usually doesn't matter as long as everyone is satisfied in the end, that's the entire premise of the show (Kotoko is the Goddess of Wisdom not the Goddess of Truth or Knowledge after all). While S2 does this sometimes it's so far nowhere near as bad as in S1 where we would spend 2/3rds of an episode or even entire episodes coming up with a theory only to throw it out the window cause it's unsatisfactory and then coming up with another theory only to throw it away again until finally coming up with one that satisfies everyone involved (in other words it wastes your time with speculations and then immediately debunking it).
I'm glad someone else talks about that fucking snake episode. I have never been so angry coming out of watching an episode (or two, rather) of anime because I felt like the show had absolutely no regard for my time. Entire thing felt like such a pointless and frustrating exercise.
I'm kinda liking in/spectre... but I actually agree with most of what you're saying, also Kotoko falls into my personal category of "characters I love and would love to see in a better show" right next to Chizuru from rent-a-dumpsterfire
Yo that cold open was fire! XD Sorry you had to suffer mate. Hopefully the next big thing is something you can like ... But always enjoy your opinion, it's nuanced, different, and you are very articulate.👍
In/Spectre is probably the only show, that based on my given ratings I didn't even find it remotely good, but still started the second season, because I liked the main duo and the whole show felt like a missed opportunity, with potential. Unfortunately, while S2 seems to be better, it still has the same issues to a lower degree, that S1 had namely, sometimes half or the entirety of an episode is an exposition dump from Kotoko sitting in the same place when the series' strongest parts are the interactions between characters. The Yuki Onna episode was so good in my opinion, but most other episodes, though better than the Steel lady arc, aren't that interesting. But I agree that Kotoko is a joy to watch, even though she isn't even in the best episode of the series. Unfortunately, 80% of the time we spend with Kotoko, is still an exposition or explanation dump from her, with minimal interaction from the other party, but when she interacts with others properly, it is still entertaining to watch. That doesn't make the series objectively good, these moments just make it enjoyable and unique enough, to slog through the worse parts.
inspectre is one my favorite show, cause the characters are great, and the twist of the genre is just what i love about great writters the flip of the story is that there's no real truth in the world, yes, things happen, and we can see them, but in reality, we only accept what it is really convincing to our own view, even if the truth is in front of us... kotoko's real goal is to mascaraed reality to please the minds of spirits that could kill her if otherwise in no time, that's why she is suited to be the "Goddess of knowledge." in pleasing them, she gains their favor and use it to pursue her own goals in the real world. the writing on the show is magnificent, and it lets you live through plentiful different settings of the same plot in just one sit, and does it in the most masterful way possible. sorry if my english isn't that great, I'm not a native, lov your content, and my opinions on almost every show you have reviewed are in the same park, but I still love the show. even if they stretch out that steel lady arc (it should be MUCH MORE quick, in 2-3 chapters it should be solved, but the series stretched out sadly, it was a budget decision and the planning for second season) (it doesn't feel the same way in the manga) a bad decision from the staff, but anime industry always does those things more or less when they want to make more seasons.
I've watched you for a while but have not caught an episode in a few years, you have not aged at all haha. I'm glad you are still making these videos, keep it up
Honestly when the 2nd season was announced I was shocked but still excited then when it came out I realized I remembered nothing from the first season xD and now I know why
Inspecter and detective is dead has one thing in common: Quriky girl forces herself on a random bystander into a relationship and tries to convince me that the guy doesn't have any reason to punt these gremlins into orbit
This sounds more like a story about the art of telling stories and how they get built up, that just happens to be telling a mystery story, rather than an actual mystery.
If they sprinkled character traits in the middle and made a more subtle mystery instead of going through the dialogue heavy format it wouldhave been good.Dialogue heavy structure doesnt work here may be because of its linear structure.
it's kinda frustrating to watch these shows from Crunchyroll Originals because the Webtoons are actually really good. They somehow stray from the good content to make-up some BS for the adaptation.
I was like you before starting S2 and hesitate to watch it but then I give it a shot and I was surprised to be super invest in it at the first 10minutes and now I'm at episode 8 and it's still very entertaining compare to S1 The second season is so much better and you should definitely give it a shot The first one was very slow because it mainly focus on a single story and not a large cast which feel repetitive and was boring Season 2 otherwise is way more diverse with multiple interesting stories and that's the big + of this one. We have a lot more characters that are way more interesting even the sides ones, the different stories are really good so far , the animation is slightly better than the S1 and the writing is soooo much better especially Kotoko character she's even more amazing in this one Also the manga is worth to read to it's really good and the art is really good You can actually see the difference on MAL : Season 1 is at 6.91 and Season 2 is actually at 7.53
In/Spectre is awesome, and is in my top ten for this season. In/Spectre was never really a Murder/Mystery or even a plain Mystery, it as a young girl being a Mediator between the Human and Yokai worlds, she's basically a therapist not an inspector, and once you have this change in thinking you'll enjoy the show allot more. I actually thought that the Steel Idol was rushed, it could have easily been 2 or 3 more episodes and still been interesting.
