~Introduction~

Den-noh Coil (also known as Cyber Coil or Dennou Coil) is an obscure anime series from 2007 directed by Mitsuo Iso and animated by studio Madhouse. The story is about Yuuko “Yasako” Okonogi and the other children involved with her adventures in augmented reality. Just recently, Netflix added Den-noh Coil to their available anime (at least in the USA). Now is a great time to watch it if you don’t want to view it on pirate streaming sites.

In this anime, everyone uses cyber glasses to see and interact with the virtual augmented reality built up around them. The glasses are also used like cellphones, school tablets, maps, and pretty much everything else you could want from a device. But on her adventures with other children from her new school, Yasako is about to discover that the cyber world might not be all fun and games. It has many mysteries – and dangers – hiding within. Can Yasako protect herself and her family in this newly discovered world?

In the future, I plan to write an anime rant or an analysis on this anime with interesting topics and insights. But for today at Anime Rants, we just have a super-brief review of five elements of Den-noh Coil. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of the quality. Enjoy.

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~Mini-Review~

Visuals: 8

Since Madhouse is my favorite anime studio, I’m quite biased about the visuals in Den-noh Coil. I think everything looks great. I like the specific, semi-realistic style for the characters. It appears similar to other early 2000s Madhouse anime series, but it’s still distinct enough for me. Considering that this anime is pretty old by now, I also think the special effects and 3D look decent. The characters look cute and their face expressions are fun to watch. The colors are rather muted, and to me, everything looks like it has a slight brownish-grey filter. I really like this color scheme. While I don’t think this anime is some kind of visual masterpiece, I personally love the way it looks.

Story: 9

The plot sounds a bit dull at first: Yasako explores how things work in Den-noh space and meets various other kids who use the glasses. However, the plot deepens a little with each episode, gradually becoming an engrossing drama-mystery with surprisingly dark and suspenseful elements. Even early on, before we know much, things still seem exciting. This anime does a great job putting you in the minds of the children, and to them, being chased around by anti-virus automatons is a big deal. Later on, the situation is genuinely serious. Children’s minds and bodies are at risk. The story of Den-noh Coil is exciting; plus, it touches on several interesting themes like memories, emotional loss, and changing society. The sci-fi aspects are great, too.

Audio: 10

From the voice-acting to the OST to the songs, the audio components are amazing in Den-noh Coil. I love the performances of all the voice-actors. There are a lot of talented female seiyuus who did the voices of the young boys (Romi Park playing Harakawa, for one example). The OST is classic-style and a lot of fun, especially for action and chase scenes. The composer is Tsuneyoshi Saito. Opening song “Prism” by Ayako Ikeda is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard and quickly became one of my top favorite anime songs. It’s haunting and beautiful. “Sora no Kakera” is the ending song, and was also performed by Ayako Ikeda. It’s excellent. The audio category wants for absolutely nothing.

Characters: 8

Den-noh Coil is also strong with regards to characters. Considering how young most of the characters are (about eleven years old), they all have interesting and unique personalities and emotional development. The kids in this anime go through a lot, and we get to see them change and grow as a result. Yasako’s grandmother, “Mega-baa,” was a great adult supporting senior character who seemed to have as much spirit and wit as any youth. There are also a few older teenage characters like “Auntie” Tamako and Nekome. Anyway, the character development is good and the characters are generally easy to relate to. We were all children once.

Personal Enjoyment: 9

I absolutely love Den-noh Coil, and each time I watch it, I find more to enjoy. The philosophical themes, sci-fi aspects, emotional character journeys, and haunting mysteries really tickle my brain. I love anime that can be cute and wholesome, but which also explores heavy and dark topics. That’s another reason to enjoy Den-noh Coil. For a final example of enjoyable elements, consider the amount of humor in this show. By and large, most of the comedy comes from Kyouko being an incorrigible nuisance – a very cute one. Somehow, it’s funny when you don’t have to deal with it in real life. The episode about the beard-hair Den-noh virus was especially hilarious. Clearly, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had in this anime.

Overall Score: 8.8 / 10.0

(The overall score is the average of the other five categories.)

Thank you for reading~

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PATREON