It was not rushed at alllll 💀💀 the entire 9.5 episodes felt really slow and speech felt heavy also pretty much everything kotoko says is just a lie and is pretty much only revealed during the final bits of an episode making it feel as if u watched the whole thing for no reason
I remember this series enough to be surprised there was a S2. I don't recall much about it beyond dropping S1 relatively quickly, probably after giving it 3 eps or yeah the point where truth didn't matter.
I just remember watching the first episode of In/Spectre and then leaving a comment saying the whole thing felt like the embodiment of the phrase "Weird flex, but okay."
For context on the series as a whole: It began as a lightnovel, that was supposed to end where season 1 ended. That is, the mystery of the Steel Lady was all that it was. It was then adapted to a manga, and after finishing the Steel Lady arc, that mangaka continued it onwards past "the ending" with the blessings of the author, and THAT is season 2.
It can be argued that the season 1 is better in manga form, since it feels like less of a slog to get through. And to be quite honest, I think the localization of this anime's name totally ruined it from the start because IT WAS A PUN. The translated name of the Japanese novel is "Invented Interference", which sets up Kotoko's invented truths right there in the title. But someone was so clever that they thought, hey, series has "specters/ghosts, and it's kind of a mystery" so they decided In/Spectre as a pun on Inspector was a FANTASTIC IDEA. Going by the original title, it was never meant to be a mystery story at all, and I do wonder if the anime's direction pointed it in that direction maybe out of a misunderstanding of the source.
Funny enough I read the manga and I think I stopped for no reason actually after the Steel Lady part, just was doing other stuff and forgot to read more of it and I remember it quite fondly because I thought it was interesting how people's belief in something gives it power and how the invented truths get formed by society as a collective sometimes without even intending it, and how fast and easily ideas can spread and beliefs manipulated.
Gotta say though, the season 2 content (which I'm assuming is manga original and not in the light novel) has been so much better, going from Yokai to Yokai, revealing truths at the end of the case or at the very least admitting what was BS and was wasn't. The Mangaka really said "I can do it better myself"
Maybe you mistyped the word, but it's 'inference' not 'interference'.
The original Japanese title is 虚構推理 (kyoko suiri), where 虚構 (kyoko) means 'something that is made up or fabricated to make it look like it is a fact', and 推理 (suiri) means 'inference, deduction, or solving a mystery by reasoning'. So the title may be translated as 'made-up inference', 'fabricated deduction', or 'fabricated reasoning', something like that.
So the English title is actually not so far off from the original Japanese title. Especially the second word 推理 (suiri) is often used in relation to mystery stories. In fact 'mystery novel' in Japanese is called 推理小説 (suiri shousetsu).
@@wwvvvvvww quite true. the author was actually worried the new format of shorter plot arcs would be better than his original format. in fact the snake story comes after the Steel Lady story in the manga. It seems like the anime producers realized the long plot arc would be bad in anime format so they started with a taste of what a season 2 would be like. the author's notes at the end of every manga volume are very insightful on the situation.
In other words, something like "Feyble" or "Faeble" would work and convey the intent. Or even In:Ference.
I think Glass Reflection should read the author's notes in the manga volumes. it is very insightful on the problems he has with the anime. also the Japanese title (Invented Inference) gives away that Kotoko doesn't care about the truth. she operates on blue-orange morality. order between worlds is the most important thing. NOT TRUTH. it's something she freely admits to and makes her character more interesting. she solves mysteries by cheating with supernatural allies, but investigates to find out the most convenient lie. it also makes her good at unraveling the lies of others for her own benefit. its what makes her such a unique protagonist.
Got a link to it? Interested in what the author has to say.
If it was so important, it would have been written within the story itself
I'm sure that's all true but unfortunately. The anime doesn't include any of that. So he's reviewing the anime as is and is right. I got to episode 6 and realized it's a hard show to watch. All the hypotheticals and all the possible scenarios just feel like the anime cut a lot of the subtle nuance. It feels like we're watching a writers room just spitball ideas for 10 episodes. And that's the dialogue they decided to use rather than write an actual story.
To quote me from April 2020:
"Fuck, this was pretty fucking good. The first episode looked really weird with the filter, but every episode after it looked super fucking clean in both animation, colour and polish. Kotoko is so cute as well, love her personality!
A S2 should definitely improve the feel of this anime in developing the characters and setting, considering episode 4-12 is one arc, leading to a lackluster feel after finishing it." (8/10)
Having binged it in 5 days back then, and having watched this review, I think to myself now: Huh, I guess Kotoko really was entertaining enough for that whole arc that I called it merely "a lackuster feeling"!
It's like 6 out of those 8 marks are from Kotoko alone XD
I think the problem is that people think it's a mystery when really it's just a supernatural story. You are absolutely right about the pacing. I remember when I watched the first season that I really enjoyed the concepts and characters, but there was just something about it that made it not as hype as I thought it should of been. It was the pacing, thanks for helping to put it into words.
Then why is it marketed as a mystery show?
@@bononcrusher2the same reason why the first trailers made it seem like an action show, to get people roped in.
I don't like how sometines they seem to completely forget, that Kotoko is supposed to have an artificial leg and an eye.
She is frequently seen hopping and skipping and pupil in her fake eye changes sizes like in her normal one.
Omg that drives me insane!
Your Mc is supposed to be handicapped, stick to your backstory! It breaks my immersion every time her right eye or her left leg act like non-prosthetic parts. Which is every single frame until she removes them.
You are being moron. That is intentional choice.
Yeah, I was like “wow, a show about a girl with a physical disability, that’s so cool” and then the show just forgets how prosthetics work half the time.
@@alenor210because it's not that important
This plus I hated how they had to keep reminding us that she has a prosthetic leg and eye instead of just showing it more naturally via body language
I actually thought the idea of her using evidence to deduce reasonable possibilities or falsehoods instead of the truth was pretty cool and unique...
I agree. She's essentially like a lawyer who is defending someone. They don't have to say what exactly happened they just have to come up with some plausible alternative narratives to what the prosecutor is claiming happened. I enjoy it and the fact you sometimes never really know.
it was boring to me knowing that they’d already figured it all out and were lying to sway things in their favor. with how much reaching the cripple girl did, it felt like reading the comment section of a hypothetical anime fight. it wasn’t even interesting as a mystery plot because there was literally no mystery.
I absolutely love this show. I am honestly even shocked how many people hated the Steel Lady Arc. That's how much I love it. Probably helped by how much I like Kotoko as a character, especially her one liners and attitude.
Yeah, the steel lady arc was long but I've waded through far duller, drawn out arcs and sequences.
I've always wondered why in Spectre has such low review scores. My tastes tend to align quite well with your opinions so this was an interesting video to watch. I quite enjoyed S1 but I watched it more for the vibe and didn't really dedicate much brain power to the whole mystery thing so I didn't mind the show explaining obvious things. S2 is currently my favourite weekly watch and I'm happy others are enjyoing it too. Perhaps my opinion would differ if I binged S1 or just rewatched it.
Just binge watched s1 and oh boy was it a chore to watch. Basically just skimmed through the last half of season 1 and I basically got the gist of what was happening.
I binged S1 as I never watch anime season by season. It was a joy to watch. Perhaps you’d dislike it like that, or perhaps like me you’d enjoy it. The fact of the matter is that if the purpose of the story doesn’t bother you then you won’t have a problem. If you need “god’s knowledge” in a story to be satisfied, you won’t enjoy it.
I am in the same boat. My tastes usually align with Tristan so his strong opinions on In/Spectre took me by surprise
I actually liked that the story pretends to be an episodic mystery show for a bit before revealing that it's actually one big arc about a girl whose power is just being really good at BS-ing everyone, I found that bait and switch pretty in character and kinda meta.
Sure, the pacing turns into a slog for a couple of episodes but I assume that has to do with having to meet a predetermined number of episodes when there simply wasn't enough stuff to fill them with, so the story got stretched.
BTW I would probably watch a feature length video about someone replying to comments if it was in service of a larger plot, heck, it sounds like an interesting premise.
Where season 1 did feel like a slog to get through, I do agree that season 2 has been more enjoyable so far. Though I do feel that the Yuki Onna arc will probably be my favorite segment of the series. I like the main characters, but it’s funny to me that my favorite episode of the whole series focuses on two side characters that we’ll probably never see again and that’s my biggest gripe with this show. Characters outside of the main cast don’t seem to appear again from what I’ve been told and that’s a shame.
Honestly if the Yuki Onna arc was as long as the steel lady arc I’d have zero complaints 👌
I was hoping to never see the cousin again.
I remember watching this in 2020 and actually rating it a 7/10. I agree, the pacing was very slow and very dialogue heavy but I got through it (with the help of the English Dub and Kotoko just being a great protagonist). So I actually started reading the manga.
Season 1 of the anime was Volume 1-7 which I skipped for obvious reasons and I've read 8-15, and honestly, it's a really interesting read.
It think reading it at my own pace made it a lot better. There are more stories in these volumes too. Considering Volume 1-7 was mostly the Steel Lady Nanuse arc, 8-15 had 3-4 main stories, and pretty interesting ones at that. And the relationship between Kuro, Kotoko and Rikka is pretty fascinating that I'm interested in seeing what happens between them.
So I'd recommend the manga over the anime to anyone who managed to watch Season 1 or even dropped it.
I enjoy the show but I know it’s not for everyone lol 😂 season 2 is a lot better so far though and the ice spirit arc was extremely adorable and got me in the feels
Pacing is the main issue, some arcs randomly end in the middle of the episode.
Steel Lady arc takes too long, should have taken half the time.
Director seems inexperienced with timing
Season 1 was such a slog to get through after the brilliant first couple of episodes, but if people are saying season 2 is an improvement, I'll check it out.
Season is so bad I can’t believe it actually green lit for season 2. But so far s2 is much better than season 1. When the story isn’t about kuro and his loli girlfriend the storyline is actually more interesting not going to lie.
@@ForeverTraitor There’s barely any content for s1. It had an interesting start but then the idol arc came and destroyed what interest that I had. Only powered through because season 2 with the yuuki-ona arc is actually wholesome.
@Haskellerz Nah its that long in the Manga
"The ending is paramount" is how I rate all of my media. It's a fair and just take on giving things chances.
The things you disliked about it were somehow what I enjoyed the most. i didn't care for the mystery. I was just enjoying seeing how Kotoko will bullshit her way oit of said situation. And seeing how the truth could be skewed in so many ways and the only important thing was have the spirits be satisfied reminded me of how many irl mysteries make boring books because the truth is usually quite boring and people go on to make conspiracy theories because it doesn't feel interesting enough anymore. And I really love that.
I hated the first season , those monologues of exposition stating the obvious DROVE ME NUTS..... and then it started another monologue and then another , exposition , exposition ....
Netflix hearing Arkada's pitch about him arguing with commenters: YOU'RE GREENLIT!
This is not a mystery series. This is slice of life of a couple with supernatural powers that deals with Yookai problems. It established from the start that the stakes are not that high (one character being immortal, and the other having the help of ghosts), the entertaining part is watching how twisted the solutions are. Some mention similarities with Hyouka, but I think it is more akin to Jigoku Shoujo. Just sit and watch the drama unfold.
I enjoy the show. It has a bit of an unique ambiance that appeals to me, and feels fresh and original. I agree that the pacing is a bit slow, but only excessively so during the steel lady Nanase arc.
I fell in love with the first few episodes of In/Spectre to the point where I sought out the manga because I didn't want to wait for new episodes. The Steel Lady arc of the manga quickly destroyed any interest I had in either manga or show. The show would have been better served compressing that slog and moving on. I actually love the anti-mystery idea, where her goal is to craft believable lies, not solve the mystery. That's a fascinating concept. The series just isn't written well enough to pull it off.
I think the biggest gripe you have is that it drags on a bit, and to be fair, it did seems a bit longer than the usual show with the usual 3 episode storyline.
I liked it though because I wish more often in shows like this the shows are almost forced into the 2-3 episode narrative.
I love boogiepop, for example, and the light novels are fantastic, but the second show (boogiepop and others), although great, felt like it could have benefitted from being 5-7 episodes per plot line and stretched over 2 seasons.
In fact the only series, and the perhaps the last to break the 3 ep per storyline limit in this genre was rental magic, which just goes to show how set in stone this formula is and how it's dominated since the 13 EP run.
If you're banking on "the truth" to get your satisfaction out of this show, you're bound not to enjoy this. XD Its very premise is that the truth does not matter. Kotoko clearly is a little monster that doesn't care about the truth, only about maintaining the peace and balance between the two worlds in which she resides. And one should not ever know about the other. Also Kotoko probably does carry the show for many people, but that's not really a bad thing. The writer somehow made an incredibly likeable little gremlin. She is the star and honestly watching her bullshit her way through all of these issues is entirely the appeal of the show for some. In short, perhaps the ending is the paramount for some. And they probably wouldn't enjoy this show. But if you're just here for the journey and the company, I think it can be a very enjoyable show.
Basically this
You just kinda described my experience with Witch from Mercury. I loved episode 0, I sorta liked the first 2 episodes getting to know the characters and stuff. About episodes 3 to 10 were so full of nonsense that it was almost a drag to keep watching, but characters and combats kept me going. The last two episodes were genuinely great.
In/Spectre has wacky pacing, some arcs end in the middle of the episode for some reason.
Other arcs are too long and have too much exposition, while some arcs are too short.
The best part of this show is the ED in season 1. It tricked me into watching the show because I saw it on RUclips and thought the show would be a jazzy noir mystery. It was not.
yep i do like In/Spectre, it is a interesting flow of consciousness/idea type show, but that first season (specifically those 8 episodes) is just a barrier of entry that you can't recommend to people.
like between the case dragging on, them needing to set up the protag powers, and the (assumingly) main antagonist of the story, it's just in need of that rewrite.
I had literally never even heard of this show until 20 minutes ago when I randomly watched it and then I get hit with this notification... that's almost scary
I really liked Kotoko and Kuro, I slogged through the first season bc the Steel Lady arc overstayed it's welcome. Now I'm having a lot of fun with the second season, getting to know new Yokai and the new focus on telling the truth at the end of the case or revealing the things that were BS even if we don't know the truth.
S2 E8 just happened as this video went up.
I think.....he's about to have his mind *BLOWN*
The steel lady arc was brutal, glad you mentioned Suzumiya also brutal. But I'm enjoying the second season anyway
I think the idea of the "ending being paramount" is completely insane. You're an anime fan, you know that most anime don't even get endings. How could the ending be important when most things don't have one
I truly dislike it too, it had such a hilarious premise to become a dark humor comedy about a duo goes on weekly X-Files-ish adventures to bullish*t all sorts of scientifically correct nonsense to pseudo-explain and banish all kinds of real supernatural evil entities.
But what we got is an awkwardly paced hyper-melodramatic demonstration of only One bland (and modified)howcatchem story, running solely on really weak profiling/deduction, and the power of an obligatory chosen one.
If a writer really put the word DEDCUTION into the book title, a fair amount of logical reasoning need to be presented, and made it to be the method for protagonists to solve problems. Not multiverse superpowers.
imagine The Exorcist, Pazuzu can only be defeat by people not believing it's existence, so instead of exorcism, father Karras has to consults with tons of medical profassionals and gathering data of real cases to convince the mother it was all neurological disorders and also Regan is a natural born contortionist, and the micrometeorological anomalies of the house causes things to fly. thus, Pazuzu gets destroyed.
When you said that it's a mystery story where the truth doesn't matter... That actually interested me. Maybe that's the Umineko fan within me speaking, but I find the idea of subjectivity of truth especially in fantasy-mystery setting to be fascinating.
The pacing can be wonky, but that's what the watch speed is for. We can just "fix" it now lol. And I've played enough VN and JRPGs to tolerate bad pacing as long as the themes and interactions are interesting, so in my rotten moege and Trails andy brain, so far nothing seems to be a deal breaker.
And ngl, I would watch that series of you arguing with the comment section. PBS Idea Channel videos where they discuss the last videos comment, PhillyD's weekly comment recap, and Asmongold YT videos are things that I watch and genuinely enjoy.
I don't know, none of the issues seems to be a big deal for me and as someone who regularly reads and post reviews of 6/10 VNs (and that's by my charitable rating) I could just say what it's about, what works for me, and what doesn't, as well as give a guess as to how likely it'll work for its intended audience and whether the usual annoyance of the genre is there or not.
Yeah I was just thinking this sounds a bit like Umineko. I don't think GF knows how to think about this kind of story. I'm gonna give this a watch if these are his issues.
Umineko was (almost but not really explicitly) refrenced so....
You should read the manga for the first season atleast, so you can get past it when it drags. I liked S1 enough tho, way more good than bad.
Sounds like a "read the manga" situation maybe? I have found some intriguing but badly paced or executed shows like this sounds to be o have less of that issue from their source material. Not always but enough that If I found the idea of a show interesting enough but its presentation lacking I will seek out the manga or novel it was adapted from, if it exists.
When I heard that In/Spectre was getting a second season, I remembered that I'd watched it and was like "oh yeah, that was a thing I did during the lockdowns".
That was it. That was all the emotional investment I had given to this show.
Looks like you found the show that was Elaina's Journey for me. The show that made me so angry that I wrote an entire book about it
I feel a similar way; I was interested in the main characters and their relationships, as well as the proposal for how spirits adapt to the modern world to keep themselves alive. However the plot progression was mostly conducted through lengthy explanations rather than actions which ended up dissuading me
"I really enjoy it. Yuki Onna is the most charming character of the season. You are frustrated that the "truth" is never fully established, I actually find it charming. I find it amusing when she crafts an entirely plausible explanation, and then goes "but that's not how it happened, here's what really happened." There is always another truth. Now I do think that the Steel Lady arc was drawn out a bit too long, but it at least made better use of its time than Endless Eight, and season 2 is not remotely as drawn out. "
I typed the above paragraph about halfway through the video, to get my thoughts on the matter down, and then continued to the conclusion of the episode, which ended up almost agreeing with my arguments, even including a Haruhi reference. :D I'm posting anyway for posterity.
I think the fact that I recognise the anime via the snippits within, and I've watched season 1 and still can't recall whether it was good, is generally an indication of quality. You remember the good ones every time.
You're little speech about anime just reminded me of Kado: the right answer. I cry
I really enjoyed season 1 and so far I am continuing to enjoy the second season. It's an intrigue show with a supernatural setting never really felt it was a mystery show. The show is more of an interesting situational problem solving show to me.
in spectre is at its best when it is mostly episodic (spending no more than 2 episode on a plot line) with a back drop of the main plot line in the background, it managed to do it well up to now in the second season, but failed horribly in the second half of first season.
So far I've enjoyed second season and I do hope the pacing will not return to a crawl like in first season's idol arc.
Because the 2nd Half was 4 vols long of Manga content
The thing is that the truth is not what is always needed. The truth will actual confuse or perhaps even harm those that learn it. Sometimes you need to give a false truth to ensure everyone is safe and can sleep at night. If you think about it this message is actually given quite a bit in anime and I have seen it done in mystery books. Do not forget that shows like X-Files also had the same message too. If there is a fantasy thing, person, or world that is hidden from the public there is often some kind of hiding the truth going on.
I must admit I have not watched much of the second season because I want to watch it all in one go. I do not want to get suck mid story line for a week or more, which this anime has a tendency to do often. I have seen some of the same mysteries in this anime done before, so I was not really surprised when the anime followed the same formula. I was really just happy to see a mystery anime that includes spirits, which happens to be my favorite type of anime recently. To be fair, it is not the worst mystery spirit anime I have seen lately.
I really do not find the main character's sex jokes very funny, and she is not my favorite part of the anime. It is frustrating that in the second season she has a love hate relationship with that guy. He treats her like poop in public, but is still willingly intimate with her when they are alone.
Their Dynamic is charming
I actually really liked it. So I’m interested to hear what your thoughts were.
The thing is, that's one of the points of in/spetre is that "truth" is what you're willing to believe. I don't think that because it doesn't give a "real" truth, it makes it a bad anime or story (I've read up to vol 14 of the manga). It's just the product of its intention.
It's a weird show but I like it. There's not a lot of strategy/mystery in Anime and I think In/Spectre does it well.
I’m not wild about your explanation of what constitutes a “bad” show. I’d usually rather watch a show with a mixture of good and bad than something inoffensive that doesn’t try to do anything interesting. The latter constitutes “boring” for me, not shows that are bad in all manners of execution. Shows with good and bad elements are generally “mixed”, not bad. There are exceptions to this, where the flaws outweigh legitimate positives (movies like Interstellar and Snowpiercer fall into that category for me), but those are a subset of “bad”, not its definition, and even then they are extremely subjective. One aspect of a piece might be a deal breaker for some and barely noticed by others. If we’re going to sit here and call something like Handshakers merely “boring” when a show like In/Specter is straight-up “objectively” bad, there’s something wrong with our definitions.
The first minute of this video is exactly my experience with In/Spectre. I loved the characters, but didn't get much from the story at all, eventually dropping around episode 7 or 8 because I felt like even if there was a payoff waiting at the end, it wasn't worth sitting through it to get there.
Supernatural did a storyline like the Steel Lady better in one episode. It was the Golem episode.
Thanks for the video. I slogged through season 1 (I’m trying to remove my completionist habits nowadays) and when season 2 came around, I thought, I don’t really want to do this again, I didn’t even realize why I hadn’t enjoyed it until you pointed out why (overly long arc full of kotoko showing off how many multiversal-level theories she can concoct for something that stops being interesting very quickly), but it did have a charm to it. I’ll give the new season a few episodes to see if it’s enough to spark my interest in the show again.
I remember also dropping the series really early because I found it bad, but not remembering why. This video feels really validating lol
Diminishing the power of a ghost by changing their rumours was better done in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, partly because it was within a single school and therefore far more plausible to do. And it was more tragic, because some of those ghosts were once people with real lives and real stories rendered unrecognisable by the rumour mill which forces them to become something *else.*
You get one heartbreaking example of it in the anime, but at least one other in the manga.
I hadn't realized I had watched Season 1, but only after one character's screenshot was shown I remembered. Well, me not even remembering says a lot to me.
Most everyone these days will admit that yokai don't really exist. They are not "the truth". But for a long time, they were "a truth", used to satisfy many people's questions and fears of the real world. I think that's a great take on the whole "hidden world that really exists but for some reason only crazy people and folk with bad cameras can see", and therefore fair game for real events to be explained to yokai in such a way. Further. the plot device of using modern technologies like the internet and social media to catalyze a tulpa is a logical step from the idea that yokai exist because of tradition/belief.
A lot of rest is pretty mid though.
Love it. It’s something different from your usual rom/coms, isekai, & shounen… Love Kotoko & her power of bs🤣
PS: Everyone hated the pacing for Steel lady, but S2 definitely picks up the pace
For both S1 & S2, it feels more like appetizers before a meal, but the main dish takes a little longer to cook than expected. If you enjoy the company you're with you'll have a great time... but if you just want it to end so you can go home, its an utter nightmare. There is not a single character, no matter how miner that is not entertaining to spend time with.
Boring is almost always worse than bad, and a 1/10 is usually better entertainment than a 4/10.
Well at least it's one of the few Crunchyroll Originals to actually succeed. Well enough to get another season.
i stan the endless 8 😀
Someone should make a SuperCut of the Steel Lady arc so others need not suffer
came looking for an explanation as to why, after three episodes of this, i felt totally hoodwinked, and got it. it's an interesting premise and kotoko is great and extremely watchable, but i wasn't really counting on spending the rest of the season on one drawn out plot and don't know that i got sucked in enough to stick with it. thanks for the insights!
Well the 9ep Arc is Justified because the Arc in the Manga is VERY long like 3 vols due to the Complexity of the Content and the Chapters are long and Dialogue heavy so it needed all the Anime time it can get
Plus the Adaptation is Doing a Solid job with the Animation and Art
And it's an Episodic Series that doesn't develop an overarching plot until later in the manga
18:41 I meaaaan, this was the first episode of that "show" and I loved it I liked Spectre exactly because it did something new rather than just having a yokai of the week premise with a fight of sorts at the end of each episode. The "bullshitting people on the internet" arc was way more engaging for me than most of the current shonen stuff.
*"The truth doesn't matter."*
I wonder if you're not talking about Cummerban's Sherlock. Any explanation of his conclusions served as proof of genius.
I think GR had the same issue with this anime that Geoff had with Kakegurui, in that they formed an initial impression and concluded the anime belonged to a certain genre that it actually doesn't. In/Spectre never came off to me as a mystery show, it always felt like a supernatural slice of life/thriller in the back half. The fun of the show worked like Jigoku Shoujo to me, just seeing how they resolved whatever the drama of the week was.
Kotoko is such a great character. She deserves a better show.
also Mamoru Miyano's sexy voice as Kuro and singing the ED songs carried this show, lol.
Yeah S2 was paced A LOT better than S1. The problem is that this show likes to come up with theories or explanations only to immediately throw it out the window because the theory is unsatisfactory or doesn't hold up to scrutiny, as already said the truth usually doesn't matter as long as everyone is satisfied in the end, that's the entire premise of the show (Kotoko is the Goddess of Wisdom not the Goddess of Truth or Knowledge after all). While S2 does this sometimes it's so far nowhere near as bad as in S1 where we would spend 2/3rds of an episode or even entire episodes coming up with a theory only to throw it out the window cause it's unsatisfactory and then coming up with another theory only to throw it away again until finally coming up with one that satisfies everyone involved (in other words it wastes your time with speculations and then immediately debunking it).
Sooo, Natsume Yujincho + Paranoia Agent with Stephen Moffat as showrunner (all anticipation, no payoff)
I'm glad someone else talks about that fucking snake episode. I have never been so angry coming out of watching an episode (or two, rather) of anime because I felt like the show had absolutely no regard for my time. Entire thing felt like such a pointless and frustrating exercise.
Fun fact: the faceless Steel Lady is where Crunchyroll's default profile picture comes from. I think that's clever.
I'm kinda liking in/spectre... but I actually agree with most of what you're saying, also Kotoko falls into my personal category of "characters I love and would love to see in a better show" right next to Chizuru from rent-a-dumpsterfire
This felt more like venting than an actual review 😂
I actually liked Endless Eight because it highlights why the events in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya happened.
7 first minutes of nothings blabeling in the beginning is so interesting in this video… very fitting.
Just finished the first season last night, what a coincidence lol
Agree with you, I regret not dropping it earlier
Yo that cold open was fire!
XD
Sorry you had to suffer mate. Hopefully the next big thing is something you can like ...
But always enjoy your opinion, it's nuanced, different, and you are very articulate.👍
I think the best way I can explain it to you why people still watch this show, is the ending of Psycho-Pass.
I had the exact same hopes of it being episodic, with multiple mysteries to solve.
I'm really enjoying this 2nd season and I do recommend it, but to each their own.
As someone who loves Yokai and supernatural anime, I’m appalled by the first season
In/Spectre is probably the only show, that based on my given ratings I didn't even find it remotely good, but still started the second season, because I liked the main duo and the whole show felt like a missed opportunity, with potential.
Unfortunately, while S2 seems to be better, it still has the same issues to a lower degree, that S1 had namely, sometimes half or the entirety of an episode is an exposition dump from Kotoko sitting in the same place when the series' strongest parts are the interactions between characters.
The Yuki Onna episode was so good in my opinion, but most other episodes, though better than the Steel lady arc, aren't that interesting. But I agree that Kotoko is a joy to watch, even though she isn't even in the best episode of the series.
Unfortunately, 80% of the time we spend with Kotoko, is still an exposition or explanation dump from her, with minimal interaction from the other party, but when she interacts with others properly, it is still entertaining to watch. That doesn't make the series objectively good, these moments just make it enjoyable and unique enough, to slog through the worse parts.
inspectre is one my favorite show, cause the characters are great, and the twist of the genre is just what i love about great writters
the flip of the story is that there's no real truth in the world, yes, things happen, and we can see them, but in reality, we only accept what it is really convincing to our own view, even if the truth is in front of us...
kotoko's real goal is to mascaraed reality to please the minds of spirits that could kill her if otherwise in no time, that's why she is suited to be the "Goddess of knowledge."
in pleasing them, she gains their favor and use it to pursue her own goals in the real world.
the writing on the show is magnificent, and it lets you live through plentiful different settings of the same plot in just one sit, and does it in the most masterful way possible.
sorry if my english isn't that great, I'm not a native, lov your content, and my opinions on almost every show you have reviewed are in the same park, but I still love the show.
even if they stretch out that steel lady arc (it should be MUCH MORE quick, in 2-3 chapters it should be solved, but the series stretched out sadly, it was a budget decision and the planning for second season)
(it doesn't feel the same way in the manga)
a bad decision from the staff, but anime industry always does those things more or less when they want to make more seasons.
I've watched you for a while but have not caught an episode in a few years, you have not aged at all haha. I'm glad you are still making these videos, keep it up
5:28 Goodnight World 😢
Watching season 1 of this anime feels like when you missed the last train and then you need to wait 5+ hours just to get home the next morning.
Honestly when the 2nd season was announced I was shocked but still excited then when it came out I realized I remembered nothing from the first season xD and now I know why
18:40 YES! Now begin.
Inspecter and detective is dead has one thing in common: Quriky girl forces herself on a random bystander into a relationship and tries to convince me that the guy doesn't have any reason to punt these gremlins into orbit
This sounds more like a story about the art of telling stories and how they get built up, that just happens to be telling a mystery story, rather than an actual mystery.
I adore the manga and liked the anime, but I think it's always good to have a reality check by viewing criticisms of your favourite works
18:40
YES. Though I freely admit to being a weirdo who enjoys “debates” (for want of a better word).
If they sprinkled character traits in the middle and made a more subtle mystery instead of going through the dialogue heavy format it wouldhave been good.Dialogue heavy structure doesnt work here may be because of its linear structure.
When I heard him describe that mind numbing arc the first comparison that sprung to mind was Endless Eight, before he even brought it up.
arkada: do u want me to react to people?
me: ***YES***
it's kinda frustrating to watch these shows from Crunchyroll Originals because the Webtoons are actually really good. They somehow stray from the good content to make-up some BS for the adaptation.
I was like you before starting S2 and hesitate to watch it but then I give it a shot and I was surprised to be super invest in it at the first 10minutes and now I'm at episode 8 and it's still very entertaining compare to S1
The second season is so much better and you should definitely give it a shot
The first one was very slow because it mainly focus on a single story and not a large cast which feel repetitive and was boring
Season 2 otherwise is way more diverse with multiple interesting stories and that's the big + of this one.
We have a lot more characters that are way more interesting even the sides ones, the different stories are really good so far , the animation is slightly better than the S1 and the writing is soooo much better especially Kotoko character she's even more amazing in this one
Also the manga is worth to read to it's really good and the art is really good
You can actually see the difference on MAL : Season 1 is at 6.91 and Season 2 is actually at 7.53
Season 1 idol arc should not have take 90 percent of the season. All the nonsense could’ve been wrapped up in under 2 episodes not 10.
@Ichigo1423jfk It was that long in the manga it would be worst to try to condense all of that content
In/Spectre is awesome, and is in my top ten for this season.
In/Spectre was never really a Murder/Mystery or even a plain Mystery, it as a young girl being a Mediator between the Human and Yokai worlds, she's basically a therapist not an inspector, and once you have this change in thinking you'll enjoy the show allot more.
I actually thought that the Steel Idol was rushed, it could have easily been 2 or 3 more episodes and still been interesting.
Rushed? I think it's not rushed enough. No case should take 9.5 episodes to close.
It was not rushed at alllll 💀💀 the entire 9.5 episodes felt really slow and speech felt heavy also pretty much everything kotoko says is just a lie and is pretty much only revealed during the final bits of an episode making it feel as if u watched the whole thing for no reason
Hell nah that was not rushed that felt like forever
Personally I think season 2 has been pretty good, especially the first few episodes. And I want to see how they handle the fathers conflict
I remember this series enough to be surprised there was a S2. I don't recall much about it beyond dropping S1 relatively quickly, probably after giving it 3 eps or yeah the point where truth didn't matter.
I just remember watching the first episode of In/Spectre and then leaving a comment saying the whole thing felt like the embodiment of the phrase "Weird flex, but okay."